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Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Second Trial (8)

Slaughter, and more Slaughter.

It was truly a Slaughter fest.

In just half a day, he had killed nearly three hundred monsters. Yet, Cairn didn’t even seem to break a sweat.

‘Unbelievable.’

Merhen knew he was skilled with a sword.

But fighting against humans and hunting monsters were entirely different things.

Even among the knight candidates who flew and soared at the academy, many couldn’t perform well in real combat. That’s why she was a bit worried.

‘…Incredible.’

That’s it, it was incredible.

It felt like playing with monsters.

Rapid advancement.

Before they knew it, they had crossed the midpoint of the Devil’s Forest.

Cairn, who found a suitable cave, looked at Merhen.

“We can camp here.”

“Okay.”

She gathered branches and lit a fire with her tools.

Crackle, crackle.

The food she had prepared was cooking over the campfire.

“Eat up.”

Cairn handed her a thick piece of meat. As they ate,

Merhen, who was looking around, tilted her head.

“Is this all?”

“What do you mean?”

“The magic seems stronger than it was a year ago.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Take a look over there.”

She pointed to a bunch of twisted trees affected by magic.

They were twisted like screws.

“I heard that this kind of phenomenon usually appears in deeper parts of the forest.”

The magic has intensified.

She recalled what she had read in the documents about the Devil’s Forest.

According to what she had heard, there were channels through which the energy of the demon realm was transmitted, causing pollution in the forest.

However, the level of pollution wasn’t severe enough to take action immediately, according to some explanations she had read.

‘The extermination of accumulated monsters…’

The annual practical exam conducted by the academy. It was like a regular extermination.

‘It wouldn’t be bad for the academy either.’

It could provide students with valuable practical experience.

She also heard that the empire provided a certain level of compensation through these exterminations.

The forest wasn’t maintained for no reason, even with the danger of magic.

“If there’s a lot of magic, does it mean the channel is widening?”

“Huh? You know about the channels too?”

“I’ve read some books too.”

Merhen nodded.

“Usually, yes. As the channel widens, the likelihood of…”

“The appearance of monster waves increases, right?”

“Yeah. Since there’s a higher chance of something coming from the demon realm. So, the monsters gather together to form waves. That’s what I heard…”

Merhen glanced over and said.

“…Shouldn’t we go back and tell the professors about the possibility of a wave?”

“That a wave coming?”

“Yeah. I’m a bit worried.”

“Even though the trees look eerie, can we confirm anything with just that?”

“That’s not it. It’s just that the risk isn’t completely nonexistent…”

Merhen mumbled as she scratched her head.

“…Do you think they’ll believe us?”

“I don’t know. Whether they’ll stop the exam or not. But, do we really need to tell them?”

“Huh?”

“We can just handle it ourselves.”

“…Huh?”

“It would be a waste. That’s a bunch of points, after all.”

Isn’t the monster wave like an experience point jackpot event?

‘And I need to give some blood to the Command Sword.’

If they rush over there and report it, they might trigger the knights and magic corps waiting on the outskirts to move.

They’re said to be of upper-middle rank, even in the empire.

They should be able to handle a monster wave to some extent ourselves. Then, all the experience points and scores would be lost.

But do they really need to?

“…Cairn, your way of thinking is quite unique.”

“Anyway, even if we don’t say anything, someone else will probably go and tell them, right? Isn’t that so?”

Although they arrived in the inner area a little earlier, the top-ranking students would naturally arrive at this line soon enough.

After all, isn’t the structure such that you get points for killing monsters?

There were naturally many monsters inside the forest.

“…Hmm. I’m not sure. Even if we report it, would they return during the exam? If they do and the exam continues, we’ll definitely end up in last place.”

“That’s the same for us, right?”

“…Yeah? We already have some points, so we probably won’t end up in last place…”

“Are you satisfied with just those points? Even though you were already in last place?”

“…”

Merhen fell silent.

Kim Minwoo said quietly,

“But if you want to, Merhen, I’ll go back.”

Second reflection.

The top priority here is undoubtedly the relationship with Merhen.

Nothing else could take precedence over this.

Obtaining the Legion Commander.

Wasn’t that the reason for coming here in the first place?

So, it would be difficult to accept anything presented as coercion, even if it’s something desired.

That’s just how things are.

As long as they understand the situation, that should be enough.

After all, someone will eventually speak up, right?

No one will step forward?

Then why should they?

He roughly explained.

She would have understood his words to some extent.

Of course, even if Merhen insisted on going back, Kim Minwoo would have no hesitation in returning.

Leveling up and handing over blood to the Command Sword?

That’s something he could do outside as well.

But the relationship with Merhen.

‘I can only build it here.’

There’s no stage without a reason.

If it’s just a matter of preventing her from becoming undead.

‘There’s no need to show this kind of past history.’

Just start with a scene of Merhen on the street, being chased by the evil Death Lord.

Just clash directly with the Death Lord.

But he didn’t do that.

Instead, he was given a considerable amount of time.

Why?

[This place is a fragment of the past created based on the regrets of the ‘Banshee Queen Merhen’ during her human days!]

[Player participation.]

‘To resolve Merhen’s regrets….’

Certainly, the player needed a certain amount of time.

Kim Minwoo saw this time as necessary for building a closer relationship with Merhen.

‘Building a relationship.’

Otherwise, there wasn’t much else coming to mind.

It wasn’t the time to request reinforcements, given the circumstances.

‘And even if they come, it’s not like we can win.’

He wasn’t an emperor of the empire, and the son of a mere duke couldn’t muster much force.

If it had been a matter to be handled at the level of reinforcements, then the Death Lord wouldn’t have been able to dominate this continent in the first place.

Conclusion.

He needed to get closer to Merhen.

There must be some benefit to it.

That’s how Kim Minwoo saw it.

“What do you want to do?”

“Well… then for today, let’s rest first… and tomorrow, should we go in a bit more? Since nothing’s certain yet…”

“If you want to.”

* * *

Merhen and Cairn entered deeper into the forest. From increasingly grotesque monsters to horribly twisted trees, they encountered them sporadically.

There were a few moments of danger along the way.

Of course, it wasn’t Cairn in danger.

It was Merhen.

She narrowly escaped several dangerous situations. Especially when the Shabel Tiger attacked from above the trees, it was truly perilous.

—Grr!

Monsters suddenly lunging with their claws extended.

Merhen’s heart pounded heavily.

A heart about to burst.

“Please…!”

Despite her desperate plea, there was no sign of magic emerging, let alone the slightest hint of it going out.

“Are you okay?”

Fortunately, thanks to Cairn, Merhen’s life was spared.

The sight of Cairn’s arm heavily scratched by claws was visible.

“…All because of me….”

Merhen, seeing the wounds on Cairn’s body, felt a pang of guilt.

“I’m… I’m sorry. It’s because of me….”

“It’s okay. It’s just this much. It’s not even itchy.”

Cairn laughed it off as if it was nothing, pouring a potion.

Strange.

The Shabel Tiger had clearly been defeated.

Yet her heart still raced.

Especially when she looked at Cairn.

She quickly turned her head.

Kim Minwoo, who had poured the potion, looked at Merhen.

“This… seems quite serious, doesn’t it?”

The recent crisis.

He had known about the Shabel Tiger hiding there through Whitey.

He intentionally provoked the attack.

Not to kill her, of course.

It was because he had heard stories that Mana tends to manifest in life-threatening situations.

Despite deliberately inducing such crises several times before, there had been no manifestation, not even a movement of Mana.

‘This will be difficult.’

A realization dawned upon them.

It seemed difficult to trigger magic simply by reaching a life-threatening level.

“Well, if it were that easy, it would have manifested sooner.”

Merhen must have tried her best as well. It seemed like giving up on manifestation due to the threat to her life was the right decision.

As they ventured further for another day, they noticed several changes.

The magic was becoming denser.

The footprints of monsters scattered around were converging in one direction.

Merhen’s face stiffened as she observed this.

While previously they couldn’t be certain about the possibility of a wave despite noticing the intensifying magic, now it was different.

If monsters were gathering, it was a clear sign of an imminent wave.

“Cairn, it’s getting more dangerous as we proceed.”

“Yeah, it seems like a wave will erupt soon.”

“Let’s go. We need to inform others.”

“Merhen.”

“Yeah?”

“Cedric will stick with you, so go first.”

“…Huh?”

Facing Merhen’s smile, he spoke with a serious expression.

“The monsters will gather soon. Since all the students are scattered in the forest, many will die if we don’t do something.”

“Th-then we need to run away quickly!”

“We need to stop them.”

“But… but…”

It doesn’t have to be you.

Merhen barely swallowed the last part.

‘Did I burden Cairn?’

The thought crossed Merhen’s mind suddenly.

In hindsight, it seemed so.

It was Merhen who had continuously insisted on informing Cairn about the wave.

But what about Cairn?

He had been skeptical about that opinion.

He wouldn’t oppose it if she insisted, but was it necessary?

That was the feeling.

The desire for points.

Because there hadn’t been any conclusive evidence, Merhen had followed Cairn with a somewhat vague attitude despite her assertions.

But when clear evidence of the wave emerged, his attitude suddenly changed.

Towards protecting people.

It wasn’t about single-handedly capturing the wave for points.

No matter how one looked at it, the reason that came to mind was his attitude.

Merhen said urgently, “If it’s because of me, there’s no need for that. I don’t care at all. Everyone is selfish anyway.”

If the students had reported the anomaly, even a few of them, the rescue team would have already been dispatched.

They would have sent magical flares in all directions.

So, if they had entered the forest, they would have been able to confirm at least to some extent.

But the magical flares had never gone off.

Neither the top nor the middle-ranking players had gone to report the anomaly.

Of course, they couldn’t blame them since they hadn’t done so themselves.

It was just that.

They realized afresh that people live for themselves. So, there was no reason for Cairn to sacrifice.

‘Why should I take responsibility for an accident that wasn’t Cairn’s fault either?’

Merhen urgently grabbed Cairn’s sleeve.

“Let’s go together. It’s not too late yet. We can escape…”

At that moment, the ground began to tremble as if thousands were rushing forward.

Merhen’s eyes glazed over.

Intense vibrations.

The wave had already begun.

“It’s coming. This way.”

“Oh…”

Cairn stretched out his hand.

He turned to the summoned Cedric.

“Take her.”

― Okay

Cedric grabbed Merhen’s arm.

“No! Let go! Cairn! I’ll stay with you…….”

—……Come with me.

Cedric ran off with her on his shoulder.

Merhen shook her head vigorously, grabbing Cedric’s skull with her hand.

‘…This is Annoying.’

Cedric inwardly sighed.

This woman knew nothing about her master’s true worth.

So why was she freaking out over a single monster wave like this?

He wanted to ask why she was making such a fuss like that.

But if he did, he might end up being beaten by his master for months on end.

Kim Minwoo was a cunning human.

There must be a reason for not showing her his true worth.

Seeing his former colleague freaking out on his shoulder, Cedric had a rough idea of the reason.

Most likely.

‘It’s probably for the sake of points.’

“Let me go!”

―Just stay still for a moment.

Cedric inwardly sighed as he pulled his finger out from the skull.

Was this really the same Banshee Queen who used to be so cold and composed?

He felt a sense of regret creeping in.