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I wake up early while it’s still dark outside, it’s the day after the Rufus attacked. I take Clarissa and we leave the dorm without making a sound. If anyone sees me they’ll try to stop me no matter what, so I have to act silently.

So far it’s working out, now I just need to get out of the Academy’s main gates. My plan for that is to get Clarissa into wolf form, and have her jump across.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

But then someone speaks to me from behind and I jump a little in shock. I slowly turn around, afraid of whoever is there, and find myself face to face with Amy, Ryuka, Christina, Ruri, and even Plum.

“Wh-why are all of you here..?”

I thought someone might spot me, but I didn’t think it would be them. Not to mention that Chris and Plum don’t live in the same building as me, so this really is completely unexpected.

“Do you even realize how many years I’ve known you?”

Amy sounds almost annoyed as she says that, then throws me the backpack she was carrying in her hand. I hastily catch it, and it turns out to be heavier than I thought. It’s clearly packed to the brim.

“You’re going to rescue Natalia, aren’t you? I prepared some food and medicine for you to take.”
“Huh? Wait, how much did it cost? I didn’t really bring my wal-”
“Are you serious?”

I’m guessing she packed this with things from her family’s store, so I try to check how much money I have on me, but Amy stomps her way almost like she wants to punch me.

“Maybe you should try growing your brain instead of your body for once! Then you’ll be less of an idiot!”
“Hyahhh!!”

She suddenly grabs my chests and starts squeezing it.

“So it’s here? Is this where you’re putting all your nutrients?! You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲!”
“A-Amy…stop…”

I twist my body in confusion and shock, and Amy finally lets go of me.

“We’re friends, get it? All you have to do is say thank you!” She says while angrily pointing a finger at my nose. Only after she says all that it clicks in my mind, and I realize how dumb and insensitive I was.

“Umm…I’m sorry, and thank you.”
“Good.”

I apologize and Amy smiles after shrugging a little.

“The black Rufu that took Natalia is a unique named monster called Black Roc. They are nesting in a village to the southeast of Ingralowe, so they probably took Natalia there too. The eastern and northern gates are being heavily guarded because of that though, so you should leave through the western gate to avoid any issues.”

Ryuka explains that, and Ruri hands me a map of the area.

The village they’re mentioning is in a clearing inside the Valhen Woods, connected to the road from the southern exit. It seems the monsters attacked all the other villages and cities along the way as well.

“Knowing you I’m sure you haven’t even considered where the Rufus went. Luckily Ryuka and Ruri took care of researching that.”
“Apparently there’s a powerful plant monster that settled close to that village as well. I couldn’t find too many details, but there might be dangerous monsters other than Rufus around there.”

Amy is right, I just figured I’d go in the direction the Rufus flew away, and didn’t think of figuring out their exact location. I also had no idea about the plant monster Ruri just mentioned.

“This is from me and Plum. It’s a magic device we built with Miss Annabelle. It’s just a prototype and can be used one time only, but it might come in handy.”

Christina then tells me what the magic device does. It’s pretty incredible for a prototype, so I feel a bit safer having it with me.

“I’m sorry, I really wish I could come along as well.”
“There’s a bunch of other stuff we have to take care of, so don’t worry about that.”

Christina apologizes, and Amy quickly tries to make her feel better.

I know Christina is the daughter of a viscount, so she probably has to help with relief and reconstruction operations. Amy is the daughter of an important merchant, so the same goes for her. Ryuka and Ruri are just transfer students, so they can’t exactly do whatever they want either.

“Not to mention that moving as a large group also takes more time. If you want to get there as fast as possible, it’ll be best if you only take Clarissa with you.”
“It is as Lady Ruri said. Lady Christina, we should let Lady Olivia and Lady Clarissa take care of it.”
“Yes…you’re right.”

Christina calms down a little after hearing Ruri and Plum’s arguments.

“Thank you, everyone. I promise I’ll rescue Natalia.”
“Mhm, break a leg.”

Knowing they’re all rooting for me, I climb on Clarissa’s back again. I’m prepared and ready, now I just have to do it. Wait for me, Natalia. I’ll be there soon.

I was starting to get bored from my trip on the black Rufu’s claws when we finally arrived at the Rufu’s home, a nest built into the ruins of a house. I’m flung inside, where I find myself face to face with chicks as tall as adult males, which start to screech and attack me. Somehow I manage to dodge their beaks and escape, hiding away behind a wall.

This feels a lot like the time Clarissa attacked me, but I’m really not in the mood to get eaten. Before I can properly catch my breath the other birds find me and surround me so I can’t escape.

I’ve always heard that birds can hardly see anything at night, so I decided to just wait it out until it’s dark. The change in light does have an effect on them, though it’s also not as drastic as I hoped, so I keep having to be watchful of everything I do.

In the end I have to constantly fight through the night, and it won’t be much longer before dawn.

Luckily the black Rufu flew away somewhere after dropping me in the nest, but the chicks and other Rufus did not make it any easier.

I’m surrounded by blood, feathers, and dead bodies. Some are dead Rufus, others are people who were captured like me. I tried to help them as best as I could, but with all the enemies around us it’s impossible to protect them and fight back at the same time. Not to mention that they had already suffered many injuries while being carried here, and were quickly devoured by the Rufus. Now I’m the only survivor¹.

I’m also running low on magazines for Black Hawk and White Viper. The empty magazines are in my magic storage being refilled, but I’m so busy fighting for my life that I don’t have enough time to focus on refilling them properly. As for Blue Hound, I don’t have enough range to use it.

I wonder how much longer I can keep fighting like this.

“Squeee!”

A Rufu squeaks in a way that doesn’t seem to fit its large frame and begins flapping its wings violently to create a powerful gust of wind. A regular person would likely be unable to look straight at it, but I’m a magic automaton so that doesn’t bother me. Still, I decided to stop moving.

Seeing that, the Rufu plunges down at me.

It fell for my trap.

I dodge its sharp beak as it passes by, then aim White Viper under its wings and shoot. It falls down for a moment, then tries to fly again, but its wings are so badly hurt it can’t get into the air again.

I prepared to finish it off when another Rufu came and flapped its wings. There’s no way for me to dodge the powerful gust of wind, so I end up being blown away.

“!”

Somehow I manage to land on my feet, but things aren’t looking good. I’ve managed to incapacitate one, but there’s still a lot left.

I brace my feet and block the incoming talons, then fire an incendiary round from Black Hawk, the explosion sends us flying in opposite directions. I try to adjust my aim to finish it off, but yet another Rufu rushes in to stop me. I’m still not fully on my feet, so the wings’ impact makes me fall.

“No-”

Many Rufus fly down at my fallen body, pecking violently at me. Thankfully my body is resilient enough and it doesn’t break, but there’s many dents being formed. I can’t see past the feathers, and the attacks are so frequent I can’t stand up.

“Dammit all!”

But I can’t give up here. I promised Olivia I’d come back. I’ll kill an entire Rufu flock or two if I have to!

If I’m not strong enough, I just have to get myself to produce more. I still haven’t pulled out the potential of my magic automaton body. I need to focus my senses and try to gather all the information I can.

And I have to erase any unneeded emotions. My main priority is to defeat all the enemies nearby. I can’t use human logic for this. I’m a human automaton.

After a moment I feel the world around me changing dramatically. There’s light, sounds, smells, the flow of air, and mana. It’s like everything just became far more vibrant and defined, and I can even understand many things I couldn’t feel before.

At the same time, I notice my thoughts becoming more efficient and logical.

1. Robinxen: Oh…