Chapter 231 (1/2)

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Chapter 231 – The Night Battle Starts

Jarazack's Alexei sent fifty men raring to fight as reinforcements for Claude, but ten days had pa.s.sed since their arrival and nothing happened, resulting in boredom. These men, by nature, loved being rough.

「Hey, Ivan. We're heading out.」

「Head out? Where?」

「According to the Adventurers Guild, monsters are appearing at the outskirts. We're going hunting.」

「What?! You can't do that!」

「It's fine. Thirty men will stay behind. Three groups of ten men each will take turns keeping watch, so I'm sure it won't be a problem. Besides, there's only ten of those guys in Ludancia's border, right?」

「L-Let me talk to Professor Mikhail first, at least—」

「See ya!」

「Hey!」

The man escaped at the mention of Mikhail's name, presumably because he knew the professor would not allow it.

「Oh, well…」Ivan muttered.「We could've just returned to Jarazack than wait here for nothing too.」

What the man said was not wrong. There were only about ten men stationed in Ludancia's border. No matter how skilled the enemies were, Mikhail and the others would know if they entered Scholarzard. They could buy time with the barrier around the academy as well. Losing was impossible.

Mikhail wore a bitter expression when Ivan told him about the men going out, but let it slide anyway. Hikaru was not around; he was in the research building helping Katy out with her experiments. If Ivan told Hikaru about this, it might've had a different outcome altogether. Monsters coming out in this season? Wasn't that strange?

Later that night, Claude couldn't sleep. He was in lecture building C. Sleep just wouldn't come when he thought about how Luka was just beyond the part.i.tioning screen. It had been like this the past few days.

If I told Ivan about this, I'm sure he'll say something like “Make a move on her and you should be able to sleep right after.” d.a.m.n it. I want our relations.h.i.+p to stay pure until marriage.

Claude held rather outdated mentality for this age. Being a Spirit Elf, his body would stop developing after reaching a certain age and would stay that way as he lived for more than a hundred years. He knew death would separate him from Luka—they were both aware of that. So he wanted to cherish the moments they had together.

Claude heaved a sigh and stepped outside. It was a clear, cloudless sky, and the moon sat high above. A chillier night than normal, it seemed like all creation would freeze over. Claude started swinging his sword in hopes that it would make him tired and fall asleep easier.

Ivan's staying in the dorm with the men from Jarazack. I bet they're drinking.

He suspected that those off-duty might be negligent in their jobs. Rather, he was just jealous of them for having it easy enough that they could drink every day.

Hikaru is in his home I guess… and Catherine's staying there too.

Claude couldn't comprehend how Hikaru's own party member was staying in an inn. So Catherine, Lavia's friend, stayed in their apartment instead.

I have no idea what that's all about… I'm grateful to Hikaru for making me stronger, though.

He didn't know how, but his swordsmans.h.i.+p improved remarkably. He even had a four-character cla.s.s on his soul card, Sword Dancer. Claude didn't know, of course, that Hikaru configured his Soul Board and as a result, the job cla.s.s appeared, making him more skilled overall. He had nothing but grat.i.tude for him.

「Phew.」

He stopped swinging. His body temperature was rising. Even with a coat on, steam seemed to be rising up in the air.

Then all of a sudden, Claude thought he heard something, like a gla.s.s breaking from far away.

He strained his ears, but heard nothing.

「Claude?」