Inheritance
‘Where... am I?’
It was an unfamiliar place she was seeing for the first time.
Blinking blankly, Lisa looked up.
The sky was black.
‘....’
At first, she thought night had fallen.
But Lisa soon realized that thought was nothing more than a delusion.
The night sky was writhing as if it were a living creature.
For an instant, sunlight leaked through.
Along with it, the surroundings were brightly illuminated, and the silhouettes within the darkness were revealed.
‘Ah....’
Monsters.
Monsters emanating ominous auras covered the sky enough to blot out the sun.
But the ground was likewise swarming with monsters.
“Resist until the very end! You must never yield them a path!”
“Our families are evacuating! Even if only to save them, sacrifice your lives here!”
“Fear is good sustenance for them! So do not be afraid and fight! Think of those you must protect!”
“The Saint is with us! Our souls shall be saved!”
Amidst soldiers shouting in the language of the Grace Empire and busily fighting—
Lisa moved with heavy steps and looked down below the fortress walls.
From beyond the horizon, so many monsters covered the ground that the end could not be seen.
‘What in the world... is this?’
It was as if the end times had arrived.
Lisa was spellbound by the sight she was seeing for the first time in her life, unable to speak.
She couldn't help but feel fear.
She was frightened. She was terrified.
‘I have to run away.’
The tide of battle was hopeless.
Realistically, it was too much for the troops defending the walls to repel the seemingly endless monsters.
It was impossible.
Moreover, who knew how long the soldiers had been fighting them; every single one of them was wounded and looked utterly exhausted.
And yet....
“With the resolve to die, fight even in death!”
The soldiers desperately resisted, struggling not to retreat.
The one encouraging them was a woman.
“I shall fight alongside you as well. So do not be afraid.”
“Saint Veronica is with us! We have nothing to fear!”
“Glory to Grace!”
A woman with her blonde hair tied up led the soldiers' morale.
The magic she spread by swinging her staff gave them strength and killed the monsters.
“In the name of Veronica Grace, I shall defend this fortress until the very end!”
Despite a war with no chance of victory, she commanded the battlefield without the slightest sign of fear.
Lisa couldn't help but feel respect for this woman, whom she presumed to be her ancestor.
It was then.
‘...Huh?’
The woman who had been giving orders to the soldiers suddenly turned in the direction Lisa was in.
The woman's blue eyes precisely fixed on Lisa.
She opened her mouth.
Her voice pierced Lisa's ears clearly without being buried in the sounds of war.
“Can you resist fate? Are you prepared to bear the weight of the world?”
‘...What?’
The woman's expression hardened.
Lisa had never expected to be asked a question by her, and she was momentarily flustered.
‘What do you...’
...mean?
Lisa's counter-question did not reach the woman.
Because the world engulfed in war had changed into the ceiling of a dormitory room before she knew it.
“Ah....”
Lisa raised herself from the bed and let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed it had been a dream after all.
But for a dream....
‘It was too vivid.’
Somehow, it was too unclear to dismiss as a mere dream.
Lisa unconsciously gripped her pendant in her hand.
It was a pendant affixed with a Witch's Crystal so that she could always carry it on her person to absorb its inner power.
The Witch's Crystal had shrunk smaller than before.
* * *
During the Geumgang Festival, the Osaekjeon was held all over the grounds.
The Osaekjeon could be called a sports competition where academy students, divided by class, competed as the Blue Team, White Team, Red Team, Black Team, and Yellow Team.
The scale was truly enormous, as it was an event where students of all departments, tracks, and years participated.
‘Since the majority know how to handle mana, it is quite spectacular compared to an ordinary athletic competition.’
In the Osaekjeon, students could freely use magic as long as they didn't commit acts of killing.
It provided a delightful spectacle for those watching the games.
That was why the Osaekjeon was considered the highlight of the Geumgang Festival, along with the closing ceremony fireworks.
Meanwhile, from the students' perspective, it was also an opportunity to show their skills to scouts and industry officials who visited the Geumgang Festival.
Already feeling competitive toward other teams and a sense of solidarity with their own as sides were divided, the students couldn't help but be all the more fired up for the Osaekjeon.
The Blue Team I belonged to was no different.
“Attack is the only way to survive! All-out charge!”
“Don't scatter, group up! Group up to increase our size!”
“Don't get excited and act on your own, follow the team leader's orders!”
“I just marked them!”
“Good! Take down the marked ones first!”
The cavalry battle, which carried high point value in the Osaekjeon, was in full swing.
Our Blue Team, with blue headbands tied around our heads, shouted as we opposed the Red Team.
As the rider, I went around eagerly trying to snatch the Red Team riders' red headbands.
I didn't hesitate to charge into enemy lines.
For reference, my horse was a set of triplets who had been fortunately assigned to the same Blue Team.
Thanks to that, I could order them around without reservation.
Then, they cried out in alarm.
“Do Gyeonu! I think we're surrounded!? It's all Red Team everywhere!”
“See, I told you to keep it moderate and move in coordination with our teammates!”
“We're done for now. I could tell from when you recklessly charged in.”
The triplets let out groans.
Ignoring their fuss, I calmly surveyed the battlefield.
Indeed, Red Team students were positioned around us trying to stop my offensive, so the situation wasn't good.
But it was fine.
Sweeping my gaze over them as they tightened their encirclement, I opened my mouth.
“Isn't it nice when the prey comes to us on their own? Let's respond like this. It looks like our teammates are coming to help us too; if we do this right, we might be able to counterattack.”
“Ugh, this maniac really....”
“Don't you worry about us who have to run around carrying you?”
“We're at fault for being stuck under Gyeonu, sigh....”
“Shut up and hold onto me tight so I don't fall. And get ready not to collapse on impact. Now, charge!”
Attack is the only way to survive.
I urged the reluctant triplets.
Acknowledging there was no other way, they finally moved according to my demand.
Shortly after, a clash with the Red Team occurred.
The Red Team riders reached out, trying somehow to snatch my headband.
But no chance.
Snap!
As long as I had evasion instinct, I was confident I wouldn't give up my headband.
Moreover, with my agility over 70, the students' hand movements looked slow to me.
As a result, the Red Team riders who targeted me ended up having their headbands snatched by me instead.
Furthermore.
“Gyeonu! I'll help you!”
“You came just in time.”
I wasn't the only one competing.
As the Red Team cavalry surrounding me gradually increased, reinforcements led by Gang Hanbyeol arrived in the meantime.
With them joining in, Blue Team and Red Team violently mixed around me.
The advantage was not with the numerically superior Red Team, but with the Blue Team led by me and Gang Hanbyeol.
Before long, we were able to eliminate a large number of the Red Team.
‘I'm glad I'm on the same side as Hanbyeol. Though I was split from Haneul....’
Actually, the reason I charged into the Red Team camp even at the risk of danger was because I trusted Gang Hanbyeol, who was guarding the rear, so that even if I got isolated by mistake.
As expected, he provided help at just the right time as I had hoped.
We passed by each other, high-fiving in the sense that we had done well.
For me, it was a shame that Yeon Haneul had become a Black Team competitor, but having him on the same team put my mind at ease.
Above all....
‘The fact that I don't have to separately create a justification to get involved in the Geumgang Festival episode means less trouble.’
While the tide was turning in the Blue Team's favor, I looked for Lisa, who would be somewhere on the battlefield.
As a rider, she too would be fighting a Red Team rider somewhere.
According to the Geumgang Festival episode here....
“Kyaaack!”
It was then that the incident triggering the Geumgang Festival episode occurred.
Turning my head at the scream, I spotted Lisa, who had lost her blue headband and fallen from her horse.
Gang Hanbyeol and I quickly changed direction and ran to her.
Meanwhile, the Red Team rider who had snatched her headband was looking down at her quietly without leaving.
He was the boss of this episode, a man with striking blonde hair and green eyes.
“A pathetic display of skill.”
“Brother....”
A third-year student at Geumgang Academy, and a Double Number ranked 16th.
Prince of the Grace Empire, Mikhail Grace.
He was Lisa's older half-brother.
* * *
According to the game, Mikhail Grace did not look favorably upon Lisa entering the academy to become a Hunter.
There were various reasons, but ultimately it was because he judged her disposition and skills unsuitable for a Hunter.
Therefore, in the game he was portrayed as someone who would recommend she drop out of the academy at every turn.
Now was no different.
“Rolling around on the ground in front of people—how unsightly for royalty of Grace. You can't even endure this much and collapse, yet you say you'll become a Hunter? If this were actual combat, you would be dead.”
“....”
Mikhail spoke as if ridiculing her.
Then Lisa couldn't refute him and averted her eyes with a dark expression.
“When you first entered the academy, you told me you would show me a side worthy of my recognition. But if that side is kneeling before me and making a spectacle of yourself in front of others, then I am disappointed. Or do you wish to bring shame to Grace?”
“No, brother. Next time I will do better to meet your expectations....”
“It's not too late even now. Drop out.”
“....”
“Hunter doesn't suit you. You cannot become a Hunter, nor should you. So quietly drop out and return to the Empire. Don't chase ideals by becoming a Hunter; enjoy life comfortably receiving treatment as royalty as in the old days. Or at least enter a political marriage.”
“Brother, that's....”
“If you truly have the Empire's best interests at heart, that would be far more beneficial.”
Mikhail rattled on as if lecturing, and Lisa pressed her lips shut.
Naturally, the students around them could only watch in awkwardness, unable to resume the match.
They couldn't rashly intervene in the conflict between two royal half-siblings.
Soon, she parted her lips.
“I refuse.”
“What?”
“I refuse. I... want to become a Hunter.”
“...You really don't listen.”
Lisa clutched her chest tightly, revealing her will as if resisting.
Then Mikhail glared at her as if annoyed.
Then, unable to watch any longer as the story unfolded like in the game, Gang Hanbyeol intervened.
“This is really dumbfounding.... Who are you to arbitrarily decide Lisa shouldn't become a Hunter, that she can't? What qualification do you have?”
“You... appear to be Lisa's friend, but as a mere first-year, you speak so recklessly without proper respect for your senior.”
“Respect is something that comes from the heart. Why should I show respect to someone speaking harshly to my friend? That's not even funny.”
“Seeing you act this way despite knowing who I am, you seem fearless. What is your name?”
“It's Gang Hanbyeol, why?”
“Gang Hanbyeol... You were Master Tugwi's disciple. I heard rumors to that effect, but I didn't know that person's disciple would be so rebellious.”
“Are you looking down on my master now? Do you think my master wouldn't have done this? He would have been worse than me.”
Moving the students serving as his horse, Gang Hanbyeol stepped forward as if protecting Lisa.
And then he confronted Mikhail, glaring fiercely.
I too moved to his side to lend my strength.
“Who are you?”
“Lisa's friend, Do Gyeonu.”
“The Blue Pup of the Divine Sword Doga.”
“...You wanna die?”
Players progressing through the game can learn that while Mikhail is clumsy in expression, he unexpectedly cherishes Lisa as his younger sister and sincerely worries about her.
That's why he gained considerable favor among players, but....
‘What kind of guy is this?’
I would now have to withdraw my support.
Having learned of Mikhail's true character, I revealed my fighting spirit to the fullest and exchanged heated words alongside Gang Hanbyeol.
“Both of you, don't fight because of me....”
“Lisa, aren't you angry? Don't stop us. We'll handle it.”
“That's right, you stay still. We'll fix that bad mouth of his.”
They ignored Lisa's attempts to dissuade them.
Thus the flow headed toward the Geumgang Festival episode no differently from the game's progression.
“Fine, very well. If you insist, let us settle this by which team wins the Osaekjeon. If I win, you will apologize to me politely, and Lisa, you will give up becoming a Hunter and drop out.”
“What, you think we're scared? That's exactly what we wanted! I accept your challenge! Then if we win the Osaekjeon, you apologize politely to Lisa, and hand over the Empire's treasure to me!”
“Apologize to me too. And swear unconditional obedience to my words from now on.”
“Excuse me... why are you proceeding with this without my opinion? Huh? *Sigh*....”
The result of the Geumgang Festival episode is one of two.
The normal ending where Lisa is defeated by Mikhail in the Osaekjeon and ultimately drops out of the academy.
In this case, she lives an unhappy life through an unwanted political marriage, and Gang Hanbyeol becomes estranged from his friends and ends his first year lonely.
And the world is destroyed.
Conversely, if the episode is cleared, she gains Mikhail's recognition.
Became the childhood friend of the mid-boss.