Chapter 42
Chapter 42
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Dragon Plaque Hunt (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Forest of Beginnings was swept by a fierce blizzard for the first time in ages.
Even though it was still afternoon with the sun up, the forest exuded a dark and gloomy atmosphere.
In their respective hideouts scattered throughout, the cadet riders were waiting out the snowstorm.
Most of them had reached their mental and physical limits after a month-long survival test.
With the weather turning nasty on top of that, one might expect a downcast mood, but contrary to expectations, the cadets were in fairly good spirits overall.
It was because January 1st was drawing near.
Of course, they weren't waiting for the New Year.
They were simply thrilled at the fact that in just two more days, they could finally escape this damnable forest.
A single thought filled the minds of most cadets.
*Just hang in there a little longer... and I'll become one of Yoram's 50th Cohort!*
It was a hope that felt almost within reach.
And on the day the cadets began to slowly loosen their tension in the face of that hope right before their eyes...
Despair arrived, mingled with the diagonal sheets of blowing snow.
* * *
The Forest of Beginnings, shrouded in darkness by clouds blotting out the sky.
Whoooosh—.
In the pitch-black midst of the raging snowstorm, a faint light emanated from a crude shelter woven from tree branches.
It was little more than a snow hut, but it was shelter enough to block out the biting wind.
Huddled inside, Dennis Wayne clicked his tongue at the ferocious blizzard outside.
"What the hell is up with this goddamn weather? Kicking up a fuss right to the end."
He grumbled, but deep down, he was satisfied with the current situation.
*Still, this is way better than how it was at the start.*
Back in the early days, he hadn't known how to make a fire and couldn't scrounge up food, surviving for days on nothing but handfuls of freezing snow.
Compared to that, having a small shelter and a campfire now was nothing short of revolutionary.
*This is all thanks to that shop!*
He had encountered the shop on his way to ring the bell in surrender.
The taste of the tosaba he'd eaten there was something he'd never forget until his dying day.
Sure, he'd blown through every last silver coin he had in the process, but he didn't regret that choice.
*Thanks to that one tosaba, I found the courage and hope to keep going!*
Buoyed by that courage and hope, Dennis had steadily guided others who were on the verge of giving up to the shop as well.
*Good things are meant to be shared, right?*
Of course, that had earned him a tiny bit of food and flint in return...
*In the end, they found out about the shop sooner because of me... so it was good for everyone, yeah?*
Having neatly rationalized selling others out, Dennis turned his gaze back outside.
Staring at the falling snow, he let out a quiet sigh.
"Sigh, if only time would pass faster..."
Why was time crawling by so slowly?
The remaining two days felt like two years.
"Haaa..."
Dennis's heavy sigh turned into a plume of white vapor in the frigid air.
As he kept sighing deeply like that...
"Hm?"
Dennis spotted something moving in the blizzard far off in the distance.
His brow furrowed.
*What the hell is that?*
At first, he thought he'd seen wrong.
But no.
"Hmm...?"
Something black squirming in the dim darkness.
The movement grew larger.
"Whoa?!"
Soon, it pierced through the fierce snowstorm and charged straight toward Dennis's shelter.
Only then did he realize it was a person moving through the blizzard.
"Wh-what?!"
The startled Dennis hurriedly drew his sword.
But the "black something" was faster than his reaction.
Shwick—.
A silver gleam shot up through the blizzard.
Dennis instinctively swung his sword at it.
Clang!
Crunch—.
The instant it clashed with the silver gleam, a dizzying pain shot through the arm and shoulder gripping his sword.
*Wh-what kind of power?!*
Just one clash.
It tore open the skin on his palms, and his sword flew off into the distance.
At the same time, the silver gleam lightly grazed his cheek and cleaved his shelter clean in half.
The whole thing had taken barely ten seconds.
Only after finishing its work did the silver gleam take the form of a sword.
Clink—.
The chill of the blade's edge at his neck made Dennis collapse backward in shock.
Thud—.
With the shelter gone, the campfire Dennis had lit flickered wildly in the swirling snow, on the verge of going out.
In that moment, Dennis got a look at the mysterious assailant holding a sword to his throat.
*Black Sword Soldier? No!*
The attacker was a man in black clothes.
But he wasn't a Black Sword Soldier.
He looked far too young for that.
At most, just a couple years older than Dennis?
Moreover, the black clothes the man wore were the same as his own.
*Cadet rider?*
But even that didn't fit.
The clothes were the same as the other cadets', but there was one difference.
*That's... an insignia?*
A yellow insignia on the man's shoulder.
No cadet wore an insignia like that.
Drip—.
Thick blood trickled from Dennis's cheek where he'd collapsed.
The man's gaze upon it was ice-cold.
Then, a voice even colder than his eyes emerged from his lips.
"Pathetic skills like yours? The Yellow Dragon Plaque might as well be trash."
With those words, the man's sword whipped through the air.
Whoosh—.
The blade, emitting a sharp whoosh, sliced through Dennis's clothes, shredding them to rags.
Faced with the flashing deadly intent right before his eyes, Dennis froze solid, unable to move a muscle.
And in that instant.
Clatter—.
Something hard caught in Dennis's clothes.
"That's it."
The tip of the man's sword flicked it into the air.
"Huh?!"
Dennis's eyes widened as his own Yellow Dragon Plaque soared right in front of him.
For some reason, in that moment, every nerve in his body focused on the plaque, as if time itself had slowed to a crawl.
Thanks to that, he could perceive the silver gleam hurtling toward his Yellow Dragon Plaque.
Bit by bit.
The plaque and the blade drawing closer.
And finally, the moment the silver blade touched the Yellow Dragon Plaque.
*Huh?*
Dennis, who had braced for what was coming, screamed inwardly.
Shick—.
*No, don't!*
But despite his inner cry, the assailant mercilessly slashed Dennis's Yellow Dragon Plaque.
Slice—slash—.
The copper plaque split apart as easily as a piece of wood.
Four sword strikes in midair.
Plop—.
When it hit the ground, the Yellow Dragon Plaque lay in eight pieces.
"Ah..."
Dennis stared blankly at the scattered fragments on the ground.
What had just happened felt like a dream.
*My... my... plaque?!*
In the Forest of Beginnings, the plaque was as good as one's life.
For it to shatter meant Dennis's life had shattered too.
*Is this... how it ends? Just like this?*
After all I'd endured for a month?
When I just had to hold out two more days?
In two days, I was going to be one of Yoram's riders!
The hope that had been within arm's reach evaporated completely.
Having witnessed his plaque shatter right in front of him, the despair and emptiness were beyond words.
"Aaah... no... nooooo!"
This time screaming aloud, Dennis gathered the scattered Yellow Dragon Plaque fragments with trembling hands.
Meanwhile, the assailant, who had been eyeing him up and down, narrowed his eyes.
"Tch, a total bust."
Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, the assailant barked coldly at Dennis, who still hadn't come to his senses.
"Get lost. Trash like you doesn't deserve to be my junior. You're nothing but a bug."
Leaving those cruel words, the assailant departed.
A moment later, as Dennis somewhat regained his wits, he softly repeated the assailant's parting words.
"J-junior...?"
With tears welling in his eyes, he stared blankly in the direction the assailant had vanished.
* * *
Around the time despairing screams began erupting from cadet riders throughout the Forest of Beginnings.
Only one person was letting out a cry of joy.
"Heh heh, hehehe! I'm rich!"
Jingle jangle—.
Yuri's face, rubbing against the bulging cloth pouch, looked just like a stuffed cat's.
Behind Yuri.
The stockpiles that had once filled one side of his hideout were completely gone.
In their place stood sturdy wooden crates.
Inside them were two more pouches the same size as the one he was hugging—a secret only Yuri knew.
"Ahh, this heavy feeling... it's just too good!"
They weren't real currency, but having never possessed this much silver in his life, Yuri was reveling in vicarious satisfaction.
*If only this were real gold...*
Through this ordeal, Yuri had amassed over 200,000 silver coins.
Plus the 100,000 he already had.
If it were real gold, that would be a whopping 300,000 gold—an insane fortune.
As he savored that proxy thrill, a hint of regret flickered in Yuri's eyes.
*After scooping up silver from all those cadets, and it's only 230,000...*
The secret of the numbers engraved on the silver coins.
It had turned out to be the latter of the two possibilities Yuri had predicted.
The number of coins in the pouch varied based on how one had entered Yoram.
Donors' recommendations: Yellow Dragon Plaque—500.
Silver Dragon Plaque holders' recommendations: 3,000.
Golden Dragon Plaque holders' recommendations: 10,000.
*'Couldn't confirm anyone with a White Dragon Plaque recommendation... but probably around 30,000 to 50,000.'*
In other words, the 100,000 silver he'd received was thanks to the Black Dragon Lord's recommendation—Yohan.
And that 100,000 from Yohan was a massive sum.
*'Out of 503 people, aside from about thirty, everyone used my shop.'*
Even most Yellow Dragon Plaque holders had bought from his shop.
In that process, over 95% of the silver distributed to Yellow Dragon holders had ended up in Yuri's hands—no exaggeration.
And yet, it totaled just 230,000.
With Yuri alone taking 100,000.
"Jeez... who would've thought I'd benefit from that old man's favoritism like this."
If his hunch was right, and these unique silver coins really served as currency in Yoram...
*'I'll forgive you for all that bragging, old man.'*
The image of Yohan, ranting and raving—"Are you insane? Throwing away that precious plaque!"—flashed through Yuri's mind.
In that instant.
Clack—.
Yuri's expression changed at the sudden sound.
The joy that had filled his face moments ago was gone, replaced by a cold hardness.
He grabbed the sword beside him and sprang to his feet.
*An intruder.*
Quick to judge, Yuri acted just like he had during the one-eyed man's previous visit.
He doused the campfire, tossed a couple logs toward the passage, and melted into the darkness.
Once his eyes adjusted to the dark...
Yuri trained his gaze and ears on the passage.
Snap! Clang!
*The traps worked perfectly.*
After the one-eyed man's attack last time, Yuri had taken it as a lesson and reworked his hideout's traps.
The sounds echoing now were the result.
Snap—clang—clatter—.
A cacophony of noises from beyond the passage.
Since they posed no real threat to intruders anyway, he'd reprioritized the traps to prioritize reliable alarms over power.
Snap—snap—clang!
The sounds were drawing closer.
A glint flashed in Yuri's eyes.
*Decent skill level.*
But not enough to ignore the traps entirely—the breach was noisy.
Yuri closed his eyes.
Focusing on the sounds, he visualized the locations of his traps.
A three-dimensional trap map formed in his mind.
Clang—clang—thud!
The incoming sounds merged with the map Yuri envisioned.
*Judging by the sounds, one intruder, still at the passage entrance.*
Soon, a vivid image replayed of the single intruder dodging and smashing through the traps.
Snap—clatter—.
Which trap had triggered that sound.
Clang—.
How the intruder had blocked or deflected it, and when.
Yuri perfectly analyzed the noises to gauge the intruder's skill.
By the time most traps were destroyed and the sounds began to fade...
Having assessed the intruder's level, Yuri slowly opened his eyes.
At the same time.
Snikt—.
In the darkness, red lips twisted crookedly, forming a small dimple.