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The Behemoth vanished beyond the clouds right after the event ended.

As soon as we stepped outside, we noticed its bright red eyes had turned sky blue.

All the monsters that were inside had escaped outside, likely to hunt somewhere far away.

The monsters that had spread throughout the Empire were all dealt with by the royal knights and adventurers, while Lucia had taken care of those remaining in the Academy.

Suddenly, I was startled by rainbow-colored lasers, like a spectrum, descending from the sky and engulfing the monsters.

Initially, I planned to be a solitary gourmet during this event, but due to the interruption in my meal, I inadvertently stole the show.

In any case, I leveled up and acquired a new skill, so I checked my status.

[ Information ]

Name: Luke

Gender: Man

Magical Power: 0 / 0

Age: 20

Level: 107

[ Skills ]

Inventory (F)

Superstrength (B)

All Attribute Resistance (A)

Status Ailment Resistance (B+)

Manly Man (S)

Iron Horn (A)

[ Stats ]

Strength: 100 (+50)

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 0

Stamina: 10

Stat Points: 7

It seems like I haven’t hunted recently, so my growth feels a bit slower.

But thinking back on the monster’s meat I just ate, growth has become irrelevant.

As always, I intended to raise my strength this time.

‘Hmm?’

What’s this? Why isn’t it increasing?

No matter how hard I try, my strength won’t budge.

“Increase, strength!!”

“…Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“Nothing, just forget it.”

Could it be that 100 is the cap…?

I wanted to pump my strength up until just before death.

Damn that ace constraint!

At this rate, I’ll be a forced Manly Man.

Anyway, it seems like now I’ll have to increase my other stats, and if I had to choose, it’d be either Agility or Stamina.

Should I just bump up my Intelligence by 1?

…Nah. My Intelligence is already sufficient. Getting smarter might just make life boring.

‘Hmm…’

I think I might get a case of choice paralysis.

So for now, I decided to hold off on allocating my stats. I’ll raise them when I need to later.

I closed the status window and decided to check out my newly acquired skill.

◈ Skill Information

Name: Iron Horn

Grade: A

Description: Greatly enhances resistance to physical attacks. It isn’t immunity, so it can’t completely nullify damage. A true Manly Man must have this virtue.

I had hoped for something new and exciting, but unfortunately, there was no such drift.

It was the same Iron Horn I already knew.

Still, it made me feel good that the “delinquent” tag at the end of the skill description was gone.

Now that I’ve checked the skill, the next step is to test its performance.

“Yui, punch me anywhere.”

“Huh? All of a sudden…?”

“Yeah. Just want to see how well the new skill works.”

“There’s no revenge or killing involved, right…?”

Don’t you think that’s a bit paranoid?

“I won’t do any revenge or killing.”

“Are you really serious? You’re not going to punch me lightly just to avoid hurting me, right?”

That level of paranoia seems like a problem.

And what’s with that ambiguous number?

“Are you going to hurry? Want me to die?!”

“Eek!”

-Thunk! Thunk!

“This is what hitting feels like…?”

“Ugh…yeah…”

Yui’s hands were ridiculously weak. The manner in which she swung her arms was like a child throwing a tantrum.

At this rate, she wouldn’t hurt me even without a skill.

Honestly, it’s strange to expect power from someone who’s all magic.

But seriously, her punches were way too weak. How did they even make a sound?

I’ll have to take a solid hit later.

“Then Luna, you give it a try.”

“Is it okay for me to punch as well?”

“No, use your sword.”

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous…?”

It increases resistance to physical attacks, right?

Then it should work on slashing attacks as well, not just punches and kicks.

“I won’t be held responsible if anything happens.”

“If anything happens, I’ll be the one blaming my weakness, not you.”

Luna quickly drew her dagger and swung it.

I confidently placed my hands on my hips and puffed out my chest.

“Come at me!”

Shwaaaa—

The blade zipped by at a speed unfathomable to the average person.

A straight cut formed on my chest, blood splattering everywhere.

“It seemed like something like this happened before, Luna. You’re not harboring a grudge against me, right?”

“Of course not.”

Yet her gaze had murder written all over it just now.

“More importantly, are you okay? Is your wound alright?”

You really know how to dodge the subject smoothly.

“I’m fine. Just needs some spit, and it’ll be good.”

“…Are you saying spit is some kind of potion?”

Indeed, after possession, I haven’t sustained any serious injuries, so it does hurt.

It feels worse that it’s just a light scratch rather than a deep cut.

The kind of annoying pain, like a paper cut. Just the right level of sting to be irritating.

“I can deal with the wound later with a bandage, but hey, let’s go eat breakfast first.”

In the end, all I had was a few pieces I grilled initially.

After that, I was moving non-stop, and it felt like my belly was going to stick to my back.

“In a situation like this, how can I even eat…?”

“What do you mean by ‘in this situation’?”

The demons are dead, and the Behemoth has left.

The event is over; what’s there to worry about?

Luna pointed to a section of the Academy.

There, students exhausted from hunting were catching their breath, presumably while some of the teachers were busy restoring the collapsed main building.

“Over there?”

“That’s their concern, not mine.”

I only care if the restaurant I want to go to and today’s lodging are intact.

*

After the incident, we immediately exited the Academy.

Since the Academy’s restaurant doesn’t provide meals after a supply run.

Normally, there would be an inquiry or something, but…

This event was a terror that affected the entire Empire, not just the Academy, so that wasn’t the case.

While they might ask the terrorist why they did this, nobody would be asking the victims why they were targeted.

Everyone is a victim.

With the demonic culprit dead, the situation’s details are hard to comprehend.

Those who had been inside the Behemoth knew it was the work of the demons, so they could simply say it was the demons’ doing.

But then, that raises questions about how they knew and requires lots of explaining about how they dealt with the demons.

That’s just tedious.

Also, classes are apparently suspended for about three days because of the Behemoth event.

The buildings that were damaged need repairs, and the frantic wealthy parents of our lovely children are probably causing a stink.

It’s an Academy that was meant to teach while we roll around, but lessons under the teachers’ protection and a life-or-death battlefield have vastly different meanings.

Not everyone feels this way, but some overly doting parents will definitely have complaints regarding the Academy’s safety.

Especially families with doting fathers for their daughters.

So Lucia will be quite busy for a while dealing with all this.

After such an incident, if a professor were to come in and say, “The Academy is operating as usual~,” and then tell everyone to “Open your books,” the professor wouldn’t be in for a fun time.

The students, confused by such unprecedented events, would likely react like high school seniors right before exams—very sensitive to provocations.

“And if there are no classes, that’s fine by me.”

I don’t have to attend classes, and I still get meals and lodging provided. Where else could I find such a sweet gig?

Anyway, when I stepped out toward the restaurant area, I suddenly felt uneasy.

It seemed like there were no fatalities, but many people had been affected.

Because of that, all the restaurant doors that usually buzzed with activity were closed.

I hadn’t thought about the fact that the Academy wasn’t the only one attacked.

“I suppose it seems like I’ll have to settle for a light meal today.”

“My breakfast…”

I got such excellent ingredients and now have to settle for something hastily made?

To even have such impudence about good ingredients…

-Grrr.

My stomach was demanding I eat quickly.

Just wait a moment. I’m annoyed too.

Since the restaurant we usually frequented had been hit, we headed for just any restaurant.

Fortunately, some restaurants with minimal damage were still running normally.

No matter how much chaos there was, if commoners had to close shop for just a day, the losses would be no joke.

We entered a restaurant and showed the server the meat we brought.

“Could you make something with this?”

“Sure! We can whip up anything with it.”

“Great.”

I was starving, so I’d better eat; there aren’t that many options anyway in this world.

After watching the server head to the kitchen, I found an empty table and started idly chatting.

“Finally found you.”

Someone said that while approaching our table.

 

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