I Possessed a Character in an Academy Without a Protagonist – Chapter 60

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…?”

What should I say?

It was like the feeling of falling off a horse in a dream?

No, I wasn’t dreaming, so that was not an accurate expression.

Anyway, feeling something unpleasant, I opened my eyes.

Thud thud…

The carriage was shaking occasionally and traveling at a steady speed.

Looking back, the other carriage was following well too.

But there was an annoying sound that kept hitting my ears, and I felt a constant uncomfortable sensation.

Now that I was used to Schlus’ body, I could immediately tell what it was.

Someone was intervening with the surrounding mana and manipulating it.

In other words, they were weaving a technique to activate magic.

‘Who is it?’

Were the students or Sergei trying to use magic?

But it didn’t seem like anyone in this carriage was trying to use magic.

Then from the carriage behind?

No, that wasn’t it either.

The direction the mana wave was coming from was none other than the right.

It was from those bushes.

Kwang!

“Hiiiing!”

At that moment, the carriage collapsed forward.

The horses screamed and were sucked into the pit, and the front wheels of the carriage followed and tilted.

Because of that, I ended up hitting my forehead on the back of the front seat…

It was a trap.

“Ah. Is everyone okay? First, stay still…”

Sergei was trying to calm the students while laughing roughly and getting up, but at that moment-

Poof!

“Huh?”

“Smoke?!”

“Everyone, calm down! Don’t get up from your seats!”

White smoke spread in all directions.

The smoke quickly turned the surroundings hazy white, and soon anything beyond 10 meters became completely invisible.

‘Ah… damn it.’

Only then did I realize what was happening.

It was an attack by a group of bandits.

If you ask why I forgot such an important thing, I’ll make the excuse that it’s because it wasn’t covered in the original work.

No, why are bandits that didn’t appear in the original work appearing here?

In the original work, those guys were originally torn apart by the Intelligence Agency guys who were tailing Hertlocker’s group without anyone knowing.

“What is it, Professor?”

“Are they bandits?”

“Everyone, be quiet! I need to focus on the sound!”

Sergei shouted in a slightly irritated voice.

Well, since it was a matter of life and death for the students, he had no choice but to be like that.

Then, I felt a chilling sensation from behind me.

This vast mana…

There’s only one person besides Sergei.

This crazy bastard is trying to shoot magic recklessly.

Just as I was about to dismantle the technique right away, a good idea occurred to me.

“8 o’clock direction!”

Kwang!

As soon as I shouted with all my might, an explosion rang out with enough force to tear my eardrums.

This damn bastard.

I didn’t know he would stab all that mana in one go.

As expected, Sergei and the students were gaping at me from behind.

I also sighed and turned around to look.

“Eheh.”

The smoke in the area had already been cleared by the strong wind, and the ground was torn apart in a crimson line in the 8 o’clock direction I had said.

I remember seeing something like this.

The flame magic Ainz had shot at me.

It was exactly the enhanced version of that magic.

“Assistant! Stay and protect the kids! I’ll go take a look and come back!”

Sergei, who jumped out of his seat, went into the bushes.

Soon, he walked out with a dumbfounded expression.

“The group of bandits seems to have been annihilated.”

“Wow…”

The students also had a dazed expression, as if they found it hard to believe.

It was about time for him to come out.

“Hahaha! I shot it! I shot it! You see that crater! Wow! This tremendous power!”

“…”

I wondered why he wasn’t coming out.

I heard a noisy voice, and as expected, Ainz was boasting loudly.

I wanted to immediately smack him on the head.

“Ainz.”

“Oh! Schlus! Of course, it was thanks to you telling me the direction! Thank you, man! The combination of your sharp sense and my magic’s power… Wow! It was awesome, right? A completely fantastic combo, right?”

“…”

What fantastic combo. More like a disastrous combo.

I went to give him a warning, but this bastard was talking about something else.

“Ainz. What were you going to do if I hadn’t told you the direction?”

“Of course, I wasn’t going to shoot…”

“When I told you the direction, your technique had already entered the activation stage. Am I wrong?”

“Uh… But even if I didn’t know the direction, I would have shot anywhere, so it would have been fine!”

“In a situation where you can’t see an inch in front of you because of the fog? What if there was an innocent person where you shot?”

“No, there’s no way there would be a person on this mountain road…”

“That’s something you can’t know.”

“…”

Ainz dropped his shoulders and slowly closed his mouth.

It was an expression of understanding but not accepting.

It was like a child who got excited and wanted to be praised, but received a warning.

This guy? Awakening?

I might be expecting too much.

“With great power comes great responsibility. Remember that, Ainz.”

“… Okay.”

I ended up saying a slightly embarrassing line.

If I had said it in reality, it would have been quite embarrassing, but there was no one in this world who would know that line.

Ainz seemed to dislike this situation, so he turned around with a pout.

Well, I don’t really have the right to give such an admonition either.

It might have seemed a bit unpleasant.

“Haha. Schlus is right too. But since it turned out well in the end, why don’t we all give Ainz a round of applause?”

“Wow…”

Sergei, who had been watching while holding his breath, intervened while sweating profusely.

His mediation came at a good timing.

Yes. Since it was true that only the group of bandits was dealt with without any harm in the end.

I was also about to clap coolly with a smile, but at that moment-

Screech…!

Kwang!

The sound of something landing was heard.

When I turned around, a tree as thick as a baobab had fallen and crushed carriage 2.

Along with the horses pulling it.

The horses were turned into dried meat without even screaming.

“Th-there’s a forest fire!”

“What?!”

At the urgent voice, I turned my head and saw that this time, the bushes were on fire.

Wow… damn it.

I’m going crazy.

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“My mana is exhausted…”

“I can’t use magic anymore!”

“Phew… Haa… Everyone worked hard!”

Following Sergei and the assistant’s calm command, we started extinguishing the fire by surrounding the spot where the forest fire started and working from the outside.

After an hour of dozens of students shooting water cannons, we finally succeeded in completely extinguishing the flames.

Even Trie, who couldn’t use water magic, worked hard by swinging an axe to cut down the bushes that could catch fire around.

But Ainz, who had used up all his mana, was just fidgeting and staying still.

“Hahaha… Well, there was a small commotion, but it’s better than anyone getting hurt by the group of bandits!”

Still, Sergei tried to laugh it off.

Well, the only damage was that all the students had exhausted their mana and one carriage was completely wrecked along with the horses.

“Everyone get in carriage 1! It’ll be a bit crowded, but still…”

Sergei, who had walked to the pit where carriage 1 had collapsed, couldn’t finish his words.

Why is he like that?

We all walked over with a puzzled look and looked down into the pit.

“Hiing…! Hing!”

The horses were all stabbed by the stakes stuck at the bottom of the pit and couldn’t stand properly.

That’s it. They won’t be able to walk anymore.

Which means…

“Haha. Should we all do a marching class a semester early?”

“What?!”

We have to walk. To Whist Forest.

There’s still at least 10 km left.

I felt like collapsing right there.

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10 km?

If you walk with determination, it’s not really a long distance.

Anyone who has served in the military would know.

But the problem is-

“Ugh… Huff… Gasp…”

“Professor… Are we there yet?”

“We’re almost there! Just endure a little more! Hahaha!”

“I’ve heard that at least 10 times…”

I have to take these low-stamina people with me.

Since the speed kept increasing and dying repeatedly, I also quickly got tired.

However, knowing that gasping or walking with a collapsed posture would consume more stamina, I didn’t look particularly tired on the outside.

“Hoho. The results of training are showing.”

“…”

Perhaps mistaking that for having good stamina, Trie said proudly with her chest out.

No way.

I shook my head and opened the stats window.

‘No, really?’

Wasn’t my health stat 15 before?

At some point, it had slightly increased to 17.

Come to think of it, I had unconsciously thought of stats as invariable numbers.

The stats I set were just the abilities from the beginning of the novel, and they were never absolute.

In the case of health, strength, and agility, it seemed I could raise them just by exercising without enlightenment or special realization.

Realizing this belatedly made me feel stupid.

No, I wonder if it’s really being stupid.

“Kids! We’ve finally arrived! Now you can rest!”

“Yay!”

Still, walking diligently, we were able to arrive before the sun fully set.

I saw a small castle town in the distance.

That village was Whist Forest… No, it wasn’t.

Whist Forest was the dense forest behind the village.

What was the name of the village?

I couldn’t remember at all, perhaps because I hadn’t set it.

“Everyone, be careful. Never go anywhere other than the path. You might trigger a mana mine.”

“Eek!”

“And even if you follow the path, don’t go deep into Whist Forest. There are times when mana energy gas flows down like an air current.”

“Ack!”

Now everyone probably understood why that village was located in a high place.

No, they might be wondering why there was even a village in a place like this.

To ordinary people, Whist Forest was just a dangerous area, but not to scholars.

An environment with high concentrations of mana energy and unknown magical beasts was rare.

That’s why, from long ago, even when this place was the land of the Trud Kingdom, scholars and merchants came and went, creating a small village.

The resident population was about 80 people.

It was a really tiny village.

“Then, the first day’s test is-”

“Professor! Please, give us a break!”

“Hahaha! It’s a joke, a joke!”

“…”

It was a joke that made my heart drop.

It seemed like Sergei would really make us fight magical beasts, saying it was a surprise test, in a state where both our mana and stamina were exhausted.

Somehow, he felt a bit more relaxed than in the original work.

“I’ve prepared an inn, so everyone rest well today.”

“Yes, Professor!”

As expected of the Imperial Academy, they splurged money here too.

All the students ended up using small individual rooms.

Because of that, the feeling of a crowded college MT where everyone gathered in a small room disappeared.

Well, on a tiring day like today, there wouldn’t be anyone who wants to gather and chatter noisily anyway.

I also took a relaxing shower, came out, and plopped down on a chair.

‘Should I go find the enlightenment early tomorrow morning?’

I unfolded the map I received from the innkeeper.

Since it was a map that even had illustrations in the original work, I clearly remembered the location of the enlightenment.

Here. The rocky mountain east of Whist Forest.

The forest blocking the way in between was a minefield, so it couldn’t be crossed, and I’d have to go around the lake.

I’ll have to leave a bit early to make it back in time for the wake-up call.

Then I should go to sleep early today.

The moment I thought that and lay down on the bed-

“Ah, shit.”

I remembered something I had forgotten.

My drowsy mind suddenly became alert.

I’m screwed.

I was about to have the enlightenment stolen by someone else.

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