Chapter 9
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Childhood, The Prelude to Summer (8)
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The summer-drenched forest was parched and dry.
As if dying, the moisture-starved greenery was withering away.
It was only natural. Summer took everything from this land.
“I told you to just bring fire and oil. Why’d you bring the steamguns?”
Kaisen, walking ahead, asked.
The two young soldiers following behind him spoke as if dumbfounded. Their mouths were so dry that their voices trembled with fear.
“Well… if, if the Uruks show up, we have to fight.”
“Fight? While you’re trembling like that.”
“I-I’m not trembling!”
Humanity used steamguns, the pinnacle of steam civilization created by the demi-humans.
The advantages of the steamgun were obvious.
It instantly closed the desperate gap in strength while miraculously shortening the training period for new recruits. But it had its drawbacks as well.
“Just focus on running if things go south. But how are you going to run carrying something that heavy?”
The steam engine. They had to carry a miniature steam engine on their backs.
Half a dozen hoses extended from the engine, connecting to gas canisters on either side of their waists.
Connected to these gas canisters, the guns were supplied with power, enabling them to fire bullets.
“We can take care of ourselves!”
Just then, Kaisen came to a halt.
The young soldiers flinched, their hands moving to the gun barrels holstered at their belts.
Kaisen said,
“Just pour the oil here. And light it on fire.”
The young soldiers grumbled as they doused the trees with oil and lit their torches.
Early summer had made the world dry. Easy for a fire to catch.
The flames that shot up along the oil trail greedily began to lick at the forest here and there. The smell of burning rose thick in the air.
“Now, run. You have ten seconds. Throw those guns away.”
“…?”
“No, is it five seconds? Hurry!”
At that very moment, it began… the dance of death.
“Huh?”
Something pale flashed, and the head of the boy holding the torch split in two, sending brain matter and bone fragments flying into the air.
And then, darkness leaped out.
The other young soldier, who had been staring blankly at the gruesome sight and stumbling backward, was struck by a mace. His upper body, with only the spine remaining, staggered before collapsing into the darkness.
“Dammit, that’s why I told you to run!”
A beat too late, Kaisen bit his lip and gripped the hilt of his sword.
*The scents of blood and burning intertwine.*
As the torch tumbled to the ground, the forest shadows danced wildly. Within those shadows, a monstrous giant blended in.
“Kun Ta Ni shiRaooooOOOO!”
It was a voice laced with pleasure.
Kaisen stared at the scene, his face expressionless. Only his eyes glinted with a cold light.
“What the hell is so funny.”
This one and that one.
All of them, grinning from ear to ear with those damn faces…
As he drew the longsword from his back, the flames of a mountain-swallowing fire shimmered on the blade. Kaisen said,
“Oshide (Come on).”
It was almost simultaneous.
The Uruk warrior charged, swinging its mace, and Kaisen kicked off the ground, soaring into the sky.
*Whoooosh—!*
The moment he dodged the mace sweeping below, he spun his body twice in mid-air, swinging his blade like a top.
*—Thud.*
It was the instant Kaisen landed on the ground after finishing his slash.
A thin line of blood appeared on the Uruk’s head and upper body, and in a flash, a fountain of blood erupted as it split in two.
*Spluuuurt—!*
One down.
Kaisen swung his sword toward the ground.
The blood on the blade sprayed in an arc, painting the dirt floor crimson.
“Stop messing around and come at me all at once!”
As Kaisen said this in his now-proficient monster tongue, giant figures emerged from the darkness beyond the torchlight.
The fire continued to grow fiercer. Large and powerful enough to swallow the entire mountain.
The Uruk’s outer perimeter unit, their eyes fixed on the battle with Kaisen, had missed their chance to extinguish the flames.
“That Kaisen kid.”
Even from this distance, the wildfire was clearly visible. Wolf, sitting on a ridge where the stars emerged eerily, smiled.
“He did it in half a day, not even a full one.”
“Hmph.” Camilla stood up, fastening the Supreme Holy Sword Aradamanthel to her back. The mercenary captain, Eltram, bellowed at the corps.
“Get up, you useless bastards! It’s party time!”
At that moment, Kaisen lowered his stance, crossing his sword and scabbard.
Sipmunjado First Form, Circle.
The fundamental stance of the Sipmunjado, an ultimate defensive posture that linked to all other forms.
“GGGGGGSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!”
An axe blade lunged forward in an instant.
The forms of the Sipmunjado began by thrusting this cross into the path of an attack.
*Claaaaang—!*
The recoil after the blades clashed.
He saw it, an opening that appeared for the briefest of moments.
Suppressing the crushing pain in his wrist, he instantly sheathed his sword, and then—
—Sipmunjado Fourth Form, Release.
He drew and cut in one motion.
After striking the weak point, he retreated.
As he fell back, the Uruk warrior collapsed at Kaisen’s feet, coughing up blood.
*Now, smile.*
*See if it's still fun.*
He stomped on its head and sliced deep into its neck.
The Uruk, clutching its throat from which bloody foam gushed, cried out in agony.
The other Uruk warriors hesitated, trying to comprehend the bizarre situation.
“Waaaaarrr…?”
“Anu on Shikeraber…?”
Two warriors had been killed in a single exchange.
And by a human brat, no less…
As the Uruks faltered, stunned by the impossible situation, Kaisen beckoned to them with a finger.
“What are you dawdling for? Come at me already!”
While Kaisen’s bloody battle raged on, the Uruks were caught off guard by the militia, which had suddenly shifted to the offensive.
Exploiting that opening.
The FakeWarrior corps, striking from the flank, mercilessly ravaged the Uruk battle lines.
“First rank, draw, fire!”
“Second rank, stand by, fire!”
“Third rank, draw, fire!”
*Swish, swish, swish.* With every gunshot, Uruks collapsed as if crumbling. There was one giant of supernatural size that charged forward even after being riddled with bullets.
“It’s a battle chieftain!”
“Ma’am!”
Camilla, the FakeWarrior, faced the chieftain, who was even larger than a typical Uruk.
“I am Camilla Alter Aradamanthel.”
The holy sword answered its wielder’s call.
A crimson sword aura erupted with a savage roar. The unique color of Aradamanthel, the holy sword that washed the blood-soaked world in red.
“I will kill you.”
The fight could hardly be called a fight.
The Republic soldiers clearly saw the chieftain and the FakeWarrior clash.
But the moment a blood-red lightning seemed to flash from Aradamanthel’s blade, the monster’s massive body was bisected, splattering blood in all directions.
“Th-that’s the lead FakeWarrior…!”
The militia who happened to witness the scene were electrified with renewed vigor, while the Uruks lost their morale and began to fall back one by one.
“Wipe them all out. Don’t leave a single one.”
Standing on the chieftain’s corpse, Camilla flicked the blood from her blade, her eyes blazing.
Amidst the repulsive, alien stench of blood, a massacre began.
As gunshots echoed endlessly, the smell of the burning forest and the rancid odor of charring corpses twisted and writhed together. It was an age of war.
The Dark Ages, year 1696.
In the year the fires of war on the Inferno Line front raged more fiercely than ever, Kaisen wandered from one such battlefield to another.
The boy was only seventeen years old.
* * *
“Casualty count?”
The battle ended in a great victory.
As Camilla sheathed Aradamanthel, she asked, and Eltram answered.
“Thirty-three dead, fifty-seven wounded.”
“And?”
“Over 4,000 Uruks dead, I’d say.”
The corps’ soldiers were moving about, finishing off any Uruks that weren’t quite dead. They dragged out and cut down all those who had hidden or fled into the forest.
“That’s quite a lot for a detachment. Which also means we used at least 4,000 bullets.”
*We’ll need to restock our supplies before moving on.*
*And that’s not all.*
*For a detachment of 4,000 Uruks to appear inside the Inferno Line… how in the world did they get in here?*
‘It’s unsettlingly ominous. I should report this to that old geezer as soon as possible.’
Just then, the militia captain, Jack, approached.
“Th-thank you. You saved us. I don’t know how to express my gratitude…”
Jack, who had bowed his head, was momentarily captivated. The appearance of the first FakeWarrior he had ever met was incredibly beautiful. Camilla said,
“There was an insolent brat who came here, right?”
“A brat? Ah, yes.”
“Where is he?”
“He said he was going to light the signal fire and hasn’t returned. But is a brat like that really part of the FakeWarrior corps?”
*A brat like that?*
At those words, it was Long-gun Jin, one of the corps’ most senior members, who cracked his neck and flared up.
“You say you were saved, but you’ve got a funny way of talking.”
“Excuse me…?”
“You should know you’re alive thanks to Kaisen. Ha, what’s with these Republic idiots.”
Johan Wolf Frost stepped between them to mediate.
“Calm down, Jin. My apologies. Everyone’s on edge right after a battle.”
At that moment, Eltram lifted his bear-like head and sniffed the air, then grinned.
Heading in the direction Eltram pointed, Camilla soon found Kaisen, who was covering a burial pit with dirt.
The boy, using an Uruk axe as a shovel, did not show his face to the FakeWarrior.
“What are you doing?”
“The guys who helped me light the fire. They died in the Uruk ambush.”
“Did you know them?”
“No. If I were as strong as you, I would have protected them.”
Camilla walked over to Kaisen, who was finishing covering the grave with dirt. She then stacked a few pebbles in front of the mound like a tombstone.
“Summer hasn’t even truly begun yet. If you get emotional over every little thing like this, you’ll dry up and die from dehydration before summer’s even over.”
Then she slapped Kaisen on the back.
Unlike her usual beatings, it was strangely gentle… as if praising his current actions.
“So don’t cry.”
That was the last time.
It was the last moment they could casually exchange such words of comfort after a battle.
* * *
I still vividly remember the day humanity’s southern border, the Inferno Line, was breached.
The day a griffin rider delivered the breathless, urgent news… yes, that was the moment.
Before that, Camilla’s corps, to which Kaisen belonged, was staying in <Aquitaina> to resupply.
“Look over there. It’s the White Skull Corps.”
“I hear they’re victorious wherever they go.”
“I’ve actually fought alongside them. They’re just a bunch of monsters.”
<Aquitaina>.
This military city, prosperous since ancient times, was originally a small city in the midwestern part of the old Republic.
The city was connected to the great central city of <Aurelinople> and the southwestern port of <Aristapo> along the Bellisor River.
Furthermore, as various supply trains traveled along the Inferno Line’s railway, it was only natural for it to serve as a strategic hub for humanity in the midwest.
“Jin, you’re in charge of checking the supplies.”
Despite the long war, the scenery of <Aquitaina> was bright.
The roads were paved with flagstones, and refugees received food rations in exchange for their labor in the factories.
Walking down a street where the clock tower cast a deep shadow, Camilla gave her orders.
“If anyone tries to give you cheap bullets or guns, bring them to me. I’ll knock all their teeth out.”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Why am I your mom, you son of a bitch.”
“No, Ma’am, I said Ma’am,” Long-gun Jin protested, dodging Camilla’s fist. Camilla continued,
“Wolf, you go check if the church is paying us properly.”
“Got it.”
“Eltram, you make sure that when I tell him to rest, he doesn’t just spend the whole day screwing around. We might have to leave right away.”
“Yep.”
“I’m going to report to that perverted old Marshal.”
As the citizens stepped aside on both sides of the road, sending gazes of respect and not daring to move, someone blocked the corps’ path.
“…?”
Everyone’s eyes filled with bewilderment, but once they saw the person’s appearance, they understood.
“It’s been a while, Camilla.”
Her hair was also white.
Her eyes, too, were the golden eyes of a dragon.
“You’re still alive, I see.”
The longsword sheathed in the elegantly crafted scabbard at her waist was the Supreme Holy Sword Tassalpo.
As Tassalpo emitted a blue aura from within its scabbard, Aradamanthel, at Camilla’s waist, resonated, spewing a red aura.
“You’re the one with a damn long lifeline, Sharon.”