Chapter 26 – Episode 26. Astrid Is Angry
As the ground collapsed, it began to fall down the hillside, mixing with the boulders.
All three of them knew that the steeper they went down and the boulders rolling side by side, they would never recover on the day they bumped into even one of the bays.
And at the end, the cliff was finally visible. If it rolled over there and fell, the consequences after that would be obvious, Astrid desperately rolled her head.
A way to get out of this situation, to somehow prevent further falls-
There was.
“Your Highness, hug me tight! And, Akemilla! Sword, draw your sword!”
Astrid then pulled out the greatsword from her back before Leopold hugged her around the waist.
A normal person wouldn’t be able to do such a thing, but Astrid had a corner to believe. The same physical strength that even stunned the Variants was the strength of a giant that was incomparable to that of ordinary people.
After confirming that Leopold hugged her waist, and confirming that Akhemilla drew out her twin swords, Astrid thrust her greatsword into the ground as hard as she could.
– Quad de de de de de de de deuc!
The greatsword, which was deeply embedded in the middle, made a noise and started cutting through the ground mercilessly. In proportion to that, the speed of falling began to decrease gradually, and Akemilla, who saw it, also pierced the twin swords at the same time with all her might, and she, too, gradually slowed down the sliding speed, and finally the three of them could barely stop just before falling to the cliff. There was.
*
I couldn’t tell exactly how far away or where I was.
However, since the cadets crossed the same road they had climbed all morning and fell in a straight line, it would be quite a distance from the checkpoint.
“Cadet Astrid, what the hell was that monster?”
Astrid’s gaze turned to Akemilla. Even in this situation, when I was walking quickly to the checkpoint, I didn’t like the way she was laughing about what was so fun, but more than that, Astrid couldn’t understand why she was asking me this.
“I do not know. Why are you asking me that?”
“Oh, didn’t you always face-to-face with savages and monsters in the north? That’s why I thought you were deep-seated.”
‘In other words, I knew you would know because you’ve always been fighting… This is clear.’
That would not be wrong. The real Astrid might know. But she’s not the real Astrid, she’s only been in the north for six months, and she’s only lived in her mansion, so she doesn’t really know anything.
“I do not know. Even if I knew it, I don’t think it would be very helpful in the current situation.”
“Is that so? I think it’s also important to figure out the identity of the monster. What do you think of Cadet Leopold?”
At some point, Akhemilla was walking right next to Leopold. She will look like a triangle from above, with Astrid walking behind her.
Archemilla asked Leopold, who was holding out his sword, with a tender voice, but Leopold was silent for a moment.
“… It’s important. If you know the identity of the monster, it will be a little easier to figure out how to deal with it.”
“I mean.”
As if she had been waiting for Leopold’s answer, Akhemilla’s pale eyes turned to Astrid.
Look at that, the gaze as if I’m not right.
Astrid was slightly annoyed at that gaze.
‘I’m not trying to fight… ‘
“Obviously, the academy must have made a mistake. She said that only small and medium sized monsters would appear, but I never thought that such large monsters would appear.”
“… Cadet Akemilla.”
Astrid, who had been patiently listening, finally opened her mouth. Now it was slowly reaching its limit. I just wanted to keep her mouth shut somehow.
Now is not the time to be talking about this. The priority is to quickly find the checkpoint and join, what will you do if other monsters come after hearing the voice of Cadet Akemilla?
I was trying to say
“Shut your mouth.”
“… I beg your pardon?”
The smile disappeared from Akemilla’s face as well. As she was looking at Astrid, poisonous miasma flashed in her gaze, and Astrid was also glaring at Arkemilla without losing.
‘You started first.’
Her pride was at stake, even as Astrid, and she had no intention of backing down.
“Is it time for the two of you to fight?”
“… I see, to be involved in such a provocation, I was just thinking about how to deal with a sudden situation… “
“It was pretty noisy for something like that. She seems to be putting her thoughts into her mouth.”
“Astrid!”
When Leopold’s angry voice was heard, Astrid shut her mouth. Her boo was tight.
‘I’m the one who saved you. Whenever I’m hugging my waist… ‘
Something, I can’t pinpoint it, but somehow I didn’t like something, so Astrid kicked the poor rock to pieces and quietly walked away.
*
“Astrid, doesn’t this place look a bit familiar?”
‘I don’t even call you squad leader anymore. Where did the honorific go again?’
Astrid looked at Leopold with a puzzled expression. What did Leopold mean by that gaze? He pointed his finger around him.
“Looks like where we had lunch today.”
If you look around, that is indeed the case. As far as Astrid could see, it was the same place where the venison was grilled and eaten during the day.
Deer bones and traces of fire were left intact, so it was immediately apparent.
“Then I think it went up from here to there. We move right away.”
“I will.”
I couldn’t pass the time. Quite a bit of time has already passed. In addition, checkpoints cannot be guaranteed to be completely safe.
Just as Astrid and Leopold were about to move forward, they heard a crash on the ground from behind.
Looking back, I saw Arkemilla sitting with her twin swords and equipment loose on the ground and flapping her fur.
“Let’s rest for a while… !”
Seeing his face covered with sweat, it seemed like it was going to be tough, but if you’re wasting time here, it’s probably your first priority to go quickly and check on the safety of your squad members.
Just as Astrid, displeased, was about to tell her to get up because she only had to go a little further, Leopold sighed.
“5 minutes. Just take a 5 minute break and go. Astrid, you should get some rest too.”
It was suffocating.
It’s not the time to mess around like this. However, Astrid was also clearly aware by now that her stamina was different from that of ordinary people, so she had no choice but to sit down next to Leopold.
“Lady Akemilla, you should do some exercise on a regular basis.”
I just wanted to say one thing.
“Now, let’s start slowly… “
It was around 5 minutes.
It seems like it’s time to leave, she said. Astrid, who had waited for 5 minutes like 50 minutes, finally stood up, she said to Leopold as if she had suddenly thought of Akhemilla.
“Your Highness Leopold, I had a brief conversation with Cadet Astrid earlier. Cadet Astrid said that her engagement to Her Highness has not yet been confirmed. Is your highness like that too?”
In an instant, the atmosphere turned cold.
Leopold’s face hardened, then his gaze briefly turned to Astrid, then back to Akhemilla.
Light deep breathing.
After closing his eyes for a moment, Leopold opened them again and quietly glared at Akhemilla.
“… There is no need for Lady Ureid to know that. I have no reason to tell you.”
The air around Leopold rapidly cooled.
No matter how wealthy the Yureid family was, they were credited with contributing more than 50% of the military funds during the founding of Einthofen and the wars leading up to the founding of the country, but they never intervened to such an extent.
Therefore, it would not be unreasonable to take what Akemilla said now as her insult to her imperial family, but it was also a great disrespect.
“Oh, is that so? I’m sorry, Your Highness. But as someone who never had a chance, I would like to make a request to Your Highness.”
There was not even a hint of embarrassment.
This kind of spirit and guts are the same temperament that I inherited from my parents, and it is in line with her idea that money is the most important thing when it comes to power.
“… What are you asking?”
“If it’s not confirmed yet, I would like to ask you to give me a chance to become your highness’s rain, too.”
Silence came again.
In this clearing where neither birds nor insects could be heard, only a small thump could be heard from somewhere far away, but none of the three of them were in a situation to care about that sound.
After a while, it was Leopold who broke the silence.
“… I don’t think it’s a story to share here. There is no need to discuss the royal wedding here. If you’ve had enough rest, let’s go now. You never know what might be going on.”
Leopold, who moved her steps without waiting for an answer, and Akemilla, who followed her and chattered about something.
Looking at the two of them, Astrid bit her lip tightly.
Something else
I couldn’t understand why such a story had to come out in a training situation like this.
Astrid couldn’t understand whether it was Astrid herself who thought it was strange to say that in front of the person concerned, or whether Akhemilla was rude.
And-
I couldn’t understand Leopold’s intentions with such an ambiguous answer.
*
As I got closer to the checkpoint, I heard a continuous bang, bang, boom.
It’s a grim atmosphere.
It sounds like something big is crashing into something else.
An ominous feeling weighed down the three of them.
“Come on, run!”
Thanks to taking a break earlier, my body is back to life, but my mood is not. Feeling the worst of the worst, Astrid ran after Leopold, who was running ahead, and entered the checkpoint.
“Squad leader, you are safe!”
“Astrid!”
“Oh, are you hurt anywhere?!”
Upon entering her checkpoint, Arkemilla runs towards her squad, and Astrid and Leopold see her squadmates as well, checking to make sure no one is hurt.
“No one was hurt, but over there… “
At the exit of the checkpoint, the space was distorted in a heterogeneous way. There was a fairly large and thick crack in the sky, and even a thumping sound could be heard.
“It looks like that monster from earlier is trying to break this checkpoint.”
Relatively calm Astain.
With Astrid, Leopold, and Akemilla falling behind, the eight cadets who jumped into this checkpoint felt relieved. This is a safe space, and it is said that it is a place where monsters cannot invade, so it is safe to stay here.
Since the two squad leaders and Leopold had fallen out, I thought about what to do for a while, and soon there was a bang, a bang, and the sound of something crashing continuously from outside, and the cause of the sound was a large monster at this checkpoint. It didn’t take long for them to realize that the sound was trying to break through the barriers of space.
“—That’s why it has continued until now.”
But even that seemed to be reaching its limit.
Now, they thought that if it breaks, they have no choice but to fight, and if the academy doesn’t come to the rescue even after waiting for such a long time, then the outside world must be completely unaware of it. Around the time when we decided to discuss with each other.
Just around that time, Astrid, Leopold, and Archemilla returned.
Even while explaining all this, the sound of banging, banging barriers continued to be heard. The gold continued to grow and grow, and when it became clear that it was about to break, Astrid stepped forward carrying her greatsword.
She’s the one who’s been in a bad mood ever since.
She’s annoying, and she’s the one she wanted to vent her anger on.
‘Ah. It’s annoying. I’m really annoyed and going crazy.’
– Kwaaaaang!
With the explosion, the barrier broke and the monster appeared.
Roaring ferociously, seeing the gathering of humans who have worked so hard to break the barrier for such a long time, the monster emits a long roar as if to vent its anger—-
Began to rush. In front of Astrid.
‘No, I just had to come to the conclusion that it would work or not.’
Leopold evaded the answer.
– Empty!
Astrid’s hands grabbed a pair of long, long fangs protruding from the monster’s mouth.
Astrid’s feet, which blocked the momentum of the monster’s charge, began to push back, leaving long traces on the ground.
‘If the boy is right, it’s right, and if it’s wrong, it’s wrong, what? Isn’t that what we’re talking about in a place like this?’
Without letting go of the fangs that were clenched tightly, Astrid bit her lips tightly to resist the power of the monster pushing in, and instead began to push it away.
One step, one step.
Astrid, who had been pushed aside, began to take a step forward.
The monsters that had endured are now beginning to be pushed back in reverse—
“Turn it off… !”
With a scream, a pair of fangs broke and the monster took several steps back with great strides.
‘It has nothing to do with that child. Bad thing is Akemilla. Do I look like a hogu?’
The Witchbeast, who came to his senses, shook his head three or four times to regain his senses, then roared and charged towards Astrid again.
And towards that monster, Astrid pulled out her greatsword.
‘I’m stupid for not being able to speak properly there, really. Yeah, that’s what annoyed me. I should have at least said, “Have you straightened up your attitude, didn’t I learn etiquette at your house?” !’
The sound of flesh cutting, bones breaking, blood vessels breaking and muscles tearing.
Before long, the huge body with its head split in two fell and shook the ground.
Red blood flowed out and soon evaporated and disappeared, and Astrid shook her greatsword to shake off the blood.
“Next time, I really need to tell you properly. Oh, I can’t get tired of it.”
Astrid’s face was full of annoyance.
Around the time when the cadets gathered around the fallen monster’s corpse and were snooping around, Erania approached Astrid.
“… Hey, Astrid, is something wrong with you?”
“Me?”
“Huh.”
“There is nothing to be angry about. I always look like this.”
Then, Astrid put her greatsword back on her back and walked toward the bench. Eranya quietly muttered as she watched her kick a rock beside her bench, shattering her and leaving her to sit on her bench.
“… Her face is full of anger beyond irritation… ? Is there something wrong… ?”
