MV – Chapter 114: Insects and the Minor Villain

Petrifying poison holds immense mana. 

What this means is that half-hearted spirit barriers will be easily destroyed due to the mana repulsion. Even though the guards’ spirit barriers weren’t weak, a downpour of petrifying poison was impossible to withstand, and their barriers were shattered, turning them to stone.

Countless red eyes gleamed from the gaps in the stone briars, and petrifying poison was launched, raining down on the people.

“Kyah! Nooo!”

“Help! My body… My body is turning to stone!”

“Calm down! Stay calm—Gyaaaah!”

The panic over their bodies turning to stone quickly devolved into a hellish scene of screams and chaos. 

The guards tried to maintain order, deploying magic shields to fend off the attacks. However, the panicking students crowded around the guards for protection, which interrupted the magic casting, and one by one, they began turning to stone.

Normally, in an unexpected situation like this, the guards would have been able to hold their ground and seal off the exits. There were enough guards, and they were well-trained, so there shouldn’t have been a problem.

However, the young students, like a swarm of prey laid out before a pack of wolves, used multiple spells, attracting the attention of the monsters, further hindering the guards’ efforts.

If they had been enemies, they could have handled them roughly or killed them. But since these were students -targets for protection- if any were to be injured or killed during an investigation at the academy, it would be a huge scandal. 

As a result, the guards had to protect the students with everything they had, making the students even more nastier in nature than the attackers.

“Awawawa… H-How can this be? I-Is this…my fault?”

Seeing the guards and students with petrified limbs, frozen in terror and lying on the ground, Genma’s face contorted in fear, and his large body began to shake uncontrollably.

All he wanted was to get a bit of petty revenge on that cocky Lanpeach. It was supposed to be a small, harmless prank.

“N-No one said anything about magic being forbidden! Why didn’t you tell me?!” (Genma)

Genma turned and shouted at the man who had suggested this plan.

━━━A few days earlier.

Even if Genma wanted to reprimand the minor villain Lanpeach, who had gathered a group of low-level explorers, he completed his quotas, and would oversee the men doing the work. 

It happened when Genma had gone drinking and was thinking about how to crush that guy. 

“Seems like you’re having a tough time. Is something the matter?”

A man sat next to him and spoke. Genma let his frustrations slip, perhaps because he was already drunk. 

The man offered a solution.

“Actually, I’m a teacher at the magic academy. I was thinking of introducing some well-paying jobs for the struggling students in need. How about we have them handle the stone briar clearing?”

“But I don’t have the money to pay the students. No way I’m covering that out of my own pocket.”  (Genma)

Genma didn’t particularly like Lanpeach, but he completed his quotas, and everything was running smoothly. He had no intention of paying out of his own pocket just to harass him.

“Don’t worry, the academy will cover the costs. We can’t just give money to poor families without justification, so we need a nominal job to go with it. A job from the academy would be perfect. You get the briar cleared quickly, and you can even fire that Lanpeach once the work’s done. A win-win, wouldn’t you say?”

Though Genma hesitated at first, the man’s smooth words eventually convinced him to agree.

━━━But this was not what Genma had bargained for. This wasn’t the outcome he wanted.

“Kukuku, how amusing. You’ve done a splendid job.”

The man who had posed as a teacher sneered wickedly. 

Genma realized he had been deceived, and flew into a rage.

“You tricked me!” (Genma)

Genma grabbed the man by the collar, lifted him up, and shouted.

“Of course I tricked you. Once enough monsters escape from this botanical garden, it’ll become a serious issue for the Tateno family. Soon, other noble houses will have to get involved in the investigation. Not to mention, we can take the opportunity to get rid of the unworthy students through a little ‘accident’. It’s killing two birds with one stone.” 

The man casually grabbed Genma’s wrist and effortlessly forced it down, prying himself free with even greater strength than Genma’s.

“The monsters in this garden have already been researched. The Medusa Snakes spit petrifying poison, and the Stone-Eating Bugs devour the petrified humans. Once they’re eaten, there’s no point in undoing the petrification. Fuhaha, what a catastrophe, wouldn’t you say, culprit Genma-san? Any comments?” 

“M-Me, the culprit…” (Genma)

After the man jeered at him, Genma finally understood that he had been set up as a scapegoat, used in the political power struggle of the noble families.

The image of his kind wife, who always switched the contents of his gadokurie boxed lunch with actual food, and his adorable daughter, who would always change the bathwater after Genma used it, flashed in his mind.

It is over. Genma had become a criminal for such a trivial prank. His family would be shamed and ostracized. Seeing his miserable future before him, the strength drained from his body, and he collapsed to his knees.

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. I wouldn’t want to be here when the stampede starts.”

The man turned and ran off, but Genma, unable to stop him, turned to look back at the now hellish botanical garden. 

Gray-scaled snakes as thick as a man’s arm began slithering out from the gaps between the briars, followed by countless Stone-Eating Bugs, the size of small infants, swarming from behind them.

The Medusa Snakes with their petrifying poison slithered through the briars, turning their prey into stone. Then, the Stone-Eating Bugs would consume the petrified parts. An abhorrent symbiosis.

The students and guards screamed in terror, trying desperately to escape.

“I-It’s over… I can’t fight these things…” (Genma)

Genma shut his eyes, prepared to meet his fate, sure the cries would be turning into the sounds of devouring. But—

There were no sounds of flesh being torn or stone being crunched, and the screams soon subsided.

“W-What’s going on?” (Genma)

Genma cautiously opened his eyes, sensing something was off. The sight that greeted him was unbelievable.

The Medusa Snakes and Stone-Eating Bugs that had emerged were all neatly sliced in half. Floating in the air were several golden rings, each about the size of a human palm, and standing in front of everyone, protecting them, was a single man.

“My name Taira Hitoshi. I defeat all of you.”

The man’s limbs moved stiffly, like a puppet, his mouth opening and closing mechanically as if he were a ventriloquist’s dummy.

“Feel wrath of Beer Cutter, powered by sun!”

Wielding a beer mug in one hand, he swung it in jerky motions, and the floating rings spun violently, slicing through the newly emerging Medusa Snakes and Stone-Eating Bugs.

Petrifying poison shot toward him, but the rings precisely intercepted and deflected the poison, scattering it in the air without allowing a single drop to touch him.

“Now’s our chance! Regroup and counterattack!”

“Roger that!”

“Good grief, looks like it’s my time to shine.”

The monsters were easy targets as long as they didn’t get hit by the poison. 

The leader of the guards shouted orders, and the chaotic battle quickly turned into a fierce counterattack.

“Cut all down while at it.”

“W-Wait! There are still more monsters out there!”

“It fine, it fine. Bored of job already.”

Hitoshi walked on with mechanical movements, charging toward the stone briars, and cutting them down with his Beer Cutter.

“Alright, time to level up!”

“Y-Yeah, this is a great opportunity.”

“As long as we don’t get hit by the poison, we’ll be fine!”

The students joined the fray, eager to level up. They began attacking with their magic. 

They clearly had no shortage of ambition.

“Get some anti-petrification herbs!”

“Bring the potions to reverse the petrification too!”

“Boost the firepower and take them down!”

The students naturally know that defeating stronger monsters would make them more powerful, so they were more motivated than even the guards. It is to the point where it makes you wonder what the chaos of before was.

Students with the ability to undo the petrification arrived eventually, and healed the victims. More and more students poured into the garden.

“Is everyone alright? We’ve come to help! …Wait, huh? This isn’t what we expected…”

A handsome blonde boy wielding a one-handed sword entered the scene, leading a group of beautiful girls, but he wore a confused expression upon seeing the garden had become a prime hunting ground.

More students arrived one after another when they heard the commotion, and within a few hours, the stone briars that had been so difficult to clear were being cut down like weeds, and the dead bodies of monsters were scattered everywhere.

“Phew, man, looks like we made good progress.”

“I think I’ve gotten stronger.”

“Weren’t you hiding behind us the whole time?”

“But seriously, what kind of event is this?”

“Isn’t it the student council’s monster-hunting event?”

The students wiped their sweat, and the atmosphere quickly turned to one where the initial chaos seemed like a distant memory.

“Ah, we’re saved. Uh, you’re Taira-san, right? If it weren’t for your defense, the monsters would have escaped, and it would’ve been a disaster.”

“Tired… Going sleep…”

Hitoshi collapsed, unconscious, before the guard could properly thank him.

Seeing this, everyone had the same thought…

(No no, there’s no way this guy wasn’t being controlled!)

They wanted to point it out, but with him passed out, there was no one to ask. Moreover, they had no idea who was controlling him.

Genma let out a sigh of relief and glanced at Lanpeach. Lanpeach had been calmly drinking beer despite the chaos, completely at ease. 

Noticing Genma’s gaze, Lanpeach gave him a sly smile and mouthed: “Keep the pranks moderate.”

Genma understood instinctively who had been pulling the strings, and decided it was best to avoid Lanpeach from now on.

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