68 — Chapter 68

The awkward relationship with Alienor continued after that. Actually, since I’m being viewed as the enemy, “awkward” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Stiffness is one thing, but is it simply impossible to get along with someone who has clearly designated you as their foe?

“Simply put? Yes, it’s impossible,” Mary said bluntly.

“I mean, just imagine if you tried to say, ‘Let’s be friends.’ You’d just creep her out more. She looks like the type who’d rather die than accept pity.”

I understood that all too well. In reality, if someone you hate asks to be friends, nobody actually becomes friends then and there.

So, am I stuck?

In a way, this is far higher difficulty than growing as a black mage.

And so, the training reached its climax.

We trainees were gathered outdoors. Stretching out before us was a forest that likely once belonged to the local lord.

The Chairman, “Ethelred of the Stake”—looking like a giant ball of white fur—stepped forward.

“You have all worked hard up to this point. As a token of appreciation, I have prepared the next project. Namely—”

The Chairman shouted at the top of his lungs:

“—A barbecue party!”

A barbecue party? I thought those were only for the “party animal” types, or high-achieving families who go camping way too often!

But since President Kelkel had mentioned there would be a barbecue, I suppose it’s an annual tradition.

Well, looking around, there don’t seem to be many “party animals” in the black magic industry anyway, so it probably won’t be overwhelmingly uncomfortable. I just need to stick to harmless small talk.

“By the way, you will work in pairs. I have already decided the pairings. I based them on your current levels of… ‘intimacy.’”

Ugh, I have a very bad feeling about this…

Naturally, that bad feeling hit the bullseye.

“This is ridiculous! Why am I paired with this man?! This is a mistake!”

Alienor was also protesting our pairing. Yes! Go ahead, protest so much that they actually cancel it! For once, my opinion aligned with Alienor’s.

“They say the more you fight, the closer you are, don’t they?”

No, you can’t use that “bickering is a sign of love” logic here!

In the end, our protests were ignored.

Regardless, the taste of meat doesn’t change based on who you’re paired with. I’m going to eat my fill!

“Ah, I forgot to mention: the meat must be procured on-site. It’s no problem; if you show some teamwork, you should be able to capture it in no time. Kukuku.”

The Chairman’s voice took on a blatantly devious tone.

“There are Cockatrices in this forest. Capture them. Be careful, as you will be petrified if struck by their talons. Each trainee will be issued one knife.”

Several participants turned pale.

A Cockatrice is a bird with a snake-like tail. They say the meat is exquisite, but because of the danger of turning to stone if you fail the capture, they trade for quite a high price.

Apparently, there were attempts to breed non-poisonous ones, but the flavor dropped significantly—to the point where people figured they might as well just eat regular chicken. Plus, the poison didn’t actually leave the meat, so it was all risk and no reward.

“The barbecue equipment, vegetables, and other ingredients besides the Cockatrice are already prepared. The instructors will help with the butchering, so just go catch a Cockatrice. That is all! Pairs that fail to get one go without dinner. Oh, but going without food is a bit harsh, so we’ll give you hard bread and salad while forcing you to watch the other pairs enjoy their barbecue.”

I’d rather have nothing at all!

“Oh, and the use of familiars is forbidden. If a Succubus or something were to catch the Cockatrice for you, it wouldn’t be much of a training session, would it?”

He’s sniping me specifically!

“Hmph, a Cockatrice? For one such as I, the ‘Progenitor of Indescribable Nightmares,’ this task is so boring it makes me yawn.”

“We have a rookie over there claiming to be some incredible entity, but well, having someone with that much backbone makes things more interesting.”

Chairman, she’s not bragging; that’s just a plain fact.

Wait, the person who ended up in Mary’s group basically has a guaranteed victory, don’t they? Isn’t that a bit cheap?

And so, we were forced into the forest to search for a Cockatrice.

To be honest, the partner was a bigger headache than the bird.

“…” “…”

Alienor and I moved toward the forest in silence.

At this point, trying to strike up a friendly conversation felt impossible. If this were a first meeting, I could at least branch out from a self-introduction, but since we’re past that, I’m at a dead end.

No, but if I give up now, isn’t that the end? Isn’t that where the match terminates?

“I-I’ve never seen a real Cockatrice before… I wonder what kind of bird it is…?”

I tried the strategy of asking a question to draw out a conversation.

“You don’t even know that? Fool.”

I was just insulted and shut down…

“It’s called a Cockatrice, but the ones around here have much weaker toxicity compared to the ones said to live in the Demon Realm. They’ve evolved uniquely in a place with few natural predators. Because of that, even a high-ranking black mage can detoxify the petrification. There must be someone among the instructors who can do it.”

After insulting me, Alienor began her explanation.

“As long as it doesn’t view us as enemies, it shouldn’t attack to petrify us. Therefore, the best tactic is to approach from behind and take it down in one go. Regardless, they are fast, so you have to be quick. Fighting one head-on is too risky. To keep the meat quality high, I’d prefer to capture it alive, but since they haven’t given us nets, that will be difficult. They gave us knives, so I guess we’re expected to stab it.”

“Whoa… you’re surprisingly well-informed about Cockatrices…”

I knew they existed, but I didn’t know things like their toxicity being relatively weak.

“Is that so? Cockatrices also lived in the Morco Woods.”

Perhaps I’ve discovered a good quality in Alienor.

“Alienor, tell me more and more about Cockatrices!”