Chapter 84

Chapter 6: In the Name of Glory (20)

***

People usually don't feel exhausted even if they sprint when they can see their goal right in front of them. As the thought of "Maybe... I really have a chance to clear it?" crossed my mind, the fatigue from fighting the dark mage seemed to melt away like snow.

‘This isn’t the time to stand around. We need to reach the queen’s nest as quickly as possible, before reinforcements are produced!’

The professor rolled up the completed report and tied it with a string, then called over four 2nd and 3rd tier mages who were loitering nearby.

“Sir Mage, do you remember the way here?”

“Yes... I do. We just followed the path without any major forks.”

“Then I would like you to take this report and head straight back to the entrance of the village, and deliver it to the headquarters of the Order of Light in Kingsland.”

The mages’ faces turned pale at the professor’s words.

“Are you... telling us to go back?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! In a situation where we need every man, you’re reducing our numbers!”

“Old man Othman, let’s be honest. This time, everyone should have realized that bringing 2nd and 3rd tier mages is more of a hindrance than a help.”

“Hmph...”

The two 2nd tier mages lowered their heads in frustration, but it was the truth. Honestly, apart from helping to draw water at the entrance, the 2nd and 3rd tier mages had done almost nothing. In fact, Othman had to put in more effort to cast spells to match their levels, which might have been a net negative. Even if he had conserved mana, he wouldn’t have used such indirect spells in a truly urgent situation.

After causing such a hindrance, they had vomited at the sight of the gruesome scene as soon as they entered the village, and had to retire. As a result, the elderly Othman was left behind to tank about ten medium-sized undead trolls on his own. While he was placed in a relatively safe position considering his special status as a hero unit, he would have gone with us if the mages hadn’t been left behind. With him, dealing with Ulman would have been much easier.

After calmly explaining this, the mages’ faces, which had been flushed with indignation, turned red with shame and they subsided. Facts can be the most painful thing in the world.

“We are just at the edge of the enemy’s territory. Our opponent was strong, but it was just one dark mage. The situation will become much more urgent from now on, and I don’t have the confidence to protect your lives in the midst of it. Please go back. I swear, if you continue, Mage Othman will end up sacrificing himself to protect you.”

Of course, 3rd tier mages could protect themselves and would be useful, but from here on, it would be the heart of enemy territory, making it difficult to operate a carriage. Team combat power doesn’t always lead to mission success. If secretly mobilizing by leaving these four behind is the right move, then that’s what we should do.

“...Sigh. I understand. We will part ways here, and head back to the Order...”

“Master! You must return in good health!”

“Take care on your way back! Don’t worry about us!”

“Make sure to deliver this safely to the Order! It’s a matter of life and death!”

‘Clerics! Priests! Paladins! Monks! The Order of the Silver Lance!’

With Othman’s tearful farewell and the professor’s desperate transmission, the four mages turned and headed back the way they came.

***

Clomp! Clomp!

After parting ways with the mages, the party decided to move immediately, though it was a bit tiring. Even though the area had been purified by Nelfia’s light, it felt uncomfortable to rest where such vile auras had been present just a few minutes ago. They decided to find a suitable spot and camp, even if it meant getting a bit wet from the dew.

So, they mounted Aldrich and Othman on two horses they had detached from the carriage, and the rest of the party ran alongside.

“Somehow... I can’t hide my sense of guilt...”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m the type who needs to exercise until my body is covered in sweat every day. Borka? Nodum?”

“Wolfmen don’t get tired this easily.”

“Grr. Running is fun.”

“Did you hear that? We’re naturally like this, so don’t worry. Just take care of yourselves. Riding a horse can be quite tiring, you know?”

“Is it... tiring to ride a horse when someone is running alongside at the same speed?”

Othman said this, but it was clear that his aged body was struggling.

“Since the sun is setting, let’s prepare to camp in that forest over there.”

‘It’s about time to log out anyway. If we set up a proper camp, we can log out safely.’

Checking the time, the professor realized it was roughly dinner time, so he set up a simple camp with the tent he had brought and immediately reached for the logout button.

Actually, he had considered staying a bit longer, but the external call notification in the center of the screen was blinking red.

‘They’re probably calling me to come out for dinner.’

The professor’s consciousness slowly began to drift away as he confirmed it was almost dinner time.

***

Whoosh-!

While in the game, the professor had been imagining what the evening meal would be.

‘Vex and Ian said they would check out the 47th sector. Given how much Vex hates grass, they might have traded for something like bullets or jerky. If so, I could thinly slice the jerky and boil it with vegetables...’

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Professor! Professorrrrrrr!!!”

Clunk! Clunk!

But as soon as his senses returned, he was greeted by screams and noise that ruthlessly shattered his peaceful thoughts.

“Damn it, Park Professor, this isn’t the time to be playing games, you bastard!”

It was Ian’s voice, clearly terrified. He was shaking the access device and calling his name.

“There was... a monster, I saw it with my own eyes! It was crazier than the abominations we saw in the 45th sector!”

“Aaaaah!! Last charge for the sake of numbers! Funeral visit, for sure! Aaaaah!”

“Damn it, the 47th sector isn’t safe at all! I ran away because it was clear that our hastily prepared firepower wouldn’t stand a chance. But that thing was definitely chasing us! Professor, take care of Vex! I’m going straight to the warehouse to get weapons to deal with it...”

The professor, ignoring their frantic behavior, stretched and relaxed his overly tense body, then addressed Corduro.

“Corduro, can you fetch some water? Cold, please.”

“It’s already here, next to the access device.”

“Oh, good.”

“Since I’m a learning AI, I remembered how to handle it when you were like this before.”

“Haaap! Run! My survival instinct, which has saved my life dozens of times, is telling me we can’t win! We can’t win, no matter what!”

Whoosh!

“Eep!”

Whoosh!

“Phew!”

Clunk... Clunk...

“Damn, you two are really making a fuss.”

The professor, having evenly splashed the water from the bucket over the two, who now looked like drenched rats, cursed at them.

“Why can’t you listen to a person the first time? Why!”

“Eh, uh, d-dream? My head feels fuzzy...”

“So, I wrote down the precautions for the 47th sector and told you to read them dozens of times, didn’t I, you idiots? If you had read them properly, you wouldn’t be in this state, right?”

“Eh... eh?”

Looking down at the two, who were staring at him with dazed faces as if just waking up, the professor rubbed his aching forehead.

“You encountered a 3rd form variant called ‘Old Picture.’ It’s dangerous, and if you mess with it, you’ll have to abandon the shelter and run.”

“T-That’s right? It was a nightmare, we, clearly, a monster, a doll, or a corpse, a huge monster-”

Smack!

“Ouch!”

The professor smacked Vex’s forehead, who was babbling like he was still half-asleep, and threw a towel from Corduro to both of them.

“It’s dangerous, but it’s a variant they raise in the 47th sector. Thanks to that dangerous thing, the 47th sector is three times safer than before.”

“Raise... a variant?”

“Yeah.”

Thud!

Exhausted from the two causing a commotion right after coming out of the access device, the professor threw himself onto an old sofa and said,

“Exactly, they agreed to adjust the behavior of the dome and everyone in the 47th sector to match the creature’s actions. Hey, Ian.”

“Eh... eh?”

“Did you shoot it? That monster?”

“Um... eh...”

“Of course, you did. Where did you shoot? The disgusting main body? Or the doll-like thing hanging in front?”

“The main body. I aimed for what looked like its head, but it didn’t budge.”

Sigh.

The professor let out another sigh of relief. Thank goodness. If it had been the creature’s host body, he would have had to go door-to-door to apologize to the 47th sector survivors.

“I used the explosives I had to bring down the surrounding buildings and escape when the bullets didn’t work.”

“Ggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg