LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 29
My name is Roberto. I am the third son of a marquis family, and I will turn 16 this year.
I was ordered to serve as a bodyguard because the princess was going to take the Royal Academy’s entrance exam this year.
When I first heard about the survival test on a deserted island, I wondered if it would even be possible to live decently in such a barren place. However, the princess was a capable person and didn’t complain even once.
I kept the princess’s identity secret from the other candidates and managed to convince them to form a simple clan of 20 members.
The first day was filled with heavy rain, making it difficult to replenish food supplies, and we barely managed to get one tent set up. The other candidates, except for the princess, had to endure the cold.
From the next day, we started organizing the clan and assigning roles. Little by little, we began to establish a stable living foundation on the island.
Though it was a deserted island, food was abundant. If you searched, you could find fruits and vegetables. One of the candidates had the Fishing boon, so we caught more fish than we could possibly eat by entering a stream.
We used preservation techniques like smoking and started stocking up on food. Just when I thought things were finally stabilizing on the island, they appeared.
What showed up were the D-rank monsters, Direwolves.
Normally, a few D-rank explorers or adventurers should be able to handle them. But these were many at once. To be honest, I lost track when they numbered more than ten.
Even so, I didn’t give up. I yelled at the other candidates to form a defensive formation, and I brandished the magical sword my family had provided to counterattack.
But our group clearly lacked experience. The Direwolves skillfully coordinated their attacks without overexerting themselves.
Meanwhile, we had received no training in teamwork, and only a few candidates had combat-oriented boons. If this kept up, our formation would soon crumble, and we’d be wiped out.
As I was growing desperate, I heard a scream.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
Turning around, I saw that one Direwolf had reached the princess and her two attendants.
“Damn it!”
Worst case, I was prepared to sacrifice myself to let the princess escape. However, no matter how much I tried to create an opening, the Direwolves were cunning.
“Shit! Please, make it in time!”
Without thinking about the gap in my defenses, I ran toward the princess. But the Direwolf was closer.
I braced myself for the worst, expecting to see the princess torn apart in the next moment, but—
“Not on my watch!”
“Gyaaaargh!”
The Direwolf that was about to strike the princess was suddenly kicked away by an unknown assailant.
“Do you need help?”
The person who had intervened was a man.
He stood there, completely out of place in this intense situation. I recognized him as the one who had looked so shabby on the first day of the exam that I had dismissed him as unworthy of inviting to the party due to his lack of dignity.
But now, with an air of casualness as though he were simply out for a stroll, he asked if we needed help.
Perhaps due to the unexpected appearance of this man, the Direwolves all froze in place.
If I moved quickly, maybe we could break through.
“Please! Help us! All I need is for you to buy us some time until the examiners notice what’s happening!”
The examiners must surely be watching the situation from somewhere. The delay in assistance must be due to some kind of cause. Either way, if I could get the man’s help, we might be able to buy enough time.
However, the man scratched his cheek and said:
“Buying time, huh…”
He seemed to think hard about something. Maybe he had decided it would be better to abandon us and run. After all, he had made it past the encirclement on his own, and he might be able to escape easily.
I feared the worst words might come out of his mouth, but instead, he said:
“It’s fine if I just kill them, right?”
“Huh?”
The man casually asked what seemed like an impossible question.