I Killed the Player of the Academy

e 1st Arc.
The infamous knight-killer, John Doe, of Haze the City of Fog was brought back to the surface through the beowulf capturing mission.

 

  On the week of that said mission, if the player did not choose the beowulf capturing mission and went with a different one, they would hear news of how the other party that had been trying to capture the beowulf had been annihilated.

 

  On the other hand, if they went with the beowulf mission, they would come across the murderer, John Doe in the process, and enter a fight before successfully chasing him out.

 

  Whatever the case, the player would receive the official document from the El Rath Kingdom and enter the investigation party.

 

  At a glance, the guardians of the beowulf mission were just there to be killed for the advancement of the main scenario, but there was also a chain quest and a backstory.

 

  The Grade 3 party leader Mr.
Charlie had a daughter.
Her name was Ms.
Sheryl the florist, and she would give a quest about finding Charlie’s necklace for a keepsake.

 

  Ms.
Sheryl the florist was a nice person.
She was someone who volunteered at medical stations for orphans in the streets and I also had a connection with her in the last iteration.

 

 『You look very sad.
Would you like a flower? It’s a leftover so don’t worry about the price.』 

 

  Fighting against dangerous enemies with my life constantly on the line, there were times when I sometimes felt very depressed.
A single flower given by a nameless stranger was sometimes enough to ring your heart.

 

  ‘I’ll just think of this as repayment for that flower.’

 

  Besides, this incident was also related to the future scenario as well as the ‘Precept.’

 

  Ms.
Sheryl was a nice person in both the game and the last iteration.
I had to prevent the misfortune of her losing her father and also do some prep work on John Doe.

 

  Due to the special traits of John Doe, it was impossible for me to catch him alone.
It wasn’t a matter of strength, and it was because his specialty was being exceptional at ‘Stealth’.

 

  I could kill him in a matter of 10 seconds if he was in front of my eyes, but he won’t ever show himself.

 

  The key was someone who could see through his specialty, ‘Thin Mist’, and penetrate through his stealth.

 

  “Alicia.”

 

  “Yes?”

 

  “How’s your eyes?”

 

  “…”

 

  ‘Why was he asking that question?’ That was the question in her gaze. 

 

  There was a reason why Alicia still couldn’t – or rather ‘didn’t – use her eyes.

 

  It was predictable considering Alicia’s character but it was something that wasn’t clear at this stage in time back when it was a game.
I could voice it out loud and talk to her about it but… she would probably just deny it.

 

  “Uhh… What do you mean? My eyes are perfectly normal.”

 

  “You know that’s not what I’m asking.”

 

  “……Did you hear from my sister?”

 

  “By chance.”

 

  Of course, Lunia didn’t say anything to me but that wasn’t important.

 

  “You have to hurry.
Your sister is serious.
She will seriously try to crush you so that you can’t hold your sword ever again.”

 

  The fight for hierarchy between beasts was very brutal.
It wouldn’t end until one side was down and that was the same for the Ardens because the Arden household was a family of such beasts.

 

  “…I can just stop using the sword then.”

 

  “As if.”

 

  In response to my mutter, Alicia stared at me with a frown.

 

  She appeared to be asking what was so funny, but I still remembered the unkempt and clumsy look on her face.

 

  As well as the bewitched look in her eyes.

 

  “You can’t abandon your sword.
Ever.”

 

  That was just the way of the scenario of this world and her nature as a human.
Oftentimes, humans had a characteristic that they couldn’t ever run away from.

 

  Alicia was someone with talents that befitted her surname, Arden, more than anyone else in the world.

 

  ****

 

  Inside the beowulf nest were two beowulfs and around 20 short hounds.
The party skilfully dealt with the short hounds and one of the beowulfs but things started going strange.

 

  “What the hell! Why are there so many of them!”

 

  “Where are they even coming from!”

 

  A sudden fog started enshrouding them and a horde of demonic beasts began endlessly swarming out of the fog.

 

  “Hanson! Where’s that Grade 5 kid!”

 

  “I don’t know! Now is not the time for that! The lady from Arden is holding on quite well but…!”

 

  Alicia was doing an excellent job against the demonic beasts.
Using her innate physical talents and her phenomenal swordsmanship, she was killing at least one monster with each of her strikes.

 

  Although her sword was ridiculously sharp, her skills themselves were also incomparably greater than that of other guardians.

 

  ‘Where are they all coming from? It’s not just demonic beasts; there are also spirits! This place shouldn’t have so many demonic spirits though!’

 

  Demonic spirits were mostly the souls of dead people that remained behind in the mortal world that eventually became demonified.
Although it was possible for the souls of dead animals to become one, most of them were humans because they needed to have a strong resentment to stay behind and become a demonic spirit.

 

  Thus, it was rare to see a lot of demonic spirits in an inhabited area.

 

  This felt intentional.
Alicia was thinking that when she sensed someone approaching from the other side of the fog.

 

  “Mr.
Korin?”

 

  Thinking that it was her comrade that she lost track of during the chaos of the fight, Alicia welcomed the incoming person.
She wasn’t that concerned in the first place because he was stronger than herself, but checking his safety still made her relieved. 

 

  “Guwoooo…!”

 

  “Uht?”

 

  However, what she saw after turning around was a person in full plate armor.
Korin preferred light armor so it was probably not him, and the shivering aura it was giving off was as if it was…

 

  “A demonic spirit?”

 

  – Kaang!

 

  In the blink of an eye, the full-plated man swung the ax down as Alicia blocked it with her demon-slaying sword.

 

  ‘This weight! It’s not a demonic spirit! It’s a knight!’

 

  “Why are you attacking us!”

 

  A person – a guardian – was attacking them. 

 

  Why? Doubt appeared in her mind but Alicia didn’t linger on the topic.

 

  “Move!”

 

  She kicked the armor as the knight fell back.
The knight’s body was wobbling more than she expected and did not even have a clear sense of balance.

 

  “Step aside! I will cut you next time!”

 

  Despite her warning, the armored knight did not fall back.
While threatening her with the ax, the knight attempted to kill her.

 

  “Uhk…!”

 

  The knight was stronger than she expected and was as tough as a monster.
Seeing how both the aura and the equipment weren’t that good, the man should be a Grade 4 Knight at best so how was he so strong?

 

  However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t overpower him.
She was about to hold herself back a little and attack but that was when a large mace came flying in from the side.

 

  “Kiieeeeeeeh!”

 

  “Uhht?!”

 

  – Slam!

 

  “??!”

 

  She used her aura to block the attack but she couldn’t completely absorb the impact.
By the time she hurriedly stood back up after rolling across the floor, the knight carrying an ax was already swinging it towards her.

 

  “N, no…!”

 

  It was too late to dodge and she was too late to respond.
Drawing near was an unavoidable sense of dea—

 

  – Slash!

 

  A head popped up into the air.
After a while, it followed the law of gravity and fell on the ground.

 

  Thick drops of blood splattered onto her face as Alicia widened her eyes into circles.
In that instant, the sword that she instinctively swung had easily slashed through the neck of the armored knight. 

 

  – Chiiiik!

 

  Like iron dropped in magma, the scorching blade was tainted and gleamed in black instead of silver.

 

  “Haak… haak…!”

 

  N, no.
I, I killed a person…

 

  “Kuwaaaa!”

 

  The knight who had swung the mace at Alicia thumped its way towards her.
As soon as the mace soared into the air and was about to strike down at the defenseless girl…

 

  – Kwaduk!

 

  A white spearhead pierced through the visor of the knight’s helmet and came out the other side.

 

  Blood was dripping from the tip of the spear.
Soon, the spear retreated out of the hole after killing the knight in one blow. 

 

  “M, Mr.
K, Korin…”

 

  “Why are you staying still?”

 

  “I, I… killed a…”

 

  “Don’t hold back.
These things are not people.”

 

  “They’re… not people?”

 

  “It’s an undead raised up with black magic.”

 

  It was true.
Taking off the helmet of the deceased knight, she found a rotten and decomposed face.

 

  “Ah…”

 

  A sigh of relief left her mouth.
Her heart was starting to beat again.

 

  “You stupid brat! I told you to stay with us! There are undeads as well! Where the hell were you…”

 

  That was when the mage, Charlie, came running out of the fog and shouted before shutting his mouth mid-way.

 

  “M, Mr.
Charlie.
I, I’m fine.”

 

  “U, uhh…”

 

  After seeing Alicia, Charlie gulped and took a step back.

 

  — Alicia was smiling.

 

  Her crooked lips were forming a terrifying smile.
Dripping from the corners of her lips was a spooky sense of remorse as if it was a pity that the opponent wasn’t a human.

 

  “I told you… You can’t abandon your sword.”

 

  It was neither the Eyes of the Boundary nor her swordsmanship.

 

  The talent of a human-killing ghost:

 

  That was the true talent of the girl called Alicia Arden.