The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-138

Episode 138 Skill Test (6)

The next day.

In front of the Cold Department’s B-class, a crowd of curious onlookers had gathered.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year students, and even some 4th-year students who usually didn’t participate in internal or external events due to graduation and job preparations, were mixed in.

The common denominator was that most of them were girls.

“Hey, hey, who was that person dripping water from his chin yesterday after the game ended?”

“That guy? Is that the same guy from yesterday?”

“Wow, his face is unbelievable. How can he look like that?”

“What can I say, he’s too cute… I want him…”

These girls couldn’t forget the shock from the nail-biting competition between the cold storage clubs that took place yesterday. Those who had watched it in person or seen the videos and photos online all focused on one thing.

“Wow, who is he?”

“I… I can’t breathe… I think I’ve stopped breathing.”

“Wow, he’s seriously unbelievably handsome.”

Right after the game ended, there was one boy’s face that stood out among the sweaty and wet competitors, and it was Vikir’s.

Yesterday, for a brief moment, Vikir had taken off his glasses and swept his wet bangs aside.

His face, drenched in sweat and water, struck the unguarded hearts of countless female students as he walked back to the stands.

As Vikir flicked the water droplets from his chin, many water bottles and towels were thrust toward him.

“Uh, would you like to use this towel? Shall I get you some water?”

“Oppa! My water is colder! Have this!”

“Why ‘Oppa’? We’re in the same class!”

“What’s it matter? If he’s good-looking, he’s an ‘Oppa’!”

In an instant, Vikir had become the star of the nail-biting competition. The moment he swept his bangs aside and returned to the stands, that brief movement was captured as a gif and circulated on the mana screens. It was featured on the second page of the school newspaper’s sports section, created by magic, and played continuously.

[Exclusive] The Identity of the ‘Beautiful Face genius’ Who Appeared in the Cold Department’s 1st Year Rugby Game!? / Views: 29,872

-Last night in afternoon physical education class, an unidentified freshman was returning to the bench sweating after the game. This mysterious male student is known to have contributed greatly to the class’ victory by showing excellent skills in the game and scoring one point, making it a hot topic……

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ㅇㅇ(Cold Department 1st year student): Isn’t that plastic?! What kind of person has a face like that?

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 2nd year student): ㅋㅋㅋ It’s the first I’ve heard that there are such hotties in the Cold Department~.

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 1st year student): I don’t think any of our classmates look so handsome.

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 1st year student): I didn’t see him in OT?? If he had a face like that, I would’ve definitely asked him out~.

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 2nd year student): No me!

ㅇㅇ(Cold Department 1st year student): Wow but he’s really good looking;;; Who is he? I’m a guy and I’m still in love with him.

ㅇㅇ(Cold Department 1st year student): He’s the guy who played Rugby with me yesterday… He really looked like that… I was surprised and just stared for a while…

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 3rd year student): Look at his jawline… his disheveled hair… his face… he’s so cute! ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ

ㅇㅇ(Cold Department 3rd year student): Water droplets dropped along his jawline and that cut… Ahhh! My heart~ ㅠㅠ

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 4th year student):ㅁㅊㅁㅊ I’ll go and see him right away tomorrow… I’ll find you even if I have to search all of the Cold Department!!!

ㅇㅇ(Hot Department 3rd year student): ㄴOh my… calm down… I have to graduate…

.

.

It was truly unknown when a passing student from the newspaper club took the picture using Mana Screen.

“Who’s Vikir, where is he!”

“Tudor looks nice as well, but… I came to see Vikir!”

“Vikir, where are you? I love you so much!”

“I’ve bought 10,000 handkerchiefs to wipe the water off our cute Vikir’s face!”

After hearing the rumors about Vikir, a large number of girls and boys, regardless of classmates or seniors, attended the party, particularly the seniors.

Then.

“…What exactly is going on?”

A voice stopped the crowd gathered in front of Class B of the Cold Department.

Professor Banshee.

His arrival caused the students in front of the lecture hall to scramble to make way.

Professor Banshee issued a stern warning to everyone, particularly the older students.

“I’m not sure what the fuss is about, but don’t go into the underclassmen’s classrooms.”

“It’s against the rules at school.”

The students turned away with sullen faces.

…And there was one person who was relieved to see Professor Banshee.

It was Vikir, sitting in a window seat in the corner of the classroom.

Vikir had taken Figgy’s advice and was listening to the lecture with a hood and glasses covering most of his face.

‘Professor Banshee saved my life. I didn’t expect to be in the papers.’

Even Vikir, a man of the world, hadn’t expected this to happen.

Vikir’s face was a jumble of burns, stab wounds, and poisoned scars from his childhood before his regression.

This was the first time he realized how much attention his appearance could draw.

‘I haven’t had any scars on my face since I got back.’

Even if he had, he would’ve regenerated easily with the monstrous regenerative powers he’d stolen from the monsters, so he’d have no scars.

‘I never spoke to a woman in my previous life. Ah, no. Only Saint Dolores was unfazed by the sight of my face. She was merciful and just to everyone.’

While Vikir was deliberating on this.

“Now… let’s go over the homework assigned last time.”

Professor Banshee began his Lecture.

He had asked the students to do their own research and write a report on a few specific types of monsters.

They were the following monsters

Danger Rating: A

Size: 3 meters

Found in: Sand Falls, Harsh Desert, Eastern Continent

-Named the Reaper of the Sands.

A scorpion armed with heavy armor and powerful venom.

Its exoskeleton is harder than steel, and it swings its powerful pincers to crush or strike its prey to death.

The venom that oozes from the tip of its tail is said to be capable of killing 44 humans with a single drop.

A large scorpion is stretched out on a test tube.

Venompion. A rare creature from the deserts of the distant Eastern Continent, it had been preserved and stuffed as soon as it died, and was now Professor Banshee’s favorite prized possession.

Professor Banshee’s eyes lit up.

“To find its prey, this scorpion hides beneath the sand and burrows quickly.” It sticks its tail out of the sand like a shark, with its dorsal fin visible above the water.”

At this point, the students who have caught Professor Banshee’s attention shake their heads and avert their gaze, as if stung by a scorpion.

This is due to the difficulty of answering Professor Banshee’s questions.

Furthermore, the Venompion is still so unknown to the scientific community that it is not even mentioned in the majority of magical encyclopedias.

Professor Banshee smirked as he looked around at the new students, who were already averting their eyes from him.

“Okay, let’s see who’s brave and wise enough to explain this monster to us, but let’s give the cold Department students a chance first, and the hot department students would later fix their mistakes~”

The hot department students burst out laughing and the cold department students started to sulk.

When no one volunteered, Professor Banshee clicked his tongue.

“Are you really not proud of your research results? So what do you plan on doing after graduation? What about graduate school? What about employment? You guys are pathetic.”

But still, no one raised their hand.

Professor Banshee scanned the faces of the cold-department students and said in a stern tone,

“If there’s no one else, I’ll name one.”

With that, he stretched out a long, slender finger and pointed at someone.

“Heh!”

It was Figgy.

Figgy, who ranked third on the written exam, had a brilliant mind in his own right.

But even the information he’d worked so hard to gather and analyze wasn’t up to Professor Banshee’s standards.

“E…… Venompions have a steel-hard exoskeleton that is black and thick. Their large right claw functions more like a hammer than a pair of scissors, and they use the venom contained in the poisonous stinger at the tip of their tail to kill their prey. Official records show that they can grow to be three meters long, but some natives claim that during times of severe drought, individuals up to five meters long are frequently seen…….”

“Enough of that. You should be commended for discovering and collecting such rare material, but that’s all there is to it. You have no new arguments, so what is your original research, a collection of rehashed debates? What’s the difference between that and mindless chatter from a parrot?”

Figgy’s face contorted into a scowl at Professor Banshee’s point.

“I’m deducting one point from your entire Cold Department’s score. Now, let’s see if the Hot Department does any better.”

As it turns out, Professor Banshee’s notoriety was not a myth.

This time, the Hot Department students began to squirm and stare like lab rats waiting for the syringe.

Then.

A small, white hand rose high above the crowd of students.

It was Sinclaire.

Professor Banshee narrowed his eyes.

“Ranked first in the Hot Department. I take it you’ve been taking notes?.”

“Yes, Professor.”

“Try your best.”

Professor Banshee said grimly.

Sinclaire, on the other hand, stood up with a glint of enthusiasm in her eyes, and began to read her report with a flourish.

“Yes, I’m Sinclaire, class A, first year, Hot Department, and I’m going to start my presentation now!”

Sinclaire pulled out four sheets of paper, each one crammed with scribbled notes.

“I’ve categorized the Venompion’s attacks, or hunting patterns, into three different categories and drawn different conclusions.”

“Hmm?”

After hearing Sinclaire’s argument, Professor Banshee looked mildly intrigued.

Sinclaire then proceeded to explain in a serious tone.

“Venompions have a reputation for being one of the hardest monsters to defeat in the desert. Aside from a few large worm-like monsters like the Sandworm, it has no natural enemies.”

“Everyone already knows that.”

“Yes. As I said, I’ve compiled a list of cases where Venompions have attacked humans, or where they’ve been seen hunting their prey, and I’ve categorized their personalities into three types.”

Sinclaire held out the report.

Sinclaire classified the creature into three types, along with numerous graphs, each with a different strategy for dealing with it.

“Simply ignorant”: Outperforms others in sprinting speed, strength, and endurance, but has significantly lower intelligence, such as an inability to flee when threatened or escape when trapped.

It is preferable to surround, ambush or set traps for them rather than fight them head-on.

‘Wimpy’: Has a small skeleton and inferior physical abilities compared to other individuals, but exhibits unpredictable attack patterns, such as popping out from unexpected places or attacking with its middle or last leg.

When fighting them, it is best to kill them before they can get close with a powerful single shot or ranged attack.

‘Cunning’: Not only physically strong but also intelligent. Combines the best qualities of ‘Simply Ignorant’ and ‘Wimpy’ into a drunken state.

※Siege and annihilation by high-ranking knights or mages is the only answer.

Sinclaire’s argument was so new that even the demanding Professor Banshee nodded.

“There have been too few sightings of Venompions to fully categorize them, but you have a point, and I will make a formal report to the academy and let you know the results.”

The words of recognition from Professor Banshee’s mouth were enough to stun all the students.

Sinclaire snorted with pride and sat back in her seat.

She seemed to be aware of someone else, as she glanced at the window seat outside the classroom with a furtive look.

Then Professor Banshee looked back at the Cold Department.

“That was an excellent idea, Hot Department. It’s still just a possibility, but it’s an idea that could contribute to academia in its own way. What do you guys have?”

None of the students from the cold side stepped forward to answer.

“Vikir from class B, then.”

Professor Banshee called out to Vikir specifically.

Ever since the last incident, he’d been questioning Vikir from time to time.

It was clear he didn’t like it.

When Vikir raised his eyes from behind his bangs and gave him an annoyed glance, Professor Banshee crossed his arms with a wicked grin.

“I’m sure you know a lot about these evil scorpions, so let’s see some of your reports and see what you’ve been working on for the past hour.”

“There’s a report here: …It’s just the basics.”

Vikir felt the pressure of Professor Banshee’s gaze.

He didn’t want to be the center of attention among the students anymore, and his nightly assassination runs outside the academy had left him with an absolute lack of time to work on his assignments.

So Vikir had only scribbled down a few lines of the most basic, common sense stuff for this preliminary report.

…It reads.

“Venomphion is a B+ ranked monster that is not difficult to catch as long as you pay attention to the first stinger on its tail and the second stinger on its belly.”

It’s so generic and common sense that I was just writing down what I thought everyone knew.

…But.

As Vikir talked about his research topic and conclusions, every head in the room turns from left to right.

Finally, Professor Banshee asks with a furrowed brow, as if he’s never heard of it before.

“…’ Second stinger’? What is that?”

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