My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 105
“You’re aware of others’ feelings, too, huh?”
“But as long as your legs are fine, you can still play the role of a shield, right?”
As she unintentionally voiced her thoughts, she noticed the color draining from Fathom’s face in real-time. Realizing that if he collapsed, she wouldn’t be able to use him, she softened her gaze and gently patted his shoulder.
Her gesture was meant to convey gratitude, but it seemed to send Fathom into a slight panic.
Meanwhile, the first group moved out under the professor’s guidance for the monster hunt, and an atmosphere of excitement mixed with anxiety spread among the remaining students.
“Have you ever caught a monster?”
“I’ve seen knights do it, but I’ve never tried myself…”
“Since the priests are going with us, it should be fine, right?”
“Oh, I can’t wait to fight. I hope our turn comes soon!”
As Regina stretched, listening to the various conversations around her, third-year Jonas Schmidt suddenly posed a question.
“You seem calm. Have you fought a monster before, Regina Heather?”
“Uh? Well, sort of.”
Not wanting to elaborate on her exhausting experiences from her past life, she gave a vague answer, and Jonas let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew, this is actually my first time, too. But since I’m the oldest, I thought I should at least try to be brave, so it’s a relief to know there’s someone with experience.”
Regina glanced at the other group members.
It seemed that second-year Mia Weiss and first-year Tobias Sefer had little to no experience in dealing with monsters either. Fathom… while he might have changed somewhat after his reincarnation, he was still Rupert, the ruler of the Gilagon Peninsula in his past life. He wouldn’t be easily frightened by a monster.
Still, she couldn’t risk letting Fathom act alone. He needed to stay close to her to avoid being alone with Valen.
She decided to take charge.
“I’ll take the lead, so you’ll cover the rear, and Fathom, stay right behind me. Mia Weiss and Tobias Sefer, you should position yourselves between Fathom and Jonas Schmidt. This will be our basic formation, and we can create additional formations later, but the first formation will be…”
She picked up a twig and began drawing on the ground to explain their positions.
“How about this?”
The four nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s prepare in the meantime.”
After placing the twig down, she resumed moving. The others started to stretch, meditate, or mumble to themselves, gradually relaxing.
Regina sensed why the Crown Prince had allowed the academy students to gain real-world experience on his private grounds.
‘It’s probably because a war with the demon realm might break out.’
As she loosened her shoulders, the first team returned.
“Team 2 and Team 7, you’re up for the monster hunt…”
At the call from the professor wearing an eye patch, Team 2 was formed, which included Team 17. The priests approached their assigned groups. Regina found herself staring, almost in a daze, as Valen in his pure white priest robes drew nearer.
Her heart raced. He looked just like that day.
Her memory was pulled back to a specific moment from her past.
* * *
Yekarna had never liked temples. She felt averse to the pure white buildings that seemed to force a sense of sanctity upon her. The grand interiors, flawless sculptures, and windows designed to let light pour in from great heights all felt somehow artificial.
She had never been moved by anything within the temple—except for that one time…
Sunlight, just shy of noon, slid across the white hair of the most innocent among them, gathering the purest things of this world.
Her heart sank as she beheld the neatly curled eyes. The white priest robes blended seamlessly, making her think, ‘Even in this unpleasant place, such beauty exists.’ But as the waterfall of light cascaded, what had appeared to be white hair turned out to be silver, revealing violet eyes between gently opened eyelids.
That’s Friedrich Eldenberg.
He had aged into a young man since she last saw him years ago.
Frozen in realization, Yekarna stood there for a moment.
* * *
‘Just like back then…’
Regina stared at the dazzling black hair catching the sunlight, then hurriedly looked away, turning her head. She had been staring for too long.
Her cheeks felt oddly prickly. Was it just her imagination, or did he seem to be looking this way? If she turned her gaze, the truth would be clear, but she desperately focused straight ahead.
Before they set off, swords and shields were distributed to students taking swordsmanship classes, while those in magic classes received wands.
“The first monster you will hunt is the man-eating tree over there. Since it’s a tree-type monster, it doesn’t move, but it can extend dozens of vines to capture nearby prey. It would be wise to gauge its capture radius and handle it primarily with magic. Teams 2, 7, and 12, step forward.”
After briefly explaining the strategy, the professor immediately called the students to action, not wanting to elaborate further.
Regina was at a loss for words at the bizarre sight of man-eating trees lined up at regular intervals.
‘It must have been hard labor to transport and plant all of those here.’
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream broke the air as she noticed a student who had misjudged the spacing, now tangled in the vines of a man-eating tree and being pulled away.
The man-eating tree, with its dozens of tentacle-like vines, primarily consumed small animals but occasionally captured humans as well. However, it took a long time for the tree to digest something as large as a person, so there was no immediate danger in not rescuing them.
Sure enough, the professors seemed to share the same thought, watching silently without intervening.