For I Am A Side Character - 38: Jessica's Worries

A few minutes ago, before the golems were racing out of the hole in front of the academy’s field, Jessica Young had just arrived at the academy with a basket filled with sandwiches and a soft smile which tells that she was excited for lunch break to come at the academy.

She promised Soril that she would let him taste her home-made Sandwiches with a variety of flavors coming from the dungeons, and yet as she went to her classroom, she noticed that Soril wasn’t at his own desk, but his bag was at there.

“…?” Seeing as how his bag was at his desk, she was sure that he was already in the academy, so she waited. But a few more minutes passed by and he hasn’t yet returned, so to her curiosity, she tried walking around the school, searching for him, but to her efforts, she could not find him.

“Where could he have gone to?” she asked herself as she returned sitting on her desk.

But as she waited, she suddenly felt the building shake…and soon, an explosion was made in front of the academy.

“!!?” She quickly went by the window to see what happened. And to her discovery, she found that golems were slowly climbing out of a hole and attacking nearby students.

In just a minute, the teachers had already arrived to handle the situation, but the golems were coming out non-stop. With the scene in front of her, she was getting worried by the minute…

And as she witnessed the chaos, by sheer coincidence, she had seen Soril run into the field with a sword and Shield on hand.

“Soril!?” with it, he ran into the crowd with an eager expression, and not long after, he was lost from her sight.

“Oh no, oh no! This is bad! What is he doing?” she said as she then pulls out two magical items from her bag. One was a highly efficient magical emblem where in just one press of a button, it can easily turn into a full suit of fitted armor, and another was a pair of earrings where if one were to insert there mana, the two earrings would turn into a pair dual-short swords.

These kinds of Magical Tools were produced under the efforts of some clever and genius blacksmiths and craft-masters who were sponsored under the name of the [Young Merchant] the merchant family that Jessica belongs to.

With her ambition to become a hunter, the family made the efforts to support her, and these items she was wearing was one of the ways that they could support her.

Without hesitation, she ran out of her classroom, leaving her basket filled with sandwiches behind.

‘Dammit Soril, You just got out of the medical room yesterday, why are you coming out there with that kind of eager face!’ she thought as she was very upset with Soril.

But the moment she arrived at the field, she was surprised by just how many golems there were.

“…Soril.” with only Soril in her thoughts, her only objective was to find him and support him out of her own efforts.

It would have been quite a crazy idea to rush in with just her alone, but with her very efforts and resources, she was able to attain a minimum needed rank to stand with the rest of the teachers and students who were fighting the golems.

Last time when she fought Soril, her level and rank was only Level 18 – E rank, but now, in her current strength, and thanks to the fact that she was able ot face off with Soril, her strength and speed grew quite exponentially. The Mix-Theory was simply working on her and her growth as a hunter.

And testing her growth just last night, she was able to go into a dungeon and grind up some levels in just a matter of a single night.

Right now, her growth was Level 21 – D rank.

In just a matter of days, she had grown quite so with the fact that her partner was Soril in the combat classes.

Granted, the reason why she went into a dungeon last night was to gather some fresh ingredients for her sandwiches.

Simply put, her maiden heart and her passion to impress Soril with her cooking brought her this far.

So to the idea that the was standing in front of the many golems, she simply held her own quite well.

But despite this fact, despite her efforts for fighting against the golems and looking for Soril non-stop, she could not find him.

15 minutes has passed since she went into the field against the many golems, and yet, she has not found a single glance of him once.

‘Where is he?’ as she continued her search, but sheer coincidence, she had spotted a pair of students fighting off a mass of golems.

“Those guys are…Jason and…J-Jessabelle.” despite her grudge towards one of them, she went to their direction to ask if they found Soril.

As she approached them, she glared at Jessabelle and asked.

“…Y-you! d-did you find Soril anywhere in this area?” she asked as she looked to Jessabelle with quite an irritated glare.

“..Huh?…” as Jessabelle turned to her, she looked quite irritated by her arrival.

“Who are you?” she asked with an irritated voice.

“I’m Soril’s partner in the combat class.”

“…What a weird way to introduce yourself.” said Jessabelle as she destroys another golem in front of her.

“Oh!…you’re that bastard’s Girlfriend?” said Jessabelle confidently.

“W-what!? N-no!” she said, as she tired to deny it, but her blushing cheeks could not be hidden from the two.

“You’re the girl that’s with Soril right? Jessica Young?” asked Jason as he finishes off a golem with just a single slash.

“R-right..did you see Soril running to this direction?” asked Jessica.

“No…I didn’t see him.” said Jason.

“…That bastard is probably out on the other side of the field, try asking your advisor, maybe he saw him.” said Jessabelle as she then blows up another golem.

“…right, thanks.” as she said her thanks to Jason, she left.

When Jessice left, Jason turned and asked Jessabelle something.

“…What’s up with you?” asked Jason as he turned to Jessabelle with a curious expression.

“…What do you mean?” asked Jessabelle.

“You looked extra mad when she arrived here.”

“…What?”

“Are you still mad at Soril?”

“Mind your business…and focus on the golems, their coming again.” she said, as she then went and faced the golems in front.

In the way she spoke, Jason noticed that she diverted the topic. But before he could think deep of this matter, Golems were starting push them back, so he had to push them back in return.

Minutes later, Jessica was finally able to reach the other end of the field, but as she made it here, she saw that she was closer into the hole.

“…He’s not here.” she said as she made a clear look at every person nearby.

She tried to see if their were any familiar faces nearby, and to her notice, she saw Sergeant O’riley, standing close to the hole while being filled with injuries from his upper body.

“Sergeant!” as she tried to call out ot him, she gained the attention of some close by golems.

“Tsk!” as she clicked her tongue, she then prepared herself to fight off the incoming golems. With her efforts, she was able to destroy 3 golems, but as they kept on piling on, she was then slowly having a hard time.

‘Dammit..’

With the golems near, she could barely handle the situation as they surroundedd her, she was she was getting less and less space to move, until finally, she was struck straight at her stomach by one of the golems.

“Ghak!!” pain surged her body and to it, she fell to her knees.

And soon, one of the golems raised their legs and attempted to crush her on the spot.

‘dammit…it hurts…S-Soril…’

In her last thoughts, she thought that she would die then and there…

~Phew~

But a whistling blow came by and instantly demolishes the huddled golems around her. And to this sudden intrusion, Sergeant O’rilay came and helped Jessica stand back up.

“What are you doing here!?” asked the Sergeant as he looked rather perplexed at Jessica’s condition.

“…I..I was looking for Soril.” she said.

“He’s not here, go back and get some first aid, now! This is my order as your supervisor!”

“B-but…I saw him come here…” she said, as she struggled to get up.

“…I’ll find him. So please, your level is not enough to stand up against all of these Golems.”

“…” in her silence, she only nods against the pain that was coming from her stomach.

“Hey, you! Come here and assist her back to safety.” said the Sergeant as he spots a student that was wearing a different uniform from the rest of the students.

And soon enough, that student came and assisted Jessica back.

“Please…I’m sure that he’s here.” she said as she gets carried back to a safe area.

“…” as the sergeant stood there in silence, he let out a heavy sigh and then turned to where the hole was.

“…Are you really here Soril?” he said as he seemed quite curious but Jessica’s statement.

But soon enough, he shakes his head and diverted all of his attention to the hole.

‘I’m sure he’s fine….a boy with his talents, can easily survive something like this.’ he said as he then raises his spear and rushes to the hole. Without hesitation, he jumps right in and falls into the deep dark hole.

“I should put more priority to her…the person who went into the hole.’ he thought as he soon gets enveloped by the darkness.

***

Inside the dark hole, marching golems could be heard from the distance…

Green fluorescent moss could be seen glowing up in the ceiling of the cave…

Water could be felt dripping on from the stalactites down to the stalagmites…

And the heavy breathing of a young lady was handled by Soril as he pulls out a healing potion from the system point store.

‘Hmm…that leaves me with 9.5 points. Damn.’ he thought to himself as he looks at the system, which he then follows up by making Audrey drink the potion willingly.

In the underground cave, not only is this place structure to store an army of golems, its paths was made under the simple plan that it was made similar to that of an ant’s nest. Each path was made with the design that they would interconnect with one another. The mage used this kind of principle when he forged a path to the academy’s location underground.

Both of them were able to distance themselves from the golems and moles without making any sound or attraction. With the help of the green moss above, it helped Soril a lot since he wasn’t able to bring a torch or a flashlight into the cave. The moss brought light in the cave.

“…’ in his silence, Audrey could be seen having a hard time breathing. But her thoughts were still aware of this person’s presence…

‘Who is this?…where did he get a healing potion from?…why is he covering his face?’ all sorts of questions were asked by Audrey…yet, none were told straight to the stranger.

After she was able to consume the healing potion, slowly but surely her strength and condition was returning to a healthy state.

And because of that, Soril simply stood up from the ground and glared at her.

With a coarse and rough voice, he spoke to Audrey as a way to hide his accent.

“Go back.” he said.

And in those words, a tinge of bloodlust was directed to her. In his gaze, an imitation of what he believed to be the most frightening person he could imagine was shown in his eyes. The person who made him experience death.

“!?” in Audrey’s reaction, her body simply shake from the fear that came from his threat, but soon, she simply shook her head and denied his words.

“…” after hearing his voice, she could not recognize who this person was…

After all, she has not yet encountered Soril Remus. She has not yeet heard his voice, so to it, he was simply a stranger to her.

After that simple exchange of order and decline, Soril simply walked away as he carried his sword and shield.

He knew that if she was ever stupid enough, she might act on the idea that she would burden him by a conversation of reason…

But if she was not as stupid as one could be, she would simply stay quiet and make a decision for herself.

Two choices were made for her…

Follow him…or return.

But seeing as how she shook her head in decline, only one answer was most likely to happen.

As he moved forward, she soon came following him with a few steps back of a distance.

‘…He’s not pushing me away, does this mean that its okay to follow him?’ she asked herself.

And seeing as how he didn’t seem to care nor mind, she followed on.

In that time…Audrey Yagami had followed a stranger into the depths of a cave.