Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Big Trouble
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#43
"Oh no, this is bad."
The surroundings erupted in chaos.
A massive vibration rocked the area, and an explosion tore through one corner of the training ground...
"It's weirder if no one noticed."
Sure enough.
Knights from the order were converging from all directions.
It looked like the Iron Cross Knights, who were in charge of the academy's perimeter security.
Seo Woo-jin let out a hollow chuckle as he surveyed the scene before him.
"How should I explain this?"
The training ground was a total wreck.
The spot where the sword had struck was cracked wide open, and everything around it had been flipped upside down from the shockwave.
What had been a sturdy stone-paved training ground had turned into something like a neighborhood playground's dirt patch in an instant.
"What is this...!"
"Enemies?"
The Iron Cross Knights who arrived at the training ground wore grave expressions.
"Ah, it's not enemies—it's my fault. I was just testing out a skill."
Seo Woo-jin raised his hand sheepishly and turned himself in.
The Empire was currently in a state of emergency.
Demon King followers had appeared and nearly massacred the heroes, so it was only natural.
The academy had entered maximum alert status, and the Iron Cross Knights responsible were on edge.
It was better to step forward before these knights jumped to unnecessary conclusions.
"...Lord Seo Woo-jin."
Surprisingly, the knights knew who he was.
He hadn't expected them to recognize a mere D-rank hero like himself, so his face showed a flicker of surprise.
"Did you use a skill?"
"Yes? Oh, yeah. I got a new one recently."
Seo Woo-jin replied, gauging their reactions.
But the knights didn't seem suspicious of him at all.
No, the atmosphere was one of admiration.
"I heard your level isn't that high yet, but it looks like you've acquired a good skill."
The academy's training grounds were protected by powerful barrier spells.
They were meant for heroes to use, so they had to withstand all but the most extreme impacts.
This place was no exception.
Even this small outer training ground was under magical protection.
To shatter that magic and demolish the training ground? That kind of power?
Even Baek Si-woo couldn't break through the training ground's barriers yet, so it was no wonder the knights were impressed.
Seo Woo-jin nodded sheepishly, looking embarrassed.
"Yeah, I got lucky. But what do we do about this mess?"
"That's not a problem."
He spoke with concern, but the knights brushed it off casually.
If anything, they seemed apologetic for not having layered even stronger spells.
"At least it wasn't an attack."
As long as it wasn't the Demon King's followers stirring up trouble again, they didn't care if Seo Woo-jin smashed or burned the training ground.
The knights took a quick look around, saluted, and returned to their posts.
"Phew."
Seo Woo-jin breathed a sigh of relief.
Contrary to what he'd feared, nothing major happened.
He'd thought in the worst case, he might face some interrogation.
"Well, heroes wrecking a training ground or two with their skills is probably no big deal."
Just looking at Lee Ji-ah and Kim Da-hye.
They held back on purpose, but if they went all out with every skill?
A place like this would turn into wasteland in seconds.
...Or so Seo Woo-jin thought.
It was a conclusion he could only reach because he didn't know about the protective magic.
Seo Woo-jin was just glad it had blown over easily.
Then, he suddenly tilted his head.
The fact that the knights knew him struck him as odd again.
"Have I done something to draw attention?"
Thinking back, it wasn't nothing.
He'd smashed Lee Jin-ho's face in the party, and he'd shone during the goblin subjugation.
They might not know about the Gerald incident, but even without that, it was enough to turn heads.
Plus, Seo Woo-jin was D-rank...
"So that's why I'm more well-known?"
If Baek Si-woo had done the same feats, everyone would just shrug it off.
He was SSS-rank, after all.
But Seo Woo-jin was different.
A D-rank level 10 pulling off feats like that? Of course it'd be shocking.
Especially with the rumor that Sword Sage Dariel had personally visited to cross swords with him.
Seo Woo-jin was unwittingly drawing a lot of attention.
"Not good."
It was like water diluting water, liquor thinning liquor.
He'd only wanted to show enough presence to avoid being ignored, but things were heading in a completely different direction from his hopes.
"Who can I blame, though..."
He'd done all those things himself.
No one had forced him; he'd chosen to act on his own will, so there was no one to fault.
This incident was the same.
Even if it was unexpected, his name would be on people's lips again because of it.
The knights might not spread it, but at least the heroes watching from over there would.
"Did you see that?"
"That huge sword?"
"Is that the level of skill a 'Sword Soldier' can pull off?"
They wouldn't have been so shocked if Seo Woo-jin's skill had just been summoning a big sword.
But seeing the wrecked training ground, the destructive power seemed immense too.
Considering Seo Woo-jin's rank and level, they couldn't think otherwise.
'Damn it.'
Seo Woo-jin grimaced at the heroes' whispers.
He'd probably have to lay low for a while.
Until the attention died down.
* * *
"Interesting guy."
Dariel smirked.
The report he'd just heard was about Seo Woo-jin.
"You're smiling now?"
Agna sighed as she looked at him.
"Should I cry instead?"
The two could pass for grandfather and granddaughter.
But in truth, they were friends.
Agna had undergone the same physical reconstruction as Ban Slaine, making it possible.
"I'm not in the mood for jokes. This guy's really suspicious."
Agna shook the document detailing the report on Seo Woo-jin.
"I checked him myself. I didn't sense any demonic energy from him."
"That's true, but..."
It was a fact Dariel had confirmed even drawing his sword.
Denying it would be dismissing Dariel himself.
Agna knew better than anyone how strong his pride was, so she held her tongue to avoid pointless bickering.
"Still, he is a bit unusual."
Summoning a giant sword with a skill...
It was the kind of thing that would pique Sword Sage Dariel's interest.
"And its power is no joke."
The academy was an institution the Empire had poured its heart into perfecting.
No brick or pillar had been placed without care.
The training grounds especially had received extra attention.
They'd been enchanted by the Empire's finest.
"It shattered a barrier that not even aura can scratch. 'No joke' doesn't even cover it."
"Real aura, you mean."
Dariel corrected Agna.
"Yeah. Real aura, not a skill."
The 'aura' heroes used was powerful, sure.
But to Dariel, it was an artificial technique born purely from pouring mana, lacking true enlightenment.
Utterly inferior to the real aura forged through decades of grueling training.
"And this guy wrecked it all with one skill."
To Agna, Seo Woo-jin had too many oddities.
Call it intuition or the result of gathered intel.
Either way, she was convinced he was hiding something.
"The problem is we don't know what."
Agna drummed her fingers on the desk out of habit.
"Is it a threat to us? He's a hero anyway. Him growing stronger only helps us."
If anything, he needed to be strong.
Or he couldn't stop the Demon King.
"You're sure he's got no ties to the Demon King?"
Agna asked once more out of concern.
Dariel's face twisted.
"Didn't I tell you already?"
It was a warning not to ask again.
"I sent people to Sion because of your worries, and I checked him personally. You still don't trust me?"
"It's not that I don't trust you."
If Agna had to pick who she trusted most, it was Dariel without question.
More than even the Emperor.
Dariel might be prickly and rude, but he never lied or deceived.
"But unease is unease. I think we should put someone on him."
Dariel glared at Agna, clearly displeased.
But he said nothing.
He understood her librarian nature and constant worrying better than anyone.
Instead, he changed the subject.
"What about those idiots?"
"Who? Oh, the heroes?"
Agna instantly knew who Dariel meant by "idiots."
"They'll recover by tomorrow. Level up and even severed limbs grow back... Truly absurd beings."
"One of them is Baek Si-woo?"
"Yeah, that's right. You've seen him before, haven't you?"
Dariel nodded.
He'd gone at the Emperor's request and given the kid's sword a once-over.
"He does have talent."
Maybe because of his SSS-rank class?
Baek Si-woo's sword talent had genuinely impressed Dariel.
But that was it.
Baek Si-woo was still far too weak.
With decades of bone-grinding effort ahead, he might one day reach Dariel's level...
"But it'd be too late by then."
He seemed to be training hard even now, but it didn't impress Dariel.
"As long as they last until the Descent War."
That was why the heroes had been summoned.
To Agna, heroes were weapons.
Powerful weapons that could be produced effectively and quickly.
Nothing more.
"What about the Emperor? What did he say?"
"He wants us to crack the whip harder. Seems rattled by the heroes getting beaten by Gerald this time. Especially Baek Si-woo."
Baek Si-woo, whom the Empire had lavished with every resource, had nearly died to a mere follower—not even the Demon King himself.
They were unfinished heroes, sure, but the Emperor was dissatisfied.
"You mean push them even harder than now?"
"Exactly. That's why they're overhauling the academy's entire curriculum."
Officially, they'd postponed the schedule for rest, but that was a cover.
"How's it changing?"
Dariel asked with evident curiosity.
He'd had complaints about the curriculum himself.
"It'll change a lot, but in summary... Sion-style?"
It was an overly succinct explanation.
But Dariel grasped the meaning instantly.
"Sion-style, huh... That should be fun."
A smile crept across his face.
A cold smile that somehow looked cruel.