Peace Hunter

"I came to help you," I said.

I continued to block the palm strike with my sword.

"How can an academy student block my blow imbued with mana?" Ludmila thought.

Ludmila strengthened her blow to break through my defense, but I did the same. We pressed each other in this contest of strength. But over time, I managed to overwhelm her in this contest of strength. She was sent flying several meters back.

"Not only did he block my blow, but he also managed to pressure me and send me flying. Who is he?" Ludmila thought.

"That was a very dangerous blow. If I hadn't strengthened my sword with magic, it would have shattered. Also, if I hadn't blocked that blow, it would have hit Charles directly, and he would have died instantly. Why did you want to kill Charles?" I asked.

Ludmila remained silent.

"She said earlier that she wanted to kill me to start a war. Not just me, but also Chloe and Caroline," Charles said.

"Starting a war? That's a crazy plan. This kingdom is currently in a period of peace, and you want to start a war involving this kingdom?" I asked.

"That's right," Ludmila said.

"Seeing as most of the people attacking this academy are Demi-Humans, are you guys attacking this kingdom from the Kingdom of Sedona?" I asked.

"That's right, the reason we want to kill the children of Queen San Fulgen is to declare war on the Kingdom of San Fulgen," Ludmila said.

"Why do you want to start a war with the Kingdom of San Fulgen?" I asked.

"I won't tell you why," Ludmila said.

"I see," I said.

I tried to read his mind, but I couldn't find the answer.

"It seems like he's a trained warrior from the Sedona Kingdom. He's trained to think nothing of it while fighting. But the Sedona Kingdom, it's a kingdom of Demi-Humans. However, if they're really from the Sedona Kingdom, why are they collaborating with humans to attack this academy? Could it be that they're not actually from the Sedona Kingdom, but from another kingdom intent on inciting war between the San Fulgen Kingdom and the Sedona Kingdom?" I thought.

"Well, even if you don't tell me the reason, whatever it is, I won't let you kill those three," I said.

I pointed my hand at Charles, who was behind me.

~Full Heal~

Charles, who was quite badly injured, recovered from his wounds in just a few seconds.

"Healing magic? Plus, what's with that rapid healing? This is the first time I've seen that," Ludmila thought.

"Go, Charles, let me take care of her. Since you're being targeted by these attackers, it's best for you to hide or go somewhere safe. There's no need to look for Chloe and Caroline. I'm sure they're fine," I said.

"Okay, I'll follow your advice. Thank you for the healing magic, Rid," Charles said.

"Yes. And also, if you encounter any Elevrad members or other knights, tell them not to come here. I'll take care of them myself," I said.

"Ok," Charles said.

Charles immediately ran away, leaving Ludmila and me. But Ludmila didn't just watch him leave. She chased after Charles and quickly got close to him.

"Don't think I'll let you get away like that," Ludmila said.

She prepared to attack Charles again with a palm strike. But I quickly approached her and kicked her right side with my Mana-imbued foot.

"Your opponent this time is me, miss. If you want to catch Charles, you have to defeat me first," I said.

Ludmila vomited blood from her mouth after I kicked her. She slammed into a nearby tree, causing it to fall. Charles looked at me, and I signaled him to keep running and ignore me. Charles agreed, and he continued running until he finally made it out of the academy forest.

Meanwhile, Ludmila got back up after hitting the tree.

"What's with that speed and strength? I knew there were strong humans, but I never thought an academy student could be this strong," Ludmila thought.

Ludmila was still moving normally, although there were bloodstains on her lips and chin from the blood she had just spat out of her mouth. She wiped the bloodstains away with her hand.

"Don't get in my way, brat, or I'll kill you," Ludmila said.

"Do it if you can," I said.

Ludmila immediately darted toward me, preparing to attack. I also prepared to attack her.

~Wind Magic: Great Wind Jaguar Claw~

Ludmila attacked me with her claw attack.

~Wind Sword Art: Great Wind Slash~

I also attacked Ludmila with my sword.

Our two attacks collided, creating a powerful explosion.

-

Meanwhile, at the intersection that connected the shopping area, the academy garden, and the academy dormitories, Senior Vyn seen togehter with his two artificial fire and water dragons, and Princess Amelia, who had just defeated a demi-human with ears and tail like panther. The demi-human lay on the road, badly injured. Thorny roses surrounded him.

"He's finally defeated. He's quite formidable compared to the humans and demi-humans who attacked us earlier," said Princess Amelia.

"You're right," said Senior Vyn.

Senior Vyn and Princess Amelia were clearly exhausted after defeating the demi-human. They also had wounds on their bodies, though not many. Then Senior Vyn looked around where he stood. Around him were several fallen humans and demi-humans.

"It seems they successfully infiltrated and attacked this academy by pretending to be slaves and their masters. The Demi-Humans who attacked were wearing what looked like slave collars. But the Demi-Human we just defeated wasn't wearing a slave collar, and he was also very strong. It seems the Demi-Humans without slave collars have a stronger position and power than the ones wearing slave collars. Rather than that, what exactly is their reason for attacking this academy?" thought Senior Vyn.

"Hey, Brother Vyn, do you think this attack was planned by my father, Lord ​Duke San Angela and Lord Duke San Minerva?" asked Princess Amelia.

Senior Vyn seemed to think after Princess Amelia asked that. Then he began to answer Princess Amelia's question.

"No, I'm sure this attack wasn't planned by those three. They do have a target to kill at this academy, Rid, but I'm sure they wouldn't resort to such reckless methods as attacking the academy directly. Also, I've never heard that the three Dukes have any connections to Demi-Humans. Besides, if they were indeed the Dukes' envoys, there's no way those humans and Demi-Humans would attack us indiscriminately, considering we have a relationship with the person who sent them," said Senior Vyn.

"You have a point," said Princess Amelia.

Then, not long after, Senior Alisha and Senior Sophie approached them, dragging a Demi-Human woman with a crocodile-like tail. The Demi-Human woman appeared to have collapsed. She also appeared to be missing a slave collar. Furthermore, Senior Alisha and Senior Sophie appeared quite exhausted, and they also had some minor injuries.

"You two seem to be having a hard time," said Senior Vyn.

"You too, chairman," said Senior Alisha.

Then Senior Alisha and Senior Sophie placed the Demi-Human woman they were carrying on top of the Demi-Human man defeated by Senior Vyn and Princess Amelia.

"Did you two see the other visitors and students where you were fighting earlier?" asked Senior Vyn.

"Yes, but we already told them to go to the shopping area," said Senior Sophie.

"I see. No wonder, while the two of us were fighting that Demi-Human man, a group of students and visitors suddenly appeared, heading to the shopping area. The man darted to target the group, but luckily, I managed to hold him back," said Senior Vyn.

"Besides that, what exactly is their purpose in attacking this academy? I initially heard that there was a riot in front of the academy lobby, but I didn't expect that riot to be the beginning of their attack on the entire academy area," said Senior Alisha.

"I don't know, I don't know either. It's best for us to rescue the students and visitors who are still in various parts of the academy and gather them in the shopping area and defeat the remaining attackers. You can kill them, but at least leave the ones who are still alive so we can question them after they regain consciousness," said Senior Vyn.

Suddenly, a powerful explosion was heard in the academy forest. The four of them, who heard and saw the explosion, were immediately shocked.

"What the hell was that?" asked Senior Sophie.

"It looks like something happened in the academy forest," said Senior Vyn.

The four of them were about to head towards the academy forest when Charles suddenly approached them.

"Pr—I mean Charles? Did you just come from the academy forest?" asked Senior Vyn.

"Uh, yes, I just came from the academy forest," said Charles.

"Do you know what happened there? We just heard a pretty loud and powerful explosion," said Senior Vyn.

"It seems to be because of the fight between Rid and the female Demi-Human jaguar who was targeting me. Earlier, Rid helped me when I was attacked by the Demi-Human while I was there. Then Rid told me to go and find a safe place. And earlier, I saw that the four of you were planning to go to the academy forest. Rid told me not to go there because he could handle it himself," said Charles.

"So it was because of Rid, huh?" said Senior Vyn.

"If it was Rid, I'm sure he could handle it himself," said Senior Alisha.

"Rather than that, you just said that the female Demi-Human Rid was fighting earlier was going to attack you? Do you know why?" asked Senior Vyn.

"Yes, the real reason they attacked this academy was to kill me. Not only to kill me, but they also wanted to kill Chloe and Caroline, who happened to be at the academy enjoying the festival," said Charles.

Hearing Charles' answer, the four of them were shocked.

"Kill you, Chloe, and Princess Caroline? Why would they do that?" asked Senior Vyn.

"When I asked that Demi-Human woman, she said it was to start a war. And when Rid asked if they were from the Sedona Kingdom, she said 'yes'," said Charles.

They all seemed surprised by Charles' answer.

"Start a war?" asked Senior Sophie, shocked.

"The Sedona Kingdom,?" said Senior Alisha.

"Forget about their reasons for now. You said you were looking for a safe place, right, Charles?" asked Senior Vyn.

"Yes," said Charles.

"Then, you'd better go to the shopping area. It's a safe place because many students and visitors have taken refuge there. Also, there are several Elevrad members like the vice chairman, Darryl, royal knights, and academy staff guarding the area, so you're guaranteed to be safe there," said Senior Vyn.

"Yes, Senior," said Charles.

As Charles was about to head towards the shopping area, a group of humans and demi-humans suddenly appeared, heading towards them from the direction of the academy dormitory.

"There's Prince Charles,"

"Let's kill him, he's our target," the group said.

"So that's the reason they came here. Hurry up and leave, Charles, let us handle them. After that, we'll look for Chloe and Princess Caroline, because as far as I remember, they weren't in the shopping area," said Senior Vyn.

"Thank you, Senior. I'll leave you to it," said Charles.

Charles ran towards the shopping area, while Senior Vyn, Princess Amelia, Senior Sophie, and Senior Alisha prepared to defeat the group of people coming towards them.

-

About 10 minutes later, in front of the academy lobby.

Senior Gretta, Chloe, and Caroline were seen lying unconscious on the road in front of the lobby. They were covered in wounds and blood. Meanwhile, Irene was still standing, albeit with quite severe injuries. Her breath was also ragged. In front of her, the bear demi-human they were fighting still looked fine. There wasn't a single wound on his body.

"I admit, you're quite formidable, daughter of Duke San Lucia. Even though your other companions have fallen, you're still able to stand and continue fighting me," said the bear demi-human.

Irene then darted swiftly toward the bear demi-human.

~San Lucia Art : Freezing Air Slash~

Irene intended to slash the bear demi-human with her rapier. However, before Irene could strike, the man quickly dodged and was suddenly behind her. Irene was shocked and immediately turned back. However, the man immediately grabbed Irene's neck and slammed her onto the road with great force. Irene fell instantly.

"I have no intention of killing you because you're not my target. Enough playing around, it's time to finish off the target," said the bear demi-human.

The male demi-human walked over to Caroline, who lay unconscious.

"I'll kill the youngest first," said the bear demi-human.

The male demi-human prepared to attack Caroline with his sharp claws. However, before he could strike, numerous tree trunks suddenly appeared from within the academy lobby. The trunks rose high into the air. At the ends of the rising trunks, numerous humans and demi-humans were seen impaled by them. The male demi-human was shocked by the scene. As he was in shock, tree trunks suddenly appeared from beneath the path where he was standing.

The sharp tree trunk was about to stab him, but he quickly realized this and dodged. Then, more tree trunks appeared around the unconscious Irene, Chloe, Caroline, and senior Gretta. The trunks covered the four of them, as if protecting them. Then, from within the academy lobby, a shadow appeared. It was Miss Karina.

"It seems you're the boss of those who attacked this academy, huh? How dare you attack this academy while it's holding a festival and injure my beloved students. I'll kill you," said Miss Karina.

"Finally, a troublesome opponent has appeared," said the bear demi-human.

-To be continued