Chapter 120 : And So (1)
And So (1)
Whoosh!
Hank's fist shot toward my back.
I reversed my grip on the kitchen knives in both hands and turned my head back.
'Schutmann!'
Instinctively, I drew in mana.
To stab with the reversed kitchen knife in front of Schutmann.
However,
"?!"
In an instant, my field of vision flipped as my legs and body were lifted into the air.
Feeling my left arm twisting, it seemed Schutmann had grabbed and spun me.
'Tremendous strength.'
As expected of a squire.
Not only could he use aura, but his bodily enhancement through mana was transcendent.
My intuition warned that if I kept resisting, my shoulder would pop out.
'I should aim for the moment Hank's punch reaches Schutmann.'
Like a wrestling reversal, I decided to use my opponent's strength by timing it right.
Once I broke from this position, I would fly through the air and swing Black Vein.
With this calculation, I let go of the kitchen knife in my left hand,
and, letting my body move with Schutmann's strength, at that moment—
Whoooosh!
I was airborne.
Thrown by Schutmann, I was flying through the sky.
Clouds streamed past at lightning speed.
Fighting against the gravitational acceleration like riding an F1 car in reverse, I barely managed to turn my head.
'That bastard!'
The world was upside down; an inverted Schutmann receded into the distance.
He clasped Hank's gauntlet effortlessly with one hand,
looking back at me with a faint smile.
His face seemed to tell me to just sleep quietly.
He must have appeared behind me with the intent to take me out of the fight from the start.
'But... if I crash at this speed, won't I just die?'
My mind snapped awake.
Now wasn't the time to be worrying about the battle with Schutmann.
Fighting against the gravitational acceleration,
"Hup!"
I channeled all my mana into Black Vein, gripping it with both hands.
I needed to unleash the Sword Energy in the direction I was flying using Strong Sword style.
Swoosh!
Though my posture in midair was clumsy, the Sword Energy shot out,
and I could feel my momentum slowing.
Thank goodness I'd eaten that special variant bear soup.
If I hadn't, lacking the strength buff, I wouldn't have been able to unleash the Sword Energy and would've been a goner.
'No, but is this really the time for such idle thoughts?!'
Pushing away relief, I unleashed the Strong Sword-style Sword Energy once more.
Swoosh!
I released it, again and again.
And just as I tried for the fifth Sword Energy,
Boom, boom!!
My body hit the ground, spinning as it did so.
My field of vision whirled to the verge of delirium,
... Crash, thud!
Like skipping a stone, I bounced off the ground and into the air, again and again.
...... Thud!
Each time I hit the ground, the speed lessened.
'Damn it!'
The pain was overwhelming.
It was amazing I hadn't passed out, likely thanks to the endurance buff from the special variant bear soup.
After repeating this landing-and-takeoff four or five times,
Roll, roll, roll.
"......"
Finally, a proper landing.
This wasn't an F1 car; turns out it was a damn airplane.
"Urgh, bleh!!"
Overcome with dizziness, I dry-heaved and checked my surroundings first.
Tears sprang to my eyes, but I forced myself to focus.
I seemed to be somewhere on the boundary between the battlefield and the slope leading up the mountain, between our garrison and Schutmann.
But damn,
'My eyes are closing.'
My body, rocked by the immense shock, was shutting off my brain.
It was warning me that if I moved any more, I'd really die.
'No! If I pass out now, who knows when I'll wake up!'
While I was out, Schutmann could kill everyone.
I couldn't close my eyes now.
Absolutely not!
'Get... up.'
But despite my determined spirit, my body refused to cooperate.
I tried to muster strength into my arms to rise, but they wouldn't respond.
Forced, I checked my own limbs through my narrowing field of vision.
'Thankfully, nothing's broken.......'
Thud.
The back of my head hit the ground.
My eyes shut. Shhh.
And so I sank into complete darkness.
.
.
.
.
.
Ever since I began traveling with Schutmann, I hadn't been able to sleep deeply, not even once.
Maybe that's why.
Unconsciousness didn't feel like unconsciousness.
This blackout felt like blissful sleep.
For the first time, it felt like my brain was truly resting.
Ah, so this is what it is.
'I don't want to wake up.'
I just wanted to rest for once.
I hadn't rested in so, so long.
That's how hard things had been since leaving Granfen.
The more I wanted to return to Granfen, and to my shop, Happiness Gukbap.
'To the employees waiting for me.'
Would those guys miss me too?
What would Naba and Plerine be doing about now?
Here I am, the boss, getting thrashed like a dog,
but the employees must be sleeping in warm rooms and beds.
But what can I do.
'I blew it.'
Sorry, Plerine.
I think our clumsy operation's been a total failure.
It seems you'll have to activate plan B—no, plan C—and come save me.
As I observed this flow of unconscious thoughts,
'...... This is kind of pissing me off.'
Isn't this just pitiful, no matter how I look at it?
These thoughts started creeping in.
'Even now, am I depending on Plerine again?'
I felt self-loathing about my Plere-Mon dependency.
Ian, do you even deserve to call yourself boss?
No. That's not right.
A pathetic person like this isn't a boss.
My father didn't raise me this way.
My father—,
'He said a boss is someone who risks his life to protect his shop and employees.'
So I had to cast aside this sweet rest.
A boss should turn away from sweetness and embrace bitterness.
Only then can he offer sweetness to his employees and family.
Therefore,
'You've rested enough. Time to get up now.'
Find the light to end this darkness and blackout.
I hoped this unconsciousness wouldn't last much longer,
deciding to banish the darkness.
With my specialty and pride—'mental strength'.
Then,
.
.
.
.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiip—.
A ringing buzz sounded.
The darkness weakened.
Light pierced my eyelids.
"...■ ■■■!"
Someone was calling me.
"Lieutenant Ian!!"
Slap! My cheek stung and my senses snapped back.
I opened my eyes wide and blocked Ricky's palm as he tried to slap me again.
"A-are you alright?"
Was I out too deeply?
"What happened—?"
I reflexively asked Ricky,
but recalled everything mid-sentence.
'I was hit by Schutmann, sent flying, and passed out!'
I searched for Schutmann.
In the distance, Schutmann was rampaging.
No sign of Hank or Ralph.
Neither the old man nor Lantz were anywhere to be seen.
Unable to hold it in, I swore.
"Shit."
With Ricky's support, I stood up and saw Zaiya's back as she covered us.
"You're awake, Ricky?"
"Yes! Let's go, hurry!!"
I resisted Ricky's pull to avoid being dragged.
Simultaneously, I checked my condition.
Every muscle screamed for mercy,
but at least, fortunately, there were no broken bones.
Feeling the effects of the 'small amount' bone strength buff from special variant bear soup, Ricky shouted again.
"Lieutenant! There's no time for this now!"
Sorry, Ricky.
If I run away here, you'll die for sure.
Snap!
I shook off Ricky and gripped the Blood Iron kitchen knife tightly.
Oh, right. I'd promised to call it Black Vein.
By the way, I was still grasping it even while unconscious;
felt a little proud of myself and grinned as I shouted
at the bastard slaughtering Granfen's soldiers at our garrison.
"Schutmannnnn!!"
I will definitely kill you.
At my shout, Schutmann's slaughter halted.
Those he was mercilessly cutting down were 2nd company troops returning to garrison,
other soldiers appeared to be waiting in and outside the garrison.
That meant not much time had passed.
"Ricky. How long was I out?"
"You woke up as soon as we got to you—"
Zaiya finished his words.
"You were unconscious for about one to two minutes."
As expected, I hadn't been asleep for long,
'But what happened to Ralph and Hank?'
I felt the urge to ask, but closed my mouth.
The moment I'd been thrown, Zaiya and Ricky must have rushed to me.
They wouldn't know what happened between Schutmann, Ralph, and Hank.
Therefore,
'I have no choice but to confront Schutmann myself.'
Resolving this, I spoke quietly.
"I know what orders the battalion commander gave you."
Their real task must be rescuing or evacuating me in this situation,
but—
"Just as I'm still standing here alive, that bastard won't kill me. So you two should run."
Ricky and Zaiya wouldn't be much help anyway.
"If you come with me, you'll only be a hindrance. So leave. Quickly."
That's what I said,
but Ricky replied in a determined voice,
"No. We can't leave you behind, lieutenant."
Zaiya was the same.
"If anything happens, the battalion commander told us to die in your stead."
"If you won't run, please use our lives!"
... Was this damn old man's fault,
or was it just the madness of a medieval special operations unit?
I took my eyes off Schutmann and looked at the two.
Zaiya's face was hidden by her helmet,
but Ricky's was filled with grim resolve, as if prepared for death.
In the end, I sighed and smacked the back of Ricky's neck. Thwack!
"Gah...?"
Ricky collapsed, eyes rolling up,
and Zaiya immediately raised her spear in alert.
"L-lieutenant?"
I stepped toward Zaiya.
"I don't know how to use the lives of my subordinates. So either wait quietly after knocking yourself out, or drag Ricky to the garrison."
The tip of Zaiya's spear slowly dropped to the ground.
I directed my eyes back to Schutmann.
He seemed to be waiting for my return, standing still.
"...... Get going already!!"
Frustrated with Zaiya's hesitation, I shouted,
but instead of answering, she grasped the bottom of her helmet with both hands.
Clunk!
Her helmet came off, revealing her face.
A spitting image of Legion.
"May I ask you one thing? No, I will ask regardless."
I couldn't refuse, looking at the anger rising in her expression,
so I consented in silence.
"Was it that man? The one who tried to kill Special Investigator Legion and annihilated an entire special operations battalion?"
My gaze landed back on Zaiya.
'How did she figure it out?'
I wondered, but found the answer quickly.
Few could throw a company commander into chaos and massacre the special ops like that.
There was no need to keep it secret anymore,
so I nodded slightly.
"That's right. It's him."
Her eyes filled with fury.
"I see. In that case......."
Zaiya turned away from me, facing Schutmann, and continued.
"I want to fight that swordsman with my own will, not for you or the battalion commander."
"?!"
"Please allow it."
I was honestly taken aback,
but it didn't change anything.
"No. Now that you know Legion is alive, I can't allow it."
Saying this, I raised my right hand high.
Intending to knock Zaiya out by striking her neck—
「Ian. Compose yourself.」
The battalion commander's voice sounded, stopping me.
Where was he? Was he back?!
I darted my eyes around and spotted a bald man with a green mustache in the distance.
'You're late, old man! Or rather, rejuvenated old man!'
In truth, he hadn't been late.
Schutmann had just returned faster than I'd anticipated.
Anyway, I felt a surge of relief and welcome at the old man's return,
but it was short-lived.
「I know your nature well, but right now, there's no reason not to use Zaiya. In a crisis like this, you have to muster even small bits of strength.」
Ah. So he'd wasted expensive mana just to voice that to me.
But what should I do, old man?
Right now I'm like a rebellious teenager in puberty.
'Sleep tight, Zaiya.'
Just as I moved to knock out Zaiya—
"Since there's no answer—"
Twang! With that sound, Zaiya kicked off the ground and dashed ahead.
"I'll take that as permission and go first!!"
Damn. I missed her because of the battalion commander's interference.
I immediately tried to chase after Zaiya and head for Schutmann and the battalion commander.
But—
'I haven't fully recovered yet!'
My body had intact bones, but my muscles had not yet recovered.
The lingering bruises kept me from moving properly.
Thinking I wouldn't be able to catch up to Zaiya at this rate,
Craaaash!
Once again, Schutmann and the battalion commander's auras collided.
Would Zaiya make any difference by inserting herself between them?
'Even I, a 3rd-rank at the very edge, can barely stand a chance.'
And she hadn't even received a food buff from me.
She'd have to be at least three levels stronger than now to match me.
Just then,
'Wait. Is there a way to get instantly stronger without my food...?'
It hit me.
I wasn't sure if it'd work, but it was worth a shot.
I ran toward Zaiya, Schutmann, and the battalion commander and opened the [Inn] window.
〈 Grade: Inn that's starting to gain word-of-mouth 〉
〈 Reputation: small city-level (297/300) 〉
---------(Employee List)--------
〈 [1] Nanabas Lokario 〉
└ Grade: ???
└ Buff Application Rate: 50% + 0%
〈 [2] Plerine ☞ Employee of the Month ☜ 〉
└ Grade: UR (temporary)
└ Buff Application Rate: 50% + 25%
〈 [3] Harper 〉
└ Grade: SR
└ Buff Application Rate: 50% + 0%
〈 [4] 〉
└ Grade:
└ Buff Application Rate:
I ignored the other details.
With my left index finger, I pressed slot [4].
〈 Registering employee. 〉
〈 Listing colleagues available for registration. 〉
〈 Dunbell Miller 〉
〈 Clara Reese 〉
〈 Ricky Jonas 〉
〈 Zaiya Evaris 〉
〈 Ruth Corte 〉
Thank goodness!
Zaiya's name was right there.
The system had classified her as eligible for employee registration.
The moment I touched her name, I shouted,
"Employee of the Month is Zaiya! It's Zaiya!"
Sorry, Plerine.
It's an emergency.
I'll return the title as soon as I get back to the shop.
Ding.
〈 [4] Zaiya Evaris ☞ Employee of the Month ☜ 〉
└ Grade: SR (temporary)
└ Buff Application Rate: 50% + 25%
Zaiya's grade went up from R to SR!
She didn't have a food buff applied,
but just this would dramatically boost her combat power.
But that happiness was short-lived,
"Urgh!"
Trying to move right after regaining consciousness made acid surge up my throat.
So humiliating.
'And I'm only keeping pace with Zaiya's speed.'
Suppressing this bitter feeling,
a warm voice rang abruptly and reached my ears.
"Lux Aurea. Sanctum Descendat."