episode_0407

I picked up the unconscious Hume and headed to the principal with Susan.

“Susan, why do you think he’s like this?”

“I don’t know! When that bastard comes down, I will report and cut down the peppers!”

Susan opens her eyes, grits her teeth and glares at me.

I tried to make him understand and calm him down a little, but I don’t know if it would work.

“It’s because I can’t eat salt. It’s not that I’m excited about you, I just want the salt from your sweat.”

Like a goat climbing a cliff.

The food supply on this mountain is already running low.

The only thing left would be insects or birds that stopped by in flight.

“That doesn’t matter! You must be strong!”

“Okay. Well… let’s go first.”

‘I can’t believe it’s like this even though I told you how to do it.’

Honestly, I was disappointed.

At that moment, I made eye contact with Director Yang Yang, who was turning his head in this direction.

“···What’s going on?”

“Apprentice Engineer Hume sexually harassed Apprentice Engineer Susan.”

The two assistant technicians looked towards us with interest.

It was the same thing for apprentice knights.

“This cub should be castrated immediately and hung in front of the training center!”

Susan seems to want to end Hume’s life altogether.

That’s not quite right.

It wasn’t an obscene act expressing sexual desire, right?

“Punishment will be carried out after interrogation.”

The training director tied up the unconscious Hume and looked me up and down.

I guess it’s because of the smell that comes from me.

However, he quickly looked away after seeing Susan’s torn training clothes.

“Extra training clothes?”

“I don’t have it separately.”

This is even cooler.

“It appears that some of the apprentices are suffering from salt deficiency.”

“Salt all comes from nature. Finding it is also part of gathering food.”

“But isn’t there a possibility of dying young?”

“I instructed them to come down if there were any problems, and Bessie and Ali conducted a health checkup.”

That’s so strange.

Because I had never had a health checkup.

“This is training assuming actual combat. Apprentice Engineer Hume failed to respond in time, and will receive a larger deduction in points than a regular failure.”

“Okay.”

“I appreciate your appropriate intervention in the unpleasant incident that occurred on the mountain. Let’s reflect it in the evaluation.”

“Thank you.”

The idea of reflecting it in evaluations feels more welcoming than any other statement.

“You’re more of a devil than that Dantalian.”

The apprentice knights who were doing physical training were all glaring at me with their eyes burning.

It seemed like he was going to kill me at any moment, but it was okay.

“If you make a mistake, try killing him.”

After scolding him, he went straight up the mountain.

* * * * * *

Three weeks have already passed.

Most of the apprentice knights were dying or haggard and unable to come to their senses.

It was natural since I had been doing guerrilla gymnastics for three weeks, let alone training.

It’s all because of me.

When I saw the evil that was born out of hatred towards me, I felt happy.

‘This is a soldier!’

Now it seems like the minimum mindset has been reached.

“Jean. What are you doing?”

“Ugh! Please stop!”

Jean, who had already been eliminated ten times, was shocked and left.

Well, the only thing that caught my eye was physical training.

“I have a question.”

“Gu, do you have any questions?”

A little hope shines in Jean’s eyes, which had a terrible expression on his face.

“···What is it?”

“You enlisted together with Isabel, right?”

“Yes. But?”

“They say that if you receive the blessing of a servant, you are exempt from being a priest. Why did Isabelle come to the army?”

“···Why is that?”

“Those who are blessed as servants have the opportunity to become priests who are guaranteed a higher position than a knight.”

“It’s your choice.”

Jean gives me another exclusive look.

What excuse should I make to get Jean to come over?

“It may not be nice to hear, but Isabelle’s mental age is very low.”

“···What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

I grabbed Jean’s wrist as he tried to pull out the dagger and subdued him.

“The other kids and you got into trouble, but not Isabelle. I’m the only one who thinks the military is a joke.”

“······.”

“You need to know the fundamental reason and be discouraged. If it were put into actual combat like that, it would definitely be a disaster.”

Jean’s eyes narrowed.

Why on earth do you hide it like this?

“···Hasn’t your brother suddenly become very picky these days?”

Thank you so much for asking that question.

There’s a good excuse to make.

“I did that a few months ago, right? The buds on Yunaira Elf’s head are said to be a sacred tool for communicating with animals.”

“But?”

“Yunaira’s direct descendants are training Haesoo, who will be at the forefront of the war.”

“···What? Sea water?”

“If things continue like this, when we go to the front, the front line will be collapsed by Hae-su, and we may be wiped out in droves, despite it being a real combat experience.”

Is it because I have some prior knowledge about this area?

Jean looks at me with wide eyes.

“Time is running out. There are too many things you need to learn compared to the time left.”

“What, what…”

Must rush out.

In a tone that says there is nothing you can do about it.

“Jean, I am ultimately human too. I can’t protect you all.”

“More than half of them turned their backs on me just because I was a little harsh during this level of training.”

“There were about eight of us, including you and Isabelle.”

Jean still looked suspicious.

“No… Putting everything aside, where on earth did you hear that information?”

“I can’t tell you the source, but I’m sure. The head of the training center knows, and the head of the military police also went there for that matter.”

The story that the head of the military police had visited was already a widespread story among the trainee knights.

A variety of emotions flow through Jean’s eyes like flashes of light.

Because I was worrying endlessly, I waited in silence, and my worries began to lean towards what I wanted.

How many seconds had passed like that?

Eventually, Jean finished thinking and looked straight at me.

“···Isabel grew up under overprotection, like a flower in a greenhouse.”

Isabel? With that personality?

“Based on his personality, I think he would have played in the countryside.”

“I want to be recognized because I have that personality. Now that his head has grown, he wants to prove that he no longer needs to be protected.”

··Flowers in a greenhouse.

If you are a commoner’s child, you may call him ‘precious’, but he will not be described as a flower in a greenhouse.

He didn’t have a middle name, which was a sign of nobility, but his name must have been hidden.

Isabel is the daughter of a nobleman.

It is unclear which noble she is, but it is certain that she is the daughter of a nobleman.

A black-haired female noblewoman of the same twenty-year age group as Jean.

Among them is a woman who received a blessing.

That alone reduces the width considerably.

‘I’ll have to ask Seth to investigate.’

“So, Isabel wants to be recognized?”

“Yes.”

“If there is something to be done, my eyes will roll over.”

‘You’re risking your life for such a shallow reason.’

That type is the most dangerous.

People who see even danger as an opportunity if they have something to contribute.

Especially if you feel strong and superior to others and take that for granted. I have seen many people and met many people.

I knew that Isabel’s attitude toward other classmates was similar to the behavior of the strong toward the weak.

Now I see that I feel superior to others.

‘Like a child.’

That’s a kind of safety insensitivity.

The South is a hell called the jungle.

It’s a place full of skirmishers, and there are too many screens and cover.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Recognition can be received simply by being mentally mature.

But you decided to become a knight to get recognition?

The father, who was said to be overprotective, sent his daughter to the wall?

But Jean was not lying.

The feeling of disparity is just uncomfortable.

“Oh, and.”

Pigment was stamped on Jean’s chest.

“Go down and do some exercise.”

* * * * * *

The fourth week, which is said to be the most hellish, has begun.

Shoot!!!!!!

The rain that fell so hard that it hurt was so disgusting.

During the rainy season, it is impossible to find food.

You can’t start a fire, and all the rock salt that appears on the surface melts.

What about the temperature that drops there?

Usually during the rainy season, no one moves.

─Except for people.

What kind of commander would waste this important time when his senses of sight, smell, and hearing are paralyzed?

But not for me.

Jules’ sense of hearing and smell still told him where they were and what they were doing.

·····Building a camp on a rainy day.

‘It must be really difficult.’

I’ll send you down.

Please rest for a while.

After training was over, everyone had blank faces.

It was a natural result since I only did short-sighted gymnastics for an entire month.

My unwashed hair was like clumps of fluff, and my eyes were blurry.

A rotten odor emanated from his body, and he suffered from all kinds of diseases.

Shingi opened the cap of the water bottle and poured it over the heads of his classmates like a bucket, but there was still not enough water because there were so many people using it.

“Representative of apprentice engineer.”

The training director, who pretended to be popular, was staring at me in front of the shower room door.

“Yes.”

“Follow me.”

It is clear that it is about seawater training.

I just finished washing it.

I left the training center following the waiting training director.

“What’s going on?”

“Prior to seawater capture, permission for extraterrestrial activities is required from the Jungmun commander. Commander Jungmun, who received the report from the military police commander, said he would like to see you personally.”

“Are you talking about the person who came at that time?”

“He is right below.”

ah. It’s someone else.

Come to think of it, that gargoyle was the general commander.

“What kind of person is Commander Jungmun?”

“It’s an elf. He went through the Great War and fought on the front lines. He is a comrade in arms of the Hundred Year Knight.”

‘He’s a war veteran.’

A person who smells blood, rather than someone who fights with their mouths, may show a somewhat flexible response.

Because war cannot be fought based on absolute principles.

Come to think of it, it was my first time leaving the engineer training center and visiting another facility.

All soldiers were disciplined.

The bolts were carried separately, but the heavy crossbow and pavis were carried like guns.

Eight bullet sheaths each.

In other words, it had forty bolts.

Also, no one saluted the training director.

Why?

“Why is no one saluting the training director?”

“You probably know what’s mixed in.”

···Since immortals are rampant, it is said that saluting has been completely banned as if it were a war situation.

It seems like all the chores here are done by employees, and everyone else is just receiving training.

If what Ali said a few months ago is correct, he rests three days a week and trains four days a week.

In a way, he is a professional soldier.

“Here.”

The place where the training director stopped was the Jungmun barracks headquarters.

‘It’s practical.’

The four-story stone building is extremely crude.

Therefore, it was sturdy, and there was nothing that could catch fire.

I walked inside, walked up the stairs in front, and went upstairs.

Ah, the delicious smell.

It seems that the director of the training camp is also in trouble.

“···Let’s eat here and then go.”

It was a welcome sound to hear.

“Yes.”

There are so many people whose shoulders are full of circle patterns, circles within circles, or X patterns.

This place seemed to be some kind of army headquarters.

The place where the training director stopped was in front of the third door from the side on the third floor.

When I knock on the door, I hear noises from inside.

─Who are you?

“This is Dae-Hwan Yuon Hughes, head of the Jungmun Technician Training Center.”

─Oh, please come in.

The doorknob that Director Yang Yang picked turned.

The one sitting back in the chair and looking at me was an elf who still looked young.

An elf ages rapidly, so you can’t tell his age by his appearance, but the way he looks at me… is old.

The commander, who honestly received the training director’s salute, looks at me intently.

“Is that the trainee engineer in the report?”

“Yes.”

Really, no feelings.

He was like a machine.

Crazy people are cases where emotions have invaded the brain, but crazier people are cases where reason has invaded the brain.

The commander was the latter.

“I called because there were some parts in the report that I couldn’t understand. I’m sorry for calling you when you wanted to rest.”

“No.”

“Okay. It is written in the report…”

The commander’s eyes scan the report, then look at me again.

“I’m really curious about finding the invisible basilisk… and what the ‘unfair trial’ means. Even your personal history.”

“Sorry. It is difficult to tell you about your personal history.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. All you have to do is hide the fact in the personnel record office and take off your clothes and leave in return for enlisting.”

What a bastard.

The commander-in-chief looks at me intently.

Yes, I lost. The little finger showed its will.

“···I think you already know that Yunaira’s elves hate humans.”

“I know.”

From now on, lies control everything.

“I didn’t know that in the past. Because Horus wasn’t like that.”

“When I was young, I worked as a peddler and helped an elf by doing good deeds, but she accused me. They said I stole the money.”

“Amen’s sin has been taken over. I had to give all the wealth I had earned through peddling to that elf.”

“The trial was held in a summary manner, similar to a people’s trial.”

“Even though all the circumstantial evidence was on my side, I even lost my finger.”

The commander’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you telling me to believe that?”

“I may be a criminal at UNAIRA, but I knew that I was innocent, so I did not enter this information in the personnel record.”

“And that’s why Luna’s immediate descendants who came to my aid apologized to me.”

“But why does Diana’s representative apologize to you?”

“Diana’s representative is the constitutional monarch of the Union of Nations who cut off my hand. Her blood relatives watched with laughter as my hand was cut off. Don’t you feel guilty for making such an absurd request to the guy who cut off his finger?”

“I can’t believe it.”

“But that’s the truth.”

As I quietly close my mouth, the commander looks at me intently.

“I have no way of knowing what Diana’s agent was thinking or why he came to see me. This is the end of the ‘unfair trial’ you mentioned.”

Is it because of Dantalian’s power?

The suspicion began to fade little by little.

“How did you know there was a basilisk?”

“I have encountered it before. It does not become completely transparent, but slightly distorted traces remain, as if seen through water droplets. And among the basilisks, there are surprisingly many thieves.”

Although it’s a lie.

However, to the commander, the basilisk is no different from a fantasy monster whose appearance he has never seen.

Because they can see the temperature in the first place, they don’t show up normally.

“A thief?”

“Yes. If you keep an eye on the south and something disappears, it’s most likely the Basilisk’s fault.”

“Then it looks like there is a basilisk hiding in the barracks kitchen.”

Commander Jungmun snorts and looks at me.

“Food ingredients disappear every day, so the basilisks are stealing them.”

On the other hand, it seems to be a joke meant to lighten the mood.

“Isn’t it true that cooks eat one or two at a time?”

I smiled awkwardly and countered, and soon a look of resignation appeared in the commander’s eyes.

“···It’s done. Let’s go out.”

When my business with me was over, the training director who had been behind me walked forward.

“We are planning to change the training schedule considering that sea water may be used on the battlefield in the future.”

“How?”

“I plan to capture or hunt tame seawater in the southern part of the country and use them as educational materials.”

The commander laughed at the opinion of the training director.

“You’re crazy.”

“This is for young people. Please, please allow it.”

“I never said I wouldn’t give permission. What you’re trying to do is crazy.”

The commander takes a deep breath, leans back on his chair, and looks up at Director Yang.

“Yu-on, do you trust the author that much?”

“Yes.’

“······There is no antidote that can counteract the poison in seawater. It’s clear that if you get touched properly, you’ll explode and die on the spot. What are you thinking?”

“I know it’s dangerous. However, it is absolutely necessary to control the future momentum.”

“You can leave such work to a seawater rescue company. Not you.”

“Seawater rescue workers are civilians. They also probably don’t know much about the indigenous waters of the south.”

The commander looks at the training director.

“Is it different for you?”

“No.”

As a commander, he accurately points out flaws in logic.

Now I have to intervene.

“I am different.”

The commander’s eyes turn to me.

“I am a seawater relief expert.”

“Hahaha… I’m so dumbfounded… Weren’t you a peddler just now?”

“After losing all my assets, I started a seawater rescue business.”

Commander Jungmun looked up at me, still with a hollow smile on his face.

“Why?”

“After dealing with big money, I cannot be satisfied with small money. Depending on the species, up to five gold coins hang around Hae-su’s neck. No matter where or how you caught it.”

“Hoo. Are you saying he was a seawater poacher?”

“Yes. After drying up the seawater on the Horus side, they went all the way down to Yunaira to hunt. From poisons that work, habits, estrus, age identification, habitat antidotes… I know everything that applies to seawater.”

“I can’t believe it.”

There was a need to unpack the bundle of stories.

There’s nothing you can do if you don’t notice anything after hearing this story, but if you’re a commander, you’ll probably notice something.

“For example, there is something called a tailed snake among seawater species that is not currently listed in the seawater response manual.”

“Tailed snake?”

“Yes. It is a snake with dense hair, and its name comes from its movement and shape that resembles an animal’s tail moving.”

“However, this fur contains a strong poison, just like the fur of a butterfly, moth larva, or tarantula.”

“If it touches the skin, blisters will form. If you inhale even a single strand, the hair that touches the mucous membrane will stick to it.”

” It also crumbles easily on impact, and if you inhale it, your fur will crumble into powder, your nasal passages, tongue, airway, and lungs will swell, fill with blood and fluid, and you will suffocate and die.”

“But?”

“The poison does not disappear even when heated, and when it turns into ash, it crumbles into small pieces and scatters in all directions.”

“If you use this, nine times out of ten you will die. It is also the poison that Lamia likes to use on days when the wind is blowing well. Isn’t there a case like this?”

“······.”

At the last word, the corners of the commander’s mouth dropped, revealing a serious expression.

The wind from the Rhine River may have blocked the air flow to some extent, but some people who crossed that river may have died from seizures like this.

“I know more about seawater than Dragonia. If you know what will happen next, you should never miss this opportunity.”

Various emotions pass through indifferent eyes.

However, I felt that his mind was steadily leaning towards me.

How long has it been like that?

“Okay. I will allow it. I’ll tell the general commander on my own.”

It was good.

“However, I will attach some conditions.”

“Yes.”

The commander looked at me intently and began to open his mouth.