Chapter 55
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55
The academy's training ground was packed with cadets heading to Avallon Island, kicking up thick clouds of dust.
"Yaaawn."
I let out a massive, jaw-splitting yawn and leaned my back against a random wall.
...I'm tired.
For the past two days, I had been stopping by the library after school to flip through books and introductory texts on myths and legends. Before I knew it, Wednesday had already arrived.
Despite my vow not to rush, my body was moving in a hurry. Usually, when the body is too busy, the stomach starts to churn.
As I stood there staring blankly at the sky for a moment, the instructors began gathering the cadets of their respective classes.
Just as I was about to push myself off the wall and head over, a robust voice called out to me.
"Cadet Kang Geomma."
"Oh, Sword Emperor."
The Sword Emperor was wearing a green athletic tracksuit. Despite his solemn face, various fishing rods were peeking out of his backpack. Was fishing his hobby?
"I see you haven't been slacking on your training lately."
"Ah, yes, well..."
I scratched my cheek awkwardly as I replied. Whenever I was working out alone, the Sword Emperor would occasionally watch me from a distance.
While it was only right for an educator to keep an eye on his cadets, the sheer intensity of his gaze was quite burdensome. Not to mention how his eyes sparkled with interest whenever I did anything.
The Sword Emperor stared at me intently before breaking into a broad smile.
"When effort is stacked upon outstanding talent, the results don't just add up—they multiply. Still, you must get enough rest for your body to hold out, so make sure to enjoy yourself to the fullest during this training."
"...Thank you. I hope you catch a big one too, Sword Emperor."
"Ah, you mean this? Thank you. Well then, I shall be off. Ahem."
Perhaps feeling embarrassed, the Sword Emperor cleared his throat and quickly took his leave. Meanwhile, I felt a sharp gaze piercing the back of my head.
When I slowly turned my head, Abel was glaring at me with a pouty expression.
It seemed she wasn't pleased with her grandfather's blatant interest in me.
When our eyes met, she quickly turned her head away with a haughty, nonchalant expression. I let out a faint chuckle and muttered,
"Don't worry, you'll get a boyfriend soon anyway."
Smiling faintly, I looked around at the crowd.
The cadets were lined up by class. Some looked incredibly excited, while others looked reluctant, clearly not fond of outdoor activities.
They wore training armaments at their waists and backpacks filled with their own supplies on their backs.
Although Avallon Island wasn't an area where magical beasts appeared, the academy principal had instructed everyone to bring at least training armaments to prevent complacency.
I had left Murasame safely in my dormitory, but I had packed a handful of Daixo Sashimi knives just in case, which eased my mind.
Last night, Medea had sent me texts like: Did you pack emergency medicine? What about clothes? You need to bring at least three pairs of underwear! Make sure they're black so they don't show dirt easily!
Her extreme caution in preparing for any contingency made her seem like a mother packing for her child before a trip.
Ah, come to think of it, Academy Principal Medea was way older than my mother. Because she looked like a young woman in her twenties, I often forgot her actual age.
...But did she really need to specify the color of my underwear?
Shaking my head slightly, I shifted my gaze and scanned the area ahead. Amidst the bustling crowd, the instructors were checking off names, matching faces to the rosters in their hands.
Taking advantage of this, I began to scan the instructors' faces instead.
Since it was rare for all the instructors assigned to each class to gather in one place, I intended to use this opportunity to look for the female instructor whose description matched what the checkpoint employee had told me.
I didn't know her motives, but if she was targeting me, this uninhabited island survival training would be the perfect opportunity.
If she utilized the island's mysterious nature, where the terrain constantly shifted, cleaning up the aftermath would be easy.
Of course, the same logic applied to me. If she showed herself, I could deal with her and easily dispose of her corpse.
Using a knife on a human was still uncomfortable, but with my life on the line, I didn't have the luxury to worry about such things.
A tall woman with purple hair. Good figure.
Back on Earth, you wouldn't be able to find someone like that easily even at Gangnam Station. But here, there were at least five or six women with purple hair, and whatever they were eating, every single female instructor had an outstanding figure.
"How the hell am I supposed to find her?"
The more I looked, the more the colorful hair blurred across my retinas. A wave of dizziness hit me, reminiscent of looking at a Magic Eye poster when I was a kid, so I quickly looked away.
I massaged the bridge of my nose, then tilted my chin up slightly to stare blankly into space to relieve the strain on my eyes.
Just then, someone quietly approached my side and tried to poke my ribs with their index finger. I didn't even need to look to know who would play such a prank on me.
I snatched the delicate finger creeping toward my ribs and flicked her forehead.
Thwack!
With a crisp sound, Saki Ryozo let out a sharp "Ow!" She clutched her forehead with both hands and glared at me with narrowed eyes.
"Hey! I was just playing a little joke because I was bored! Why do you have to hit me?!"
She muttered to herself in a small huff. When I let out a low chuckle, she stuck her tongue out halfway and scurried away.
"Saki Ryozo... I really can't figure out her character."
Out of everyone I had met in this world, she was probably the one with the biggest gap between her first impression and her actual personality.
Gone was the girl who used to lie down and sleep all day as if everything was a chore; now, she was constantly hovering around me.
If I ignored her because she was annoying, she would pout, disappear, and then pop up in my sight again.
To put it nicely, she was lively; to put it bluntly, she was distracting. Despite her elegant appearance, which made her look like a refined young lady from a prestigious family, Ryozo behaved like a stray cat.
I had no idea what had sparked her interest in me, but even though she was a character destined to fade into the background, she was still technically one of the main heroines. I didn't want to build any more intimacy with her than necessary.
"...I really want to get through this quietly, at least this time."
My plan was to quietly find the blessing I wanted on Avallon Island and handle any unexpected trouble on my own.
Once the instructors finished checking the cadets,
[The subspace gate to Avallon Island will be activated shortly.]
[Please prioritize safety and have a wonderful time.]
A clear, mechanical voice rang in my ears, and a purple barrier draped over the blue sky like a dome.
[May the Blessing of the Hero be with you.]
* * *
"Wow."
The moment we arrived on Avallon Island, an exclamation of awe escaped my lips.
Trees of shapes I had never seen before lingered like the scent of early summer. The low-lying sea mist rolling in from the surrounding ocean added to the island's mystical atmosphere.
"There's a reason they call it a sacred land."
But above all, the giant tree rising from the center of the island like a massive parasol was a breathtaking sight.
The Apple Tree of the Beginning, Yggdrasil.
A colossal tree planted by the gods in the mythical age, its origins impossible to fathom.
A sacred tree that had stood firm in the same spot for thousands of years, drawing nourishment from the Lake of Mimir at the center of the island.
Its glowing leaves radiated a pure golden light so vivid it almost eclipsed the sun. It wasn't colored like autumn foliage; it shone like a lighthouse.
Even when I tilted my head all the way back, I couldn't see the top. Its height was comparable to the main building of Joaquin Academy.
It had been well over a year since I dropped into this world, and I thought I had grown accustomed to its fantasy elements, but this overwhelming scenery, incomparable to anything else, left me blinking in sheer amazement.
Staring at it, I felt as though I might lose my mind, utterly captivated by its holiness. I swallowed hard and shook my head vigorously to snap myself out of it.
"Let's get to work before we go sightseeing."
I unslung my backpack and checked my gear.
There was the rough map I had drawn after spending the weekend devouring books about Avallon Island in the library, a bundle of Daixo Sashimi knives I brought just in case, and some clothes.
But standing out among them was a 'machete' I had bought yesterday from the hiking section of the campus mart.
True to the keyword "survival," we had to forage and hunt for our own food on the island during this uninhabited island survival training.
While there was a competitive element of "finding orbs," that was strictly secondary to me.
"After all, you've got to eat to live."
I could probably wander around on an empty stomach for a day, but since I planned to scour the entire island for three days and two nights to find the "blessing," securing food was my top priority.
And in a wilderness like this, the most effective way to secure food was, naturally, hunting and gathering.
However, I couldn't hunt with my bare hands or push through the dense foliage without a tool, so I had spent a pretty penny to buy one.
In movies, machetes were often depicted as deadly weapons used for killing people, but their original purpose was for clearing brush and cutting wood.
Then again, sashimi knives, which were meant for slicing raw fish, had somehow become synonymous with gangster brawls... Honestly, the problem lay with the bastards who used any blade they could find as a weapon.
"...Excluding me, of course."
Besides, the biggest advantage was that since it fell outside the scope of the 'Blessing of the Sword God', I could swing it as much as I wanted without suffering any pain.
Let's only use the sashimi knives in emergencies.
The duration of my Blessing of Painlessness had increased by 10 seconds, making it 50 seconds now. But since I didn't know what variables might arise, I couldn't afford to use the sashimi knives recklessly.
"Hmm."
I pulled out the machete, held the hilt at an angle, and ran my fingertips along the blade.
Perhaps because I was used to the pointed sashimi knives, the flexible blade and blunt tip felt different. True to a knife used mainly for clearing brush, it had a solid grip.
It felt more like a pseudo-axe than a knife. Since I would need to chop firewood anyway, there was no better tool in terms of practicality.
I flipped the machete around in my palm and swung my arm, producing a heavy, roaring sound as it tore through the air.
Maybe because sashimi knives were so deeply ingrained in my hands, it felt unfamiliar, like wearing stiff new clothes. The sound of the air being sliced was strange, and my instincts felt somewhat uneasy.
However, having no other choice, I stuffed the rest of my belongings back into the bag, leaving only the machete out, and stood up.
"Let's start with hunting."
Recalling Star Instructor Bear Garlics' Survival Guide from the books I had read in the library, I stepped into the dense forest ahead.
If I was lucky, I'd be able to catch a small animal within an hour.
* * *
After pushing through the brush for about an hour...
Rustle, rustle—
A bush shook, and a rabbit popped out.
But strangely enough, whatever this thing had been eating, it was almost the size of a wild boar.
The creature tilted its head, seemingly fascinated by a human, and hovered around me.
It looked like a magical beast, but since it wasn't ferocious, it was probably just a well-fed, plump rabbit. And right now, it was my lunch.
If I successfully hunted this guy, I wouldn't have to worry about food for the rest of the training period.
I could skin and tan its hide to make a perfect blanket, and the leftover meat could be semi-dried into jerky.
My meal plan for the training period was sorted out in an instant. It seemed things were finally going my way for once.
"Phew."
I took a long breath and gripped the hilt of the machete tightly.
Holding a blade but feeling free from the agonizing pain because I wasn't using a sashimi knife was a novel sensation.
The corners of my mouth twitched upward, and a spark like that of a warrior resolved for battle blazed in my eyes.
As I took a slow step forward, the rabbit tilted its head even further.
Its red eyes, like pomegranate seeds, reminded me of Chloe. For some reason, my grip tightened even more.
"Squeak?"
Then, as if it had finally noticed the gleaming blue blade, it let out a roar-like squeak and bolted.
"...!"
The rabbit widened the distance at breakneck speed. It was so fast that the gap between us stretched to fifty meters in an instant. Taking a giant stride, I hurriedly gave chase.
After sprinting at full speed after its tail for about ten minutes, my heart was beating out of rhythm.
"Haa, haa..."
I had been consistently training my physical strength, so I was confident in my endurance, but it seemed chasing a four-legged beast was beyond my capabilities.
Even as it fled, the creature kept turning its head to check on my status.
I rested my hands on my knees to catch my breath, then collapsed onto the ground.
"I've sliced up a Majin and the Cow King, yet here I am struggling against a rabbit..."
Without the Blessing of the Sword God, getting exhausted from chasing a mere rabbit was my current reality.
Still, considering I had basically run without breathing for ten minutes, I was practically a superhuman compared to my past life.
Muttering self-deprecatingly, I stared ahead. The rabbit was gazing at me intently with its round, red eyes.
I let out a dry chuckle.
"You're fucking fast. I'll let you live, so scram."
The rabbit, which had been staring blankly at me, suddenly turned around and showed me its butt.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak."
Then, it began to wiggle its fluffy tail and butt as if to show off. Even though it was a beast that couldn't speak, I could tell beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was a blatant mockery.
"..."
The rabbit performed its victory ceremony for quite a while.
I felt a vein throb in my temple.