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Chapter 75

On the way to the dining hall after Kayla\'s training ended.

"Mr. First Place, are you really going to do that...?"

Thompson asked with a worried tone.

"I have to. It\'s a chance to untangle my twisted mana circuit in one go."

"What if you get trapped? You\'ll become a cosmic wanderer."

"Well, what else can I do? There\'s no other way..."

I understood their concern, but there was really nothing I could do about it.

How could I miss this opportunity?

It was a chance to increase my growth rate several times over.

"Aren\'t you scared? You\'re talking about it like it\'s someone else\'s problem."

It seemed Kayla was also feeling uneasy.

To reassure them, I patted both of their shoulders and said,

"Don\'t worry too much, everyone. Everything will be fine. And it\'s not like I\'m doing it right now."

According to the dean, it wasn\'t something I could try right away anyway.

Since it was risky, I needed to have a sufficient understanding of mana circuits before proceeding.

So, we postponed it until after the war, after thorough preparation.

In other words, worrying about it now was just a waste of time.

"...Alright. If Mr. First Place says it\'s okay, there shouldn\'t be any problem."

After reassuring them like that, we arrived at the student cafeteria.

"...Wow, what is all this?"

"This is the cafeteria...?"

It was my first time in the academy\'s cafeteria, and the facilities were incredibly impressive.

The pearly marble floor, the bright lighting, the shiny tables, the clean tableware.

And the finishing touch, the appetizing food lined up in a U-shape.

\'...A buffet?\'

It was like being at a 5-star hotel buffet.

There was everything from juicy meat, reddish stews, springy noodles, to sweet desserts.

"L-let\'s eat quickly...!"

Thompson, sniffing the air, dashed off as if someone was chasing him.

Clatter, clatter, screech, clatter!

Thompson swept away the food as if he was going to clear out the entire cafeteria.

Kayla wasn\'t much different.

"This too, this too, oh... this looks delicious too!"

Despite the considerable difference in size, the tower of food Kayla piled up was in no way inferior to Thompson\'s.

\'Can she even fit all that in her stomach?\'

Perhaps it was because they had only been eating tasteless demon meat for two weeks during the hunt, but everyone seemed to have gone crazy for the food.

Of course, I was the same.

After settling down in a suitable spot, I stuffed my face with food as I pleased.

Munch, munch!

Honestly, I thought Barundel\'s food wasn\'t bad, but compared to this, it was simply pathetic.

My mouth felt ecstatic even before I finished chewing.

The others couldn\'t stop expressing their admiration as they ate.

"Wow, as expected of Asion Academy! I\'ve never had anything like this in my life! It\'s on a completely different level from the food at the Aldeon party."

"Leaving Sector 7 was the best decision of my life..."

After eating like that for a while, we finally started talking when our stomachs were about to burst.

"Ugh. Oh... my stomach. Mr. First Place, where are we going now?"

"Ah, it\'s about time we head over. To apply for the war mercenaries."

"Okay, shall we get going then?"

Tap.

I stopped Thompson, who was about to get up from his seat.

"No, please rest a bit longer."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don\'t think there\'s a need for you to come with me. I\'ll go alone this time, so please continue what you were doing. Well, if you have nothing to do, you can look around the academy."

Kayla had to receive special training from Professor Ziren, and Thompson had to learn body transformation magic from the dean.

On the other hand, I didn\'t have any particular schedule, so it was more efficient for me to go alone.

"Will it be alright?"

"Of course it will be. It\'s just a short distance away."

Thompson seemed convinced and nodded.

"Alright. If anything happens, come running back here."

"Haha, yes, sir."

The sun was beginning to set.

Before it got any later, I left the academy and headed for the checkpoint.

***

After asking passersby for directions, I arrived at the checkpoint.

Perhaps because there were many people who wanted to volunteer, the front of the checkpoint was quite crowded.

I joined the long line and waited for my turn.

"Name."

"It\'s Avan."

"Specialty."

"Uh, um... I\'m good with swords."

Click!

"Okay, next."

From the sounds coming from the front, the application process didn\'t seem too difficult.

You just had to state your name and specialty, take a picture, and that was it.

Seeing how they were letting people through without proper identification, it seemed the royal family was quite desperate.

How long did I wait?

"Name."

Finally, my turn came.

"It\'s Yuhan."

"Specialty."

"Excuse me, before that, could I ask about the participation rewards and contribution rewards?"

"What?"

"I was told I could hear about them if I came here."

"Sigh..."

The knight who was receiving applications let out a deep sigh.

For some reason, he seemed to have a lot of complaints about his current task.

He waved his hand dismissively at my face.

"Hey, go find out about that yourself. If you\'re not going to apply, get lost. I\'m busy."

"..."

Why was he making such a fuss over telling me just that?

"I\'ll apply."

In the end, I decided to apply for now.

Well, I could always find out about the rewards later and withdraw if I didn\'t like them.

Or I could just not show up without a word.

There were plenty of people like that.

It wasn\'t something the royal family could care about individually.

"Specialty."

"I\'m a mage."

"Hmm?"

The knight, who had been staring at the documents, finally looked up.

"A mage?"

At the same time, he scanned me from head to toe.

There was no need to be nervous.

I had been reborn as a complete mage with my new equipment.

"Yes."

"What circle?"

"4th circle."

To be precise, I was a 4th circle mage who could stably handle the power of the 5th circle.

All thanks to the effect of the [Holy Staff].

However, I didn\'t reveal that fact.

There was no benefit to being noticed in a place like this.

The 4th circle wasn\'t a position that received great treatment, but it wasn\'t ignored either; it was just the right position.

As if to prove that,

"The participation reward is 500 gold coins, and the contribution reward is 1,000 gold coins per star. From 3 stars onwards, it\'s at the commander\'s discretion."

Suddenly, his attitude changed.

The knight answered my previous question without me asking again.

I even heard murmurs from behind.

It made me realize once again that this was a world where power was everything.

Anyway.

\'Not bad.\'

The reward details the knight told me were quite decent.

As expected of a large-scale war, it seemed they were investing quite a bit in the volunteer mercenaries.

Of course, the real valuable reward here wasn\'t the gold coins.

\'Special reward.\'

The special reward given at the commander\'s discretion when you achieved 3 stars or more. That was the key.

Usually, achievements in war were expressed as \'number of stars\'.

1-star contribution for showing performance superior to others.

2-star contribution for defeating an enemy at the staff level.

3-star contribution for taking down a commander or significantly contributing to it.

4-star contribution for turning the tide of the battlefield through some action... and so on.

\'3 stars...\'

In other words, if the knight was right, I had to make a significant contribution to defeating a commander...

\'Seems doable.\'

That was something worth aiming for.

If I had to do it alone, it might be a different story.

But I had the solid support of the academy and reliable companions.

"So, what do you think? Not bad, right?"

"Yes, it is."

"So, are you going to do it?"

"Yes."

"Alright, I\'ll see you on the battlefield."

The knight grinned, now fostering a sense of camaraderie.

He asked a few more questions, such as my main attribute and affiliation, then extended his hand.

"Let\'s do well out there, friend."

It seemed like he was about to wrap up the application.

However, he was mistaken about one thing.

"Two more people."

"...What?"

Who said I was alone?

***

A makeshift war command center in Sector 3 of Asternon.

Barus Girian, the commander in charge, was currently racking his brains.

Flip, flip!

"How could this be...?"

An interim report from the Sector 4 checkpoint.

The mercenaries on the list were utterly inadequate, and that was the problem.

Forget about proper identification, there was a peasant whose only skill was wielding a sword, a deliveryman with a weapon he had never even heard of, a passerby who claimed to have war experience despite his frail appearance...

There was no one competent, only weaklings.

Had these people ever even faced a demon before?

"Just because we\'re handing out some gold coins, they swarm in like dogs. Sigh..."

Normally, he would have cursed a few times and brushed it off, but he couldn\'t do that now.

This war was on a different scale than usual.

If things continued like this, Asteron could be in danger of collapse.

Less than two weeks remained until the war.

He had to come up with a solution somehow.

"...Should I ask the Balkan Kingdom for reinforcements?"

The first thing that came to mind was, of course, asking the neighboring country for help.

It was a simple and certain method.

However.

"...They probably won\'t approve it."

They had already received support once.

And now they were asking for more because it wasn\'t enough?

Just thinking about the repercussions made him shake his head.

It was a political matter.

Not only a large amount of gold coins, but also precious artifacts, human resources that were scarce in Asteron, and in the worst case, even some territory...

It was clear that the Balkan Kingdom would demand those things in return.

There was no way the royal family would allow such a detrimental thing to happen.

Those in power usually valued their own interests more than the stability of the country.

"...There must be some way."

Flip, flip.

Barus continued to scan through the documents, but he didn\'t stop thinking.

If he gave up, the outcome of the war would be too grim.

Massive casualties, and Sector 6... no, maybe even Sector 5...

They could be overrun by demons.

Just like the current Sector 7.

He couldn\'t repeat that damn history again.

"There must be some way..."

Just then.

"Huh?"

There was a person on the list who caught his eye.

A man with a jet-black robe, black hair and eyes, and an expressionless face.

"...Yuhan."

Unlike the other riffraffs, this man was clearly stated to be a 4th circle mage.

In a large-scale battle like this, a mage was a valuable asset, capable of taking on a hundred enemies alone.

Of course, if that was all, Barus wouldn\'t be scanning the documents with such intensity.

"Thompson, Kayla..."

There were three of them.

Three mages who had reached the 4th circle had volunteered for the war mercenaries.

This alone was already a force of over three hundred.

And it didn\'t end there.

"They\'re affiliated with Asion Academy?"

Among the many magic academies, Asion Academy was the most prestigious, founded directly by the academy.

These three mages were affiliated with that place.

There was even a note in the special remarks section that said \'Partial academy support possible\'.

For a moment, Barus felt like he had found hope.

His mind raced.

"If I can just persuade these people..."

The Asion Academy, where the best magic authorities in Asteron were gathered.

He might be able to bring in the bigwigs from that place.