Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Dragon Token Hunt (3)
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A moment later.
Yuri returned, carrying something.
He...
"Come on, don't eat it. Give it to your skin instead."
Muttering something incomprehensible, he began smearing what he'd brought onto Jerry's face.
"W-What are you doing?!"
"Ehey, don't dodge. This is good for your skin."
Jerry twisted his face every which way, but buried in the ground as he was, he couldn't escape Yuri's devilish hands.
And so Jerry's entire face ended up slathered in some unidentified, bizarre liquid.
'This is...?'
The sweet scent tickling his nose, he licked a drop of the liquid trickling down his face.
Only then did Jerry realize what the stuff on his face was.
"...Honey?"
Where the hell did honey come from in the middle of winter?
This was the Forest of Beginnings, wasn't it?
And why the hell was he putting it on my face?
While Jerry pondered these questions, Yuri vanished from sight again for a moment—only to return carrying something else.
It was a lump of mud the size of a human head.
"I went through absolute hell getting this in this weather, you know? I hope our dear Jerry appreciates it."
"What... is that?"
In response to Jerry's question, Yuri kindly provided the answer.
With actions, not words.
"Honey's something everyone loves. Humans, beasts alike. And... these guys too."
*Thud*.
Yuri lightly tapped the mud lump near Jerry's face, and something small fell off.
No, more precisely, a 'single creature' did.
'Huh?'
Of all places, it landed on the bloodstained brick right by him—that tiny lifeform.
Head, thorax, abdomen structure.
Two long antennae and six legs.
And sturdy-looking jaws.
It was none other than...
"B-Blue ant?!"
A single blue ant.
The kind active in winter, commonly called a winter ant.
Also known as a noxious pest with venom that caused excruciating itchiness.
While Jerry's eyes bulged in shock, the flipped-over ant righted itself.
Its antennae twitched wildly as it regained its senses.
Then.
*Snap*.
Its slender antennae froze, as if locking onto a target.
The blue ant slowly turned its body toward Jerry's face.
To Jerry, the scene felt like time itself was crawling.
And the moment its eyes met his, Jerry had the illusion that the ant was greeting him.
Peekaboo!
(｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ
It was a look that seemed to say, 'Hang tight, I'll be right there!'
"N-No...!"
Jerry screamed, but it was too late to stop the creature that had chosen its mark.
In an instant, the blue ant leaped off the brick and charged.
*Patpatpat*.
The end of its charge was, naturally, Jerry's honey-smeared face.
Jerry bellowed in horror.
"D-Don't come here! Hoo!"
He blew a puff of breath, sending the oncoming ant flying far away.
But that was just the beginning.
*Thud-thud*.
This time, Yuri shook the ant nest twice.
Five more blue ants tumbled out.
"Uwaaak! St-Stop it! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"
One puff per ant.
Yuri giggled at the sight of Jerry precisely blowing them away.
"Oh man, our Jerry loves it so much—makes all my hard work in this lousy weather worth it."
His eyes sparkled as he rubbed his nose with his index finger.
"I brought extra, just in case it wasn't enough. How's that? Good, right?"
With that, Yuri produced several more ant nests.
Seeing the five nests cradled in Yuri's arms, Jerry could only freak out.
"...Are you insane?"
How the hell did this look like something he was enjoying?!
Jerry's face crumpled in misery.
He'd prided himself on encountering plenty of crazies before.
But now he was certain.
All those previous crazies were fakes.
This guy in front of him was the real deal—harboring true madness.
Seeing Jerry pale, Yuri's eyes gleamed mischievously from beneath his tangled hair.
He lifted another ant nest.
"Okay, quiz time! How many ants do you think are in this one nest?"
"......"
"And if I smash it right here... will you blow them away faster with your breath? Or will they swarm you first?"
As he spoke, Yuri tightened his grip on the nest.
*Crackle*.
Dirt crumbled off as if it might burst any second, turning Jerry's face ashen.
And then came Yuri's sinister voice.
"I guarantee you, if this breaks, every hole on Jerry's face will be crawling with ants."
"D-Don't... p-please......"
"Should I not?"
Jerry nodded desperately.
Yuri grinned wickedly.
"Then spill it. Everything you know."
"......?!"
"Five seconds. F-Four, th-ree......"
Yuri counted down firmly, squeezing the nest harder.
As the numbers dwindled, so did the dirt flakes falling from the nest—until Jerry's face was awash in despair.
'Ah... of all the... why him......'
Despair gave way to resignation.
In the end, he squeezed his eyes shut.
'...I've been caught by a total psycho.'
And so Jerry's lucky day...
"I-I'll talk! I'll tell you! Uwaaak, it's br-breaking?! Hey, you bastard! Ease up! Ease up on your grip, damn it!"
...ended in tragedy.
* * *
The blizzard ravaging the Forest of Beginnings gradually died down.
But in its place, screams echoed louder from all corners of the woods.
"P-Please, not that...!"
*Crack*.
"N-Nooooo!"
Yuri watched from hiding as yet another Imperial Dragon Token shattered.
Seeing the 49th Cohort move off in search of new prey, he turned and dashed away.
Strapped to his back was a wooden box.
*Swish*.
*Thud-thud*.
His eyes gleamed coldly as he raced through the pristine white forest.
'What a mess.'
He'd already confirmed over a dozen tokens smashed since entering the woods.
A rare reserve knight put up a decent fight now and then, but it was just stalling.
In the end, they all fell to the 49th Cohort's 'hunt.'
'Hunting festival, huh.'
The term fit the forest's chaos perfectly.
49th Cohort as the hunters.
Reserve 50th Cohort as the prey.
The only problem was that he was part of the prey.
"Dragon Token Hunt..."
Muttering to himself, Yuri recalled his conversation with Jerry from hours earlier.
* * *
"Dragon Token Hunt? What's that?"
At Yuri's question, Jerry began his tale with a small sigh.
"Haa... You know how knights' Dragon Tokens are determined right at the aptitude test?"
The Imperial Dragon Token given to recommendation holders.
Higher tokens like Silver Dragon and above were awarded based on test scores—that was the rule.
But the token you entered with wasn't necessarily the one you left with.
"Normally, you upgrade your token with points, but scraping by and earning scores is tough enough—when would you save up enough points to change it?"
"Points?"
"Oh, right, you wouldn't know. It's silver coins. They probably handed them out midway through the test, courtesy of the Black Sword Guards?"
"This?"
Yuri pulled a uniquely holed silver coin from his pouch.
Jerry nodded at the sight.
"Yeah, that. In the Cradle, they call 'em points."
"Currency used in the Dragon's Cradle?"
"More or less."
"If it's currency, it's currency—what's with the 'more or less'?"
"You can use points for everything in the Cradle—facilities, purchases. So yeah, it's currency. The catch is, points aren't just money."
"Then what?"
"Grades."
"......?"
"The benchmark for grades in the Cradle is 'how many points you hold.'"
"......?!"
Yuri's eyes widened slightly.
'This silver coin... way more important than I thought.'
What he'd dismissed as mere currency held far greater value.
'Silver coins—points. A system that forces you to spend but can't help hoarding them.'
Yuri grinned at the Cradle's ruthless setup.
'Fun. Right up my alley.'
He'd learn the exact uses once inside, but for now, he liked the Cradle's system.
Seeing Yuri speechless, Jerry poured out his woes.
"You'll see once you're a real knight. All the outside hype about the Cradle is just fantasy."
"......?"
"A month in the Forest of Beginnings? Pfft. If you can't hack that, quit and go home early. Real knights do it for a whole year."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The Cradle's a cutthroat competition society that favors survivors. But the real kicker? They discriminate on food, clothes, and shelter too."
"Huh?"
"First-year entrants get... just the clothes they walked in with."
Yuri incredulously lifted Jerry's shirt.
"This? That's it?"
"Yeah, just that one set."
"What if it rips?"
"You buy new ones at the shop with points. No points? Patch it up. Nothing? Live with the holes."
Jerry's flood of Cradle intel was shocking.
First-years got one outfit.
Just like the month in the Forest of Beginnings, they had to fend for themselves on sleep spots and food for a whole year.
'The month in the Forest... was just practice?'
Survive the year, hit second-year: clothes every six months, rations monthly.
Then third, fourth, fifth years.
Benefits trickled in as you survived competition and gained seniority.
Yuri clapped in admiration.
*Clap-clap*.
"Wow, the Dragon's Cradle is even crazier than I thought."
A madhouse like this, hyped as some academy?
Yuri stuck out his tongue; Jerry nodded in agreement.
"It's crazy. But it gives opportunities too."
"Anyway, get back to it. What's the Dragon Token Hunt?"
"...Where was I?"
"Upgrading tokens with points."
"Right. Yeah, you can upgrade with points, but it takes a ton. Once every five years, though, you get a shot to jump to a higher token for free."
Yuri could guess what that was.
He smirked.
"That shot... is stealing tokens from reserve knights?"
Jerry nodded.
"Spot on. When reserves arrive, second-years and up join the festival... The Cradle calls it the Dragon Token Hunt."
* * *
Slicing through the woods, Yuri chuckled.
'The Forest of Beginnings... wasn't made for reserve knights.'
Once every five years in the Cradle.
A reward stage for second-years who'd survived the hellish first year post-entry.
That was the Forest of Beginnings.
'Not just tokens—they're showering points too. No wonder the 49th Cohort's going wild.'
Even without token interest, points alone made them hustle.
The Cradle filtered weak reserves without extra manpower.
Knights earned points.
Tough luck for reserves, but solid symbiosis.
'Fun. All reserves are golden goblins...'
Catch one, get token and points.
That was reserves' current state.
Yuri snickered at the thought.
"In that sense, am I like the king golden goblin?"
Over the past month, he'd hoarded a point box worth hundreds of thousands from other reserves—strapped to his shoulder.
Plus the top-tier Black Dragon Token.
Catching him meant striking it rich.
If word got out, 49th Cohort would swarm like bees.
Best move: hide till the hunt ended.
For Yuri, not hard at all.
He'd keep his points and token easily.
But Yuri left his hideout, plunging into the heart of the Dragon Token Hunt.
Heading south through the forest.
One reason.
'This hunt... isn't just prepped for the 49th Cohort.'
As if savoring the taste.
Yuri's red tongue licked his lips.