Chapter 56
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Rest and Reports
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After encountering Kaul and the other instructors, Abel and May were finally able to take a much-needed rest.
Abel emerged from his bath and slumped onto the bed, dragging his languid body with him.
‘As expected, planning it all out in your head and actually pulling it off are completely different beasts.’
From May’s perspective, this whole ordeal had been nothing more than getting caught up in an accident by chance. But not for Abel.
He’d targeted that ruin from the start, and in the end, he’d achieved his goal.
In that sense, his mental state was far better off than it could have been.
But that didn’t mean it had been a walk in the park.
Even during brief moments of rest, he’d had to stay on guard for potential attacks, constantly battling anxiety and impatience.
Without his past experience scraping by on the streets, fighting for survival every single day, he doubted he could have kept his cool throughout the operation.
‘Sorry about this, May.’
Abel scratched his cheek.
Sure, May had obtained a relic through this journey, but material gains didn’t solve everything.
Especially considering how she’d acted while the two of them were together.
Her usual laziness and sloth had vanished entirely, replaced by a sense of responsibility that drove her to take the lead—something Abel didn’t look back on fondly.
All the more so because he knew her past.
‘I’ll have to make it up to her somehow later. And talk to her about how to use the relic.’
Repayment didn’t have to be material, so Abel decided to mull it over gradually.
This “episode” wasn’t fully wrapped up yet, after all.
Abel had wanted to scout out the current situation upon returning, but he’d failed.
They’d just been rescued, so the order was to rest and recover first.
‘Sneaking out to check... nah, that wouldn’t fly.’
Abel pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
On any other day, maybe, but in this tense atmosphere, getting caught pulling a stunt like that could land him in hot water with disciplinary action.
In the end, Abel gave up on heading outside and was about to lie down on the bed.
Swish—.
The sound of the tent flap brushing against fabric came as someone slipped inside.
“Abel!”
“Hena?”
Abel looked up in surprise.
“Anywhere hurt? You okay? What’s with the bandages?”
Hena hurried over, lowering her voice as she fired off questions.
“I’m fine. The bandages are just for some scrapes. More importantly, you were here too?”
“Yeah! All the other squad members are here. Probably every cadet in this sector.”
“Really? So what the hell happened, anyway?”
“That’s what I want to ask you... But first, let me give you the rundown on things here.”
Hena sat down at the foot of the bed and filled Abel in on what had gone down.
After Abel and May vanished without a trace, everyone had plunged into chaos.
“Two people disappearing on that massive Gigant? It was insane—no one knew what to think.”
Hena clearly wanted to press him on it as she spoke, but she held back and continued.
“Then not long after, the instructors and reinforcements arrived. They finished off the Gigadeus, tended to the injured cadets, that sort of thing.”
“So that’s when you all came here?”
“Yeah. Turns out we weren’t the only ones who went through something similar.”
Abel’s group had been the only ones foolish enough to battle a Gigadeus head-on, but similar incidents had cropped up in multiple locations.
Dozens of Gigadeus Fragments launching assaults, things appearing where they had no business being.
Even some of the bases had come under attack.
‘They really pulled out all the stops.’
Abel figured the Pilgrims were behind it, no doubt.
The silver lining: there were injuries, but no fatalities.
‘Dodged a bullet there.’
Only then could Abel shake off the lingering worry he’d carried since leaving the ruins.
The relic he’d snagged from there wasn’t the one from the game—it was a different type.
He’d been concerned the Pilgrims might have grabbed the original game relic for themselves.
But from what he heard, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Luckily, once they figured out the anomalies, everyone converged at the bases, so no further casualties. You guys were pretty much the last ones.”
“We were the last, huh.”
“Yeah, that black cube has a location transmitter, so they could track cadets’ approximate positions from above.”
Abel nodded.
“But we didn’t have it. And we vanished suddenly.”
“Exactly. So spill it now. What the heck happened?”
Hena leaned in close, her face inches from his.
Abel pulled out the story he’d prepared in advance for this exact scenario.
“After landing the final blow on the Gigadeus, I suddenly lost consciousness.”
“Lost consciousness?”
“Yeah. When I came to, it was just me and May. The Gigant was trashed beyond repair.”
Abel walked her through it step by step.
Hena listened quietly until he mentioned stumbling into the ruins by chance—then she gasped.
“Ruins? You mean those ruins?”
“Yeah.”
Abel gave a brief rundown of what had happened inside.
Of course, he skipped anything suspicious, like knowing ancient script or having weird experiences.
He’d already sworn May to secrecy on that.
Abel pressed on.
“...We made it through the ruins, then got chased by some shady characters until we finally linked up with the instructors.”
“Wow.”
Hena’s mouth hung open in awe once she’d heard it all.
Her eyes sparkled, cheeks flushed.
Watching her, Abel recalled her quirks.
‘Come to think of it, she lives for adventure tales.’
Raised overprotected since childhood, rarely venturing outside with few peers her age, Hena’s sole comfort had been books.
Mostly the over-the-top adventure stories.
Like some ordinary farmer stumbling on a relic and rising to knighthood.
“That’s incredible...”
No wonder she was muttering like that, totally entranced.
“Hena.”
“Huh? Yeah?”
“So what happens next? They sending us back right away?”
“Oh, it’s a bit complicated, from what I hear.”
“Complicated how?”
“Yeah. These field exercises burn through a ton of funds and resources...”
She trailed off, but Abel got the gist.
Still, he shook his head.
“If that’s the issue, they’ll end up pulling us back anyway.”
“Hmm? Oh, right—you mentioned running into shady people.”
“Yeah. Once they hear about that, the instructors might rethink things.”
He was asking her, but not really fishing for an answer.
Abel already knew.
If it was just rampaging Gigadeus Fragments, maybe they’d push on. But shady humans involved? No way they’d continue the exercise.
‘Scores up to the suspension will stand, and then something else back at base.’
That “something else” would kick off the next event, but he’d worry about it after returning.
Hena nodded along and added,
“Anyway, glad you made it back safe.”
“Sounds like you were worried.”
“What? W-Worried? No way!”
It had been an offhand comment, but Hena’s face turned beet red as she denied it furiously.
“We were just teamed up, and you vanished like that—it surprised me, that’s all.”
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
“It’s not ‘let’s go with that’!”
Abel found her feisty reaction amusing but didn’t tease further.
No point stirring up noise right now.
“Got it. Anyway, shouldn’t you head back soon? Atmosphere’s pretty grim out there.”
“Oh, right! I snuck out. See ya!”
“Yeah. Be careful.”
After Hena rushed off, Abel lay back on the bed.
But not even five minutes later, he had to sit up again.
Someone else had slipped into the tent.
Abel bolted upright when he saw who it was.
“No need. Make yourself comfortable.”
Seeing this, the visitor—Fleta—waved him off as she spoke.
The academy’s vice principal and overall head of this exercise had come to see Abel.
He’d expected maybe an instructor for a debrief at most. This was a big fish.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Abel replied politely and waited for her to speak.
Fleta pulled up a nearby chair, sat, and opened her mouth.
“I spoke with Cadet May on my way here. I’ve got the broad strokes, so relax and tell me what happened.”
Aside from her snow-white hair, Fleta didn’t look that old, but she actually was quite advanced in years.
A veteran who’d spent ages on the battlefield, earning the moniker “Silver Fleta.”
That explained her stiff speech and sharp gaze.
‘She probably thinks she’s being plenty gentle.’
Abel kept that thought to himself and recounted the same tale he’d told Hena.
Fleta listened silently to the end before speaking.
“Care to describe those people you ran into in more detail?”
“Yes. They were mostly cloaked in robes. And those robes had an emblem embroidered on them...”
As he said this, searching for something to draw on, Fleta pulled pen and paper from her pocket.
“Thank you.”
Abel took them and sketched the emblem right away.
He’d only glimpsed it once here, but he’d seen it endlessly in the game, so it was no trouble.
Fleta watched quietly, but at some point, her face had hardened.
When he finished,
Fleta asked in a low, grave tone.
“You’re certain this is the emblem?”
It seemed May hadn’t remembered or mentioned it.
Abel set down the pen.
“Yes. I saw it clearly.”
“Hmm...”
Fleta took the paper, examined it again, then told Abel,
“Thank you. This helps a great deal. Ah, and about that relic you obtained.”
“Yes.”
The weapon-shaped artifacts Abel and May had acquired were already submitted.
All artifacts from ruins were initially termed “relics.”
‘Though the real key one’s this bracelet.’
He kept quiet about the bracelet for now. It screamed “not your average suspicious item.”
So he’d only turned in the weapon.
Fleta addressed the weapon artifact.
“We’ll need to study it closely, but no threatening traits so far. Congratulations in advance.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Abel bowed with a bright smile.
That was as good as confirming ownership.
Fleta nodded curtly and rose.
“Rest well, then.”
“Yes.”
With that, Fleta left, and Abel could finally lie down again.
No more visitors after that, so he sank into a deep sleep for the first time in ages.
The next morning,
Abel awoke to news that the exercise was suspended—they’d return to the academy.
Not straight by carriage; they’d pilot their assigned Gigants to a rendezvous point.
‘Makes sense for safety.’
Even with cadets piloting, a Gigant was a Gigant.
Far safer than undefended vehicles.
After lunch, seeing his reassigned Gigant, Abel grinned.
-Long time no see.
It was his own machine, Lupus.