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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Understanding Basic Monsters (2)
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Thump, thump—
The monster confronting Lee Yuri turned its back and began to walk towards the classroom stage.
With each step it took, the monster's lumpy, grotesque form began to writhe.
Crackling—
First, its skin was covered in a material resembling black insect chitin.
Then, its extra arms and legs retracted into its body, one by one.
Abundant gray hair sprouted from its previously bare head.
And its six eyes also settled back into place, four of them closing.
By the time she stepped onto the stage, the repulsive monster's form had completely vanished,
replaced by a cheerful-looking beauty with long, gray hair.
Thud.
"Howdy, new cadets! I'm Instructor Yu Mira, in charge of the 'Understanding Basic Monsters' class!"
She turned around and greeted the cadets with a lively voice.
"..."
The cadets were too stunned by her unconventional entrance to even think of returning her greeting.
"As you just saw, my ability is transformation!"
Instructor Yu Mira continued, as if accustomed to the cadets' reactions.
Then, she took the round glasses off the middle-aged woman's face that I was holding and placed them on her own.
"And this creature is one I'm researching by combining my genes with a monster's... Well, as you can see, it's not quite right."
"Grumble..."
At the instructor's words, the woman I was holding let out a disgruntled groan, then slowly—melted away.
The monster disguised as the instructor was, in fact, a blue slime.
I looked down at the slime, then re-sheathed Moonlight at my hip.
Yu Mira's eyes sparkled with interest as she turned her head towards me.
"Cadet, what's your name?"
"...Jin Yuha."
"Ah, no wonder!? You're the one that slaughter maniac put her mark on...!"
Slaughter maniac?
I furrowed my brow at the unfamiliar term.
"Are you perhaps referring to Instructor Baek Seol-hee?"
At my question, her face went pale as if she had made a mistake.
Then, her voice trembling, she said,
"...C-Cadet?"
"Yes?"
"...Please, I'm begging you. Can you keep it a secret that I said that?"
"Yes, understood."
I nodded for now.
"Ohh! Cadet Jin Yuha! You're someone who understands!"
Instructor Yu Mira patted me on the back, hard.
'Ouch.'
The next class is with Instructor Baek Seol-hee anyway.
I'll have to think about that when the time comes.
Honestly, I was pretty annoyed.
It was a good thing I remembered that one of the instructors was a variant with the ability to mimic various monster bodies.
Otherwise, Gukbap would have gotten hurt, and it wasn't even a party activity.
Ahem—
Yu Mira cleared her throat and said,
"Anyway, since you're already here, please be my assistant for a moment."
"...Huh?"
"You just said yes. So I'll take that as permission! Let's start the class right away!"
But I didn't even say I would.
The instructor for the mandatory course was quite the individualist.
*
"Ahem, today is the first day and orientation, so... I plan to give you a taste of what 'Understanding Basic Monsters' is about, and why you need to take this class, then conclude the lesson."
Instructor Yu Mira adjusted her glasses.
"First, I'll explain what kind of class this is."
Beep—
She pressed a small remote control in her hand.
A large hologram projected behind her, displaying images of various monsters.
From unknown F-rank monsters to the incredibly famous S-rank monsters.
Then, scenes of these monsters bursting from gates and destroying buildings followed.
"Everyone, were you quite flustered just now?"
Instructor Yu Mira paused the video and chuckled, looking at the student who had screamed earlier.
The female cadet bowed her head, seemingly embarrassed.
"This Velvet Hunter Academy is the world's top educational institution for training hunters. And it's filled with experienced hunters, so it could even be called the safest place in the world."
She shed her earlier clumsy demeanor and spoke with the air of an intellectual researcher.
"However, gates are unpredictable; you never know when or where they might pop up."
Hmm—
"To put it plainly, just like the situation earlier, a gate could suddenly open and a monster could pop out even in this classroom, which everyone believes to be safe."
She chuckled, seeing the students' stiff faces.
"Well, of course, that's an extreme hypothetical situation. It's extremely rare for a gate explosion to occur immediately after a gate opens."
Then Yu Mira turned her head towards me.
"So, Cadet Jin Yuha. How did you know that I was a variant and that the instructor here wasn't a human, but a monster?"
I felt the need to answer carefully here.
'I knew because it was a monster I'd never seen before...'
Saying that I already knew she was a shapeshifter, and that her hobby was experimenting with monsters to create human forms, would be the worst option.
I turned my eyes to the blue slime next to me.
So, the characteristics of a blue slime were definitely...
I compared the characteristics of a blue slime that I knew with the appearance of the woman I had just been holding, and opened my mouth.
"Actually, I didn't know you were a shapeshifter from the start, Instructor."
"Oh?"
Yu Mira's eyes widened at my answer.
"Rather, I first discovered the characteristics of a blue slime in the monster disguised as the instructor."
"What were they!?"
Her eyes sparkled with interest as she repeated the question.
It seemed I had flipped a strange switch.
But I had already opened my mouth, so there was nothing I could do about it now.
"...Although she tried to conceal it with a pale complexion, the visible veins were entirely blue. The color was too prominent to be human veins."
"Aha!? But wasn't that insufficient to specifically identify it as a monster?"
"And the sweat that dripped from the instructor. As that sweat gradually melted her clothes, it emitted a blue vapor. That seemed to be a characteristic of the acidic fluid continuously emitted by blue slimes."
Yu Mira's smile deepened.
"And, decisively. An instructor who takes no action even when the monster they brought attacks students. Even if it weren't a monster, wouldn't they have to be treated as a demon?"
"..."
I shook my head, looking at Yu Mira, who was gaping.
"Well, rather than the possibility of a Velvet Academy instructor being a demon, I found it more plausible that *that* monster was the instructor and *this* was the true monster."
Clap, clap, clap—!
"Perfect score!!!!"
Yu Mira clapped, beaming.
"Alright, everything you need to know about why you should take this class just came out of Cadet Jin Yuha's mouth!"
She spun—around and spoke to the students.
"The reason for taking 'Understanding Basic Monsters' is to equip yourselves with comprehensive knowledge about monsters."
Hmm. She cleared her throat.
"If you have sufficient knowledge, you can calmly assess the situation and make appropriate judgments, even in dangerous and urgent situations like the one just now."
Yu Mira looked around at each student, who were focused on her.
"And perhaps that knowledge will save your life, or your comrades' lives. Each and every cadet here is a person of immense value. I hope you never lose those precious lives simply out of ignorance."
Her eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Please remember that point. Well then, today's class will end here."
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Her class, contrary to its shocking beginning, ended with a quiet, touching resonance.
* * *
Stretch—
"Ughhh— Nooo—!"
After class.
I immediately went to Lee Yuri and pinched and stretched her cheeks.
"You idiot. Why did you jump in again!?"
I scolded her.
"B-Buttt..."
Lee Yuri said, her cheeks stretched like slime.
"It's a good thing that situation was just the instructor's act. What if it had been real?"
Stretch—
"Aargh—"
"You did that last time in Carmela's Forest too. It's just typical for you to jump in without thinking, isn't it?"
At my scolding, Lee Yuri tried to hang her head low.
Oh no you don't.
Squeeze—
I grabbed her cheeks and lifted her face.
"Hey, Lee Yuri."
Her face flushed bright red.
It seemed she knew what she had done wrong.
"...Why?"
She replied in a tiny, meek voice.
"You might have been the party leader before. But I'm the party leader now. Moving without the party leader's command in an emergency is insubordination. You said that yourself."
"...I know."
"If there's a dangerous situation like that, look at me first before you jump in."
"..."
"I'll basically always take your side, no matter what you're trying to do. Do you not trust me that much?"
"N-No, it's not that..."
Tsk.
Still annoyed.
Almost getting hurt in a class, and an *in-class theory lesson* at that, not even a party activity?
Instructor Yu Mira.
She delivered a pretty good closing line in the end.
But still, I should get my revenge.
* * *
"Instructor Baek Seol-hee."
"...Hm?"
"What's a 'slaughter maniac'?"
The moment I uttered those words.
For the first time, I saw her usually expressionless face contort like a malevolent demon.
'...Hmm, was that too much?'