episode_0007

*

“Ugh… Sniff… Stop…”

“It’s okay. You won’t die.”

“Just kill me…”

“Don’t say that.”

Ivan whispered affectionately as he poured potions onto Hugo’s body.

Every time the viscous cold liquid touched his body, Hugo trembled and let out a small scream.

Ivan could accurately understand this man’s heart. Healing potions were one of the things most disliked by the soldiers who rolled in the forefront. (After rice balls, seniors, commanders, and enemy soldiers, healing potions were considered important.)

In fact, there was an experience of forcibly administering a healing potion when his forearm was about to be severed.

-Just cut off my arm!! Ahhh!!

-Please don’t say that, Petrovich. The commander’s body is a treasure of the nation!

-Who treats a treasure like this?!!!

It was a childhood experience that was still immature. After that terrible experience, Ivan tried his best not to receive major injuries.

Healing potions were as agonizing as the potent medicine from Kim Sun-woo’s era, which required digging up memories. Of course, the accursed name of that truth serum was Albochil.

Thanks to that, Ivan was able to discover a new value for healing potions during his service in the Annihilation Corps.

Healing potions inflicted pain at the level of sprinkling salt on a burn wound.

But wounds were always treated.

So even during the process of treating wounds that occurred during interrogations, the interrogation could continue.

It was truly sustainable interrogation. At that time, Ivan’s fellow agents in the Annihilation Corps were astonished by his idea. (However, sadly, there was no Geneva Convention in this world, so prisoners had no human rights.)

“No more… I don’t… I don’t know anything…! Really… It’s true… So please stop…”

“You’re more useless than I thought.”

“Save me… No, kill me…”

“No, you must live.”

Because it’s the tutorial boss.

-Swish.

Ivan poured the potion again, silencing the man’s mouth, and stood up.

The criminal group that orchestrated the train terrorist attack was wearing thick coats, were adult males, and had their faces obscured by a recognition-disrupting spell.

It is currently January, which naturally means that adult males would be wearing thick coats.

It was impossible to determine their nationality based on their speech or accent. It was an unexpected fact that this person couldn’t distinguish such things, being a clueless country bumpkin.

They succeeded in their attack. Ivan surveyed his surroundings while biting his tongue. The train was still quiet. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Princess Essidis must still be fighting.”

If Princess Essidis had been defeated, thieves would have rushed out of the train. Instead, they obtained valuable nobles instead of finding gold bars.

The fact that no one had come out of the train so far actually confirmed Essidis’ safety.

With that in mind, Ivan stood up to head towards the train.

In that moment, the diagonal detection sent a violent warning to his forehead.

Forehead?

No, it was directed at his entire face.

-Whoosh–

Accompanied by the sound of wind tearing apart.

-Kwaaaaah–!!

Chunks of debris flew through the air like projectiles, passing over the spot where Ivan had just been standing.

Ivan quickly dodged away from the consecutive diagonals. Thud, thud, thud! The chunks of debris landed exactly where he had been.

“Come out.”

Judging by the force of the throw, the opponent was stronger than expected.

If that’s the case, the opponent must also be aware of diagonal detection.

Since it was clear that they had to engage in a battle anyway, both sides would have to reveal themselves.

-The captain is a real monster!!

Did I underestimate the words of a lowly soldier who can’t use diagonal detection? So this guy wasn’t the captain. Then I wasted a precious potion.

Ivan coldly glared at the man approaching from a distance.

“He’s quite skilled.”

A middle-aged man with a solid, muscular build walked slowly, growling.

An overwhelming aura of dread engulfed Ivan’s entire body.

“But how foolish to dare touch my nephew. You’re foolish compared to your abilities.”

Nephew? Is this guy his relative? This is getting annoying.

Ivan gritted his teeth, holstered his pistol, and gripped an axe in each hand.

“I hope you know something.”

“Nonsense… Come on. Kill him.”

The man raised his axe, grinding it against the ground.

In the next moment, the two men clashed.

*

-Whooong! Thud!!

Esidys clenched his teeth as he heard the sound of the violin’s fingerboard twisting.

“Hold on, Kangkang!”

The violin was not made to be struck. Like most instruments. (Electric guitars are an exception. They’re made for striking the stage.)

Therefore, this delicate and fragile wooden string instrument had its front plate crumple and its fingerboard twist and slowly break every time Esidys swung his arm.

But Kangkang (the violin, 2nd generation) never wasted memories and friendship with Esidys.

With each swing of Kangkang, more things broke. Mostly adult men’s skulls.

“You crazy bitch!! What the hell is that woman doing?!”

“Where’s the gold bar? Hey! What happened to the cargo car?!”

“There’s nothing!! We’ve been tricked!”

The thieves wanted to escape. There was no gold bar, they blew up the train, so it was obvious that the military would chase them, and the madwoman in front of them was using a violin to kill people.

Esidys also wanted to escape. The fading life of Kangkang was vividly felt every moment, fighting was scary, and he didn’t even know where they were.

-Peuk!

-Thud!

When Kangkang harvested another thief’s tooth, it finally lost its life.

Esidys clenched the remaining piece of the violin’s fingerboard in his hand and sighed with a heavy heart.

“Kangkang… You were a great instrument…”

“You crazy bitch, you crazy bitch!!”

“Aren’t we supposed to run away? It’s not the time to fight!”

“Damn it, are you going to bet on whether we go or not?”

“Oh no! What is Big Brother doing and where?!”

Unaware that his older brother’s fight with the muscle-bound thug and the special forces officer was causing chaos, the thieves retreated while grumbling.

That was a mistake.

‘Ayner, the Slayer’s daughter’ resembled her mother in many ways, but at least in ‘anger,’ ‘fighting spirit,’ and ‘combat skills,’ she took after her father.

All the warriors in Droan are like brothers. They couldn’t let the death of their long-time comrade, Kang Kang-i (2 years, a musician), be in vain.

She gently stroked Kang Kang-i’s remains and slowly straightened her back.

“Kang Kang, I won’t forget your sacrifice. I’ve always been grateful and sorry.”

“I’ll take care of that crazy woman. You guys run away.”

“Brother!!”

“Hurry! You have to survive!”

The remaining remnants of the thieves turned their backs and began to flee in unison. With tears in their eyes, they headed towards the main base where their leader was.

Observing their departure, the thief turned his determined face towards Essidis.

“You misunderstand, miss.”

“…Huh?”

“We had no idea that you were on this train. But if you spare us, we’re willing to testify in court. Isn’t Krassilov a country based on the rule of law? Spare us!”

The thief dropped his weapon, kneeled down, and shouted. It was a wise move.

The fleeing thieves were sweating coldly at this moment, caught between the enraged Huskal and the furious Extermination Corps officer.

*

“What difference does it make if we bring in a few more scoundrels?!”

“…There are quite a few survivors. But it won’t change anything.”

The two men who were fighting each other, striking each other with axes, simultaneously shouted as they saw the thieves jumping out of the train.

“Essidis, what happened to the woman who was on that train? The young blonde woman. Is she unharmed?”

“What about my niece?! Is my niece safe?!”

Ivan paused for a moment at the man’s outcry.

Wasn’t this guy his nephew?

Ivan glanced briefly at the man who was injured and unconscious during the battle.

No wonder it was so difficult.

It seemed like an overly designed boss for an early tutorial.

Perhaps this guy was meant to prevent refunds, like in a Souls-like game. But even if that were the case, he had too many patterns. It was a foe that beginners simply couldn’t defeat.

In that case…

“The Academy’s train heist can never kill the protagonist. A helper appears to provide assistance.”

Was this guy the helper?

And perhaps the tutorial boss battle was designed to familiarize players with one-on-one combat by defeating a few weak enemies and a mediocre boss that they encounter after escaping from the train.

Ivan sighed and sharpened his axe. It was heavily damaged and had become unusable. Weapons were mostly disposable, so it didn’t matter, but it was still regrettable.

“Well, hold on. Weren’t you on the losing side…?”

“I don’t know why you misunderstood.”

The soldier followed Ivan, putting away his weapon and narrowing his eyes.

“You were pouring healing potions on that bastard.”

“Yeah.”

It was excessive to explain it as an interrogation method of the extermination unit. There was no way to convince him.

Ivan shrugged his shoulders.

“There was something to find out.”

“Sigh, you should have said that first.”

He didn’t give him time to explain.

As Ivan looked at the soldier with a gloomy face, the soldier laughed heartily while looking at a woman running energetically out of the train.

“Niece!! Esy!! You’re safe!”

“Uncle?!”

Ignoring the soldier who ran out, Ivan glanced at the terrified thieves in the devastated scene as if a bomb had exploded, then smirked.

The target was safe, and the accomplice had enough ability to protect the target until they arrived at Yansk University.

And he himself was someone who shouldn’t be noticed by the target. If his identity was revealed, it would put him in a difficult position, but Esydis had a plan.

It was a long time ago, when Esydis was just a young child who had recently turned seventeen. Anyway, there was a chance that she might remember Ivan.

He had obtained all the information he could get here. Ivan turned around and withdrew.

*

Ecidis, the eldest daughter of the warrior Ainar.

Arrival at Krasilov.

Dispatched as a Dron agent, assumed to be Huscule (1 person).

Successful securing of the target’s safety.

Sent one encrypted short message urgently to the Eastern Palace and Ivan boarded the capital-bound train.

It was a tiring day compared to the income.

“Esi, do you happen to remember a guy named Ivan?”

“Mr. Ivan?! Yes! Of course!”

Ecidis, who brightened up at the familiar name, soon lowered her head gloomily.

“He was such a good person… kind and cool…”

“I’m not sure about that, but anyway.”

The man frowned and took a step forward.

Underneath the makeshift pot made from tearing apart the train window, six thieves were carrying the pot in fear.

The man whispered quietly, being careful not to be heard by the acidis on the pot.

“I heard he died two years ago.”

The fighting style seemed familiar, and they clashed with the special forces of Krasylov.

It was strange how using an axe felt oddly familiar, similar to Ainar’s axe work.

If it was someone who learned axe work from Ainar, there was only one person who fit the description.

– Reserve Ivan Petrovich.

To be more precise, ‘Hero Reserve’ Ivan Petrovich. Among the guys considered to be deployed when vacancies occurred in the hero party.

That guy was clearly known to have fought alongside the Seven Dragon Generals during the annihilation war after the Demon King’s death.

With his bushy beard, dark forest, and eyes consumed by anger, he couldn’t accurately examine the opponent’s appearance.

Well, at a glance, he seemed like someone from the royal information organization, so they would probably meet if they operated in the capital.

Then, he would have a chance to shave. The man shrugged and took another step.

A week’s journey on foot to the capital.

Two ‘freshmen’ from Yansk University, crossing through the train-pot!