Upon arriving in front of Cebu village, a head poked out over the wooden fence. It was an old man with gray hair, which showed the many years he had lived.
“Oh! Are you people from Zieghart?”
The wariness filling his angry eyes subsided upon seeing the burning sword emblem engraved on the trainees’ chests.
“Yes, we are.”
Burren, who was at the front, nodded.
“You’ve finally arrived! Please wait a moment!”
After a thumping noise, the door opened at the left side of the wooden fence.
“I’m Ligaham, the Cebu village chief. We welcome the Zieghart’s swordsmen!”
It seemed the gray-haired old man was the village chief as he came up and bowed. The villagers holding swords and spears could be seen behind him.
“We are just trainees that aren’t swordsmen yet.”
Ligaham and the villagers strictly bowed to the trainees, who looked clearly young, which meant the Zieghart’s name was famous in the village.
“Hmph.”
“Uhh…”
The trainees couldn’t hide their pleasure at the hospitality they’ve got for the first time. It was the typical display of an inexperienced beginner.
Raon hid his presence, standing in the middle of the trainees. He was carefully observing his surroundings. He tried looking for the gaze he felt in the forest, but he couldn’t feel it anymore. It seemed the one observing them was gone.
He already ran away.
‘It looks like it.’
Wrath sometimes gave him the answer out of frustration. He was a very useful guy, except for the times he tried to attack him.
“Please rest for now, since you must be tired from the long trip.”
Chief Ligaham raised his hand to volunteer as a guide for the trainees.
“It’s fine.”
Burren stopped moving after entering the village.
“I’m going to ask about the situation first. Please tell us about the monsters’ movements.”
“You are a Zieghart after all, despite being a trainee.”
The village chief nodded, a deeply moved expression on his face.
“Hmm!”
Burren squared his shoulders at hearing that his actions were worthy of Zieghart. He had returned to being a child after acting all dignified.
“Please, look that way.”
The village chief pointed at the mountain on the right side.
“That mountain is Cebu Mountain, which has the same name as our village. Monsters appear there every year, but we’ve been dealing with them since they’ve been few in number. However, the number multiplied more than three times this year, and they were too much for us.”
“How many would they be then?”
“We’ve observed more than a hundred of them. Taking into account those we haven’t seen yet, it’s safe to assume they are over two hundred.”
“Two hundred, I see.”
Burren nodded, looking at Cebu Mountain.
“Please, rest easy. We are going to annihilate the monsters living in that mountain.”
“Ohh!”
“Th-thank you!”
“Thank you very much!”
The villagers bowed at Burren and the trainees, as if the monsters had already been wiped out.
“Please, get up. Cebu is a village under Zieghart’s influence, therefore it’s our job to take care of those monsters.”
Burren’s face turned red with excitement, but he turned around without showing it on the outside.
“Since it’s already late today, we are going to head to the mountain tomorrow at daybreak, before the monsters wake.”
“Then for your rest…”
“Before that.”
The village chief’s voice was interrupted by Burren once again.
“Please prepare a fast person to guide us on the mountain tomorrow.”
“Of course. Please, come this way.”
Overwhelmed by Burren’s atmosphere, the village chief immediately nodded and started guiding them to the village hall.
‘Not bad.’
Raon nodded, watching the exchange between Burren and the village chief.
I know, right? I thought that bloody-eyed brat would’ve asked him to kneel as soon as he arrived.
Wrath murmured that it was a shame.
‘Do you think everyone is like you?’
Honestly, Raon thought the same thing as Wrath. He thought Burren was going to abuse his power, but he was only thinking about the mission, and he treated him with some respect.
‘However, that’s not the important part.’
Burren and the trainees could deal with the monsters like orcs, goblins, and kobolds without his help.
The important part was the scanning gaze that he felt as soon as he arrived near Cebu village. He couldn’t be sure, but the gaze had disappeared in the direction of the mountain.
‘I’ll find out tomorrow.’
Whether it was a House trial, or some other organization preparing something.
After looking around Cebu Mountain as a whole, Raon entered the village hall last.
***
At the peak of Cebu Mountain, monster footprints of various sizes were haphazardly stamped into the snow covering the ground like a blanket.
However, not a single monster could be seen, and one young man was sitting on a rock.
Swoosh.
While the man was spinning an orc shaped helmet with his finger, a suspicious man covering his head with a green mask surged out from the ground.
“Who are the ones that arrived?”
“They are Ziegharts.”
The green masked man responded while bowing.
“Zieghart? I didn’t feel such a presence.”
“They didn’t look like official swordsmen, just trainees.”
“Any instructors?”
“I couldn’t find any.”
“Aha, it’s their second mission.”
The young man snickered, tapping the helmet.
“You didn’t get found out, right?”
“Of course. They shouldn’t even have realized I was nearby.”
“I guess. There’s no way mere trainees could notice your stealth.”
He nodded and licked his lips.
“We’ve made sure to control the monsters, so why did they have to come here?”
“Because the villagers are sensitive to change. They must’ve asked for help from Zieghart, noticing the increase in monsters’ numbers. It seems we were too reckless because we thought we could find the item soon enough.”
The young man clicked his tongue, tilting his head back.
“Since we didn’t manage to find it after searching through the mountain, the ‘magic stone’ must be inside the village.”
“That must be the case.”
“Are we going to attack immediately?”
The man grabbed the helmet he was spinning and shook his head.
“No.”
“Pardon? But it’s the perfect opportunity to kill the Zieghart’s sprouts…”
“It’s easy to kill them, but Zieghart might find out about the magic stone’s existence if we mess around with them. It will be a loss for us if we end up losing something bigger while chasing a small gain.”
“Then…”
“Let them have some monsters. That way, the Zieghart younglings can complete their mission splendidly and return home.”
The man put the green helmet on his head. The helmet had buck teeth and frightening eyes carved on it like an orc’s head, and a threatening murderous intent was coming from those eyes.
“We will attack Cebu village after they return. Kill them all without exception.”
* * *
* * *
The next day at daybreak.
Raon was waiting near the entrance of Cebu Mountain along with the trainees.
‘He’s here.’
As soon as he came near the mountain, the gaze he had felt the day before had appeared once again.
‘Is it coming from the west?’
Thanks to having felt it already the day before, he managed to get a rough idea of his location. It seemed he was in the west.
‘It doesn’t look like he is intending to come out right now.’
Raon closed his eyes and widened his perception to search the mountain. Presences big and small: they were the movements of the orcs, goblins, and kobolds that the village chief had mentioned.
Since his senses as an assassin didn’t notice anything, it didn’t seem like there was any danger. However, he kept his senses open just in case.
“After examination, we’ve confirmed orcs, goblins, and kobolds.”
Burren turned around to meet every trainee’s eyes.
“The orcs have the stronger combat abilities, but as you’ve learned, the goblins and kobolds use dirty techniques like poison darts and poison smoke. You should never underestimate them.”
“Yes.”
The trainees responded quietly since the monsters could pop out at any moment.
“The most efficient method is to move in groups, but since we lack actual combat experience, we are going to move together in order to support each other.”
He looked at Raon after saying that. His eyes were asking for permission.
“……”
Raon slightly nodded without saying anything. Burren thanked him with his eyes and turned around once again.
“Show the monsters threatening our land the power of Zieghart!”
Burren drew his sword and ran up the mountain.
“Let’s go!”
“Waaaa!”
Giving out a loud war cry, the trainees followed Burren.
Runaan and Martha went into the mountain after checking Raon’s gaze one last time.
What a bunch of idiots.
Wrath snorted, watching the trainees running in.
Are they really shouting out loud after practicing surprise attacks until now? They are so pathetic.
It was pretty much the first real battle for the trainees. That much of a mistake was understandable.
It should be your first monster extermination as well. What’s wrong with your heartbeat?
Wrath’s voice was full of irritation.
It sounds like an old general’s heartbeat, one who has experienced hundreds of battlefields. Instead of looking right in front of you, you are seeing many different things. That heavy sound really annoys me.
‘It’s because I’m special.’
Raon grinned and unsheathed his sword.
“Let’s go, then.”
“Ah, yes!”
The brown-haired young man nodded, his chin trembling. He was the villager chosen as the guide. Raon’s job was the protection of the guide, instead of fighting the monsters.
“Roar!”
“Kiee!”
Upon reaching the source of screams, they were already in the middle of a battle.
“Stop the orcs, kill the goblins and kobolds first!”
Following Burren’s command, the trainees on the frontline crossed their swords with the orcs, and the trainees on the back dashed ahead to slash at the goblins and the kobolds.
The green wall made of monsters collapsed in an instant.
There were three exceptional people among the trainees that were slaughtering the monsters.
Burren’s sword, imbued with the energy of the wind, was singlehandedly splitting the orcs’ axe. Runaan was controlling the approaching monsters with frost, then cutting their throats.
And finally, Martha…
Wham!
She was destroying everything in front of her, imbuing her sword with a tremendous amount of aura.
At that rate, they were going to wipe out every monster in the mountain without much difficulty, even if he didn’t interfere.
“Grrrr!”
While Raon was spreading his perception, two orcs that had escaped the trainees’ encirclement ran towards him holding an axe.
“Hieee!”
At the scent of blood coming from the orcs, the guide collapsed, unable to control his trembling legs.
Slash!
Raon stood in front of him and swung his sword.
“Kuh…”
As the sword containing red energy slashed through the air, the orc’s head fell down like a fruit falling from a tree.
“Hmm.”
“……”
Burren swallowed after watching the scene, and Martha’s black eyes shone.
“Don’t worry.”
Raon grabbed the guide’s hand, the man’s mouth wide open, to help him stand up.
“I will return you to the village without a single injury.”
***
It was the worst morning ever for Kanbar, who was twenty-five years old now. That was because he was chosen to be the guide for the punitive force.
‘Is it going to be fine?’
He couldn’t stop worrying about it.
He was thankful for Zieghart’s punitive force coming to help the village, but they looked way too young.
Moreover, the swordsman that came with him to protect him looked even younger than any of them.
His handsome appearance was bewildering, but he couldn’t bring himself to trust him because of his small size.
It couldn’t be helped, though.
Since the decision was already made, he had no choice but to obey.
Kanbar went up the mountain, feeling embarrassed at being protected by a boy smaller than him.
What he witnessed as soon as he entered the mountain was the children’s blades wiping out the monsters.
Despite his belief that it was going to be a difficult battle, the orcs, goblins, and kobolds were being annihilated, unable to do anything.
‘That’s crazy!’
He unconsciously gasped.
An orc that five grown men together could barely fight against was getting beheaded like a twig. Every single one of the trainees was literally a monster.
‘So, this was the reason.’
He could finally understand why the village chief was paying his utmost respect to those young children. They were completely different people from commoners like him.
When he could finally relax after regaining his composure, two orcs came running at him from the left side. His legs wouldn’t move from the stench of their breath.
“Uaaaah!”
When he collapsed on the ground with his head going blank, the boy who’d been silent so far stepped up.
He drew his sword and swung.
It was a simple movement, as if he was cutting already dead meat, and the two approaching orcs’ heads fell off.
“Hie…”
Kanbar’s teeth chattered, with his eyes wide.
‘What was that?’
The simple and light swordsmanship made him forget about the other children’s great display of power. He didn’t look like a child—he looked like an old general that had gone through hundreds of battlefields.
Despite knowing nothing about swordsmanship, he could clearly see that the boy was special among them.
After that, the blond, red-eyed boy next to him observed the surroundings without standing out as they climbed the mountain.
He wasn’t doing anything special, but he was preventing any danger from occurring while observing the whole situation.
‘This boy is the real one…’
It was something one could only tell by looking up close. The best among the children, numbering over forty, was the boy that looked the youngest.
“Was your name Kanbar?”
As he was observing him with admiration, the blond boy spoke to him.
“Ah, yes! That’s right! Sir Swordsman!”
He unconsciously addressed him with utmost respect.
“Are there any legends about this mountain?”
“L-legend?”
“Yes, something like a great treasure’s existence, or some exceptional monster residing here.”
“Ah, th-there’s one actually, although it was supposed to be a few hundred years ago. There’s a story of a goblin king coming from the west, fighting the knight's order in this mountain…”
“Hmm, is there anything like a treasure?”
“There was a story about the goblin king’s ring that wasn’t found afterwards…”
“I see.”
The boy’s eyes shone in red for an instant.
“That’s it.”
The moment he heard the boy murmuring to himself silently, chills ran down his spine.
