The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

[Translator - Night]

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Chapter 11 - The First Class (3)

"Ugh..."

After a brief commotion, the lead in pursuing the demonic beast shifted from Camilla to me.

Camilla, perhaps upset that the lead had been taken from her, followed behind me with a sullen expression.

Her slumped shoulders and lethargic steps were quite unfamiliar to me, as I had never seen this side of "Camilla Vedice."

"Isn't she cute?"

Iris, who was walking beside me, glanced back at Camilla, who was trailing behind us, and chuckled while covering her mouth.

"She's very competitive, so whenever she loses, she tends to sulk like that for a while."

"I never knew that a candidate for the next Holy Sword could make such an expression."

"It just means that Dale's tracking skills are that impressive."

Iris looked at me with sparkling eyes and asked,

"By the way, how do you manage to pinpoint the demonic beast's movements so accurately at a glance?"

"Well..."

I wanted to say that after hunting demonic beasts thousands of times, it becomes second nature, whether you want it to or not.

But I couldn't tell her about my past life.

"Just lucky, I guess."

"Hmm. It didn't seem like luck at all."

Iris didn't press further, and after that comment, she quietly followed behind me as we continued tracking the demonic beast for another ten minutes.

"I found it."

I spotted something dark through the thick bushes and hunched over, stealthily moving.

It was about two meters in size.

It resembled a cat, but its mouth was sharp like a bird's beak, and a third eye gleamed ominously between its two eyes, emitting a sinister red glow.

"A three-eyed demonic beast, huh?"

Demonic Beasts tend to become more deformed and powerful as the number of their eyes increases.

Having three eyes meant that the demonic beast was in the early stages of mutation, with only minor changes to its size and body parts.

"It's a good target for training."

Of course, even a three-eyed demonic beast was still a demonic beast.

It moved much faster than any wild animal, had the strength to tear a person apart easily, and was difficult to even scratch with a weapon that wasn't magic-infused.

"Especially feline demonic beasts—they're often faster than demonic beasts with more eyes."

It seemed likely that the trainers had deliberately prepared a feline demonic beast to match the training theme of "tracking and capture."

"I need to approach it quickly before it notices me."

As I was timing my move, Camilla stepped forward.

"I'll go."

Was she trying to redeem herself after her earlier failure?

"Feline demonic beasts are quite fast. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Hmph. Don't worry. I'm not slow enough to let a demonic beast like that escape."

Judging by her confident answer, it didn't seem like she was bluffing.

"Alright. I'll block its escape route, and you catch it."

"Got it."

As I quietly moved toward the demonic beast's escape route, Iris spoke up.

"Wait a moment. I'll cast a blessing first."

She clasped her hands together as if in prayer, and a soft white light emanated from her holy mark, enveloping us.

It felt as if all the fatigue had melted away, and my body was filled with renewed energy.

‘It's been a while.’

It had been so long since I'd received a blessing from Iris.

Although the blessing was far weaker in both ability and effect compared to what I had received in my past life, the fact that I could receive her blessing again made my heart swell with emotion, to the point where my eyes almost teared up.

"Dale? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, sorry."

There was no time to get lost in sentimentality.

I quietly moved to the demonic beast's escape route.

Once in position, I looked back at Camilla, who seemed to be waiting for my signal, ready to spring into action at any moment.

‘Unexpected.’

I had thought that Camilla, who found me annoying, would charge in without waiting for my signal.

‘She’s not so foolish as to let her emotions cloud her judgment, huh?’

Good.

If she wants to be Iris's protector, that's exactly how she should behave.

"......"

I watched the demonic beast closely from my hiding spot.

As I had observed earlier through its droppings, the demonic beast didn't seem to be in great condition.

It squirmed irritably, trying to shake off the restraints around its legs and mouth.

"Now."

With a short signal, Camilla dashed forward.

I was ready to back her up in case she missed the demonic beast, but...

‘I guess that’s not necessary.’

She proved that her claim of not being slow was no idle boast, as she charged forward with explosive speed and kicked the demonic beast viciously in the stomach.

"Kyaaak!"

Thud!

With a dull thud, black blood spewed from the demonic beast's mouth.

Even while coughing up blood, the demonic beast frantically tried to flee, but...

"Where do you think you're going?"

Camilla struck the demonic beast on the back of its head with her sheathed sword.

The demonic beast staggered after the direct hit and collapsed without putting up much of a fight.

"Well done, Camilla!"

Seeing the demonic beast fall, Iris emerged from the bushes and approached Camilla.

"Hmph. This was nothing."

"That was amazing!"

"Hehehe."

"I love you!"

"Oh, come on, Saintess. Compliments like that over something so trivial don’t really make me happy."

She seemed pretty pleased, though.

"Hmm~ Isn't Camilla just adorable?"

Iris smiled warmly at the sight of Camilla, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"It sounds like you're showing off a cute puppy."

Now that I think about it, Iris treated me like a cute pet, too.

‘Especially in bed…’

Ahem.

I quickly erased that thought from my mind and approached the fallen demonic beast.

"We’ve caught it, so let's report it."

I brought my Hero Watch on my left wrist close to the restraints on the demonic beast's mouth.

Beep.

A clear alarm sounded, and a hologram window appeared on the screen.

[Capture by the party of 'Iris, Camilla Vedice, Dale Han' confirmed.]

Good.

We caught one.

"Should we move on to the next one right away?"

I felt confident we could capture all three demonic beasts by the end of the day if we moved quickly, but...

"Thank you. If it weren’t for you, Dale, we wouldn’t have captured the demonic beast this quickly."

Iris's sweet smile, so warm it could melt anyone's heart, made me reconsider.

Her eyes, more beautiful than the clear blue sky—eyes I had never seen before—made my heart pound like it was broken.

‘Should I put aside the plan to catch all three in one day?’

Yeah.

In my previous life, the cadets struggled for three days to catch them all, so if I catch them all in one day, it won't be much of a training experience for the other cadets, right?

The bonus points are tempting, but I can't take away the precious growth opportunities of the other cadets just for a few points, can I?

"By the way, if we can't catch all three today, does that mean we'll have to camp out in the forest?"

"We'll have to if we have no choice. They said the training won't end until we've caught all three, no matter how long it takes."

It's definitely not because I want to spend the night with my ex.

* * *

After a few more hours of searching the mountain for the demonic beasts, we still couldn't find any trace of them, let alone the demonic beasts themselves.

I clicked my tongue as I looked up at the darkening sky.

"Well, it looks like we’ll have to camp out after all. I really wanted to catch them all today and rest, but what a shame."

"...You seem strangely happy about this?"

"Hey, what do you take me for?"

"Hmph. I won't let it slide if you have any sneaky thoughts just because we're camping."

Camilla warned me with a fierce look in her eyes.

I chuckled and kicked the dirt floor lightly.

"Once you're lying on this hard ground with the cold wind blowing on you, you won't have the luxury of those kinds of thoughts, so don't worry."

"Ugh."

We've had outdoor survival training before, but this is the first time Camilla is experiencing rough camping on the bare ground, so she stared down at the dirt floor with a gulp.

"The ground is unavoidable, but if I apply my blessing, the cold wind won't be as bad."

"Really? Your blessing has that effect too?"

I already knew this, of course.

I pretended to be surprised, just to mess around.

"Hehe. Well, I am a ‘saint’ after all."

Iris puffed out her chest proudly with a playful grin.

Rip.

As she stretched her back and puffed out her chest, her clothes looked ready to burst at the seams.

‘Yikes.’

I'd seen those enough to have them ingrained in my memory (and even touched them!), but seeing them again after a while, the visual impact was... something else.

"You, you! Stop staring! Didn't I warn you that such a posture is dangerous, Saint?"

“Hmm. It’s strange. It wasn’t like this when Camilla did it earlier.”

"What nonsense are you spouting... Ah, I-I'm sorry!"

"Oh dear, I'm hurt."

Iris dramatically wiped her eyes as if she was heartbroken.

Camilla looked flustered and kept bowing her head.

‘I never knew Iris had such a playful side during her cadet days.’

In my previous life, she never showed this mischievous side of herself.

‘Seeing this side of Iris that I didn’t know about…’

I was filled with emotions, watching Iris teasing Camilla with that playful smile.

Growl.

The sound of a rumbling stomach echoed through the quiet forest.

“Ah.”

Iris’s cheeks flushed a bright red.

“Ahem… I didn’t eat a proper breakfast this morning, so I feel a bit hungry.”

Embarrassed by her growling stomach, Iris cleared her throat awkwardly and made an excuse.

Camilla looked troubled.

“Uh… I’m sorry. I didn’t expect we’d be camping, so I didn’t bring any food.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t expect to be camping suddenly either.”

Iris smiled brightly, saying it was okay even if they went without food for a day, but her face did seem slightly pale, probably because she hadn’t eaten much breakfast.

“I brought some food.”

“Oh…!”

“R-Really?”

“Of course. I brought enough for two people, so don’t worry.”

I pulled out the food I had packed in advance from my bag.

“…What’s that?”

Camilla tilted her head, looking at the bright red package in my hand.

“Ramen.”

“Ramen? Oh, isn’t that the food that the poor people of the Republic eat?”

“What? Were you planning to feed the Saint something like that, even in an emergency?”

“I don’t know how it got that image, but the taste is unbeatable, so don’t worry.”

Especially,

“Iris, you'll love it.”

In my previous life, she’d devour ramen like there was no tomorrow.

“Hmph. What do you know about the Saint to say that?”

Camilla scoffed as if I was talking nonsense and continued,

“The Saint, who eats every meal prepared by a professional chef dispatched from the Holy Kingdom, with perfect taste, freshness, and nutritional balance. There’s no way she would like such a lowly food item!”

“Look at you, being all talk when you’re the one getting a free meal.”

“Ugh… T-That’s…”

“So, are you going to eat or not?”

“…I’ll eat. I apologize for my remarks.”

Apparently, Camilla was hungry too, as she quickly bowed her head.

I gathered some dry branches nearby, lit a fire, and cooked the ramen in a pot I had prepared.

‘I wish I had some eggs to go with it.’

But bringing eggs to an outdoor training session was a bit much, even for me.

“It’s ready.”

“Wow…”

“Ahem… The smell is certainly something.”

The two women swallowed their saliva as they watched the bubbling ramen.

Holy Kingdom food tends to be mild and vegetable-heavy, so they probably hadn’t experienced such a strong flavor before.

“Here are the chopsticks… Oh, people from the Holy Kingdom aren’t very good with chopsticks, are they?”

“No. I’ve learned how to use them.”

“I can use them too.”

Iris took the chopsticks and slurped up some ramen.

And then,

“Hmmmm!”

Iris’s face lit up with excitement as she kicked her feet.

It was the same reaction I’d seen in my previous life.

“Wow! What is this? It’s so delicious! Are you kidding me?!”

“……”

“…Ahem. I had only heard that it was poor people’s food, but after tasting it, it’s surprisingly not bad.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m glad you like it.”

Correction.

It was a slightly more intense reaction than in my previous life.

[Translator - Night]

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