Halfway through the second lesson of the day, Itsuki suddenly entered the classroom and looked apologetic

She also brought out a note which was different compared from the one that was handed in by Yuuna

The teacher took a look at the letter and nodded at her

"Take care and tell me if you need to head out early"

Itsuki thanked the teacher and headed to her seat as she got ready for the lesson

Nozomu looked at Itsuki making her way to her seat and tilted her head as if to ask are you feeling okay

Itsuki understood what she meant and nodded along with flashing an okay sign

Nozomu nodded after seeing the okay signal

Yuuna seemed to be asking the same question as Itsuki sat on her seat

Itsuki flashed her a smile to reassure her that she was fine

After seeing Itsuki sit down at her seat, the teacher continued her lecture

Nozomu who was half asleep cleared her head due to the disturbance of Itsuki entering the classroom and saw that the teacher was talking about the history of the Rengo Empire

She read the words written on the wall and saw that she was talking about the former tyrant that existed before the Rengo Empire was fully created

The letters "Butcher Ghoul Edwards Scarletcrest" was written on the wall along with a picture of a young person who seemed to be no older than 20 years old which made Nozomu confused about the person in question 

She thought that the picture shown was when the person was younger but the words written under the picture told her otherwise

She rubbed her eyes and read it clearly

"Edwards Scarletcrest when he was 65"

Nozomu mouthed "What the fuck" as she looked at the picture

The other members of the class also seemed surprised by what was being written 

The teacher continued and said

"He was one of the last tyrants of the era before the creation of the Rengo Empire

And he was also one of the most brutal ones in recent memory

It is said that he was one of the few Blood Mages in our recorded history and that allowed him to create ghouls by manipulating the blood in dead bodies 

His mastery of blood is also the reason he was able to stay young for such a long time

Combined with all these factors he was able to rule as a tyrant for nearly 20 years before being defeated by the council of elders who founded the country

They were able to seal him in various Blood Weapons that have been spread all over the world"

The rest of the class seemed relieved but also curious about the Blood Weapons

Once Nozomu heard about the Blood Weapons she then remembered there was a similar type of weapon with demons sealed in them called the Solomon Collection

"Is it just me or there are quite a few weapons that have something sealed in them, and people are fine with this

Am I the only one being weirded out by this?"

But she gave up on understanding what was happening and tried to focus on the lessons 

The instructor continued her lecture by talking briefly about the types of weapons in the Scarlet Sextet, which seemed to be the common given name of the set of six Blood Weapons

"Despite coming in different equipment types they have two similar characteristics, it has strong restorative properties since as long as it has blood, whether it be from the outside source or from the wielder themselves, it can regenerate any broken parts until it is out

And even if it runs out of blood it can just turn into a small gem which can immediately regenerate once it comes into contact with blood, making it one of the most sturdy weapons if you can ever get your hands on it

Furthermore, its secondary characteristic could already make it a top-tier weapon, since it can allow the wielder to restore their vitality whenever damage has been dealt to the opponent, whether they be a human or a monster

This can allow fighters who do not have innate life steal abilities or healing skills to cover one of their major weakness and achieve better success in drawn-out fights"

The teacher tapped the board and brought up a picture of a set of equipment on the board

Nozomu looked at the pictures shown on the board and thought to herself

"These are some unorthodox weapons that they choose to seal his essences into"

On the board, there were 6 completely different weapons shown

On the left, there was a weapon with an H-shaped horizontal hand grip which meant that the blade would be sitting above the user's knuckles when its equipped

Nozomu racked her brain and remembered that it was a type of push dagger that is called katar

And the teacher confirmed her answer

"This is a type of push dagger called the katar that is generally used by the Dianthus nomads on the west of the Gosei Empire, who are famous for their dancers and war dancers

And these light but sharp katars are the perfect equipment for them since they can be used for both combat and ritual dances"

Next to the katars was a scythe, which was still a weapon that was not commonly used

"This is the second weapon in this series, although scythe used to be used for agricultural purposes before, this scythe you see here is obviously not for that purpose

Its long handle allows the users to have a longer attack range compared to the prior shown katars, and also gives a pretty good grip for slashing

In addition, the perpendicular blade is good for hooking and is valuable when facing people with shields

But scythes are generally quite heavy and slow depending on your body type so it is still pretty uncommon to see people use it over other polearm weapons

The teacher swiped the screen again as she finished and brought attention to the next weapon in the series

The picture had two pieces of ringed and scarlet objects with jagged edges proving to be quite the fearsome design, and there was also a grip that the wielder could use to hold the weapons that were shown on the screen

Nozomu was fascinated by its design as the teacher continued on with her lecture

"This is the third part of the Scarlet Sextet and its modelled after a chakram which is often used by various nomadic tribes as both close and long-range weapons due to their versatility

It is said that the users can create multiple copies of this weapon at the same time if they are planning on using them as projectile weapons, but the number of copiers depends on the user's mastery of this weapon and the amount of blood they possess"

Then next she showed an image of a weapon that is somewhat commonly used by the general public

"I guess I don't really have to introduce this weapon to you, but I will just in case some of you don't know this

This is the 4th weapon in this sextet, which is modelled after a halberd which consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft

It always has a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants, which serves a similar purpose as the earlier shown scythe but with a longer reach than it

Let's move on, the upcoming ones are somewhat different from the earlier shown ones so be prepared"

The last sentence made Nozomu curious about the upcoming weapons so she stood up straight in anticipation of the remaining two components of the sextet

The instructor swiped and the next weapon appeared on the screen

"Woah is that a staff"

Nozomu accidentally said it out loud and the people in the class turned and looked at her

Nozomu felt her face heat up and apologized before covering her face while peeking out behind her hand to continue to listen to the lesson

"Yes Nozomu is right, and this is a staff or a bo staff if you prefer to separate it from the staffs that are used by magicians to cast their magic

You guys must be curious about what staff would be in this collection, it doesn't really scream out blood weapon when you like it does it?"

The class nodded at her statement

"But that's where you are wrong, while the other bladed weapons in this collection can lightly cut a person and make them bleed

But what about the staff, do you know how much it will take for a person to bleed when getting hit by a staff?

Definitely much more than a bladed weapon in this collection

Furthermore, you also have to worry about internal bleeding when getting hit by a staff

What's more bloody than that

So from my point of view, there is no weapon that suits the Scarlet or Blood Weapon moniker than the bo staff you see in front of your eyes"

The teacher seemed to have a gleam in her eye as she talked about the bo staff fondly and excitedly

But she composed herself and cleared her throat as she moved on to the final piece of the Scarlet Sextet

"This is the final piece of equipment and probably the one most of out of place out of the six"

She swiped the board and a curious piece of equipment appeared on the board

The classroom seemed surprised that it was part of the collection in the first place

Nozomu thought to herself

"But wasn't this collection pretty old, how did they make it back then when it was a pretty recent invention by the Grüne Riesen Alliance"

"You guys must be surprised by how a Flintlock that was a recent invention, there are two general theories about this

One theory believes that the first model of the flintlock was actually based on this blood weapon and was improved upon and released by the Green Giants

And the other theory is that the sixth piece of the tyrant had not been sealed in a weapon until recently and only once the sixth piece of weapon was decided it was finally put into the flintlock and was christened the sixth and final piece of the Sextet

Out of all the weapons in the series, it has the longest range and uses the wielder's and opponent's blood as its bullet and how far it can reach depends on the amount of blood the weapon has stockpiled"

The teacher swiped at the screen again and showed all six pieces of the weapons at the same time

"And due to the strength of these weapons, they have been spread throughout the different countries once they were made so that a country would not have access to multiple weapons at the same time

The Bo Staff is in the care of the Aotsuki Principality and it is said to be used by the royal guard captain Amakusa Yatsuhiro

The Flintlock is kept by the Grüne Riesen Alliance as they did invent the model it is based on, and it is used by Special Forces Colonel David Redwing 

The Holy Kingdom has possession of the Halberd which is the trusted weapon of the Paladin's leader Roland Lightblade

The Katars are used by the Auxillary force leader and right-hand man of the current leader of the Gosei Empire, Yanda Dreila who is the chieftain of the Sunclaw Nomads living nearby the Gosei border

While the Chakrams are used by the Elder Raphael Hart in the council, who is also the youngest Elder in the council and was only appointed last year by unanimous decision of the then-present elders

And if you are wondering where the last piece of Scarlet Sextet might be because you heard me say each country has possession of each piece in order to keep the power balance"

She swiped at the board again in order to show a picture of a ghoulish monster carrying the aforementioned scythe

"So I technically lied earlier, our Rengo Empire has the existence of the last piece of the sextet which was actually stolen by a ghoul sometime ago and now seems to have evolved using its power 

It is now constantly hunting for blood in order to grow stronger and also to feed the weapon

We do not know if the weapon is the main body or if the ghoul is controlling it at this stage

And since it is located in the Plainfield area of the forest we have decided to refer to it as the Plainfield Ghoul just for the sake of giving it a name

While it is not a strong-level monster, our main problem is that we cannot locate it in order to eliminate it"

Nozomu raised her hand and asked

"Even with all the high level trackers the Empire possess?"

The teacher nodded and said

"And it's not just us, back when it was still a relatively new monster, the other countries also tried to "pitch in" and tried to help us locate it in order to hunt down the monster and recover the last piece of the Sextet

But as time passed by more and more countries gave up and now its seen more as a myth rather than a true threat

So much so that the area it was last located is used as a training ground for you 1st years 

I think the plan is to have the first excursions after the battle of deciding the class leaders have ended"

Nozomu thought to herself

"That seems very irresponsible"

The teacher looked around the class who seemed to be sharing the same statement that Nozomu was thinking in her mind, but then she smiled and said

"Well, there might be some of you who think that are thinking that this is way too irresponsible of us to just leave it there without tracing it right?

To be fair the areas are completely blocked off to other people and only students from the academy and other authorized personnel are allowed to enter the area

And if you guys think we are putting students in danger by taking you guys to the area for your excursion 

I would not deny that or give you any other excuses 

But isn't it something you already had your mind set on when you joined the academy

Sooner or later you are going to be facing challenges that are going to be even harsher than the one with the Ghoul and might even lose your life at any given moment but isn't that something you guys were prepared for before entering the academy?

So don't be so scared about the off chance of fighting someone that might cause your death

And instead, just focus on improving yourself so that you can come out whole after such encounters"

The class seemed slightly convinced and some of them even seemed to fully agree to have a look of determination 

Miss Yamazaki's face soften and she smiled as she looked around the class

"And although I said all that, I hope that we would not have to fight that monster before you guys are more mature 

If we really find the monster, I will also try my best to come and provide assistance if needed so don't be too worried" 

As she finished her sentence the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson and the beginning of the lunch break

"That's all for today, have your lunches and get rested for the afternoon lessons

If you have any other questions you can find me in the staff room or through my staff email

Class Dismissed"

She started collecting all her items as the other students in the class also started to get ready for lunch

Nozomu was standing up as the Itsuki arrived in front of her desk and raised her fist which she reciprocated by giving her a fist bump

Schild also did the same as he came closer in order to talk with the standing duo

Nozomu was confused at first and said

"Since when did we add this to our routine?"

Itsuki shrugged and said

"Just wanted to try doing it"

Schild laughed a little and said

"Fair enough, hopefully we won't just suddenly forget about this next time"

Itsuki replied by saying

"I guess we will have to see"

Nozomu and Schild both were also worried about the injury Itsuki got so they each other signalled with their eyes to pop the question 

But Itsuki seemed to understand what they were thinking so she said

"Let's talk about it during lunch, I am starving after the doctors's appointment, and the others are also waiting for us"

Schild and Nozomu looked at the door to find the girls chatting and they nodded towards Itsuki as they made their way to the door and canteen