Lemut had fallen ten days ago.
The massive monster left behind a strong impact on Whisen Castle.
Soldiers from Units 1 and 2, who came to support Unit 3 where Jin belonged, also lost more than half their forces.
Due to the battle between the Royal guards (belkan) commander and Lemut, the eastern wall of the castle was half-destroyed, requiring all soldiers to work around the clock on repairs.
And.
The members of platoon 5, who had abandoned their posts without permission, were all supposed to be executed, but thanks to Jin’s negotiations, they avoided punishment.
Of course, they weren’t treated as heroes.
Whatever the reasons, to others, platoon 5 was just a bunch of lucky survivors.
“Run faster, you maggot bastards!”
Ged, the captain of Unit 3, shouted from the podium, veins bulging in his neck.
“Special mission from the commander for a mere soldier? Ha… What an honor, recruits.”
His sharp gaze was fixed on Jin, who was leading the soldiers.
‘You bastard, how dare you openly ignore me in front of the commander?’
Grinding his teeth, Ged yelled again.
“Run faster, you maggots! Even my dead grandmother could run faster than you!”
Under his urging, soldiers with heavy packs ran desperately across the rough training ground, tongues hanging out.
“Ugh… I’m going to die.”
Grueling training during the day, guard duty at night as part of the Royal guards.
With no time to rest, the soldiers of platoon 5 were losing their spirit day by day.
Belkan knew this but didn’t intervene. Instead, he encouraged Ged to increase the intensity of the retaliatory training.
“If I meet him outside, I’ll smash his head in. He’s definitely doing this because of what happened last time.”
“Shut up and run, ratsy. Do you know what’ll happen if Captain Baek hears you?”
“Let him hear! We and the commander saved Whisen Castle! Why do we have to go through this hell…”?
As Rat shouted in frustration, Buta tried to stop him, but a chilling voice came from behind.
“You there, the noisy Rat. Step aside. I’ll kill you myself.”
“…What? Did he really hear?”
“Idiot. I told you to keep quiet…”
Thud─
As Buta scolded the pale Rat, he suddenly collapsed to the ground. He had fainted from the harsh training, foam bubbling at his mouth.
“What’s going on there?”
Ged approached the fallen Buta, eyebrows twitching in disbelief.
“He seems to have collapsed from exhaustion.”
Someone answered, and Ged drew his sword, pointing it at Buta’s neck.
“You weakling. Get up now!”
A thin stream of blood flowed from Buta’s neck where the sword tip had pricked. Despite this, Buta lay unconscious, occasionally convulsing.
Seeing this, Ged sheathed his sword and turned away.
“Looks like he’s really fainted. I’m not dealing with corpses today. Training’s over. Take him away.”
Waving his hand dismissively, Ged walked away without looking back.
Only then did Buta open his eyes, mumbling to the soldiers gathered around him.
“Is he gone?”
“What? Captain, weren’t you really unconscious?”
Some soldiers, especially the new recruits in platoon 5, widened their eyes in surprise.
Still lying on the ground, Buta gave a triumphant grin.
“It’s a trick I practiced to avoid my father’s beatings when I was a kid. How’s that? Pretty convincing, huh? First time using it on Unit 3’s captain.”
“I’ve seen it a few times, so I wasn’t fooled.”
“The captain’s pretending to be dead is always top-notch. Even monsters get fooled sometimes.”
“But I really did lose consciousness for a bit. If I had run any more, I would’ve died.”
“Yeah. I saw stars.”
“I’m still struggling to breathe…”
“Thanks to the captain, we survived. Hell starts again tomorrow, though.”
As the soldiers thanked him, Buta stood up and kicked Rat’s rear.
“And it’s your fault we almost blew it. I was saving the dead act for later. Didn’t I tell you to keep quiet?”
“That bastard kept pissing me off. But thanks, we survived.”
“Swear quietly, idiot.”
“How was I supposed to know his hearing was that good? Even the commander would…”
Despite the disappearance of their overseer, Jin kept running on the training ground.
Seeing this, the soldiers shook their heads.
“Ten days. Ten days straight. Where does he get that stamina?”
“Even regular knights would collapse from exhaustion without using mana… What is he?”
“A real monster?”
There was no other word to describe Jin.
All thanks to his superhuman recovery ability.
For an Avatar, a mere exhaustion was completely recovered after a night’s sleep.
‘It’s tough, but my power is growing, so it’s fine. But it’s time to change tactics.’
Jin, listening to the soldiers’ conversation, closed his eyes as he ran.
[Power]
▶[41]
[Summary]
▶Incredible growth. You’re close to reaching the 2-star level where you can acquire a fixed class!
But how long are you going to take the hard way? You haven’t forgotten how to grow, have you? If your mind is dull, your body suffers. Keep it up!
“It’s true. From 2-star, it’s time to use the real Avatar abilities.”
Jin, now accustomed to the status window’s taunts, started counting days on his fingers.
“Let’s see… Violet is visiting Whisen Castle tomorrow, and it’s been ten days since Lemut was defeated…”
Recalling the growth event following the high-level beast’s defeat, Jin scratched his chin.
“The timing is about right.”
“So, brother, you know I can’t stand injustice. I grabbed that bastard harassing the innkeeper’s daughter by the hair… Eh, why are there so many damn flies tonight?”
Late at night.
Without time to recover, Rat was on guard duty with Jin, swatting at the air.
“You dare land on the great Moose’s body? You’re dead.”
Just as he was about to slap the fly on his shoulder, Jin grabbed Rat’s wrist.
“Don’t.”
“Huh?”
“If you don’t want to die, don’t. Keep talking. I want to hear the end of the story.”
“…?”
Rat looked puzzled but continued his story.
“Well, anyway. That bastard, I don’t know where he came from, but he was pretty strong…”
“Oh, chatting during duty, huh? You’ve got some guts.”
As Rat was boasting about his exploits, a chilling voice came from behind. Rat flinched and slowly turned his head.
“C-Captain Baek?”
“So it’s the lucky rat that survived today. You know the price for neglecting your duty, right?”
“Eek…!!!”
Ged approached the trembling Rat with a sinister smile.
“Fifty lashes. Report to my office first thing in the morning.”
“P-Please… just this once. I’ll work harder!”
Rat begged desperately. Even with his experience as a mercenary, fifty lashes was a severe punishment he could hardly endure. Moreover, without proper medical treatment, such wounds were practically a death sentence.
But Ged had no intention of letting Rat off.
“That’s your problem…”
“It was to stay awake, so please let it slide this time.”
Jin intervened. Although the incident during the day was bad enough, it was mainly because Jin had taken over as the de facto leader of platoon 5 after defeating Buta.
“Oh?”
Ged tilted his head and turned his gaze to Jin.
The newcomer reminded him of the second son of his family, whom he had glimpsed from afar during his days as a new knight. From his name to his appearance, there was nothing appealing about him.
‘That family’s troublemaker was much fatter… By now, he’d probably be rolling around.’
Regardless, Jin’s first impression was bad, and his actions only made it worse.
Ged thought back to a few days ago when he was openly disrespected by a mere soldier, which had damaged his standing among the other captains. Angrily, Ged grabbed Jin by the collar.
“Are you taking your comrade’s side?”
“Not really. I just thought it was a bit harsh.”
“Captain…”
Rat’s voice trembled with emotion at Jin’s calm response.
“Are you defying me?”
Ged’s irritation flared as he clenched his fist, mana swirling around it. Jin, however, remained unfazed, not even looking at Ged.
‘Should I just kill him?’
Ged wanted to, but he didn’t fully understand the relationship between Belkan and Jin. Although Belkan didn’t seem to care, Ged felt uneasy. After all, Jin had been given a special mission without Ged’s knowledge, implying some prior acquaintance.
No clear answer came to Ged’s mind. Jin seemed aware of Ged’s inner turmoil and showed no reaction to his threats.
‘As long as I don’t kill him, it should be fine.’
Backing down would ruin his dignity as a captain.
“You brought this on yourself. Brace yourself.”
Ged prepared to beat Jin just enough not to kill him, when suddenly,
Bzzz-
A fly, attracted by Lemut’s corpse outside the wall, landed on Ged’s nose.
“Hmph…!”
Rat, trying not to laugh, covered his mouth.
Ged’s face turned red with embarrassment. The fly had ruined the serious atmosphere.
“Damn it…”
Ged gritted his teeth and swatted at the fly.
Slash- A searing sensation and something heavy dropped at his feet.
“Huh?”
His wrist felt empty, and his right arm seemed lighter.
Then,
Spurt-
Bright red blood sprayed everywhere. Ged slowly turned his head.
“Huh? Wh-what?”
Where his right hand should have been, there was nothing.
“W-what’s going on?”
Shocked, Ged instinctively clutched his severed artery, and the pain hit him.
“Ugh, ugh…”
His groans echoed through the night. Even as a low-ranking knight of the Hell King’s order, he hadn’t detected the attack. It must have been a powerful demon or beast.
“Sound the alarm…”
As Ged tried to give orders, he noticed Jin and Rat staring behind him.
Was it the blood loss? He couldn’t move his stiff neck. Fearful, Ged shouted at them.
“W-what’s behind me? Tell me!”
Despite his fierce command, they remained silent.
“Looking for me?”
The answer came from behind.
“Who are you? Identify yourself!”
“Oh, don’t you know? That boar didn’t tell you?”
A cold hand, like that of a corpse, stroked Ged’s bloodstained cheek.
Realizing who it was, Ged suppressed his pain and bowed flat on the ground.
“Captain of the Royal guards 3rd Unit and low-ranking knight of the Royal guards order, Ged Malcom, greets the medicine sect leader of the Aster family!”
