Emma stood in front of a steep, rocky cliff. Her prey, the wingtail, was a bird monster that created nests in steep areas. The cliff was practically at a ninety-degree angle, the perfect location for it to make its nest. It was no place for a person to climb.
However, the orphans found this to be no problem. In the yard of the duke’s garden was an artificially created cliff that was just as steep, and they’d been forced to climb it practically every day. But now, she’d have to fight a monster while scaling the rocky wall; it would be difficult for anyone other than Emma to collect the egg.
“This looks like so much fun,” Emma said happily as she gazed up at the cliff.
She possessed not only amazing physical abilities but excellent eyesight as well. Amid the haze, she spotted the dark tail of a bird—the wingtail. There was undoubtedly a nest up there.
“All right, let’s do this,” she said.
She practically flew as she scaled the cliff—she didn’t grab the stones to gain footing but instead kicked off them to propel herself upwards. Using the speed that she gained, she climbed up in a flash.
Near the very top was a nest created from large branches. No normal bird was capable of creating a nest of that size, further cementing that the wingtail’s egg had to be there. And sure enough, a beautiful, jade-colored egg was nestled within it.
“Found it,” Emma said.
She approached the nest without hesitation. Two wingtails drew close. They must have been the egg’s parents, and their sharp beaks could kill a human in a flash.
“That’s more like it,” Emma said.
She showed no sign of panic and instead seemed to be enjoying herself. She always found Serena’s orders to be wonderful suggestions for new ways to have fun. Emma unsheathed the blade from her back and began a battle in the air, despite her rocky, unsteady footing.
✦ ✦ ✦
Oscar stood by the lake with a bow in his hand. His prey, the killerfish, lived within these waters, and apparently had been attacking unsuspecting boaters. Oscar’s plan was to create dummies from straw and have them float out on the lake in a small boat. He borrowed the boat without anyone’s permission, but he felt no sense of remorse.
I’ll use whatever I can, he thought.
This lack of guilt was part of his personality, though he had been affected by Serena to some degree as well. His master might have been insolent, but she always produced excellent results. An expert in magic and the sword, she was also exceptionally intelligent and conducted herself with the utmost decorum and grace. Combined with her appearance, she was practically the pinnacle of perfection, personality aside.
Precisely because she’s perfect, she probably expects the same level of perfection from us, her squire candidates.
Oscar was a logical person, so he assumed that Serena acted with some sort of deeper reason in mind, leading to his conclusion. Frankly, that idea was troublesome for him, and if their training had been derived from such a devilish idea, it only tormented him. However, the sessions had undoubtedly made Oscar and the other orphans stronger.
Indeed, Serena’s training produced excellent results here as well.
He gazed upon the tranquil surface of the water, lost in thought, when the mirror-like surface of the lake rippled. He readied his bow, and suddenly, a monstrous fish leaped out of the water to gobble the straw dummies. Oscar swiftly loosed his arrows.
Doesn’t matter if I miss, really, since those straw dummies are laced with poison.
He smiled as his arrow flew straight for the killerfish.
✦ ✦ ✦
Alice stepped into the depths of the forest, bringing along her dog for this mission. Her assigned monster, the mandragora, was a plant that used its roots as legs to run around. Usually, though, it stayed put and acted like a normal plant. Its body was said to have various medicinal properties and fetched a high price. The drawback was that it was extremely rare to find, and when plucked from the ground, it emitted a harsh screech that would instantly kill those who heard it. A mage like Alice struggled to fight others solo, so in a sense, this was an easy opponent to handle.
Serena is such a good master, Alice thought.
She liked her master very much—Serena gave her plenty of books to read. This made Alice the first of the orphans to swear loyalty to her. Unbeknownst to Alice, Serena simply saw her as a convenient tool—the orphan read every book that came her way, then provided a summary that was easy to digest.
Alice had gained all sorts of knowledge from the many books that she’d perused, which allowed her to narrow down the mandragora’s location. Based on the temperature, the humidity, the condition of the soil, and the surrounding environment, the forest that she was currently in was the perfect place to search. After wandering for an hour, she finally spotted the uniquely shaped leaf that marked the mandragora.
However, if she pulled it out here, the screams would kill her. She chanted a spell of serenity, which nullified any sound made in the area. Alice was an expert with this spell because she would often use it to sneak into other people’s rooms to read their books without permission. As pure silence settled onto the forest, she took out a rope, tying one end to the base of the mandragora’s leaves and the other to the collar of her dog.
This would allow her to pluck out the monster without sullying her hands, and once it appeared, she planned to defeat it. She sent the signal, and her dog ran and pulled the string taut. The roots, the main body of the mandragora, started to show.
Alice raised her staff high in the air, getting ready to beat the mandragora to death.