Shoutout to Justin Sanchez for proofreading.

 

With Possell’s declaration, the pressure seemed to be released, and the orc fell forward, barely regaining his balance.

 

Then, he turned his head here and there, looking around, and spotted me.

 

The orc’s raw gaze met mine, and the orc let out a huff.

 

Even in the autumn weather, his breath was hot enough to show white smoke.

 

At that moment, I felt it.

 

That the orc had defined me as weak.

 

That he would rush toward me to escape.

 

As soon as I realized this, I raised my shield.

 

I looked at the orc.

 

I saw the muscles of his legs, trained in the wild, moving.

 

I saw the movement of the guy running at the speed of a wild boar.

 

Simple.

 

But that’s why he was strong.

 

His movements, running without any other tricks, relying solely on his own body, could be truly strong because he had no grappling technique.

 

I knew that such a simple charge could be avoided.

 

I had learned the method by rolling around avoiding Possell for the past few days.

 

However, my body did not move well.

 

Is this what real combat is all about?

 

A moment of hesitation can be fatal in battle.

 

Before I knew it, the distance between me and the orc was close.

 

I couldn’t choose to evade now.

 

If I moved clumsily, I would get caught up in the orc’s charge.

 

Then what I had to do was simple.

 

If I couldn’t dodge, I had to block it.

 

I was a tank with a shield.

 

Iron Wall told me to raise my shield.

 

Put strength in my legs.

 

Grit my teeth.

 

The opponent’s moved in a straight line, so if I used that, it wouldn’t be hard to block it.

 

I followed Iron Wall’s instructions.

 

I watched the distance narrowing and focused on my timing.

 

Three.

 

Two.

 

One.

 

Right before the orc touched my shield, I stepped forward and dug into the Orc’s body.

 

Then I raised my shield diagonally and took the orc’s shock.

 

Kwang!

 

The shock momentarily took my breath away.

 

If I let go of my legs like this, the orc would crush me.

 

So, I had to hold on.

 

I clench my teeth and braced my back.

 

It’s not about holding on with just the strength of my legs.

 

It’s about planting my entire body into the ground and becoming a single tree.

 

The orc who had recklessly charged without thinking about what was in front him couldn’t control his body.

 

The orc who had hit the tilted shield was unable to control his body and flew past me backwards.

 

I felt my arm holding the shield go numb, but now was not the time to worry about him.

 

The battle wasn’t over yet.

 

I saw the orc who had fallen far away staggering back up and ran.

 

When we had just collided, I was certain that the orc’s body wasn’t that strong.

 

It wasn’t like Possell or Karl who wouldn’t get hurt even if you hit them with all your might with a mace.

 

That orc was just an ordinary creature that would feel hurt if you hit him.

 

When you say it like that, I can’t tell which one is the monster…

 

The orc quickly got up and swung his fist at me who was charging at him.

 

A simple and ignorant punch made up of the strength unique to monsters.

 

There’s no reason to take the hit.

 

There’s no reason to block it.

 

You can just avoid something like that.

 

As I bent down, the orc’s fist brushed past my hair.

 

I dug into the orc’s body like that, but I couldn’t aim for the head.

 

The height difference between the orc and me was too great.

 

But it didn’t matter.

 

The abdomen, where the organs are, is also one of the great vital points.

 

I added strength to the hand holding the mace and struck the abdomen.

 

Whack!

 

The mace with iron shards at the end was not a simple blunt weapon.

 

It was a cold weapon that dug into skin and tore it apart.

 

Blood spurted out and the orc’s scream rang in my ears.

 

Now was my chance to attack.

 

I had to apply more pressure when the opponent was terrified.

 

As I struck the mace again, the orc hesitated and stepped back.

 

Perhaps because of the excitement of the battle, he looked forward, gasping for breath.

 

Fear filled the orc’s eyes.

 

The orc, who had defined me as weak, had now transformed into a weakling in front of me.

 

“What are you doing? Are you going to run away? You sloppy orc.”

 

“…”

 

“Come at me. You disgusting piece of trash!”

 

The provocation that worked on the more monstrous figure of Karl could not help but work on this sloppy orc.

 

The orc shouted and ran forward as if it had forgotten the fear it had been holding.

 

The orc, who had been reckless and unruly even before, ran blindly, controlled by its own anger.

 

My body was filled with strength thanks to that anger.

 

I raised my mace again, feeling the unique sense of omnipotence and excitement that came with the buff of the Mesugaki skill.

 

There was no need to raise a shield.

 

The Iron Wall was saying the same.

 

There was only one thing I had to do.

 

To drive the mace into the face of the orc that was running toward me.

 

The orc who had lost his thoughts in anger was nothing more than a moving target.

 

It was too easy to aim for him.

 

The iron shards of the mace shattered the orc’s face.

 

No matter how sturdy the orc was, it seemed that he could not withstand the shock that shook his head and fell to the ground just as he had been charging.

 

The fallen orc did not move at all.

 

The only movement that could be seen was the small sound of breathing as if he was crawling.

 

“This is your first real battle! You were so great. I can’t help but admire you!”

 

…Is that so?

 

Ha, of course.

 

“Now, let’s wrap things up”’

 

Wrapping things up?

 

The moment I heard those words, a sense of reality that I had forgotten because of the excitement of battle washed over me.

 

I had just swung my weapon at a living being.

 

It desperately hoped that it would hit and kill me.

 

And now, I had to end things for a dying orc.

 

“Miss.”

 

‘I know.’

 

“I know, you idiot!”

 

It’s right to defeat monsters.

 

That’s common sense in this world.

 

Monsters are beings born to harm humans, so humans killing them is nothing more than a desperate attempt to survive.

 

That’s called self-defence.

 

I’ve done it countless times in games.

 

The number of monsters I’ve killed must be close to the millions.

 

Are they just monsters?

 

Is there anything I haven’t killed in games?

 

People.

 

Dragons.

 

Spirits.

 

Fairies.

 

Gods.

 

I was nothing but a murderer, having experimented with what would happen if I killed every NPC in the game.

 

So, I shouldn’t hesitate at this point.

 

I’ve killed hundreds of millions of orcs, so why should I be scared now?

 

I raised my mace.

 

At that moment, the orc and I met eyes.

 

They were pitiful eyes mixed with anger and fear.

 

I bit my lip and repeated the movements I had practiced countless times before.

 

What is the means of transportation in a fantasy world?

 

It’s a carriage!

 

Horse-drawn carriages are a regular feature in medieval fantasy, and it’s no different in Soul Academy’s world.

 

Having never ridden a carriage before, I was excited when I heard that I could ride one to Evans.

 

Listening to the rustling sound and leisurely looking out the carriage was truly romantic!

 

I willingly climbed onto the carriage with a pounding heart.

 

After a few hours, my fantasy was shattered.

 

The carriage was the worst.

 

The ride was uncomfortable, so my butt and waist were really sore, but the biggest problem was that there was nothing to do.

 

The carriage ride was boring.

 

Just looking at the scenery outside the window was only for a minute or so at first, but after an hour or two of the same forest scenery, I couldn’t help but think, “Oh, it’s a forest again?”

 

Chatting with the maids was also short-lived, and there was no topic for me and the maids to talk about for a long time, so I had to just blank out for a long time.

 

That’s why I brought up the fact that I was bored during a short break.

 

Possell, the biggest training addict of the Allen family, didn’t miss what I said.

 

“Are you bored in the carriage? Then why don’t you train with the knights on the way?”

 

The training Possell was talking about was running beside the horse.

 

I wondered if there was any point in preparing the carriage, but I thought it would be better than blanking out inside, so I accepted Possell’s offer.

 

And as I found out, horses were really fucking fast.

 

I couldn’t feel it when I was riding inside.

 

Because from the inside, the horses in the carriage appeared to be walking leisurely.

 

But when I was in the position of catching up with him from the outside, I could sense the horse’s speed.

 

The horse’s trotting pace was similar to my speed at running at full speed.

 

It was really hard to move my legs to catch up with him, to the point where I would curse.

 

After running for about ten minutes, I thought I would fall behind, but the knights, including Possell and the bald knight, wouldn’t leave me alone.

 

They pushed my back and made me catch up with the carriage by force.

 

Thanks to that, I had to chase after the carriage until I collapsed from exhaustion.

 

Possell wasn’t the only training demon.

 

The guys who had endured so far under him were all the same.

 

I would rest in the carriage, get off when I gained strength, and run repeatedly until it was already evening.

 

I was extremely hungry because I had been running around like crazy during the day, but I couldn’t touch the meat on the plate.

 

I could eat other vegetables and soup, but I was reluctant to touch the meat.

 

It has been like that since yesterday.

 

To be exact, since the evening I crushed the orc’s head with my own hand.

 

Why am I so weak-willed?

 

Usually, when I see possessed people, they don’t hesitate at all when hunting monsters.

 

Is it because I’m a coward who trembles in fear of even cockroaches?

 

While I was stirring the meat with a spoon, I felt a presence behind me and turned my head.

 

It was Karl.

 

“Miss, do you not like the food?”

 

He asked as he sat down next to me.

 

“No, not really.”

 

“Then why don’t you eat?”

 

I couldn’t answer.

 

If I said it was because I kept thinking about the scene after killing the orc yesterday.

 

For a knight like Karl, hunting monsters was just something he had done over and over again.

 

How funny would it be to see him worry about such things from that perspective?

 

“Is it because you’re thinking about the orc you killed yesterday?”

 

Karl pointed out the problem precisely even though I didn’t say anything.

 

When I flinched at his sharp point, Karl smiled.

 

“You’re a delicate person, too, Miss.”

 

“Shut up, You sloppy knight.”

 

Even with my sharp answer, Karl didn’t flinch at all.

 

Before I made the oath, he had shown signs of being offended, but now he wasn’t like that.

 

Was he enduring it?

 

Was he used to it?

 

“You don’t have to worry too much, Miss, that’s normal.”

 

Normal?

 

“Everyone is like that at first. No matter how much of a monster you are, you are still a living creature. Everyone worries, hesitates, and wanders. I was like that too.”

 

Then…

 

“Then how do I overcome this?”

 

“Time will solve it. It becomes dull as time passes.”

 

Ha.

 

What is this?

 

In the end, you’re saying there’s no way to overcome it.

 

A useless, sloppy knight.

 

I thought you were talking plausibly, but it’s no help at all.

 

When I opened my eyes, Karl pulled away and spread out both hands.

 

As if he had made a mistake.

 

“Karl!”

 

Just as I was about to provoke him, Possell called out to Karl.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“Captain…”

 

“Your training isn’t over yet! If you’re done eating, go for a run around the forest!”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Are you dissatisfied?!”

 

“No!”

 

“Then go!”

 

“Yes!”

 

After Karl ran far away as ordered, Possell’s expression changed completely, and he looked at me with a soft smile.

 

“Finish your meal and rest. You must take good care of your body until you enter the dungeon.”

 

‘Yes.’

 

“Understood.”

 

Even after Possell left, I stared at the meat for a while and then took a bite.

 

Ugh.

 

What is this?

 

It’s tough, smelly, and salty.

 

Are all camp meals like this?

 

This is really horrible.