Chapter 108 – Chapter 26. Expedition Preparations.
Yayel quickly went to Jihyeok’s office. She heard her knock on the door quite urgently.
“Captain, this is Yayel.”
– Come in.
The drug dealer opened the door and entered. She tried to remain as calm as possible, but her gesticulation didn’t make it happen. She quickly went to his desk and bowed her head.
Jihyeok raised his eyes from looking at the papers and looked at Yayel. He laughed, but she couldn’t.
“Captain… !”
As soon as the warrior saw her expression, she immediately knew why she was running so quickly. … In fact, I was already expecting this to happen.
“Okay, what happened?”
“It is a great disrespect to the captain to file a complaint, but… , But I just can’t get over it.”
“What?”
“… This is the roster for this expedition.”
“You joined the Mafushu team?”
“Yes. … Isn’t it my turn to join the captain’s team this time?”
Jihyuk touched his chin with his fingers.
“There is no law that says you have to do that.”
“… Still…”
“… I wanted to put you in too. But it’s because I need Ludbine for this expedition. Because I need knowledge about alchemy.”
Yayel also fully expected that Jihyeok would make such a decision because of some circumstances. … However, the human mind was not something that could be easily understood and given up.
Jihyeok called out to Yayel, who was shaking his head. She slowly raised her head.
“Yayel.”
“… Yes, chief.”
“Let’s do this this time, hmm?”
“… All right.”
The drug addict assistant was ashamed of his ugliness. She bowed her head deeply.
“I look ugly, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s good to have this passion. If there’s something you don’t understand, it’s natural to ask. There’s nothing wrong with your actions, so don’t take it too seriously.”
Yayel gritted his teeth. Her sad eyes soon turned into determined ones.
She didn’t know how much she researched her double casting to meet his expectations. And soon, I was on the verge of seeing the brilliant results.
… Captain, it will be over in a little while… !
A year and a half had already passed, but she still hadn’t forgotten her promise to him. If you succeed in double casting, you will have sex while taking the drug.
To be honest, she didn’t train for double casting to die after watching that one, but that was the reason why she put so much effort into it.
The double casting was now nearing completion. It was the result of intensive research and training. Even after going on an expedition, he continued to write papers without a break, and worked hard and tried again.
Perhaps thanks to that, his magic skills improved noticeably, and he could now cast high-level fire magic much faster than before. So how she itched her body because she wanted to show off her remarkable growth to the captain!
Yayel thought well. She hasn’t completed her double casting yet, so she should master it perfectly in this expedition and then show off her success in front of the captain.
“Let’s go. … I’m at work, sorry to disturb you.”
“Okay, see you later.”
Yayel came out of Jihyeok’s office. In her hallway, Grendal was waiting for her. It was because she had just heard about her roster and had hurried off to her captain’s office.
“Grendal… , Sorry.”
“No, I understand your feelings.”
The generous orc smiled kindly and patted Yayel on the shoulder lightly. Doesn’t she say that everyone in the know knows that she adores her captain? However, she was also excluded from Ji-hyeok’s team this time, so it was understandable that she was excited.
“I will do my best. … Mafushu, I should take good care of him too, right? Because he is still an immature hero in many ways.”
“… Thank you for caring about it.”
The two of them were walking side by side in the hallway, talking about this and that, and saw Ludbine and Rosalia coming from the other side. Ah-. Ludbigne approached Yael with a fresh expression and took a sneak peek at her opponent.
“… Are you okay?”
“What?”
“The list is out.”
“So?”
Ludbine’s eyes widened slightly. Yayel put on a carefree expression, as if nothing was wrong at all.
“It’s the captain’s decision. I’m not talking about it. Of course you have to accept it.”
Yayel rather pushed her opponent.
“And you, just act like a child. If you come later and say you weren’t helpful, I’m going to scold you, okay?”
“Ai-san, what kind of child am I? And, I’m very useful?!”
“Yes, Captain, help me well. The wizard is you alone. Everyday magic training, studying, eh? Don’t play around.”
“Oh, okay, okay. … Nagging.”
“Ludbine.”
“Ah, I got it, assistant. I will definitely do it. I will do magic training every day, and I will also study. It’s okay? … It’s strict.”
It was only then that Yael let go of her stiff expression and patted Ludbine’s messy hair lightly.
“Yes, I believe in you.”
“Okay, don’t worry.”
Yayel knew that Ludbine was a diligent and smart student. It’s because she’s a bit of a mess on the outside.
She also laid eyes on Rosalia next to her freckles of this redhead. Ah. Still ashamed of her gaze, she lowered her head as Yayel’s eyes met hers.
“You too, listen carefully to the words of the captain. Study hard and develop your stamina. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand, Sister Yayel.”
Grendal smiled meaningfully at them. The two groups soon parted ways. Orc was just like a teacher, she said.
“I’ll take good care of you next time.”
Ah.
Yael’s face flushed red. When the sound of a child came out, the captain was automatically substituted into her husband’s face.
… She wondered if that day would ever come.
· · ·
Team Jihyeok prepared to leave in the early morning when it was still dark.
Jihyeok looked at each of the team members gathered in the hall on the first floor. Gide the bald man, Kayak the Lizardman, Ludbine the half-witch, Rosalia the shy Rosalia, and Grace the curmudgeon. Including the warriors, the total number of people was six.
There were also several guild members who came out to see them off in the hall. They were Hero Mahush, Orc Grendal, and Wizard Yael.
“Have a good trip!”
Mafushu waved vigorously, saying see you next time. Jihyeok shook hands with the last remaining members after burning all the members of the team first. Yayel also sent Jihyeok away with a smile.
Soon the warrior also got on the wagon. This is-. The wagon carrying six people started to run through the twilight morning air.
The witch Jeanne was watching the carriage leaving by the pillar outside the mansion. Ludwigne was busy taking care of Rosalia, who was nervous, so she didn’t seem to see it. Jihyeok lightly lifted her hand. He last saw the witch bow her head.
As the red sunrise began to rise from the distant horizon, the carriage pulled out of the capital. The wagon sprinted southward.
“You said you would visit Eretria too, right?”
“Okay. … Are you also from a foreign country?”
“Yes.”
Lizardman Kayak realized anew that ten years had passed since he came here. Exactly how many years it was, I can’t even remember now.
“Do you miss your hometown?”
“… I forgot everything now. There is nothing good to see because I have lingering feelings for a place I can’t return to. We have to adapt to live here.”
The Lizardman answered with a very exemplary theory. … Well, it never said anything about how that fucking tutorial fairy pup got back.
In fact, even Ji-hyeok did not yet know exactly what would happen if he defeated the Great Demon King. I only ran after seeing the slightest possibility that there might be a way to return now that I had defeated all the dangers of this world. … Even if it wasn’t that, I couldn’t just watch the Great Demon King threatening the continent. Otherwise, you’ll have to look at that ball-shaped tutorial fairy’s face again.
“Captain… , Uh, did you say Earth? Right?”
The bald hulking rolled a hairless cob and came up with the name Earth. Upon hearing the word Earth, Ludwigne poured out her curiosity.
“I heard that all earthlings are weaklings… What was Earth like?”
All eyes were on Jihyeok. What kind of place is the earth… A smile spread across the warrior’s lips.
“It was not particularly peaceful.”
“How?”
“There were always incidents. It was noisy every day in and out of the country.”
Jihyeok looked out of the carriage and spoke with a vague look.
“Before I came here, I was a student who had just taken off his military status… Ludwig, just like you.”
“Really?”
Everyone listened to the exciting captain’s story. Isn’t the respected captain a very mysterious stranger by origin!
“Do you see the imperial castle over there?”
“Yes.”
“On Earth, that kind of stuff was all over here. Hundreds of people lived in it.”
“Wow.”
“Even the wagon I’m riding in could have run without a horse.”
“I think I heard a similar story from an earthling in the past.”
Kayak nodded her head lightly as she searched for her old memories.
“I was able to get on a huge object and fly in the sky in groups of hundreds, and I was able to talk with people at the end of the continent.”
Ludwigne was distraught at the tremendous talk. I heard that all earthlings have great technicians, and when I heard about it, it was exactly like that.
“And, there is a really powerful weapon. Something like a dragon’s breath is laughable.”
“Wow…”
Uh-.
Jihyeok pointed with his finger at the field where the reddish sunlight reached.
“Imagine there are 20,000 knights over there.”
“Twenty thousand people—?!”
Not even soldiers, but a whopping 20,000 knights. With that number of knights, even the Empire could not be underestimated.
“Because there is a nuclear weapon on Earth.”
Jihyeok raised his index finger where he assumed there were 20,000 knights and made a hand gesture as if an arrow were falling.
“If a nuke fell there…”
And with both hands, it created a popping effect.
“20,000 knights will die unconditionally. Without a single exception. I bet on my honor.”
Silence passed. Even the dragon’s breath couldn’t kill 20,000 knights in one shot. There are so many great things on Earth!
“The magic of Earth is so amazing…”
Ludbine was distracted by the unimaginable power.
“There are thousands and tens of thousands of such dangerous things in the country.”
“Then won’t it perish?”
“That’s why we can’t attack each other any more. If even one drop of it falls anywhere, the country becomes hell. They’re afraid of each other, so they can’t touch each other. A weapon that is too powerful has become a deterrent.”
The Lizard Man nodded his head as if he knew it only then.
“So, there are weapons that are so powerful that you can’t survive even if you train your body anyway, so as a result, humans are so weak.”
“… Well, it’s not particularly wrong.”
The earth story ended roughly there.
The team members yawned and each began to doze off. Rosalia and Ludwigne slept leaning against each other, while Gide kept banging his head against the wagon wall. It seemed that he didn’t even know he was sick because of his stone head.
Kayak crossed her arms, straightened her back and closed her eyes. The only ones not sleeping were the captain and Grace. The smoker’s healer looked out of her wagon and smoked a savory cigarette.
Ji-hyeok was still immersed in his hometown at the mention of earth after a long time. Now, even his face was vaguely thought of as a family.
Where was our house where I was living how old am I what did I study
As the years passed, all of that faded away. Now, the years here have been overwhelmingly longer than the years on Earth.
He was no longer a returning student. He was a worn out warrior in another world.
Now, the only remaining legacy of the earth for him is,
The name Kang Ji-hyeok was only three letters.
