Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Juniang spoke to me after she returned to the nurse’s office.

“For your subject selection, you have been assigned to me.”

“Why?”

“No one came to me. It’s just the natural progression of things...”

It was a sad reason on both sides.

Of course, I didn’t make that obvious. I just asked, “The young heroes have been assigned teams, right? Do you know who is on my team?”

“Yeah. Should I tell you?”

I nodded.

I’d been with Evan, Mir, and Sharyl last time.

But my actions had already deviated from back then. Since I had one less point, it wouldn’t be odd if I was placed with a different team.

However, Juniang’s response was truly unexpected.

“You’re alone.”

“Pardon?’

“You’re a one-man team. You’re alone, though it’s only temporary.”

“...How did that happen?”

“It’s probably a penalty for getting injured. Self-preservation is part of being a good hero.”

“...”

“So why did you fight the Instructor of the Hunt without knowing your place? That man doesn’t know how to go easy.”

He’d said he was holding back quite a bit.

However, the plan had been a success. My original goal had been to get hospitalized so I could meet Juniang.

But a one-man team...

Wasn’t this situation better for me?

Of course, since I was alone, it would be difficult to make it into the higher ranks in this test.

At my continued silence, Juniang said, “Don’t feel too down about it; it’s only for this special test. You will be assigned a fitting team later.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course, the gap between you and the rest will be enormous by then, but let’s focus on completing the camp.”

“...”

Why was a priest by trade so bad at consoling others?

“...By the way, Instructor, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“How does a high priest get selected?”

Juniang glanced at me and asked, “What do you mean?”

“When Bednicker chooses someone, they don’t just casually investigate and research the candidate’s background and career. From what I know, there weren’t many points in Instructor Juan’s life when the cult could’ve made contact with him. One thing we know for certain is that he wasn’t born a cultist.”

“...”

“Meaning he became a cultist because they recruited him... but to be recruited into such an important position as ‘high priest’, has he really contributed enough for that?”

Juniang looked away from me for a moment before picking the cigarette up from the table and lighting it with a match.

Tsch.

“Do you know about the cult leader?”

“I don’t know too much.”

“That guy...”

Fuu...

Her voice, mixed in with the smoke, reached my ears.

“Knows how to control dreams.”

“...Like a dream demon?”

“Yeah.”

I blinked at the information I was hearing for the first time in my life. Then, suddenly, I had a thought.

“Is this perhaps top-secret information?”

“You noticed. It’s my repayment to you for revealing your own secret. Don’t go talking about it anywhere.”

“...”

“As a controller of dreams, the cult leader doesn’t care about time or space. If he wants to meet someone, he can just enter their dreams. It hasn’t been confirmed, but I’ve heard that he can make you feel hundreds of different things in a single night’s dream.”

“Hmm...”

“Of course, just because he has met someone doesn’t mean he can fully control them. And I don’t think it’s easy for him to use it either. That’s why most of the high priests who have died were people without name or status.” Juniang lowered her voice and continued, “If Juan is a high priest, he’s a very special case among high priests.”

That was likely the case.

An executive of a secret organization with a deep history... Most people selected for such a position would come from within the organization and would have been nurtured for said position.

Or perhaps they’d be an orphan without any records.

As someone from a famous house, Juan didn’t fit either case.

“...”

The photograph I’d found in his drawer flashed through my mind, but I decided to ignore the pointless thought.

“Did you talk with the knight captain?”

I was talking about Rook.

“Yeah. I relayed your story as well.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he would follow along for now, but he’ll move by his own judgment.”

So he was going to hide and look for an opening this time as well?

I thought he might be overly cautious, but since I had seen the results of his cautiousness, I could accept it.

“What are you going to do about your test tomorrow? Are you going to take it?”

“I’m thinking of skipping it for now... but could I look at the buy list just in case?”

“Sure.”

I received the buy list from Juniang and looked through it.

“By the way, has Calzark said anything?”

Juniang shook her head.

“You...”

“Thinking about it, that would make more sense. You ignored the living Barbara’s affection for you while you ran off looking for your dead sibling’s soul.”

Kekeke. Juan’s disturbing laugh echoed out.

“Calzark, are we so different? We are both obsessing over someone who is already dead.”

“If Barbara could see you now, she would curse.”

“...”

“She would punch you in the head and tell you to stop focusing on something so stupid. That’s the kind of woman she was.”

“...Yeah. Stubborn beyond belief, she was,” Juan said with a bitter smile.

Calzark gritted his teeth.

“Die.”

The determination in his eyes was interrupted by a flash of hesitation, but it only lasted a short moment.

Stab.

Calzark’s sword pierced Juan’s neck.

The sound of gurgling blood...

A disgusting feeling spread through Calzark’s hand.

Looking directly into the eyes of his friend, he withdrew his sword.

Splash.

Blood squirted out from the wound. Juan stumbled a bit before collapsing face-first to the ground.

“...”

Calzark staggered a little as he moved away and leaned against a nearby tree.

The clear sound of forest insects irritated his ears.

Calzark suddenly felt like he was going to throw up.

He suddenly realized that it had been quite a while since he had last killed a person. He had stayed in the mountains for a long time, only killing monsters.

But this feeling of disgust didn’t seem to only come from the act of killing.

“...You’re right. She was stubborn.”

She was too generous to me. The moment Calzark swallowed those words...

“Yeah. If she’d been a little more flexible, I wouldn’t have needed to kill her.”

He heard a voice he never expected.

Calzark responded on instinct.

“What?”

Crack!

Something flew in and cut into Calzark’s abdomen.

Calzark instinctively swung his sword to cut it away, but this unknown entity was so tough that not even a mark was left by his sword.

Bang!

Calzark was pushed back and nailed to the tree.

His face contorted from the pain he felt in his stomach.

Drip...

The something that had pierced his abdomen disappeared slowly, and he heard Juan’s voice from a fair distance away.

“I was planning on cutting you in half at the waist, but you reacted immediately... you’ve gotten stronger, Calzark.”

“You...”

“Despite being stuck in those mountains for many years, I guess your growth never stopped. What an envious amount of talent.”

Juan slowly rose, brushing his clothes.

“...That is what my past self would’ve thought. But not anymore, Calzark. Even with you in front of me, I feel confident. This must also be the blessing of the great god of disaster.”

The hole made in his neck by Calzark’s sword continued to flow with blood, but Juan didn’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort because of it.

“...Juan.”

“Did I look like a tragic person? Or did you think I devoted myself to the forces of evil because of some noble ambition? Did you really think someone like that could have reached the position of high priest?”

Juan let out a wicked laugh.

“You’re too naive, you idiot. You lost all your sense after living in the mountains for too long. You were much sharper than this in the past...”

“...You bastard.”

“Goodbye, Calzark. You were once a friend. To be honest, it wasn’t good to see you.”

A green tongue flicked around Juan’s mouth.

It seemed that that tongue was what had struck his abdomen.

Disgusting...

Calzark couldn’t help but sigh at himself for having that thought in this situation.

The moment the tongue flicked toward him again, a sword flew in from behind Calzark.

Clang!

They clashed in midair, and the tongue was deflected.

The sword that had intercepted the attack landed in front of Calzark, and he noticed it was much worse for wear than he’d expected.

“It seems our roles have swapped compared to when we were in the mountains.”

Calzark forced a smirk.

“...You brat. I pierced his head that time.”

“That was a small fry.”

With the sound of steps, Luan revealed himself.

Juan tilted his head in confusion.

“Young Hero Luan? Leaving the campgrounds without permission will lose you points—”

“Calzark came here alone out of respect for you.”

Luan picked up the Sword of Seven Sins and placed it in its sheath on his hip.

“I don’t know if it’s because you were friends or because you were both grand masters, but he’s too inflexible.”

“...”

“Whereas our Lord of Blood and Iron says this: never converse or negotiate with cultists...” Luan smirked. “Now I understand why.”

“Aha.” Juan smirked as well. “So it was you, the one who exposed my identity.”