Chapter 72

Chapter 6: In the Name of Glory (8)

***

Creak-

- NoruDrug: Wow, he just opened it like that.

- takealook: The nerve to pull a 10x summon without even offering a treasure! No wonder he’s the leader of a group!

- GanjangGayba: ★★ Low-Rank Heretic Fanatic x 10

As he placed his hand on the doorknob, the chat room people were saying things like how he didn’t even play the summoning BGM, and that with such a casual attitude, he wouldn’t be able to get good companions. But he ignored all of that. This isn’t some old mobile game; it’s the game of Gedroits, which boasts the highest realism in human history. There’s no room for such folk beliefs to interfere.

'Senadis definitely said something about the Archbishop. That means this suicide mission was a planned operation by the Light Sect’s headquarters. It’s not something that would end with a mere jab.'

The headquarters of a sect as significant as the Light Sect have an enormous amount of work to do. They need to expand their influence, suppress heresies, train holy knights, and navigate the political intrigues of the capital’s nobility with their power of faith. This was a plan they set up by dividing their time. They must have prepared enough to break through to the heart of the enemy.

Thud-

As he opened the door with anticipation, what caught the professor's eye was—

Bang!

“Kyaaaah!”

“Heretic beast! You finally reveal your true colors! Die!”

A bald, emaciated monk in white robes and a hairy, wild-eyed man nearby.

“I... I’m hungry....”

“A... Ah... Master, I am returning to the embrace of mana....”

“No! Hey! Is anyone there! Please, some water and food!”

Despite a well-set table with bread in one corner of the room, the group looked as if they hadn’t eaten for days, their gaunt figures struggling on the brink of death.

And then...

Sniff, sniff.

“Grrr?”

What he thought was a metal sculpture began to move and turned to look at him. Thick limbs like pillars, and a large suit of armor covering them. Greenish skin visible between the armor plates.

A long-toothed, upturned-nose green face approached the professor, sniffing and then showing a welcoming expression.

“Small... big human?”

“Y-You, could it be... Notum?”

“Small big human! We meet again!”

Notum greeted the professor with a broad smile, despite his incredulous expression.

It was definitely him. The troll who had shown him kindness and called him 'small big human.' The talking troll he met in the forest when he first entered the game, the hero unit Notum.

***

Splat! Splat!

The professor decided to put aside the joy of reuniting with Notum and first assess the people in the room. Since his mental fatigue had transformed into a more manageable form, the annoying headache had disappeared, and now he could naturally absorb information about his surroundings as if water flowed into his mind.

A quick scan revealed that most of the people were familiar.

First, the easiest to recognize, the group on the verge of starvation.

“Ugh, hey. You just came in from outside, right? By any chance, do you have something to eat?”

A gaunt old man, clearly emaciated, asked. Despite the table being laden with somewhat dried fruit and plenty of bread, he clutched his empty stomach without even glancing at the food.

“Ottoman. Are you Ottoman Baudelaire, the mage of the Lead Flow school?”

“D-Do you know me?”

The professor sighed and nodded. Of course, I know you. You might not recognize me in this form.

Ottoman Baudelaire. He had recognized the old man’s face from the first day. This was the mage he met at the tower that day, the one who held the Tobrun forces hostage and shook them, willing to die for his disciples.

“The people behind you are your disciples, right?”

“Oh... So you know everything. Were you sent by the sect?”

The old man, slightly disappointed, suddenly widened his eyes and clung to the professor’s pants.

“If so, please tell the sect to reconsider the Lead Flow school! That experiment was Isaac’s and his disciples’ own doing! With the tower lord away, that Isaac, the next in line, was running the tower as he pleased—”

Ottoman’s desperate plea was cut short. The professor had pulled out fish and leather bags filled with clear water from his inventory.

Thud!

“Fishy smell!”

“Food!”

“It’s edible!”

Before coming to Tobrun, he had caught a few fish from the river and kept them in his inventory as an emergency tranquilizer. As soon as he took them out, the group, who had been starving for days, pounced on them like stray dogs.

The professor was certain. The ragged group huddled in one corner were indeed the mages of the Lead Flow school he had seen before.

He handed a separate fish to Ottoman, who was watching the scene with a desperate expression.

“Like the flowing river, may our lives also flow. Eat, Ottoman. I too walk the path of water.”

“Like the river flows to the sea, may our meeting end in the same place. Oh, truly, the flow has guided you! Thank you! Really, thank you!”

As the professor recited the greeting of the water school and floated a small water droplet on his hand, Ottoman’s wary expression instantly relaxed.

Watching him skillfully fillet the raw fish with his bare hands, unlike his disciples who gobbled it up like animals, the professor got a sense of what had happened.

“Does the sect... suspect the Lead Flow school for what happened that day?”

At the professor’s question, Ottoman shook his head with a worried face.

“It’s not suspicion, but certainty. After the red mutes attacked and fled, the Light Sect’s holy knights soon arrived.”

“You were still in the tower? I heard a massive amount of water flooded the tower, sweeping away everyone around it....”

“Oh, that was just ordinary people. We are water school mages, aren’t we? Even if our mana was sealed and our bodies restrained, our enlightenment remained. Since the attackers were heading outside, I thought it would be safer to stay in the familiar tower. I guided the water to flow around us and used the water pressure to free our bindings.”

Hmm. I feel ashamed of myself for claiming to be a mage just because I could cast a few low-level spells. This is the skill of a mage who has dedicated his life to the water school. Despite being unable to use any mana and being restrained, he managed to sit calmly while a massive amount of water flooded the tower.

From what he heard, the holy knights brought them here and asked questions like, “Why were you so calm when the mutes attacked?” and “Why didn’t the enemies of humanity kill you and just run away?” Since they couldn’t answer, they were detained here.

“We are truly wronged! The ones who destroyed the tower were those monsters! How could we be on their side? I saw you come in with a priest! What did the sect tell you? Come on! Please, save us! The young ones with bright futures must live! Heretics? That’s absurd!”

Just like last time, and this time too, this old man tried to save his disciples at every opportunity.

- takealook: Professor’s level of shame.

- Jokass: Professor, do you have no conscience?

- takealook: The kind-hearted old man who only wants to teach his disciples and enjoy a cup of water and a raw fish. Who put him and his disciples in this hellhole?

- HighWeinaChomMan: Satan and company give a standing ovation! We in hell are eagerly awaiting the day Professor dies! When the transfer season comes after his death, we will welcome him with the best conditions—

‘Hmm... I can’t say I have no feelings.’

Honestly, he didn’t expect the mages to end up like this. Even though the tower had become a complete ruin, they were still mages and nobles. He thought they wouldn’t end up starving.

But to be labeled as heretics and captured by the sect. It’s obvious. They were looking for talented people to use as a special force, and when a group of mages got involved in a heresy case, they were kidnapped under some ridiculous pretext.

The professor saw that the mages, including Ottoman, had already eaten more than six fish and were now looking at him with expressions of relief. Five people in total. When he had captured them as prisoners, there were over fifteen mages. Why were only these people here? Could it be... because of me?

“Is this... all of the Lead Flow school mages? As far as I know, there were more. Could it be... the sect... killed the others...?”

As the professor trailed off, horrified by the thought, Ottoman frowned.

“Fortunately, that’s not the case. The others were taken away by people from their families. The ones left here are all commoner mages.”

“Not all. People from Ottoman’s family came, but this one chose to stay voluntarily.”

“Hey, you. Why bring that up? It’s obvious. How could I go home and sleep soundly, leaving you all in this suspicious place?”

“Master!”

“Teacher! I will serve you like a father for the rest of my life!!”

Thud!

The mages, now feeling a bit better, hugged each other and cried. There was no need to investigate further. He would check their exact combat abilities later.

Next, he turned to Notum, who had been looking at him with a pleased expression.

- GanjangGayba: This is the real deal.

- SpeedWagon: Professor, ask him what happened in detail. He’s a hero unit without any information. Clearly, he’s an important character since he became a companion through an event.

- Jokass: It’s clear how many times the player cleared World 3 by grinding. No wonder World 4 has been stuck for years with no information on important hero units.

- takealook: Armed troll! Armed troll! Armed troll! Armed troll!

- HighWeinaChomMan: If it’s an armed troll hero unit, 4 stars should be enough.

Indeed. The professor was also curious about Notum’s story. After all, he had left Notum in the forest, saying he would come back for him. But why was Notum captured by the sect? No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out.

The professor, leaving the mages who were still hugging and mumbling about eternal life and fathers, approached Notum. Notum patted the seat next to him with his thick hand, still showing kindness.

As the professor sat down, Notum placed his hand on the professor’s head.

“Small big human. You’ve grown well. Now you’re a small middle human? ...Hmm. No. You’re still smaller than Notum. Still a small big human. But you’ve changed a lot. The journey of independence was very hard. Small big human, you must have been hurt. Did it hurt?”

“Um... hmm...”

Pat, pat.

“You did well. You grew up well.”

‘Gulp!’

Watching Notum, who was always pleased, inspect the scars on his body, the professor felt tears welling up. In this cruel world of GG, to have a companion who genuinely cared for him without any conditions. This guy, he really knows how to touch people.

The professor, following Notum’s lead, silently patted Notum’s knee. Indeed, this guy could be a good friend.

Wiping his teary nose, the professor, moved by the reunion, asked Notum.

“You’ve changed a lot too. How did you end up here, leaving the forest? And what’s with that armor?”

At the professor’s question, Notum, who had maintained a calm expression, frowned.

“It wasn’t Notum’s wish.”

Of course. This building, which is barely three meters tall, would feel like a prison to a troll over three meters tall. No one would stay here by choice.

“I just wanted the hundred horses I was promised.”

“Horses?”

“Yes. Horses. Notum waited for a day, but the promised horses didn’t come. So, I went to Turan to get them myself. On the way, I met the bad guys who were stealing horses.”

Huff!

Notum, clearly still angry at the memory, puffed his cheeks and looked fierce.

“Y-Yeah?”

The professor, who had been momentarily lost in a wave of emotion, searched his memory of the first time he met Notum.

‘Strange. I did promise him horses, but it was a story I made up. How could he have met them? Could it be a coincidence that he met horse thieves?’

No way. Let’s see. After parting ways with Notum and entering Turan, I spent one night at the Silver Roar Mercenary Guild, and the next day around lunchtime, I was conscripted and sent to the battlefield—

Clap!

‘Holy shit, Eureka!’

“Mutes! You met mutes!”

“Mutes? Hmm. I heard the iron humans make that crying sound before they die. Mutes. Mutes.”

Notum had waited for a day as promised, but when the horses didn’t come, he set out for Turan to get them. On the way, he encountered a few mutes advancing towards Turan!

‘Considering the attack, most were probably 8th-grade mutes, with Edelorna being the exception. It’s not strange that a few stragglers wandered into the forest. Notum must have been attacked by those stragglers on his way to Turan!’

The professor, realizing this, unknowingly slapped his knee. It was incredible. Notum’s forest was right in the middle of the route to Turan. If Notum had stayed there, he would have surely been killed by the main force of mutes. But because of the horses, he left the forest and managed to survive.

- Jokass: Breaking news! Additional hero unit event!

- takealook: How does the professor pull out one unconfirmed piece of information after another, every hour? And they’re all major ones.

- Mukaba: The conditions don’t seem that difficult? Just don’t kill Notum, stimulate him in some way, and make him leave the forest.

- GanjangGayba: Many people have tried to bring Notum out.

- Mukaba: Cutting his tendons and selling him to a circus is not the same as the professor, who said, ‘Stay strong~’ and tearfully parted ways.

- SpeedWagon: Everyone, shut up. Notum is still talking.

“So, so what happened!”

Notum, scratching his head and recalling the past, continued in a slow voice.

“The four-legged ones were weak, but there were many. Notum is wise. Dire wolves are dangerous even in large numbers. Running away is a wise choice. Most importantly, Notum was hungry and had no strength.”

Notum stopped talking and smacked his lips. Now that he thought about it, there was plenty of bread but no meat in the room. Trolls are omnivores, but they probably prefer meat over bread.

“While running... I met humans fighting the bad guys.”

The mages in the corner, the bald priest, and the prisoner were all listening intently. In a world without TV or the internet, stories were the only entertainment here.

The story of a talking troll who left the forest to live with humans was undoubtedly captivating.

***