The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

Chapter 10 - The First Class (2)

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 10 - The First Class (2)

After forming the parties, the cadets were given 30 minutes to prepare.

While the exact content of the class wasn't disclosed, the professor's advice—"You'll be stuck in the mountains for a while"—prompted the cadets to gather outdoor equipment by party.

In reality, the necessary gear was nothing more than comfortable clothes, shoes, and a water bottle.

Once prepared, the cadets headed to the outdoor training ground adjacent to the school premises.

Despite being called a "training ground," it was essentially an entire mountain that had been converted for use, so from the outside, it looked like nothing more than the hill behind the school.

"Today's class is about 'Demonic demonic beast Tracking.'"

Professor Lucas pointed to the mountain as he continued.

"There are three demonic beasts currently roaming the training ground. Your task is to track the traces these demonic beasts leave behind and capture them somewhere in the mountains."

"D-Demonic beasts?"

Albert asked in a frightened voice.

Demonic demonic beasts.

A term used to describe animals and plants mutated by demonic power, considered alongside demons as one of humanity's most dangerous "enemies."

Their power and abilities varied greatly by individual, but they were generally strong enough to tear apart several people easily.

"Why, are you scared?"

"N-no! I'm not scared at all!"

Despite his words, Albert's face was stiff with tension.

The expressions of the other cadets weren't much different.

In their first and second years, they'd had opportunities to observe demonic beasts from a distance, but this was their first time directly tracking and hunting a wild demonic beast.

"I can see your legs trembling; don't try to lie."

Clicking his tongue, Professor Lucas lightly smacked Albert's stiff head.

"Ouch!"

Albert yelped, clutching his head in pain.

"I'll say it again, today's class is about 'tracking' the demonic beasts. Not hunting, but tracking."

With arms crossed, Professor Lucas continued.

"The demonic beasts you're to capture have had their movements restricted by magical tools. In other words, they can only run away."

"Oh."

"Phew, I thought…"

At this, the tension finally lifted from the cadets' faces.

"Well, this is just the first class. But there will be no mercy from the midterm evaluations onwards, so you'd better start preparing now."

"Ugh."

With the professor's continued words, the cadets' faces darkened again.

"In any case, the party that tracks and captures the demonic beasts will receive bonus points, so do your best to find them."

"Yes, sir!"

The cadets answered energetically, knowing that the overall ranking during their time as cadets would significantly affect their treatment after graduation, making every bonus point worth striving for.

"Then, let's get ready to depar—"

"Professor! I have a question!"

"Go ahead."

"What's the time limit?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention that. The time limit is…"

Professor Lucas' lips curled into a grin.

"There isn't one."

"…?"

The cadets' eyes filled with confusion at the professor's words.

"The class continues until all three demonic beasts are captured, whether it takes hours or days."

"D-days?"

"Uh… Professor, what about our other classes…?"

"For practical combat training, this will be considered a legitimate reason for absence, so focus on this class without worry."

"…"

Seeing Professor Lucas' wicked smile, which clearly implied there was no escape, the cadets looked dismayed.

"Alright, parties will depart at five-minute intervals!"

With Professor Lucas' hearty laughter, the first outdoor class of their third year began.

* * *

"Demonic demonic beast tracking, huh."

I couldn't quite recall the details when I was first told to form a party.

But now, my memories from my previous life started to return.

"We barely managed to capture all three demonic beasts on the third day."

Of course, the party I was in didn’t even find the demonic beasts’ shadows, let alone capture them.

I remembered struggling in the mountains for three days, nearly starving as we wandered aimlessly.

"It's almost our turn."

"Oh, yeah."

At Iris's call, I stood up.

"Ugh… Do we really have to team up with this guy, Saintess?"

"It's a party class. Of course, we have to stick together."

"Well, that's true, but…"

Camilla glared at me with clear disapproval.

"Why did you even suggest forming a party with such a brute?"

I was curious about that, too.

"Why did she ask me to be in the same party?"

After all, this was the same person who had slapped me and cursed me out not long ago.

We hadn’t crossed paths or spoken since then, so there was no way the tension had disappeared.

"Well… Who knows?"

With an enigmatic smile, Iris glanced at me.

"It's a secret."

"Ugh."

"Anyway, if we don't start soon, the professor will get mad."

"Sigh. Alright, I understand."

Camilla sighed, seemingly resigned, and then sharply turned to face me.

"I've heard you've been hiding your strength?"

"Well… I had my reasons."

Although I hadn't been hiding my strength, there was no point in denying the rumors now.

It wasn’t like anyone would believe me if I told them I had regressed in time.

"Whatever your reasons are, don't think I'll go down as easily as last time."

Camilla grabbed the hilt of her sword and glared at me fiercely.

Suppressing a laugh, I nodded.

I didn’t plan to lose control and act recklessly like last time, but a question naturally arose.

‘Could I beat Camilla if she went all out now?’

Honestly, the reason I was able to overpower her so easily before was mostly because she was caught off guard.

At that time, she hadn’t even used her stigma.

If we were to fight again with her giving it her all…

‘I'm not sure.’

Even though I now had a way to accumulate mana, it had only been a week since I started.

I couldn’t compare to her, who had consistently grown stronger through breathing techniques since childhood.

Although I could confidently say that my pure skills were beyond what she could ever achieve, that was only in terms of technique.

‘Honestly, I don’t really know how strong I am right now.’

There were three periods in my past life when I grew significantly.

The first was during my rough mercenary life.

The second was when I learned from comrades like Yuren, Berald, and Sophia.

And the last…

‘When I wandered the continent, searching for the Primordial Flame on my own.’

At that time, I had no one to compare myself to, so it was hard to gauge the level of my own abilities.

But one thing I could be certain of was…

‘I won’t lose easily.’

No matter how promising Camilla Vedice was, having even been considered a cadet for the 'Sword of the Holy Kingdom,' right now, she was just an inexperienced cadet who hadn't even faced a proper battle.

“What are you hesitating for?”

“Ah, sorry.”

“Hmph. Just because it's a lesson doesn't mean you should take it lightly. As long as you're on the same team as me, act as if this is a real battle.”

With a scoff, Camilla walked with confident strides.

”But where should we start tracking?”

Iris looked around, appearing at a loss.

Though they called it a demonic beast hunt, how on earth were they supposed to find the demonic beast hiding somewhere in this vast forest?

”Heh. There's no need to worry about that, Saintess!”

Camilla puffed out her chest with a confident expression.

”I scored quite well in the tracking class we took last year. Just trust me and follow along.”

”Oh, that's right. You came bragging to me back then, saying you got first place.”

”Th-that was… ahem. Please forget about that.”

”Why~ It was cute.”

”L-let's get moving before the other teams beat us to it.”

Camilla hurried her steps, blushing slightly, as if trying to escape.

* * *

The demonic beast tracking began under Camilla's lead.

Indeed, her claim about excelling in the tracking class didn't seem to be a lie.

Her tracking skills were quite impressive.

”Judging by the direction the branches are broken and the footprints, it moved this way.”

Camilla carefully observed her surroundings, following the demonic beast's traces.

After about an hour of moving forward,

”Huh...? What?”

Camilla's face showed confusion as the trail suddenly disappeared.

”Ugh…”

Camilla looked back at Iris, stomping her feet in frustration.

”You don’t need to make that face. It's your first time tracking a demonic beast yourself, right?”

”B-but!”

”It’s alright.”

Iris comforted Camilla with a gentle smile and then turned to me.

”Looks like we’ll have to start from the beginning.”

”No, we don’t have to.”

I shook my head and stepped forward.

”…We don’t have to? What do you mean by that?”

”The trail didn’t disappear; you just didn’t find it.”

”What?”

I pointed to a thin black hair stuck in the bark of a nearby tree.

The hair was lodged about 10 meters up, so you wouldn’t have noticed it unless you really craned your neck upwards.

”Ah…!”

”There’s no scratch marks on the tree, but there’s hair up high. It’s a creature that’s good at climbing.”

But why did it suddenly climb the tree after walking on the ground?

I brushed aside the fallen leaves under the tree.

As I expected.

There was a pile of dung, likely left by the demonic beast.

‘Whether it's a human or a demonic beast, the moment they defecate is when they’re most vulnerable.’

It probably climbed the tree for safety while doing its business.

”This is recent.”

I took a small piece of the dung and put it in my mouth.

Gasp!

I heard the shocked gasps of two women behind me.

I spat out the dung I had tasted and continued talking.

”It’s not very moist, and it has a strong foul and bitter taste. It’s likely a carnivorous feline that has mutated into a demonic beast.”

Considering its ability to climb, this is almost certain.

”The fact that there’s a slight taste of blood suggests it’s not in great health.”

This was probably due to the magical tool that Professor Lucas mentioned.

”Given its movement pattern and health, it probably hasn’t moved far after climbing the tree.”

”…….”

As I stood up, Camilla took a step back, looking a bit unsteady.

”What?”

”Y-you just… that… you ate the demonic beast's dung….”

”There’s nothing more reliable than dung for checking a demonic beast’s condition. This is even written in tracking manuals, right?”

Even a demonic beast is a creature that eats, sleeps, and defecates.

”I know that, but…”

Usually, you’d just look at it.

Even most active heroes wouldn’t actually eat it.

Perhaps a low-ranking mercenary desperate to survive might do such a thing.

”Tasting it is far more accurate than just looking at it.”

”S-still, there’s no need to go as far as eating it.”

”It might not matter now because this is training, but what if this were a real battle? If the demonic beast was hiding and ready to attack you at any moment?”

In that case, knowing the demonic beast’s condition in advance could be the difference between life and death.

”That’s…”

”Weren’t you the one who said to treat this as if it were a real battle, not just training?”

”…….”

Unable to find a rebuttal, Camilla lowered her head in silence.

I could see her clenched fists trembling slightly.

She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

‘Well.’

She had boldly told the Saintess, her superior, to trust her and follow her lead, only to lose the trail halfway through.

And she had just been completely outmatched in logic and skill by a cadet who had humiliated her a week earlier.

For someone as prideful as her, this must have been a serious blow to her mental state.

”D-damn it….”

Camilla, biting her lip in frustration, approached me with teary eyes.

Thud!

She stomped her foot harshly and grabbed me by the collar.

”I-I can do it too!”

”Huh?”

Do what?

”I can eat dung too!”

”…….”

Uh.

I get what she means, but…

Hearing it like that sounds a bit off.

”What’s the big deal about eating dung that you’re acting so high and mighty?”

”What kind of life is one where you can boast about eating dung?”

”I can do it too if I want!”

”Yeah, yeah. Got it.”

Alright, alright. Just calm down.

”Hmph! What do you know? So, what you’re saying now is that you want me to put that… that dirty thing in my mouth, right?!”

”Excuse me?”

What the hell is she talking about?

”Y-you bastard…!”

”No.”

Please stop.

It’s starting to feel like we’re in a weird genre now.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]