– Crash!
The thick iron door shattered after a couple of axe strikes. Grasping the torn iron plate firmly, he crushed it to widen the hole.
Ivan walked forward silently. He no longer hid his momentum or suppressed his magical power.
– Wee-ee-ing—! Wee-ee-ing—!!
The alarm blared noisily. The magical detection devices flashed red light as if in a seizure. The sound of numerous barricades descending in the research wing could be heard with a clanking noise.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going…?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
What Enrique taught was mostly for training scenarios. Real combat cannot be taught through explanation.
Therefore, Ivan needed to teach Lucia the rules for real situations.
“If you don’t lose your sense of direction, breaking through the shortest distance in the shortest time is the right way.”
“…Without considering the enemy’s status or threat level?”
“If it’s a situation where consideration is possible, you should.”
“What about in cases like now?”
“Think about what the shortest distance and shortest time mean.”
Lucia fell into thought for a moment, then exclaimed, “Ah.”
Yes, that’s right.
Ivan didn’t bother to elaborate. He walked forward with the axe. Despite the intricate traps laid by the elves’ magic and the complete lack of information on the internal structure.
However, under those conditions.
Breaking through the shortest distance in the shortest time means having the shortest contact with the enemies.
In terms of the division of roles in a hero party, it’s like this.
Einar and Veolgrin had the strength to face an army.
Jill Ber and Maximilian had the power to deal with individuals.
And Enrique and Ivan’s role was to infiltrate the enemy camp, assess the situation, test the enemies’ level, and return alive to relay that information to the party.
Therefore, it is a touchstone.
Can our party challenge this with our strength?
If so, how can we challenge it with the least losses and the greatest effect?
Thus, Ivan didn’t confront an army or face an overwhelmingly powerful individual.
He had to confront the ‘structure.’
That was his only role. To penetrate, to understand, and to survive.
“It’s about figuring out the path your party will take in advance. The rougher the path, the more accurate your perception needs to be.”
“Senior Brother, the scope of the test is too wide….”
“The world is wide.”
In real combat, students should not be confined to test papers. The world is the examiner, and the test paper is survival.
Lucia grumbled, but upon meeting Ivan’s gaze, she quickly corrected her expression. She cleared her throat and drew her weapon.
Her expression became quite resolute.
Yes, that’s right.
Ivan nodded in satisfaction and stepped forward.
*
Oswald stood on the bow, gazing at the midnight sea.
He was not familiar with elven society. Despite this body being elven, his mind was that of a human from Earth.
Thus, he didn’t know much about their culture or political system. After all, he had spent barely two years as an elf.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Huh? Oh, just… various things.”
“Don’t want to tell me?”
“It’s not that, just some trivial thoughts, Miss Rustpitz.”
When he turned his gaze, his ‘former’ fiancée was looking at him. Evelyn Rustpitz, the daughter of the Privy Council Chairman.
Honestly, it was too much for him. Her beauty, the characteristic long lifespan of elves, and the overwhelming prestige of her family.
If there was a problem, it would be this: the title of the content he had possessed was [The Genius Magician Obsessed by the Villainess]. He had dropped that trashy piece after not even reading ten chapters.
Thus, he couldn’t predict how the storyline he possessed would unfold. He just woke up to find that this woman was obsessing over him.
“Oswald.”
“Yes, yes.”
Unlike his habit of always using honorifics, Evelyn always spoke to him warmly. The distance between them was as different as the thoughts they harbored.
“Hehe, it seems you’re not interested in politics.”
“Politics?”
“The Eastbelfen family is not unrelated to central politics, so it’s quite curious.”
Her eyes glowed with greed. Like a crow looking at a jewel, they shimmered sensually.
“Do you know what humans call us, elves?”
“I know many, but most expressions are too vulgar to tell you, Miss Rustpitz.”
“Those vulgar masses use vulgar expressions, of course. Summarized, most would say ‘inscrutable,’ ‘selfish,’ and ‘arrogant,’ wouldn’t they?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“If there’s a common point among those three, it’s that they all imply being political.”
Evelyn seemed to be in a good mood.
Though they had used the same classroom for a year, it seemed like the first time they had such a long conversation.
“Elves are political creatures. More than any other race. So if an elf does something, it almost always means it has political implications or purposes.”
Except for you.
Evelyn barely swallowed her last words. Only that naive rural nobleman saw her as Evelyn, not as the daughter of the Privy Council Chairman.
Though she still had to be called Rustpitz for now, that too would end this winter break.
“Do you know the saying, ‘Politics arises where people gather, and economics arises where people flow’?”
“Um, no. It’s the first time I’ve heard it.”
“It’s an old adage. But it’s true. And Kalion, this land, is where the people and goods of the four seas gather, and where gathered goods accumulate. Economics and politics have developed over thousands of years.”
“So, you’re saying….”
“In this country, economics means the same as politics. The Alchemy Factory, the Black Magic Society, the Sword Sect, the Destruction Faction, the Mental Faction, the Summoning Faction. They’re called ‘societies’ but are practically corporations, and most of their heads are Privy Council members.”
An old term from Earth came to Oswald’s mind: collusion between politics and business.
But he soon shook his head. It wasn’t just about businessmen interfering in politics; it meant that businessmen were politicians themselves.
The political system of this country, therefore, was closer to the U.S. than to South Korea.
These damn Westerners. When strange events happen in the world, blaming the Anglo-Saxons is usually correct. It wasn’t much different in this world.
“So don’t think too deeply or worry. It’s an everyday matter. Such things.”
“Such things?”
“When a particular society attacks another society. Be it economic pressure, political pressure, or armed conflict. It’s very, very common. As long as it doesn’t surface.”
Evelyn pointed to the night sea and smiled.
“No matter what great beings dwell beneath the sea, no matter what wars the whales and sharks wage, as long as it doesn’t appear on the surface, the Kalion Privy Council won’t intervene. Knowing this, they become more daring and insidious.”
Only then did Oswald understand what Evelyn was trying to say.
At the very moment they arrived at the port, there just happened to be a conspiracy waiting. Wasn’t it too contrived? At this moment of doubt.
The fact is, such things happen routinely across the entire country.
Such intrigues are so commonplace in their socio-cultural fabric that they’re hardly worth noting.
Disrespecting the Privy Council Chairman’s daughter? What does it matter? It’s just his daughter, not the Chairman himself.
The age difference between the Chairman and his daughter equals the history of a nation. It means hundreds of years.
Those who live such long lives are like kings of a country.
Their conversations are diplomacy, their transactions are trade. The concept of the individual becomes unfamiliar over such a long time.
Thus, their intrigues are nothing more or less than competition between ordinary nations.
Oswald looked at the night sea and sighed deeply.
“How does a country like this even sustain itself?”
Unintentionally.
At his words, Evelyn laughed and nodded.
“That’s why elves are great, isn’t it?”
*
Zap, a lightning-type attack spell roared. Ivan struck down with an axe enveloped in magical power.
Even if he didn’t understand the composition and structure of the magic, it didn’t matter. Destruction magic is easy to break. All types of magic are, in the end, processes of weaving mystery into reality. The moment it becomes reality, it can be physically destroyed.
It’s enough to respond faster and stronger than the attacking spell. That is, it’s not much different from swordsmanship.
After listening to the explanation, Lucia nodded absentmindedly.
“I don’t want to do reconnaissance.”
“Then you become useless.”
“Did you just deduct points? For something like this?”
“To the point of abandoning the assessment.”
Grumbling, Lucia followed behind Ivan. Behind them, the corridor was filled with deep marks of destruction and grotesque pieces of flesh.
This experimental building was so serious about security that it didn’t even need elves as guards. Bio-golems created through alchemy appeared at unpredictable times to attack.
And they disappeared to an equally unpredictable axe blade. Ivan, maintaining his steady breath, silently cleared the path.
“By now, we must have reached the main fortress, right?”
“It leads underground to the main fortress, yes.”
“This reminds me of the old days. Remember when we were searching the dwarf burrows? I remember you only slept three hours a day, while I stood guard thoroughly.”
“Yeah.”
“I can be useful when I need to be, you know. Don’t I get any extra points for that?”
“Eating little and sleeping little are basic skills of a scout. I’ll give you five points.”
In urgent times, she could survive by just feeding on blood and could remain active in the dark for long periods without sleeping. These were very useful traits.
Moreover, unlike most vampires who are night walkers, Lucia could operate even in broad daylight.
Although she didn’t inherit most of the vampire traits like long lifespan, superior healing abilities, great strength, and magical adaptability, she did gain the ability to walk during the day in exchange.
Not bad. Relying on innate abilities slows growth, but those aware of their shortcomings tend to grow quickly.
‘Was it intuition, insight, Enrique?’
Was it an insight predicting that the hero’s party would need a scout someday?
Or was it her long years of intuition that trained her only direct disciple to be this ‘suitable’?
Whatever the case, Lucia was almost perfectly complete and extremely useful in the current hero’s party.
If you exclude actual combat experience.
-Bang!!
The magical lights illuminating the corridor all turned off at once. At the point where the research wing ended, the entire main fortress was plunged into darkness.
Soon, rustling sounds echoed from all around. Noisy sounds as if flesh was slowly moving, and horrible murmurs.
Ivan chuckled.
“We’ve become quite the threat.”
“What?”
“The tougher the traps, the more desperate our enemy must be. From now until sunrise, we won’t have time to rest.”
A squelching sound was heard right nearby. It was perfect darkness, so much so that even Lucia could barely make out anything.
Dark vision requires at least some light to function. To perceive space visually, there always has to be some light. In a space with no light at all, dark vision becomes meaningless.
-Tut.
However, there are techniques in this world that use senses other than sight to perceive space.
-Tut, tut.
Like certain bats, certain whales, and very few underground monsters, or
Like well-trained agents.
The sound of an axe moving, flesh bursting, and the rhythmic clanging of Ivan’s steel boots on the floor were heard.
Each step was measured precisely, the sound of his footsteps perfectly regular.
Tut, tut. The delicate clicking sound of his tongue, like a metronome, every quarter second.
-Boom!
Occasional bursting sounds were like collecting sheaves during harvest time. Destroying approaching golems with just that much effort.
-Tut, tut.
The snake-like hissing in the dark continued to echo through the pitch-black corridor for a while.