Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: The Silent Camp
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“How are you feeling?”
“…Awful.”
Seren closed her eyes for a moment, placing a hand on her abdomen, before opening them again to look at me.
“Did you save me?”
“Something like that.”
“Thanks. Honestly, I thought I was going to die.”
I looked around.
Caron, Evan, and Hector were keeping watch some distance away from the hideout.
They hadn't noticed Seren was awake yet.
This meant now was the only chance to talk.
“You predicted this situation, didn't you?”
I cut straight to the chase.
Seren didn't seem surprised or flustered.
She just stared blankly up at the sky, obscured by the bushes, and muttered.
“Predicted…”
“…?”
“You could put it that way, I suppose.”
It was a bit vague, but it was as good as a confession.
“Exactly how much did you know?”
“I knew a Demon King summoning ritual would happen, at least.”
“Then—”
“Why didn't I stop it from the start?”
Seren said with a short laugh.
“Me, a Goodspring, claiming a Demon King summoning ritual is happening at a Bednicker training retreat? Whether they believed me or not is one thing, but depending on how it played out, it could have started a war between our two families.”
“…”
“You know, I thought for a very long time about how I could prevent this mess. But in the end, there was only one conclusion.”
“To participate yourself?”
Seren affirmed this silently.
“Did you know someone participating in the retreat?”
“As if. Everyone I know hates the Bednickers.”
“So you came here to save a bunch of strangers?”
“…It was for a couple of reasons. There was something for me to gain in this forest, too.”
For some reason, her last words sounded like an excuse.
We hadn't known each other long, but she had a habit of not taking credit for doing the right thing.
“You’re the type to die young.”
“None of your business.”
“So the secret you mentioned was the Demon King summoning ritual?”
Seren was silent for a moment before speaking bluntly.
“…Part of it.”
“…”
“So what's the situation now? How long was I out? And where did my party go? Don't tell me…”
“They're not dead.”
It seemed Seren didn't remember the exact situation clearly.
No wonder her eyes rolled back when she used that blade of wind.
“We were heading for the camp when we heard screams and came to help. The people with you escaped to a safe place. It's only been about an hour since you passed out.”
“Hmm…”
“Anyway, we're still planning to go to the camp. What about you?”
“…What choice do I have? I'll go with you.”
Seren asked.
“But are you alone?”
“No.”
I pointed to the others scattered around on guard duty, and Seren nodded.
“You did a good job gathering those disobedient punks.”
“Words don't get through to them, but my fists do.”
“Aha.”
I was about to call them over when Seren suddenly spoke.
“…Aren't you going to ask more?”
“About what?”
“This and that. You must have a lot of questions for me.”
I did have a lot.
But after talking with her in person, I got the feeling that it wasn't that important right now.
“It's a long story, isn't it?”
“What is?”
“Your story.”
Seren paused for a moment, then said with a somewhat bitter smile.
“…It's incredibly long. Long enough to fill several books.”
“Then I'll hear it later.”
“Are you sure?”
“This isn't exactly a situation where we can leisurely chat.”
“That's true, but.”
“Ah. But let me ask this now. What was that power you used to wipe out the demons? A Blessing?”
To that, Seren replied.
“It's a Blessing, if you want to call it that, but not an ordinary one. It's the Blessing of a forgotten god.”
“A forgotten god…”
An unexpected name had come up.
I gently stroked the Seven Sins Sword and asked.
“Then the altar you visited must have been an altar to a forgotten god.”
“You heard from Evan? That's right.”
How Seren knew the altar's location, or which forgotten god it belonged to.
None of that was particularly important in the current situation.
“Can you use it again?”
“…Maybe once more. But the risk would be great.”
As expected, it wasn't a power she could use lightly.
It was a shame.
If she could use that technique at will, it would be as reassuring as having a high-powered mage on our side.
In any case, we weren't in a position to relax, so we ended the conversation there.
I gave a small wave to the others who were further away.
The ones on guard duty immediately returned.
“She's awake.”
“Yeah.”
“…”
“…”
What am I supposed to do with this atmosphere?
This was the problem with gathering a group of people who had nothing in common, based solely on their skills.
Their personalities were all so different that an awkward silence consumed the air around us.
As the group leader, I had no choice but to step up.
“To break the ice, let's start with some introductions…”
“Cut the crap.”
The three of them, excluding Evan, said in unison.
‘So they do get along?’
I was mistaken.
* * *
Caron, Hector, Evan.
And finally, Seren.
These were the apprentices I considered the most outstanding in this training retreat.
It had been a long and winding road, but gathering all of them in one place felt strangely significant.
It felt like I'd formed a dream team.
For someone who had just come back from the brink of death, Seren moved with surprising agility.
Since no one was lagging behind, we were able to move faster than I expected.
By the time the hourglass ran out—.
In other words, exactly three days after the test began, we were able to return to the camp.
“A dramatic return.”
“Indeed.”
Seen up close, the camp was eerily quiet.
It felt unnatural, as there was no sign of human presence at all.
The feeling was amplified by the memory of the last time I saw this place, filled with the groans of apprentices and the booming shouts of instructors.
“…Looks like something definitely happened.”
“Hmm…”
“What now?”
I gave a short reply to Hector's question.
“We have to go in, obviously. But it could be a trap, so only two of us will go.”
“Which two?”
“Me and Caron.”
Caron's expression immediately soured, but it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter.
“Then we'll wait here.”
“Alright. I'll send a signal if anything happens.”
“What kind of signal?”
“I'll scream really loud, I guess.”
“Hmm… Understood.”
Caron and I entered the camp immediately.
Our first destination was, of course, the instructors' building.
Before we entered the building, Caron muttered in a low voice.
“…I can feel a presence inside.”
“A strange presence? A demon?”
“Seems human.”
“How many?”
“I'm not certain, but one.”
Just one…
Something smelled fishy.
In any case, if someone was inside, it was only natural for us to conceal our presence.
We decided against the main entrance and tried a window, but…
“Don't these people ever ventilate?”
Every single door and window was locked.
Of course, we could have easily gotten in by breaking a window, but then there would have been no point in moving stealthily.
“No choice. Let's use the main entrance.”
I figured it was risky, but better than breaking a window.
I don't know if it was fortunate or not, but.
The main door was wide open.
And so, we entered the instructors' building.
The inside of the building, a place apprentices were forbidden to enter, was more ordinary than I expected.
The flashy part was the exterior; the interior wasn't much different from other buildings.
“Hey.”
“I know.”
The moment we stepped inside, the smell of blood hit my nose.
It was strange.
A stench this strong should have been noticeable from outside…
The smell of blood was contained entirely within the building, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.
‘Are the instructors gone?’
Are they really all dead?
Is that even possible?
The instructors' building housed knights handpicked by the Bednickers, a Grand Master Teacher—and according to Asad, even the Iron-Blooded Duke's younger brother.
Even for a High Priest, it should have been impossible to kill all of them alone…
Following the scent of blood, we moved down the first-floor corridor.
Then we stopped in front of a certain room.
The door was unusually large compared to the others, but that wasn't why we stopped.
Blood was seeping out from under the door.
“…Is it inside?”
“No. The presence I sensed is on the floor above.”
Of course, I couldn't completely trust this guy's senses…
But I felt we had to check anyway, so I grabbed the doorknob.
And opened it.
‘Hmm…’
A thick stench of blood, far worse than before, assaulted my nostrils.
I scrunched up my face and surveyed the interior.
Was this room used as a conference hall?
The spacious room was splattered with blood, but surprisingly, there were no body parts or corpses.
No.
There was a single corpse, slammed into the wall.
A familiar face.
The instructor I had spoken to the most during this retreat.
Hunting Master Teacher Tanko.
“Caron, look around and see if you can find anything. I'll examine the body.”
“Don't order me around.”
Caron grumbled but started looking around.
Meanwhile, I approached the Hunting Master Teacher's body.
The cause of death was a hole punched through the center of his chest.
It was about the size of my fist, and the clean edges suggested that he hadn't even realized he was dying until the very moment the hole appeared in his body.
‘Killed in a single blow? Someone of Tanko's skill?’
I couldn't understand it.
On top of that, the amount of blood splattered everywhere was too much to have come from a single person.
“Hey.”
Just then, Caron returned.
‘…Does this bastard only know how to call people ‘oi’, ‘hey’, and ‘you’?’
Oblivious to my thoughts, Caron held something out to me.
“I found this.”
“This is…”
A communication crystal.
One of the crystals that were placed throughout the building.
“It was in this room. It's pretty broken, but it still works.”
“I see… so it might have a recording of what happened here? Good job.”
“…”
Caron scowled at my words.
He gets pissy even when I praise him.
Anyway, I infused mana into the communication crystal.
Vwoom—.
Soon, the magic device projected a static-filled image…
And replayed what had happened in this room.