The information Taejun was spitting out.
Grasping its content was not easy.
"Uh, is this not that one?"
"...Ah! Right."
Thankfully.
I was not the only one here from the unit.
The troops I had brought to handle escort and other tasks.
As a result of them wracking their brains with me.
"Then we send the 8th Squad here..."
"The 8th Squad was more recon-focused than combat. Will that be okay?"
"Who knows. Maybe the monsters there are specialized in stealth or something like that."
We were managing to parse the meanings somehow.
Like that.
How long did we struggle.
"...Up to here."
Thud.
Sergeant Park Taejun, who had been staring up at the sky with cold sweat beading.
Collapsed onto the floor, clutching his trembling legs.
"S, Sergeant Park Taejun!"
"Are you all right?"
The Radar Section soldiers rushed toward the fallen man.
All I had done was keep him breathing with my cooking by some means.
His legs were not fully cured yet.
"Heh heh, I feel like death."
On top of that he had the excessive buffs from my cooking.
There was not a hint of a joke in him saying he felt like death.
"Why is it that every time you get hurt and collapse. Are you okay?"
"Urk... That is what I am saying. Maybe that is my lot."
As I approached with a joke.
"Thanks for worrying, but you of all people do not have room to be worrying about me."
"Hm?"
Lying on the floor and gasping for breath.
He looked up at me and said.
"The [Astrology] I just talked about... the ones that can be handled by special methods amount to about that much."
"...Hm."
"The rest will be hard to eliminate that conveniently."
Among the military bases Taejun mentioned.
There were a few for which there were no hints on which troops to dispatch.
The reason was probably.
"The monsters that appeared in those places... do not have proper weak points or distinguishing traits."
In the first place.
It meant they were not enemies you could counterpick.
"Those are probably just simply strong. No traits, no weak points. To handle those."
"We have no choice but to send, simply, the maximum force from our side."
"Right."
And.
If we are talking about the maximum force the Legion can send.
"I cannot be left out."
"Exactly."
Sergeant Park Taejun chuckled.
"Sorry to say this after you finally came all the way out here, but from now on you will have to move in person."
"Haa... Well. I was not planning to sit on my hands anyway."
"I do not know if we should call it fortunate, but the remaining bases will not be that urgent to handle."
In the first place, the places where monsters were released are military bases.
By default there are not many people near military bases.
Not only are military bases established somewhat apart from society.
Given that information has spread that strong monsters have taken [N O V E L I G H T] root in the bases.
There would be no survivors who deliberately settled near such places.
"Even if there are people approaching after listening to the radio, it will be rare that they have already gotten this close."
The released monsters were unlikely to cause massive casualties right away.
If we subjugated them after making some preparations.
The point was that we could handle it somehow.
In that case.
It meant we had some leeway in time for the moment.
I decided to ask one important thing.
"About the ones who pulled this off... did you find anything?"
"Hard to say."
The ones who released the military base monsters into the world...
Our Legion’s enemies.
"It is not that I found nothing, but you probably know more than I do for now."
Well.
I had used [Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)].
I had even appraised the culprits.
And.
The status windows I saw that way were quite shocking.
"Demon Contractor."
A name that looked murderous.
They possessed only a single trait.
[Contract]
[By offering a price, you proceed with a contract with a demon.]
[Whether the deal proceeds is determined entirely by the demon.]
"A contract, huh..."
It was a simple phrase.
But I could not help wondering if that trait name was right.
"Should it not be called Unfair Contract?"
A contract whose proceeding.
Hinged entirely on the demon.
Releasing the monsters into the world as well.
Would have been done through that "Contract."
I did not know what price they had paid to free the monsters.
"For the moment, what I found out is... the south."
"The south, huh."
That was a quite important hint.
Because it meant we could locate the enemy’s position to some extent.
"Beyond that I do not know detailed information right now."
"What is this? That is a lot less than I thought."
"Let me finish. The detailed information beyond that... will probably come in soon."
"...?"
What is that supposed to mean.
If you are going to say it, say it now.
Information will come in soon?
"I do not know in what form, but someone will come to find you soon."
"What?"
"They will probably tell you the details."
In short.
Taejun had not found anything now.
But someone who had information would come to find our unit soon.
"...Why is there never anything told all at once. What a truly annoying ability."
"Agreed, really."
Well...
Thanks to that annoying ability.
There had been more than a few times we survived.
****
"After we finally got to see each other after a while, looks like we are going to part right away."
"What good is there for men to look at each other for long."
"Well, there is that too?"
After supporting Taejun and coming down from the radar.
I began preparing to return to the Legion.
He said handling the remaining monsters would not be that urgent.
But that was only for the moment.
We would have to subjugate the monsters that appeared there as quickly as possible.
"Ah, Taejun."
"Hm?"
But before that.
I should wrap up the reason I came here.
"Do you have any thought of joining the unit?"
"Joining? You must have forgotten, so I will remind you. For one thing I am, along with you, one of this unit’s most senior soldiers."
"You know that is not what I mean, right?"
"...Well."
Unlike the other troops who had long since left the mountains and grown on the surface.
He had holed up only in these mountains.
He had his reasons, to be sure.
But it was also true he had been half left alone, inevitably.
"Compared to places like Vimana or the Ammunition Battalion, these mountains are too dangerous."
If we are going to do it.
I had suggested it might be better to go somewhere a bit safer.
"Sorry, but I will decline."
Sergeant Taejun’s thoughts.
Were different from mine.
"However it may look to you, I like this unit right now. This place suits me."
"...That so."
"If later the unit advances to a place a bit closer to the stars, I will think about it then. But until then, I do not intend to leave this place."
The highest mountain in the nearby area.
There might be mountains higher in simple altitude, but there would be no place with setups like here.
It was even a place where the radar that amplifies Taejun’s ability was set.
A place where Sergeant Park Taejun could bring out his ability to the maximum.
He had no intention of leaving such a place.
"Come on. No matter that it is a place where your ability becomes stronger. Are you not scared?"
"If a crisis is going to come to me, I will have sensed it early. And..."
As if the sensation returning to his injured legs was curious.
He rubbed his legs and looked at my face and said.
"With my classmate doing this much, do I not have to buckle down too."
"..."
A will not to be outdone by a classmate.
Strong self-respect.
"This guy. He was like this when he first hurt his legs too."
When you hear the story.
Even though he must have been deeply disheartened when he got the information he would never walk again.
The guy who faced me when I came to visit him in the hospital was consistently dignified.
He was someone whose ability had always been outstanding.
Precisely because he is that kind of guy, he would not intend to fall behind others.
"In that case."
In fact.
I had considered this case too.
"Since it turned out like that."
I looked at the soldiers who had come here with me.
"It looks like you will have to stay here as we discussed."
"Understood."
"Loyalty."
At those words.
"...Hm?"
"I figured you would not want to leave this place."
Sergeant Park Taejun looked puzzled.
I introduced the soldiers.
"That is why I brought these guys."
"...Ah."
"These mountains were far too short on fighting strength."
I had already finished talking with the soldiers.
They were guys who boasted levels higher than our unit’s average.
What is more...
"Sergeant Park Taejun."
"The scene you showed us earlier... was truly amazing."
Perhaps they had been impressed by the sight of Taejun unfolding astrology.
They did not seem dissatisfied even with the mission of staying here to protect him.
"I have no shortage of escorts in my shadows anyway."
These guys would stay here.
They would take on the role of protecting the unit in the mountains.
Especially.
"That one is an engineer, and that person is a medic. They will be a lot of help."
A broken class that does not lose out even compared to my class as a chef.
A production-line engineer.
He would be able to reinforce this unit’s defensive works.
And Taejun’s legs were still not fully cured.
The medic could help with his rehabilitation.
"...Thanks. Honestly I did not even expect this kind of consideration."
"It is only doing now what I should have done long ago, so no thanks necessary."
It had weighed on me for a long time.
Now that I had taken some measures, I finally felt relieved.
"Then now I should head back."
To subjugate those supposedly powerful monsters.
We would need to gather as much fighting strength as possible and send it.
Just as I was about to turn to leave.
"Wait."
"...Hm?"
"One last piece of advice before you go."
Sergeant Park Taejun still looked exhausted.
He looked at me and said.
"My [Astrology] today."
"Ah... It was incredible. Honestly I was impressed."
"Count that as something you did."
"...Huh?"
Count it as something I did?
What is this now.
"I am the one who used astrology, but you are the one who delivered it to the people."
"...That is true."
Sergeant Park Taejun had been in pain because of the buffs from my cooking.
In that state he had pushed his astrology to the maximum.
There was no way he had the leeway to send a [Guild Message].
In the end.
The one who sent the information he found out through a guild message was me.
"...Ah, do not tell me."
"The others will be thinking you just figured all that out."
"What kind of..."
Unbelievable.
"Good thing you realized it now. You definitely need to clear up that misunderstanding."
In a world like this a strong leader is needed.
Because of that.
It was true I had allowed some exaggerated rumors about me to float around.
But.
"That was something you did."
In a case like this where there was clearly another person who deserved credit.
Treating it as something I did was a completely different matter.
In this case it would become stealing someone else’s credit.
"I need to make this clear."
There are many troops who do not even know of Sergeant Park Taejun’s existence.
A guy who had been silently doing his role in this unit.
We had to let the other troops know there were soldiers who could not even leave these mountains but were active here.
And get him properly recognized...
"I told you. Count that as something you did."
Or so I thought.
But the very person concerned.
Sergeant Park Taejun’s thoughts were a bit different.
"What are you saying. You want me to steal the results my classmate achieved?"
"That is exactly what I am saying."
"...Hm?"
"And."
He said it as a joke.
But Sergeant Park Taejun spoke with a serious expression.
"You must. Youngjun."
"...Huh."
Seeing that reaction.
I could guess what the situation was.
"About me too, did you see something?"
The guy had unfolded top-class [Astrology] thanks to my cooking.
He had seen something.
Something about me.
