Reincarnated As An Extra With The 10x Link System-Chapter 42: The First Demon Hunt: 3

Chapter 42

The entire keep remained silent as the Adept Sorcerer made his speech. He congratulated the children on making it to the dawn of their path as exorcists while saying a few other things that Megumi didn’t care to pay heed to. His attention remained intently on what was about to come next after the sorcerer’s grand speech.

Today was supposed to be their first demon hunt after all, and while he did know how the hunt was supposed to play out, he couldn’t help but be eager to hear the rules once again.

After a short pause, the man’s voice echoed once more.

"For your inaugural demon hunt, you will all be assigned to teams of four, with team compositions determined by your respective abilities. Your primary objective is straightforward: you are to locate and exorcize the demon that is concealed within your designated sectors."

Megumi lowered his gaze and looked around the room; he had repeated the same action so many times that he had lost count. There were so many faces; children all the same age as he was gathered in the castle keep, waiting patiently for their names to be called.

Each of them possessed a unique ability of their own, one that set them apart from every other person in the room. What difference would he actually make in a group with three others? What was he supposed to do after he got assigned to a team? Pick up the leader’s mantle as he should—or rather—step to the side and let someone else do the honors?

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

... He wanted neither.

But he was going to have to choose soon, and he knew better than anyone else what his decision was going to be and would continue to be even at the end of all this. Leadership was something that would constantly be expected of him, a destiny he couldn’t run from.

He trusted his capabilities as a sorcerer better than anyone else’s, but then... why the hell was he suddenly shaking in his boots at the thought of doing what duty demanded of him? All he had to do was lead a bunch of kids; what was the worst that could happen?

As if he weren’t a kid himself.

He watched and listened, standing still as Hakuro Hiraboma’s voice resounded once again.

"I shall now begin assigning each of you to your respective teams."

It was as if the room, already silent, grew even quieter still. He could hear the heartbeats of some surrounding children, some with visible hints of nervousness.

The Adept Sorcerer began calling out a list of names, most of which were from some lower branch families he knew of, and others whose last names he had already long forgotten since they didn’t bear any significance to him.

The first team was called forward, lined up in front of the stairs leading up to the raised platform, their heads raised high as Adept Hakuro quickly said a few words of encouragement to them. He watched as a circle of runes glowed under their feet, and then they vanished a moment later.

Subsequently, many more names were called, and each time, a group of four children stepped out and lined up before the stairs. The same pattern repeated itself for as long as he could count.

It was supposed to be the fifth team called out, the first and second names having already been called, but the third instantly drew his attention.

He even noticed a slight change in the demeanor of the other children as soon as the name was called.

"Kuran Kitsuboma!"

Yeah, it certainly sounded very familiar.

His eyes darted around the room until they landed on a small-bodied boy with white hair staring at him, the boy’s gently raised hand gesturing a slight wave. A slight smile went across the boy’s face, and then he turned around and made his way to the stairs.

Megumi smiled back, but the boy had long left before that; he never really intended the smile for the boy alone. Seeing someone sharing the same burden he shared be happy and cheerful, even if they were only pretending, did really well to lighten his mood.

Right then, he was more than ready to take on the challenge of his dawn of exorcism.

And soon came the call of another very familiar name.

"Yukine Fujiboma!"

A friend he had come to cherish very much.

For a brief moment, he turned to the side as they both exchanged glances, gleaming smiles plastered on their faces. Then, she nodded curtly and left, heading for the stairs just like every other child who had been called.

And as she walked forward, there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere of the room, and Megumi could even hear a few whispers coming from the children.

"Isn’t that Tsukina Fujiboma’s sister?"

"She is?"

"I heard that she didn’t use any abilities during her demon hunt."

"No one knows what her abilities are."

"I think she’ll be as much of a genius as her older sister."

He tried to ignore the chatter as he watched his friend walk forward, his hand slightly raised below his chest, and in his mind, a single thought.

’May the best exorcist win...’

And then came the moment of truth as another familiar name resounded throughout the castle keep. It didn’t simply sound familiar...

"Megumi Fujiboma!"

... It was his own.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked forward, heading straight for the stairs that lay ahead. His feet smoothly dragged across the ivory floor, his head held high and his shoulders back, his eyes intently fixed on the stairs.

He tried to appear as confident as he could.

The whispers ensued once more as he continued forward, but the muffled voices were soon drowned out by Hakuro’s voice, three more names echoing throughout the room.

"Rei Hiraboma!"

"Mei Kurosaki."

"Hime Ryu!"

As the four of them lined up before the stairs, their eyes were intently glued to the middle-aged man standing at the top of the platform.

The man looked at them, a solemn expression on his face. He held his hand forward, and the runes under their feet quickly began to light up.

"May our god’s will guide you and ensure your success."

And then, they vanished.

*********

Megumi swiftly covered his eyes, shielding himself from the blinding light, his feet moving slightly as he instinctively stepped back.

He felt someone bump into him, and then came the moan of a timid female voice, prompting him to quickly turn around. His gaze fell on a small-bodied girl with sun-kissed skin, and behind her were two other children.

Megumi heaved a sigh, folding his lips as he looked at the three children who had their attention focused on him, their eyes locked and their brows slightly raised. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that they were expecting him to say something.

’So they unceremoniously picked me as their leader. Well, it was just as I expected.’

He looked at the children some more and then glanced around the area where they had just been sent. A peaceful cluster of trees surrounded them, their leaves fluttering in tandem.

He peered further into the distance, his heart quickly sinking at the sight of dead trees, their bark scarred and their branches desperately reaching to the sky, like skeletal fingers clinging to life.

He then turned back to the other three, who eagerly awaited his words.

"Lady Kurosaki, could you be so kind as to ascertain the demon’s presence in our current vicinity? Rei, you’re with me; we’ll be the front line against our foe. And Lady Ryu... please see to it that you support us from the rear to the best of your abilities."

He paused and turned around.

"We cannot prepare a proper strategy until we acquire knowledge of our adversary, and it is imperative that we do so before we are discovered."

His words were simple and clear, and he was hoping that it was all he would need to say.

After a while, Mei spoke; her voice was a bit tense.

"I can’t sense the demon anywhere."

’Dammit.’

He heaved a sigh and folded his lips.

"We should proceed further into the grove. We have to find the demon before it..."

Suddenly, the trees around them began to tremble, shaking violently while the ground remained still. The four of them looked around, trying to ascertain what could be causing the sudden tremors.

The rumble continued, and then the ground began to quake as well, the tremors getting worse with each passing moment. It wasn’t going to be long before they would be swayed, swept off their feet by the quake.

They held out for as long as they could manage, and then Megumi staggered forward, his feet dragging across the carpet of grass. He gasped, desperately trying to regain his balance.

And then his eyes widened.

’Crap!’

The Earth suddenly opened up, and deadly roots, harrowing and lifeless, shot up from the trees, longing to embrace him in a death tangle.

Their enemy was never what they had expected it to be...