CH 297

Extracurricular Lesson [Part 2]

The bell indicating the start of the class rang, and Monster Science’s fierce-looking teacher stepped into the class. 

The intimidating air he emitted alone could cause the classroom’s gloomy atmosphere to turn even more intense.

“I will explain the extracurricular lesson before we start our class today.”

The teacher, whose normal appearance already looked scary enough, became even more intimidating the moment he mentioned the extracurricular lesson.

We must never take this matter lightly… The students gulped.

♠♠♠

“What did you say?”

Prince Edward knitted his brows upon hearing the report of the knight who had just come back from Skyte Barony.

“There are no habitable houses near the Skyte Barony’s barrier. Even when I asked around in the village, the people all had the same answer that they had never heard of someone living in the forest.”

No one had ever caught sight of Joanna and her grandmother, let alone seen the house they lived in.

“And before that, that forest wasn’t a suitable place for humans to live in. As fluctuations in the barrier occur frequently, and monsters are roaming around there. Skyte Barony is completely short of hunters to take care of this issue.”

The knight had an expression full of anguish as he reported. Battling against monsters was just that bitter and hard.

“Does this mean that Lady Joanna is lying?”

“Your Highness, it’s impossible to live in that place for even a grown up man. Needless to say, an old lady and a young girl will be eaten in an instant if they really did live there.”

After finishing his report, the knight stood up and left the room slowly to not aggravate his injured left leg.

“What do you think? Arthur…” the prince asked Arthur, who had been listening with a serious face.

“Rather than the things concerning Lady Joanna, not letting monsters roam around inside the barrier takes more priority. We’ll have to take immediate action before any issue occurs.”

…before those monsters leave the forest and attack people. …before it turned into an unrecoverable situation.

“But it may be hard to dispatch any more knights. According to my father, the knights are already at their limits and can’t be reallocated anymore. After all, knights never train to fight against monsters. There is no end to the number of knights who return with injuries… Also…” Arthur racked his brain while gazing at the door the injured knight had left from.

“Is it about the extracurricular lesson?”

“Yes. It is going to be in Skyte Barony this year.”

The academy had been scheduling an extracurricular lesson every year around this period which was in between the social season and the exam period. The academy’s target applicants were mainly male students who took Monster Science and Practical Skill for Hunters, and these applicants would then head together to a borderland territory. They would visit the border of the barrier, observe the job of hunters, experience the processing of monsters, etc.

Established when the current king was crowned, this activity aimed to develop the crisis management skill of the young people who would shoulder the Kingdom’s future by letting them experience the threat of monsters firsthand.

However, many guardians were against it, saying, “What will you do if my precious son gets injured?” so participation became voluntary.

Incidentally, Palace County, which House Stuart governed, had never been chosen as the place for the extracurricular lesson because it was too far from the Royal Capital.

“I heard the annual average number of participants is around ten people. The burden on Skyte Barony’s hunters must be heavy. Still, as someone who has seen monsters up close, I also think it is a lesson worth experiencing… How complicated.”

“The extracurricular lesson and monsters on top of Lady Joanna’s case… The problems keep on piling up, don’t they?” Arthur also looked stressed.