Chapter 45
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Monster Tamer
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'The Miasmic Realm...'
Galahad murmured, looking at the castle veiled in ash.
The Miasmic Realm that had opened in the 7th Battalion's territory was the size of the space between the inner and outer walls. It neither grew larger nor smaller.
Mana flowed from areas of lower concentration to higher concentration. Therefore, the Miasmic Realm drew in the surrounding mana.
When the low-concentration mana flowed in, it mixed with the high-concentration mana. This was the principle by which concentration naturally decreased.
Once the difference in concentration fell below a certain level, the flow would stop, creating regional variations.
That was the flow of mana.
And yet, the Miasmic Realm maintained its high mana concentration even while drawing in the surrounding mana.
'How on earth is that possible?'
Galahad narrowed his eyes and studied it, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
This was the biggest reason Galahad had proposed the Miasmic Realm training facility.
The King of the Demon Race would be deep within the Miasmic Realm. To approach him, they had to unravel the realm's secrets.
And now, he had even been put in charge of the training facility.
Galahad planned to make the training facility incredibly harsh.
So that one day, when they entered a real Miasmic Realm, they could showcase their skills without panicking.
Of course, the captains wouldn't just meekly follow, but persuasion was Galahad's specialty.
Besides, Galahad had already earned the Grand Duke's approval.
'Hmm, we're short on personnel.'
Galahad frowned.
More manpower was needed to study the Miasmic Realm and maintain the training facility.
The manpower Galahad was referring to were mages or those with comparable intelligence.
This place was mostly filled with people like Sir Gilberton, and they weren't personnel. They were just force.
'Should I call in the kids from the 5th Battalion's Black Magic Society branch?'
He was planning to start utilizing the Black Magic Society branch in earnest to catch Dawn.
However, stationing black mages near a Miasmic Realm wasn't a very good option.
Isn't there anywhere I can find some sharp minds?
'Ah, the Intelligence Bureau.'
Galahad was still a member of the Intelligence Bureau.
A high-ranking one at that. He could bring a few people over from the safe house to work for him.
Of course, word would get back to the Intelligence Bureau.
'I can just talk them around.'
Persuasion was Galahad's forte.
Just then, a soldier approached him.
"Where should I put this?"
"Ah, put it over here."
The soldier set down the luggage and gave a sharp salute. It was even crisper than the ones Gilberton received.
'So this is what the Grand Duke's approval gets you.'
Galahad gave a slight wave. More soldiers saluted. It was starting to get tedious.
"Are you really planning to manage the Miasmic Realm?"
Adrianna asked in her characteristically indifferent voice.
"I am."
"It will be dangerous."
Adrianna said seriously.
She was right. Leaving a Miasmic Realm inside the front lines was a considerably dangerous thing to do.
"That's why we need to train even harder. How long are we going to stay on the defensive? Wars aren't won by defending alone."
"You seem certain."
Galahad nodded. It was something he could have predicted even if it hadn't been written in the notebook.
"And if something like this happens again, won't we need to know how to deal with it?"
At Galahad's question, Adrianna considered for a moment before nodding.
"You have a point. Still, maintaining the Miasmic Realm is risky. I'll dispatch personnel from the 1st Battalion."
"Thank you."
There was no need to refuse, so he nodded.
Just then, Gilberton approached.
"Huh? Lady Adrianna, when did you get here?"
At Gilberton's question, Adrianna coughed lightly. Galahad answered for her.
"She came with His Grace, the Grand Duke."
"Ah, is that so."
Gilberton bowed his head.
"Why don't I see any of the other squad members? Did you leave without telling the battalion?"
Adrianna's eyes widened slightly at Gilberton's question.
Galahad's lips curled into a smile as he said,
"I left a letter for you."
Adrianna let out a small sigh of relief. Then, she suddenly looked at Galahad.
"What did you write?"
"Hmm, that's a secret."
Adrianna grew anxious.
"By the way, have you seen the rookie? I can't find him anywhere. I heard he left with the captain."
Gilberton asked with a frown, his face full of concern.
"Ah, you mean Sir Noad."
"Yes, he's nowhere to be seen. He's a bit of a dimwit, you think he got lost somewhere?"
"You really are something else, Sir Gilberton."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing. I sent him on an errand."
"What? You sent him alone?"
Gilberton let out a deep sigh, a very deep one. Adrianna's eyebrows dipped slightly.
"The rookie, he doesn't know how to do anything but wield a sword. Can't hold the reins, can't even start a fire. Sending a kid like that on an errand, you're asking for trouble."
"...I don't think he's that bad."
"What? Lady Adrianna, do you know our rookie?"
Adrianna's lips parted, but she just shook her head.
"Hah, the kid tries hard. He's just never been taught, is all. If you show him something, he memorizes it diligently."
Adrianna's eyebrows rose slightly.
"He's just an idiot."
They immediately fell.
Adrianna's eyes sharpened. Gilberton, oblivious to her gaze, continued talking about the rookie.
"Ah, but the rookie's gotten pretty famous in the 7th Battalion."
"Famous?"
"Yes, even if he's an idiot—"
Adrianna coughed lightly.
"Are you all right? Ah, back to the story. Even though he's an idiot, he's good with a sword. They say he beat soldiers and knights without even using aura."
Adrianna's brows furrowed even more. Galahad chuckled softly.
Gilberton's ability to get under one's skin was beyond imagination.
"But they say he's pretty rough. A real man's man who swings his sword first without a word. That kid."
"A man's man?"
Adrianna shook her head slightly. Twice in a row.
"The situation must have been urgent, don't you think?"
Adrianna said hurriedly.
"That's right. The captain said, 'I'll handle it alone, so get here as fast as you can!' But that kid..."
Gilberton trailed off.
"What is it?"
"They say he tears off his opponent's ear and chews it to bits. Keuh! To think he was that much of a man's man!"
A flicker of bewilderment crossed Adrianna's face. She quickly shook her head three times.
It was a common frontline exaggeration. Galahad chuckled.
"That rookie, he must have a thick beard."
"...Sir Gilberton!"
"Yes? Lady Adrianna?"
"Let's spar."
Sir Gilberton grinned, delighted.
That grin didn't last long.
****
Tom thought he had more or less adapted to the Special Task Force.
For instance, there was Gwen, who claimed to be a maid while wreathed in lightning and shooting fire from her hands.
And Damian, a boy who could go from constantly eating to slaying monsters with a single rusty sword, and of course, just Sir Gilberton. He was gradually getting used to it all.
Everyone except for the inscrutable Captain Galahad.
Each and every member was a talent so exceptional they seemed out of Tom's league, but they were still human and had their flaws.
They were completely ignorant in areas outside of combat.
That was where Tom found his use. A niche for an utterly ordinary person like himself to survive among these monsters.
Tom knew how miserable it was to be useless. That's why he did his best.
He found work wherever he could. He desperately made himself necessary.
Thanks to that, he thought he had adapted quite well to the Special Task Force.
Until Adrianna showed up wearing a strange helmet and insisting she was the rookie.
Her long legs, which the bulky armor couldn't hide, and her unconcealable air of nobility clearly identified her as Adrianna.
Besides, who else would Galahad bring over from the 1st Battalion?
The strange thing was that no one else seemed to notice.
Every time Gilberton chewed out the "idiot rookie," Tom had to struggle to hold back a scream.
Gilberton had even left Adrianna in Tom's care, telling him to teach the rookie his duties.
And who was Adrianna?
She was the North's brilliant rising hero, the Grand Duke's only blood relative. The sublime individual who would be the next Grand Duke.
And he, Tom, was supposed to train her. To make matters worse, Adrianna learned with all her heart, without a single complaint.
Fortunately, she was deployed to the 7th Battalion right away, so that period didn't last long.
It had been a true crisis, but he had managed to get through it somehow.
He thought he had overcome the greatest crisis.
Until just now.
"Where is he."
The moment he heard the voice, Tom froze solid.
It was a deep, unforgettable voice.
'Huh? Why?'
Why was His Grace, the Grand Duke, standing before him?
The image of the Grand Duke effortlessly tearing off a monster's head was still vivid in his mind.
Even that horrific monster, which had felt like colossal despair, was nothing more than a slab of meat to the Grand Duke.
No, even now.
'...He's holding one! A monster!!'
Kererererek!!
Seeing the monster struggling in the Grand Duke's grasp, Tom desperately suppressed the scream that was about to erupt.
That was a Ssobaengi. It was smaller than other monsters, but that made it all the more dangerous.
It was an intermediate-class monster that had to be fought by knights, not soldiers.
And he was holding a Ssobaengi like it was some common object.
As the Ssobaengi's maw gaped open, Tom could no longer hold back and screamed.
****
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
At Tom's scream, Galahad finished what he was doing and went down.
In front of Tom, who had fainted and was foaming at the mouth, stood the Grand Duke, holding a bizarre-looking monster.
'Holding a monster like—'
Galahad frowned, assessing the situation.
Even at a glance, it was no low-class monster. That meant it was at least intermediate-class.
To think he was holding such a monster as if it were a chicken brought from the market.
'He really is a monster.'
Galahad clicked his tongue in amazement.
"I found it."
the Grand Duke said in a low voice.
The question of where on earth one could just "find" an intermediate-class monster rose to the tip of his tongue, but Galahad forced it down.
Kirererererek!!
The monster thrashed violently. Upon closer inspection, there wasn't a single scratch on its body.
'Did he just beat it into submission and bring it here?'
Galahad swallowed dryly.
"Thank you. But isn't this an intermediate-class monster?"
Due to Adrianna's strong insistence, they had decided to fill the facility with low-class monsters. Since it was a Miasmic Realm, even low-class monsters were dangerous.
But now the Grand Duke had suddenly brought an intermediate-class monster.
It seemed he thought the low-class ones were insufficient.
Still, to just pick up an intermediate-class monster...
"Is there a problem?"
The Grand Duke's brow lowered slightly.
"Not at all. The bigger problem would be having a captain who can't even handle an intermediate-class monster."
One corner of the Grand Duke's mouth lifted. Looking closely, it was a scar. A scar so deep that a yellowed fang was visible through it.
'Not bad.'
Galahad had been curious about it anyway.
Galahad rolled up his sleeves and approached the monster.
The monster opened its snout wide and barked fiercely.
"If you don't stay still, I'll have you neutered."
He joked lightly, but the Grand Duke didn't laugh. The monster barked even louder.
Galahad clicked his tongue softly and took a magic stone from Tom's bag.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to inscribe a monster tamer's magic circle."
A monster tamer?
The Grand Duke's eyes narrowed.
Thump.
Facing the intermediate-class monster, the Egg of Pain stirred.
It shook as if demanding it right away.
'No. This one isn't for eating.'
The Egg of Pain quieted down. It seemed dejected.
The Grand Duke stared intently at Galahad as he reached for the monster.
He had presented him with an intermediate-class monster, yet the man wasn't flustered at all. Instead, he was smiling.
As if things had turned out perfectly.
"Ah, by any chance, do you have any more?"
The scar by the Grand Duke's mouth deepened.
****
"...It's too hard."
Jamit of the Intelligence Bureau frowned at the sudden complaint.
Across from her sat Agent James... no, Agent Galahad.
When he had first joined the Intelligence Bureau, James's sparkling eyes were now clouded with fatigue, and his once lustrous blond hair was greasy.
He looked like any other new recruit in the Intelligence Bureau.
"I don't know what everyone thinks mages are. They keep chewing me out, asking why it takes so long to cast a spell. I mean, it's magic, of course it takes time, right? I have to calculate the mana concentration and recite the incantation! And they won't even let me use a staff."
James continued his whining.
"And when I try to explain, they just say, 'Well, Galahad could do it.' Galahad! Galahaaaad!! Aaargh! The genius of the century!"
James shot to his feet, screaming Galahad's name as if having a fit.
It was a typical reaction for a new mage in the Intelligence Bureau.
"The Section Chief jumps up every time he hears the name 'Galahad.' And then he takes it out on me, shouting about how he sent support!"
Jamit stared silently at the grumbling James.
'What does this kid think of me?'
Even the Operations Section Chief, whom this kid feared, deferred to Jamit. To think he would come to her to complain... Jamit clicked her tongue softly.
If Galahad hadn't said that carrot-topped kid was all right before he left, she wouldn't have been so lenient.
"I don't understand why they compare me to the genius of the century. We're completely different people..."
James hung his head low.
'Was I too harsh?'
Jamit clicked her tongue softly.
Of course, as James said, Galahad was a man who was more than worthy of being called a genius.
At the same time, he was also a man that the word 'genius' was insufficient to describe.
"Do you know how Galahad casts spells without incantations?"
"...Because he's a genius?"
"You're half right. But aren't you the valedictorian of the Academy too?"
"...Though I graduated six years older than him."
James made a sour face for a moment, then nodded.
"I asked him once, out of curiosity. How he could cast magic so quietly and quickly."
Jamit paused for a moment.
James leaned forward unconsciously.
"He said he just kept casting until he could."
*Clink.* Jamit swirled the teacup.
"...What?"
"Like how a knight trains until they can react to a sudden sword strike, he said he cast magic over and over until he could do it with his eyes closed, without thinking."
At Jamit's explanation, James's face crumpled.
"That's impossible. Casting magic doesn't just consume mana. It consumes mental energy, too. Anyone who trained in such a brutish way would surely go insane."
At James's firm words, Jamit thought for a moment.
Had Galahad been insane?
She supposed he might have been.
"Believe it or not, that's up to you. Whether you bear the weight of that name is also up to you. If you want, just say the word. I'll change it for you."
Jamit gestured with her finger.
Changing an agent's name was rare, but not unheard of.
It happened fairly often when an agent's name was compromised, or for the sake of an operation.
James's face contorted. Agony surfaced through his deep fatigue.
Jamit sipped her tea quietly.
It was a long while before James finally spoke.
"It's fine."
His blue eyes were clearer than before. It seemed he had made a decision.
"I will become someone worthy of the name."
She'd heard he'd only had a brief conversation with Galahad, yet he held such admiration.
"Alright, I'll be looking forward to it."
*Though it'll never happen.* Jamit swallowed the rest of her thought.
The kid smiled brightly. He still had the air of a greenhorn.
Just then, the door burst open. A nervous-looking man entered.
"Jamit! What's this I hear about Galahad being dispatched to the North?"
the man shouted sharply as soon as he came in.
'Ah, right. There was this guy.'
Jamit felt a faint sense of weariness.
It was Agent First.
He was the guy who had been second to Galahad ever since their Academy days. Afterwards, he had somehow found out and followed Galahad into the Intelligence Bureau.
'He was second to Galahad in the Intelligence Bureau, too.'
That in itself was impressive, being right under Galahad.
It was just that the gap between them was far too wide for a single rank.
"This time, I would have finally beaten him!"
"Calm down. It's no use complaining to me."
"Damn it! Who dared to send away my soul-rival, Galahad? I won't forgive—"
"It was an imperial order."
First stopped talking. His eyes darted back and forth. A moment of silence followed.
"...Damn it! To think he received an imperial order before I did!"
Jamit scrunched her eyes at First's jealous outburst. *Is that really the part to get angry about?*
"No, he can't run from me before we've finished our competition! Jamit! I'm going to the North, too."
"Why are you telling me? Go tell your father."
"Right."
First nodded emphatically.
First's obsession with Galahad was quite famous.
First was the Director's son. Funnily enough, claiming it was for a 'fair' competition with Galahad, he had never used his father's influence. He was, quite literally, an idiot.
A position had recently opened up at the northern safe house, so he would somehow find a way to get there.
For Jamit, who was planning support strategies with the Deputy Director, this was an unexpected complication.
"Galahad! Did you think you could run from me! Just you wait! I'll follow you to the very ends of the North! For our unfinished duel—! Hmm? Are you a new recruit?"
First, who had been shouting, looked at James and asked.
"...Yes!"
"Right, what's your agent name?"
At First's question.
"...It's James."
James hung his head low.
A sudden question popped into Jamit's mind.
Would Galahad even remember First?
Hmm.
.
...He probably doesn't, does he?