The Boundary of Dreams (13)
The boy in the seat across from me couldn't hold it in any longer. "Ugh...! Blegh...!" He emptied the contents of his stomach into the bag he'd been clutching. It was his body's violent reaction to riding an off-road vehicle built for rough terrain instead of the luxury cars he was used to in the city. The other first-years sitting around him were showing similar symptoms.
For several hours now, we'd been crawling at a snail's pace over violently jolting wilderness. Once we left the outskirts of the metropolis, paved roads vanished completely. We were lucky if there was even an unpaved path; more often, the road would simply end, forcing us to detour over steep hills or along the ridges of valleys.
"Huff... How much longer until we arrive?"
"At least three more days," the second-year girl sitting opposite him answered indifferently. Unlike the first-years struggling to adapt, the second-years—who had experienced field operations several times—simply looked bored as they sat there.
"What... did you say?" The first-year boy's face crumpled in despair.
"Consider yourself lucky. When we went last year, it took twice as long as this. The agricultural district's construction has at least allowed them to rebuild some of the roads."
"Still... ugh...!" After another bout of retching, the boy grumbled in a sullen voice. "Huff... What is this? The speed is terrible and the ride quality is the worst. Wouldn't it be better to just ride horses like our ancestors did?"
"Are you going to provide the pastureland and hay needed to raise the horses? We're already short on food for people, and you want to—"
The second-year girl cut him off with a sharp rebuke. "Be grateful we even have magic. Without it, we'd be walking all the way to the south on foot."
She glanced sideways toward the driver's seat. The girl there hadn't taken her hand off the gear lever the entire time. Through the point of contact, I could see shimmering particles continuously flowing into the stellite that served as the vehicle's power source.
"Even so, this is... slower than if I just strengthened my body and ran... Maybe I should just get off and—"
"Your Lubin Value must be around a million R, huh? Thinking you could run all the way to the south. And you'd be able to take down every monster or raider you encounter before you even hit particle exhaustion?"
"..." The boy didn't say another word.
Instead, the first-year girl sitting beside him murmured in a small, uncertain voice, "It'll really be okay, right...? What if we actually run into dark mages..."
"Don't worry. Those guys aren't all that impressive. During the first request last time, I took down three of them all by myself—"
"Pfft..."
"Three, he says..."
The boast from someone whose words carried a hint of dark ulterior motives toward the girl scattered into the air, drowned out by the laughter coming from the front.
"W-what?"
"Hey, chick. Even if four guys just like you jumped a dark mage, it'd still be hard to win. At the same level of Lubin Value, regular magic can never match dark magic in destructive power. Wake up from your dream."
The second-years, who had barely managed to stifle their laughter, spoke to the bewildered boy.
"Huh? But I'm sure..."
"The ones you faced weren't real dark mages—they were just scraps. The real ones are affiliated with groups like the PLF or the Night Theater. You'll understand the difference the moment you meet one."
"Um... but the Night Theater... wasn't Senior Baek Seoyeon the one who..."
"She's not someone who lives in the same world as us. Why else do you think she's considered the strongest candidate in history?"
One of the second-years shook his head at the first-year girl's cautious question. It was a story everyone who knew anything already knew.
Last year. The Night Theater had suffered near-annihilation at the hands of a new cradle freshman and had been brutally dismantled. Their leadership—dark mages powerful enough to be on the red wanted list—had all been slaughtered during the subjugation. The freshman's identity was Baek Seoyeon of the Heavenly Baek family, whose name had already been the talk of the academy from the moment she enrolled.
She had coincidentally picked up their trail while on an external request and hadn't let the opportunity slip. Among all the criminal organizations, the Night Theater's notoriety was second to none. On the other hand, investigations and subjugations had been sluggish, leading to rumors that they had the backing of several prestigious families who used them to handle their dirty work.
Therefore, the praise that poured down on Baek Seoyeon for taking the initiative to eradicate them was immense. The open secret that the Heavenly Baek family had been one of the Night Theater's biggest clients quietly disappeared beneath that wave of acclaim.
At the same time, it had become the catalyst that allowed Baek Seoyeon to pull further ahead in her rivalry with Yeon Minha. While their skills were too close to call, their completely opposite personalities began to draw attention in earnest. On top of that, Baek Seoyeon—having been recognized for her achievement—was named the new successor of the Heavenly Baek family in place of her eldest brother, who had gone missing for unclear reasons.
"...You guys absolutely do not bring this up in front of Minha, got it? It's her least favorite topic. You've all heard about your senior who lost an ear in a duel last year, right? He blabbed about it in front of her without reading the room."
The second-year girl muttered as she glanced briefly out the window. In the direction she was looking was the off-road vehicle carrying Yeon Minha.
If one were to judge purely on a human level, most of those who had joined this request actually held far higher favor toward Baek Seoyeon. However, because of their various connections to the Red Fire family, there was no room for any ties to form.
"Suhee. I'm at risk of particle exhaustion soon. Switch with me in ten minutes."
"Got it!"
The person in the driver's seat shook out the hand that had been gripping the gear lever.
"Ugh...!"
"Again... You all really need to learn from that guy over there."
She clicked her tongue at the boy who had started retching once more, then glanced at someone riding in one of the vehicles following in a line behind us.
He had been sitting there silently the entire time, without the slightest movement. The bizarre sight of a black anti-particle suit with only a white mask floating above it was clearly visible even from this distance.
The green waves swayed endlessly toward the horizon, rippling in the gentle breeze. At first glance, the scene looked remarkably peaceful.
"Whoa..."
A gasp of admiration escaped from the seat beside me, as if involuntarily. The other students, exhausted from the arduous journey, seemed to find at least some comfort in the landscape spread before them.
When I turned my head to look forward, I saw Yeon Minha maintaining her perfectly upright posture without the slightest sign of fatigue. Even after such a long trip, her hair still gleamed with luster and her skin remained flawless. It was quite impressive.
"W-what... why..."
"...It's nothing."
As if she had sensed that brief moment, Yeon Minha flinched slightly and stammered. The eyeholes of the mask were covered with polarizing film, so my gaze shouldn't have been visible. Perhaps it was because she was a spirit mage—there was definitely something about her that ordinary people lacked. Unlike the shadowless who specialized in only certain senses, Yeon Minha seemed to have evenly developed sensitivity across all her senses. Maybe that was why she had suffered so much from mental pollution.
When I shook my head, she turned her gaze in another direction. Soon, the gateway city of the south began to come into view.
A group was already lined up in front of the gate, waiting to greet us. Two of them wore particle array devices on their wrists, while the rest were armed with firearms in their hands. It was a typical formation with a mage as commander due to a shortage of personnel. Judging by the patch logo on their shoulders, they appeared to be private soldiers prepared by the corporation.
Following the hand signals, we stopped the vehicles and got out. The man standing at the front approached and bowed to Yeon Minha. He was a young, bespectacled man with a likable face.
"It is an honor to meet the young lady of the Red Fire family like this. I am Cheon Hwa-seong, director in charge of the Southern First Agricultural District. I have been assigned to assist with the request by supporting the personnel dispatched from the cradle this time."
However, despite his kind and polite demeanor, Yeon Minha frowned arrogantly.
"The person in charge of delivering the request to us was Executive Director Jin Yun-cheol, wasn't it? Where did he go? I haven't heard anything about a change in personnel."
"The executive director suffered an accident while inspecting the agricultural district not long ago and was urgently transported away. We sent a messenger crow immediately, but it seems our paths crossed after you had already departed. The documents regarding the change in position are at headquarters, so if you would check later..."
"Tsk, never mind. More importantly, what's the situation in the south?"
"Yes? Ah, yes. Not bad at all. To be honest, we've been maintaining truly decent public order lately."
The man continued his explanation, looking somewhat flustered. "A few years ago, a large-scale subjugation drove them into no-man's-land, and since then, we haven't detected any major activity. The shipments heading to the capital are also being prepared smoothly. The procedures should be completed in two or three days, so you should be able to proceed without any issues according to the originally scheduled timeline."
He bowed almost obsequiously now.
"However, we do occasionally apprehend spies operating within the city..."
"That's enough. Spies like that exist everywhere. I think that's plenty of explanation."
"Yes? Ah, yes..."
Apparently deciding that it wasn't a significant issue, Yeon Minha cut the man's words short. Even in my opinion, a spy or two wouldn't pose a fatal threat to carrying out the request. It was something that happened frequently in regions outside the capital anyway.
We joined up with the corporation's private soldiers and passed through the gateway city. After traveling several more hours southward, alternating between winding mountain passes and plains, a large city built in a sizable basin finally appeared before us.
It couldn't compare to the capital, but the heavy metal barrier surrounding it was impressively tall and grand. What stood out even more was that an additional layer of defensive line had been installed. The barriers filling the gaps in the mountain terrain seemed designed to guard the southern and eastern parts of the basin against the no-man's-land where administrative power still couldn't reach.
As I was momentarily lost in the scenery, the voice of Director Cheon Hwa-seong, who was leading the way, reached us.
"The first city of the south. Welcome to Jinling."