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nChapter 64 Kanna Blitz (3)

nWas 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.

nWell, it wasn’t like the answer would come from him standing there blankly.

n“Elle, stay in the wagon.”

n“…”

nWhen the girl named Elle disappeared with a guilty look under the stern command, Kanna’s eyes turned to Yoon-seok again.

n“So, what are you doing here at this hour?”

nShould 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.

nHe 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.

n“…Where are all the night watchers? I’m sure Lord Wellington told you to block anyone from approaching this place?”

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nHe wanted to say that the night watchers were approaching the wagon with ill intent, but…

nIt 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.

n“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.”

n“Stargazing…?”

nWhile he wondered if it might be too absurd an excuse…did she like the keyword stargazing? Surprisingly, Kanna’s voice softened slightly.

n“Well, in that case…anyway, you must have a mercenary plaque, right? Can you hand it over so I can check?”

n“Here.”

nYoon-seok showed his ID card he took from the inn, and Kanna even checked his face inside the mask and returned it.

n“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.”

n“Yes, but may I ask you a question?”

n“Sure.”

n“Is Elle the name of that child?”

nThe atmosphere became softer, so he tried asking the question, but it was of no use. Kanna’s eyes sharpened again.

n“…Stop paying attention to the child. Don’t even think about it.”

n“…I understand.”

nYoon-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…

nYoon-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.

n“Those punks, they’re in the waiting room by now, aren’t they?”

n“Gosh, if they planned to go together, they should’ve stood on watch properly. This is why probation doesn’t work.”

nCould it be because of those challengers’ indifference?

n“It was yesterday that I admired their spirit…”

nWellington, 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.

n“Let’s go!”

nThat’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.

nAs 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.

n“Heathen! A heathen has invaded!”

nWhen 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…

nindividuals, and they could also speak like normal people, just like those he’d seen in the Tower.

n“Tear them all to death!”

n“Hahahaha! Die, you bugs!”

nThe 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.

n“Fuck! It’s them again?”

n“Wizard, what are you doing? First of all, open wide-area spells!”

nIt 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.

n‘I was wondering why the mythical creatures were nowhere to be seen, so they’d went to the other side.’

nOn 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.

n‘Let’s see for now…’

nHe 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.

nCling! Clang! Slash! Slash! Boom!

nWhile 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.

n‘The time where I’ll end up alone will come anyway.’

nOnce 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.

nYoon-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.

n‘It’s not like I’m not doing my fair share, so there’s nothing to be sorry about.’

nThe 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.

n‘I think the creatures are dominant in terms of individual power.’

nNot speculation, but reality. At least he could see some challengers who could defeat the creatures if they met one-on-one in the arena. However, they continued to actively cooperate to overcome the gap in skills.

n“Wahhhhh! We won!”

nAbout an hour later, as the sky brightened, the persistent heathens retreated. Thus, the battle drew to a close. The other side had suffered serious damage, but this side wasn’t much better.

n“Arghhhhhhh!”

n“…Priest! Are there no priests around? Please, someone help! No, even a potion will do!”

nMost of the challengers chose to carry potions in case of an emergency rather than learning healing techniques, so no challengers specialized in healing powers. At most, about one or two basic healing spells were all they could manage.

nThe challengers were busy treating the wounded after the battle ended. However, there were too many injured to heal.

n“Pontiff! I thought she was a pontiff! Then she’ll be able to heal, right? Damn it, call her!”

nThe shout came from a challenger who had one of his arms cut off but wasn’t in critical condition. That was the starting point.

n“You’re right. She’s a pontiff, right? It’s not like we’re telling her to come out and fight.

n“We’ve protected her through hell, so it’s rude to ignore us after the battle.”

nShould he say it was before the adrenaline of the battle wore off? Just a few words heated up the atmosphere. The challengers, who raised their voices, were about to storm in unless Kanna Blitz left the wagon right away.

n“Everyone, calm down! I’ll heal the injured myself and distribute potions to all the wounded.”

nWellington belatedly tried to patch things up, but it backfired.

n“Is she that great? Huh? If she’s human, shouldn’t she show her face at least once?”

nThe same people who didn’t care about them showing their faces or not suddenly looked for any weakness to insult them. They were like a pack of wild dogs. While Wellington was perplexed, trying to calm things down…

nClick.

nThe carriage door opened, and Kanna appeared.

n“Pontiff Blitz!”

n“I’m fine, Lord Wellington. I was feeling a little down.”

nRed hair flowed down in fine waves over a white robe without a single crease. Yoon-seok thought about how sincere she was while looking at her, but the others were different.

n“Woah, when they said she was a pontiff….”

n“She looks like she’s in her early twenties. Are pontiffs supposed to be so young?”

nThey only focused on Kanna’s beautiful appearance. Well, it was a good sign now that all the fiery complaints died down. Maybe it was a disguise instead of being a real pontiff?

nKanna began to heal the wounded at a rapid pace, and Elle, who he’d seen last night, helped her with menial tasks. A group approached Yoon-seok as he wandered around pretending not to be obvious while watching Elle.

n“I saw you fight earlier.”

nIt was the party with an Expert difficulty level that wandered around the forest every night, saying that they were looking for challenges. The warrior, who he believed was the leader, spoke on behalf of them. It was vague, but he understood their intentions with just one sentence.

nThey didn’t come here just to compliment him.

n“Oh, my name is Kozac Zerfah. It’s not even my real name, so call me as you please.”

n“Rick Gerssey.”

n“So, Rick, what’s your difficulty?”

nYoon-seok, who had been contemplating for a while, said it was the same level of difficulty as them. They would return after the fifteenth day anyway, so they wouldn’t even know if it was a lie or not.

n“That’s good news. You seem to be moving alone. Why don’t you join us?”

nYoon-seok thought about it for a while. Seeing that, Zerfah continued.

n“As you may already know, we’re aiming for additional challenges. If you’re looking to ascend, it will be a good thing to do it together. Well, if you’re still thinking about it, we can just spend one day together.”

nEventually, Yoon-seok accepted his proposal. They seemed to be on the fast track to complete trials of the mission…he wondered what the challenge was and how they knew about it. Since it was a mission they’d invested 500LP for, shouldn’t they take everything they could?

nAt night, the party set up a campsite in a suitable place. As usual, Zerfah told Wellington that he would lead the pack around, and his request was readily granted.

n“…”

nYoon-seok sneaked in front of the wagon before the group left the campsite. It was to prepare a contingency.

n「 To Lady’s Commandment, this territory is set as a non-aggression site.」

nEven if the heathens attacked again, they would remain safe in the wagon. He should at least ensure their safety. However, the condition of setting a non-aggression site was quite difficult, and the consumption of energy would be significant even at a close range.

n‘Is it going to last for about an hour…?’

nIt didn’t feel close. However, it wouldn’t be much of a problem since he recalled that Zerfah’s night exploration normally lasted around an hour. Soon Yoon-seok headed into the forest with Zerfah’s group. The cloudy night sky was especially dark, but there was no need for a torch.

n“Light.”

nA woman posing as a wizard ignited a white sphere into the air to brighten their surroundings. A beast-man with a bow took the lead and led the party. They circled the area as if they were expanding a game’s minimap without moving too far from the campsite. When he wondered why he was informed, notifications would appear whenever they entered a certain range of challenges.

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n“Is it a waste again today?”

nAs he was asking Zerfah questions and gaining information, the time to return arrived.

nAnd it was then Yoon-seok froze.

n“…?”

nSuddenly, Bloodseeker’s Energy was being consumed rapidly. In other words, it meant that someone was attempting to break into the nonaggression site.

n“…I’ll be on my way.”

n“What? What do you mean…!”

nZerfah asked as if he was stunned, but…

nYoon-seok was already out of sight.

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