Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Volunteers (1)
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“Alright, everyone's dismissed. I need to get to the meeting room right away. Good work, all of you!”
Derek and Lando rushed to the meeting room where the meeting was being held, without even having time to get organized.
“Ahem… Everyone, dismiss! Don’t feel bad that we can't have a mission completion ceremony. The lives of our comrades take priority over any celebration.”
Not a single corps member expressed disappointment. Just as Reinhardt had said, the lives of the comrades they’d fought and bled with were far more important.
“Given the circumstances, I want you all to stay sharp and focus on maintaining your gear. Like I said before, this is a state of emergency, so be ready for another mission at any time.”
After dismissing the rest of the corps members, Reinhardt, the most senior among them, headed for the mess hall to get more information. An entire unit had gone missing. This was a crisis of the highest order.
“Ah, but make sure you empty the mug of beer you poured before the mission. You must. Even if it's just a superstition.”
“Hey, Kratos. What are you going to do after you have your beer?”
“I need to train.”
Kratos replied to the question from the Unit 12 member who'd been on the mission with him, grabbing his weapon as he spoke.
Of course, a cold mug of beer was tempting, but he only planned to have one. The beer he had poured before leaving for the mission. Damn superstitions, anyway.
“We don't know when we'll be sent out on another mission.”
He had gained much from this last mission. Therefore, he needed time to process it all. For him, that meant training. After all, if you wolf down your food, you're bound to get indigestion.
Right now, training was a higher priority than smashing monster heads to get particles of light.
Training to control his Spiritual Power.
“You're a real piece of work... You're going to train instead of rest? We just got back to base!”
“No way I could do that. I'm having a beer and getting some rest. Rest is part of training, too.”
“Aww yeah, can't say no to a cold beer!”
Most of the corps members shook their heads and returned to their quarters.
I had never been strong in the past. No, to be precise, it wasn't a matter of strength; it was more accurate to say I had never been in a fight at all.
Not on Earth, and not in this world. This body was the first I'd ever truly used to fight.
Of course, after obtaining this body, I could fall into that strange state of concentration and learn to fight quickly.
On top of that, I was barely managing to close the gap with what was in my head, but it was still not enough.
Whenever I encountered a humanoid opponent with some level of self-awareness or the ability to think, I would eventually win, but it was usually after a tough struggle.
“Training? You're going to the training grounds?”
Seamus, who had been trudging back to his quarters, feeling drained for some reason, turned his head at the word 'training' and followed Kratos to the training grounds.
“Without a break? Aren't you tired?”
“What's the point of resting? My stamina recovered on the way back. Might as well train.”
“Really? Then, can I join you...?”
“Do as you please.”
Seamus, too, had realized a lot during this mission. Especially the fact that he was far too weak.
It wasn't simply because he was only at the level of a Sword User. It was that his perspective had shifted. Until now, he'd accepted his role in Unit 10—infiltration and tracking, not direct combat—and had thought his skills were sufficient.
In the desert last time, and on this mission, his specialty had been of no help whatsoever. None at all. If anything, he had been a burden.
He refused to be in that situation again. Besides, as the Captain had said, the situation on the continent was not heading in a good direction either.
***
Kratos sat comfortably at the edge of the empty training ground and moved his Spiritual Power. It had certainly calmed down a lot compared to before he went to the ruins, but it was still rough.
The tsunami-like turbulence had at least subsided to the level of waves during a typhoon.
The goal was to get it down to the level of rough waves on a very windy day. Ultimately, he would have to make it as calm as a tranquil sea, but that would surely take a lot of time.
“Hoo... Focus, focus. Like a calm sea.”
He took out the egg he hadn't been able to bring out for a while and held it in both hands, and once again, his Spiritual Power began to be absorbed without resistance.
He controlled the Spiritual Power pouring into the egg with his will. A little less, less. The egg tried to greedily absorb the Spiritual Power as if asking for more, but he repeatedly decreased and increased the amount of Spiritual Power, injecting it as if taming the egg.
Playing push-and-pull with an egg, of all things. Unbelievable. And it was clear the egg had a will of its own. It wasn't some Pavlov's dog.
When I injected more Spiritual Power than usual, it stopped acting so fiercely and simply devoured what I gave it.
“Ugh. This isn't working.”
Around the time he was finishing injecting Spiritual Power into the egg, he opened his eyes at a strained groan and saw Seamus, holding daggers in both hands, struggling as he swung them.
But, as if something wasn't working right, he was just repeating the same motion over and over.
“From there, you need to lower your stance to make it easier to transition to the next move.”
His stance was too high, so his center of gravity was collapsing when he lunged forward. That was the problem.
“Oh? Ah!”
As he lowered his stance, connecting to the next move became much smoother, and Seamus smiled brightly and nodded.
“Spar?”
“Sounds good.”
Kratos put the egg in his inventory, picked up a sword provided at the training ground, and stepped onto the sparring platform.
“I'll let you have the first move.”
I didn't know what got into him to suddenly start training after a mission. But from what I'd seen so far, Seamus was someone I could trust.
Other than Seamus, I still wasn't sure. Who to trust, and if I could trust them. I had no conviction on that front yet.
I was just dealing with people somewhere in the middle. Of course, I couldn't help but trust people like Mike Hoare, Hattie Shaw, and Haveron a little more, who had connections to my past and had shown loyalty and fidelity.
*Clack-*
Seamus’s daggers struck the wooden sword in rapid succession. They were light. Impossibly light. His skill was at the level of a Sword User.
The problem was that after those two attacks, there was no follow-up. He literally just attacked with the daggers in his hands and that was it.
“Your attacks are too straightforward.”
I may not have fought myself in the past, but the battles I've experienced since entering this body and the combat data stored in my head were more extensive than I thought. I was now skilled enough to give others advice.
Besides, what could I do when his problems were so obvious?
“You're not a swordsman. You're an assassin. An assassin who must inflict a fatal wound on the opponent by any means necessary. Whether you throw daggers from your coat, or aim for an extra hit with a hidden blade on your forearm, devise every possible method.”
In survival, a word like 'cowardice' is a luxury. This isn't some world full of romance; it's a world of struggle for survival.
“Don't try to block. Deflect and evade. Most of the people you face will have greater physical strength than you. Blocking the sword of such an opponent is like running to your death.”
“Ngh—!!”
Seamus, as if frustrated by the situation where Kratos was so effortlessly blocking his attacks and giving advice, gritted his teeth and thrust his daggers forward.
He had expected a difference in skill, but the gap was much wider than he thought.
He could feel with his whole body that Kratos was several times stronger than he had been in Libria. Even though not that much time had passed.
They had surely spent the same amount of time, yet while Kratos had grown so strong, he felt pathetic wondering what he himself had been doing.
*Thud-*
Slammed to the ground, Seamus gasped for breath and got up. Unlike his usual lighthearted speech and actions, he gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing.
“No matter how skilled your opponent is, an assassin's role is to end their life in a single blow. Ponder it endlessly. Repeat, practice, and experience. Your enemies won't go easy on you just because you're weak.”
“Hoo. You're strong. So strong.”
Seamus collapsed in the middle of the training ground, lying spread-eagled as if he’d given up. He let out a deep sigh, feeling utterly stumped.
“Realize this. There is one thing that is equal for everyone.”
“What? Time? You're not about to say something like that, are you?”
“Of course, that's true too. But that's too obvious. Life is never fair. Get used to it.”
A famous quote from Bill Gates I saw on the internet. Well, I don't know if Bill Gates actually said it since I never looked it up. There are so many fake quotes floating around.
“Therefore, instead of complaining that life is unfair, you need to make an effooooort. An effooooort.”
“You fraud!”
Kratos chuckled and gathered his things. The sun, which had been high in the sky, had already disappeared over the horizon, and the moon was revealing itself.
***
An unshaven, scratchy beard and disheveled hair. It was a look that didn't suit the usually impeccably neat Peri Batoni at all.
He felt like his head was about to explode. The Captain had lost contact after heading to the southern mountains.
The skill of a top-tier Sword Master wasn't something that would lead to an untimely death somewhere, and it was common to lose contact like this during missions, so he wasn't worried. Especially since the southern mountains were notorious for constant communication interference.
But Unit 3 was different. The biggest problem right now was the disappearance of Unit 3. Twenty members, including their commander, had vanished into thin air.
The problem was that there wasn't a suitable unit to send on an additional mission. All of them were carrying out missions in various parts of the continent.
There was also the matter of the mercenary corps' reliability, so they couldn't just pull a unit from a mission and recall them.
On top of that, there were the monster waves occurring all across the continent.
It was, quite literally, one bad situation after another.
“The Holy Kingdom? The Holy Kingdom I know? Kratos?”
“Yes. In the process of cleaning up a den of black mages, he formed a connection with the Holy Kingdom and earned their favor. They went so far as to say that a being with such a high affinity for holy power could be trusted.”
“Huh. To that extent? I guess he's not called the 'Lucky Man' for nothing. The favor of the Holy Kingdom, of all things.”
Peri Batoni nodded, having grasped the general situation. Though he did find it strange that such a being hadn't become a priest.
“Vice-Commander. That nickname...”
“What does it matter? Luck is a skill too. If it were just good luck, I wouldn't know, but if he has that level of skill to back it up, it's no longer just luck. Hasn't he handled everything perfectly so far? And none of his missions were easy.”
“That's true.”
It was as if to prove that the Captain hadn't given him special treatment to bring him into the mercenary corps and the resistance for no reason; he was completing every mission assigned to him more cleanly than one could imagine.
‘The desert problem, Lagaris, and now the Holy Kingdom. He's a real good luck charm.’
And the Holy Kingdom, no less. This was a massive stroke of good fortune.
“He said the Holy Kingdom would be in contact soon. I suspect they have a mission for us.”
“A mission from the Holy Kingdom. It's certainly a good thing, but... damn it. We have no one, no unit to assign it to.”
He never thought they would be this short on manpower with twelve units.
They couldn't refuse a mission from the Holy Kingdom. It was an opportunity that might not come again. Besides, those Holy Kingdom bastards were surprisingly petty; if they refused their mission, it was certain there would be no next time.
The Holy Kingdom's mission, the rescue of Unit 3, and on top of that, the other missions. They had to catch three rabbits at once.
“Should we push the apprentices up? No... promoting them now would be eating into our future. Hoo....”
Right now, it was literally a manpower shortage. Especially considering that the Holy Kingdom's mission was a top priority that had to be resolved immediately without delay.
“The Holy Kingdom's mission is important, but the most important thing is the disappearance of Unit 3.”
“The entire unit is missing... What happened?”
“They were on a mission in the Thrakia region, and we lost contact after they reached the Khalkis Mountains. It's been over two weeks. They're not even responding to our calls.”
Derek let out a groan and examined the map.
Even if it was difficult now, they absolutely could not let any of the three rabbits escape.
“If our comrades are in danger, we must go find them. Just as He willed. We never abandon our comrades.”
The White Mercenary Corps never abandons its comrades. At the very least, they will always recover their bodies and return.
“We're taking volunteers.”