Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Endgame Scenario (4)
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A week.
It was far too short a time to shed the values and common sense that had accumulated layer by layer since birth.
But it seemed just about possible to soften up their hardened minds a bit.
As it happened, I knew quite a few ways to make stubborn heads more pliable.
Working them until they wanted to die…
Working them to death…
Or working them within an inch of their lives.
“...?”
“...How are those any different?”
“Doesn’t it all just mean you’re going to work us hard?”
I casually ignored the disbelieving stares from the brats.
“Hmm. Let’s see.”
I simply gauged the time by looking at the sun, which was slowly setting in the distance.
Not much time left until sundown.
“Let’s go.”
I immediately led the brats to the training grounds.
“Hah!”
“Hiiiyah!”
The area was already teeming with cadets who had arrived before us.
Among them were not only cadets from our Silver Eagle class but also a fair number from the upper classes.
“Hmm.”
Each of them had claimed a spot and was swinging their sword, their faces all looking as if they were being chased by something, devoid of any composure.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue once, then found a spot a reasonable distance away from the cadets who were swinging their swords as if in a fit.
“Everyone, get your gear.”
At my words, the brats picked up the dull-edged training swords located in a corner of the training grounds.
“Hmm.”
I quietly scanned them.
Which one would be best?
In truth, it was a question that required no deliberation.
“Lian.”
This was exactly why squad leaders existed—to take the initiative.
“Would you step forward?”
*Clink.*
Lian, sword in hand, stepped forward and asked me with his eyes.
What were we going to do now?
“Just hold on.”
I explained kindly.
“...?”
They all just stared blankly, not quite understanding my meaning.
It didn’t matter.
If they couldn’t understand with their heads, I’d just have to drill it into their bodies.
“Alright, the rest of you, surround Lian.”
The brats tilted their heads but did as I said.
I waited for a moment as they took their positions around Lian, then spoke again.
“Now, attack.”
“...?”
“What are you doing? I said attack.”
The brats didn’t move an inch.
“You asked me for an answer. This is my answer.”
At my words, they frowned.
“You all attack. Lian endures. Simple, isn’t it?”
Regardless of their reaction, I continued with what I had to say.
“If you don’t like it, we can end it here.”
With that, I turned my shoulders as if I were really about to walk away.
“Wait.”
Lian’s voice stopped me.
“Will this really help?”
“I told you. If you don’t like it, quit. If you don’t trust me, just end it here.”
Lian stared intently at me for a long moment before finally speaking.
“...I’ll trust you.”
A resolute light shone in Lian’s expression.
“Let’s do it.”
“But...!”
“We were the ones who asked him for help in the first place.”
“Still!”
“We agreed to try whatever he suggested, didn’t we?”
The brats, jaws clenched, looked at me.
Their expressions suggested they deeply resented me for creating this situation.
It seemed they had already forgotten that they were the ones who had come to me first.
I didn’t feel it was unfair.
When you thought about it, their resentment wasn’t entirely baseless.
They didn’t know it, but I was the one who wrote the post that created the anxiety and fear spreading throughout the Cradle.
So, I was prepared to readily accept this much resentment.
“Alright, let’s think of it this way. This isn’t you all ganging up on me; it’s you helping me train.”
Lian placated the other brats.
He said the Iron Wall Kart family had its own unique training method.
And that training method wasn’t so different from this.
“It starts with three elite soldiers, then five, then ten, fifteen, twenty. The number gradually increases like that.”
At first, I thought he was just saying it to soothe the others, but I was wrong.
“If you can block five, you’re a Five-Man Wall. Ten, a Ten-Man Wall. A hundred, a Hundred-Man Wall. How many you can block is a source of pride in our Kart family.”
His explanation was too detailed to have been made up on the spot.
I had only chosen him first because he was a responsible type, but it turned out I had picked the perfect person.
“It’s not a widely known story. Well, it seems Yan already knew, though.”
Lian looked at me, making a wild assumption.
In response, I just smiled silently.
*Yeah. No. I had no idea.*
I answered inwardly.
In any case, it was a relief for me that he was used to this kind of training.
Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same.
While my method didn’t distinguish between offense and defense for the purpose of enduring, theirs was solely focused on defense to build up resilience and strengthen the blessing of the Iron Wall.
“So, don’t worry, everyone. I’ve done this kind of training until I was sick of it.”
Lian smiled, saying the name ‘Iron Wall’ wasn’t earned for free.
I suddenly became curious.
What was the Kart family’s highest record, and what was Lian’s?
So I asked.
“I’m just a Ten-Man Wall, but our ancestor, who was an Ascendant, earned the title of Ten-Thousand-Man Wall.”
An undeniable pride surfaced on Lian’s face as he answered my question.
I couldn’t tell if it stemmed from his own ability to face ten elite soldiers without a blessing, or from the achievements of his ancestor.
Not that it mattered.
Lian gave me a wink.
Seeing that, I laughed to myself.
He had asked if my method would really be effective.
But it turned out he had a hidden agenda.
The lukewarm attitude and doubt Lian had shown just before were never real.
It was just an act to convince the other brats.
“Ha.”
He was more cunning than I thought.
Of course, for me, that cunningness wasn't unwelcome; rather, it was a relief.
Having a sharp-witted guy as the squad leader would make my life easier too.
“Alright, let’s begin.”
At my words, the brats hesitantly surrounded Lian.
“What are you doing? Going in one by one? If you’re going to do that, why bother surrounding him? Just line up and wait your turn. No, I don’t mean actually line up!”
It took a good while longer of coaxing and persuading.
Finally, a look of awkward determination appeared on the brats’ faces.
“Now, attack!”
As I gave the signal, the brats charged at Lian all at once.
“Hah!”
And as for our esteemed Ten-Man Wall…
“Keuk!”
He was sent flying without lasting even a single moment.
“Awkward determination?”
You said you were a Ten-Man Wall.
***
“No. This is a bit embarrassing. Hahaha. So, what happened was... right! The ones I faced were just mere soldiers! There’s a difference in level between them and you guys...!”
He said that even if they were elite, they were still just soldiers.
In the end, a soldier is just a soldier, Lian rambled on with excuses.
To think he’d belittle his family’s elite soldiers as ‘mere soldiers’ for the sake of his own honor.
This guy was more human than I thought.
“Still, not being able to block a single blow is a bit...”
“I was kind of expecting more.”
“Less than half of us even actually attacked.”
“It was three. I counted.”
“So he’s a Three-Man Wall.”
Lian’s face turned bright red at the brats’ words.
“Ha. You think you’d be any different?”
It was a rare display of emotion from him.
“You can say that, but we’ve never done this kind of training before.”
“And we’ve never received a title like Ten-Man Wall.”
Of course, his words had no effect.
Fuming, Lian suddenly looked my way.
“Then what about you? You’re the one who suggested this ridiculous training in the first place.”
The other brats nodded as if to say he had a point.
Then they stared at me, the meaning in their gazes quite blatant.
Show us how it’s done.
“Well, it’s not like I can’t.”
I looked over the training weapons piled in a corner of the clearing.
One ordinary longsword and one dagger about two handspans long.
“Come at me.”
After exchanging glances, the brats surrounded me from all sides.
Seeing them, I let out a small, inward laugh.
Look at them, not hesitating at all.
As expected, the first time is the hardest; the second time is easy.
It was a good start.
Perhaps because their minds weren’t fully set yet, the brats were adapting much faster than I’d thought.
Though I couldn’t be sure how they’d fare in a situation where there was no mutual agreement.
“I’ve been waiting for a day like this.”
“You’re kind of annoying, you know.”
“I’ve often wanted to punch you.”
An unwelcome situation.
I took my stance, listening to the brats’ taunts, which were obviously meant to forcibly stir up their fighting spirit.
“Hah!”
As if they had been waiting, the brats rushed in.
The first was Udo.
His longsword, half again as thick as the other cadets’, came flying in at an angle.
*Whoosh.*
Hearing the heavy sound of the wind, it seemed a direct hit would land me in the infirmary again for a while.
If it hit, that is.
A powerful but large and slow movement.
*Tap.*
I moved inside Udo’s guard and lightly pushed the part of his sword just above the hilt.
*Smack.*
“Ack!”
A satisfying impact sound and a delayed scream pierced my ears.
“Dario! Sorry!”
The flustered Udo shouted.
“No need for apologies between comrades!”
Shouting back, I grabbed the front of Udo’s uniform and pulled with all my might.
“Ugh!”
Udo lost his balance and staggered, getting hit by a sword coming from the side and doubling over.
“Huh?”
Peter, who had inadvertently struck his own teammate, had a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Peter, you bastard! This is for Udo!”
I jabbed Peter hard in the side.
Peter collapsed with a gasp.
*Swoooosh!*
*Shiiik.*
Sharp sounds of slicing air continuously struck my ears.
My posture was off-balance from having just struck Peter.
Blocking swords coming from multiple directions at once wasn’t going to be easy.
So I just let them be.
I had no intention of blocking them in the first place.
*Clang!*
The swords of those unfamiliar with coordinated attacks tangled in mid-air.
Watching them, I dove deeper into the group of brats.
And I ran wild.
“Gaaah!”
“Ugh!”
The brats I hit with my sword let out continuous screams.
“Keuk! What are you doing!”
“Urgh! You’re the one in the way!”
The guys who had conveniently exchanged blows with their own teammates shouted, half in pain, half in annoyance.
“Comrades should get along!”
I cackled, continuously stabbing and swinging my sword.
“That mouth of his, that mouth!”
“Someone shut him up!”
The brats screamed as they rained down sword strikes on me.
Sometimes I blocked, sometimes I dodged. And sometimes, I just let them be.
“Uwaak!”
“Kyaa!”
Their movements tangled, the brats continuously struck each other.
I rampaged through them like a madman.
“Hiiik!”
With the faint-hearted Boen’s scream, the surroundings fell silent.
“Ugh.”
“That hurts like hell.”
“Uuuugh.”
The brats were strewn across the ground, groaning.
“H-how?”
Lian, who had been sent flying after taking a simultaneous blow to both sides of his waist from the sisters Selma and Emma, asked in disbelief.
“Rushing in thoughtlessly will only benefit the enemy. There’s a knack to coordinated attacks, you know.”
I kindly explained to him.
One plus one doesn’t always equal two.
In fact, apart from the two I had taken down, the rest had knocked themselves out by pushing and stabbing each other while attempting an unfamiliar coordinated attack.
“Alright, you guys get the gist of how to do it now, right?”
“...?”
I gave a supplementary explanation to the blankly staring brats.
“This isn’t because I’m stronger than you. It’s because you guys don’t even have the basics of a coordinated attack down.”
It wasn’t some shallow attempt at comfort.
An uncoordinated ally was more of a hindrance than a help.
“In other words, if you’re attacked by multiple opponents, you should use even that against them...”
In the middle of my explanation, I suddenly felt a sense of unease and shut my mouth.
Come to think of it, the surroundings were far too quiet.
I hadn’t heard the sounds of other cadets training for a while now.
I lifted my head.
I looked around.
“...”
All the cadets in the training ground were looking this way.
Their hardened faces and wide-open eyes were identical, as if cast from the same mold.
“Ah?”