🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 42
“I don’t need this crap!”
Smack! The boy shoved away the priest’s hand, and the pouch he had been holding dropped to the dirt floor with a dull thud.
‘What’s going on?’
For a brief moment, silence hung in the air as Rune and the others turned their attention toward the commotion. Flustered by all the stares, the boy’s face flushed red, matching the fiery color of his hair.
“Ugh, get lost! Don’t ever come back!”
The boy stumbled backward and slammed the makeshift wooden door shut so hard that it rattled.
Rune, who had been carrying supplies nearby, bent down and picked up the bread that had spilled into the dirt. She handed it over to the priest. Surprised by her sudden presence, the young man raised his head, brushing back the white robe that hung loosely on him.
“Are you all right, Lord Isis?”
“Yes, it’s nothing serious.”
Isis smiled gently, his eyes narrowed into slits. He was a slim, somewhat frail-looking priest, assigned to the very district Rune had been stationed in. He looked ordinary, unremarkable—except for the golden sash across his shoulder, the mark of a high priest, rare for someone so young.
“Thank you.”
As he accepted the bread, his white silk gloves were quickly stained with mud.
“It seems not all reactions are friendly.”
“It’s fine. Just a child who doesn’t know any better.”
While he glanced at the firmly shut door, murmurs rose from the back.
Women dressed in threadbare, ragged clothing were climbing into a carriage nearby. The soldiers surrounding them bore greaves engraved with a familiar crest—
The griffon. A beast with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, it was the sigil of House Liechtenstein, the marquess family.
‘Why would they even deploy their private soldiers here?’
Unable to look away, Rune asked Isis,
“Where are those women going?”
“Ah, to the temple. Our temple offers shelter to women who have nowhere else to go.”
Dusting off his crumpled robe, Isis spoke evenly.
“Even in a place abandoned by society, there is still discrimination and contempt.”
“Contempt? …Did those women commit some grave crime?”
“……”
Isis, adjusting his garments, regarded Rune silently through half-lidded eyes. Then, with a small nod as if conceding, he explained:
“You’re a new cadet, yes? Judging by the fact you don’t know of Cloud’s prophecy, you must have come from very far away.”
“Prophecy…?”
Rune was about to press further when a loud call to assemble echoed from not far off.
Isis smiled warmly.
“Looks like the mana-stone harvesting is about to begin in earnest. You should go. We’ll handle the rest of the supplies.”
“…All right, then.”
Bowing briefly, Rune ran toward the gathering cadets.
Isis watched her go, then carefully peeled off his soiled gloves, tugging them away with his fingertips.
Thud. The muddy gloves fell to the dirt like a shed husk.
Glancing at the house the boy had hidden inside, Isis caught a flicker of movement at the window—only for the shadow to vanish at once.
With a faint chuckle, he slipped on a fresh pair of gloves from his robes and walked away.
The discarded gloves were crushed under his heel, sinking into the mud.
The mana-stone collection site was far removed from the slums.
‘With all this devastation, life here must have been impossible for the poor.’
Rune clicked her tongue as she looked at the pile of dark, rotting corpses.
The “lesser monsters” the senior students had supposedly cleared out were dire wolves. Pack hunters by nature, their numbers had been overwhelming.
To make matters worse, the previous night’s rain had soaked the bodies, making it impossible to burn them.
Thus, the cadets had no choice but to slit open the wolves’ bellies themselves.
The cloudy weather kept the sun at bay, which was some small mercy, but the stench of rot that seeped through the damp air was unbearable.
“At least they gave us these pitiful daggers, I suppose.”
Pinning down a dire wolf with her boot, Rune drove the dagger in and cut downward. Rip—the thick hide tore unevenly, sticky and wet.
What mercy? The blade was dull, barely fit to cut through the thick hide at all.
“This is the worst.”
Twisting the blade into the chest cavity, she finally dislodged a mana-stone, which tumbled out in a mess of black blood and gore.
Barely half her sack was full.
Straightening her aching back, she glanced at the cadets of 3rd Platoon, their faces twisted in disgust as they worked.
Shielding her sweaty eyes, Rune looked farther. 2nd Platoon was hauling sacks of mana-stones. The rest were out of sight.
“Vernon, where’s 1st Platoon?”
Nearby, Vernon lifted his towel-wrapped face, looking miserable.
“I don’t know. I saw them moving off with some priests when we started.”
Rune sighed at the endless heap of wolves. No way they’d finish this task today.
“Damn it! I can’t take this anymore!”
Not far away, Daniel was kicking a wolf carcass in frustration.
Just then, Whittaker Isaac, representative of 2nd Platoon, approached.
“Vernon, you’ve been granted rest. Sort the mana-stones we’ve gathered so far.”
“What? Really?”
“You’ll head back to the slums once the work here is wrapped up.”
Vernon brightened, but Whittaker’s next words wiped the joy from his face.
“There are still people who haven’t received relief supplies. Deliver them first. If time remains, water the horses thoroughly.”
“Wait, didn’t you just say we could rest?”
Rune stepped forward, frowning, but Whittaker scowled in irritation.
‘So the top cadet from the promotion exam thinks she can talk back, huh.’
No matter how skilled she was, everyone knew she’d only become an Esquire thanks to Kylian Heraith’s recommendation.
“Yeah, the horses need rest too. Don’t ask again. This is Sir Alfonso’s order.”
With a cold snort, Whittaker turned away, and 2nd Platoon followed him.
Looking at the weary horses tied to a dried tree, Rune let out a bitter laugh. Ellen dropped a sack of mana-stones beside her and muttered,
“Feels like we’re treated worse than the animals.”
The horses snorted weakly, lowering their heads.
They didn’t look good either, exhausted from carrying people and cargo alike.
Rune sighed, hands on her hips, then turned to Vernon.
“…The river downstream’s filthy. To find clean water, we’ll need to go upstream.”
“What? All the way up there?”
Vernon’s freckled face paled. Drenched in sweat, he was already drained. Many cadets nearby looked no better.
‘No way we can all move together like this.’
After a moment’s thought, Rune placed a hand on Vernon’s shoulder.
“Vernon, take the exhausted cadets back to the slums.”
“But I—”
“It’s more efficient this way. Finish the task, rest during the spare time, then regroup here.”
The others, overhearing, agreed with her reasoning.
“…She’s right. I can still manage—I’ll go upstream.”
“I’ll help with relief supplies.”
Soon, the group split into two—one heading toward the slums, the other upstream.
Daniel and Ellen stayed with Rune to go upstream. She untied the reins of a horse and said,
“The river leads into the forest. I’ll take point—I know forest paths well.”
The cadets nodded wearily. They didn’t like it, but all they wanted was to finish quickly and rest.
Rune led a dozen cadets upstream along the river.
After a while, she halted, pulling three horses, when she spotted clearer water.
“Wait here. I’ll check it first.”
Climbing down the bank, she lifted a stone from the river’s edge, startling crayfish into darting away.
“This should do.”
She signaled, and the cadets brought their horses down.
Daniel hunched his shoulders, glancing around uneasily.
“Did we really have to come this far?”
“We couldn’t give them foul water, could we?”
Nearby, beyond a dark thicket, uneven earthen mounds rose into view.
“Ugh, of course there’s a graveyard here. I hate this!”
Daniel scratched at his arms as goosebumps spread. Ellen snorted, patting a horse’s neck.
“Looks just like your room.”
“What’d you say, punk?”
Rune gave an awkward smile and tried to calm Daniel.
“Just a little longer. Once they’ve drunk, we’ll head back and rest too.”
Her tone was steady, but she too felt uneasy in the eerie air.
‘It’s too neglected for a proper graveyard… whose graves are these?’
Most were nameless, crude mounds. If not for the rough wooden markers, they wouldn’t even look like graves.
Massaging her sore neck, Rune glanced around while watering the horses.
Upstream, she spotted a crude dam, haphazardly built across the river. Clicking her tongue, she muttered,
“People, graves… everything here’s abandoned.”
The wooden structure was nearly twice the size of a grown man, but looked old, with condensation seeping through.
‘After the rain, the river’s swollen. And the only thing holding it up is that rope?’
The ropes were rotted black, barely intact. She sighed.
“This looks dangerous.”
Just as she murmured, Daniel shouted from behind,
“Come on, Rune!”
The cadets, having watered their horses, were climbing back up the bank.
Rune quickly gathered the reins, but then—
“Ahhh!”
A cadet at the top screamed.
“What! What is it?”
“T-there! What is that?!”
Panic spread among the group.
“Damn it! Rune, get up here, now!”
Daniel’s shout made her rush up the slope, dragging the horses behind her.
