Chapter 534 – 534. The Search for the Missing Platoon (3)
The only thing that lights up the dark forest after the sun has set is the two magic lights installed in front of Retona.
At first, I was amazed at this technology that reproduced the civilization of the earth almost perfectly, and was equipped with practicality in a new way using magic attribute rather than gasoline or kerosene.
However, at this hour when the sun had set and night had come, it was not easy to explore the forest with a darkened view, and I felt frustrated.
It was best to leave the search part to Erin for now, while continuing to drive, relying on the twin headlights of magic lamps that radiate light forward.
Erin’s eyebrows twitched as she sat in the passenger seat and closed her eyes.
“Huh?”
“Why is that?”
Cha Han-seong, who was concentrating on driving and passing through the dense forest, asked what he felt when he suddenly reacted to Erin in the seat next to him.
“Something over there… This… Person? And not just one, but many…”
Pointing her finger beyond the window, Erin was currently trying to identify human odors with her sense of smell among the smells spreading throughout the forest.
Awesome!
Slowing down Retona, who was galloping in front of her, immediately turned her steering wheel to turn in the direction her Erin pointed.
The rattling and shaking was quite harsh as it ran on completely unmaintained roads, but none of the three complained about the better ride quality than the wagon.
Rather, he focused more on the fact that it was the smell of a person caught in Erinn’s senses.
Erin, who has more sensitive senses than others, activates her senses by scattering magical energy in all directions.
“Eww…”
Although she felt a headache from the enormous amount of information entering her head, she still did not stop grasping every nook and cranny of the forest ahead through her senses.
Erin, who cannot improve the speed of information processing through accelerated thinking like Eun-hyeon, had a relatively small range of perception, but she covered it by utilizing the excellent senses she developed while receiving the power of Shinsoo.
‘How did Hyun-i do this…’
It is said that she is being assisted by the power of the goddess, but Eun-hyeon’s ability to grasp all the geographical features and moving wild animals by maintaining a wider range than herself for a long time was amazing.
While I was maintaining my senses with that thought in mind, a large number of people entered Erinn’s detection range.
“It’s getting closer!”
Finally, when a person was visible even in Cha Han-seong’s field of view, he stepped on the accelerator harder and increased his speed.
Retona’s existence can be noticed even from a distance as she slashes through the thick bushes and roars with fierce engines.
“Well, something is coming!”
Not a beast or a beast, but a roaring engine roaring through the bushes, raising their alertness to the unidentified object that was getting closer and closer, each one grabbed his weapon and broke out in a cold sweat.
Finally, the object appeared through the grass and emitted two lines of magic lamp light, finally revealing itself.
“Aww!”
When Retona’s front appeared in the forest, several members jumped back in surprise and screamed at her.
From the rough engine sound to the appearance of Retona made of iron, it is an unknown territory that has not yet been revealed to others, and it is natural to be wary of this that has not been encountered at all.
Cha Han-seong also smiled bitterly at the thought that there was nothing he could do about it, and immediately got off the Retona and ran to the people.
Familiar faces wearing Artia’s armor like herself are new members of the Artia Knights through a recent formal entrance exam.
Cha Han-seong was convinced that they were Eira’s platoon members who had not yet returned.
And the platoon members also recognized Cha Han-seong, who was wearing the same armament as them.
“Cha, Cha Hanseong… ?”
The new members of Artia sighed in relief and wondered at the fact that they met a completely unexpected and unexpected person.
Among Eira’s platoon, Cha Han-seong, who received the position of deputy platoon leader under Eira, the platoon commander, moved his gaze to Retona, who appeared on Cha Han-seong, and asked.
“But what the hell is that… ?”
“There is such a thing.”
Cha Hanseong himself drove it to this place, but he had no confidence to explain why something similar to the Earth was here, so he had to gloss over it.
He immediately glanced at the faces of the members and grasped the current situation.
All of them with haggard faces made it possible to know how much trouble they had suffered and accumulated fatigue without having to explain.
In the meantime, the sense of incongruity of the uneasy senses that had been growing in my heart began to materialize little by little.
“… Who is Eira-senpai?”
“The platoon commander…”
When Eira’s name was mentioned, the faces of the new recruits all started to darken.
Erin, who got off from Retona belatedly, saw their expressions and read the feelings hidden in their hearts.
‘Guilt and… And horror… ?’
What kind of experiences did they have that made them tremble without being able to control their feelings of fear?
And why can’t Aira be seen?
Erin immediately approached Cha Han-seong, who was talking to her new recruits.
“Cha Han-seong.”
“Yes?”
“Please take command of these people here. Monk Annie and I will go deeper to find her sister.”
“Yes? But…”
Erin, refusing to listen to her objections, pointed her finger at the Retona they had been riding and continued her words.
“I’ll lend you that. We can’t just leave them here like this forever.”
Now that Eira, the current platoon leader, is absent, it would not be impossible for the deputy platoon leader to lead all the new recruits alone, but it would be burdensome.
In this situation where they have to go to find Eira, if Erin, Anies, and Cha Han-seong have to stay, it makes sense for Cha Han-seong, who is a member of the same knights, to stay.
Letona would have a limit of four or five people considering the weight of the driver and armed men, but at least it would be much better than staying here.
“… All right.”
Cha Han-seong also knew that, so he held back his desire to go find Eira and clenched his fists.
Erin’s words are perfectly reasonable.
Besides, she is the weakest of the three, herself and Erin, and she is probably herself.
For various reasons, it was right for her to remain here and lead the new members.
But even if he knew it with reason, his feelings were very honest about the situation.
‘I’m angry.’
Couldn’t he be of help to Eira, who had followed him and taught and guided him this far?
Regardless of position or position, this feeling of helplessness because of pure weakness aroused a desire to become stronger inside Cha Han-sung.
“Then we will depart immediately.”
“For a moment… Wait.”
It was the deputy platoon leader’s voice that caught Erin’s ankle as she tried to move her steps deeper into the forest with Anies, who had gotten off from Retona.
“Yes?”
“We… We… I was attacked by ogres.”
“Ok? Ogre?”
It was Agnes who showed a bewildered response.
However, the deputy platoon commander continued to convey information with a clouded expression full of guilt.
“Eira Platoon Commander… In order to evacuate us all, we drew the attention of the ogres from the front, and then we were divided like this…”
How Eira and her platoon members came to be divided is too short an explanation to explain everything, but now, left alone, Eira’s life and death is unclear, the platoon leader briefly explained what they encountered deep in the forest.
“Please be careful.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“… Ah.”
The cold wind felt from the roughness of the stone floor rode through Eira’s body and woke her up.
“Ugh!”
She carefully tried to lift herself up, but let out a moan at the pain in her stomach.
She gnawed her teeth, holding back the pain, and using her sword as a staff, she raised herself.
“Whoa…”
He evened her breath, trying to get used to her pain, groping for her memories before she passed out.
“I’m sure…”
While carrying out regular reconnaissance and subjugation of the demons as part of a platoon mission, he suddenly encountered a giant demonic beast called an ogre, which caused the plan to be twisted.
This was purely a mistake caused by Eira’s misjudgment.
The trouble was that she wanted to give the new members a little bit of experience, so she was aiming for a tight timing to return just right on schedule.
With a size four or five times that of a human, terrifying muscle strength and tough leather defense that does not allow knives to enter.
The ogre, which is located in the upper rank among her top monsters, was a very tough opponent for Eira as well as her new members.
Eira’s goal is to help the new members who joined Artia gain experience and grow.
Unable to sustain a single casualty, Eira quickly determined her retreat.
But just because she made up her mind, things don’t go so smoothly.
The ogre roared wildly with the eyes of a predator that found delicious food and persistently pursued Eira’s platoon.
In the end, Eira stayed behind and engaged the ogres in one-on-one combat, allowing all of her members to flee.
Based on his terrifying strength, he evaded the Battle X that was being swung and counterattacked, maintaining distance, and continuing the battle while delaying the time while the members fled.
And as soon as he confirmed that everyone had escaped, he lost consciousness and collapsed as soon as he hid himself in this cave with his body, which had accumulated damage.
“Eww… Ugh…”
As soon as the battle was over, the overworked body creaked and groaned here and there.
After a fierce fight, I tried to forcefully move the damaged muscles and joints, but my body didn’t listen as much as I thought.
The body, which had been raised using the sword as a staff, collapsed before long and collapsed on the floor again, staring at the ceiling of the cave with a blank expression.
The cave where the dark sky sits down is full of darkness where nothing can be seen.
Checking once again the state of her body where she couldn’t move even one arm, Aira smiled.
“I am… How is it… ?”
She tried to help herself and asked herself, but she couldn’t find an answer.
The first thing that comes to mind is, of course, the faces of her family.
Her parents, Lyod and Theresia, and her still-younger brother Elion.
And even the existence of her own late youngest brother who was not yet born in Theresia’s womb.
“I don’t even know his name yet…”
Then, the faces of Artia members and Cha Han-seong.
And somehow, she recalled the smile of Erin, who was like her little sister who followed her very well, and she had a lingering attachment in Eira’s heart.
“Okay… I can’t give up yet…”
Ayra stood up once more.
Staggering, using her sword as a staff, she walked slowly down a dark forest path.
Thud!
Every time the massive giant moves, the ground shakes and shows off its presence.
“…”
Aira knew very well what this vibration was caused by.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Besides, she wasn’t the only eerie footsteps coming closer towards her.
“No way…”
The terrible imagination in the bleeding head soon became a reality, and not one but three gigantic monsters appeared with their backs to the moonlight.
Gurgleuk
The three ogres, grinning ferociously, were predators who followed the smell of humans, and showed their teeth as if they were very happy about the situation.
“Nice… Ugh!”
Eira immediately drew her sword and went into her battle stance, but in an instant she prepared for her own death.
It was possible to win just by dealing with one in her best condition, but three of them appeared, and even her own body condition was close to the worst.
This situation was terribly absurd and unreasonable, but the reality that no one considers their situation is terribly resentful.
At least she won’t be easily defeated. She pledged herself to fight desperately, and the moment Eira tried to wield her sword with her worst body.
“Sisterhee hee!”
Salvation rushing through the wind finally arrived in front of Eira.
