Chapter 41: This is training

“What!?”

Emilia was startled by Baneul’s words. Battle training without any formal warning? And she wasn’t the only one surprised.

“Just like that?”

“What about moving around?”

“What if someone gets injured during it?”

“Even if we do it, what are we supposed to bring?”

Questions poured out from the children. They weren’t opposed to training itself, but if they were going to do it, shouldn’t they consider various factors?

“Hmm…”

Baneul rubbed his head with a frustrated expression.

“Monra! Are you listening to me?”

“…..”

Everyone was speechless at his blunt confidence. All eyes then turned to Uncle Eugene, but he said without changing his expression, “I’m not involved. It was agreed upon that way.”

“Ugh…”

It wasn’t the response they had hoped for, and everyone groaned. At this rate, fighting against a veteran mercenary unit was inevitable, and from today onward, they were sure to get dust-covered and bloodied.

“Then I’m going to hunting.”

With those words, Uncle disappeared as if telling them not to look for him anymore. It seemed like they were trying to eliminate any chance of avoiding training.

*****

By evening, only Baneul and the group remained at the training ground.

“Hehe… is it finally my time?”

The young mercenary showed a wicked smile as soon as Eugene left. Uncle Eugene wasn’t exactly easy-going either, but if mercenaries were all like this, Baneul was definitely worse.

Crack.

He clenched his fist, making a chilling sound. So this time, the training meant fighting bare-handed. Meanwhile, Baneul stretched and addressed everyone.

“Since this training is sudden, I’ll give you one hour to prepare mentally.”

He held up three fingers.

“Change into clothes that can be torn or dirtied within three minutes.”

Hearing that, everyone finally realized the training was real and inescapable. Everyone hurried toward their bags.

‘Here it is!’

Fortunately, there were work clothes prepared for active use. A rugged and sturdy tunic and pants made from rough fabric produced in Gerard Province of Gohang, and a long cloak for cold weather, reminiscent of the kind worn in the medieval era by the warriors.

“Don’t carry the cloak around your neck; it’ll get in the way.”

“Silvia?”

Turning at the advice, the silver-haired nun was preparing her gear. She didn’t take off her usual nun’s habit, which was originally designed not to obstruct the neck, but instead wore armor protecting her arms and wrists.

“Where did you get that armor?”

He thought there wasn’t any armor among their belongings Silvia responded with a baffled expression.

“You have to change into the battle outfit first.”

“Oh, right!”

Just as he was about to take off his clothes at her reminder—

Glug!

Silvia grabbed his cloak. Was she covering him so others wouldn’t see him change? Though her words were rough, her actions always showed consideration.

“Silvia is more considerate than I thought, hehe.”

“What are you talking about! Hurry and change!”

“Yes, yes~”

After changing, they grabbed their magic staffs. Silvia also chose a mace instead of a pistol for her weapon. If someone got shot during training, it would be close to a real fight.

“All ready?”

Baneul, bored, got up from the ground where he was lying.

“Let’s go!”

Everyone responded spiritedly. Whether or not they had equipment was a minor difference, but having armor and weapons gave an indescribable confidence.

Baneul nodded after hearing their responses.

“Shall we go?”

Poof!

He disappeared.

“What!?”

Everyone was stunned as the person vanished before their eyes. There was no flash or any signs of a stealth spell. How did he disappear? Could it be that he was so fast that they couldn’t perceive him?

Snap!

“What the!?”

Baneul appeared in front of Lian. Without warning, he grabbed Lian’s gauntlet and, spinning clockwise, kicked Lian’s leg. The armored knight’s body staggered, carrying his armor along.

“Ah!”

Thud!

Lian crashed flat onto the ground. Although his armor absorbed the shock, he was clearly shaken and couldn’t get up again.

“Damn! That’s unfair!”

Boudica finally rushed at Baneul. Perhaps fueled by her pride as a martial artist, she seemed determined. She wielded a heavy axe in her hand.

‘Is this allowed?’

“Oh?”

Baneul singled out Boudica and released his grip on Lian.

“Haha! You’re late, huh?”

Thrust!

But her axe already cut through the air, charging to split his head. This was training, but it was serious enough to kill someone.

“Boudica! This is training—”

He tried to stop her in a hurry, but—

E-!

Baneul caught the incoming axe with one hand. Precisely the edge of the finely sharpened axe. Miraculously, no blood flowed from his hand.

“Ah!?”

Boudica looked stunned, shocked that the axe was caught.

“Grr…!”

She tried to pull back the axe with a strong swing, but—

“Huh? It’s stuck…?”

The axe wouldn’t budge from Baneul’s grip. As if it was embedded there from the start, her axe did not move an inch.

“This strength is a waste.”

The mercenary clicked his tongue and clenched his fist. Was he about to punch Boudica with that fist? Just as his elbow moved to strike—

Whack!

A spear flew by his side.

“Unexpected.”

Bang!

Baneul didn’t even look; he punched the flying spear away.

Ding!

Roll…

The spear rolled on the ground. It was the short spear Lian had been carrying. So the person who threw it was—

“Aren’t you underestimating people too much?”

Lian drew his sword and glared fiercely.

‘Interesting.’

Usually gentle and indecisive, this was the first time Baneul saw him glare so sharply. Even Baneul showed surprise at his change.

“What if I do?”

“What if you do…”

Lian was about to speak when he suddenly shouted.

“Boudica! Her wrist!”

“Ah—”

Baneul turned his gaze at the warning. The warrior dropped her axe and charged. Straight for the hand holding her axe.

Clack!

“Got it!”

She tried to twist his hand, but—

“Nice try.”

Whoosh!

With a heavy sound cutting through the air, Baneul swung his arm and threw her away. Boudica flew as one with her axe.

“Kyaaah?!”

She flew toward Lian’s side.

“Ah!”

Thud!

Boudica and Lian collided, falling together. The attempt failed, but both warriors lay sprawled on the ground. The impact was so great they couldn’t get up.

“Let’s see…”

Baneul turned his head toward us. Since the frontline warriors were subdued, only the rear support—us—remained.

Ping!

At that moment, something shot toward Baneul.

“Ouch.”

Even that, he caught with his hand. What he caught was a short arrow. More precisely, a bolt from a crossbow.

“You caught that…?”

Emil, who fired the crossbow, looked stunned. She had aimed at his blind spot while everyone’s attention was elsewhere. But even that was uselessly blocked, so her morale dropped.

The boy seemed to lose strength in his legs and collapsed.

Crack!

When Baneul clenched his hand, the bolt turned to dust.

“Things like this are useless.”

“It’s not useless!”

“Huh?”

At the voice, Baneul turned his gaze. The one opposing him directly was Silvia. She pointed her mace at him and shouted, “Blinding light (micare caecus)!”

With a bang, a flash of light shone from the mace’s tip. The brilliance pierced vision intensely for a moment, and Baneul’s expression twisted as he closed both eyes.

“Damn!”

“Emilia!”

Silvia’s shout meant to hit Baneul with magic on his staff. But he had already cast magic on his staff.

“Strike!”

Before long, Baneul hit Silvia’s head with a karate chop. It didn’t seem too hard, but the nun fainted. But how was he moving without sight?

“How else would I move?”

“Eek!?”

Before anyone could react, Baneul was already close. His magic light was broken by his hand, and with his eyes closed, he grinned sadistically.

“Strong guys don’t rely on sight alone.”

Smack!!

A blow struck the crown of Silvia’s head, and she lost consciousness.

“… Ugh…”

Fortunately, she didn’t stay unconscious long. She groggily got up, but everyone was still struggling to get up.

“Ow, my back.”

“I think I got a bump on my head when I bumped into you.”

“My legs won’t support me…”

“My crown feels numb…”

Everyone complained about their injuries as they struggled. Baneul silently waited until they all stood up. When everyone finally got up, he shook his head.

“Tch, everyone failed at the basics.”

Then the mercenary pointed at us and said,

“If you’re going to be like this, why do you travel together in a group of five?”

*****

‘Are they doing well?’

Eugene was wandering around under the pretext of hunting. Baneul would probably be rough on the kids, but injuries, falls, and exhaustion were inevitable in the process.

‘Then at least I should make sure they eat well.’

After training, a long march would follow immediately. Even if it was hard and tiring, it had to be done together. The demon realm could be ambushed at any time.

‘If there’s high-protein meat around here,’

Of course, it would be from the demonic beasts. Surprisingly, wild demonic beasts were edible. A hundred years ago, many people hunted demonic beasts and sold their meat.

‘Nowadays, it’s possible to raise tastier livestock,’

But in the past, when food was scarce, demonic beasts were a valuable protein source.

Of course, this only applied to demonic beasts with little toxicity in their bodies, and most such beasts were dangerous predators even without poison.

The dire wolf was split in two, bitten down with the same force as a wolf’s leap. Blood poured from the severed body, staining the demon realm’s soil red again.

The slash just now was purely thanks to Sonraris’ sharpness. It was a stroke that could be done with other swords as well. They hadn’t yet been able to unleash the full strength of Sonraris.

‘Let’s prepare the meat.’

As they brushed off the blood from Sonraris and approached the dire wolf’s corpse—

“Ugh!? That was our hunting target!?”

A scream came from somewhere.

“Tch.”

“Huh?”