Chapter 44. Swamp Serpent Hunt (1)
"I heard the Transformation Magic professor offered you a major!"
Inette, who must have heard it from somewhere, ran up and asked Radel.
Radel, who was sitting next to his tent collecting poison frog slime, shook his head.
"He just asked if I was interested. It was probably just a passing remark."
"I heard he's not one to make empty promises. He must have taken a liking to you."
"You think so?"
Radel recalled Professor Thomas's words.
But when Radel said he hadn't decided on a major yet, all he did was tell him the evaluation assignment and leave without saying anything else.
"Yeah, the rumor must be exaggerated."
Radel answered nonchalantly and continued with his work.
Gusto, who was drying snail shells, said to Radel.
"Your Highness, I think they're all dry. Shall I collect them?"
"Let's get them in an hour."
Inette, finally noticing what the two were doing, was startled.
"What is all this? Did you two open an ingredient shop?"
"Two? There's one more."
No sooner had the words been spoken than Armandy appeared from behind the tent. In his hand was a basket filled with dried red centipedes.
"I've gathered them all, Your Highness."
"Oh, just leave it there. Take this."
Inette couldn't hide her bewilderment at the sight.
"Who's that?"
"He's a team member for the Cryptozoology group project. We all went up the mountain to gather alchemy ingredients last night."
Inette scrutinized Armandy with sharp eyes. However, he was so ordinary that she couldn't find anything special about him.
Armandy, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, gave Inette a slight bow and disappeared.
Inette, who remained wary until he was out of sight, said curtly.
"Be careful. He could be a spy."
He is a spy, though…….
As Radel smiled to himself, recalling information only he knew, Inette's eyes lit up with fire.
"I'm serious! Don't be too complacent just because this is an academy. There could be suspicious people other than the royal family's followers here."
"Alright. I'll keep that in mind."
After that, Radel had to listen to Inette nag for a while, asking if he knew how terrifying the assassin's guild was, or how many secret organizations there were in the Empire.
And when she heard that the alchemy evaluation assignment was a Detoxification Potion, she made a groundbreaking offer to buy the ingredients Radel had collected for 1 gold each.
As expected of the granddaughter of the Dastion ducal family, famous for their wealth.
It was reassuring to have a big spender with purchasing power.
It seemed he would have to go up the mountain one more time.
* * *
At night, he climbed the mountain to gather ingredients, during the day when there were no lectures, he pulled weeds, and in his spare time, he practiced Transformation Magic. Radel spent his days busy.
Thud!
A dull sound echoed as Radel slammed the handkerchief on the floor.
"It's done."
He had succeeded with the steel transformation magic as well.
Radel couldn't hide his pride.
Now, as soon as he made the Detoxification Potion, he planned to leave immediately to hunt the Swamp Serpent.
"Let's see."
Radel opened his status window.
Name: Radel Silvert Credian
Age: 17
Title: 8th Prince of the Cretian Empire
Stats: Health 34, Magic Power 20, Strength 32, Agility 26, Intelligence 25
Overall Ability: D+
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship (D), Hayden's Normal Mana Training Method (D)
Traits: Troll's Heart (D), Status Effect Nullification (S)
He felt good looking at the status window, which had grown since the beginning.
[Basic Swordsmanship (D)]
The most fundamental swordsmanship.
Horizontal Slash (20,000/20,000)
Vertical Slash (20,000/20,000)
Thrust (20,000/20,000)
Defeat an enemy overwhelmingly stronger than me (0/1)
This time, he opened the skill window to check his Basic Swordsmanship.
Since he had been training diligently every dawn, most of the proficiency was filled.
To catch the Swamp Serpent with its high magic resistance, physical attacks were important. That's why he wanted to raise the rank of his Basic Swordsmanship as much as possible before going.
The problem was the last advancement condition.
'Defeat an enemy overwhelmingly stronger than me?'
How overwhelmingly strong did the enemy have to be?
Since the standard wasn't clear, he couldn't think of a way right away.
Radel headed to the alchemy workshop for now.
Bang!
"Ah! I failed again!"
In the alchemy workshop, Inette was grinding her teeth. It seemed she still hadn't succeeded in making the Beginner Healing Potion.
Followers flocked to Inette, comforting her.
"It's alright, Princess. What does it matter if you can't do it! Your challenging spirit is magnificent!"
"How about I make it for you, Princess! I succeeded yesterday!"
Inette's already irritated mood flared up even more.
Was that supposed to be comforting?
"Are these people clueless! Get lost! All of you, get lost!"
Inette, huffing and puffing, spotted Radel entering the workshop.
"You're working hard, Inette."
"Hah……. Let's just go pull some weeds."
Inette stood up, picking up the weed basket beside her.
She looked accustomed to it by now.
Radel had also come to pull weeds to get ingredients for the Detoxification Potion, so he followed without a word.
In the herb garden, Gusto, who had arrived earlier, was pulling weeds. His basket was piled high with them.
"You've pulled a lot of weeds."
"Yes, Your Highness. We need to make the Detoxification Potion quickly so we can go hunt the Swamp Serpent."
"Right. Let's do our best."
Other freshmen were also pulling weeds, and occasionally someone would get caught by a flying golem while secretly trying to dig up medicinal herbs.
"Aah! It's a flying golem!"
"Run!"
Radel shook his head.
"If you're going to do it, you shouldn't have gotten caught."
Gusto nodded beside him.
"The Supreme Deity would be saddened as well."
Only Inette was flabbergasted.
Did that mean it was okay as long as they didn't get caught?
'What kind of saint of the 'Thirsty Land' and apprentice holy knight of the Supreme Deity Order is he?'
* * *
Bang!
Bang!
Radel, who had made the Beginner Healing Potion in one go, had quite a bit of trouble with the Detoxification Potion.
But he succeeded.
"Finally finished."
Radel drank the completed Detoxification Potion in one gulp.
'This brings back memories.'
As he waited for the potion's effect to kick in, memories of his time as a Hunter briefly surfaced.
He couldn't receive heals because of his Status Effect Nullification trait, so he had to rely on potions, which eventually led to him developing a resistance to potions and wandering in search of a Troll's Heart.
Ding.
[The effect of the Detoxification Potion is applied.]
[You are free from poison for 5 minutes.]
The system window informed him of the Detoxification Potion's effect.
'5 minutes?'
It didn't seem likely that he could catch the Swamp Serpent in just 5 minutes.
It seemed he would have to make a generous amount of Detoxification Potions.
The only way was to keep drinking them while hunting to avoid being poisoned by the Swamp Serpent's venom.
Still, unlike in his past life, now that he had the Troll's Heart, he didn't need to rely too much on potions.
Radel continued to make Detoxification Potions.
However, the brewing method was quite tricky, so only a few were completed properly.
"Is it too late to pull weeds?"
Radel, who had just run out of medicinal herbs, looked out the darkened window with regret.
The herb garden could only be entered when the sun was out.
He had gathered plenty of animal-based ingredients, but medicinal herbs could only be obtained by pulling weeds, so their numbers were relatively low.
It was then.
"Are you perhaps looking for this?"
Gusto suddenly held something out to Radel.
It was a bundle of medicinal herbs that looked freshly dug.
"Gusto, this is?"
"Do not worry. I brought it without getting caught."
He dug up medicinal herbs while avoiding the flying golems scattered all over the place?
Was that even possible?
……But if it was Gusto, it was possible.
'Unseen Hand!'
The S-rank trait that Gusto possessed came to Radel's mind.
The trait that said there was no door that couldn't be opened, no object that couldn't be possessed.
The talent of a master thief, which had no use in the Grand Temple, was shining brightly in the academy.
When he first met him, he seemed so rigid.
Radel even felt a sense of pride at Gusto's daily development.
It seemed that people really did grow more when they left home.
"Amazing. Well done."
Seeing Radel's happy face, Gusto also gave a slight smile.
Indeed, as His Highness had said, the abilities given by the Supreme Deity should be used for the right purpose. After realizing that, the world looked different.
It was all thanks to His Highness.
Radel, spurred on by Gusto's talent donation, picked up the pace in making Detoxification Potions.
* * *
Weekend morning.
It was finally the day to hunt the Swamp Serpent.
Having finished all preparations, Radel led Gusto and Armandy up the mountain.
When the swampy area came into view, Radel stopped to review the plan.
"Everyone knows the order, right? The effect of the Detoxification Potion is 5 minutes. We finish this as quickly as possible. Gusto will be the vanguard, and Armandy will provide rear support. I'll aim for the vital spot while Gusto draws the Swamp Serpent's attention. Armandy, is the detoxification magic ready?"
"Anytime."
Seeing the tense Gusto and Armandy reminded him of his dungeon crawling days in his past life.
Back then, both Radel and his party members were experienced Hunters, but now, even as an academy student, the feeling of facing a monster was similar.
"Try not to get hurt as much as possible, and if you think you're going to die, run. We can just challenge it again. Got it?"
At Radel's serious words, Gusto and Armandy nodded.
'To hear him talk, you'd think he was a seasoned veteran.'
Although Armandy grumbled inwardly, he also agreed with Radel's words.
As they got closer to the swamp, a poisonous fog rose.
It was because Swamp Serpents inhabited the area, and the fog was contaminated with the poison they emitted.
"Armandy."
"Yes."
Armandy cast the detoxification magic he had prepared on Gusto and himself.
Radel also drank a bottle of Detoxification Potion.
Ding.
[The effect of the Detoxification Potion is applied.]
[You are free from poison for 5 minutes.]
He could immediately feel that it was easier to breathe.
It seemed that just inhaling the poisonous fog had been slowly poisoning his body.
Just as they finished their preparations and were about to enter the swamp.
"What? Can't you see we were here first?"
Another team, who seemed to have come to hunt the Swamp Serpent, revealed themselves. Seeing their familiar faces, they seemed to be freshmen from the same class.
Although it was obvious they had come to pick a fight, Radel greeted them calmly.
"Yeah, I see. Are you guys here to hunt the Swamp Serpent too?"
What's with this guy? Is it because he's royalty?
The ones who had intended to pick a fight were flustered by Radel's composed attitude.
"I-If you see us, you should wait your turn! We were here first, so we'll hunt first!"
"Okay. But do you guys have any Detoxification Potions?"
"Why would we need something like that! Mind your own business!"
What are they planning to do?
Are they acting like that because they're confident in their magic skills?
Radel was worried about them, as they looked obviously unprepared.
Not long after, screams were heard.
"Uwaaaah!"
"No way! I can't breathe!"
"Monster! This is a monster!"
Well, it's a high-grade monster, so isn't that a given?
Radel gave Gusto and Armandy a look.
It seemed it was their turn to go in.