Tensei Shoujo no Rirekisho - Volume 2 - Chapter 14

TSR V2C14: FRESHMAN ARC ⑭ -MONSTERS ARE SCARY-

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Getting sick actually improves productivity

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Tensei Shoujo no Rirekisho was written by Karasawa Kazuki and this chapter was translated by yAmi on www.yamitranslations.com

We arrived at the monster forest. Since we have to pass through the monster forest to get to the Magic Sink, we needed to move on.

This was the humongous forest that separated the continent we lived in, into the East and the West regions. According to the historical records, the Evil Necromancer Witch once turned a ruined land into a sinister-looking forest.

After crossing over this forest, we will no longer be on Castel and would be on another country’s land, but because of the mountains and forest, Castel wasn’t close to its neighbours. The only point of contact Castel had with the other country was the port town at the Gwynessus Region where trading was conducted with neighbouring countries. There were hardly any documents about the faraway countries but rather than fear the unknown, I was more curious on what kind of country they were.

I could not keep my eyes off the forests as I walked in a file with the rest. Suddenly, the vanguard team cheered, “We’re here!”

Oh! Our destination!

I tried to squint at the vanguard team, but instead, I saw something artificial in the forest. It looked like a Shinto rope. The rope was first tied around a tree, and then connected to many other trees. It looked like the rope was laid out to cordon off an area.

Looks kinda creepy.

So we won’t able to go any further than this? Just like the ‘No Trespassing’ tape.

“Don’t get too close to the ‘Divine Rope’! There are monsters beyond that. Go too near it and you’ll be drawn in!”
The teacher-in-charge cautioned a curious first year student that was getting too close.

The Shinto rope is called the Divine Rope? Monsters will appear beyond the rope?
I thought a “River” was usually the one acting as a barrier.

“It’s not a river...”

Responding to my mumblings, Cain-sama replied.
“The place I went last year had a river instead. Seems like it is a Divine Rope this time.”

“There are many different ways to seal the monsters?”

“Uh-huh, that’s right. If the place has a river, the river will be used, but other than that, there are places that use the Divine Rope and other places with swords pierced into the ground like a fence.”


Heh—, so that’s how it is. I don’t really understand the theory behind how these barriers work but they are still awesome! Mages must have done something incredible to the rope, I’m sure!

Our big family of 30 proceeded on, walking parallel to the Divine Rope, in two files, with the mages leading. Of course, there were support mages at the back. Henry-sama was part of the support mages.

The frontline mages were inspecting the rope for defects. While walking forward and confirming the state of the Divine Rope, they sprinkled some white powder on it. I asked Cain-sama what was that and he told me that it was salt.

Salt……

The mages occasionally found some damaged section of the rope and used magic to repair it.

Yep.

We advanced along the Divine Rope without messing up our rows.

Somehow this feels, as far as I have seen them at work, really plain.
It’s completely different from what I had imagined it to be. I was thinking that as soon as they begin their incantations, the rope will start to squirm around and become as bright as a star.

Surely the other children were starting to lose interest too. At first, they were all boisterous about it but now they were mostly silent.

The mages who were leading us were also pumped up for this initially, though now, their fatigue were starting to show.

How long will this take……

As I was grousing to myself, there was a girl, standing a few people in front of me, who jumped out of the line and ran to the Divine Rope. Probably a freshman, like myself.

Don’t just abandon the formation just because you got bored…

As she jumped out of the line, a grizzly large hand stretched out from inside the Divine Rope and grabbed the girl’s arm.

What!?

There wasn’t anything from across the rope earlier and yet, right now, there was a red eyed monkey with two horns growing out of its head there. And then, it grabbed the girl’s arm! From the looks of it, it must be a monster!

The girl froze in shock for a moment upon seeing the monster grab her before letting out a scream.

I immediately took out a small shuriken, made from the labourious shaving of copper coins, from my skirt and flung it towards the monkey’s left eye.

The shuriken landed on the mark and crushed its eye. The monkey’s head flung backwards and it let out a groan. However, it refused to let go of the girl’s arm!

The next course of action is……! I was about to pull out my latest secret weapon when Cain-sama arrived gallantly to the scene and sliced off its arm with his sword.

W-Wow! He was able to slice that enormous arm!?

Immediately, Cain-sama held onto the girl and carried her away.

It tried to reach its arm out but since it was a monster, it won’t be able to get pass the Divine Rope! But somehow, the big monkey climbed over the Divine Rope and came over to us.

The Divine Rope totally didn’t keep the monkey in!

I glanced quickly at the section of the Divine Rope where the monkey crossed over, and it appeared to be heavily damaged. If it has too many bruises, it probably loses its ability to keep the monsters in…… This part should have already been examined by the mages at the front, so it seems that they have overlooked this section of the rope.

The students shrieked in fear as the monster came over.

This monkey was bigger than I had thought. It was roughly 3 metres tall. Wouldn’t this foe be too strong for Cain-sama? 

Just as I was thinking, the big monkey’s back was jabbed by as much as ten swords.

Huh!?

The big monkey fell on its face slowly. The colour of its blood was red. Its head, torso, butt and other areas of its body had been pierced by swords, but, as though it had a life of its own, the unscathed part of the monkey’s arm twitched and flapped.

D-Disgusting!
I lived in the mountains and went hunting occasionally, so I am immuned to grotesque scenes, but for the other students, seeing the monkey bloodied and yet, flailing, must be horrifying. There were people screaming again.

Even for me, I might have said I am used to it, but this was on another level.

A single student went near the monkey that was bleeding gushingly and sang an incantation, lifting a rock-like thing above the monkey. The rock transformed into a sword and impaled the monkey’s flailing arm.

The moving arm was finished off with the sword and stopped moving.

This student was likely the one who dealt the monkey.
The student wore a smile calmly from start to end and had been staring straight at the monkey before lifting his face upwards.

“It looks fire is needed to completely get rid of it. Can anybody help me start a fire?”

It was Henry-sama with his glittering smile.


“Sorry, Henry, I had to be at the front.”
Said the teacher-in-charge who proceeded to start a fire with a flint. He transferred the fire to a torch and passed it to Henry.

“No, protecting people from monsters is the responsibility of a mage.”

The teacher-in-charge was from the merchant course and wasn’t a mage. If I remember correctly, he was Mr Baron. He doesn’t really look trained for fighting monsters, so even if he was here, he wouldn’t be able to do anything in the situation, but he does look like a teacher with a sense of responsibility.

Henry took the torch and chanted another incantation beside the twitching monster. Together with the torch, the flames consumed the monster whole and the intense flames burned with a roar.

“Please help throw the arm into the fire too.”
As Henry had instructed, Cain-sama threw the monkey’s arm into the flames.

Henry then chanted another incantation and the flames burned even stronger, turning the monkey into ashes instantly. Finally, he sang the cancellation incantation and the fire subsided.

“H-Henry-sama, umm… Sorry, we saw the tears in the rope and...”

The mages inspecting the ropes came to Henry-sama, face white as a sheet.

“Did you all finish the repairs?”

“Yes, we are done so there are no other openings the monsters can take advantage of! Sorry to have caused you trouble!”

“The person you should be apologising to isn’t me.”
He said as he turned to position his line of sight to the victim.

The girl had been grabbed violently and a part of her arm that was grabbed turned darkish red. A senior in the medicinal course applied an ointment on her.

The mages who led the inspection apologised to the girl, who was still sobbing.

The teacher also chided the vanguard mages, “I know you all may be tired, but please be more careful.”

He also warned the girl, “You shouldn’t carelessly go near the Divine Rope.”

“I could see my friends over the Divine Rope....”
The girl wept loudly as she said.

I can understand your feelings. Yep, I was drawn in by the same trick!

I felt a strong sense of affinity to her and wanted to calm her down by stroking her back, but the other seniors were tending to her. What a shame.

Without realising, the teacher was standing before my eyes.

“Cain, you did great! Good work! I heard you excelled in the knights course but I didn’t expect you to be this good.” 
He patted Cain-sana’s shoulders.

Seems like he didn’t need anything from me and had business with Cain-sama instead.

Hey! Cain-san was more than great! That slicing of the arm was crazy!

“No, I still have much for improvement. If Henry-sama wasn’t around, I doubt I would be able to bring it down and the first person to react was Ryou. She created an opportunity for me to strike.”
Said Cain-sama as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

Ehehe— No— Not really—. Well, it was kinda true—, it was just me moving instinctively! It was just the nimbleness I picked up from living in the mountains!

“Ahh! So you were the one who destroyed the monster’s eye then! You were the representative for regular students during the entrance ceremony, right? The child from Rubyfallen?”
The teacher made eye contact with me. He seem to be in the second half of the twenties. He had a distinctive set of long chestnut coloured sidelocks and thick brows, that somehow made him look like the kind of guy with passion. His emerald eyes glistened in interest as he looked at me.

“Yes. I am Ryou Rubyfallen.”

“I see, I see. I graduated from this school in the merchant course and know nearly nothing about martial arts, but I think your reaction was really something. By the way, what did you use to crush that eye?”

“...A copper coin.”
Well, I’m not lying. It was a copper coin. It was sharpened, but still, it was formerly a copper coin.

“I see. Impressive throwing skills. I hear your grades are stellar and thought you might be entering the merchant course, but you are planning to enter the knights course? That would be a real shame.”

“No, I am still undecided.”

“Really! I guess you are still a first year student. I’m sure you know, but I am the teacher for the merchant course. If possible, I would like to have the finest students like yourself join the merchant course. Please do reconsider.”

The teacher said and winked at me.

He then called out to the students at the front to line up in order to fix the broken formation, just like how a teacher-in-charge would.