Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 41
>Chapter Title: An Ambush is Guaranteed (5)
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*
"Miss Isabelle, are you really going alone?"
"Yes! Don't worry. There's something I need to prove. Hehe."
"Prove…?"
"You'd better be prepared. Even you, Miss Yuri, could fail in the blink of an eye…!"
Isabelle flashed a fearsome smile and ran off into the forest. In essence, she was the first one to make a move.
Most of the students were still in the clearing, eyeing each other warily. Isabelle's action captured everyone's attention.
She ran into the forest alone as soon as the test began?
It was an impossible feat unless she had something to rely on. Not only were there unknown assailants waiting in the woods, but she also had to be wary of her fellow students while traveling alone.
The students exchanged glances before gathering in small groups and slowly making their way into the depths of the forest.
And Ivan, who had been looking down upon the scene, also began to move.
"Ivan, where are you going?"
"There's something I need to see for myself."
"Hmm…? Very suspicious. Who is it? What rascal has caught our 'little' Ivan's interest?"
Enrique chuckled and shrugged. As Ivan turned his back to leave without a word, Enrique spoke up.
"Don't interfere with the kids' test. I'm sure you'll behave, but you're a bit over-armed."
"I'm preparing for any contingency."
"When you say you're preparing for a contingency back in Fritzenkaya, it sounds like you're expecting a coup. Relax your shoulders, my boy. That's paranoia."
"Perhaps."
Ivan had no intention of trying to persuade this pre-modern, stubborn old woman.
If you were to name the three events at an academy most susceptible to attack, they would be the following:
The entrance ceremony, the field exercise, and the festival.
The reason they could be so complacent after designing a curriculum that practically begged for a terrorist attack was their lack of common sense.
Ivan was a very realistic person, so he only attempted what was possible. And his range of possibilities did not include teaching common sense to an old woman who had lived for over a century.
Without another word, Ivan leaped into the trees and disappeared into the forest beyond.
"He's gotten a bit… cheeky lately…?"
Enrique bristled, replaying the expression Ivan had made.
*
"What kind of person is that man, really?"
Isabelle muttered to herself as she ran through the forest.
Everything she had learned in Ivan's class was vividly clear before her eyes.
-There are no straight lines in nature. From the angle the sun hits during the day, anything that glitters in a straight line is a trap.
It was true. Isabelle had already disarmed her sixth booby trap and was running without hesitation.
And one more thing.
-If a well-trained agent is given enough time, a single trap never exists in isolation. So, imagine this. If you were to avoid a trap, where would you dodge to?
Luring by trap. On the cleanest path to evade an ambush-style trap, there would always be a second one.
That lesson, too, was apt. These agents, said to be Enrique's students, seemed to be well-trained even by Ivan's standards.
After she disarmed a trap and mapped out an escape route in her head, a second trap was invariably there.
After running for some time, Isabelle heard a rustling sound in her ear.
"Is someone there?"
A student. Isabelle crouched in the bushes and quietly gripped the hilt of her sword.
Soon, with a rustle, rustle, a student appeared. What was his name? Alain? He was probably a freshman from Tilles, just like her.
And this guy had a pretty solid network of friends.
But he appeared alone? Unlikely.
Isabelle smiled coldly and scanned her surroundings. Sure enough, a wavering shadow could be seen far behind Alain. It seemed to be hiding behind a tree, but such clumsy concealment was worse than none at all.
It only served to raise one's guard.
Isabelle let out a small laugh. Seeing such a pathetic display made her realize again what an incredible man he was. This was why she couldn't date boys her age.
The thought came to her unbidden, and she flinched. What did she mean, date?
‘It's just gratitude, that's all!’
At the very least, a confession was something to be received, not given. No matter how much the world had changed, it was proven by enduring history.
According to the courtly etiquette of Tilles, there was only one case where a woman would confess first: when her father approached to arrange a political marriage.
Unfortunately for Isabelle, she had no father. Maximilian had been missing for four years now.
Therefore, Isabelle had no choice but to follow the history and tradition of Tilles. If Ivan confessed first, she would consider it, and she was certainly willing to review it quite positively, but…
‘Me confessing first? That's just not right. Even if it is him, I'm way out of his league. I'm the Hero's daughter, a noble, pretty, and young.’
Normally, when Isabelle was hyping herself up, Esidis or Yuri would have appropriately stopped her, but unfortunately, no one was by her side right now….
"Hey, looks like no one's here."
"That's weird, I'm sure I heard something."
As Alain grumbled, a group of students emerged from behind the tree. Familiar faces, Alain's cronies.
Five of them. A difficult number to handle head-on without taking damage.
But Isabelle gripped her sword hilt and silently climbed a tree.
Counter-ambush training, in other words, could also be considered ambush training. To counter an ambush, one first had to be well-versed in how to conduct one.
Which meant that Isabelle, having received practical training directly from Krasilov's top field agent, now possessed skills that a university freshman couldn't possibly handle.
‘First, one.’
Isabelle covered the mouth of the man at the very back and immediately pressed her sword to his neck.
"Mmph… Mmph?!"
"Shh. This is sharp."
"M-Miss Isabelle…?!"
"Uh-uh, if you're not quiet, you might get hurt."
She took the marble from her nameless classmate's pocket and immediately struck him on the back of the neck.
"Keuk!!"
"Huh, the man used to knock people out like this."
"An ambush…! It's an ambush!! She took my marble!!"
"Ah, that's cheating. You should be quiet if you're eliminated."
Isabelle grumbled and raised her sword. The classmate who had been struck on the neck was writhing in pain, but thanks to that, the other four were now charging at her.
"Isabelle…! How dare you get a head start after running off on your own! Are you brave or just stupid?"
"Oh, Alain. Did you decide to drop the formalities with me?"
Isabelle grinned and raised her sword. Well, four was better than five. She decided to think positively.
She hadn't liked the way this one and that one forced a smile whenever they saw her anyway.
And on top of that.
‘What is that form?’
Their charging posture, their momentum, their sloppy movements that weren't even coordinated.
Every single thing was laughable.
Compared to the train incident where she had to fight terrorists with her life on the line, and to Ivan's attacks that had felt like real combat over the past week, this was just boring.
She smirked. Honestly, really. When she thought about it, it was all about that man. It was serious, really.
"I wonder if five marbles will get me first place? I really want to be number one this time."
Isabelle ran to meet them, a wide grin on her face.
*
Time passed, and it had been two hours since the test began.
By the time half of the students had failed and been escorted out of the forest.
And so, as the number of students Enrique's agents had to handle decreased, the ambushes grew more intense.
-Rumble…
A tremor began deep underground.
"Kyaa?!"
Yuri lost her balance while running and fell. She immediately got up, sword in hand, and scanned her surroundings.
But there was no one. She didn't sense any sign of an ambush.
"What was that?"
*
-Ruuuumble…!!
The tremor intensified. Heavier and heavier, the trees in the forest swayed, their leaves rustling down.
Enrique frowned and immediately leaped to the top of a tree.
"…What is this?"
*
-Ruuuumble…!!
As the ground shook, Ivan kicked off a tree and jumped. He leaped to the top of the tallest tree and scanned the area.
The entire vast forest was shaking.
"Where."
Ivan wasn't surprised by the sudden earthquake. An attack was a given, and he wasn't so delicate as to be surprised by every single thing that unfolded according to common sense.
What was the target?
Ivan surveyed the area with cold eyes. The range was too wide. He had already pinpointed Isabelle's and Oskar's locations, but the earthquake wasn't limited to just their positions.
The entire forest was trembling.
"Ha, this."
Ivan soon let out a smirk. It was because he saw a familiar pattern.
It was the dwarves. Just as expected.
Ivan quickly scanned the forest. If one wasn't flustered by a sudden earthquake, if one could survey the entire battlefield with a wide perspective, there were things to be seen.
An earthquake is ultimately a wave. The place that could be called the epicenter would shake the most violently.
Therefore, one could deduce.
The shaking trees themselves were excellent markers. If he could gauge the degree of shaking, he could locate the epicenter.
As he had once recalled, a forest is ultimately like a complex maze. It is a complicated system created by randomly grown trees and mature trees intertwined with each other.
If one could see past that deceptive form, if one could analyze each shaking tree as an independent entity.
"A spiderweb."
He could see a long epicenter, stretching out in a circular, web-like pattern.
The signature attack method of the 5th Dragon General's engineering corps, the 'Webmakers'.
It's been a while. Ivan almost felt a sense of nostalgia. It was a very textbook ambush, and it reminded him of the 'Tunnel Wars' of the past.
It was on a much smaller scale than back then, but still.
-Kra-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—!!
With a deafening roar like a landslide, the entire forest floor collapsed.
Trees tangled and fell, and the earth was overturned, revealing deep tunnels.
Everything that had been on top was swept away in the landslide,
And dust and splintered wood burst upward with a great plume.
Amidst the hazy battlefield, Ivan could hear the screams of many students.
‘I'll leave the student rescue to Enrique.’
Enrique would grasp the situation the moment she saw it. A dwarven attack would be familiar to her as well.
Besides, most of the students were carrying 'location-tracking magic tools'. This meant that rescuing the students themselves would likely be possible within the golden hour.
It was an off-campus exercise, a 'counter-ambush' test that was close to real combat, so priests would be on standby. They could recover from most injuries.
Ivan immediately leaped down from the tree.
‘Is Oskar closer?’
If he assumed that either Isabelle or Oskar was their target, he would start with the closer one.
Ivan mapped out a route in his head and threw himself into the chasm of a deep tunnel whose bottom was not visible.
The battlefield was close, the target was clear, and his armament was sufficient.
For an officer of the Annihilation Squad, no further premise was needed.
*