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Chapter 13
“I lost.”
“…Huh?”
I thought I misheard, so I asked again, but Heron just let his training sword drop and left the training ground.
While I was flustered and unable to compose myself at the unexpected situation, Jina, as if she had anticipated this, approached Heron without any sign of surprise.
“How was it? Do you think it’s okay?”
“Hmm.”
Jina asked about me, and Heron answered briefly.
“You’re strong.”
“That’s it?”
“Very strong.”
“No, I mean, is there anything besides strength?”
“…Hmm…”
‘Wait, but we didn’t even spar properly, and we only clashed swords once, and he already figured out my strength?’
Heron alternated his gaze between Jina, who was pressing for more details, and me, still lingering in the training ground, before adding:
“Your strength is comparable to Jina’s.”
Once again, it boiled down to strength.
But this time, there was a point of comparison—Jina—and Heron didn’t stop there.
“Are you perhaps connected to your family’s main house?”
Although he phrased it vaguely as “main house,” it was a statement that suggested he knew Jina was from the Titans.
“…!”
I stared at Jina, utterly taken aback.
“I’m not from the main house, just a little related.”
Jina didn’t mention the Titan breathing techniques or her superhuman strength, answering only vaguely.
“Hmm.”
Heron didn’t probe further. He gathered his loose sword and left the training ground.
“Write the recommendation immediately and deliver it to the mission office!”
“Mm.”
With that, Heron departed. I finally stepped down from the training ground and approached Jina, asking what had happened.
“Can he really evaluate someone from just one sword clash?”
“Yeah, that’s enough.”
Jina had a reason for answering so confidently.
“That guy has the Insight trait.”
“Oh… the Insight trait…”
Indeed, with the Insight trait, a single clash could be sufficient to assess someone’s ability.
But that wasn’t my only question.
“Then what about the ‘main house’ comment…?”
Heron had hinted at Jina’s origin, as if he knew she was from the Titans.
Jina responded nonchalantly.
“Yeah, he knows.”
“…Wait, was I the only one who didn’t know?”
“Ha! No, not exactly. Only Heron and the Cardinal know.”
Only two people knew Jina’s true identity besides me.
“The Cardinal knows because he allowed me to hide my identity and use the name Harper, and Heron saw me at the main house when I was younger.”
No one else, not even the other peers aside from Heron, knew that Jina was a Titan.
“I see…”
“Don’t worry. Heron’s pretty tight-lipped, so he won’t be running around blabbing about you.”
I wasn’t worried about that. I had just seen how tight-lipped Heron was.
My sour expression was for a different reason.
‘I wanted to experience Caliber’s swordsmanship…’
I never expected the sparring to end so quickly just because of his Insight trait.
‘I’ll have to hope for another chance.’
The opportunity came sooner than expected.
Thanks to Jina and Heron’s recommendation, I received my second mission in District 2: inspecting monster habitats.
The mission was to check for any abnormalities in the monster habitats of District 2.
There was no need to hunt monsters—just inspect the habitats. The main purpose was to familiarize ourselves with the area before taking on real tasks.
And my supervisor for this mission was…
“Please take care of me.”
“Mm.”
Heron.
“Why is a second-rank paladin supervising this…?”
Jina, a second-rank paladin, supervised my first mission. Now, Heron, also a second-rank paladin, supervised the second.
One instance could be a coincidence, but two in a row seemed strange, so I asked—but Heron gave no explanation.
“Mm.”
He just said his usual ‘Mm’ and headed toward the ship at the dock.
I reluctantly followed him onto the boat, pondering why he was assigned as the supervisor.
‘Is it because it’s a District 2 mission?’
District 2 was relatively more dangerous than District 1, so perhaps a second-rank paladin was deliberately assigned.
It made sense, but some things were still confusing.
Jina, a second-rank paladin, supervised my first mission in District 1.
Even for District 2, inspecting monster habitats should have been fine with a third-rank paladin as the supervisor.
Yet, for some reason, a second-rank paladin was assigned. Clearly, there was another reason.
‘Come to think of it, I hardly see any third-rank paladins.’
In the past few days, whether at the mission office or the dock, third-rank paladins were rarely seen.
Not just third-rank, even second-rank paladins were few.
And they weren’t all training in the barracks either.
‘Maybe they’re all out on missions together?’
Unless they were loafing in their rooms, it made sense that they were assigned collectively to some operation.
‘What kind of mission requires everyone?’
I had no memory of such missions from my previous life when I was still a trainee paladin.
‘Maybe a large-scale extermination mission?’
I was curious about the mission’s content, duration, and other details, but speculation could only take me so far.
‘I’ll have to find out properly later.’
By the time I finished my thoughts, the boat had arrived at the Overlayke dock, and Heron and I headed straight to District 2.
“Where should we start?”
I asked, spreading out the map to decide. Heron pointed to a spot.
The western part of District 2, Area 2-W.
Heron led the way, and I followed, memorizing the map as we went.
‘The Goblin Shaman tribe. Just like I remember.’
In my past life, I had entered District 2 roughly two years later. During those two years, the area’s ownership hadn’t changed.
‘Goblins are annoying to deal with…’
Small, agile, and crafty, goblins use tools and are troublesome opponents.
Additionally, Overlayke’s monsters are infused with mana, making them stronger than ordinary monsters.
Even so, a goblin-level monster isn’t a huge threat—but…
‘Best case is no battle at all.’
This mission was simply to check if the habitats remained the same, if they had moved, or if the owner monsters had changed. Combat was low priority unless something unusual happened.
Still…
‘If a fight breaks out, I could see Heron’s skill firsthand.’
Though it wasn’t sparring, I was curious about his combat ability.
As we approached, Heron suddenly stopped.
“This is…”
We had reached the entrance of Area 2-W, a wide park filled with tall grass on the edge of Overlayke’s bustling district.
‘There’s even a tent over there.’
Tall grass reached up to my shins and knees, with crude tents scattered throughout.
That was the goblins’ nest.
And the area was probably swarming with goblins.
“Is this enough?”
“Mm.”
Heron and I, hidden, tossed stones toward the dense grass.
The stones clattered into the undergrowth…
…but no reaction.
‘Maybe there aren’t any around here?’
I threw a few more stones in different directions, but still, nothing.
“Mm.”
Heron pointed to the goblin tents.
“Should I throw them at the tents?”
“Mm.”
He nodded and indicated the nearest tent. I picked up another stone.
Thud!
The stone hit the tent, but again, nothing.
Thud, thud, thud.
I tried other tents with the same result.
No goblins reacted in the grass or tents.
“Hmmm…”
Heron’s expression stiffened as he moved into the grass.
‘What’s going on?’
I followed, equally puzzled.
And the result…
“Every single one… empty?”
All ten tents were completely vacant.
“Hmm…”
Heron’s face hardened, and I also started to wonder what had happened.
‘Monsters rarely abandon their tribes.’
Other monsters might relocate due to food, predators, or environmental changes, but Overlayke was different.
The mana flowing from the canyon contaminated Overlayke. Animals corrupted by mana turn into monsters, and existing monsters grow stronger—but excessive mana can be fatal.
The mana level in Area 2-W was just what goblins could tolerate. They wouldn’t easily relocate.
Unless there had been a sudden mana surge or a paladin extermination operation…
“Has there been a recent extermination operation?”
I asked Heron, but he shook his head.
‘No operation… and yet the tribe abandoned their home?’
Having lived in Overlayke extensively, I could say with certainty: that shouldn’t happen.
‘Something definitely went down.’
