The Plan (3)
Marigold noona was weak to being pushed.
How weak?
“Marigold noona has talent.”
“Kane, if you jump straight to the conclusion like that, it’s hard to understand.”
Since we ran into each other in the hallway, I should just say it.
“Let’s learn archery.”
“You’re listening, right? You’ve tried pulling the bow a few times, but why suddenly archery?”
“No. Noona has talent for archery.”
“It makes my head ache a bit because of you...”
She took a gesture as if her head was throbbing with disbelief in her eyes.
If I didn’t push harder, she’d dodge by spinning words.
I delivered the final blow.
“I saw noona throwing a toothpick to catch a fly last time.”
“What?! You! How did you...! You cleaned it up so fast no one saw?”
I saw her face flushing red.
She was embarrassed about killing the fly by spearing it rather than eating it.
“It was quite something.”
I showed her the toothpick skewer with the fly.
“You should have disposed of it properly, noona. If it wasn’t my turn for garbage duty, what would have happened?”
“Why are you carrying that around? Throw it away!”
“It’s only a couple of times so I don’t get caught. Besides that, I’ve seen a lot, but anyway, basic body sense, sense of trajectory, control of force... Noona was born to be an archer.”
“Wait a minute, what do you mean you’ve seen a lot besides that?”
Now it was my turn to evade.
If I threw the bait and she swallowed it, I’d have to run away.
“So, noona should learn archery.”
“Answer!”
“I’ll find you a suitable mentor. That’s it for now.”
“Hey! Kane!”
“From tomorrow, come to the backyard for archery practice.”
“Hey!”
By running away like this, the persuasion succeeded.
Honestly, since pushing her would just push her, there was no real persuasion?
“Now the only one left is Eric hyung.”
He was the hardest person to gauge the persuasion level.
***
“Eric hyung. Are you there?”
“Huh? Ah, it’s Kane. Come in.”
It was late at night.
Inside the room, the humidity and heat were felt.
“Even after coming home from work, he’s doing exercise.”
Whether it was the result of that exercise or the gift of talent, the sculpted muscles like those of Mr. Olympia twitched as if alive.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Hmm. I heard from Mari. Same purpose?”
“If you already heard, I wanted to hear your answer first. Same purpose. I want to find you a suitable mentor.”
“Honestly, I don’t know why you. Mari has good eyes, Mott is a bit strange, I guessed, but... you and Edith don’t seem to have special talent either.”
Eric continued his breathing as if he had thought about it for a long time and spoke logically.
“You’re right, hyung. Everyone seems to have special talent. From my perspective, hyung also seems that way.”
“I... I’m just a little stronger in strength and a little better in stamina than others.”
“It’s not just a little, you feel it yourself, right?”
“It’s the result of steady exercise. I don’t think I have talent like you guys.”
It was a hardworking remark that reached level 50 through steady exercise.
Leaving out the part where he was belittling himself, it was right a hundred times.
“Genius isn’t just having a good head and senses. Being physically excellent is also in the realm of talent.”
“I know that too. But I don’t think I’m as excellent as you guys.”
“Hyung. Ordinary people don’t carry a two-ton rock on their shoulders and carry it.”
“That’s... a job. How did you see it at the construction site?”
“There are many ways.”
Eric sighed, sat on the bed, and wiped his sweat-soaked hair with a towel.
“And time doesn’t match. I have to prepare for the knight unit collaboration this time too. Since it’s a dispatch from the Round Table side, I won’t be at the poorhouse for a while.”
“That can be solved.”
“How?”
“Just ask for a dispatch to Sir Bedivere.”
Eric’s words paused for a moment, then came out with a serious expression.
“Kane, it seems like that because you haven’t experienced social life yet, but even if we’re close, tricking someone with lies...”
“Here’s the letter.”
“Where did this come from...?”
An envelope with a seal depicting a one-armed knight with his right arm missing, lying on the window with a slant.
It was a letter that those who knew about knights would recognize, and forging it would lead to severe punishment, handed over like a mail delivery.
“Where did this come from? No, it must be real... it has to be real. Wait a second.”
Eric covered his face with his palm and fell into thought.
Whether his hand was sweating or not, he kept wiping his pants hem multiple times.
Yes, showing this would definitely shock him.
This was one of the letters in the package sent by Sir Lancelot.
He hadn’t opened it yet, but since Sir Lancelot had said in the letter that he would attend until a certain date, it was positive.
“Now you believe it?”
“Kane. What have you been doing?”
“It’s not an action from childish thoughts. It’s a plan I’ve been doing after talking to Robert ajusshi several times. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance.”
“No. It’s just that it’s unavoidable to be surprised. I didn’t intend to scold you.”
“To be honest, I don’t think this terror will end with just one. It seemed like it would be done several times targeting the back alleys and poorhouse kids.”
Eric had been quietly listening to the story.
Honestly, he probably thought the same.
“Edith is Edith, but Eric also worried a lot about you.”
Robert ajusshi’s words heard while lying in the hospital room.
The poorhouse people were like family, not outsiders... I heard that even when I was lying in the hospital, I was self-reproaching a lot.
“So, I thought we needed people who could protect the kids. Robert ajusshi alone couldn’t protect all of them. Protecting the kids while buying time with talented people. Ideally, gathering together to protect many people, that’s why I executed this plan.”
“Thank you for telling me honestly. And I’ll think about this more. It’s sudden, but I don’t know if I’m qualified yet. And... I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Yes. Think it over thoroughly. Hyung. Sorry for coming so late at night.”
“No. I hope you have a good night.”
“Eric hyung too.”
With that, I left Eric’s room and laid down in the bed I was assigned.
Honestly speaking, it was a success.
The next day, after sighing a few times and asking if it was right a few more times, he agreed to join.
The formal [Star-Rank Evolution Plan] had begun.
***
Although we succeeded in persuading everyone, the reason the start is now is because we have to build from the basics.
While exchanging replies a few times, we scheduled the time and where to meet.
In the meantime, Marigold noona had roughly learned how to handle the bow, and in just two days, she could hit the center of the target consecutively.
After that, she continued practice by gradually increasing the distance.
“Not at the level of a master archer, but maybe a good archer.”
The distance to the target was almost 300m.
At a distance where the target was visible to the naked eye, she hit it when she got close.
Of course, there are archers in this world who can pierce storms and hit targets, but at that level, even amateur archers would easily win.
“You said you have talent.”
“I know. That’s only the sixth time I’ve heard that today.”
“You said you have talent.”
“Oh for real!”
Marigold tried to hit me with the bow, so I ran away quickly.
Today, I should stop teasing her.
I had memorized all the basic tactics taught by the unknown Robert and conducted basic wargames.
To help with that, I used the [Army God] trait and [Emperor’s Command] skill to teach some strategy and command.
Every time we played a game, she absorbed various techniques like a sponge.
“As expected, you’re good.”
“Play again.”
“Mor. I told you before, but sticking to tank-centered formation and open-field tactics is bad, right? Whether it’s terrain choice or main units. I told you you need missile batteries for anti-air.”
“Remove the bombers and play again.”
“Even without bombers, you can fight on open field. If you lay a lot of landmines at the choke point, you can’t respond.”
“Foul! How can guerrilla infantry carry dozens of anti-tank guns and anti-tank mines? It’s rigged!”
“If you put on power suit, you can carry hundreds of kilos. It’s called cost-effective unit.”
“Bombers? Where do bombers fly from in a place without an airfield?”
“It’s hidden in the fog of the battlefield. I’ll brighten your vision. Ta-da. Aircraft carrier.”
“You spent all the money to recruit ground forces there?”
“Yeah.”
“Cheater!”
Since I lost a couple of times, I decided to use full power to correct her stubbornness in sticking to strategy.
“The way to come up with excellent strategy is to look at land, sky, and sea at the same time.”
Isn’t it because of the trait and skill that I painted it?
This is also my talent.
For Mote, I experimented with several spirits inside Robert’s barrier.
Which spirit she liked best, and what aura she felt familiar with.
I mediated to meet various spirits by changing the traits several times.
“These are the ones you like best?”
“Yeah.”
“Water spirit and tree spirit... probably elemental.”
“I like the forest!”
“They seem to like them too.”
We only progressed to interacting with small spirits and making water droplets and grass leaves.
Since the circuits weren’t fully open yet for mana interaction, we had to be careful.
“Eric hyung is... um. No need to worry.”
Honestly, I don’t know if I can call this training.
Blocking Robert’s attack with two shields, I don’t know how he’s blocking it.
“Please one more time.”
“Hah. Full power.”
“Yes!”
It was a spar with neck and wooden shield, but every time we collided, I made a sound like “chuck” and collided.
“It’s not at the sparring level.”
Even an attack loaded with Robert ajusshi’s full power could be blocked once, but it seemed like it could cause an accident.
Robert ajusshi explained the reason for sparring with full power like that.
“It seems Eric will break the wall soon.”
“Hmm... I had a guess.”
“You can see that too.”
“To some extent?”
Potential changes over time, so we can’t know, but level is straightforward.
After I intervened, what unique domain will Eric hyung who is about to break the wall get?
And the promised day was approaching.