How to Live As a Returnee Munchkin Swordsman

14 – Escort Missions (3)

There were minor quarrels, but they did not turn into major problems.

It was because when Kayla, who had gone to report to the top center, returned, Paul and Anna, who had been sarcastic, also turned their backs.

Thanks to that, the atmosphere that had been fighting quickly returned to the way it was before.

‘… Still, he seems to want to get the commission.’

It seems that he wants to make money again while arguing with people he sees for the first time.

“Edgar.”

“huh?”

Ray, who was behind me, looked at me with the same face as usual.

Then, in a voice that can’t be heard from the front, he brings out some pretty terrifying words.

“Should I handle it?”

I responded reflexively without looking back.

“no. at all. I don’t know what to do with it, but it’s really good. absolutely fine.”

“No matter how heroic you are, insulting nobility is punishable by law. Therefore, before the legal punishment is done, I will handle the process myself… .”

“Ray, something seems out of context.”

“That’s why I asked you not to hide your identity. I don’t know much about Edgar, so I don’t even know the subject of those flying flies… .”

To be honest, I didn’t mind.

People who are similar to each other would get angry if they were ignored and looked down on, but the instructors Paul and Anna were the ones who would be knocked out with just two swings of their swords.

I just didn’t care what those weak people thought of me.

But my butler seemed to have a different idea.

The expression is the same, but the tone is different from usual.

And a much lower tone of voice than usual.

Just looking at that, you can tell she’s pretty upset right now.

“Ray, are you mad?”

“no.”

“You seem angry.”

“I said no.”

“I’m fine, Ray. The arrogance of the weak has no effect on the strong.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

After hearing that, Ray suddenly stopped talking one-sidedly.

He turns his head slightly and avoids my gaze.

I tilted my head.

‘… He must be angry.’

It is certainly.

Ray, who was always blunt and businesslike, had never shown his emotions to this extent.

Besides, the object is not me, but ‘the people who ignored me’… .

Something strange, yet eerie.

Perhaps, while showing a different image after returning, I didn’t even know that Ray’s thoughts about me changed a lot.

“Did everyone say hello? We’re leaving right now!”

Kaela, who has returned, declared with her unique bright tone.

However, the escort group composed of instructors was fiercely individualistic.

Paul and Anna moved by themselves while clinging to each other, and an instructor named Selena has been moving quietly from the beginning.

In the end, the only people who could talk to her were me and Ray.

“I think it’s comfortable for everyone to move on their own.”

“Iknow, right… There were a lot of things I wanted to talk about with the instructors… .”

Caela, who had always had a bright face, also drooped her shoulders as if she had lost her temper at the moment.

But heaven doesn’t go anywhere.

She quickly regained her energy and looked at me with a bright face.

“Oh. Edwin, Ray. You can talk to me comfortably. i actually… .”

“It was inconvenient, but it turned out well. Yes, Kayla.”

“Eh? Ah yes!”

Kaela is taken aback by my answer that seems to have been waiting for her.

… Was the answer too harsh?

However, perhaps because he lived for a long time as a noble or superior in this world, honorifics were not used in his mouth.

At Tristan Military Academy, I could barely even speak respectfully to my senior instructors.

As such, I was quite pleased with Kaela’s words to take it easy.

“But what weren’t you trying to say?”

When I asked her about what she had said without realizing it, Kaela smiled brightly again.

“Oh, actually, I’m a new hero cadet entering the Tristan Military Academy’s Swordsmanship Department this semester! I was going to tell you that.”

“hmm?”

“… yes?”

At that shocking remark, not only I but also Ray were taken aback and asked back.

what.

Were you a junior?

“lol. Maybe we’ll see you again at the military academy. Of course, you won’t see me in class because you don’t lecture.”

In general, new instructors start with discipline instructors (5th grade instructors), so there is no need to open lectures.

However, my case was different when I was assigned an instructor from the start.

‘… Maybe I can meet you as a disciple.’

I hadn’t even entered the office, let alone opened a lecture, but I met a cadet who might become my student.

It was a very strange relationship.

“So I was going to say hello to the instructors and ask a lot about the military academy… Everyone moves separately. Well, it doesn’t matter since escort missions are as long as you do what you’re supposed to do.”

Kayla looked at the instructors ahead as if she was sad.

I also clicked my tongue at the sight.

Anyway, crooked adults are the problem.

“But a hero who just became a cadet at the military academy will lead the escort mission?”

When I asked a question out of curiosity, Kayla clapped her hands.

“Ah, to be precise, it’s not leadership. I just found instructors who would take on the mission and offered contracts. Shall we say that he acted as a spokesperson for the Ritbel Group?”

“Kaela, maybe… .”

“yes! The upper lord is my father.”

“… … .”

Maybe it will always be too.

Kayla, you were a gold spoon too.

* * *

“I will pass through the red forest soon!”

A hero in command of the upper procession shouted in a loud voice.

He was not an instructor, but he was a high-level hero hired directly from the upper ranks, but his voice was quite loud as he was in charge of the general commander.

‘It’s a red bush area… .’

A shortcut from Saxony to Tristan.

In the middle of it is the ‘Red Forest Zone’.

This was the ‘place where monsters appear’ that Ray talked about earlier.

It was an area that was not even given a special name at first, but it was found to be a dangerous area after a dispatch was conducted to investigate the story that low-level or low-level monsters often appeared.

It was the reason we were on an escort mission right now.

“Personally, I want a monster to appear.”

Kayla, who was walking with us, says with a look of anticipation.

“Why?”

“It’s been a while since I became that hero, and I’ve never fought a monster before. I really want to use my swordsmanship and inevitability in real combat.”

I laughed for an obvious but innocent reason.

“Then, what should I do if even a mid-level monster appears?”

“Eh? Instructor Edwin really doesn’t seem to know this side well, do you? In the red forest area, only low-level monsters appear unconditionally.”

“is it.”

“yes! The strongest monster that came out here is Uliburn… Actually, I think I can take down Ullburn by myself.”

but.

If a group of mid-level monsters pops up out of nowhere in a place like this, most of the upper rank members should be considered dead.

In general, low-level monsters can be easily hunted alone if the hero has blossomed at the ‘second fork in the road’ based on the fate of ＜Swordsman＞.

And most of the new instructors who participated in escort missions at Ritbel Merchants are heroes who have blossomed at this ‘second fork in the road’.

This is why there is no problem passing through the red bush area.

However, starting from the middle level, the story is different.

Starting from these guys, heroes from various professions must unite and join forces, and if they want to hunt alone, they must be at least a hero who has reached the ‘third crossroads’.

In particular, it was even more difficult to deal with them when they appeared in groups in such a small area.

“Still, it’s better not to be careless. Those monsters are people who don’t know when or how they’ll jump.”

“you’re right. A hero must always be vigilant.”

Ray, who had been following me for the first time in a while, agreed with my words.

However, looking at Kayla’s lukewarm eyes, it seems that our story doesn’t touch at all.

“Actually, our upper ranks also did research before choosing this place. I don’t know about other things, but monsters above intermediate level will never appear… .”

however.

As always, crisis comes at an unexpected moment.

A sudden sight unfolding before your eyes.

Kaela, who saw that, stopped talking in a daze.

“… uh?”

Presence is detected along with the unpleasant sound of pushing.

Monsters appeared from the ground and attempted a surprise attack using sharp body parts.

and that moment.

The ankles of both heroes are torn apart.

I know the names of the main characters all too well.

Paul and Anna.

The new instructors who quarreled with us for no reason earlier.

At first glance, they seemed to be lovers, but they amicably surrendered their ankles to the attacks of monsters protruding from the ground.

That was the start of the attack.

“Quaaah-!!”

“Kyaaagh-!!”

Their ghastly screams reverberate throughout the upper row.

The two, who allowed the raid without a chance to react, struggled in pain and suffered.

Push-!

Push-!

The monsters never let go of their prey once caught.

After succeeding in the first attack, he crushed the ankles of Paul and Anna one after another.

“Turn off, heaaa!”

“Sah, save me… !!”

visor-!!

Chae Ae-Aeng!

Only then did all the nearby heroes draw their swords.

And the gun commander in the center shouted so that his throat would burst.

“It’s an intermediate level monster Kelleil… !! Everyone be careful!!”

Mid-level monster, Kelleil.

Intermediate monsters appeared for the first time in the ‘red forest area’, where only low-level monsters appeared until now.

At that shocking story, people’s complexions turned white.

I calmly moved my feet, holding the sword I had taken out a long time ago.

An inevitability that has never been used since returning.

It was ＜Steps of Fallen Leaves＞, which belonged to ＜Gale Knight＞ at the fourth crossroads.

“It must be quite expensive.”

Apparently, the terms of the contract for this escort mission should be changed.