Ch.93Starlight Knight

The young group’s first destination was a small cave. It was an inconspicuous place with thick grass growing around the entrance.

‘They planted grass around the entrance…’

Seaerin’s gaze swept across the cave entrance. The evident human touch suggested it was the work of those who designed the training. Observation skills were one of the important qualities a knight should possess. The upcoming destinations would likely be prepared in similar ways to cultivate the qualities of knight candidates.

“Let’s go in.”

“Are we just going to enter?”

“There might be monsters inside. Maybe we should wait a bit…”

As Seaerin tried to enter first, the two others blocked her way. Seaerin hesitated briefly. Thanks to her sensitive monster-sensing ability, she knew there were no monsters ahead. There was no need to be cautious.

However, the two seemed unaware of this fact.

In the end, Seaerin chose to step back and observe their actions rather than taking the lead. Going through such training processes and gaining experience was how one grew.

As Seaerin took a step back, Handel and Edenhofer stepped forward. Handel drew his sword, while Edenhofer cut a large amount of grass and placed it at the cave entrance.

“Are you going to set it on fire?”

“That’s right. If we send smoke into the cave, the monsters can’t stand it and will rush out…”

Edenhofer answered Seaerin’s question as he poured oil over the grass. Seaerin was about to point out that he was using too much oil but kept quiet. It was better to learn through self-realization than being told. That was how lessons remained in memory.

Clack-clack-

As Edenhofer struck his flint a few times, sparks flew onto the oil and flames shot up. The fire instantly consumed the pile of grass, with gray smoke rising beyond the flames.

Edenhofer moved quickly, using a large, wide blade of grass as a fan and waving it around.

“Rona. You should also draw your weapon…”

Seaerin obediently drew her weapon. Since she had decided to participate properly, she might as well do it right. What emerged was the Moonlight Sword. Since this training required actually hunting monsters, they were permitted to use real swords.

Woong-

The Moonlight Sword, now revealed, emitted a strange sound. It sounded almost like a wolf growling, momentarily drawing the children’s attention.

Seaerin said, “Focus on the cave.”

As Edenhofer’s fanning intensified, more smoke entered the cave. This continued for quite some time, with the fanning persisting until the fire died out.

“Hmm…”

“Hmm…”

Only the two of them wore serious expressions. Handel and Edenhofer glanced at each other before finally turning to Seaerin.

“What is it?”

“No monsters are coming out…”

“We’re waiting for the team leader’s orders…”

Seaerin brushed her hair back. They were still just children after all. What was needed now was an adult’s judgment and decisiveness. Fortunately, there was one mature adult present.

Seaerin stepped forward, lightly swinging the Moonlight Sword in her hand.

“If no monsters rushed out despite all that smoke, it means there are no monsters inside. Either that, or the cave is too deep for the smoke to reach…”

“Oh…”

“That could be it…”

“Of course, this cave isn’t deep. See how the smoke isn’t going in but flowing back out? That means it’s hitting a dead end and returning.”

As Seaerin spoke, she made a gentle gesture in front of the cave. A soft breeze arose from her hand-waving motion, completely clearing away the hazy smoke from inside the cave.

“Wow…”

“Impressive as always. Is that the royal family’s secret technique?”

Seaerin silently nodded. She had shown her wind manipulation to the children a few times before. Old families typically possessed at least one unique secret technique. The children accepted this easily.

As Seaerin had predicted, there were no monsters inside the cave. There was only a small wooden platform with a red stamp sitting on it.

Seaerin approached it in one breath and firmly stamped the map.

“First objective complete.”

“Ooh…”

“We still have six more stamps to collect…”

Seaerin rolled up the map, tucked it into her clothes, and left the cave with her group. This was training she could complete in a day if she took the lead. But what would be the point of that?

This training was prepared for the growth of actual young knight candidates. As a full-grown adult, she couldn’t ruin that.

Seaerin nodded to herself.

Night had fallen. Moonlight made monsters more ferocious. Seaerin prepared to camp with the children. No elaborate preparations were needed.

She cut trees with her sword, erected poles, and covered them with a tarp. The cold from the ground was blocked by laying down grass that was scattered around. After creating this temporary tent, she used the remaining randomly cut wood to prepare a low palisade.

The construction of the campsite took about 20 minutes.

“So skillful…”

“Amazing…”

“Hmm…”

The children’s gazes were intensely admiring. Under their reverent stares, Seaerin’s shoulders danced with pride.

As the night deepened, silence fell. The children, who had been chattering away while eating dinner around the campfire, began to doze off. Though it had been a day with less activity than usual, they seemed to have expended much mental energy due to tension.

Crackle-crackle-

Seaerin was watching the dozing children across the blazing campfire when it happened.

BOOM-!

A sudden massive impact shook the entire mountain. Sleeping birds took flight, and startled monsters began to howl.

“Wh-what was that!”

“Enemy…!”

The dozing children naturally woke up. The two jumped in surprise and immediately drew their swords.

Seaerin, looking into the distance, calmed them down.

“Relax. It seems another team has engaged monsters.”

“Oh, is that what it was…?”

“It sounded like a huge noise…”

Handel and Edenhofer nodded in acceptance and sat back down. However, they didn’t put away their swords, remaining alert and vigilant of their surroundings.

Seaerin waited until the two calmed down before standing up. Along with the sound from far away, she sensed a familiar presence. But she wasn’t certain. She needed to check it out.

“Rona?”

“I’ll just look around briefly. I won’t go far.”

“Going alone is dangerous…”

“Stay put and wait.”

As Seaerin finished speaking and took a light step, her figure vanished instantly with a small breeze.

“W-wow…”

“Did you see that? Rona seems faster than even our instructor…”

Having left the campsite, Seaerin sprinted through the forest with wind wrapped around her body. She didn’t need solid ground beneath her feet. The elemental wind enveloping her body made her almost float.

Her airtime was much longer than usual. Treading on wind, Seaerin headed toward the source of the loud noise.

She wasn’t the only one who arrived at the scene. Instructors stationed around the area for the students’ safety were gathering. Seaerin landed on a large tree and suppressed her presence.

The scene she surveyed was devastated. The ground was overturned as if a bomb had exploded, and the corpses of monsters prepared for the test were smashed beyond recognition and scattered everywhere.

Beyond the pungent smell of blood in the air, a familiar scent brushed her nose. Seaerin recalled a man’s face from that scent.

‘Hakam…’

How could she forget? It was definitely the scent of her half-brother. She could almost hear Hakam’s shouts across the white snowfield. He had shouted endlessly as he was dragged away by the transmigrator.

The lost brother had returned. Had he not died? Perhaps he had ended up in a state similar to her own body. Seaerin slowly suppressed the anger rising within her.

She immediately left the scene. Hakam’s scent was rapidly moving away. He was heading somewhere else, away from the incident site.

Having gotten somewhat closer to Hakam, Seaerin stopped and cleared her throat. She was preparing to send a special signal unique to the White Frost tribe.

“Ahem…”

Though it had been years since she’d done this, she quickly regained the feel for it. As Seaerin took a deep breath, her small chest expanded greatly.

“Ah- Wooooo-!”

What flowed from her mouth was the howling of a large wolf. It didn’t have the same majesty as in the past. The wolf’s cry, imitated with a clear and delicate voice, sounded like a wolf cub howling after its mother.

If it truly was Hakam, he would hear the signal and respond. But no matter how long she waited, Hakam’s wolf howl didn’t come. Seaerin opened her mouth again.

“Ah- Woooong-!”

Again, there was no answer. Seaerin drew her Moonlight Sword with a hardened expression.