Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Last Gambit
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The training camp commander's office.
A dozen instructors had gathered with heavy expressions.
Junior Baron Harun Basio asked with a dark look on his face.
"The reinforcements? They still haven't arrived?"
"They were just assembled and sent out, so it should take about ten more minutes."
"Ten minutes... damn it! Ten minutes for the messenger to get here. Ten minutes to get there! And even when they arrive, they can't just rush in to rescue them right away?"
"...We can only hope the trainees and assistants hold out."
"Ha... those kids who've done nothing but suffer..."
Baron Harun Basio buried his face in his palms.
Losing the valuable trainees, who were precious resources to the kingdom, would leave a massive stain on Basio Junior Baron's record. It could even derail his lifelong dream of becoming a full baron and joining the hereditary nobility.
But right now, more than any of that, the faces of the trainees who had trained so diligently kept flashing in his mind, driving him mad.
"I should have gone out there myself."
"It's the rules, sir. Until emergency level 3 is declared, the camp commander must stay and protect the training grounds."
"That's why! If I'm going to get disciplined anyway, isn't it better to save the kids first and take the punishment...? Damn it all."
Harun Basio hated himself for being stuck here, lamenting without being able to do a thing.
He turned his gaze out the window. The Monster Forest visible outside was thrashing wildly, as if caught in a typhoon.
The massive tree at the center was writhing and spewing steam like a demon descending.
The sight drew a sigh from him unbidden.
"Ugh..."
Thud!
As Harun Basio slammed his fist on the desk.
"Huh?"
Thud! In sync with the sound, the giant tree visibly slumped. It flattened out low over the forest, blending in like just another part of it.
The instructors stirred at the sudden change.
"What the hell is that?"
But the changes didn't end there.
"Flowers...?"
The entire forest began blooming with flowers that emitted a soft glow, as if the whole area was being bathed in light.
Someone muttered.
"No way... conquest?"
They all rushed to the windows. Hope flickered in their eyes.
And about ten minutes later.
A messenger burst in, panting, and delivered the news.
"The Monster Forest has been conquered! Headcount via comms shows no deaths or serious injuries!"
Color returned to Basio Junior Baron's face. He shouted.
"What happened? Was it Raphael? Sir Raphael White? Did he conquer it?"
The messenger replied.
"No, sir. It was trainees! Kang Geohan Yellow leading Helena, Loen, and Harkrux—the four of them destroyed the core!"
"Trainees?"
"Kang Geohan?"
The instructors and Harun Basio's eyes widened in shock.
Calts, who had been standing quietly in one corner of the office, clenched his fist so hard it trembled.
* * *
Serfs dream of becoming freemen, and freemen dream of becoming hereditary knights.
Nobility is another world altogether, so we'll leave that out.
The highest realistic success one could achieve as a person was becoming a hereditary knight.
Hereditary knights were granted a "manor"—a small plot of land. More precisely, the tax rights to prime real estate already developed by freemen.
It even came with a fine manor house. The taxes from the manor were more than enough to maintain the house in knightly dignity, employ five servants, and live comfortably.
Life's pains come from having to work every day. But the moment one became a hereditary knight, the only obligation left—aside from call-ups in wartime—was nothing at all.
And if one's child earned a knighthood, the manor could be passed down intact. It was a life worthy of being called a success.
Calts was someone who could become a hereditary knight.
Though he hadn't become a Gigant Rider, as a Black family kingdom knight, after fulfilling about twenty more years of duty, he could retire around forty-six and live out his days in guaranteed comfort.
A life everyone envied and longed for.
However,
Even so,
After everyone had viewed the welcome recording device footage of Kang Geohan's exploits in the Monster Forest.
Calts finally made up his mind.
"...Are you serious?"
Faced with Calts's quiet resolve, Harun Basio could only swallow hard.
"Yes. Please process this."
What Calts extended to Harun Basio was a letter of resignation. Not from his special instructor position, but relinquishing his kingdom knight status entirely.
"...You already know this, but you don't need to take that risk. You can live a life of wealth and respect. Life isn't only about being a Gigant Rider, is it?"
Calts smiled.
"Sometimes... people crave something more desperately than money or a stable life, even more than honor. This is my last gambit. I'm betting on it."
Harun Basio closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. He gave a wry smile as he accepted Calts's resignation.
"There's potential. I can't deny that."
His gaze turned to the flower-filled forest outside the window.
The area called the Monster Forest just a short while ago was now included in the kingdom's territory as the "Petal Forest" and being actively developed.
Kang Geohan, granted growth leave, was probably somewhere in there right now.
"As always, the border disputes lately are anything but normal. In times like these... with that friend's talent, he might really become nobility. I hope your gambit pays off. Good luck."
"Thank you."
Calts bowed deeply.
Then, shaking off the last traces of reluctance, he turned lightly and headed toward the Petal Forest.
* * *
Softly glowing petals blanketed everything.
The sweet floral scent hung thick and heady, like the buzz of alcohol.
Just standing there made one's heart race as if at a festival—the Petal Forest.
This was the same savage Monster Forest that had devoured trainees not long ago.
Kang Geohan and his comrades were enjoying growth leave in the Petal Forest.
Growth leave.
Leave granted to knights after intense combat.
They say that after squeezing every drop from your mana core in a life-or-death battle, the core's quality changes.
For stagnant knights, growth resumes; for those already growing, it accelerates.
During this period, training was minimized, rest prioritized, and mana rituals consumed to nurture the mana core and promote growth.
All the trainees had been given four days of growth leave. Pure bliss—just eat and sleep for four straight days.
"Ugh... but the evaluations haven't even been announced yet. How can we relax...?"
Loen said, fidgeting anxiously.
Helena and Harkrux, meanwhile, were unfazed.
Harkrux sighed.
"Worried about what? We're top scores, obviously. The mission was recon, but we didn't just recon—we conquered it."
"That's exactly it! We didn't do recon, we conquered... What if they deduct points for not following orders?"
Harkrux shook his head helplessly at Loen's sulky fretting.
Kang Geohan, on the other hand, was completely at ease.
Anxiety? Not a bit. He'd given his all and gotten the best result. Nothing to regret.
Kang Geohan leisurely scanned the bustling Petal Forest.
It was festival-noisy thanks to the influx of engineers.
"Hey! Over there—get a nicer imprint of that magic circuit!"
"Couldn't this be applied to Gigant joints?"
"Whoa... is that Celestial gear...?"
"Hey! Stop gawking and come help harvest mana stones here!"
" Mana stones here too?"
"Yeah! Split the trees and check inside! You'll get a handful each!"
Conquering new territory meant unleashing massive high-energy resources that had been densely packed, causing anomalous phenomena.
Everyone was gleefully screaming as they harvested resources and collected research data.
Pectoralis's maintenance team chief, Ren Engineer, was no exception.
"Loyalty! Loyalty!"
She appeared beaming and saluted Kang Geohan without warning.
Kang Geohan greeted her awkwardly.
"What's with the sudden salute?"
"You salute heroes, obviously!"
"Heroes?"
Ren Engineer plopped down close and grabbed both his hands tightly.
"Yeah! Our hero! I was thinking just one more area survey before leaving would be perfect. But the schedule didn't line up, and I was so bummed... Then you conquer a whole region bam, just like that. You're our hero!"
"You're leaving?"
"Yep. That's the plan. Ah, the more I think, the prettier it gets. Thanks to you, I got to see Celestial relics too? This is huge!"
Ren Engineer's eyes sparkled like stars falling.
"Anyway, I'm off to poke around, so eat up, hero! Loyalty! Loyalty! Take care from here on out!"
She'd rushed in, said her piece, waved, and left.
Kang Geohan blinked, a bit dumbfounded.
But someone was watching enviously—Loen Yellow.
"What? When'd you get chummy with the maintenance chief? Nice skills. Spill the secret."
"Secret what..."
"Come on~ tell me! We're graduating soon. Gotta buddy up with engineers from now on. Once we get assigned and get personal Gigants, we'll need tuning. Gotta network."
"Tuning?"
"Huh? You don't know? After training camp and unit assignment, you get your own Gigant. Upgrades and add-ons are free game. That's why you need a good engineer buddy for favors."
As expected, there was a huge info gap with freemen.
Still, it was lucky having Loen around to explain these things at the right time.
Kang Geohan listened silently to Loen's explanation as he flipped the ogre meat roasting over the campfire.
During growth leave, the camp provided unlimited food, but Kang Geohan had no intention of sticking to a light-mana-heavy diet. Not when top-tier nutrition like ogre meat was piled mountain-high!
[Ogre Flesh]
Contains large amounts of dark mana, the energy source for mana cores and main ingredient in synthesis.
Imbues the consumer with the ogre's strength, accelerating muscle and mana core growth.
Heating with flames from burned ogre shinbone and neck meat removes poison. (Remaining time: 3~5 seconds.) Fail to meet or exceed the time, and poison remains; dark mana won't absorb.
You've overcome trials; mana core in growth phase. Eat more than usual for faster growth.
3kg remaining until optimal daily synthesis. (0.5kg + growth phase bonus 2.5kg)
Accelerates muscle and mana core growth!
Growth phase bonus!
It was already mouthwatering before even tasting.
"Alright! It's done—let's eat!"
So Kang Geohan happily shared the ogre meat. There was so much it would rot anyway—no waste.
"...Can we really eat this? Monster meat causes issues. Damages the mana core too..."
As Helena hesitated dubiously.
"Helena's out!"
Loen, who'd already eaten plenty following Kang Geohan, sliced off a chunk with his knife and shoved it in his mouth.
"How good is this? And it feels like it helps mana training...!"
Seeing Loen chow down heartily, Harkrux curiously grabbed some and started eating.
In the end, even Helena tentatively brought a piece to her mouth.
"Hmm..."
Her eyes snapped wide as she chewed.
"Oh! I-it's... delicious...!"
A blush crept across Helena's cheeks.
'She looks like a 17-year-old girl now.'
Seeing her rigid self react so honestly to good food made Kang Geohan oddly proud.
Helena jumped up and fetched wine.
"...We must share a glass."
Loen smacked his lips.
"Whoa, Steam Grape wine? Even for a rider camp, rolling out something this rare? Growth leave—they're really going all out."
As Helena and Loen poured for each other, Harkrux took interest.
"That's... booze?"
For a serf like Harkrux, alcohol was something he'd only seen soldiers drink—never tasted.
"Yeah. Wanna try? But careful. Weak drinkers get smashed."
"Hmph! I'm not weak!"
Harkrux's eyes gleamed competitively as he grabbed a glass and chugged.
The mood heated up fast.
"Kang Geohan Yellow, Sir—a glass? It's excellent stuff."
Helena offered, but Kang Geohan shook his head.
"Growth leave. Gotta build mana core. Booze wastes muscle. Mana core too, maybe?"
Loen gawked like he'd heard nonsense.
"Huh? This is Steam Grape wine! Helps mana growth! Especially in growth phase."
"...? Booze does?"
Kang Geohan eyed the bottle again.
[Steam Grape Wine]
Contains mystical purple essence.
Aids recovery and growth of overworked mana cores.
1L remaining until optimal daily intake. (300ml + growth phase bonus 700ml)
Kang Geohan quietly took a glass and said.
"Fill it up, please...!"
Then it was eat, drink, repeat.
He stuffed himself with ogre roast to the throat, then drank till his belly swelled.
"Unya... Hm... Uwaaaah!"
Harkrux, insisting he wasn't weak, crawled on the ground howling after chugging nonstop. Helena and Loen, giggling at him, eventually got wasted too, heads together in nonsense chatter.
Only Kang Geohan, who'd paced himself perfectly, sat sober, gazing at the campfire.
Suddenly, a long shadow stretched beside the fire.
"Enjoying your leave to the fullest, I see. Kang Geohan."
He looked up at the voice calling him.
It was Calts Black.
Dressed fully equipped, heavy pack on his back, he looked ready to depart at any moment.