chapter 21
A child sighed.
“This crazy weather really… .”
After halfway through the forest, it started snowing again.
The time is 3 in the morning. [Auto Skip] cannot be overused from here on. Encounters with monsters occur beyond the place where Hamma is located. In terms of the game, the full-fledged prologue is over.
And the first encounter was after passing through the forest of jaundiced monkeys.
“Kwaeee,
Adrine’s rapier cut off the end of the monster’s scream. Frantimo’s cheat key, the effect of attacking the clock tower is clearly visible. She has a soft heart to match her beautiful appearance, and she has a strong reluctance to kill.
But at least for the monsters, it must have overcome that reluctance. Perhaps the goblin corpses strewn along her path will agree with me.
Shh shh-
shock-
Pusha Shot-
At this level, it would be safe to say that she was a completely different person from before entering the clock tower. It wasn’t combat skills or physical problems that originally stood in the way of her growth.
Her problem is the environment around her.
She realized this too.
Through the stimulation I tried in the clock tower.
She shouted while actively attacking from the front.
“John! Please follow me!”
“All right.”
Adrin ran out with a cry.
Entrusting one’s back during battle like this should be seen as trust in me. Concerned that the students might get hurt, she dug deeper and I quickly caught up with her.
And of course, she couldn’t have grown up alone.
I already smell it with my nose before I see it with my eyes.
Which one should I deal with first?
Who is the first danger to come.
The secret secret of the Espertz family [The Smell of Death] has become more sensitive after swallowing the devil’s egg. As if it were my sixth sense, it detects the priorities of survival even in the midst of a melee.
I calmly cut off the guy who was aiming for Adrine’s back.
sigh-
Unlike Adrine’s rapier, which only technically cuts through vital points, my sword does not give the opponent a chance to scream. It is because of the extraordinary cutting power of herbivores that unfolds through [Sword of Mulcan].
Dizziness is also less.
It must be that the waves of the ego and mine coming in from the sword match little by little.
Woo woo woo-
It wasn’t intentional, but a red fountain rose from where my sword passed. The blood pressure released through the cross section pumped the blood of the monsters vigorously. The goblins who backed away groaned.
“Kiaaagh!”
“Kwaaa!”
The rising blood mist acted as fear to the enemy. And it was working in the opposite way for allies.
“I-Stay over there!”
“If you stick with him, you won’t die! This is the kid who fed Bastia shit!”
Our team members began to regard my surroundings as an escape route.
The way to increase the survival rate in a melee is to keep the mass as much as possible. Naturally, my sword attack became an act of leadership. As the children flocked, the behavior became more comfortable. The tightly packed ranks compensate for the blind spots between allies.
‘That should be enough.’
I, who was worried about Sabaki’s absence, realized that it was a mistake. In this way, it would be easy to fill his void and help the children highlight Adrine’s leadership. This will be the foundation to stop the jackal from playing solo in the upcoming main event, the [Grade Principal Election].
However, the slightly puzzled part is elsewhere.
I asked insinuatingly as I cut down the goblins flocking from all sides with a stone axe.
“Private Hansoo.”
“… Yeah? no, huh?”
“Where are you uncomfortable?”
If you are a private, you are a soldier who has gone through his own battles. And his stats are also above average. But he seemed strangely frozen.
“Oh, no… No, no.”
Definitely a strange way of speaking. It was in the middle of a battle, but after a brief deliberation, I was able to estimate the cause.
I smiled a little as I swung the sword.
‘Did you overhear my conversation with Hamma?’
***
Marching and marching are different.
If a march is a military action to push the front in the plains east of Frantimo, a march is a movement on an already secured front.
And Hansoo, like a private soldier, knew the true meaning of this ‘marching’ that had been repeated for a long time. The higher ups claim it as ‘for the purpose of training students’, but that doesn’t make sense.
It is nowhere in the history of the empire. The training of leading young chicks who are less than 20 years old and throwing them where monsters infest them.
The real purpose of the march is to search for witches.
And that is why groups are made up of inexperienced students.
If you actually search for the witch’s stronghold, that group will become a ‘group that doesn’t return’. That would send a real witch-hunting Joe along the route that the ‘Never Returning Joe’ traveled. made up of veterans.
Risk is natural.
However, Hansoo tended to trust the statistics. The witch’s stronghold has not been found for over 10 years. It was unlikely that such a witch’s stronghold would suddenly pop out from inside the already pushed up wires.
So, I marched with a light heart… .
Hansoo froze at the sight of the two men and women who looked more like veterans than veteran soldiers. Moreover, the conversation he overheard between them and Hamma the night before added to his tension.
‘If you get caught wrong, you’ll be fucked.’
Sabaksabak. The crew continued their weary steps. Witch Carnes had started to use violence again 30 minutes ago.
The name of the violence is snowfall. Rapid temperature changes and cold air seeping into your shoes. Some children coughed as if they had a cold.
Hansoo felt impatient.
‘I’m sure it’s near here… .’
The snow flurries obstructed the view to the point of ferocity. Holding the map, Hansoo steadfastly overcame the obstacle. The clock tower, which can be seen from afar, serves not only as an indicator of time but also as an indicator of direction. Finally found the cave.
John knew the name that would be written on his map.
For the caves that are intermittently located in the plains east of Frantimo, the Imperial Army has their own names. In a situation where the tricks of the witch Carnes are unfolding through the weather, the cave with the ceiling blocked is an easy place for soldiers to stay.
“This cave, take over.”
Looking at the cave dug under the low ridgeline, Hansoo drew his sword. At his words, the children who looked like yeti asked a question.
“Are you accepting?”
“They just trust me and follow me.”
It was only John who understood the meaning of ‘acceptance’.
[First March] Where to stay for the second day of the event.
[A-4] on the map of the Imperial Army.
4 is John’s class number in his freshman year of high school. And the alphabet in front of it means the difficulty of the monsters that can be encountered at that location. Of course, A is the lowest difficulty among them.
“Isn’t that one?”
“Uh, where?”
“There, below the ridge.”
There was a large pupil where John pointed. It was a cave with a subtle contrast with the white snowy surroundings. The width of the entrance is about 4 meters. Hansoo unpacked his backpack and took out a torch.
“Guys, did you get one match from supply? Somebody come, get out a match, and light a fire. I have no playing hands.”
John did so. Although the weather was cold, the oiled fan easily caught fire. Hansoo shone the light here and there inside the cave.
“John, why don’t you go in right away?”
“The weather is a fair criminal. To monsters and animals.”
Only then did Adrin understand.
You meant that the dangerous ones might be there first.
After returning from entering the cave, Hansoo let out a sigh of relief. Only the hard-looking rock wall and the moss on the stone moss. There seemed to be no danger whatsoever.
“Everyone, come in and avoid your eyes.”
The crew hurriedly took refuge in a cave.
***
Hansoo moved according to the manual. As he piled the children’s backpacks on one side of the wall, it became a windbreak from the draft blowing toward the cave.
It was a long march and a dangerous battle. Thanks to this, all the exhausted children spread out side by side with their backpacks and closed their eyes.
I stared blankly at the blonde girl among them.
‘but. It’s just that I’m tired.’
She was the one who took the lead throughout the battle and took risks from the goblins. It is said that they took refuge in a cave, but their clothes were wet from the snow, the floor was hard and the walls were rough. Except for the advantage of being able to avoid eyes, everything is inconvenient.
But Adrine didn’t complain. In her quiet sleep, I could feel the theft that only royal characters can exude.
I crouched down at the entrance of the cave.
Staring at the pouring snow.
The snowflakes, which had become much lighter, now felt rather cozy. Like the snow falling from the sky, I wish my worries would subside.
Currently, my anxiety factors are largely summarized into three things.
1. Absence of Sabaki.
2. Ong’s prophecy that was not in the original scenario.
3. Boundaries of unexplained hammock crescendos.
It seems that [First March] will be cleared safely. It is thanks to the fact that Adrine grew up early. The problem is number 2 or 3.
2 times first.
A prophecy about me that the Archmage Ong made.
This is definitely a change that happened before I came. Therefore, you should investigate after returning to the academy. Information about Archmage Ong can be found in the academy’s library or through current mages.
If necessary, he has to risk getting involved with the warden, ‘Kirov’. Because she is Ong’s last disciple.
More reluctant is number 3.
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Never let a ‘hamma crescendo’ cause an unexpected situation. If that happens, the scenario will flow in a direction I can’t imagine at all. As in the original scenario, she should be moderately marginalized. A romantic character who loftily builds his castle on the battlefield of the empire.
Her role is sufficient to provide a base during the [Witch Hunt]. It’s a character that was originally created for that purpose.
I stretched out my index finger and wrote on the snowy floor. It was Korean, not the imperial language.
‘I will definitely go back.’
My determination, which was briefly written, was buried in the snow again after a while.
Tumble- Tumble-
There was someone approaching, hesitantly, making the sound of his boots. Like Hamma, it was a character I liked.
“uh… , I… The night before yesterday… .”
he said with a little trouble. He probably shouldn’t be worried about the student staring at him endlessly. I could understand his troubles.
“You can treat me as usual.”
“uh?”
“No matter what you heard yesterday, Adrine and I are now Private First Class Hansoo’s crew. If you treat me differently, I think it will be rather uncomfortable.”
“ah… , then… Just relax?”
“Yes, feel free. Just don’t spread rumors around you.”
Hansoo’s hardened expression softened. It was an innocent-looking face. He cleared his throat once and took out a map.
And Hansoo looked around the outside of the cave.
Probably trying to figure out the next move.
“A-4 What next?”
“yes? no what? … A-4?”
“This is the location of the cave.”
Hansoo scratched the crown of his head and said.
“This is Branch B-13?”
I didn’t understand what he was saying right away. After a while, I felt my hair stand on end.
“What is that… . Is this your location?”
“yes. Here is B-13.”
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No way.
The [First March] event is a total of 2 nights and 3 days. And the route is organized according to the marching time. Although the composition of the team may vary, there is never a case of marching to area B in an event.
“excuse me… . I must have heard that it was A-4… .”
“To whom?”
“… Anyway.”
“I must have heard it wrong. Excluding what we slept on yesterday, we walked for a total of 18 hours, so we are now… uh?”
I took the map Hansoo was holding and looked at it. It was really as Hansoo said. The second day of stationing is the B-13. Hansoo, who was looking at the strategy summary on the map with me, clicked his fingers with an ‘Aha’.
“ah. I get it.”
“What?”
“You, it seems you’re confused with before the revision.”
“Why is the cap modified?”
“A child who canceled the circus performance when leaving?”
My eyes went black.
“ah… .”
“If it’s black, you have to peel it, Uzzano. Thanks to that, the marching time was extended by about four hours.”
driving me crazy.
Dominoes who killed the [problem child of the academy] fall here again?
The reasons why the circus performance was canceled before the march can be estimated. Arien, who had escaped from the circus, must have been involved in some way.
“So the destination map was changed from A-4 to B-13.”
“… fuck.”
Hansoo flinched at the spontaneous curse. But I couldn’t afford to apologize to Hansoo.
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Not [A-4] but [B-13].
Again, the alphabet in front of the number indicates the difficulty of the attack.
And B is a level of difficulty that can only be broken after the middle of the scenario.