If You Stay Here, You'll Die, Junior (3)

The monumental event of Yohan’s death, like all things in life, gradually faded into the background of the students’ personal lives. Though a period of mourning had been declared, the field training in the forest was pushed through with near-brutal determination.

That was what the chairman wanted. Well. The results of that decision would be something to look forward to.

The time was the midway rest point during the students’ march to the training grounds. It was also the night Yohan had slipped into the training area ahead of everyone and met Hilken.

The students were taking a brief break. They busily checked the supplies they had brought, chatting with close friends about what lay ahead in every possible way.

But somewhere apart from them—

“……”

After Yohan’s incident, public sympathy toward Karalin had split in many directions, but she was now being evaluated as even harder to approach. As always, she sat alone, staring blankly up at the moon.

She had been like this lately. No one knew exactly what had happened, but starting from around the funeral, she had forced herself to appear composed. Strangely enough, she had even shown up for the field training. Everyone had expected her to skip classes entirely and shut herself in her room—or, in the worst case, to drop out of the academy altogether.

Yet no matter how strong her will, the look of loss and gloom on her face could not be erased. That was precisely why no one could easily speak to her.

However, at that moment, a man wearing a robe suddenly approached her.

“Your Highness, Grand Duke’s Daughter.”

“…You are undoubtedly the servant of Gremory. The one called Cryan, yes?”

It was him. He offered a polite greeting and continued.

“First, I wish to express my deepest condolences for your profound loss. I do not know what he thought, but since I was a friend to Yohan… I wanted to say this to you at least once.”

At the name Yohan, Karalin’s expression stiffened for a brief moment, but she quickly recovered. After all, Cryan had done nothing wrong. The shock had been so great that she could not clearly remember the details, but she vaguely recalled him saying that Yohan had encountered a major incident in the Bruised City.

“…That’s right. You did say you knew Yohan.”

“Yes. I personally owe him a great debt.”

He secretly showed her only the conch shell he had taken out. But there was no way Karalin could have known its meaning. The Bruised City had been part of the greater premise they had drawn up, so it was only natural she had forgotten even that.

Thus, the only thing in Karalin’s eyes was deep suspicion—Why is he approaching me?—but Cryan had already shared everything with Yohan. He immediately moved on to the main point.

“…It’s nothing special, but I received something from him. Since he asked me to deliver it, would you accept this?”

He presented something he had been carrying with considerable effort at his waist. It was a sword. A Northern-style longsword that gleamed with a dark, black light.

Whose it was needed no explanation.

“…Is this… Yohan’s?”

“Yes. I hesitated for a long time, so the delivery is a bit late. I apologize, Your Highness.”

A sincere apology. But the moment it was delivered, tears burst from her eyes like a dam breaking. One might have pitied her if they had simply trickled down, but this was like someone had turned on a faucet. Was she broken somewhere?

Cryan, greatly flustered, spoke up.

“P-please don’t cry, Your Highness!”

Even though he already knew the full story of the events, the realization hit him like a hammer: Ah, so their relationship ran this deep.

Karalin continued between sobs.

“Th-thank you. Thank you… truly.”

She hugged the sword, scabbard and all, as if it were Yohan himself.

“Did you really come all this way… just to deliver this…?”

She, who had been used and ignored her entire life. The only person who had ever shown her such kindness was Yohan. So Karalin could not let go of her suspicion…

“That is truly all. He insisted I deliver it to you without fail. Since it was something he used, the blade is exceptionally well-forged. Perhaps during this training… it might not be a bad idea to use it?”

“It is a little different from the three swords I usually use, but this Karalin will not forget this kindness. Thank you. Thank you, Cryan…”

“No, you don’t have to remember it. I am simply repaying a debt I owe him.”

Cryan had not intended it, but how could Karalin have interpreted those words? She probably just thought they were two of a kind.

“…Yohan. Thank you. For delivering this to me until the very end.”

But she did not know. That this sword would become the link reconnecting her world with Yohan’s.

It was a deep night, the moon hanging high.

“Goddammit…”

The scene was horrific. He had no idea how to find the rest of the people in this vast forest, but—

“Senior, here.”

Hilken took out a resonance stone shared among the gamekeepers and showed it to him. It could not detect very far distances, but if you held it and infused it with a bit of mana, you could tell where the other resonance stones in the vicinity were.

Using that, they went to find the others.

They were all dead.

Five corpses in the gamekeeper’s cabin. One in the watchtower. One that looked like it had died while fleeing. Two more by the spring that appeared to have been torn apart while resisting until the end. And including Hilken, who was trembling all over beside him as if in shock, the total came to ten gamekeepers.

Perhaps because they had waited nearly two full hours after his presence had vanished? The incident had happened so quickly that even Yohan could not fully ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠grasp the situation.

“This… what the…”

She lifted the unrecognizable shape of what had once been a person, now limp and sagging. Just like a bird that had been flying through the sky, a human had become the same. The texture was like something put through a grinder. It was bold of her to pick up the hand of someone who had once been a comrade. Not because she felt no revulsion, but because it was so unreal that she could not even register the shock, which was why she remained so eerily calm.

Looking at her, Yohan felt such disbelief that he spoke without thinking.

“So this… is the power of the Six Swords.”

Indeed, were these people who deserved to die like this? To tear a person apart without hesitation.

The Six Swords can all wield the Iron Storm… Most of them probably died before they could even react.

Since Hilken was listening, he did not say much, but such thoughts came naturally.

But now that things had come to this, what more could be done? The only thing he could say was that he deeply regretted this tragedy.

Hilken seemed to feel the overwhelming terror belatedly and shuddered before him.

“This ring on the finger… it belongs to Mister Sergei.”

“Can you recognize it?”

“Of course… He bragged endlessly that his wife had given it to him. Whenever we drank, we used to bet on who could steal that ring first.”

She swallowed a sob.

“Do you know what kind of person Mister Sergei was?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“He was the strongest among us. He was in the vanguard of the previous Hero’s demon king subjugation force.”

Her eyes, looking at him, were clouded with deep shock. They were what people called dead eyes.

“The Karlandel gamekeepers—only those acknowledged throughout the entire empire gather here—do they deserve to die like this?”

“…Put another way, it’s fortunate that you, at least, survived. I’ll retrieve that and return it to his family.”

“Yes…”

She obediently followed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his words. She had every right to lash out, asking how he could be so calm about the deaths of people he had been close to.

“Thank… you…”

“For what?”

Perhaps because she was a former Northern military officer, she seemed to think that surviving at all was an incredible stroke of luck.

“It feels like I only ever receive help from the senior I respect… Both then and now, I don’t know how many times you’ve saved my life.”

“Setting aside my condolences, I consider it fortunate that you were the one being chased. If nothing else, I was able to save the junior I had personally recommended.”

And that feeling was absolutely sincere. Emotionally, it was regrettable that he could not save everyone, but he had at least pulled his junior out of the water. Rationally speaking, she might be the very person he needed most right now.

After all, one was enough, wasn’t it? A guide who knew the geography of this hunting ground like the back of her hand, who understood its structure completely. Moreover, she was skilled in combat. Since she had followed his orders before, their coordination would likely be excellent.

Such a person would be more than necessary for him, who would soon have to stop Rexas’s plan. If he kept her by his side, she could play exactly the same role Jurchen had in the floating arena of the Bruised City.

Even if he could not save them all, snatching up this coincidental connection from the past was enough.

Then, his junior lowered her already deep voice to a growl.

It was a question of pure intensity.

“But why did a Six Sword appear here? If it wanted to cause chaos, there were plenty of other, far more attractive targets.”

“…If I tell you, will you believe me?”

But there was no reason to hesitate. If he revealed the truth, there was no way she would not come over to his side.

“Does that mean… there is some shocking truth behind this?”

“The one behind all this bullshit is your superior, Rexas.”

…Pardon? Who?

Hilken, who had never imagined that the second lord she had chosen to serve would discard her like a used rag, asked back in a daze.

“H-His Highness the Crown Prince?! He should be at the academy right now. There is no reason for him to do something this dangerous right before the field training!”

“He’s going to release an incredibly dangerous monster here soon. In that case, you lot would only get in the way, right? So he wiped you out beforehand.”

“A monster, you say? …Why?”

“He simply wants to enjoy a twisted banquet. He wants to watch the nation’s so-called hopes—the students—suffer in agony for the rest of their lives from the memories of this field training.”

At those words, Hilken’s expression froze. This was murderous intent. Clear, unmistakable murderous intent.

“That son of a bitch.”

“I agree.”

“He’s doing this because it’s fun?”

“You hit the nail on the head.”

“Huh?”

She had not expected him to actually agree, and her body trembled. Honestly, even saying it out loud made him feel sick to his stomach at how trashy it sounded. Don’t look at me like that. You’re scaring me.

Fearing her anger might turn toward him, he fluently told her everything that had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠happened so far. From the young lady’s situation to all sorts of other things. As expected, her reaction was the same as his.

“Then why didn’t you ask for my help from the beginning, Senior?”

“I didn’t expect you to be here. I wasn’t even paying attention to where you had gone. As you know, things have been incredibly noisy up North these past few years.”

“…Is this about His Highness Rexas? Senior. All the soldiers of the North know how much you suffered.”

“You don’t have to go that far. I’ve already gone too far.”

“Your self-deprecation hasn’t changed at all, has it?”

Once the conversation ended, Hilken silently pulled the mask he had earlier “stripped” up to the tip of her nose.

“Then, Senior, we shouldn’t be standing around like this.”

“Oh? You’re jumping right in?”

“The students will arrive soon. If we stay like this, everything might be too late…!”

She adjusted the arrowheads and straightened her posture.

“Right. In that case, I’ll have to borrow your strength.”

“…Please state the objective.”

“Save every student who comes here. Even if that’s impossible, minimize the damage as much as possible.”

“……….”

Her silence was long. She must have instinctively sensed how difficult that would be. But if he said he would do it, he would. That was how he had lived until now.

“It’s time for the corpses to walk again.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll find out soon.”

Yohan also put on the black mask to hide his identity. It was the same one he had used in the Bruised City, the one he had favored all this time.

He hoped, with all his heart, that this would be the last time he ever wore it.