Chapter 38
Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Midwinter Survival (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The sound of footsteps echoing from the passage made Yuri's expression turn grave.
*Only noticing them after they've gotten this close.*
Over the past ten days, Yuri hadn't just focused on gathering food.
He had devoted equal effort to setting traps around his hideout.
They weren't visible from outside, but the moment anyone stepped into the cave, they'd trigger.
They weren't lethal enough to threaten those who had mastered mana arts, but they packed enough punch to be a real nuisance.
And they served as an alarm bell, alerting Yuri to any intruders.
Yet even though an intruder had come, there was no sign that any traps had gone off.
That meant one of two things.
Either the intruder had spotted every trap and avoided them all.
*Or they're strong enough to brush off traps like mine without a second thought.*
Judging by the intense aura steadily drawing closer, it seemed like the second option.
*What a spine-chillingly powerful bastard. Was there someone this strong among the reserve riders?*
The approaching intruder wasn't bothering to hide their presence at all, letting their energy flow freely.
The overwhelming pressure convinced Yuri.
This intruder was beyond anything he could handle.
Someone who utterly transcended his own level of skill.
*What do I do? Check who it is? Or just bolt right now?*
One of the key elements Yuri considered essential for a hideout was an escape route.
If he headed for the emergency exit he'd prepared in advance, he could get away even now.
But he also wanted to identify which reserve rider could emit an aura like that.
After all, information about a powerful enemy he couldn't face was invaluable for the future.
*No way I'm surviving a fight with them. In that case...*
A brief moment of deliberation, followed by a swift decision.
And his actions were even faster.
Yuri grabbed a couple of burning logs from the campfire and hurled them toward the passage.
At the same time, he extinguished the rest of the fire and darted to one side of the cave, holding his breath.
The whole thing took barely five seconds.
Hidden in the darkness, Yuri fixed his sharp gaze on the entrance.
Yuri kept his nerves on edge.
Squeeze.
Just as a bit of strength entered the hand gripping his sword hilt.
Step.
At the end of the passage, a black boot appeared first, illuminated by the faint glow of the logs.
And finally, the intruder fully revealed themselves.
Yuri's brow twitched slightly at the sight.
*Why's it him?*
The intruder's identity was none other than the one-eyed captain of the Black Sword Corps.
Yuri observed him with calm eyes.
At the same time, he quietly shifted his center of gravity backward.
So that if the one-eyed man showed any sign of hostility, he could turn and flee at a moment's notice.
Swish.
The one-eyed man's head turned.
His gaze swept the entire cave before stopping abruptly at one spot.
Yuri's face hardened as he realized he was the one in that line of sight.
*He's looking right at me!*
The one-eyed man had pierced the darkness and pinpointed his exact position.
Yuri was about to charge out then and there.
But at that moment.
"Halt, Yuri Holland."
The voice stopped Yuri in his tracks.
At the same time, the heavy aura emanating from the cave entrance vanished as if washed away.
It was as if he were signaling that he had no intention of harming him.
But Yuri didn't let his guard down.
Seeing this, the one-eyed man smirked faintly.
"Take this."
With those words, he drew something from his belt and tossed it toward Yuri.
Yuri snatched the slowly flying object out of the air.
Clink.
It was a small cloth pouch containing something.
*What's this?*
Yuri looked at the one-eyed man with puzzled eyes.
As if asking what the hell was going on.
The one-eyed man...
Step.
...said nothing and turned back the way he had come.
Yuri watched him go in stunned silence before muttering in disbelief.
"...What kind of weirdo is that guy?"
* * *
The debris from scattered traps rolled under the retreating one-eyed man's feet.
He glanced at the traps littering the passage.
*He set up a ton of them in just a few days.*
They weren't highly lethal, but the interconnected setup, anticipating the intruder's next moves, was excellent.
Even real Cradle riders—no, cradle knights—would find them effective.
The one-eyed man thought of the one who had set them.
*Yuri Holland...*
He had entered the Forest of Beginnings today to deliver an item to a reserve rider.
Normally, he wouldn't handle such a trivial task himself.
It would be inefficient for the overall commander to move for something so minor.
Yet he had come personally because of this reserve rider: Yuri Holland.
The Tenth Black Dragon Overlord.
And...
*Johan Redner's disciple.*
Curious about what kind of person this reserve rider with such a flashy background was, the Black Sword Corps vice-commander had come himself.
Having seen Yuri Holland in person, the one-eyed man gave a simple assessment.
"An interesting one."
A perfectly concealed hideout.
Survival skills to endure the harsh winter.
The caliber of traps to deter intruders.
Just those three things set him apart qualitatively from the riffraff wandering the forest.
But what the man valued even higher was the judgment Yuri had just shown.
The quick thinking to douse the fire and throw logs toward the passage to gauge the intruder.
The meticulousness to hide in the darkness and create distance from the enemy at the same time.
And...
*What he had his back to was definitely the emergency passage. If I'd shown even a hint of aggression, he would've bolted immediately.*
Yuri Holland had clearly recognized that the intruder's strength was beyond him.
*So he planned to just identify who it was and then escape.*
The bold decision to abandon hard-earned supplies and a hideout and run.
Even though he'd revealed his presence, Yuri's response had flowed seamlessly, all in a matter of seconds.
It took exceptional decision-making speed to act that swiftly.
*At the very least, he's no worthless tagalong riding Johan Redner's reputation.*
That was what appealed to the one-eyed man.
And one more thing.
What he liked even more was that the kid seemed plenty ambitious.
Recalling the excessive piles of supplies in Yuri Holland's hideout, the one-eyed man wore a sly grin.
"In the Cradle, desire matters as much as talent."
* * *
Only after sensing the intruder's aura completely vanish did Yuri lower his guard.
He stared at the pouch in his hand.
An item handed over by the Black Sword Corps member who had appeared out of nowhere.
Swish.
He untied the string at the mouth of the cloth pouch, revealing its contents easily.
*This is...*
Clink.
He'd gotten a sense of it the moment he caught it.
That the contents were made of metal.
And sure enough, what he saw was a small silver coin.
"A silver coin?"
The continent's common currencies were gold coins called golds and silver coins called silvers.
But this silver wasn't the standard currency used across the continent.
Yuri pulled one of the clinking silvers out for a closer look.
It was a circular coin about 5 cm in diameter.
With a 1 cm square hole in the exact center.
*A silver coin with a hole in it...*
That wasn't its only unique feature.
Yuri flipped it over.
"Hmm..."
One side bore an image of two swords crossed in an X shape.
The other side had the number 10,000 intricately engraved.
No such silver circulated anywhere on the continent.
There were ten of them in total.
*This isn't just some meaningless trinket.*
The craftsmanship was too high for that.
And the fact that they'd brought it here on purpose meant it had to have some use.
*What does it mean?*
There was too little information.
An item given with no explanation whatsoever.
Finding its purpose was probably the first step.
Ting.
Yuri flicked the silver coin with his thumb.
It spun through the air before falling.
He caught it and flicked it again, repeating the motion as he posed a question to himself.
*Am I the only one who got one?*
The answer was "probably not."
*He called my name exactly. That means he knew this was my hideout and came looking.*
In other words, the Black Sword Corps was tracking the reserve riders' movements.
They wouldn't do that for no reason.
*Maybe they're monitoring key figures... or possibly all the reserve riders. If they're distributing these to everyone they've tracked...*
Then why give them this item?
What were they supposed to do with it?
Ting.
Yuri caught the flicked coin again, his lips curling into a slight smile.
He brought it to his nose.
Sniff sniff.
*It reeks. The smell of money.*
A thick grin spread across Yuri's face as he flared his nostrils repeatedly.
Of course, his actual sense of smell only picked up the scent of metal.
But his instincts smelled something else.
*No doubt about it. This... is the smell of money!*
His sharp instincts were telling him.
This peculiar silver coin.
It was something that could serve as "money" within the Forest of Beginnings—or perhaps the Dragon's Cradle itself.
*Money... distributed simultaneously to a bunch of reserve riders?*
Sparks flew in Yuri's mind.
At the same time, he felt the stuffiness that had plagued him for days suddenly clear up.
Because he had finally realized it.
The source of the nagging feeling that had bothered him.
What he'd been overlooking all this time.
And with that, Yuri instantly understood why the Black Sword Corps was handing these out.
*Competition... it was competition!*
The survival trial had begun the moment they entered the Forest of Beginnings.
There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the format.
But he should have dug deeper into the fact that it came from the Cradle.
The Dragon's Cradle was an arena of constant competition and growth.
How could a survival trial from such a place lack a competitive element?
Sure, claiming limited survival resources could be called competition.
But would the mighty Dragon's Cradle consider that the extent of it?
And now the Black Sword Corps had distributed "money."
*This money might actually function as currency, or maybe as points that affect the trial.*
This little piece of metal would fill the gap where "competition" had been missing from the trial so far.
"This has to be called a competition—or a scramble."
The one-eyed man had said it.
That everything was permitted between reserve riders except killing.
That condition was probably meant for right now.
*The sharp ones will move fast! To raid everyone else's pockets!*
He couldn't afford to lag behind in a competition like this.
Yuri shot to his feet.
But just as he was about to dash out...
"Huh... wait a sec?"
He stopped dead, his mind swirling with tangled thoughts.
An expression like something was nagging at him.
*Is this right?*
Yuri crossed his arms and paced in circles.
"Hmm..."
He closed his eyes and stroked his chin.
"Hmmmmm..."
After pondering deeply for a while, his eyes snapped open.
"Ah!"
Even in the darkness, the gleam in Yuri's eyes was unmistakable as he let out a short exclamation.
"That's it!"
He smacked his left palm with his right fist and grinned widely.