Academy’s Barbarian

After finishing the monster subjugation, Eleonora, with a fiery gaze, handed me a pile of documents, asking for help.

“Umm… Sorry, I’m a bit busy.”

To avoid being buried under another mountain of paperwork, I fled to the frontlines of the Berengeiria Wall under the pretext of inspecting the restoration progress.

Even I thought it was a perfect excuse. As the lord of Landenburg, it was my duty to ensure the Berengeiria Wall remained strong.

“What brings you here, Your Majesty?”

“Just here to see how things are going.”

Upon arriving at the Berengeiria Wall, Joshua, who was overseeing the defense after returning from monster subjugation, expressed concern about the Ka`har’s recent strange movements.

“Strange movements?”

“Yes. A small special forces unit has been scouting near the wall for the past few days.”

“Special forces… Are they here to spy on the wall’s restoration?”

It’s only been a few months since they were beaten and driven away. If they have the energy for this, they should be fighting their own civil war.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case. According to reports, their movements resemble a search party rather than scouts. They seem to be looking for someone, not just checking our situation.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. There’s no way to find out unless we capture and interrogate them.”

Joshua shook his head slightly.

A Ka`har search party. Quite an interesting story. I don’t know who they’re looking for, but given their activity near the wall, it must be someone important.

“Hmm… I should check it out myself.”

So, I flew up to the sky and scanned the grasslands near the wall.

It was a crazy situation for a queen to personally scout enemy territory, but none of my loyal subjects objected, saying I should take care of my royal body.

They understood that there was no one more capable than me.

In my current state, I was practically invincible unless I descended alone into the enemy’s stronghold to fight their entire army. With my flight ability enhanced by Up-hwa, I had a far wider field of vision than any ordinary scout.

While others were limited to riding horses, I had essentially introduced an aerial reconnaissance plane. And not just any plane—one equipped with napalm and missiles.

The eastern sorcerers also used tamed beasts for scouting, but…

In the end, they were just beasts, with no means of resistance if discovered. In contrast, I could annihilate any enemies who spotted me, making the discovery itself a non-issue. Truly, I was the greatest scout on the ground.

…For that reason, I spent three days flying over the Great Plains, thoroughly investigating the Ka`har’s movements.

And then, I…

‘…Mana? Isn’t this the east?’

[Yes, it’s the Great Plains. That means…]

During my scouting, I sensed a flow of mana hundreds of meters away. To investigate, I accelerated and approached—only to find…

‘What’s that?’

A suspicious group of twenty barbarians threatening a young girl of their own kind.

The clear flow of mana. No doubt. They were the sorcerers from the east, whom the Ka`har warriors despised and sought to exterminate.

…What luck. Who would have thought I’d find the subordinates of the Third Apostle here?

The Grand Sorcerer who commands all the eastern sorcerers.

The Third Apostle, the Serpent of the White Valley.

The annoying woman’s subordinates were gathered on the ground below, restraining a twin-tailed girl who looked about Rana’s age.

So, the special forces scouting near the wall were these guys…

Perfect timing. Looks like there are two or three high-level sorcerers mixed in. If I kill them all, she’ll be clutching her neck in a fit of rage.

With a murderous smile, I tilted my flight path vertically and descended like a falling comet toward them.

[Wait, no. Hold on. That girl, could she be…?!]

While half-listening to Hersela’s panicked babbling, as if she knew the identity of the girl restrained by the sorcerers…

—-

Perhaps because they knew me too well, or because their sorcerer origins made them less aggressive than warriors, they fled in terror upon seeing me, like a young man caught by his future father-in-law after impregnating his daughter.

They cried out, “Abha Gisaka… the Heavenly Demon has appeared!”

Heavenly Demon, quite the grand title. Thanks to defeating Or-han, it seems I’ve become the Heavenly Demon of the east.

‘Pfft, they call us Heavenly Demons?’

I chuckled and asked Hersela how she felt about the new nickname.

‘Nice, huh? Your childhood wish came true. How does it feel, Heavenly Demon?’

[……]

Oddly, Hersela remained silent.

Quite unexpected. I thought she’d either be embarrassed by her childhood dark history or proud of the name Heavenly Demon.

Was she trying to avoid being teased, or was her mind elsewhere?

Even as I crushed the fleeing sorcerers like squashed frogs, Hersela didn’t answer or assist in the battle, silently watching as if asleep.

What’s wrong with her? Did she eat something bad? Normally, she’d be muttering loudly and flailing her Life Force Technique tentacles.

…Doesn’t matter. It was strange, but it didn’t seem necessary to worry.

Even without her help, twenty sorcerers were as easy to deal with as twisting a child’s neck.

Their attack methods were unique, but ultimately just a type of magic. A bit intriguing, but not much different in power or countermeasures from western magic.

Even their specialty, curse-based sorcery, couldn’t penetrate my Demon Resistance and Holy Mark defenses, dissipating without effect.

‘Pathetic, these guys.’

Slaughtering the sorcerers was as simple as hunting rabbits.

—-

“Kuh…”

A sorcerer, corrupted by rune mana, exhaled his last breath and collapsed into a pile of meat.

The Power of Ruin, disintegrating anything it touched into pieces.

Having used the Rune of Fire frequently, I had become adept at manipulating mana. The once palm-sized chunks of flesh were now as small as fingernails, piling up like red shaved ice.

The power has increased.

After losing my left arm in the battle with Or-han, I worried the Rune of Collapse might be lost too… Thankfully, restoring my arm also restored the rune’s engraving.

A happy miscalculation. While inefficient against people, it was incredibly useful for destroying objects.

At full power, even the Berengeiria Wall crumbled.

Though it was because I had already undermined the foundation supporting the wall’s weight, the destructive power was enough to shock high-level magicians and earn applause from masters and heroes.

‘Was that the last one?’

I shook off the bits of flesh stuck to my palm and clicked my tongue in disappointment.

‘A bit of a shame. I wanted to capture at least one for interrogation.’

The twenty sorcerers turned into twenty piles of fertilizer scattered across the wilderness in less than five minutes.

Like a monkey in Buddha’s hand, no matter how desperately they tried to escape, they were caught and slaughtered before they could get far.

None escaped my grasp. I had hoped to capture one or two for interrogation.

[Well, it couldn’t be helped. These are the kind of people who would rather commit suicide than be captured.]

Hersela finally spoke after a long silence.

True. As she said, capturing them was impossible. Even those I tried to disable by breaking their limbs immediately bit down on poison or cast spells to kill themselves.

Even those I knocked out with careful blows used sorcery to burst their own hearts, likely having pre-set suicide spells to activate upon losing consciousness or being severely injured.

Would they rather die than face me in “conversation”? Disgusting, but a wise decision. If captured and dragged to the wall, they’d be begging for death.

[Right now, it’s more important… look over there. That girl they were chasing.]

‘Ah, right. If there’s no tooth, there’s still the gum. If not the sorcerers, we can interrogate her.’

Since when did you make such wise decisions?

I shook off the blood-soaked Durandal and turned toward the girl, approaching her.

Unlike ordinary plunderer warriors, the sorcerers openly tried to kidnap her, so she must be someone significant. Interrogating her should yield something.

‘Break her limbs and take her back. Lock her in the underground prison and stimulate her nerves a bit, and she’ll talk—’

[No, no, what are you saying?! I agree with breaking her legs, but I didn’t mean to interrogate her like usual!]

…Not interrogate?

A bit of a puzzling statement.

Our dear Heavenly Demon isn’t the type to show weakness in a situation where we might find those connected to her mother’s death.

What’s wrong, feeling soft because she’s a young girl?

Or…

‘Do you know her?’

An acquaintance from before?

[…Yes. I know her well. Seeing her now, it’s certain. That girl is—]

After a moment of hesitation, Hersela sighed deeply and was about to reveal the identity of the twin-tailed Ka`har beauty staring blankly at me.

“Ha, Ha-shal-leur unnieeee!”

Before Hersela could explain, the girl prostrated herself and revealed her identity.

“It’s all my fault! Please spare me!”

A perfect, flawless bow.

[Huh, huh? Apologizing? That can’t be… What’s going on, is this an illusion?]

Hersela, who was about to reveal the girl as her half-sister from before, was left flustered and babbling, unable to respond.

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