Excursion [9]

[Aarick's Pov]

"KYAAA!"

'What a welcome...'

Getting welcomed back to the cave by an incredibly pale Lydia, and Jessica screaming her lungs out when she saw me, I seriously debated whether or not I should just go out again.

'Should I just have let that wolf come here?'

Even despite the fact that the wolf had seemingly lost an incredible amount of blood, which made it quite sluggish, it had still not been easy to break through its thick hide with my claws.

It did help a lot that during its run, it had suddenly stumbled and fallen over due to blood loss, bit it had still been hard work.

Lydia took a careful step forward while Jessica was trying to stabilize her breathing.

"Are... you alright?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Because... your face..."

"My face?"

Touching my cheek with my hand, I realized just why their reactions had been so incredibly exaggerated.

"Ah. Well, this is not my blood. This is..."

"Are you guys alright?!"

The last actor in our little play had shown up, his ragged breath giving away that he had sprinted here as fast as he could.

Unlike previously, the girls didn't scream when Will arrived. No, in fact, him arriving appeared to have made Jessica instantly get ahold of herself, now walking forward without any problems as if her earlier appearance had merely been an illusion.

Even if I could understand her reaction a bit, as I must've looked quite creepy, the contrast was still a bit much.

"We are fine, Will. But why are you so riled up? Did something happen?"

Hearing Jessica answer him, he finally looked at me, noticing the blood on my face.

I could almost see the cogs turning in his head until he decided to confirm his thoughts for himself.

"Aarick... Did you kill that boss monster?"

"Boss monster? What are you talking about, Will?"

Without letting me answer, Jessica once again spoke up, still wanting to get an explanation for what was going on.

"Just a bit outside of the cave, there is a corpse belonging to a [D]-rank Dire Wolf who seems to have mutated into a boss monster."

Not even Lydia could stay silent after hearing that, also joining the conversation.

"Is that true, Aarick?"

At this point, all three of them were staring at me intently, waiting for my response.

Not seeing a reason to lie, I just told them the truth.

"I did."

I could have told them about the fact that it was pretty much half dead when I ambushed it, but it felt a lot more amusing to stay silent about that. And just like I thought, Will's eyes told the story of someone who didn't want to believe his ears, yet at the same time someone who couldn't refute it.

"Could I have a moment, Aarick?"

"Sure."

"Hey, wait! Are you leaving us again?!"

"We will be right back, Jessica."

"I hate you guys!"

With Jessica stomping her feet behind us, I could feel Lydia piercing my back with her stare, with the same kind of look that she had given me so many times before. Still, I didn't mind it, as I just kept following Will outside of the cave, somewhat curious to see what he had to say.

As we were welcomed by the gentle light of the moon, Will kept leading me to the same place where I had righteously and honorably ambushed the wolf bleeding from behind.

Before we knew it, we were standing in front of my earlier opponent, seeing the fresh blood cover the grassy ground beneath it, and all of its glorious, one-eyed appearance.

Even now, there was still a small stream of blood exiting the neck that I had gouged out with my claws, painting the fur around it red.

*Sching!*

Too fast for me to properly react, a sword landed an inch from my neck, the sharp blade threatening to make me a literal head shorter. But as I knew that he couldn't actually do anything to me out here, with all the teachers around us, I merely smiled.

"You seem a bit upset, Will. Did I do something wrong?"

"Cut the crap, Aarick! There's no way someone like you could have grown this strong! What are you up to?!"

'Oh? Is it insecurity? Or is it merely unease that makes him act out?'

"What I'm up to? Nothing, really. I'm just trying to live my life, seeing as I finally got the chance to do so. Or am I not allowed to do so?"

His face darkened even more and if looks could kill, I would be six feet underground already. Luckily for me, they couldn't.

"You...!"

"Also, why would it be any of your business what I'm up to?"

The sword at my neck started to tremble a bit, showing the inner turmoil of the man who always tried to keep his cool, but had already failed so many times during this one little trip.

"Because I can't trust you!"

"And just why should I care about that?"

Seeing him squirm, I couldn't stop but feel like a real demon, well aware that there was nothing for me to gain but pure self-satisfaction from instigating him like this.

And it finally came, the moment I had been waiting for. The moment when he openly showed his hostility.

"Because that gives me no choice but to get rid of you."

His sword stopped trembling as if to show his conviction, his resolve to keep imagining himself as the story's hero who had to protect everyone, despite us both knowing that he was only acting in self-preservation.

"So you say... I guess that you have already tried to get rid of me once, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see you try again."

"That wasn't...!"

"Wasn't intentional? It was a mistake? Are you aware that your little 'mistake' cost me four years of my life?"

To be fair, I didn't actually care much about the years that I had lost, as I had gained something worth a lot more than them. However, Will didn't know that, so it couldn't be helped that he began to waver again.

Pushing my head forward, I didn't care about the sword that slightly grazed my throat, allowing my blood to slowly inch down my neck.

At this point, I knew I was courting death, but the demon blood inside of me didn't give me permission to care. Because Will was a human, and what kind of demon would bow down to a lesser creature?

"I don't give a single fuck what you think of me, Will, and you also know that I could bring you down whenever I wanted. What do you think would happen if I happened to tell some people about what happened?"

"You wouldn't..."

"Oh, but I would! I most certainly would do so if you keep insisting on bothering me!"

A moment of silence arose, with me grinning widely while Will stared into my eyes, trying to determine if I was bluffing or not.

*Click*

"Tsk!"

Will finally appeared to have given up, withdrawing his sword from my neck and putting it back in its sheath.

Showing me his back, he still felt the need to have the last word.

"I will let you go for now, but stay away from Levi. You have already hurt her enough as it is."

As I couldn't be bothered to argue anymore with the loathsome human, I simply shrugged, still unable to understand why he thought he had the authority to meddle in Levi's business.

==========

'I want to go back...'

The rest of the week had gone by without a hitch, and after returning to the academy, there was but one thing left on the agenda before the weekend would begin.

Once again all of the freshmen had gathered in the same stadium where we had gathered before the excursion but in a much more weary state.

No matter how weak the average monster in the forest was, most humans still found it incredibly exhausting to spend so much time in the wastelands as a result of not being able to fully relax for even a second.

I, however, was currently just struggling with controlling myself as I was yet again surrounded by beings that my body regarded as food.

Luckily, it didn't take much time before Sir. Ainsworth stepped forward from the group of teachers in front of us and opened his mouth, making all of the students around me stiffen a bit, as they knew what was coming.

"Good job everyone! You have all managed to survive a week out in the wastelands, and although your performances varied, none of you needed a teacher to come and save you. Therefore, the only thing that's left is to tell you the current student rankings!"

Yes, we were now finally getting to hear our rankings, which made almost everyone extremely nervous. Because these would ultimately determine one's worth inside the academy.