The Siege of Insect Assembly Castle (3)

I am a discharged soldier. Which means I’ve been through military service. And the unit I was assigned to was a godforsaken building stuck deep in some mountain valley. I had no idea. Never imagined that the place I’d get sent to after all the spinning around in the lottery would be such a shitty spot…

That was when I realized something. All those bug stories people told about the army? They were all true. Cockroaches and centipedes crawling all over the guard posts. Millions of flying insects swarming the food waste room. A moth the size of a human fist called Tinkerbell. Stuff like that.

Shockingly, the place where I served had all three of those nightmares combined. Especially in summer—it was literal hell on earth. Thanks to that, I built up a decent immunity to bugs. I honestly thought I’d never experience anything worse than that again.

I really believed that… until now.

Aaaaaaaiiiing!

Slap!

The sound of wings buzzing right next to my ear jerked me awake. I swung my palm as fast as I could, but all I managed to do was smack my own cheek. Just a bug, and it was faster than the Hero… Honestly, maybe these bastards are stronger than the Four Heavenly Kings.

Still half-asleep, I muttered quietly.

“Goddamn it…”

What kind of bug was it this time? Just a regular flying insect? A fly? Moth, bee, mosquito, some four-winged freak, winged ant, ladybug… All sorts of possibilities flashed through my mind before vanishing. Truth was, none of that actually mattered.

What mattered was that these fucking bugs had already woken me up six times tonight.

I wanted to burn them all to ash, but I knew that would only draw more aggro, so I had no choice but to endure it. Still, maybe because my body was exhausted, I somehow managed to fall asleep again.

“Hero, wake up. Hero.”

About an hour later, Kamilla shook me awake for her turn at watch.

“Ughhh…”

I dragged my lead-heavy body up from the ground. Even with my eyes open, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it felt like I could pass out at any second, but I had to hold on. Now I was stuck standing guard in one spot for the next two hours.

I can’t believe I’m doing this shit again…

After getting out of the military, I thought I’d never have to pull night watch for the rest of my life. Guess no one can ever really predict how life will turn out. Who would’ve thought I’d get dropped into another world and become a Hero?

“Don’t pull any stupid crap. Just keep watch properly.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I gave a half-hearted nod and plopped down on a nearby rock. Kamilla shot me a quick glare before slipping into the tent. She didn’t forget to activate the protective magic Lily had set up nearby.

That barrier had two purposes. One was to keep the bugs out. The other was to keep me out. They probably felt uneasy leaving me alone while they slept… It was a pretty insulting arrangement, but ever since they installed it, at least no one had to stay awake watching me all night. In the past, they’d often had to stay up together just to make sure I didn’t try anything sneaky. So I guess this was an improvement.

I decided to think of it that way and looked for something to kill time with. Anyone who’s ever stood night watch at dawn knows this—time crawls like a dying snail. You have to do something to make it pass.

Fortunately, I already had something in mind.

Status window.

To be honest, not much had changed since last time. My level was the same. A few skills had just gone up a level or been added.

“Hmm…”

I stared at the window and fell into thought.

I really need to decide on a class soon.

We’d already entered one of the Four Heavenly Kings’ castles, yet I still hadn’t settled on a proper direction. It was long past due. The time had finally come to choose my job tree.

Looking at my current skills, most of them leaned toward the swordsman path. With Combat Focus, Regeneration, and Bright Style Swordsmanship, I could definitely become a pretty decent swordsman.

But “pretty decent” wasn’t going to cut it.

Something’s missing.

Swordsman was certainly a good class, but it wasn’t nearly enough to clear the game. Especially not when the difficulty had been cranked up this time. I needed something extra on top of being a swordsman. Something that would work on anyone.

There were plenty of options. I could learn holy magic from the Saint and become a Holy Knight. Adding defensive magic to become an invincible tank was also viable. Or I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could seek out a mage and become a magic swordsman or magic spearman. Every single one of those paths was a class I’d faced the Demon King with before. The potential was definitely there.

But even so, there was one thing that kept bothering me.

The quest.

This time, instead of the status window, I called up another one in my mind. The truth was, I had received a quest yesterday evening. A quest that seemed to guide my journey and gave me a clear objective.

The first time I saw this, I couldn’t help but be shocked. Defeating Valcan? That was what I was planning to do anyway, so I let that part slide. But the quest reward made no sense.

“Insect Magic…”

I never expected the system to just hand out one of the Four Heavenly Kings’ skills like this. I guess the Minotaur wasn’t the last time. And since it didn’t even say “Replica,” it looked like I’d be getting something close to the original version.

That part was fine. Actually, it was more than fine. No matter what anyone said, Insect Magic was an overpowered skill. It had been Valcan’s main technique, after all. I wasn’t confident I could use it as well as he did, but it would definitely be a huge help in future ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠battles.

But there was one tiny, insignificant problem.

“This is black magic…”

Black magic. A school of sorcery hated by the majority of this world. A chaotic collection of bizarre, grotesque, and overwhelmingly destructive spells. Our party members didn’t just dislike it—they outright loathed it. In fact, that was one of the reasons I hadn’t chosen it when selecting my skills before.

And yet the system was trying to give it to me now… It put me in a very awkward position. At the same time, the performance was so good that I couldn’t just refuse it. In short, it had become a double-edged sword.

I wonder if I can hide it…

I had no idea. There were still so many things I needed to do. I had to raise my level, keep an eye on the heroines’ conditions, and search for hidden pieces inside the Insect Assembly Castle.

In the end, I had no choice but to postpone deciding on my class once again.

“Hero, you can go lie down now. It’s time to switch.”

“Huh? Oh.”

After worrying, planning, and keeping watch like that, my shift had somehow already ended. The Saint tapped my shoulder lightly with sleepy eyes.

I glanced at my watch. 3:50 AM.

“There’s still about ten minutes until the shift change, isn’t there?”

“Is that so? I must have read the time wrong. Since I’m already out here, I’ll just take over. Go get some rest.”

“…If you insist.”

I didn’t bother refusing and headed inside the tent. I really was exhausted. I felt like I could die from sleep deprivation. The moment I lay down, I’d probably fall into a deep sleep.

I crawled into my sleeping bag and immediately sank into unconsciousness…

……

…

.

Aaaaaaaaaaiiiing!!!

“Goddamn it, seriously!”

I woke up again in the middle of it.

*

The next day dawned. Everyone looked exhausted from not getting proper sleep. Their hair was frizzy, and dark circles hung under their eyes. They must have woken up dozens of times like me, because their faces were filled with big and small traces of irritation. Of course, they didn’t show it outwardly.

In that state, we fought monsters just like the day before. Sticky mucus covered our bodies, and insect corpses kept sticking to that mucus. The Saint used purification magic to clean it off, but the unpleasant feeling remained.

The second day passed like that.

*

Third day. Fucking hell. These goddamn bugs. I couldn’t sleep again. The tiny buzzing sounds near my ears were starting to feel like they’d give me neurosis.

“We need to set up some kind of insect screen…” Lily muttered in a tired voice.

I nodded vigorously in agreement. We needed some kind of countermeasure.

That day too, we killed monsters and the Saint purified us. And so it passed.

*

Fourth day. The insect screens were finally completed. Only on their tents, not mine… Making one by myself in a single night had been too much. Gathering materials, crafting—everything was a problem. And it didn’t seem like they were going to help me either.

Thanks to that, I had no choice but to sleep mixed in with the flying bugs again that night…

*

Fifth day. While I was making the insect screen, the Saint came to help. She began teaching me the know-how they had figured out the day before. That’s right—there were steel silkworm cocoons here. They must have woven those together.

Thanks to her help, I barely managed to finish the screen that day. We fought monsters again, and the Saint purified us. That night, I was finally able to sleep somewhat comfortably.

*

It had been a while since I got good news! My skill leveled up and I gained a new ability. Maybe it was because I’d been constantly fighting monsters that attacked from all directions, but I had obtained something related to that.

Multitasking expanded my field of vision. It let me focus on one enemy while paying attention to another area at the same time. In other words, it was an ability specialized for fighting multiple opponents.

Thanks to it, I was able to slaughter the monsters more easily.

*

Finally! My level went up! Damn it, the level that wouldn’t budge even after killing the Minotaur had finally increased!

“It really doesn’t go up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easily, does it?”

Anyway, I was now level 75. Honestly, I didn’t feel much of a difference. Stats increased first, and levels rose automatically once they reached a certain point. So there was practically no immediate stat boost. Still, it felt good, so I just accepted it.

But good news is always followed by bad news.

Sure enough, something happened the next day.

*

Eighth day.

“Let go! I’m going to blow all these bastards up!”

“Calm down, Lily! If you do that, we’ll all get crushed and die!”

Lily’s insect screen had been breached. The bugs had chewed through it with their teeth. That also meant my own screen didn’t have much time left either.

I let out a small sigh.

“Haa…”

I hadn’t even used it for a few days. How was I supposed to get through the rest of this? We had only been here for a week.