Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: The Cabin in the Woods
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Evan had likely been learning the Raven style since before he could remember.
That means he started learning swordsmanship at an age when even a toy sword would feel heavy. At that point, the line between martial arts and daily life blurs.
Even in ordinary, non-combat situations…
Simple actions like walking or eating would carry traces of his swordsmanship.
So what happens when you abruptly try to eliminate a swordsmanship style that has seeped so deeply into your body?
Naturally, your limbs get tangled up just like that.
“Evan! Snap out of it!”
Evan flinched at my shout, but he still didn't actively use the Raven style.
‘This guy has been looking off for a while now…’
This was a real fight, so I didn't have the luxury of nagging him.
For now, I joined the battle more aggressively and attacked the spider…
Crunch!
Before long, Charle's mace crushed the spider's head.
The giant spider's eight legs twitched, and then it collapsed.
“Uwaaaaaah—!”
Mir continued to swing his axe at the spider's corpse.
Evan's head hung low.
Charle wiped the spider's bodily fluids from her face.
Charle sighed and said,
“…This is even more of a mess than I expected.”
You can say that again.
* * *
Getting rid of a habit ingrained in your body is a difficult thing.
This is especially true for martial arts.
In a battle between skilled fighters, it's often said that the one who notices their opponent's habits first seizes the advantage.
That's why the greater the master, the more effort they put into eliminating their bad habits.
Of course, this has its side effects.
If you try to force yourself to get rid of a habit, even movements you once learned well can become tangled.
Why am I suddenly talking about this?
It's because, to Evan, the Raven style seems to be the literal embodiment of all his habits.
- Generally, it's better to learn martial arts at a young age.
My master told me this not long after I arrived at Spirit Mountain.
- But it's not without its drawbacks. An immature body isn't suited for performing martial arts, so even if you perfectly imitate the movements, superfluous actions are bound to arise. And a child's ability to learn absorbs even those superfluous actions without filtering them. That's why a master is indispensable for early education, you could say.
- Mmm…
- So, youngest. In a way, you're lucky. You're already old enough to know better, so you can correct your bad habits quickly.
Of course, that correction was a physical one, delivered by a fist…
…Anyway, my point is simple.
Evan shouldn't abandon the Raven style.
Even if he were to discard it, trying to shake it off in such a short period is clearly a bad move.
As if to prove my premonition correct, we encountered several more monsters afterward.
“Dieeeee—!”
“…Kuh! S-Sorry!”
Mir and Evan's conditions didn't improve.
Only Charle and I were pulling our weight.
At that point, Charle said with a serious expression,
“…I think it would be better to switch our focus from hunting to gathering.”
“Hmm…”
Charle had started talking to me more often after the first hunt, her expression suggesting I was the only one worth consulting.
It was absurd, but I felt the same way.
Now that Evan, whom I had trusted without a doubt, was in this state, the most reliable person in this group was Charle Rubieta.
“Don't you think it'll be difficult to hunt monsters with those two?”
Charle said, glancing behind her.
A few paces away, Mir and Evan were trudging along.
I thought for a moment.
Mir's trauma and Evan's crisis.
Neither was a problem that could be solved in the short term.
Seventy-two hours was too short a time to fix both.
In fact, the more serious case between the two was, surprisingly, Evan.
Mir still seemed disappointed in his pathetic state, but he wasn't completely disheartened.
Evan, on the other hand, was completely out of it.
Disappointment in the Raven style, guilt toward his father, and doubt about whether this was the right choice.
A storm was probably raging inside him right now.
I sighed as well.
Being a master isn't some grand thing.
A master is someone who worries alongside their disciple, offers advice, and guides them onto the right path.
But what the hell were these so-called instructors?
Far from helping, they were breaking the kid's spirit.
‘And these guys are Grand Master Teachers?’
…Of course, I shouldn't lump them all together and criticize them.
From what I saw, the Hunting Teacher was an excellent master.
The same went for Kaljak, whom I'd seen in the mountains.
“Of course, if we switch to gathering, time will be tight, but… Hey. Are you listening?”
“I'm listening. But I think we might need to change the plan a bit.”
“What?”
“I think we'll have to use all three days.”
Charle blinked.
“…Weren't you the one who said the forest at night is hell and that we should finish before sunset?”
“I was. But it seems this really is a training retreat after all.”
I said, looking around.
“This area is still within the instructors' range.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Look closely. It's faint, but there's a path. The grass where we're walking is shorter.”
Charle listened to me and looked around, but she didn't seem to get it.
It was only natural.
No matter how much gifted education she'd received since she was young, would a noble lady ever have a reason to go into the wilderness?
What was certain was that a truly wild forest was much more of a mess than this.
Of course, it seemed true that there were no instructors physically present.
“Isn't it just because people have passed through a few times? Or maybe a carriage path.”
“There's one more piece of evidence. Instructor Juan said it, right? If we attack another cadet, we'll be immediately disqualified.”
“…Ah!”
An exclamation point appeared above Charle's head.
Thankfully, she wasn't thick-headed.
“If it's immediate disqualification… that means the instructors have a way to monitor the cadets' movements.”
“Right. So as long as we don't stray too far, it won't be that dangerous to stay for three days.”
The area is probably a controlled zone up to a certain distance from the training camp.
If I'd known, I would have bought a sleeping bag. It wasn't even that expensive.
“Well, that makes sense. The monsters we fought earlier weren't that high-level either.”
Charle looked at me with slightly different eyes.
“Ruan Bednicker, I'm seeing you in a new light. You're not quite on Sir Hector's level, but I guess bloodline really does count for something, huh?”
“You don't happen to like my brother, do you?”
“Of course not!”
Charle shrieked.
Loudly enough to startle the others walking behind us.
“If it's a no, it's a no. Why are you screaming? My ears hurt.”
“How rude…! I take back everything I just said!”
“Whatever.”
I let Charle's nagging go in one ear and out the other as I looked at the sky.
The thick foliage made it hard to see, but… because I'd learned the Flame Arts of the Greatest, I could feel it.
The sun was about to set.
“Should we find a place to stay? Lady, have you ever slept outdoors?”
“No.”
I figured.
I thought for a moment before speaking.
“Up in a tree seems most suitable, but the cold is a problem.”
It was the middle of winter.
The forest at night would be incredibly cold, and without a tent or sleeping bags to conserve body heat, just sleeping would be like boarding an express carriage straight to hell.
“We can just build a fire.”
“In a tree?”
“No. I mean we build a campfire on the ground and take turns on watch.”
“Hmm.”
For a noble lady, it was a decent suggestion, but…
The fact that this was the Butterfly Forest of all places made me uneasy for some reason.
My gut told me this place was just as dangerous as the Jewel Mountains.
‘Even if it's a place controlled by the instructors, there's always that one-in-a-million chance…’
Building a fire and attracting unwanted attention from monsters would be a pain.
“…Or how about we just don't sleep?”
Evan, who had been staring blankly, spoke up for the first time in a while. I wasn't sure when, but it seemed he'd been listening to our conversation.
But I shook my head.
“No. One day might be fine, but our condition will be shot the next day.”
We absolutely had to make progress on the first day; the risk of failing to do so was too great.
“Besides, searching the forest at night is too inefficient. What could we possibly see in the dark?”
“U-Uhm…”
He wasn't the type to make such a stupid suggestion.
It seemed he was still out of it.
“Why don't we just sleep in a cabin!”
Mir suddenly spouted nonsense.
Charle clapped her hands and said,
“A cabin? Wow! What a fan-tas-tic idea! Should we start by logging, then? We're surrounded by trees, so we won't run out of materials! You giant oaf!”
“What are you talking about? Why would we log?”
“Is a cabin just going to fall out of the sky?”
“There's one right there.”
Mir pointed ahead.
“…Huh?”
“Hah.”
And where his finger was pointing, there really was a cabin.
“…I'm not tired enough to be seeing things yet.”
“Hey. Does this forest have some kind of hallucinogenic effect?”
“I don't know…”
But a hallucination…
Thinking it was possible, I focused the energy of fire into my eyes.
My dim vision instantly brightened, and the cabin came into sharper focus.
This was the state of Fire Eyes.
It wasn't anything special, just a technique that allowed me to see the flow of mana in greater detail…
“Doesn't seem like a hallucination. Could be a trap, though.”
“Hmm…”
I glanced at my team members, then nodded.
“I'll go check it out first. You guys wait here.”
“Will you be okay on your own?”
“It's more dangerous if we go together.”
Charle nodded.
“…Alright. If you sense danger, give us a signal.”
“A signal? How?”
“Let's just decide on two.”
Charle spread her arms to make an O-shape.
“This means safe.”
Next, she crossed her arms in an X.
“This means danger.”
“Hmm. Can you show me again?”
“Safe, danger…”
“One more time.”
“Safe, danger…”
“Last time…”
Evan stopped Charle just as she was about to grab me by the collar.
As payment for the precious sight, I headed toward the cabin alone without complaint.
Truthfully, I'd said it was more dangerous to go together to sound cool, but I wasn't particularly skilled at stealth or moving covertly myself.
I just figured I'd be better than those chicks, so I volunteered.
“Hmm…”
Up close, the cabin looked ordinary. It was a bit on the small side, but from the outside, nothing seemed amiss.
I couldn't sense any presence either.
Despite that, however, I heightened my senses.
…I could smell blood.
I sheathed the Seven Sins Sword.
The others might not know, but for me, putting away my weapon was proof that I was raising my guard.
It was a preparation to respond with my bare hands if necessary.
Anyway, the cabin didn't even have a single window. There was a small chimney, but it didn't look big enough for a person to fit through…
Having no other choice, I waited for the right moment, then threw the door open.
And I immediately realized my sense of smell hadn't been wrong.
Inside the cabin, there was a corpse.
“…”
Submerged in blood, but I could still see distinct orange hair.
It was a face I knew.
The talkative girl who was self-conscious about her freckles, who talked a lot and had a loose tongue.
But her bright personality made her impossible to hate.
Pam was lying in a pool of blood.