I Became the Savior of the Academy’s Villains

The forbidden zone was just as damp, dark, and chilly as expected.

"The f-floor is slippery."

"Moss must have grown here. In a forest shaded this much, it's not surprising to find moss anywhere."

"Really? Then let's be carefu—uwaaagh!"

Ottbo's mishap of slipping on the moss had become so cliché by now that it no longer felt fresh. Walking with a light magic illuminating the surroundings, they felt even more like explorers.

"This just got a lot more exciting!"

"Miss, please be careful not to fall."

Apparently, this atmosphere stirred Milia's sense of adventure. She took the lead with an eager face, and Isella followed behind her, looking concerned.

"I'm just asking to be sure, but do you have any clues?"

"Nope!"

Luca twisted his lips as Milia answered so brightly. Finding his reaction amusing, Milia giggled.

"Kidding. Anyway, you remember the legend of this place, right?"

"Are you testing me?"

At his sharp comment, Milia just shrugged.
Luca clicked his tongue, then held up three fingers.

"Originally, there were heretics in this forest who worshipped a forbidden god. Though they were eradicated, the god they worshipped cursed this place, which was their sanctuary, in anger over their deaths. And the source of that curse is said to be something called a statue of Pia Forest."

"That's a bit stripped down—makes it boring—but well summarized. The key point here is that the target of the curse is a statue."

Milia said this as she took out the map again.

"The forbidden zone of Pia Forest is circular. That means the curse spreads from the statue at the center. We just need to head toward the center of the forbidden zone."

"B-but, how do we know which direction to go? I don't even know where we are right now..."

Ottbo glanced around anxiously, but Milia was confident.

"Don't worry. I never get lost."

"But how...?"

Ottbo seemed unconvinced, but Luca more or less understood.

'So that's why she was so confident.'

When Milia said she would never get lost, he thought it just meant she would be able to get back to the dorm on time, but it was much more than that. She had come here certain she could reach the center of the forbidden zone thanks to her spatial perception abilities.

'The protagonist in the original work also got to the center of the forbidden zone in a similar way. But nothing was there. Just remnants of some big building, if anything.'

The academy's legend hunting in the original story was all just an excuse for the heroines to hang out, so there really wasn't much to reference.

"Alright! Since I've revealed the plan, don't grumble and just follow me!"

"What kind of plan is that...?"

Regardless of Ottbo's grumbling, Milia pushed deeper into the forest. The further in they went, the heavier the curse seemed—the darker, damper, and colder it became. Eventually, Ottbo began to shiver.

"Ugh... I-it's so cold."

"Indeed, even for a deep forest, this sort of temperature makes no sense."

It wasn't just him exaggerating; even Luca felt cold. Unable to bear it, Ottbo finally started gathering magic.

"A-alright, I can't take it. Should I cast a warming spell on you too?"

Watching Ottbo cast magic on himself, Luca had a strange expression.

"Indeed, this temperature would be inexplicable without magic at play."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Never mind. Instead, cast the warming spell on me as well."

After casting warming spells in camaraderie and preparing to follow Milia, Luca suddenly stopped. Ottbo, who was following him, asked in confusion,

"What's wrong, Luca?"

"... Where did those two go?"

Milia and Isella were nowhere to be seen.

* * *

"Miss, is it alright that we can't see those two?"

"It's fine. Ottbo aside, Luca will survive on his own."

"Yes."

The two strode briskly forward.
Noticing that Luca and Ottbo had disappeared, Milia didn't seem particularly worried.

"Besides, I think we're almost there."

"You mean, the center of the forbidden zone."

"Yeah. Honestly, if it weren't for the Dimension Core, I might not have found it. They really did a good job hiding it."

At her words, Isella scanned the surroundings slowly.

"I've been feeling it since we entered, but is there some special magic placed on this forest?"

"That's right. If students who don't listen wander in, the magic makes them get lost and eventually leads them back to the entrance. The academy was created for education in the first place—they wouldn't just leave a truly dangerous place for students unguarded."

"That makes sense."

Milia already knew there was neither a real statue nor a real curse. She had just wanted to go exploring with her friends.

'But I am curious about what's hidden so thoroughly like this.'

Shrit!

Suddenly, Isella drew her sword.

"Isella?"

"Miss, please step back or enter the Dimension Core."

Moonlight had already gathered on Isella's blade. Seeing this, Milia quickly shuffled behind her.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"There's no killing intent, but..."

Rustle!

The thicket shook. Something was moving in the invisible gap between trees.

"It seems they don't intend to let us in so easily."

At the moment Isella's words ended, something massive rushed at them from the darkness.

Thunk!

Isella clashed with it, but she wasn't pushed back or shaken. In fact, Milia was more surprised.

"W-what is this?"

In the light created to illuminate the path, its form was revealed—a thing that mimicked a human shape, like a golem. But it was too finely crafted to be called a golem. Its body was made of metal, with joints, and outwardly it resembled a statue. Isella was locked in a contest of strength with its hand.

"Just to confirm—is this the statue?"

"N-no, I don't think so. It's more like an armored infantry than a statue."

"So, is it alright to destroy it?"

Milia, relieved by her nonchalant question, then brightened with interest.

"Alright. Looks like we have to get through it anyway. No way they'll make me pay for damages, right?"

Thud!

With Milia's permission, Isella shoved the armored infantry away. It could not find its balance, tipped over, and crashed with a thunderous noise.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

And then, Isella's merciless blade swung down—the sound of her sword striking its body rang out like a hammer pounding metal.

— Shock above input threshold detected. Switching from alert mode to lethal mode.

"?"

Tsk, clang!

Suddenly, a blade popped out from the soldier's arm, which Isella instinctively parried. The deflected blade struck a tree, which then began to collapse with a menacing crash and a cloud of dust.

"I-Isella? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Please step back, miss."

When the atmosphere suddenly changed, Milia called out to Isella in concern.
Still focused on the armored infantry, Isella reassured her.

'Its strength suddenly increased—is it just my imagination? No, it's clearly different from before.'

The armored infantry stood up with a bizarre movement, its lens—presumably its eyes—fixed on Isella. Staring at that lens as if in a standoff, Isella lunged swiftly.

Thunk!

They clashed again, but this time, unlike before, Isella appeared slightly shaken.

'Its power has definitely increased!'

She had been able to handle it with ease earlier, but now the armored infantry was so strong she had to fight at full strength—and that surprised Isella a little.

Bzzzzz

"?"

At that moment, magic gathered in what seemed to be the soldier's mouth. On instinct, Isella twisted the hilt and struck its jaw.

Thunk! Fwoosh! KABOOM!

The armored infantry, seeing stars as its jaw was struck, shot a beam from its mouth. Where the beam hit a tree, an explosion erupted and fire broke out.

"...?"

For a moment, both Milia and Isella were silent. But soon they understood the situation.

"Miss! Please enter the Dimension Core!"

"But Isella—"

"Don't worry about me, just—urk!"

Thunk!

The armored infantry lunged at Isella again. She tried to push it away, but its strength was too much to resist.

"Is it because it's still daytime that you can't use the 'power of the night'?"

"That's not the issue, but using it here might endanger you, miss."

"Then I'll go inside..."

Milia hesitated for a brief moment before entering the Dimension Core, prompted by Isella's words.

"Then... what about Luca and Ottbo?"

"..."

Isella could not deny the possibility that those two might be caught up in this. Biting her lip, Milia turned back.

"I'll find those two quickly and let's all hide inside the Dimension Core! Just hang on until then!"

Squeeze—

Right as Milia turned to dash away, someone pushed her forehead.

"?!"

"Carefree, aren't you. To think you still have time to worry about us."

"L-Luca! Ottbo!"

It was a bit of a mess, but Luca and Ottbo had arrived.

"How did you get here?!"

"With all this commotion, it would be stranger if we couldn't find you."

With that, Luca drew his sword.

"Step aside. That's not something you can handle!"

"Yeah! Let's move somewhere safe! Isella can take care of it!"

Milia and Isella tried to stop him, but Luca only smirked.

"Running away isn't my thing. Besides, that thing's an armored infantry."

"That's right. And it's a special type we've never seen before. For us to take it on—"

"But we actually have an expert at dealing with these."

At Luca's words, Milia and Isella looked puzzled, unable to understand what he meant. Then Ottbo, who'd been silent, spoke up.

"Since it's an armored infantry under automatic instructions, I'll try a forced shutdown order. In that moment, destroy the core in its stomach."

"Will do."

As soon as Luca answered, a heart-shaped magic circle appeared above Ottbo's head.

— drive magic: Forced shutdown order

Buzz!

As the spell activated, the soldier who had been grappling with Isella immediately froze, and Luca charged at it.

"Move, Isella!"

"!"

Instinctively obeying, Isella darted aside, and Luca plunged his sword into the armored infantry's stomach.

Stab! Crackle!

With a spark, the soldier trembled violently, then soon ceased all movement. Confirming the machine had completely stopped, Luca withdrew his blade, and Ottbo approached him.

"That was an excellent hit, second son of the Traverse family."

"... Not a bad spell, second son of the Gress family."

"Kya! Thanks for playing along! Appreciate it!"

It seemed both of them were satisfied.

Milia, who didn't quite understand the situation, pulled a sour face.

"W-what just happened? How?"

"You didn't know I was from the Gress family? Even as the second son, I still learned all the basics of drive magic!"

Drive magic, the basis of modern magical engineering, can only be used by select families. And Ottbo is a scion of the Gress family, the origin of drive magic.

"Oh, but it was my first time trying that spell on a non-registered armored infantry. I'm glad it worked."

"... What would have happened if you'd failed?"

"Come on, it probably wouldn't have killed you, haha."

There was a spark in Luca's eye, but Ottbo stubbornly ignored it.

"... I could have handled it without you."

"Save the thanks. This much is obvious between friends."

Luca, of course, stubbornly ignored similar sparks from Isella's gaze.

"Hm, this is bad. I meant to step in only if it really got dangerous, but I didn't expect you to actually destroy the armored infantry."

"?"

"You're—"

At that moment, someone walked out of the forest's darkness. Luca and Isella stiffened upon seeing him.

"To cause this much trouble while under house arrest—are you prepared to face the consequences, Luca?"

Kryphi Mosto, the instructor for their swordsmanship class, for some reason stood in front of them.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】