Kanna Blitz (3)
Was she Elle? Yoon-seok observed the girl with that question in mind. However, since Kanna Blitz pulled Elle back into the carriage, his question was left unanswered.
Well, it wasn’t like the answer would come from him standing there blankly.
“Elle, stay in the wagon.”
“…”
When the girl named Elle disappeared with a guilty look under the stern command, Kanna’s eyes turned to Yoon-seok again.
“So, what are you doing here at this hour?”
Should he say that he could feel the coldness in her voice? Unlike when she was dealing with Elle, her gaze and voice were fierce, but he could understand why. It didn’t matter if he was a guard because she found a normal man standing in front of their carriage in the dead of night.
He even wore a mask. He was suspicious in so many ways, but Kanna didn’t push the matter. She just gazed in the direction of the bonfire.
“…Where are all the night watchers? I’m sure Lord Wellington told you to block anyone from approaching this place?”
He wanted to say that the night watchers were approaching the wagon with ill intent, but…
It was obvious that he would be interrogated further rather than being treated as a savior, so there was no reason to make the situation harder for himself.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I was just looking at the stars. As for the night-watchers…I don’t know. I don’t know where they went. They weren’t there, to begin with.”
“Stargazing…?”
While he wondered if it might be too absurd an excuse…did she like the keyword stargazing? Surprisingly, Kanna’s voice softened slightly.
“Well, in that case…anyway, you must have a mercenary plaque, right? Can you hand it over so I can check?”
“Here.”
Yoon-seok showed his ID card he took from the inn, and Kanna even checked his face inside the mask and returned it.
“We have to move again tomorrow, so please go back to sleep. I’ll talk to Lord Wellington about the missing night-watchers and work it out.”
“Yes, but may I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Is Elle the name of that child?”
The atmosphere became softer, so he tried asking the question, but it was of no use. Kanna’s eyes sharpened again.
“…Stop paying attention to the child. Don’t even think about it.”
“…I understand.”
Yoon-seok returned to his bed and laid himself down, while Kanna woke Wellington up to inform about the disappearance of the night-watchers. So they had to set up a search team at night or wake everyone up and stay on guard…
Yoon-seok listened to their worries, but it ended with Wellington standing on watch that night while waiting for them to return. Of course, they didn’t return. At dawn, five or six more challengers besides them had vanished. The challengers weren’t surprised by the fact because they knew the probation mission ended after a day.
“Those punks, they’re in the waiting room by now, aren’t they?”
“Gosh, if they planned to go together, they should’ve stood on watch properly. This is why probation doesn’t work.”
Could it be because of those challengers’ indifference?
“It was yesterday that I admired their spirit…”
Wellington, who had been seriously thinking whether heathens had attacked and kidnapped them during the watch, concluded that they’d simply escaped. Since it had only been a day since they’d left the castle, it wasn’t entirely improbable to go back to the castle after collecting a day’s allowance. That was how high the reward was for a simple mission such as guarding.
“Let’s go!”
That’s how the march of the second day began. There was an attack by Orcs around noon, and perhaps they had passed through their territory, as Lizardmen appeared by sunset. The challengers, divided into several groups, protected the wagon and soon defeated the assault. There were minor injuries but no fatalities.
As day turned to night once more, the team that chose Expert level entered the forest to find a challenge but came back with no fruitful results again this time. The morning of the third day dawned without any incidents.
“Heathen! A heathen has invaded!”
When the darkness faded and the sky was dimly lit, the heathens Wellington spoke of on the first day appeared. Instead of ordinary troops, they used legions formed of ranks of mythical creatures. Orcs, Lizardmen, Demons…
individuals, and they could also speak like normal people, just like those he’d seen in the Tower.
“Tear them all to death!”
“Hahahaha! Die, you bugs!”
The level itself was completely different from the attackers on the first two days. The Orc’s rugged ax had become sharper, and the force with which they swung their weapons had increased.
“Fuck! It’s them again?”
“Wizard, what are you doing? First of all, open wide-area spells!”
It was the fiercest battle to break out since the start of the mission. In addition to serious injuries such as loss of limbs, casualties accrued.
‘I was wondering why the mythical creatures were nowhere to be seen, so they’d went to the other side.’
On the campsite that turned into a battlefield, Yoon-seok contemplated this: whether it was the right thing to expose his powers and save more people.
‘Let’s see for now…’
He stood still in the middle of the battlefield for a while. After worrying about it, Yoon-seok pulled out his sword and joined the battle. He would at least risk his own life so that no one would blame him. The actual achievement would have been even greater if he did it alone.
Cling! Clang! Slash! Slash! Boom!
While Yoon-seok used his sword to block the attacks, he reduced the number of creatures without drawing much attention. Unless the formation was destroyed or the wagon was in danger, he wouldn’t release his powers. The reason for doing so was simple.
‘The time where I’ll end up alone will come anyway.’
Once the 15-day Expert level members return to the waiting room, Yoon-seok would have to protect Kanna Blitz alone on their way to the destination. Perhaps the real trial would begin then.
Yoon-seok decided to hide his powers in preparation for that moment. Of course, if a critical moment arrived before that, he wouldn’t hesitate to bring everything to bear.
‘It’s not like I’m not doing my fair share, so there’s nothing to be sorry about.’
The Tower was a place to prove oneself. Even if you ascend thanks to the help of others, it would all be for nothing, just like in the case of the exalted Shin Sang-hyun, who used to be a tenth-floor challenger. Yoon-seok carefully looked around the chaotic battlefield.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login