Chapter 234.
Arriving at their accommodations, the knight school students received a lecture on supplies at the Adventurer"s Guild exercise hall after having a simple meal for lunch. Unfortunately, I was one of the three people chosen to be a lecturer alongside Fiona and Dano. We were appointed as temporary instructors at the knight school.
Originally, a veteran with a lot of experience like the mustached ahjussi in the Asterium branch would have been picked, not a newbie like me. And yet, the reason I was chosen as a temporary instructor was simple. I was the one going to the Alps.
Well, my students were in the low-rank knight school, so it wasn"t that difficult. This simple thing gave me enough for a lecture. However, the problem was that my age was the same as the students of the low-rank Knights School.
"Temporary Instructor-nims, why do you think we need to learn the supply transport routes? We are knights. Don"t you think something like supplies should be left to another department?"
They were asking ridiculous questions like this because I looked easy to handle. At least, I really hoped that was their reason. Or the future of the Empire was bleak. Despite the fact that this was a low-rank knight school student, it was still a candidate for an officer position making these remarks about ignoring supplies.
I swallowed a sigh coming out of me and just smiled. "There are dozens of reasons why you need to learn about the supply transport routes. But I will just say three things for the sake of time."
I extended my finger and said, "First, we can infer enemy supply lines. Then, of course, we can cut the supply line and wither the enemy away.”
Of course, the enemy will do everything in their power to protect the supply lines. That"s how important supplies were.
"Secondly, if you don"t understand our supply routes, you"ll be devastated by enemy ambushes and raids."
For this, they’ll naturally understand once they have to survive on a finger-sized piece of moldy bread, so I skipped any additional explanation. Normally, it was quicker to comprehend by suffering personally rather than being given an explanation like this.
"Third, the fact that we could be raided means that through information warfare, we can induce an enemy raid based on our supply lines. When we strategize, if we use a route that"s blatantly impossible to be a supply route, the enemy will realize it’s a trap, right?”
I was getting tired of having to explain these common-sense things. No matter how stupid the old knights were to think knowing letters was shameful, it was still like this despite the many changes since the fall of the demon king.
It was just my luck that I had to continue this kind of lecture even as I moved to the Alps. I wet my throat with some water and continued my lecture. After the not-so-long lecture, the students and I managed to gain freedom.
"Wah! Den!"
Alphonso ran at me as usual, and I familiarly grabbed Alphonso by the head. "Although it’s temporary, I"m an instructor, so you’ll probably get in trouble if you’re too outspoken.”
Alphonso was dangling by his head within my grasp, and he touched his chin. "Hmm, is that so?"
"So don"t move around wildly and follow the instructor"s orders. The Alps are a dangerous… place."
Frankly, it didn"t appear like a dangerous place for Alphonso, who lived in the Alps. However, considering his spars with Lisbon, this didn’t necessarily seem true either.
Well, that dimwit great elder definitely would not have let Alphonso go to any dangerous areas. In the first place, Everest was said to be a territory of the b.u.t.terfly Tribe people, and so monsters couldn’t even get anywhere near it. Perhaps Alphonso had never met a monster before.
At that time, Lisbon was walking over slowly from the direction of the middle-rank knight school students and waved. "Hahaha, Den, I didn"t expect you to teach as an instructor."
I gave Lisbon a wry smile. "Yes, I didn"t expect it either. By the way, who is that next to you?"
At my question, Lisbon smiled and introduced the student who came with him. "This is my senior, Gamry. He is in the same group as Alphonso and me.”
As far as I knew, there were a total of 100 groups, with two middle-rank and two low-rank knights making up each group. However, the face of the person named Gamry seemed familiar as if I had seen it before.
"It is nice… to meet you. I am Gamry,” the student said, debating whether or not to speak informally, but ended up speaking formally.
Even if it was temporary, I was still an instructor. So, he seemed to have chosen to treat me formally despite my young age to avoid being marked by real instructors.
"My name is Den. By the way, have we met somewhere before?"
Gamry tilted his head at my question. Then, Lisbon spoke with a smile, "Hahaha, you probably saw him at Alphonso’s entrance exam. He was Alphonso"s opponent."
"Oh! The one who injured his wrist."
I certainly remembered that his wrist was broken when he had lowered his guard against Alphonso. When I mentioned the past, Gamry blushed and gave a fake cough. "Khmm!"
It seems he realizes how embarra.s.sing that was?
Suddenly, a brown-haired low-rank knight student approached and talked to Gamry. "What are you doing gathered here?"
Gamry seemed to be acquainted with the brown-haired boy, and he said, "Ahhh, Lisbon asked me to come this way."
The brown-haired boy looked familiar as well. Gamry looked at me, introducing me to the brown-haired boy, "This is Alain. Should I say he’s my squire? It"s complicated to explain to outsiders...”
When Gamry couldn"t find the right word, Alain spoke bluntly, "It"s Alain. I"m learning the role of a squire from my senior, and I think it will be easier to think of it as a senior and junior relations.h.i.+p."
Oh, I remembered. From my recollection, he was probably the boy who was taking the test at the No. 1 training hall when Alphonso was taking his.
"Yes, I know the concept roughly from Lisbon and Alphonso. I know these two personally."
Alain looked at me with a look of surprise. "Is the temporary instructor-nim that same Den who Alphonso always talks about and lives with?”
"I don"t know what Alphonso has been saying, but if it’s the Den who lives in the same boarding house, then that’s me."
Gamry gasped at my affirmation. "Huk, then, the s.a.d.i.s.t who is said to be stronger than our seniors...!”
"s.a.d.i.s.t? Oho, what is that supposed to mean?"
When I smiled, Lisbon was startled. "Ah, no. I just told my senior about the training you"re helping me with...!”
"And so you said I was a s.a.d.i.s.t?"
"No!"
This could not have been more heartbreaking. I was deliberately taking time to help you with your training, but you"re turning into a pervert who gets s.e.xual pleasure from hara.s.sing others. How deplorable.
"Come to think of it, I think you probably have not trained properly in my absence, so would you like to train hard today?”
At my question, Lisbon turned pale and shook his hands violently. "No! No! Tomorrow we have to go to the Alps, and we are supposed to rest according to the instructor-nim’s...”
"That"s fine. We can just do enough so that you won’t be too affected for tomorrow. I happen to know a competent priest, so I think it will be fine to be a little bit more intense."
Hillis could probably make him well again, even if he were super dead.
* * *
Perhaps because I belonged to the Adventurer"s Guild, on my march to the Alps, I rode in a wagon loaded with supplies. During the march, students were marching on either side of the supply wagon. On the outside, the instructors moved on horseback to direct the students.
"Hmm, that"s interesting. To bring together all the young knight candidates to train them would have been considered delusional during my days." Percival was holding the reins in the driver’s seat, and he watched the students as if he was having fun.
"Really? I"ve heard that the knight school existed almost from the beginning of the Empire, but I guess it didn"t originate from the Holy Kingdom?
Percival nodded. "At least not in my time."
Percival"s death in the Giant-Holy War 500 years ago was just before the fall of the Holy Kingdom, so it was safe to say there was no such thing as a knight school in the Holy Kingdom.
"But it"s not like no one argued for creating these collective educational facilities. Lord Lancelot, the right-hand man of His Majesty the Holy King, insisted on creating such an educational facility." Percival smiled as if lost in memory.
As the Holy Kingdom split into the Empire, Imperial State, and the Republic, it seems Lancelot became a member of the Empire.
"Now that I think of it, about that mission you spoke of. Didn’t you tell me that it is to protect the last queen when she is resurrected? Can you explain it more clearly?”
Percival had a strained expression at my question. "That’s, I didn"t understand Merlin"s explanation because I am a knight, not a magician. I think he said something about the star of fate, but I"m not very smart."
When Percival apologized, I patted him on the shoulder, saying it was okay. Honestly, it wasn"t my mission, so it wasn"t my business.
"Hmm, that clever Gwalchavad would have explained it well... But anyway, didn"t you say you read the memories of my colleagues and me?"
"You guys don"t have a body, and it"s not easy to read memories from a soul."
Typically, for a soul, one could only read the memories about its body or surroundings. Or if it’s a memory that left a strong impression, like if you were dumped by your first love who was 20 years older than you.
"Hmm, is that so? I"m sorry I couldn’t be of help."
I shrugged at Percival"s apology. "It"s okay, but I can roughly infer it. There were quite a few records at the ruins, and also, I tried deciphering the magic."
"Oh! You did?" Percival looked at me with interested eyes.
"Yes, if my interpretation is correct, the ruins where you guys were is some sort of huge sealing magic device."
"Sealing magic? What was it sealing? You don"t think...." Percival had a serious face. It seemed that he noticed it. The one sealed was likely the last queen who Percival followed.
"I don"t know exactly what"s sealed, but it was not just an ordinary seal. It was large-scale magic that sealed the target in the reverse world.”
"Then, is there a way to unseal it?"
I smiled lightly at Percival"s question. "The seal will probably be undone naturally as the ruins collapse. The time when the seal would be completely released is about three days later, if my calculations are correct. The sealed place might even be slowly coming back to the real world right now.”
Percival clenched his fist at my guess.
"Master, I have a favor to ask of you." Percival looked at me intensely, even speaking with honorifics that usually he didn"t use.
"No." I refused even before I heard Percival"s request. Percival"s expression became distorted by my refusal.
"Even if we go there now, we can’t go into the sealed area anyways."
Percival looked at me unconvincingly. I sighed and said, looking at the distant Alps, "Even if it reveals itself to the real world from the reverse world, it’s nothing but a mirage. Besides, you have to risk your life just to get close.”
Of course, watching it come back from the reverse world to the real world would be such an amazing sight that you’d be able to write dozens of papers just from observing it. If I were a spatial magic specialist, no matter how dangerous it was, I would have stretched my eyes wide and seen it no matter what. But I am not a spatial magic specialist.
"In three days, I"ll come with you when it has completely returned to the real world. So, I can’t send you alone right now.”
Percival looked at me with surprise and dropped his head. "Thank you, Master."