Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 40
>Chapter Title: The Inevitable Ambush
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*
Contrary to what many believed, Ivan wasn't particularly obsessed with axes. (Dmitry, his former subordinate, would have disagreed with this statement.)
However, in Ivan's opinion, the axe was a tool with a great many advantages.
When splitting or cleaving something, its center of gravity delivered a stronger impact than a sword.
The back of the head could be used as a blunt weapon, and the curved blade could be used like a hook to entangle an opponent's weapon.
Beyond its strengths as a weapon, it had numerous other applications. Ivan had once compiled a list of the axe's various uses.
It was useful as a bottle opener, a can opener, a door opener, a head opener, and for opening anything else that could be opened.
*Shing.*
There was a simple reason Ivan was having these thoughts.
He was drawing a sword. Personally, he wasn't fond of swords, but it was a necessary evil.
He intended to respond to the field exercise ambush with his utmost effort. The fact that he had relegated his axe to a secondary weapon was a testament to his seriousness.
‘Veolgrin.’
He ground his teeth every time he thought of that arrogant elf. Showing up with all sorts of attack spells prepared in advance and calling it a test?
He, on the other hand, had been so unprepared it was as if he’d been out for a casual stroll. All he’d had on him was a single pistol and an axe!
That was his excuse. Ivan knew it was just an excuse, but he had learned an important lesson nonetheless.
-Always be armed and ready for a foe on the level of the Hero's Party to appear at any moment.
Fundamentally, as long as he could wield it, he wasn't picky about the type of weapon. He might be more familiar with some, but there was no weapon he couldn't handle.
After all, he had spent twenty years on the front lines. Standard-issue weapons broke often, so he had to use whatever he could get his hands on.
Ivan fastened daggers to his waist and sleeves, slung a sword across his back, hung his axe at the small of his back, and tucked a pistol, magazines, and a few explosive rounds into his coat.
*
"This year's class is quite remarkable, isn't it, Lady Enrique?"
"Ah, yes, they are."
"I have high hopes. To think that you, Lady Enrique, are personally supervising the exam! The nobles of Fritzenkaya were all eager to observe."
"You mean they wanted to make a spectacle of the students?"
"Ah, no! That's not what I meant at all!"
Enrique shook her head, her expression blank. The man chattering beside her was a second-year professor from the Knight Division. His name… she couldn't remember.
She had, fundamentally, lived a long time. (A fact she refused to admit.) This meant she had met and parted with many people over the years.
This was how the long-lived viewed the world: they made no effort to remember those not worth remembering. It was a necessity if one didn't want to spend an entire lifetime mourning every acquaintance they would eventually lose.
This man wasn't worth the effort. Enrique didn't bother to learn the "professor's" name.
"I hear young Oskar's skills are particularly outstanding. I'm very much looking forward to it."
"Ah, he's from Tilles, isn't he? You too?"
"Yes, you remembered!"
She seemed to have a faint memory of it. He was from some royal guard unit in Tilles, she thought…
Enrique shook her head.
"Isabelle is a remarkable talent as well. And Yuri Franck, that child is also excellent."
"Isabelle, I can understand, but Yuri Franck… I've seen her file, and well… she's quite something for a commoner."
"A commoner… you say?"
Enrique let out a small, sharp laugh. A war orphan, so yes, one could call her a commoner.
Did this slick-looking fellow have any idea? Half of the Hero's Party had been commoners.
Maximilian, Einar, and herself. Enrique.
But what could she do? The noble sirs wanted to think what they wanted to think. No longer possessed of youthful fire, Enrique simply shrugged.
"Enrique."
Just then, Ivan approached from a distance, his steps sure and steady. Enrique ignored the babbling professor and raised her hand high.
"Oh, Ivan! What brings you here?"
"May I observe?"
"Today's exam? I don't mind, but why?"
"There's something I need to confirm."
"Confirm…?"
Enrique stood beside Ivan with a sly grin. The professor who had been standing next to her wore a suddenly frigid expression.
What was with this blatant favoritism? In his eyes, the man who had just arrived was nothing more than a shabby gardener.
"A pleasure. I am Robert Saint-Nard de Mondragon, a tenured professor in the Knight Division. And your name is?"
"Ivan Petrovich."
The name alone was telling. The Krasilovian patronymic without a surname meant he was a commoner.
Robert's eyes grew colder. He frowned.
"A commoner. You should know your place. There are plenty of trees to tend to at the university. Why come all the way out here?"
"…?"
What was he on about? Ivan tilted his head.
It was a strange feeling. It had been so long since someone had tried to pick a fight with him like this that he found it difficult to come up with a suitable response.
Usually, in situations like this, Ivan’s preferred solution was to bury an axe in the person’s skull. Being seen as weak in the military invited all kinds of trouble.
But this was a university. How was one supposed to handle this in polite society? Ivan took a moment to collect his thoughts.
Fortunately, he didn't have to act himself.
"Hey, Professor."
"Yes, Lady Enrique!"
"Are you looking to die?"
"…Pardon?"
Enrique was glaring at Robert, her eyes burning with rage.
"Ivan is my guest. On a smaller scale, he's my friend; on a larger one, my comrade. How dare you insult my guest in my presence. Is this how they teach manners in Tilles?"
"That is…"
"Shut your mouth. I have a sensitive nose, and your stench was starting to annoy me. Four years ago, I would've killed you for that alone. The world has certainly gotten soft."
Enrique's killing intent oozed out, thick and suffocating. Ivan reached out to calm this ill-mannered, hysterical, pre-modern old woman.
"Enrique. It's fine."
"No, this bastard is pissing me off!"
"The exam needs to start. The students are waiting."
"Agh, fine."
Enrique cracked her neck, then turned and walked away. Robert, who had been directly exposed to her killing intent, was still trembling.
Ignoring him, Ivan followed Enrique. The students were gathered in a clearing in the forest.
The first practical exam for the first-year Knight Division students, [Responding to an Ambush], had begun.
*
There were fifty-two first-year students in the Knight Division. Armed with standard-issue university equipment, they watched Enrique as she stood on a platform.
Enrique raised a hand and opened it wide. A small orb rested in her palm.
"This exam is about responding to an ambush. The children I've personally trained are scattered throughout this forest. They will be the ones ambushing you."
The students remained calm at Enrique's words. This much they had expected.
"But that alone wouldn't be a fair assessment. Some of you might just get lucky and not be targeted. So, if you manage to defeat your attackers, you'll receive bonus points. And one more thing."
She shook the orb as she spoke.
"Each of you will be given one of these orbs. It's a magitech tool enchanted with a simple location-tracking spell. If you reach the other side of the forest with this orb intact, you pass. Furthermore, you will receive additional bonus points for each extra orb you possess."
A stir went through the students at her words.
The best way to deal with an ambush was to form a group. Multiple people watching each other's backs could eliminate blind spots.
But what about under these conditions? The best strategy would be to form a small group, wait for the ambushers and other students to wear each other down, then snatch up the orbs and escape.
"Not everyone can pass. The first five to exit the forest will receive the highest scores, and points will be deducted based on your escape time. You have four hours. Protect your orb and pass through the forest. Understood?"
Ivan nodded as he listened to Enrique. The format was nearly identical to the curriculum used for training recruits in the Annihilation Squad.
While the exam was familiar enough for that reason, it was also 'familiar' in another sense.
‘The perfect environment for a hostile outside force to intervene.’
This forest was within Fritzenkaya's jurisdiction. Furthermore, a military base was stationed just a short distance from the forest's edge.
In other words, it was a perfectly safe space. That must have been why the university approved such a radical exam.
However, this was an academy field exercise. Therefore, an external attack was bound to happen.
Setting aside the 'why,' let's consider the 'how.'
‘They can't be hiding in the forest. Enrique's people would have already swept the area.’
So where would the attack come from?
Not from the sky. Ever since the incident with the elven airships, Krasilov had become dead serious about its air defense.
A ground assault was next to impossible. Even if there was a way to bypass the military base, the recent train terror attack had occurred nearby, putting the counter-intelligence command on high alert.
That left…
‘Underground.’
By process of elimination, the only place the attackers could emerge from was underground.
This was only possible if one was certain an attack would occur, but Ivan was a man of common sense, so he didn't doubt it.
‘Those egalitarian bastards.’
If he assumed the attackers were coming through underground tunnels, the only race that came to mind was the dwarves.
Those communist dwarves. It was nearly impossible to preemptively counter their underground assaults, as there was no way to predict where they would emerge.
But if one considered their tactical objectives, it was possible to make an educated guess. Assuming the dwarves were attacking, if the demon army was going to strike the academy's freshman midterm, the target was obvious.
‘Isabelle or Oskar.’
The children of the Hero's Party were, in themselves, objects of immense hatred for the demon forces.
The Hero's Party had slaughtered most of the Seven Dragon Generals and even killed the Demon King. The heroes themselves were now integrated into various levels of society and difficult to target directly, but their children were not.
To see the ones who had cast the entire demon race into the abyss now raising children and living happily… it was enough to make any demon see red.
From that perspective, the incident was crystal clear to Ivan.
When the motive, method, and target of the terror attack were all specified, it was no longer terrorism. It was just a rampage.
Ivan watched Isabelle from a distance as she held her orb. She was grinning from ear to ear, lost in some thought.
*Click.*
Ivan rested his hand on the hilt of the sword hanging at his hip.
He had even drawn a sword to deal with dwarves. They were a difficult race to handle with an axe.
In other words, he was fully prepared.
*
"Geez… that old man, really."
Isabelle smiled to herself as she watched Ivan standing in a corner of the platform. The sight of him standing there so confidently, wearing a sword that didn't suit him at all, was rather reassuring.
Ivan was a gardener. Technically, he was a secret state agent, but on the surface, he was a gardener.
So, if Ivan had gone out of his way—truly out of his way—to observe this exam, what could the reason be?
"He worries way too much. Honestly."
Isabelle managed her expression and looked away. That thoughtful old man was worried about her. And perhaps he also wanted to see the results of his training.
Alright, I'll show him.
Isabelle rolled her shoulders and gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.
I'll show him the results of these past few hellish days of training right before his eyes, and I'll proudly take the top spot to make him proud.
And then, to thank him for helping me train, I'll casually ask him to a meal, or hmm, at least coffee. Ugh… or maybe a play.
Krasilov was renowned for its culture and arts, after all.
Isabelle momentarily pictured Ivan watching an opera, thought about how terribly it didn't suit him, and couldn't help but laugh.
"…"
At that moment,
Ivan, being a man of great efficiency, was steeling his resolve to annihilate the dwarves.
*