1st place Helmut 98.2 points, 2nd place Asuka 97.2 points, 3rd place Andro 92.1 points.

‘I lost some points on the written part.’

Still, he was in first place. Seeing his name at the top was more gratifying than he thought.

Helmut was new to competition. In the Forest of Roots, there was no one to challenge him.

‘Only a 1-point difference with Asuka.’

Both Asuka and Helmut had swordsmanship skills beyond their grade level. Helmut’s superiority didn’t mean Asuka’s score could be significantly reduced. The difference in practical skills was compensated for by the written score.

This explained why Asuka was always so confident.

‘Not bad.’

Helmut had thought of Asuka as a troublemaker, but he slightly revised his opinion. Asuka’s presence allowed Helmut to prepare for the exam with the right amount of tension.

Asuka pushed through the swordsmanship students to check his name on the bulletin board. He scratched his nose.

“Ah, a 1-point difference, what’s that about?”

“It means you did well on the exam.”

“Being narrowly defeated feels even more annoying. It’s frustrating and irritating.”

“Do you think you feel worse than I do?”

Suddenly, a hand appeared out of nowhere, aiming to smack the back of Asuka’s head. However, Asuka reflexively grabbed and twisted the hand.

“Ouch!”

Sian screamed. Asuka released his grip after recognizing who it was.

“What? Was that invisibility magic? Using magic unnecessarily to show up like that.”

An ambush of this sort was unlikely to work on Asuka, given his exceptional reaction speed. Sian grimaced and exaggerated his pain.

“Ow! You almost broke my wrist just now. Is this how you treat a friend, with violence?”

Asuka raised an eyebrow at the unwarranted attack.

“You’ve never seen me really get violent, have you?”

Usually, it’s Sian who backs down in such situations. But not this time.

“Are you in any position to say that? If you had any conscience, you couldn’t. No way.”

Realizing something, Asuka shut up for a moment but then spoke harshly.

“Good for you. You’ve been complaining about lack of exercise and gaining weight from late-night snacks. Thanks to me, you’ll get to run around the sports field and get some physical training, right?”

“Crazy dog of the swordsmanship department, this guy! Even a dog would have more conscience than you!”

“What are you saying? Did someone kneel and beg you to bet?”

“If I hadn’t bet, you would have been upset, yet you talk big!”

As the two bickered, the second-year swordsmanship students shared their thoughts on the exam results.

“Suddenly, the top 2 scores have shot up. Last year, the gap wasn’t this big even until the third rank.”

“Two of the top three are transfer students.”

“Andro’s the third, right? Isn’t he one of the quieter transfer students?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Attention shifted to Andro, who had just arrived. With Helmut and Asuka almost guaranteed the top two ranks, everyone was curious about who would take third.

And Andro was the one who secured that position.

“Hey, Andro! You’ve done it again.”

“I was lucky, did better on the exam than I thought.”

Andro humbly replied. In reality, the second-year students of the swordsmanship department had no choice but to be modest. They were in the same grade as the monsters Helmut and Asuka.

“Well, luck is part of skill.”

“Everyone did put in more effort for this midterm.”

“I don’t care about the rest, but Asuka not getting first is something, right?”

“Would be trouble if the crazy dog became the top of our grade, wouldn’t it?”

Asuka glared in the direction where his nickname was mentioned.

“Who just barked!”

Silence followed.

“Where can we check the detailed scores, not just the converted ones?”

When Helmut asked another student, the silence broke. Even if Asuka was temperamental, Helmut was ranked higher in the swordsmanship department hierarchy.

The asked student, surprised, replied, “The detailed scorecards will be distributed during tomorrow’s class.”

“The exams are over, so we’ll have some leisure for a while.”

“You’re already at ease. You must have been playing all weekend.”

“Well, it’s okay to relax now.”

“Hey, Helmut. Did you hear?”

Someone approached Helmut, who shook his head.

“No.”

“I heard some instructors talking. It seems we’re going on a hunting picnic as part of our training. There’s a big forest next to Baden. We’ll camp there and hunt. Maybe for more than three days?”

Someone complained.

“That place doesn’t even have magical beasts. It’ll be boring.”

“Talking nonsense. If you were in charge of the academy, would you take second-year students on a magical beast hunt?”

“What’s the big deal about magical beasts? The ones I’ve seen caught just look like slightly fiercer animals.”

“Magical beasts appear often near our territory. You wouldn’t say that if you’d seen one alive.”

Helmut thought back to the monkey-like magical beast he encountered while working with the Pace mercenary corps.

That creature could easily wipe out half of the second-year swordsmanship students in no time.

Distracted by these thoughts, someone asked him.

“Helmut, are you confident about hunting?”

“Yeah.”

He had plenty of experience in the Forest of Roots. The novelty was that the prey wouldn’t be magical beasts but ordinary animals.

“Oh? That was a straightforward answer. You must have done some hunting.”

“Good. If I’m in the same group as you, I won’t have to worry about going hungry. We’ll probably act in groups if we go.”

“Why would we starve? They’ll provide basic food.”

“We’ll have to make do with roasted potatoes without meat.”

“And add corn to that.”

The chatter continued unabated. Helmut, stepping aside, mulled over what he had heard.

‘A hunting picnic…’

The forest was a familiar place to him. He had only dreamed of leaving it behind, but now, confined to the academy, his feelings had changed.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

“What, camping out? Ah, I can’t sleep if my back gets cold.”

Asuka approached, having apparently overheard, and grumbled. Sian, having finished arguing with Asuka, also walked towards Helmut.

“That sounds fun. I wish I could go, but the magic department’s instructors are so inactive. They’d never organize such an event.”

“You guys have many girls. What if some pervert uses invisibility magic to peep on them going to the bathroom? I saw earlier that it’s the perfect magic for that.”

“…What are you talking about? Well, It’s not impossible, I guess. There’s always one or two crazies in the magic department.”

Then, from a distance, a cold voice was heard.

“Sian, come to the sports field after class.”

Alea stood there with her arms crossed, apparently not having left yet. Sian flinched.

Otaku_Tensei

I'm currently Translating the following novel: Helmut: The Forsaken Child. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!

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