I Became the Maid of the Lout Prince

Chapter 282

The group assigned to face the Roaring Crescent Bear, which may or may not appear from the western part of the forest, consisted of three members: me, Ethan, and Karaham.

To be honest, it was a slightly risky matchup. The bear’s estimated level was around 35, while my own level was only 22. I couldn’t say for sure what Ethan and Karaham’s levels were, but since we were in the same year at the academy, it was likely they were close to mine.

Normally, that would be cause for concern, but in this case, I wasn’t really afraid. As I’d mentioned before, this fight was almost certainly not going to happen.

The monster attacking the northern altar was almost guaranteed to be the “Moonlight Wolves.” If this were the game, it would have a nearly 99% chance of happening.

‘The stronger the party members, the more likely it is that the Moonlight Wolves will appear in the north.’

And the party we had gathered in the Witch’s Forest was exceptionally strong.

There were three Sword Experts—dummy, Ethan, and Sir Colt.

Two Saintesses—Serista and me, both having awakened through unique circumstances.

A swordsman, Karaham, who was just on the verge of breaking through to Sword Expert.

Princess Seraphin, also known as the “Shadow of the Moon.”

A skilled elven archer, Selenna, who was an aspiring divine marksman.

And Agnes, the fire mage who would eventually become the master of the Red Tower.

As for Antonio... well, he was decent enough.

In the game, assembling this kind of power would’ve been impossible. You’d need to cheat or mod the game to get this lineup.@@@@

The most ridiculous part was that we had three Sword Experts and two Saintesses. In the original story, the first Sword Expert among the party members, Natalie, didn’t even awaken until midway through the third arc, and both Serista and I only became Saintesses at the end of the fourth arc.

The idea that the Crescent Bear would show up instead of the Moonlight Wolves was laughable. If this were a game, it would be considered a bug.

Of course, this world wasn’t a perfect copy of the game; it was a blend of game mechanics and reality. Still, the main events of Luminor Academy tended to follow the original storyline closely.

So, it was hard not to relax a little.

The monsters were almost certainly going to be the Moonlight Wolves. Even if the Crescent Bear did appear, we only needed to hold it off for a couple of minutes before dummy and the rest of the party came to help.

And if no monsters appeared on our end, we’d head north to assist with the wolves.

It was a perfect plan.

...At least, it was supposed to be.

“Ethan! Lightning strike from the left! Don’t block it with your sword! Karaham, there’s a sweep attack coming from the left!”

It might have been rude to comment on someone else’s weapon, but the thought had crossed my mind as well. Swinging a sword that big in such a tightly packed forest would result in tree-clearing, not fighting.

“Haha, don’t worry, Lord Ethan!”

“...What?”

“Look, there’s a sapling over there. Let me show you!”

With that, Karaham suddenly gripped his sword and swung it in a wide arc.

It looked like he was about to chop down several large trees in his path, but what happened next left both Ethan and me stunned.

Slice!

“Wow...”

“...Huh.”

Karaham’s sword sliced through only a single sapling behind the larger trees, leaving the others untouched. It defied the laws of physics, and we couldn’t help but be impressed.

“How did you do that? I couldn’t even see it.”

“Haha, it’s a secret technique of the Auguste family. We’ve trained for generations in the art of greatsword combat, so it’s only natural that we’d master the ability to distinguish between what to cut and what to leave untouched!”

“...Impressive. That’s quite the technique.”

“Of course, I don’t use it often because it takes the fun out of cutting things! The best part of wielding a sword is the satisfying crunch when you slice through something, isn’t it? A real swordsman needs to feel the ‘whack!’, the ‘thud!’, and the ‘sh-sh-shing!’ as monsters fall before him!”

As Karaham happily rambled on, we finally arrived at the designated spot where the Crescent Bear was expected to appear.

We were to hold this position, and within the next couple of hours, the bear would likely emerge, heading toward the altar. Our task was to stall it until help arrived.

“Whether this Crescent Bear shows up or not, my heart is already racing! I wonder how it compares to the brown bears of the north!”

“...As the hero said, our top priority is safety. We don’t need to defeat it ourselves. Once help arrives, we can all deal with it together.”

“Haha! But that’s only if the hero arrives in time! There’s no harm in us slaying it before he gets here, is there?”

“Didn’t you just hear what Lilith said, Karaham? The priority is safety. And if you act recklessly, the one who will be in the most danger is your sister.”

“...Yes, of course, haha!”

...That was not a very reassuring response.

Predicting the actions of a muscle-headed character like Karaham was impossible. I could only hope that since his sister was involved, he’d restrain himself.

All I could do was pray that he wouldn’t start some foolish one-on-one battle that would leave a hole in our defenses.