episode_0073

“Sigh..”

A man was sighing deeply as he looked out at the babbling brook. The man’s name was Cedric, and he was devastated by the fact that the woman he had been in love with for years was seeing another man.

Cedric thought of a man named Mathias. At first, he was a little surprised because he thought it was a woman, but Ayla was dating that man… Even the expression on Ayla’s face and the emotion dripping from her eyes when she looked at Mathias were something Cedric had never seen before.

“That much… is that guy that good?”

Cedric grabbed a stone and threw it into the stream. Splash. There was a small sound, and then nothing happened. It was like the relationship between me and Ayla, where nothing happened. Cedric chuckled with self-deprecation.

Academy. Yes, all the friends who came with Ayla were wearing the Academy uniform. In addition, most of them were carrying swords, so it was clear that they were as skilled as or even superior to Ayla, whether they were nobles or commoners.

One day, when Ayla followed her father around, asking to be taught how to be a hunter… Cedric naturally thought that, although he didn’t know what the girl was thinking, she would give up soon.

However, he was surprised when the girl became accustomed to the mountains at an incredible speed, and although her archery skills were a bit lacking, her swordsmanship surpassed not only his but even her father’s in the blink of an eye, and she began to train on her own.

And when he found himself constantly following that girl’s whereabouts with his eyes, thinking only about that girl when he noticed her, making excuses to talk to her even when nothing else was going on, and feeling his heart race at her occasional caressing or touching him without thinking… Cedric realized that he liked that girl, Ayla.

Should I confess my feelings? Will Ayla accept me? Those worries didn’t last long. Ayla’s younger brother also began to learn swordsmanship from her and her father in order to take over the family business, and as a result, the relationship between the families began to deepen, and naturally, marriage proposals began to come and go.

The marriage of commoners was usually decided before the coming of age ceremony, so it wasn’t that strange. Ayla left the village to go to the academy, but she would return before the coming of age ceremony. If that happens, I will naturally marry Ayla. That’s what I thought, but this is what happened.

Should I have confessed first, or should I duel Ayla now that it’s not too late? Even though she’s an Academy student, she looks so weak… I think I can easily defeat her.

He was far superior in height and size. His physique was no different from that of a girl. Even tomorrow, I would challenge him to a duel─

“Sigh..”

Cedric sighed and shook off his foolish thoughts. Wasn’t he the one who couldn’t even win against a real woman in the first place? Now, just because his rival seemed a little weak, how could he possibly win against him?

Even if he won that duel, there was no way Ayla would love him. Even if he were to get engaged to her, what would be the point? Would the woman he loved resent him for the rest of her life? Or would he duel Ayla after that?

“Hey. Let’s have a drink and sleep.”

His father wouldn’t let him touch anything unless it was a special day, but if he explained the situation, he might allow it today. Cedric shook his head and got up, shaking his butt to go home, but Cedric noticed something strange. Something… something was strange.

Cedric’s feet were shaking. No, rather than his feet shaking, the ground was shaking. Cedric only felt the shaking. What the hell was going on? When Cedric put his hand on the ground, the shaking was obvious. Before he knew it, a sound was ringing in Cedric’s ears. The sounds of countless animals. A scream, something.

As Cedric looked toward the source of the sound, a huge boar-shaped demon suddenly burst out of the grass. Startled, Cedric jumped and pulled out his sword, but the demon pretended not to see Cedric and ran away like crazy.

‘What the heck?’

That wasn’t the end. Animals commonly seen in the forest, as well as monsters like goblins that you only see a few times if you go quite far up the mountain, were running madly in the same direction. The strange appearance and the vibrations reverberating through the ground. Something unusual was happening. Cedric immediately joined the ranks.

.

.

.

“It doesn’t take as long as I thought. It’s also quite fun.”

“We were going to eat it anyway. So we just threw away the parts that didn’t taste that good.”

Ayla sighed as she placed the neatly cut flesh and bones on a flat stone that she had prepared in advance. Slaughtering such a large beast would have been quite hard work for Ayla before she came to the Academy, but even with Mathias’ help, it wasn’t that hard.

‘I can’t really feel it, but I think I’ve gotten a lot stronger?’

Of course, there may be differences in the quality of the weapon, but it seemed that the sword moved much better than before when cutting through bone and skin. The princess said that everyone instinctively uses their magic power, so if you just keep swinging your sword, you will eventually learn it. However, since it takes too long, she said that she only does specialized training.

“..Aila, can’t you hear something?”

“Huh?”

As Mathias tensed up for a moment and took a stance, Ayla also came to her senses at those words and felt the sound of footsteps. It was Ayla who had also drawn her sword, but something felt strange. The sound of footsteps was too many.

At that moment, a demonic beast like the one that Ayla had defeated jumped out from the grass. Ayla tried to run away, but Mathias stopped her. Ayla looked at Mathias with a puzzled look, and the demonic beast ran past the two.

That wasn’t the end. Countless demons and monsters ran like crazy, drooling foam from their mouths. Those who fell in the middle of running for so long didn’t even move. They seemed to have fainted. Ayla stared blankly at this obvious abnormality.

A rustle, and then a person jumped out of the grass. It was Cedric, whom the two already knew. Cedric was covered in sweat and out of breath. He was clearly exhausted from running at full speed.

“Guk, tho.. ugh, run away.. huh..”

Cedric also tried to run in the same direction as the guys, but he fell down as if he had lost all his strength, then got up and ran away repeatedly. However, Ayla and Mathias had no time to pay attention to Cedric. The cause of the monsters and beasts running like crazy just now was approaching. There was an irregular vibration on the ground as if an earthquake had occurred.

Thud, thud. Was it some giant with incredible strength slamming his hammer into the ground? No, it was just footsteps. They were just ordinary footsteps without any intention or purpose. However, the weight and power contained in those steps were so unusual that they naturally shook the ground and the mountains.

There was a crack, a sound of trees breaking. Trees that had grown for decades were breaking weakly like reeds. That much strength was evident.

Ayla felt the urge to run away without even realizing it. It was an instinctive fear, and also a learned fear, having already experienced the power of the opponent who was approaching her. There was a faint, beast-like smell and a putrid smell.

“Kururur…”

How could I forget that? The gigantic body, which would have been as big as a normal human’s shins, was covered with muscles as big as a rock that would not budge even if struck with a sledgehammer. The dark green skin was only roughly covered with a piece of leather, but the sight did not seem ridiculous at all.

At first glance, the head seemed too small, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was simply due to overdeveloped upper body muscles. As the guy swung his thick, tendon-protruding hand roughly as if he was annoyed, the trees along the path broke off and made a path.

Thud, thud. The ground shook with every step of his huge foot, which was as big as a person. Gulp, Ayla swallowed. The hand that had drawn her sword trembled involuntarily. The murderous aura that was gushing out was so strong that it was hard to breathe.

In front of such an Ayla, Mathias stood as if to cover the guy. Mathias took a deep breath and concentrated quietly. There was no way he could escape anymore. If he didn’t want to die, he had to fight and win.

What Mathias, who was concentrating extremely hard, remembered was Leah. The memory of that day when Leah’s body strengthened as if she was breathing, and her entire body exploded with magical power. It was the time when the temperature dropped as if winter had come, and when she easily cut down an ogre that even the knight commanders of other countries could not properly cut down.

Even if you can’t reach there, you won’t be able to survive here if you can’t use your magic properly.

The ogre in front of me was clearly an opponent that I couldn’t defeat without using magic power.