61 - CHAPTER IV "Training"

About a month ago.

A group of people visited , the capital of Alkimaira, which was busy with pioneering projects.

They were tall dwarves with rabbit ears, half dwarf and half beast. Men of the avian type with small feathers on their backs, and men of the pure-blooded dwarf race. The group is made up of a variety of half-elves, most of whom are characterized by their half-length ears, and are members of a warrior group dispatched by the allied nation of Rattestwood.

They were welcomed by the guardians of the great door, and as soon as they set foot inside the city, they all stiffened.

"This is ......"

Passing through the outer wall, they were met with a view of the capital city, where everything in Alkimaira is concentrated.

A boulevard so wide that dozens of people could stand side by side and still have room to spare. The orderly rows of buildings on either side of the boulevard. The ground is lined with beautiful cobblestones without any distortion, so precisely laid that you cannot see the seams unless you strain your eyes.

The fountains in the plazas were filled with clear water that could be mistaken for holy water, and the streets were beautifully landscaped with lush, colorful flowers.

It was a scene like a paradise in a bard's poem.

"----"

Forgetting that they are in the Land of Monsters, the group exhales in admiration.

Caught in the feeling as if they had wandered into another world, they could do nothing but stand in a daze in the plaza beyond the gate.

"...... Let's go. There's no point in being dumbfounded here."

Eventually, the man at the head of the group said

He was a young half-elf by the name of , the newly appointed chief of the Lattestwood warriors.

In the war against the Noblewoods, Rathestwood has lost the main men who had been running the country. The previous Warrior Chief was one of them. As a result, Wenli, who had been the caretaker of the princess sisters, was moved up the ranks to the first rank and was temporarily appointed Warrior Chief. However, he has now been removed from this position, and Ferk, the most skilled of the surviving warriors, has been officially appointed as the chief warrior.

He is still a young warrior, as old as he looks, who survived because of his thin Elvish blood. He still carries in the back of his mind the fear of whether or not he is capable of being the chief of warriors. But once he had assumed the position, he was determined to serve with distinction, and he roused his dismayed comrades to action.

The group, with Felk in the lead, continues on its way, looking around. They eventually reached the fountain in the plaza, when a knight approached them, his armored footsteps clanking.

The knight in full plate armor stops in front of the group and shouts "Who are you?

Excuse me. Are you the group of warriors dispatched by our ally, LATESTWOOD?"

"--Yes. My name is Chief Warrant Officer Felk, and I am your representative on this occasion.

"Confirmed. I confirm the contents of the prior notification. Welcome to Alkimaira. Welcome to Alkymyra.

In a hushed tone, the knight issued a welcome. For some reason, despite his helmet, his voice is not muffled, but sounds more like a whisper, and reaches Felk's bamboo ears. It was a strange tone of voice, as if the armor were hollow, it would sound like this.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the group is led by a knight through the streets of Alkimaira.

"Sometimes. I wonder if there have been any problems on the way here. We accept complaints about any inadequacies of the guides.

"No. Our guides protected us on our way from the home country. There was no problem.

Yes, sir. I hear that the Abyssal Forest is an object of fear for you, even if it is in the outer rim. The chief of our army has expressed concern about the inevitable passage through it. I am glad to hear that my fears are unfounded.

The knight is right, the Abyssal Forest and the magical beasts that inhabit it are a source of fear for the residents of the Sea of Trees. In particular, demonic beasts sometimes escape from the Abyssal Forest and start rampaging, and are regarded as a type of natural disaster such as tornadoes and torrential rains. In other words, they are not something that can be managed by human beings. The Abyssal Forest, which has various anecdotes and is considered to be forbidden, is a magical place that one would normally be afraid to even approach.

However, for the current Fellows, it is a different story.

Although the route between Rattestwood and Alkimaira requires passage through the Abyssal Forest, the demons of Alkimaira do not lose their sense of direction as long as it is in the shallow layer such as the outer edge. The paths that Ferruk and his companions cannot reach by themselves are not much of an obstacle for the guides sent by Alkimaira.

And as for the monsters living in the Abyssal Forest, it is useless to be afraid of them now. Because now we are walking in the midst of "monsters" who have the power to easily slaughter the monsters of the Abyssal Forest. Compared to them, the demonic beasts of the Abyssal Forest would be rather easy to deal with.

Even if we only look around lightly, we can see powerful demons that we can't even resist by ourselves. Goblins and orcs are just a few of the typical types of demons, but there are ogres, trolls, bat-like winged humanoids, floating giant eyeballs with tentacles,....... I hate to think about it, but the ones we just passed could be spirits of the dead, right?

It is a terrifying sight that I would have run away from at once a few days ago.

"What the ......?

Suddenly, a voice from amongst the group swallowed a scream.

However, the screams were not caused by the sight of a terrifying monster. It was because there was an elf among the residents who looked at the group with curiosity.

The elf's eyes caught a woman who had been working as a healer in the village of Rattestwood, and she froze reflexively because of the trauma of her nightmare in Noblewood.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"...... No, no. It's nothing."

Stifling a shiver, the woman replied to the knight.

No wonder, Felk thinks. He had been captured early, but those who had escaped had all been living in hell until just a few days ago.

But we must overcome. We have been chosen to be a part of the newly reorganized warrior group, and we are required to be strong enough to overcome the memories of the past.

This is also the reason for our visit to this country.

The group of warriors led by Feruc came to this city in search of the strength to fight. They came all the way from Rattestwood to receive < by our ally Alkimaira.

(...... yes...) We have come to the door of this magical land to become stronger.)

Felk mutters to himself, and once again becomes keenly aware of the purpose of his visit.

It is said to be a part of exchange activities designed to deepen mutual understanding between the two countries, but in reality it is to raise the strength of the RATESTWOOD Warriors. The reality is that the Latestwood Warriors have been unable to defend themselves against the monsters of the forest, having suffered severe damage in the previous battle. There is an overwhelming shortage of warriors who have a certain level of ability.

However, since the problem of lack of manpower is not something that can be solved quickly, we must at least make up for it by increasing the strength of each and every one of us. And that too as soon as possible.

It is against this backdrop that this effort - the , which was labeled as a part of the exchange activities, was realized.

"We have arrived. This is the house where you will be staying from today.

Felk, who had been pondering the knight's words, looks up with a start.

There was a large pavilion in front of him.

The walls were covered with spears of various sizes and the ceiling was decorated with shield-like ornaments.

The front door has a handle that resembles a sword hilt, giving the house a somewhat staid atmosphere.

After guiding us, the knight said, "My duties as an officer are now finished. I wish you all a safe journey." The knight left quickly, leaving behind subtle words that stirred my anxiety.

The group that was left behind looked at each other and stood for a while in front of the pavilion, seemingly unaware of their whereabouts. But there is no point in standing around like this. Ferk gulped down some saliva and pushed open the door as a representative of the group.

"Well, here you are..."

A lion in human form was waiting for us inside.

It was not wearing a helmet, but was clad in heavily armored armor.

Combined with his large stature, he must have been quite heavy, but he walked lightly to the bottom of the group.

"It is my first time to meet you. My name is Balan-Zeifried. I have been entrusted with the responsibility for your training as part of this cross-cultural exchange program.

Thank you very much for your kind attention. My name is--"

Felk introduces himself as before and exchanges a few words with the lion who calls himself Balan.

He had seen many demons of immeasurable strength along the way to this point, but there was something distinct about this lion. The beastmen among my companions seemed to be especially aroused by their instincts, and they were even fuming just by confronting the lion.

However, Feruc, supported by his pride as a representative of the Ratestwood community, responded with pride and dignity.

"As I have informed you in advance, during the training period you will be treated as trainees and not as guests. By nature, we have to be somewhat strict with you, is that acceptable?"

Yes, of course. We all came here with the determination of warriors. We hope you will treat us as such.

The others looked Baran firmly in the eye and agreed with him. Balan nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Yes, I understand. I will also do my utmost to live up to your commitment. Then time is of the essence. Let's put our luggage down and move on to today's training.

Balan responded with a serious face and rang the bell of his magic tool.

A light sound echoed through the hall, and soon the caretaker of the hall appeared. The man who claimed to be the caretaker was a humanoid demon with the features of a chicken.

He led the group into several large rooms, and after setting down their luggage, they quickly put on their equipment and reassembled in the lobby. Baran then led the group to the huge training area adjacent to the pavilion.

The training area was littered with unfamiliar facilities and tools. There were also workers packing up the disassembled building materials, as if they had been used for other purposes until just a few days ago. Most of them had already prepared to move out, and the last two workers were carrying the rest of the building materials. They saw Balan and the other members of the warrior group and hurried to leave the building.

As they pass each other, the workers' voices reach their ears as they leave, bailing.

"...... Hey, are those guys the ones you were talking about?"

"Ah, the people of Latticewood. They said they were here for some kind of training.

"You mean you're here at ...... that thing?　Of all people, you're taking the Second Corps' training menu?"

"Apparently. And the commander of the 2nd Corps himself.

"...... sorry to hear that. I hope no one dies."

--It was a chilling conversation.

The Dwarven companion standing next to him apparently did not hear it, but the Elf (Feluk) with his good hearing was able to hear everything.

The faces of the half-elves faded. I am sure I must have the same look on my face. The sight of the demons retreating quietly with their backs rounded almost made my resolve, which I should have strengthened as a warrior leader, fade away.

Unaware of Felk's state of mind, Balan stops at a corner of the training ground and turns around to face the group.

"Well. Let the training begin. As we agreed earlier, from this point on you will be treated as trainees. You will address me as instructor for the duration of your training. The reply will be <.

"......Right, sir!"

Felk was the first to respond, followed by the rest of the group, who said similar words. Baran and the instructor nodded and climbed up on the command platform.

What kind of hardship will we be subjected to?

Ferck trembled with fear of the unknown, but he secretly resigned himself to the fact that he would not run away from whatever ordeal awaited him...

"--then let's go for a run. First, let's run ten laps around this training ground.

I blinked at the instructor's words.

It was not only Felk who was surprised, but also the other members of the group of warriors looked at each other in bewilderment. The instructions they had been given had been so unexpected. Although the training area was quite large, it was only ten laps.

It is true that they had a history of being ridiculed as a collection of weaklings, but their days of living as forest people were no joke. They even had to run for nearly an hour through the jungle with poor footing, so this level of running is not a hard exercise for them.

"...... Are you sure you want to do only ten laps?"

"Mm. My superiors have asked me to take good care of you all. I will take extra care for your safety, and I will work hard to make sure that you make steady progress. Needless to say, I pledge never to force you to do anything you cannot do."

The instructor continued with a solemn expression on his face.

"I, for one, would be extremely displeased to see a trainee destroyed by training that does not match his or her own stature. Therefore, I have prepared a training plan that includes goals for attainment at the level of <> in many places, so that the trainees will surely build up their strength by overcoming them one by one. We have made precise calculations even down to the amount of food and sleep you will need, so you can train without any worries."

It was an astonishing statement.

I wondered how intense the training would be, but what came out of the instructor's mouth was a litany of considerate words such as <<<>.

The members of the warrior corps were all stunned by these words, which could not have come out of the mouth of a monster who is considered to be a lowly barbarian.

(...... (I guess I have not yet given up my prejudice either.)

I tried not to be misled by the preconceived notion that the other party was a demon, but it seems that it was only an intention (...). It would be wrong for me, the appointed chief of warriors, to misjudge things based on my preconceived notions.

Feruc tensed his cheeks to shake off the word "prejudice" that he had not been able to get rid of. After a dry thud, he takes the lead and runs, just as his instructor had said. The others also "let's go! His voice roused me to action, and I hurried after him.

And so the running began.

Due to their different races, some of them are not very good at running, but they are still members of the warrior corps that have been training day after day.

They have a certain level of leg strength due to the fact that they are who often find themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to die if they can't run.

In no time at all, the third lap was completed, and the group of warriors continued to circle around in a single mass.

As we were completing our fourth lap, the instructor's voice came over.

The instructor's voice was a little far from the command post where he stood, but it sounded as if he was speaking to me from right next door. Perhaps he was expanding his voice with a tool similar to a shell in his hand.

The instructor handled the tool with a familiar hand, even though it must have been an expensive one. Perhaps the streets we had seen along the way to this point may have also used magical tools in various places. Felk, who was running in the lead, even had time to think about such things.

As he pondered this, a red light suddenly appeared from a high place in his field of vision. He followed the source of the light with his eyes and saw a man who looked like a magician holding what looked like a book in his hand on one of the high platforms set up in various places in the training ground.

As I looked up vaguely to see what he had launched, a red light - no, a large ball surrounded by a flame - fell down in a parabolic path.

"............What?"

And exactly three seconds later. The glowing fireball passed through Felk's field of vision and landed near the tail end of the group that was still circling.

At the same time, a loud explosion sounded, and a shockwave and heat wave hit his back.

He peeled his eyes and looked back to see his friends cowering from the sudden explosion and a small crater that seemed to be the point of impact.

Sweat broke out in his eyes.

"Sir!

<

"What was that explosion?

When he was told that it was "staged," Felk did not understand the meaning of the word for a few seconds.

But he could not stop.

Flame bombs were raining down again from a height overlooking the training grounds.

The others, who had almost come to a standstill at this point, also rushed to their feet.

Then, the next flaming bullet exploded at a distance of only a few meters from the tail section.

"Whee!

"Don't stop!　Run, or you'll die!

A dwarf running at the end of the line - a woman who worked as a healer in the village - was screaming.

She is a woman who is part of the warrior group, but is mainly in charge of logistical support. She is the slowest of the group. She was being pulled along by her companions who were running slightly ahead of her, and she had managed to keep up with them.

In the training area, which has been transformed into a battlefield, FELCK screams out in distress.

"Instructor!　We will die if we are subjected to that thing!　I don't think it's powerful enough to withstand it!"

<

The instructor's unaffected words left Felk in a state of shock.

From the aftermath of the impact, it was unlikely that they would be able to prevent it even if they put up a barrier with all their might. In fact, with their own chanting speed, they would not be able to put up a barrier in time.

While being exposed to such a terrible attack, they continue to run without disturbing their breathing. ......?

<<

Don't worry, I'm good at what I do.

The instructor continued, but there was nothing to reassure us.

They are < the slowest ones, which means that if you slow down even a little, you will be caught in the explosion.

And since defense is meaningless, if you are caught in the blast, you will have no choice but to die.

The moment he became aware of this simple fact, his heart rate jumped.

His breathing becomes erratic, and his legs gradually become heavier.

But there is no way he can slow down.

Ferck grits his teeth and moves his legs as hard as he can, but he is aware of his cheeks twitching as he feels the sound of the bullet's impact getting closer and closer.

"Hiya!　Yes, something just happened!　A piece of something snatched my head and ......!"

"Stop yelling and shut up, your breathing is labored!　If your legs slow down, you'll die!　Shut up and run!"

The screams of my companions are mournful.

But there is nothing we can do. We must keep running or we will die.

Soon we enter the fifth lap, but the bombing does not stop.

We had already fired more than ten shots, but there was no sign that we had run out of magic.

Moreover, I hope it is just my imagination, but each shot seems to be getting more powerful.

Entering the sixth round, Felk knew that it was not his imagination when he saw that the radius of the explosion scar was slightly increasing.

He no longer has time to scream.

He just moves his feet frantically.

He runs through the training area, where the footing gets worse with each lap, avoiding small craters caused by the bombs, and pulls the hand of a fellow trainee who tripped over a hole, forcing him to stand up and run on.

After running ten laps, the members of the Warriors fell to the ground in a heap.

The runners behind them stumble over the bodies of their fallen comrades and roll into the finish line.

With the last of his strength left in his body, Felk dragged the bodies of his fallen comrades to open the way to the middle of the goal.

A woman running in last place jumps into the goal, pushed back by the blast.

"Whew, whew, whew... ......--"

Then, only grazed breaths and coughs filled the air around us.

Even a cursory glance around the room reveals a mass of corpses.

Ferk, who had used up the last of his strength, also collapsed on the spot and joined the dead.

The instructor announced in a matter-of-fact tone. The instructor's tone of voice was not disturbed at all, even after witnessing such devastation.

Felk, on the other hand, prayed that he had misheard the instructor and asked the instructor a question with his pride as the chief of the battleship.

"Sir, ...... instructor, sir, ......".

<<

"I thought you said just now ...... that you were going to move on to physical fitness for ...... training."

When I somehow managed to voice my doubts under my breath, the instructor affirmed it with a serious expression on his face.

The answer was not quite to the point, but it seemed that the training had not even begun.

It seems that he has been pointed out that he is fundamentally lacking in physical strength and endurance, but I cannot and will not argue with him as long as he is exposed in this pathetic manner.

But that is not the point.

We know that you lack endurance and physical strength for training. We understand that we are going to do something called .

But then, what was all that running we just did to the death ......?

Felk tries to keep his tone as polite as possible and asks the instructor fearfully.

<>.

--I could die today.

Upon hearing the instructor's answer, Felk realized that this was a place of death for them.