episode_0082

Episode 82, 2nd Semester (2)

My brother and I were transported to what appeared to be a jungle. Immediately, the jungle’s characteristic humidity enveloped my entire body.

“Tch, what an environment.”

I clicked my tongue. I’m okay with hot and cold, but I don’t like humid environments. The dampness made my body feel heavy.

“I’ve heard about it, but Tianis can even create places like this.”

Unlike me, my brother looked around with a fascinated expression. He couldn’t have seen such a sight in Arden Estate, where the seasons don’t change 365 days a year.

But I urged my brother.

“Stop sightseeing and check for monsters.”

“Yes, Brother.”

Bale followed without saying anything.

After confirming that there were no living creatures around, we settled down in a suitable place. Then I spoke first.

“I think securing drinking water is the top priority. What do you think?”

“I agree. We have to survive here for more than 12 hours.”

We have to stay in this jungle until midnight. The current time is 10 a.m. We have to endure for about 14 hours. If the survival time was only 2-3 hours, we could endure it, but anything longer than that requires water and food.

Moreover, there is a mission given to each team while surviving. We need energy to succeed in that.

That’s why I’m cooperating with Bale. Two is better than one.

Of course, if I used magic, securing water would be easy, but unfortunately, it was still difficult to reveal that I could use magic. The professor would have been watching this situation.

“A sword is enough as a tool, and we won’t need a campsite.”

Professor Mylon didn’t give us the tools we needed for survival. He meant for the teams to cooperate and solve the situation directly.

We didn’t need a campsite either. We’re not going to sleep overnight, so we can just make one out of leaves when it rains.

However, Bale didn’t seem to think so.

“I was taught that in survival situations, you must create a base after securing drinking water and food.”

“Who said such nonsense?”

“The Monster Studies professor said it. He said it was the code of conduct during a monster season.”

“…Haa.”

I let out a deep sigh. Then Bale reacted and said.

“It’s actually quite a helpful policy. A black magician appeared in the estate this vacation, and I went out to subjugate him with the Knights…”

“Bale.”

I cut off Bale’s long-winded words.

“The situation is different now.”

Bale’s words are definitely accurate. Aside from that time, it’s a ‘rule of thumb’ that must be followed in a life-or-death situation.

But we’re different. We’re not staying for days, and there’s no need to be methodical.

Above all, this class isn’t about survival first. It’s to foster teamwork. There’s a reason why he gave us a mission.

After hearing my thoughts, Bale pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“I will follow your lead, Brother.”

Even so, he looked somewhat reluctant. It seems like our views are different. Bale and I had completely different action styles and personalities.

‘But it’ll be okay.’

It feels like things are going wrong from the start, but a fight won’t break out. Bale is a brother who knows how to respect his older brother.

***

After searching for water for an hour.

We finally found a small spring after a long struggle.

“The spring is very small…”

“Why didn’t they make it bigger?”

But it wasn’t big. It was only 5 cm in diameter, so it was hard to even call it a spring.

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed to have been deliberately made small. The survival environment could be extremely harsh depending on the situation.

“Let’s get some water first.”

Bale nodded, and I took out a wooden water bottle. I made it by cutting down a tree on the way.

It took quite a while to fill the water, as we made a total of three per person. It took about 30 minutes per bottle.

During that time, I looked around and searched for food. But I couldn’t see any edible plants.

Even digging in the ground yielded no results. Judging by the fact that there are no rivers or monsters, it seems like there’s nothing to eat around here.

I’m already starting to get hungry because it’s almost lunchtime… At this rate, there will be a setback in the plan. My mission was easy, but my brother’s was difficult.

I kept looking around just in case. And on the way back to the spring, Bale spoke to me.

“Brother. Why didn’t you come back to the family during vacation?”

“……Don’t ask.”

I nipped that question in the bud early on. Just thinking about home made my stomach churn. But my brother didn’t stop.

“If you had come, you could have definitely changed the evaluation of the family and the estate’s people. As I said earlier, a black magician appeared in the estate…”

The meaning of those words was one thing. If I had returned to the estate and dealt with the black magician, I could have changed my hooligan image. And the end result is obvious.

“I told you. I’m not interested in the position of head of the family.”

“I don’t know why you refuse, Brother.”

“Don’t try to understand, and don’t be curious.”

You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.

“……”

My brother was silent for a moment at my cutting remark. But he didn’t stop the conversation.

“Do you know? The day our sister came back to the family, she secretly cried.”

“…Did she cry a lot?”

“I don’t know. She pretended not to as soon as I came.”

I thought she was okay, but it seems like she wasn’t at all.

“Brother. How about coming back next vacation for the sake of our sister?”

Bale used our sister as bait to lure me. But I had no intention of doing so, and our sister would be fine. I said quietly to my brother.

“But, Brother. Why are you interfering between me and our sister? I’ll take care of it myself. Do you like our sister?”

“…As family, I like Elaim, but she’s not my type as a woman.”

“Then mind your own business.”

“I can’t do that as your brother.”

He’s so talkative.

I felt it at the Blacksmith of Orange, but Bale talks a lot and is very interested in me. Especially when we’re alone, he seems anxious.

Well, maybe it’s to make up for what he’s been missing. Like our sister, my brother probably couldn’t talk to me because of my hooliganism.

In the meantime, we arrived near the spring. And a figure lingering in front of it. I threatened them with sword energy.

Kugwagwang-!

A huge line was drawn on the ground with a roar.

“What if you hurt the opponent?”

I scoffed at those words.

“They deserve to be hurt. They’re trying to steal our water.”

Including the bottles that were still being filled, it took a total of 3 hours to fill the water with difficulty. They’re going to steal that? They deserve to die.

My gaze turned to the thieves. Like us, they were a team of 1st and 2nd year students mixed together. In their hands, they had 4 bottles full of water.

“Ahaha, there seems to be a misunderstanding. We were just going to drink some water…”

“Put it down.”

“O-Okay…”

At the murderous voice, the two put down the water bottles. I walked closer and snatched the bottles away. Thankfully, the amount hadn’t decreased.

But the two thieves couldn’t take their eyes off the water bottles.

“Do you want to drink it?”

Nod, nod, the two showed violent movements. Judging by their appearance, it seemed like they hadn’t had any water for quite some time.

“Okay. Let’s barter. Tell me what you have. It would be nice if you had something to eat.”

At those words, Bale chimed in.

“How about information rather than food? Judging by the footprints, it looks like they came from the opposite direction.”

“There’s no need to exchange information for important resources, and what’s important right now is food. And please don’t interrupt when I’m talking.”

“But Brother, it’s true that food is important, but if we have information…”

A slight difference of opinion. At our conversation, the two in front of us shouted urgently.

“We’ll give you information, food, anything! Please give us some water!”

“We haven’t had a sip of water for 4 hours…? Just a little water first…”

“Okay. Drink.”

At their deathly expressions, I handed them two bottles of water. The two quickly received the water bottles and chugged them down. Only then did they make a face as if they were going to live.

“Now, tell me what you have.”

Then they started taking out various things from their leather pouches. Most of them were things that people could eat, like meat.

“How did you get food? There wasn’t any on our side.”

“We came from the west over there, and there are animals and monsters everywhere over there. You can see them even if you go just ten steps.”

No wonder there were no living creatures. It seems like they divided the environment extremely. I dug up more information.

“Was there a ruin there?”

“Hmm… I saw something similar to a ruin. But it had nothing to do with our mission, and we were desperate for water, so we ignored it.”

“Tell me the location.”

The classmate told me the location of the ruin right away. It was his first time here too, so he only told me the general characteristics.

“Have you seen Evan or the Princess?”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t met them. Among the teams I’ve met, there were some who said they saw them…”

“That’s enough.”

I got all the information I needed by confirming the location. I said to Bale.

“Let’s go west. It seems like the goal is there.”

“Alright.”

We parted ways with the team we met for the first time.

***

We arrived in the west of the jungle. Then monsters immediately caught our eye, and they ran towards us when they saw us.

“Prepare for battle. It’s a monster.”

“Yes, Brother.”

There was no time to look around. We decided to take care of the monsters first. I drew my sword and said.

“Is this the first time I’ve fought with you…”

“It’s the first time. Whether it’s during hunting practice or anything else, there hasn’t been a chance for me to meet with you, Brother.”

The atmosphere of holding a sword together felt a little unfamiliar. I thought that today might be the first time. It was probably also the first time my brother had fought a monster.

In the meantime, the monster cried out and ran towards us. A total of five monsters. My brother and I exchanged glances.

The timing when the monster charged. We simultaneously swung our swords.

Clang!

But for some reason, all I could hear was the sound of metal.

I looked to the side after seeing the blocked sword. Similarly, my brother was also looking at me. And at the same time, we opened our mouths.

“What are you doing?”

“Brother, what are you doing right now?”

We looked at each other as if we were dumbfounded.