episode_0133

Creak.

A thick iron door with seemingly stiff hinges opens wide, and a man comes in through it.

The man was wearing a helmet that appeared to be a military helmet on his head, and a vest that appeared to be thick body armor on his body.

Anyone could see that he was a soldier, and since the place where this man was standing right now was a ship that looked like a patrol ship in the background, he looked like a soldier of the Navy or Coast Guard.

To be precise, what he was wearing was not a bulletproof vest, but a bulletproof vest that was resistant to cuts, etc., but since it is not important, let’s move on.

And there was another soldier wearing the same clothes as himself.

What is different is that the soldier in question is dark-skinned and very tall.

“Hey, Kashi. It’s shift time.”

“Ah. Are you Corporal Harrison? It’s already about time.”

A corporal named Harrison approaches the black soldier standing on the gunwale and stands next to him.

Corporal Harrison’s voice was louder than I expected. You can hear his voice even from far away.

This is because working in an environment where noises such as the sound of waves are drowned out, the decibel level coming out of the throat naturally rises.

“Hey, what are you doing? Go in and do your work. Now it’s my working hours.”

“Yes, Corporal.”

Even though he heard Harrison’s voice sounding like he had boiled a train firebox, the black man called Cassie just stared into the distance.

Harrison was about to yell once again at Cassie’s hesitating actions, but he followed where his gaze was directed and just sighed softly.

“Are you still that worried about your hometown, Kashi? Now that I think about it, where was it? Congo? Angola? Did you say that was your hometown?”

“There is nothing to worry about. Because it’s already over. Even though it looked like that, there is something left, and it can’t be like that.”

Cassie received Harrison’s answer in a calm but low-pitched voice.

Having served for a long time as a soldier in the United Nations Forces, where units were frequently mixed and affiliations changed, Harrison did not tend to inquire about other people’s personal lives.

Because it can be uncomfortable and it can be a big insult to someone.

However, the name written on the name tag on the chest of the soldier standing in front of Harrison right now is Mpemba Kasi.

Since it was a purely African name, his reaction was understandable.

Even with the answer just now, it was already clear.

“I am from Mozambique. I was studying abroad in England when those cataclysmic events occurred, so I was able to avoid that disaster. The day I lost contact with my family, I submitted a letter of withdrawal from university, immediately enlisted in the GDO, and was assigned to the Navy branch.”

“Ah… No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask that.”

“No, there is no inconvenience. Rather, if I say this, I will constantly be reminded of that fact and feel at ease.”

“… Do you feel at ease?”

Harrison asked Cassie back with a puzzled expression.

The entire continent of Africa has already been engulfed in dark fog, and although the people inside are heartbroken, it probably won’t end well.

Isn’t it a terrifying thing that blocks all internal electronic equipment, transforms animals and plants into monsters, and causes humans’ entire bodies to melt and die if they come into contact with it?

I heard it’s like a cloud from the Demon World, the world of monsters.

The families in Africa surrounded by such dark fog will not be safe, so why do they say they feel at ease?

Even as he spoke, this person, Mpemba Kasi, was breathing extremely calmly.

“Yes. One day, I plan to return to that continent and avenge my family by slaughtering all the monsters who devastated my hometown. Because I can only live if I keep reminding myself of that fact.”

“Uh… .”

“I heard that Northmund is planning an expedition to Africa. I’m so glad. The United States, Russia, China, and Japan. European countries were also passive in their expeditions to Africa, worrying only about the safety of their own countries. I am truly grateful that he finally cut the cord first.”

“Yes. So, aren’t we constantly monitoring this place these days?”

Harrison nodded and looked over the gunwale from Cassie’s side.

In the distance, you can see a coast rotted black by dark magic. Above it is a dark fog that blocks all sunlight.

It is cold now, so the sunlight is the strongest and most stinging.

Beneath the dark fog beyond, there was only black darkness, creating an unreal appearance, as if it were an entrance to another dimension.

“Even if I were to go on an expedition, I would actually be worried. Ordinary people like us can’t even go in there. They say that if you touch that area, your five organs and six parts will just melt.”

“… Corporal Harrison.”

“A while ago, I saw a comrade who enlisted with me melt after coming into contact with dark fog near Egypt. At that time, I felt really… It was a bit disgusting.”

“Corporal!”

Harrison, who was telling his story, looked a little displeased when Cassie suddenly interrupted him.

I have felt this for a long time, and although I understand that this Kashi guy went through a difficult situation, I should say that he is a bit spoiled.

No, in today’s world, how many people are there who have never been treated badly by those around them? My own cousin was killed by monsters… .

“Over there. Doesn’t it look a little different over there?”

“Why does it look different? Dude, we’ve been on a boat monitoring this shore for over a year. Why are you making such a fuss?”

“No, look carefully over there! excuse me! Isn’t there some sunlight shining under the dark fog?”

“What is that… Oh, what?”

Harrison, who dismissed Kashi’s words as nonsense and tried to feed Kusari, looked at the place where his finger had followed and froze.

Harrison opened his mouth for a moment, grabbed the binoculars placed nearby, ran to the railing, bent down, and looked at it.

“Real, real! Sunlight is shining inside the dark fog!”

As if someone living in the sky had struck a spear of lightning down there and created holes in the dark fog, there was a pillar of light that looked like a halo between them.

Of course, the hole was very small and the light was also weak, but it was still a sight I had seen for the first time since I boarded the ship that monitored this place.

“Is the dark fog weakening?”

“Light is coming into it. There is a hole in the fog.”

“First, I need to contact the higher-ups. Kashi!”

“Yes, I understand.”

Kashi spits out a loud affirmative answer and runs straight into the inside of the ship.

It was not Harrison’s mistake that the joy that bordered on glee appeared on his face as he passed by.

─Hmm, what is it? Is that really possible?

─Mark! I didn’t see it wrong, right? really?

Gradually, other sailors on the deck began to become noisy upon seeing this.

Indeed, the momentum of the dark fog was weakening and subsiding.

‘Did Northmund predict this? What a great person.’

I don’t know the circumstances, but perhaps Northmund’s sudden talk of an expedition to Africa had some basis.

So, does humanity’s final counterattack begin now?

‘Ha, there is finally hope for victory.’

Harrison looked at the scene and laughed with glee.

*

“… so. That’s what happened in the end?”

“What on earth should I do with this cheerful little boy? Tania? huh? What should I do?”

Sejun was anxious and sweating, looking at the two women surrounding him.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he was looking at the top of the table because his gaze was constantly looking downward.

Muriel and Tania were sitting across the table from him and were fiercely pushing Sejun.

Unlike Sejun, who looked somewhat urgent and embarrassed, the woman sitting next to him, wearing a pink holder neck blouse and an unusual hairstyle with straight bangs, was sitting calmly next to him.

Rather, he was staring at Muriel and Tania, who were interrogating Sejun, with his eyes furrowed as if he were annoyed.

“No, guys, we didn’t mean to do that… .”

“Jun, you’re so noisy, shut up! You traitor!”

Muriel slams her fist into the cafeteria table on the roof of the annex where they are sitting and screams.

Sejun just stands there and freezes, but the Himecut kid who received the anger just folds his arms as if to say he’s noisy and makes a tsk-tsk voice with a bold expression on his face.

“It’s noisy, Muriel. Don’t hit the table. This isn’t the only place we use.”

“Yeah, you’re really annoying. I’ve been calling you cute for a long time, but now you’re the first to beat me like this? Ha, do you know that I really feel betrayed?”

Muriel frowns and chews the piercing on her lip as she passes the baton to Tania.

Sejun saw that and thought that Tania, who had a calm and quiet personality, would resolve the situation appropriately.

“Yeah, honestly, I was really disappointed in this one too, Yue. Didn’t you promise not to act like this until you graduated from the Academy?”

… For some reason, Tania was also just gritting her teeth in a low voice and looking at Sejun and Yue alternately.

“Ha? So, are you saying that Sejun is crying because he suffered a broken heart and is heartbroken, and should have been left alone? Rather, I don’t think this is what the people who were lying on the dormitory bed without any comfort when Sejun was in pain, scratching his back and reading webtoons on their phones would say?”

“What? Did this kid say everything?”

Once again, a bang was heard.

No, guys. I didn’t suffer a broken heart or anything like that. I didn’t cry because it hurt. Why are you guys like this?

Sejun, who was trying to spit out only factual facts, trembled and closed his mouth when he saw that the plastic table where Muriel’s hand had fallen was dented.

Sejun’s sighs grow even louder when he sees the cafe clerk coming from afar with the drinks they ordered, stamping his feet with an embarrassed expression, unable to do this or that in the harsh atmosphere.

Jang Ah-hyun and Se-jun’s eyes meet as they see this, and she snorts, gets up from her seat, goes to the female clerk who is on the verge of crying, takes the tray with a drink on it, and returns here.

“No matter what, it’s unfair to stamp it first like this! After pouring them plenty of alcohol, they dragged him into a motel?”

“Sejun, I’m a bit disappointed in you too. No matter how drunk he was, I never thought he would follow me to a place like that without any sense of reason.”

“Ah… No, that is.”

Sejun says nothing and lowers his head even more with a blush on his face.

Muriel has a pretty loud voice. There was also a feeling that he was angry and was talking loudly.

Fortunately, they are the only ones with translation badges in the cafeteria on the roof of this annex.

There were other people, such as cafe employees, but they probably couldn’t understand them because the language was different.

Even so, we shouldn’t make a mess here. In fact, other characters may have seen the current situation and made guesses that were close to the truth at first glance.

Look, the clerk continues to look at Sejun and his group with a curious face, unable to take his eyes off them.

“Ugh, stop it. It looks like Sejun has done something deadly, but let’s not kill him here, everyone.”

In the end, the situation ended with Jang Ah-hyun sighing deeply and setting down their drinks in front of each of them.

For some reason, Muriel and Tania chose iced Americano, which is Jang A-hyun’s favorite drink, rather than the drink they enjoy drinking.

For some reason, the way he held it in his hand and kept glaring at it seemed like he was contemplating whether to pour it on Sejun’s face, so he lowered his head and began to gulp down his share of the strawberry shake.

“Hmm. For now, I will end my personal stories here. Let me talk about something else first.”

Jang Ah-hyun, who wet her mouth after taking a sip of iced Americano, grumbled and chose her words.

“There is news that the dark fog is gradually clearing in Africa.”

“Huh? Dark fog?”

“Yes. It is not clearing at such a fast pace, but the area is said to be gradually narrowing. Here are the photos we got.”

Jang A-hyeon then takes out what appears to be a bundle of photos from her handbag and places them on her desk.

“Oh. It seems like the sun is shining through the clouds.”

“Yes, the concentration of dark mana is gradually decreasing. As expected, it wasn’t for nothing that the professor brought up the story of the expedition.”

“Umm.”

When the story of Northmund came up, Sejun felt a little uncomfortable and cleared his throat slightly.

This is because the story of Jang A-hyun and Northmund that happened at that time came to mind and I felt uncomfortable.

And after that, I went to an izakaya with Yue, and I think I drank quite a bit of warm sake while feeling comforted, if not comforted. And when I came to my senses… .

When Jang Ah-hyeon’s face turns red at that thought, the corners of her eyes narrow.

However, Jang Ah-hyeon does not devote her story to Se-jun and continues talking.

“Hmm. Leader: So is it safe to assume that an expedition to Africa will take place soon?”

“Yes, Tania is right. There will be a much bigger and longer battle than anything we’ve experienced so far. Above all, we are directly attacking the enemy’s base.”

“Then the demons we met will be crowded. This is going to be difficult.”

Yes. Sejun thought about that for a moment and took another sip of his strawberry shake.

The demon I met before, Adramalek, was truly too strong.

In the end, we won, but it was almost a result of luck, as we only won by a single piece of paper.

There are probably a lot of those guys out there. Thinking about that gives me a strange feeling.

It is true that he has become much stronger by learning the dean’s sword techniques, the Trappist and Luminescence techniques, but if Adramaleks come in groups… .

“So, train hard until then. Yes, it will be different for us too. As is the case with each of our resolutions, we have now become more numerous and have the ability to heal.”

“What the leader said is correct. Even if that devil comes again, my barrier won’t break anymore.”

“Yes, then this is the end of this meeting. You can all go back.”

As Jang A-hyeon claps her hands while saying that, she nods her head and the sound of a chair being pushed begins to be heard.

They put the empty cup on the table with a thud, gave Sejun a scowling look, and then left.

“Ah, Muriel, Tania, wait a minute.”

I don’t know why, but Sejun got up from his chair and ran to catch them as they walked away.

For some reason, I had the feeling that if I let them go as is, my relationship with them would suddenly break down.

As the women turned to look at Sejun with cold gazes, Sejun forgot what he was saying for a moment, but

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even know your feelings. I’m really, really sorry. I apologize.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to forgive me. You can hate me for the rest of your life, so I hope our relationship doesn’t break up. huh… No shame… That’s right. But if we become uncomfortable like this and the chemistry breaks down, our team is over.”

“… Jun.”

“I will do whatever I can. I’m really sorry. It shouldn’t have happened just because I was drunk… We cannot allow our team, which has been together for a long time, to fall apart. It’s a nuisance even to the leader… I’m really sorry.”

Sejun bows down to them and offers a deep apology.

They just stared at it with blank expressions.

“… Big.”

There was silence like that for a while.

And from above, a sound that sounded like a small sob.

“Kkkk.”

“… ?”

No, when I heard it properly, it wasn’t a sound like sobbing, but laughter.

It wasn’t just laughter, I saw something really funny, but it was like I was desperately trying to swallow my laughter because I couldn’t laugh.

Sejun was bending over, so he couldn’t understand why he was hearing that sound.

Even if I desperately try to rack my brain, I can’t figure out why I’m laughing.

“… .”

Sejun’s face moves little by little, and his eyes turn to the faces of the girls looking down at him.

But for some reason, those faces are full of smiles.

In Sejun’s opinion, he should have seen his face gritting his teeth. For some reason, I can only see their mocking faces.

And upon seeing Sejun’s face, Muriel burst out laughing as if she couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Fu, fu, fu… Puhahahaha! June! Aren’t you too timid? Look! Yue! Jun definitely said it would be like this!”

“Ugh… Mr. Sejun. Ugh, I never thought you would be this timid.”

“I won, right? Send me all the chicken gifticons you have by tonight? got it? Fuuuu, puhahahaha!”

Perhaps, if Sejun had the ability to liquefy rather than have a strengthening ability, he would have definitely changed his appearance now, taking on the shape of a question mark.

Or perhaps Sejun, who is not a person with emotional abilities like Yue, is able to express all of his inner doubts with just his facial expressions, which is why it’s so great.

The girls laughed like crazy at Sejun’s increasingly strange expression, and eventually they patted his shoulder and told him everything.

The first to speak was Tania.

“Sorry. It was a joke, Sejun. Could we do that to you? You are our precious colleague.”

“Of course Jun! I made a bet with Yue. So I tried acting a little bit, and it turns out that Jun is really gullible. Think about it, if our relationship was so bad that the team was about to collapse, how could our leader have just let it go?”

“What?”

When I think about it, that’s right.

I didn’t know much about it because we were so comfortable with each other, but the leader of this team is Jang A-hyun. This means that she is the force she created as a water owner.

The relationship between the teams is becoming sour. How could Jang A-hyun have left such a situation alone?

‘shit. ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Sejun smiled bitterly, biting his lip in embarrassment and embarrassment.

No, honestly, wouldn’t anyone be fooled in that situation? There was something more to that situation than acting. really.

“Nakajima Yue is our precious colleague, Sejun. How could a child like that not congratulate him when he achieved his love story?”

“Yes. It’s true that I like Jun too. But um… Well, I like it, but I don’t feel like I want to get married. Yes, yes, yes.”

“I think it would be better to get married with someone a little more trustworthy, Muriel. yes. Professor Northmund?”

“Huh… Is this what we call deception in Korea? That’s right, right? Are leaders like that now too? This is really sad.”

Sejun got a little upset when he heard Jang Ah-hyun’s words from Muriel.

Honestly, by Sejun’s standards, isn’t it a bit problematic to say that Northmund is a trustworthy person with both legs crossed?

However, foolish Sejun wasn’t bad enough to bring up such a story in front of the girl he had just fallen in love with, so he just gulped it down and swallowed it back down his throat.

[Mr. Sejun. Ugh… Please take responsibility for my gifticon.]

My head is pounding. It’s not because of Yue’s supernatural communication, but the current situation itself.

Sejun sighed heavily and scratched his head when he saw the female employee, who had been scared earlier, looking in this direction as if she had figured out the situation and giving a thumbs up as if telling him to cheer up.

Just like that, another day in Elada was approaching evening.