Chapter 16 : Escort Mission (5)
by Afuhfuihgs“This… there’s no need for me to step in.”
Ray, who had been about to draw the dagger from his arms, suddenly stopped moving.
The mid-tier monster, Kelleil, had clear characteristics.
It was highly mobile and powerful in attack but had no means of defense.
Moreover, when it attacked, it did so in packs.
Thus, except for a few individual cases, most Kelleil appeared in the area of the first attack.
“Did he take down fifteen of them… by himself?”
And the area where the Ritvel merchant guild was first attacked was the left flank, led by Kaela.
In other words, the reason Paul and Anna were the first to be attacked was because most of the Kelleil appeared in that area.
And that group of Kelleil had been annihilated.
By just one swordsman hero.
The new instructor, Edgar Mulick.
The moment the battle began, he charged in with unbelievable speed and in an instant incapacitated all of the Kelleil.
Their number was a staggering fifteen.
And it took less than a minute.
Watching that sight, Ray’s grip on his dagger naturally loosened.
“Edgar… what on earth is the real you?”
Edgar Mulick was an unusual person.
Born the second son of a great magic family, he had no talent for magic. His arrogant personality and disdainful attitude made many people dislike him.
When Ray first met him after Edgar had entered the Mulick family as a butler, he was nothing short of a scoundrel.
“I want to attend a different faculty instead of the Magic Department.”
But one day, while discussing the family head and the instructor exam, he claimed he had found a new fate as a swordsman and declared he would take the instructor exam for the Swordsmanship Department.
From that day on, Edgar Mulick changed.
He learned the Tristan Swordsmanship technique in less than an hour and passed the notoriously difficult Tristan Swordsmanship Department instructor exam with a perfect score.
Although it wasn’t yet publicly known, he became the first new instructor in nearly five years to be assigned a ‘mentor instructor.’
It was a stark contrast to his utter lack of talent in magic.
“So, if that’s what you’ve decided, I’ll accept it.”
“He’s a dear friend of mine.”
Even his personality had changed greatly.
Unlike before, he now called Ray by his name directly, and he often joked around enough to say they were truly ‘close.’
Especially in the most unexpected moments, he would say things that left Ray flustered.
Ray, who always maintained the same attitude and atmosphere at work, had lately found his emotions fluctuating more than usual… no doubt due to Edgar’s changed personality.
“At this point, it’s at least his third crossroads… maybe even his fourth.”
And now, in this real battle, Edgar had freely showcased his talent once again.
Through what could only be guessed as a ‘predestined’ ability, he displayed astonishing movements, steadily taking down the surrounding monsters.
Even though the mid-tier Kelleil had weak defenses, he killed fifteen of them alone in under a minute.
This was an outcome that could never be achieved by ordinary fate or choices.
Thanks to him, no one on the left flank, except for Paul and Anna, was injured, and the other areas with fewer Kelleil easily continued their battles.
“And moreover…”
One more thing.
Ray’s gaze shifted forward.
“Haaah…!!”
Kaela.
The daughter of the Ritvel merchant guild and the one who had hired Edgar and Ray for escort duty. She was also a prospective cadet, just awakened as a hero, and set to enter the military academy soon.
She was bravely confronting a Kelleil at the front.
Though her movements were rough, they were courageous.
She had no magic, but her strength and skill were formidable.
Since the battle had begun..
She was the complete opposite of her earlier self, when she had been trembling in fear, unable to take even a single step.
And behind that transformation was Edgar’s cold but firm advice.
Raise your sword.
Raise your sword and look at your enemy.
The man who had once shown his own transformation was now becoming a hero who changed others.
Ray looked at him.
“What are you, really… Edgar Mulick.”
He was both the master she was meant to protect and serve, and the man who, lately, had been causing her the most confusion.
“Huff, huff…”
“Whew…”
The sound of heavy breathing echoed from all around.
Though most of the monsters had concentrated on the left flank, where I handled them by myself, the other sides were also engaged in their own frantic battles.
It was a fight against mid-tier monsters, after all, and even with many heroes, it couldn’t help but be a struggle.
And then, all the visible monsters had fallen.
Seeing that, I thought to myself:
“They’re either all dead or they’ve fled.”
Though the other heroes still held their weapons, not letting down their guard, I, being particularly attuned to sensing mana and killing intent, knew the battle was over.
Just in case, I channeled mana into my feet to feel the vibrations in the earth, but I detected nothing more.
As if to confirm this, a loud voice rang out from the center, slightly delayed.
“The battle is over! No more traces of monsters detected!”
Although the new instructors from the Tristan Swordsmanship Department were the main escort force, there were also other heroes with different fates.
Among those hired by the Ritvel merchant guild were heroes like mages, archers, and priests.
The hero most specialized in mana detection was the archer.
It was the archer hero who declared the end of the battle from the center.
It was truly over.
“Ray, are you alright?”
I first checked on my own people.
Ray slowly sheathed the dagger she had been holding and looked at me.
“Yes. Thanks to you taking down all the Kelleil, I’m unharmed.”
“Ahem, did I take down too many by myself?”
“As long as we can stop the threat of the monsters, I don’t think division of roles matters. You simply used your abilities to protect everyone. Just look at the casualties…”
Ray trailed off as she shifted her gaze.
Just as she said, there were hardly any casualties in the merchant guild.
Only the heroes who had been caught in the initial ambush—Paul and Anna—had sustained injuries to specific parts of their bodies. The rest had only suffered minor wounds.
This was because I had quickly stepped in to clear out most of the Kelleil, and the guild’s escort personnel had calmly formed a hunting party formation.
In the end, the new instructors from the Tristan Swordsmanship Department were cadets who had graduated from the military academy.
They were experienced veterans who had fought monsters several times before.
Because of this, even in such an unexpected situation, they had been able to cooperate and continue fighting effectively.
And then.
“Hah, hah…”
A girl stood quietly among the corpses of the monsters, catching her breath.
She had inherited the fate of a swordsman.
The term “inherited” suited her perfectly as a hero.
Kaela stood there, holding her sword, her face blank with shock.
I approached her slowly and asked,
“Kaela, are you alright?”
“Oh, Sir Edwin.”
Her eyes lit up with life again as she looked at me.
Still calling me by my false name, I gently corrected her.
“It’s not Edwin. It’s Edgar.”
“…Pardon?”
“Edgar Mulick. That’s my real name. It seems I ended up using a false name.”
“Mulick…?”
Kaela was more confused by the surname “Mulick” than the name “Edgar.”
She tilted her head in thought for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock as she covered her mouth.
“N-No way?! Mulick… the Marquis family?! You’re a noble?! And from a great magic family?!”
“Exactly the reaction I expected. But it doesn’t matter much. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m a new instructor in the Swordsmanship Department.”
“Still… no matter how you look at it…”
Kaela glanced back and forth between me and Ray with a flustered expression.
Then, as if realizing something, she widened her eyes once more.
“Ah! Could it be…!”
It seemed Kaela had vaguely realized that Ray was my attendant.
She sure figured it out quickly.
I let out a bitter smile and changed the subject.
“More importantly, how was your swordsmanship? You had a look of realization in your eyes.”
“Oh, right!”
Had she forgotten something important because of the series of shocking revelations?
Kaela straightened her posture and bowed her head politely.
“Thank you, Sir Edgar. I received a lot of help.”
“Well, I merely unshackled your feet. Kaela, you already had the sword to slay the monsters.”
In that intense moment earlier, the reason I gave Kaela a sincere piece of advice was simple—she truly had talent.
When I first saw her, the sword slung across her back and her trained body caught my eye.
I immediately realized, ‘She will become a swordsman who will dominate the continent.’
Kaela was a born swordsman.
Her talent was incomparable to that of ordinary swordsmen, and her passion for the sword was evident just by looking into her eyes.
In fact, one of the reasons I had participated in this unnecessary escort mission was because of her.
So when she hesitated, paralyzed by fear of the monsters, I gave her a brief and simple piece of advice.
I already knew that it would be enough for her to take that first step forward.
“Even so, it was thanks to you that I realized it, and that’s why I was able to awaken my second crossroad of destiny. Without you, I could never have defeated the Kelleil…”
Despite her deep gratitude, I was momentarily taken aback by her words and raised my hand.
“Wait. Did you say you awakened your second crossroad?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. It just happened that my inevitable path was specialized in offense, so I used it without hesitation. Once I regained my composure, I quickly realized that Kelleil were weak in defense.”
She added more, but I didn’t catch the rest.
She had awakened her second crossroad of destiny.
And she hadn’t even entered the academy yet—she was just a prospective cadet.
This was an achievement typically seen from those who graduated at the top of their class, something worthy of making the front page of the kingdom’s newspapers.
I had known Kaela was a talented swordsman, but I hadn’t expected her to possess such extraordinary potential.
“…I see.”
And as I listened, a sudden thought came to mind.
I spoke my thoughts aloud, asking her,
“Kaela, if I were to create a swordsmanship class, would you be interested in joining?”
“…Pardon?”
It was the moment, just one day after being appointed as an instructor at the Swordsmanship Department, that I found a disciple I wanted to nurture
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