Sword, Magic and Academic Society

"Haa..."

Tim sighed. He had started to feel his age lately due to him encountering many troupe-subverting moments.

In contrast to Godorfun who looked as fine and dandy as a young man while following the events of the outdoor classes, he was certainly feeling the hardship of being isolated in the mountain forest for nearly a week. However, given the fact that the former never complained despite being retired from the position of the Knight Order's commander, he would never verbalize his inner feelings of the matter.

He couldn't help but feel blinded by how dazzling the kids appeared to be with their overflowing energy, even going so far as to raise the difficulty of their scenario voluntarily, and in a corner of his mind, he felt envious.

'No, I can't let myself get caught in their pace...' Tim murmured to cheer himself up, and lightly slapped both of his cheeks. Yet, he couldn't shake off his sleepiness.

'It wouldn't hurt to just close my eyes a bit. Only for five seconds—' Murmuring that, Tim crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

◆◆◆

"You're now dead, Tim-san."

I crept from my hideout to the northern base through the gap in the broken wall, put a dagger on Tim-san's nape, and called out to him. However, his eyes had just snapped open, when he twisted my arms that held the dagger and locked both of them into a hold.

"Hey, hey, it hurrrttts! You're supposed to be dead now, Tim-san!"

I had to raise my voice so that he'd finally realize the situation he was in. A pale expression showed on his face as he released my hands and apologized.

"I-I'm so sorry! It was just out of reflex.................. No, did I fall asleep? But there's no way I could have fallen asleep so deeply that I'd fail to notice your steps until your voice woke me up… not when you all must be more exhausted than me, having gone through all that hardship… How?......"

Tim-san's face contorted in lamentation, as if he couldn't believe he had made such a grave blunder. Something tells me he would surely put in a letter of resignation unless he gets to know why.

"I had contaminated the air with sleeping drugs using my wind magic. It's actually quite a tricky method, and not surprising to not notice it at first encounter, so please do not fret over it. I will explain the details, but first......"

After giving some reassuring words, I pushed myself and Tim-sann toward a blind spot from the entrance.

"Is everything alright, Tim-sama? I heard some kind of noise..."

I blew the paralysis drug toward the two newcomers.

The two tilted their heads back in surprise, took reactive measures, and knelt to the ground in a crouching position.

"And you two are now dead.” They were both startled as I left my cover and announced so, my bow pointed at them.

Tim-san, who had been silently watching this, was surprised once again.

He was still confused with how I used the drugs, apparently.

"I can't apologize enough..... I should have been taken out already, and shouldn't have done anything to affect the scenario anymore, but the noise I made despite that introduced variables. They're the coordinators of the troops currently who handle their movement… and if they don't go back soon, many more would check here to ask for commands."

......Ugh, now that's a pinch.

In my plan, I was to take down Tim-san quietly, then go into stealth mode once again while waiting for my classmates to arrive. I would’ve then joined them for the follow-up action.

After a brief overview of the situation, I made a move thinking I would still have some time before I was discovered, but… maybe my timing wasn't good.

I thought we could push the troops into chaos by revealing that Tim-san was already dead when we mounted our attack. But now that we had failed, unless we settled the situation quickly, the enemy headquarters would surely be on their guard.

And if such a large force was put on alert, it would be anything but safe for my classmates.

Basically, the northern base favored the side with more numbers.

"......There's no crying over spilled milk. Besides, I was just as careless… I really didn't want to use this trick given the danger, but..."

There were two nuances to this danger.

First, should I fail, I would most likely be killed and be taken out of the scenario, but if I succeed, it would be doubly dangerous in other ways. Well, though the trick was quite simple compared to the intricacies behind it.

In short, I would be using my Wind Magic Level 3 Spell— Hurricane, and circulate crazy amounts of drugs in the air while directing it toward the troop stationed at the center of this base.

If enemies were taken down with this move, then it would be a success. But I would be in trouble if they didn't fall down before my drug supply or mana reserve ran out.

If I did this trick the normal way, then it was a dual-edge sword because in the process of sprinkling drugs in the air and controlling the flow of the wind myself would result in the air around me being stuffed with the said drug as well.

Obviously, I would be in danger of inhaling my own drugs, so when implementing thisbtrick, I would have to do it from a safe distance, and concentrate the drugs into a specific point, Albeit, this meant I wouldn't be able to circulate the mana as well as when I do it near me. Plus, it was also a mana-hungry trick since not only would I have to control the flow of the drugs, but also the direction of the wind.

In the end, I decided to do it. With determination, I stepped outside the commander's room and shouted.

"Tim Buchan has been subjugated! Surrender now if you value your life!"

I opted this way to attract the attention of the enemies as much as possible. The more covertly the drug trick had been used, the more effective it would be. But it was just a matter of time before I was spotted either way.

" "Wh-what!!?" "

"E-Enemy attack!"

"Surround him! Don't let him escape at all costs until Godorfun-sama is back!"

"Lower the turret!"

"No, have the mage corp first whittle down his stamina from a distance!"

......I guess lady luck was on my side here for now. The absence of Tim-san and two coordinators did break their chain of command.

It might seem like their orders were good enough, and they were, but that was only if they didn't have a huge troop. Their actions clearly diminished a number of advantages they could have had.

I opened the top of the two phials clipped on my waist, and scattered the concentrated paralyzing gas — I increased the mixture's potency to get even more powerful drugs — into the air while keeping it in one particular area.

I imagined the flow of air to be like a donut, with the space where I was being hollow.

"-Arggggh!!!"

Lately, I had barely run out of mana, so the once familiar bitter sensation made me groan.

But maybe the drug concentration had become diluted due to the large area, several soldiers still stood strong while my mana had been depleted by more than half of my capacity. Also, it was only a matter of time before my stock of normal paralyzing drugs dried up.

I had one last phial left, but this was specially prepared for Godorfun— the Super Paralyzing Drug.

It might not be good to use this...

"What's with the wind?!"

"The air is poisoned!"

"Don't panic! It's not enough to affect us!"

"Stay on your feet! We're going to press on!"

Hey, hey, hey, please don't do this. Don't force me to open this red cap. It's super-duper dangerous, just so you know!

" "Keep Chaaaaargiiiiiiinggggg!!!" "

Don't come! Don't come! Don't come!

Holy hell, can anyone tell me what to dooooooooo!?

.........fwoomp

Eventually, I lost to the rushing troops that moved like an avalanche, and… opened the red cap.