The Academy Guard with a Terminal Illness - Chapter 19

I carry the student who has not yet regained consciousness on my back.

I could ask a student named Doris to create a golem to carry him instead, but that would draw attention.

We need to move quietly for now.

“What do you mean? It’s better to wait here.”

“What was that just now? I felt the mana, but it was a power different from magic.”

“The demon has disappeared, hasn’t it? Isn’t the situation over with that?”

The students bombard me with frantic questions.

The situation is too urgent to answer them one by one.

If we’re late, we’ll all lose our lives at the hands of the enraged demon.

It’s not enough for just me to act wisely here. The students need to react quickly.

To make them understand the gravity of the situation, I say what needs to be said.

“The enemy is not dead; he’s just been driven away. The same trick won’t work again, so we need to quickly escape from here, before that demon comes back.”

The students appear to understand the seriousness of the situation and their expressions harden.

They have realized that the crisis is not over yet.

Even if it was just for a moment, the students were overwhelmed by the powerful mana of the demon.

And despite facing such a formidable enemy, perhaps the actions I showed them have earned their trust.

There was no back-and-forth or bickering over what I, just a mere guard, had to say.

When I hastily gave my instructions, the students started moving busily.

“Cough, cough…. Ugh!”

The coughing doesn’t stop.

My heart aches.

Even using a spell affects my body.

I thought the consumption of mana was relatively minor, but it wasn’t at all.

The pain was the same.

I can feel gazes upon me.

Worry and unease.

I can easily picture the expressions on the students’ faces in my mind.

I remove the hand covering my mouth and offer a reassuring smile, as always.

I wave my hand as if to say it’s nothing.

“I’m fine, really. I just used an unexpected amount of mana. More importantly, your legs have stopped. Hurry and gather any necessary items and wait at the entrance of the cave.”

The students, seemingly convinced, breathe a sigh of relief and resume moving their legs.

‘As expected, there are many smart friends here. They act quickly.’

After quickly getting ready, we came out to the entrance of the cave.

I look around.

The demons are adept at detecting mana.

In other words, if we move without any plan, we could be tracked down again soon by that demon.

We need to deceive the enemy. To do that, we need to trick them.

I look over at Doris.

“Can you create small golems, like birds or mice?”

“Of course I can. That kind of stuff is basic, after all.”

Doris replies confidently and looks at me with a questioning gaze.

“But if you’re going to defeat a monster blocking the path, wouldn’t it be better to make one strong golem rather than a bunch of weak ones?”

“It’s not to defeat the monster. Please make as many as possible.”

Though Doris is a noble, perhaps understanding that it’s better to follow my words in this situation, she starts creating golems without complaint, despite her doubts.

I leave busy Doris to her golem-making and speak to the other students.

“Please pluck some of your hair and imbue it with mana. Then place the hair on this cloth.”

Confused by the inexplicable request, the students murmur among themselves.

Some of the high-ranking students express dissatisfaction, questioning why they should do this.

As I was about to explain further to convince them, some students, including those of high status like Aria, started following my instructions without objection.

At that, the atmosphere shifted, and the dissenting students began looking around at one another hesitantly.

Feeling like they should do something in that atmosphere, they eventually start complying with my request.

‘Good. That went smoothly.’

I also get to work on my part.

Ripping the cloth, I place and fold the prepared hair inside it, then tie it to the legs of the small golems.

“Could it be…?!”

Doris’s eyes widen slightly.

She seemed to understand what I was trying to do.

Nodding, I hasten my pace, tying the cloths to the golems.

I instruct a few students to do the same as I did.

Soon after.

After tying everything to the golems’ legs, I give Doris instructions.

“Spread them everywhere.”

The small golems, like mice and birds, scatter in all directions.

‘With this, we’ll buy some time. Now, I can only hope luck won’t be on the enemy’s side.’

I observe the students.

Various emotions such as anxiety, confusion, fear, and distrust are swirling around.

They must be scared.

Right now, they are in a situation where losing their lives today wouldn’t be strange.

The students are intelligent.

They know they can’t defeat the demon they encountered with their own power.

The only adult they can rely on in this situation is a lone guard.

Just the words of a mere guard won’t be enough to ease their fears.

I open my mouth to speak.

“Please follow my words carefully from now on. Suppress your mana as much as possible and move deliberately. Even if you see monsters, don’t hastily use magic. If you follow my instructions, there won’t be a need to fight monsters.”

Everyone nods with uneasy faces.

Their expressions are uniformly dark.

I hear several individuals gulping nervously.

“Let’s go.”

The path ahead is dark as night, even though it’s daytime.

It’s because the abundant sunlight is blocked by the dense leaves and branches.

We brave the path where something might jump out from the thick trees and bushes.

I take a step forward, and the students follow behind with fear and unease.

◆

“What was that just now?”

Amidst the quiet atmosphere, a student asked a question.

I survey their faces. Some understood what I did, while others still didn’t.

Noticing their curious gazes, I explain slowly.

“It’s to deceive the demon.”

By having the golems distribute items imbued with mana everywhere, the mana of our party scatters all over, confusing the enemy who might try to track us via mana detection, thereby buying time.

Upon hearing my explanation, the students’ eyes sparkle with wonder, admiration leaking out of them.

Don’t look at me like that.

It makes my heart heavy.

It’s a common tactic used by adventurers and magic associations.

“But what you did is a countermeasure under the assumption that they’re chasing us. Is there a reason for that demon to pursue us?”

Doris’s sharp question momentarily leaves me speechless.

I glance sideways at Aria and smile awkwardly.

“There might be something I’ve done. Since I could have angered it firmly, I took measures for any possibility.”

“What?! Then isn’t it dangerous to be with you?”

“I’m just saying it’s possible. Don’t take it seriously. Plus, walking around this forest alone is far more dangerous presently.”

With that, I focus on what’s ahead and continue walking.

I’m relieved the other students haven’t thought that far; they’re too preoccupied with the demon to dwell on it.

Yes.

It’s better this way.

If they find out, it would just cause unnecessary trouble, so it’s better they remain ignorant.

“Let’s focus on rejoining others for now. Overthinking will only stir up more anxiety.”

Breaking dry branches and stepping over thick roots, we walk through the forest, and Aria quietly approaches by my side.

“Aren’t you struggling…? You seem to be overexerting.”

“I’m fine.”

“You can fool others, but not my eyes. I’ve seen many patients with these eyes. After using that power, you looked like you were struggling… is it perhaps a forbidden spell?”

I chuckle at her remark.

She’s way off.

“No. It’s some form of sorcery used to hunt demons, which I learned from a friend on the battlefield.”

“Really? The world is truly vast. I pride myself on reading many books, yet it’s magic not found in books.”

“As vast as the world is, so is the magic.”

Books aren’t all there is.

There is truly diverse magic in the world.

The sorcery I used could broadly be considered a unique kind of magic I created.

However,

“It’s not magic; it’s sorcery. Although similar, they are entirely different.”

When I correct her mistake, Aria slightly furrows her brows.

Magic and sorcery.

She must not understand what differentiates the two.

I’d like to explain why they are different, but we don’t have the leisure for that right now.

More importantly…

I lean in and whisper to her.

“Please don’t use that power, Aria.”

Her teal eyes shake intensely as if hit by something.

Her complexion turns pale as though I uncovered a secret she didn’t want revealed.

Naturally, she looks at me, and I let out an exasperated sigh.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I saw you in the library with that.”

Aria had been reading a forbidden book in the library.

It’s no surprise if she had learned forbidden sorcery.

In life-and-death situations, using any means possible is a given, but forbidden sorcery should never be one of them.

Employing such power leads to irreversible consequences.

─But it’s okay. I will let it go since I found the human I’m looking for.

The demon is likely pursuing Aria.

The reason is obvious.

Aria, aware of the other students around, controls her emotions to erase her serious expression and returns to a calm demeanor.

“Once again, please refrain from acting rashly. It’ll be okay once we meet up with others.”

“If we meet up safely, that is.”

“We will meet up.”

During our walk, we encountered monsters a few times, but thanks to the students following my instructions well, we managed to avoid fights without significant danger.

Honestly, I’m relieved they followed my guidance well.

I was worried there might be some students acting out of line, but thankfully, it was just an unnecessary worry.

“Look over there, a barrier! It must be a magical barrier set by the teachers!”

A student shouted joyfully.

“It seems I wasn’t wrong.”

“Indeed.”

We hasten our pace.

Exiting the dense trees, an open space welcomes us.

We were able to enter the barrier without any trouble, and as we went further inside, we found other members of the party.

◆◆◆

The members inside the barrier greeted us warmly.

The students who walked together with us joined the group and went to rest.

“I’m glad you’re safe too.”

Fortunately, Sonia was among them.

After a brief conversation with Sonia, I joined other colleagues to hear the situation.

To summarize:

Other groups were similarly transported.

Luckily, they quickly regrouped and gathered the teachers, set up a strong barrier to secure a base, and are searching the surroundings for other members.

I hasten my steps toward where the teachers are.

I see the teachers discussing among themselves.

They seem to be discussing why this happened and what to do next, and I interject.

“It’s demons.”

The teachers’ gazes focus intensely.

“Demons? What do you mean? Please explain in detail.”

I tell the teachers about what happened up to now.

The teachers, like students who finally solved a perplexing problem, looked relieved.

But the response is oddly weak, and the reason soon became evident.

“Even if it’s a demon, they can’t break through the barrier we created.”

A mustachioed teacher speaks confidently.

He speaks too easily.

There are many issues to consider, such as the scale of the enemy and who is leading them.

Most importantly.

“The demon we encountered isn’t an ordinary demon. At the very least, it has power corresponding to an Archdemon.”

The teachers are all shocked.

It makes sense—an Archdemon is equivalent to a high-ranking officer among demons.

A demon just below officer rank implies considerable skill—a high-level demon, that is.

The teachers have a serious discussion among themselves and then look at me.

Their gazes are full of distrust.

“Aren’t you mistaken? There’s no way such a demon would appear here.”

“That’s right. If it were a demon with such power, we would have noticed it right away.”

“Mistaken judgment of an opponent’s mana is common even among wizards.”

“Leave such things to us. You, just stay with the others and ensure the students don’t act rashly.”

None of them believe my words.

They’re dismissing it as a common guard’s mistake.

It’s understandable.

The demon’s mana can’t be sensed, presumably because it’s suppressing its power.

In this context, my words inevitably lose credibility.

The teachers, being part of the top educational institution, also have great pride in their skills.

Seeing that it’s useless to continue talking, I bow slightly and prepare to leave, but I stop in my tracks.

The pulsating mana and the trembling barrier’s energy.

A noisy sound erupts.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

The barrier starts cracking and breaking apart.

Crack.

It’s shattering!

With a powerful burst, the barrier shatters into countless pieces as energy fragments scatter about.