Chapter 124 – Reverberations of Autumn.
“I said this, but the circumstances of the soldiers and you are different.”
Although he spoke bluntly, it was not their fault. Although apprentice knights are trained professionally, because of the training period, there is a feeling that actual combat is delayed compared to soldiers.
“Critically, the difference between you and an ordinary soldier is age.”
“How old are you?”
“Okay.”
Usually, the age of those who are conscripted as soldiers is when they are fully physically mature. But what about those who are now apprentices?
“It’s safe to say they’re just adults, but they’re still immature. They’re not physically complete.”
To be honest, Usher, Rogi, and Pavel are already at the age of independence. I would have gotten married sooner or later. Right now, they may be more immature. However, when you consider their age, the story changes. When the time comes, the soldiers have no choice but to undergo combat training for one to two years, like roasting beans with lightning, and are mobilized for actual combat when monsters attack. If you’re really unlucky, you may be mobilized for combat against monsters without training, but what about them?
“You guys have more time to prepare than the soldiers and get into combat at a younger age.”
So, it was only natural that they would be pushed aside by soldiers who experienced the war firsthand while undergoing training. But over time, the story changes. In a war where experience is power, knights who made a living fighting are naturally stronger than soldiers. If an apprentice knight goes through actual combat without any problems and grows as it is, as an individual, it becomes a truly human weapon that soldiers can never catch up with. The training and commitment from a young age are for that purpose.
“I won’t leave you in a really serious situation though.”
Shalbi thinks that it is peaceful as expected because there is time to safely apprentice and explain, and she chooses a place where they are breeding grounds wrapped in silk moss threads, cuts the threads with an arming sword, and opens her entrance. Made.
“Let’s go now. If you’re lucky, you’ll know what you’re going to face.”
I thought there would only be nests of unpleasant creatures inside the big cocoon, but inside the threads he cut, I could see the tent with the remains of a house. Ushers and Odur followed him as he entered the entrance of what was to be a house reminiscent of a house-sized insect cocoon. And what you see is the inside of a messed up house.
“These are.”
“Because this is also where people used to live.”
Inside the house, clothes and utensils strewn about, as if someone had been living there just a moment ago, were peeped out. But there is no one to be seen anywhere in it. It seemed to have disappeared without a trace, but they knew it wasn’t. Because there were two cocoons in front of them, which were smaller than the cocoons they saw from the outside. I thought there might be people inside, but Shalby blocked them with an arming sword as they tried to approach the cocoon.
“Stop.”
“Yes? But there are people inside.”
“There must have been. But not now.”
Shalby slowly moved towards her cocoon, holding the sword that had held them back.
“I didn’t think so. Was it like that?”
“The cocoon has already turned yellow.”
At Odur’s words, Shalvi nodded her head. But Usher, Rogi and Pavel couldn’t understand what they were saying. But the moment the cocoon suddenly swayed, they felt an indescribable disgust. Can you see that the big move of the cocoon is really a human struggling? Silence pressed against their shoulders. And soon after, a sound like a thread breaking began to be heard from the inside of the cocoon.
The sound was not one. The sound was coming from the other cocoon as well. My hands trembled at the sound of growing voices. Eventually, the moment the sound reaches the surface.
-Rrrr?
As if the threads of the cocoon were melting into something, a hole appeared and their faces appeared one after another. Dozens of pairs of eyes glistening with black luster looked at them. Although the form was slightly different, it was the same as the silk moss that attacked them this time. However, in the black gaze that looked at them clearly, there was an eerie malice that was like joy for no reason.
“…Was it too late to use your hands?”
-Kiririk!
As if in response to Shalby’s voice, one of them vomited something that melted the cocoon blocking it. Although Usher thought it was dangerous because she rushed at him at the same time.
-Kikii Iik!
“Tsk, I didn’t even dry my body properly.”
He swung the Arming Sword as it was and cut the attacker in half. Even so, he persisted and tried to move, but his not dry feet could not properly support his own half-cut body. When Shalby slashes the sword at the one who can’t move properly, he trembles for a moment and then stops moving. It would be sad to see her die at the same time as she was born, but I didn’t think of that at all. I don’t know if it’s because of the black things and the terrible stench that came out of the cocoon with him.
“Should I call this really lucky or bad? Raise your swords, you guys.”
“Go, suddenly?”
“Suddenly, what. This is the real battle you have been waiting for. Raise your sword. You will know what to do.”
He hadn’t spoken since, but his gaze was on the other one that hadn’t yet emerged from its cocoon. It was spitting something out of his mouth like the others, dissolving the cocoon. They raised their swords as they were told to do, but when they couldn’t step forward as the guy’s appearance was getting more and more revealed, Shalby opened her mouth.
“This is their royal room.”
“If it’s a royal room…”
“It’s a breeding ground for females.”
It depends on the type of monster, but in the case of Silk Moss, it is said that other males obey and follow orders to a small number of females.
“So if you just get rid of these guys, you can roughly stop them from moving.”
It was soon out of the cocoon completely, but Shalby seemed unwilling to do anything with her arms crossed. It was the same with Odur.
-Kiririk!
He seemed to be puzzled by those who didn’t attack, but soon those eerie eyes turned to those who stood hesitantly holding swords. And Usher clenched his teeth. Because it felt like he was mocking me. It was obvious. Compared to the large and experienced knights, they are small and apprentice knights who seem awkward even being here. The guy took them for granted and chose them as his prey. Usher found it unbearably horrible.
He couldn’t be more helpless. Usher couldn’t let the disgusting thing that sent the same gaze as those who had raped the girl so far. He drew his sword and approached it. While doing so, his sword seemed to cut through the head and body gently, but stopped halfway. Even though his upper body wasn’t completely dry yet, Usher couldn’t cut his body. But that’s not all he learned. Usher placed his foot on the blade half-buried into the man’s body.
-Kir… Kiggug
And when I gave strength slowly, the man who was still breathing struggled in agony, but to him that sound was just like encouraging death. Anyway, what he’s wearing are solid military boots. It didn’t matter if he stepped on the sharp blade. At least for now, it’ll be much tougher than his flesh. Through the hilt of the sword, the feeling of cutting life came through eeriely vividly. Eventually, when the sword eventually cut through his entire body, he stopped moving.
“Tsk, after the males have grown to the 2nd age. How neglected they were.”
Donnar and his colleagues looked carefully for any slow-growing individuals, but in the end, all they found were the dead bodies of women. The size of the male is small compared to the size of the female, so it was strange that it was left unattended until death even though it was used as a host for a long time. I was a little far away, but I didn’t say anything.
“Did you find the royal room?”
“No, I rarely see you.”
“What about females?”
“It looks like he left a long time ago.”
Hearing such a situation, they couldn’t erase the feeling of shame even more.
“It’s strange.”
“It’s not strange.”
The fact that the female left the breeding ground meant that the young were already grown enough and it was time to form a new group. And it was not strange no matter how far and ambiguous the location was, no matter where and when the report came in. It’s possible that it wouldn’t have been discovered by chance, but it was very unlikely. Moreover, the way Silk Moss keeps its breeding grounds is easy to spot. However, I was putting my head together and thinking about why it hadn’t been discovered until now.
“Hey, Donnar.”
Shalbi and Odur came to him with their children.
“Did the kids play well?”
If the silk moss male has grown to the second instar, it is similar in size to the medium-sized Desert Locust. If you think about it, it wouldn’t have been bad as a target for children’s actual battle, and the children look somewhat dazed. Seeing that, Donnar scratched his helmet.
“Have you failed?”
It’s not unusual to fail. Even though he was an adult, he was still young, and he would have faced a real monster after training so far, so it was not strange that his body stiffened from the pressure. So I expected that Shalbi or Odur would have taken care of my mistake. They shook their heads.
“Hey, let’s talk.”
At Shalby’s words, Donnar briefly moved away from her children.
“What is that guy?”
“What? Are you talking Usher?”
Donard was puzzled, not knowing why Shalby was doing this.
“That’s it…”
Soon, Donnar was speechless at the story he had heard from him.
“Did he say that?”
“Am I going to lie about something like that?”
That said, the place they found was the royal room where females were born, but it was rare for a guy who was just starting his first real fight to kill a monster himself, even if he hesitated a little.
“What did you teach me?”
“If I had to say what I taught, it was common sense about monsters and practical skills…”
“You said you taught practical skills?”
Swordsmanship and weapon skills in the same context were definitely combat skills, but if you used them only as you learned without any sense of combat, it was no different from a saengnim who only knew. It is also the most common mistake apprentice knights make at the beginning. There are different techniques to apply to each situation, but I often get beaten up when I try to do what I learned. However, rather than teaching weapons skills such as swordsmanship, Donard was closer to teaching practical skills and know-how he had accumulated through direct combat.
“Yes, I don’t think it’s bad if you train your swordsmanship consistently. If you want to be helpful right away, it would be better to teach those things.”
It’s not that there aren’t knights who teach apprentice knights, but it was quite special considering the trend of not teaching them as they felt it was an expedient. But it’s hard to see what caused it.
“That’s ridiculous. A guy who doesn’t even aim for a knight speaks of the universal virtues of a knight.”
Also, even if you learned a skill, putting it into practice was another story. It was still immature, but it wasn’t bad even the way to put strength into the sword and cut off the breath.
“I’m sure it’s not normal for now.”
It was something a knight who trains apprentice knights would be happy about, but Donnar wasn’t very happy with the news. The fact that Usher was getting more and more nervous as time went by was so conspicuous that you didn’t have to look closely to tell.
“Let’s talk about that later, let’s focus on work for now.”
As they talked, Usher looked down at his hands. Even though he knew that it was a monster that was harmful, he couldn’t seem to get used to the feeling of cutting off life directly with his hands. But what’s more memorable than that. They were black things between liquid and solid that poured out of the cocoon with the monster. At first I didn’t know what it was. I knew but denied it. But when I found the leftover fingernails among the black things, I couldn’t deny it anymore.
He had to fight not only with the same people, but also with them. The stench from the cocoon still stung his nostrils. As if the story was over, Donnar and Shalby approached them.
“It seems that there are no survivors in this village. Let’s start with lunch and move on to another village.”
“Aren’t you going back now?”
Shalby answered Logi’s question.
“That’s true, but it’s because it’s not just one or two strange things.”
What they say is strange Usher and they still don’t know.
