Chapter 235.
While Percival and I were talking, the scouts and Asmona who had entered the Alps entrance first came back.
Asmona moved the horse she was riding next to our wagon and asked, "What were you talking so seriously about?"
I replied with a shrug. "It’s nothing much. It’s just that Asmona is this ahjussi’s first, uep-uep!”
Percival was embarrassed and hurriedly covered my mouth. "Keup! No! It’s not!"
I forced Percival’s hand off and shouted, "What do you mean no! I know everything, I’m sure, uep-uep!”
"Shut, shut up!"
Percival tried to keep my mouth shut anyway he could. I created his body, but Percival’s power was so strong that I couldn’t take his hands off my mouth. Did he really want to hide the fact that Asmona looked like his first love so badly?
Asmona smiled lightly as Percival and I tossed and turned in the wagon. "You two look like you’re on good terms."
Percival rebelled at Asmona’s comments. "Me, with this guy?"
"Uep-uep-uep! Uep-uep!"
As Percival kept holding my mouth shut, I hit him in the stomach hard with my elbow. "Ook!"
"How long are you going to shut my mouth!"
Percival fell sideways, grabbing onto his solar plexus.
Ugh, I’m sure this body is fake, but why does it hurt?
Percival sent me a thought, holding his solar plexus, and I smiled refreshingly.
It’s just that you can’t manage danger well without pain. Pain and fear are defense mechanisms to protect the body.Oh, is that right?
Percival sat down again, gently touching his solar plexus.
Oh, but don’t worry. I made it so you won’t feel pain when it’s an excessive force. Indeed, it probably won’t hurt if someone punches a hole through your stomach.
The pain from me hitting him in the stomach was the highest it could get. It was designed so that if you hit harder than this, the pain disappears.
So, it’s a body that can respond to danger appropriately but also fight continuously.
Percival nodded satisfactorily at my words.
If I can fight according to my skills even if I get injured, I will be able to save more colleagues, so this is an acceptable body.
I asked Asmona, leaving behind a satisfied Percival, “Is everything all right in the Alps?”
Asmona nodded. "It was the same as always. The difference is that there are fewer monsters than usual, but that’s not strange because it’s only been two months since the flood of demons."
"There were monsters?”
That’s weird. I calculated that the ruins sending out mana were located in the Alps, but there were no signs of abnormality? Well, it was also strange that the monsters didn’t die and remained when the reverse world collided with the real world. I felt something shady going on as if someone were trying to hide the phenomenon of the sealed place coming up to the real world.
Percival.What’s wrong?I have a bad feeling.
If as many as 400 knight school students became a burden, I wouldn’t be able to cover the situation alone. Of course, in the worst-case scenario, I’d have to run with the group that Lisbon belonged to.
Percival noticed and asked quickly.
Are you waking up the other knights?Right. I was going to wake the others up after your adjustment was complete, but I think I should wake up one more person.Then, in terms of chemistry with me, I’d like to suggest Gwalchavad or Boaz, and if acting alone, then I recommend Tristan.
I agonized over Percival’s request. The command of the students was in the domain of the instructors, so I could not interfere. Thus, it would be better to wake up the guerilla-savvy fellow.
- I’ll wake up Tristan. I’ll have to prepare a bow.
* * *
Within two hours of entering the Alps in earnest, hundreds of orcs attacked us.
"Everyone! Swords! Each group, maintain your formation!"
At the instructors’ orders, the students were nervous and pulled out their swords. Out of all the students, it was likely that only a few of them actually had experience dealing with monsters.
“Hmm, this amount is too low for the Alps,” Percival muttered, calming the horses leisurely.
"Really?"
It was my first time in the Alps, so I didn’t know if this was a large number or not. However, the mana and aura that I felt from them didn’t even equal a single deer from my hometown’s forest. Of course, it also wouldn’t make sense for a mid-level monster like the Olympus Forest’s deer to be comparable to orcs outside of the forest.
It was Asmona who answered my question. "There are usually about 2,000 orcs in a colony in the Alps. Looks like someone’s killed a lot or a bunch died from the flood of demons.
"Hmm, that’s about what I remember."
I asked, looking at Percival agreeing with Asmona.
Have you ever been here before?His Majesty the Holy King’s villa and Merlin’s research facility were nearby. It was quite a strong castle, reinforced with magic.How strong was it?Even after Master’s ancestor, Mordred attacked it all out, it only left a scratch.
If someone from my hometown ran wild and only scratched it, it was not just quite durable, but insanely so.
"But since there’s less of them, the students are doing well."
Overall, the students’ bodies were stiff from nervousness, but they were moving well, showing that the time they trained under the instructors wasn’t in vain. In particular, the group that Alphonso and Lisbon belonged to were moving quite leisurely, having dealt with the fifth one already and were dealing with the sixth.
Although an orc’s strength was three to four times stronger than that of an adult, they had simple weapons like a tree club. Therefore, it was too much for the orcs to deal with students who trained systematically and wore proper equipment.
Asmona agreed with my assessment and pointed at the rear. "It’s reassuring to have the paladins sent alongside us to protect the priests."
I looked at the carriage of the Consecrated Paladin Division, who suddenly said they would cooperate and followed us. There were only thirteen people, but they provided reassurance as they were renowned knights and the strongest paladin division. In addition, divine power could be used to heal the instructors and students. Their purpose was to protect Hillis, so she was making full use of their worth.
Asmona and I were looking at the priests and paladins when Hillis, hiding her identity in between the priests, waved at us.
"Are you an acquaintance?" Unlike Rosellis, Asmona seemed to be unaware of Hillis’s identity. Well, Rosellis knew because she was related by blood to Guild Director Glont, so it was natural that Asmona did not know.
"Yes, she is my friend."
"Hmm..." Percival felt something odd as he looked at Hillis and frowned.
What’s wrong?No, it’s nothing. It’s just that girl somehow feels familiar.Feels familiar?
I asked Percival again, and Percival replied in a slightly gloomy voice.
- Yes, it feels like His Majesty the Holy King, or the Holy Grail, Gwalchavad’s shield, like the Holy Sword in Master’s possession.
Percival looked at my inner pocket containing the Holy Sword.
Haha, did you know I had the Holy Sword?I didn’t know at first. The Holy Grail or the Holy Sword do not show their strength unless the owner uses it. The Holy Sword, which Master owns, was actually the guardian sword of the Holy Kingdom’s royal family. Its name is Caladbolg, otherwise known as the Lake Queen’s Sword.
Percival’s words made the Holy Sword let out a small cry. It was as if it felt better when its name was called. To be honest, when I was searching for the legend of the Holy Sword, all I could find were stories of Oryana, the former saintess, so I hadn’t known its name until now.
According to the legend about Caladbolg, on the day that the Spirit Queen was born in the lake made of water flowing in the World Tree’s roots, to celebrate her birth, the World Tree-I don’t care about the old story behind the creation of the Holy Sword. But you said Hillis feels similar to the Holy Sword?
When Percival seemed like he was going to give a verbose explanation, I stopped him and asked. The Holy Sword cried its head off, but that was none of my business.
It was just that it seemed similar. It felt nostalgic.
Certainly, Hillis was a saintess, so it wouldn’t be strange that she felt similar. Coincidentally, it just so happened that the students of the knight school had defeated all the Orcs now. Among the students, the lightly injured had medicine applied to them, and the priests rushed to the severely injured.
"For their first real battle, they did a good job." I agreed with Percival’s assessment. Overall, for the first battle, there were few injuries, and the students took care of all the orcs so no reinforcements could be called.
The instructors ordered that they place the bodies of the orcs in one area, and they led the students to an open space for base camp. By the time the base camp tents were set up, the sun was gradually setting.
Aside from those on lookout duty, I had to lecture the students on how to check the number of supplies, where they were, how to read and write Imperial Standard documents, and how to distribute supplies.
* * *
After the lecture, I hung out with Hillis, Lisbon, and Alphonso, and when it was bedtime, we dispersed into our tents. For some reason, Lisbon and Alphonso’s fellow group members, Gamry and Alain, looked at me as if they were afraid. Well, I’m probably mistaken, but don’t tell me it’s because I mildly trained Lisbon yesterday.
Let’s go.
At my words, Percival stood up as if he had been waiting for me. The sun had completely set, and the sky was dark as Percival and I sneaked out of the base camp, heading to a deserted place.
"This should be sufficient. Summon, Tristan!" A summoning circle was drawn in the dark air, and a dragon tooth soldier in the shape of a young man with a pleasant impression walked out.
"Kneel down."
At my command, the dragon tooth soldier knelt down, and I took out the core of the golem, which contained Tristan’s soul, from my pocket space. When I touched the back of the dragon tooth soldier’s head, the head cracked open, and there was a space inside.
“Yuck, does my head also split open like that?" Percival frowned as if he saw something he didn’t want to see.
"Of course, and don’t bother me from the side. This is a delicate operation."
"Khmm! All right."
I put the core in the head and ordered, "Open your eyes, Tristan."
The dragon tooth soldier opened their eyes at my command.
"Kuuuu, my head."
Like Percival, Tristan also complained of dizziness when he first opened his eyes.
"Stay still. I’m synchronizing with my pocket space so that even if your head is destroyed, the core will remain intact.
"Huh. Mo, Modred? Where am I? I definitely died on the Golgoda Hill, keuk!" Tristan was holding his head tightly when he finished synchronizing completely, and as the pain disappeared, he took a deep breath.
"Do you recognize who I am?" asked Percival.
Tristan smiled playfully. "Haha, what do you mean who? Aren’t you the captain who became a statue even after death? No, since you have your face from when you were living, are you not a stone statue now?”
"If it’s that much, I think it worked,” I said.
Tristan smiled at me at my assessment. "Hahahaha! Isn’t this our new owner who looks like Modred? I look forward to working with you."
For some reason, I felt like he adjusted too well.
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