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——Jessica’s Perspective

“Uwah-! That was close. What the heck are you doing all of a sudden!?”
“Hohh? Surprisingly nimble, aren’t you. I didn’t think you’d dodge.”

Ms. Tilea avoided Alcyune’s sudden ambush by a paper-thin distance.

Amazing… To think she dodged something like that…

Alcyune looked a little surprised as well.

“Hey, stop joking around already― wai-, Mr. Alcyune, you’re cosplaying!? And you suddenly used some weird magic to do it. Why all this weird behaviour suddenly…”
“Ku ku, you still don’t understand the situation? A truly slow head you’ve got there.”
“WHA-!? S-, Slow head you say!? Grrrgrgr― Is that something a teacher of all people should be saying!”

Ms. Tilea turned bright red with indignation. Apparently she was really angry about the slow head comment.

Mn, but this is probably the only thing I have to agree with him about. Her non-existent sense of danger is really a problem, you know.

Can’t Ms. Tilea feel the pressure from a demon? Anyway, I have to hurry up and make her understand just how dangerous this is.

“Ms. Tilea, this isn’t the time for that. He attacks people. A vampire, a demon. He’s trying to kill us, you know!”
“Vampire? Demon? What on earth are you saying? No matter how harshly he scolded you, you can’t slander people like that, you know?”

ARGHHH! What’s with this person!? Please just understand how tense our situation is. Maybe you could call her optimistic, or maybe a bit out of touch with reality, but the point is that indirect expressions won’t work with her. I don’t think she’ll get it unless I say it outright.

“It’s true! He tried to kill me too, and he’s already attacked my friend, you know!”
“…S-, Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. This isn’t a joke, or a magical disguise, or anything else.”

Perhaps she realized how serious I was, because Ms. Tilea looked back towards Alcyune and started observing his face and figure.

And then…

“UWAHHHHH! He’s really a demon? Eh? Eh? Vampires are real? This isn’t some prank show, right?”
“Ku ku. Quite right. So you finally know terror? Honestly, I never thought I would be troubled by my prey being too dumb. Even though I was quite taken by your beauty, I’ll subtract some points for your lack of intelligence.”

Alcyune frankly stated his opinions. I wanted to disagree, but I’m bad at lying.

“S-, S-, S-, Seriously… A-, As expected of the Capital. A-, Aahh, so what if I can use elementary magic? T-, This is a real adventure. So at last, in the truest, truest sense, I too have set foot into a fantasy world. W-, What do I do? My heart wasn’t prepared for this. At least start me off on a slimeeee…!”

Perhaps because she was frantic, Ms. Tilea started to speak nonsense. It can’t be helped though. After all, there’s a demon in front of her eyes. I’m a student who took lessons in magic, and even I almost fainted from his aura. To say nothing of a normal person. There’s no way Ms. Tilea would be in a normal state of mind.

I have to try my best for us! If I can’t act during times like this, just what on earth did I learn magic for!

“Ms. Tilea, let’s run!”
“Y-, Yeah.”

I took her by the hand and started sprinting down the hallway. But to be honest my feet felt unsteady. If I let up even a little, I might faint at any moment. My endurance is reaching its limit, and we won’t get away at this rate.

“Hahh, hahh, hahh…”
“Jessica, are you okay?”

Ms. Tilea spoke to me with a worried expression. Even though she was that scared just now, she’s worrying about me instead. She really is a kind person, just like I thought. I have to let her escape at least.

What should I do?

I can feel Alcyune’s gaze on my back.

He’s probably toying with us by having us run. I guess I have no choice except to hold him back with magical bullets while he still isn’t being serious.

“Ms. Tilea, I’ll hold him back somehow.”
“Jessica. Thank you. And sorry. I fell into a bit of a panic, didn’t I. It’s pathetic that I’m the older one here.”
“Not at all. At any rate, I’ll use magical bullets to hold him back. In the meantime, please escape.”
“Jessica, that’s what they call a death flag you know? Definitely not. We escape together.”
“But, I can’t run anymore.”
“I see. Got it.”

The moment she heard my words, Ms. Tilea suddenly lifted me up like a princess and began to run.

No way! Ms. Tilea is surprisingly powerful. And fast.

Like the wind, she ran faster and faster.

“Ku ku, run, run. Tremble in fea― wai-, wha-, s-, so fast! Oi, wait up! Wait, I say!”

Alcyune’s face changed, and he started running after us. Apparently Ms. Tilea’s running speed shocked him too. With me still in her arms, she bolted up the stairs without missing a breath. Rather, it was me, being carried, that was out of breath due to the speed…

Ms. Tilea’s leg strength really isn’t normal. I don’t think you can get this kind of speed without body reinforcement magic, and a high-level spell at that. So could that mean that Ms. Tilea is actually a famous adventurer maybe?

“Ms. Tilea, you were actually an adventurer, weren’t you.”
“Heh? What the heck are you saying? Of course not. I’m just a normal chef.”
“B-, But, you’re running so fast with me in your arms…”
“Well, I do have confidence in my physical strength.”
“Just that much wouldn’t explain it. A normal chef wouldn’t be able to―”
“Tsktsktsk. Jessica, you shouldn’t make light of chefs. Cooking needs a lot of strength, you know?”

Ms. Tilea replied with an admonishment.

T-, That’s the problem here?

No, no, that’s crazy, Ms. Tilea.

I was about to speak to her again when Ms. Tilea suddenly stopped her legs.

“Jessica.”
“What is it?”
“That thing’s a vampire, right?”

In the direction that Ms. Tilea pointed, Mr. Geil limped on one leg. He had lost his reason, and sometimes roared like a beast.

“Yes. He was a teacher I respected… but because of Alcyune…”
“I see… It must have been hard on you.”
“Hic-, I still can’t believe it… A teacher who cared so much about us students looking like that is… it’s cruel. It’s just so cruel.”
“It’s unfortunate, but he’s a vampire now. We can’t let him attack us.”

It’s just like Ms. Tilea says. I can’t just grieve here. We have to prioritize escaping right now.

“Ms. Tilea, please don’t let Alcyune drink your blood. If he manages to do so, you’ll be turned into a vampire.”
“Mn, I know that. In the same way, we can’t let those new vampires bite us either.”
“Ah-!? You’re right. Also, it looks like the new vampires gain physical strength too, so we have to be careful about our movements.”
“Hm~mm… So they resemble the cliches in that way too huh… He’s moving about even with an injured leg, so I guess it looks like he has some zombie traits too, huh?”
“Um, Ms. Tilea, you know about the demon race?”
“Mn. Well, rather than the demon race, you could say that they’re characteristics of a vampire. It’s my very own Reincarnation Cheat; I have some special knowledge. You could even say that it’s my only weapon.”

Rheeyin Carnashon Cheet? Whatever could that mean?

Special knowledge…

It does look like she’s knowledgeable on the vampires.

“But still, I’m glad I had Timu wait outside. To think that this academy would turn into such a den of monsters.”
“Speaking of which, Timu is at the front gate, right?”
“Yeah. Ah~ Wait! This is bad. If I take too long, Timu might get worried and come looking for me inside!”

It’s possible. If Ms. Tilea doesn’t come back after a long time, there’s a high chance that Timu would search the school for her.

“What should we do?”
“Jessica, is there a food storage room?”
“A food storage room? If you’re looking for one, there should be one in the back of the dining hall.”
“And where’s the dining hall?”
“If we follow this hallway and make a right, we’ll arrive just at it.”
“I see. Let’s go then.”
“Yes. But, why that room?”
“Huhu, it’s to get our hands on one of the vampire’s weak points; garlic.”
“Gar Lik?”

“Aah, umm, in this world we call it laminariales, don’t we?”
“Is that one of their weak points?”
“Yeah. It’s common sense that you use garlic against vampires.”

So she declared, filled with confidence.

Laminariales is their weak point…?

We have a lot of dishes on our menu that feature laminariales. It’s good for stamina so the boys happily eat it up, but it stinks to me, so I’m no good with it.

Is Alcyune also bad with it?

Hmmm… I get the feeling that Alcyune just ate it like normal too, but maybe he secretly left it behind?

…Something feels a little off about this.

“U-, Umm, Ms. Tilea, I really don’t think that laminariales is their weak point, but…”
“Jessica, believe in me!”

Aahh, even though I’ve only just met Ms. Tilea, I more or less understand her type. Whenever she declares anything brimming with confidence, she’s basically always wrong.

“B-, But, Ms. Tilea. I really don’t think―”
“Jessica, we don’t have time. We have to beat him and meet up with Timu!”

It’s not good. She’s not listening to a word I’m saying.

Like that, Ms. Tilea brought me along, and we reached the dining hall and storage room in an instant.

“Hmm~ So this is the Magic Academy’s food storage room. Huge, as you’d expect. Oohh! They even have heraia fruits!”

Ms. Tilea opened every cupboard and drawer in search of laminariales. Occasionally, perhaps because she spotted a rare ingredient or something, but she would sigh with emotion too. Considering how moved she is by ingredients, it looks like the thing about being a chef is the truth.

“Okay, found it. There’s quite a bit too. Thank goodness.”
“I-, I see…”
“Here, this is your portion, Jessica.”

I took the laminariales from Ms. Tilea. The strong smell assailed my nose. Checking with a squeeze that I had them in hand, I found that they weren’t hard or soft, and just your average, lumpy ingredient. It’s impossible to think that I can use this to defeat a demon.

“Listen, okay? When he comes, we’ll throw these together.”
“U-, Umm, Ms. Tilea. I really do think we should think of another tact―”
“Shhh. Looks like he’s here.”

Just like she said, Alcyune came running in, out of breath.

“Hahh, hahh, you b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲e̲s̲! Running about so hard to catch. But I’ve got you now.”
“NOW!”

Ms. Tilea signaled. At this point, it’s do or die!

I threw the laminariales with all my might at him. But the laminariales that I threw just traced a parabola in the air before plonking onto the ground.

It’s no good…

Before even considering the effect of the laminariales, my arm strength was too weak to hit him. As I was feeling despondent,

“GUHAHHHHHH-!”

A death agony suddenly resounded through the room. When I looked up, I found that Tilea’s laminariales had made a hole in the area around his collarbone. The laminariales was caved in like it was an iron ball. Thick blood overflowed from the cavity.

“A-, Amazing… So you were a warrior, weren’t you, Ms. Tilea.”
“I’m not a warrior. I already told you that laminariales is his weakness, right?”
“Eh-, but, are you saying this is the power of laminariales?”
“That’s right. Well, in my mind it was more of a ‘shuwawa~’ kind of thing where he’d dissolve after touching it though. Is this what they mean by the difference between theory and implementation?”

Really?

However I look at it, it just looks like Ms. Tilea used her arm strength though…

“-Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze- W-, What the hell did you do? A mere human! Hahh, hahh, d-, don’t make light of me!”

The smile of composure had vanished from his face, and in its place was an intense look of fury.

H-, How horrifying. Is this the pressure from a demon when he’s serious…?

This deep black bloodlust is completely different from a human’s spite. Because of the terror, I clung to Ms. Tilea’s arm.

“Hahh, hahh, I’ll kill you! F-, F̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g taking advantage because I was just playing with you. Don’t think you’ll die an easy death. I’ll drain you of your blood alive, and then I’ll rip your body to pieces!”

My body trembled violently at his voice. It looked like Ms. Tilea was trembling from fear as well.

“L-, Let’s escape while we can.”
“Y-, Yes.”

Alcyune had taken damage. What we needed to do now was escape and call for help.

“Hahh, hahh, unforgivable. Hurting me like this is unforgivable! I won’t just repay this humiliation. I’ll have your little sister taste the same hell as well!”

How repulsive. We have to take Timu away as well. I was determined to escape even a second faster, but suddenly, Ms. Tilea stopped in her tracks.

“Ms. Tilea?”
“Jessica, you go ahead.”
“Eh-!? We have to hurry and run.”
“No. This guy said he would attack Timu. If I run here, I’ll never know when he might attack her.”
“B-, But.”
“You go ahead. Honestly, I’m really scared, but there’s no way I can let him go after what he said.”

Ms. Tilea turned around and headed back to face Alcyune.

“Hahh, hahh, no more carelessness… I’LL CLAW YOUR F̲U̲C̲K̲I̲N̲G̲ BRAINS OUTTTT!”

Alcyune bore his fangs, and rushed towards her.

Ms. Tilea lifted her leg up high, bending her body like a bow, before launching the laminariales at tremendous speed. It roared through the air, before crashing into his thigh.

“GUAH-!”

Suffering Ms. Tilea’s toss, Alcyune staggered away from her. Blood was flooding from his thigh.

“Hahh, hahh… W-, What are you? W-, Why am I taking s-, so much damage from a single toss―”
“This is the end.”
“Hii-, sto-…”
“ONE MORE THROWWWWW!”
“GUAAHHHHHHH!”

Ms. Tilea yelled to pump herself up before launching the final blow with such force that it seemed to pass the speed of sound. It was so fast that I couldn’t even see it. Before I knew it, that incredible toss had struck Alcyune right in the face, and after convulsing a few times, he stopped moving altogether.

“Now then, let’s go.”
“Y-, Yes.”

Instantly killing a demon…

Just who is Ms. Tilea?

She said it was the power of the laminariales, but no matter how you look at it, it was Ms. Tilea’s strength. I can’t imagine that a normal person could defeat a demon. Could it be that Ms. Tilea is actually a descendant of a hero, and was bound by some secret fetters that stopped her from revealing herself?

Hmmm… But if that’s the case, her behavior is too simple, or rather, too straightforward. I really can’t imagine that she’s capable of hiding anything. Or is that also just an act to fool me?

But well, thanks to Ms. Tilea, my life was saved. I should just feel thankful instead of prying. And also, I’m worried about Timu so we need to hurry.

Ms. Tilea and I hurried to the main gate. As we approached it, I started to hear some kind of fuss. Even though it was the dead quiet of the night just before, I could hear roars and bellows flying about now.

Wondering what was going on, I tried looking out the window.

WHA-!? People are attacking each other!

Neighbors who were talking so intimately just this morning were attacking each other. No, once I looked carefully, I noticed that the side doing the attacking were vampirized. The attackers were vampires, and the humans were fighting back.

Is this also the work of the demons? Did Alcyune have companions?

“W-, What on earth is happening outside?”
“Haha… Resident Evil.”

Rezee Denteevil?

Ms. Tilea muttered those words in a hoarse voice.