Chapter 69

One month.
Thirty days, if counted by days.
Seven hundred and twenty hours, if counted by hours.
What could a person accomplish in that time?

It was not a question with any clear correct answer.
Because time is relative.

Who, when, where, what, how, and why.
Depending on various conditions, the answer to that question would change.

Then let us change the question.
A span of one month.
How should a person make the most of that time?
The answer to that is simple.
They simply have to do their best.

What does it mean to do one’s best?
The answer to that is simple as well.
One has to make an effort that makes them cough blood and shave down their bones.

The blood shed and bones shaved down would one day return to them as fortune.
Those who knew that.
Those who knew it and put it into practice were called people who did their best, in other words, people who made the most of their time.

“Unless you are trying to deceive your opponent, you must not let go of your sword.”
“I know that!”

Clang-!

Serpens had made the most of the past month.
In the mornings, stamina and strength.
At noon, swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.
In the evenings, training to handle Aura.

Sleep, meals, and the like.
Aside from essential things, he used all his time for training.

“Rest is also part of training. Insufficient sleep and food will inevitably lower your thinking ability and physical ability.”

Thanks to Lucas’s training method, he was drawing out the greatest possible efficiency.

When he was injured, he received treatment relatively quickly.
He had also been told why he was not treated immediately.
Something about needing to experience pain too.

In the process of repeating injury and recovery, they used no small number of golden seeds.
Perhaps because of that, the seeds had almost run out,
and Lucas said he would visit Killip Gorge before long.
Probably after dealing with the first monster that would soon appear.

Killip Gorge.
Serpens suddenly thought that he missed that place.
Even though all sorts of things had happened there, he had gained a lot from that place.
He had met Rail Navigatou, met Sean and awakened Aura, and built his basic skills in that gorge.
It seemed even grudging attachment was still attachment.

However, this time, he couldn’t go along.
A round trip from Oratio to the gorge required a great deal of time.
While traveling by carriage, and while traveling by ship, he could not carry out efficient training.
Especially on a ship.

“Hmm…….”

Lucas said he would go alone when the time came.
He also told him to remain in the capital and train.
The person who would help with his training was Lionel Vermon.
He was someone who was even a Knight Commander.

Since they had met and sparred several times even after their first spar a month ago, it wouldn’t be awkward, but…….

‘Is it really all right for someone called a Knight Commander to look after me? Is he that free?’

A wartime situation where a dangerous monster appeared once a month.
Wasn’t a Knight Commander someone who had to take the vanguard of the battlefield in such a situation?
He wondered if it was all right for such a person to leisurely look after him.

Serpens had asked Lucas about that.
The answer that came back swept the boy’s worries away at once.

“That is not a problem for you to worry about. You focus only on becoming stronger.”

He was right.
Who was worrying about whom?
He was the beginner, and the other side was the expert.

‘Right, let’s focus on myself. I have to get stronger.’

Even so, Serpens had grown several stages over the past month.
To some degree, he had increased his Aura output.
There was the drawback that the stronger his output became, the faster his strength drained away, but…….
It was better to struggle and then run out of strength than to be too weak to do anything.

“Phew…….”

And he had made something that could, in its own way, be called a hidden card.
He did have to shoulder quite a lot of risk, but the effect was certain.
If he had to give the technique a name, maybe “Turning It into a Dogfight”?
No, “You Die, I Die” seemed better.

Lucas told him not to use it unless the situation was truly extraordinary.
He roughly knew the reason.
If he used the technique, the strength he could put out would increase for an instant, but he would soon faint.
In other words, in a real battle, even if he took down his opponent, he would barely break even.

If he used it in a one-against-many situation, he could die, and if he failed to defeat his opponent within the time limit, he could die as well.

‘……Can this really be considered a technique?’

He had made it, but he had a strong uneasy feeling that something about it was wrong.
The chance of taking a loss was greater than the chance of gaining anything.

Serpens frowned.
But he quickly organized his thoughts and relaxed his face.

Couldn’t he use it as a last desperate struggle?
Until then, he simply wouldn’t use it.
He hurriedly finished rationalizing it and drank water.

Now the time had come to get himself together.
The one-month preparation period was over.
It was about time for the monster in question to appear.

“We will take a carriage and move toward the western entrance. It may not happen immediately after we arrive, but something is likely to happen before long, so do not let your guard down.”
“Okay.”

There were fourteen teams in total that had gone out to the outskirts of the capital to form a perimeter.
A large force of about a thousand people had been mobilized for each team.
Each team was positioned in a small village on the capital’s boundary.
They would need to evacuate the people of those villages if a monster appeared.

“What kind of monster will it be this time? A huge monster like a Basilisk? Or another unusual case?”
“I do not know that either.”

Ah, if these two were included, there were fifteen teams.

“Then is there any kind of monster you hope appears?”
“It does not matter.”
“Hmm……. Then is there any kind you hope doesn’t appear?”

For a while, no answer came.
Serpens understood that as an answer and turned his head.
Being ignored was bitter, but the idea that there was no monster Lucas didn’t want to appear did put his mind at ease.
At the very least, it meant Lucas could handle it.

However, at that moment.

“Well. I would prefer it not be a monster with a sense of self.”

Lucas gave a delayed answer.
Serpens blinked.

“A monster with a sense of self?”
“Unlike other monsters, there are species that possess reason. Some speak, and some even use strategy.”
“……There are monsters like that?”
“There are.”

Lucas’s brow furrowed faintly.
He always assumed the worst-case scenario.
And that was still true now.

Monsters with a sense of self were generally difficult to deal with.
Separate from whether they possessed reason, having a sense of self also meant they were that strong.

Among monsters with a sense of self, the truly exceptional species were difficult to face even if all four Knight Commanders gathered.
Perhaps they would be difficult to face even if the empire gathered all its forces.

‘I only hope it’s not a dragon.’

The monsters causing problems recently had purple jewels.
The jewel itself was a variable.
It could create monsters that hadn’t existed before, or cause unexpected monsters to appear in unexpected places.
It was true that it caused troublesome things.

What if a dragon possessed such a jewel?
That would be beyond troublesome.
From the moment a dragon appeared, it would no longer be an all-out war, but a war of extinction.
Everything they had planned would be thrown off course.

‘……Would I have to take back my Aura?’

If he made up his mind, he could use Aura.
But what about the aftermath?
The people from the group called Han had borrowed his Aura in order to protect this side from their world.
If he took back his Aura, would he be bringing down the defensive wall they had built?

‘No, if it becomes unavoidable, I will take back my Aura.’

Lucas made his judgment.
Every judgment about the Han was an assumption.
In truth, there was no real proof that they were protecting this side.

If a disaster such as a dragon’s appearance occurred, he would draw out his Aura without hesitation.
Even if the Han truly was protecting this side,
even if the wall that had been blocking danger collapsed because he used Aura,
he had to use Aura.

Otherwise, humanity would be destroyed before it could even encounter any greater danger or anything else.

‘So I can only hope it’s not a dragon.’

Truly, anything was fine as long as it wasn’t a dragon.
Other beings with reason?
It would be difficult, but in terms of fighting strength, there would be no problem.
Without Aura, he could not guarantee victory, but that was in a one-on-one fight.
On this side, there were four more capable Expert swordsmen.
The Knight Commanders of each battalion.
Assuming he coordinated with them, truly, anything was fine as long as it was not a dragon.

‘And Lionel, even…… if he takes just a few more steps, he may reach the level of a Master.’

There were only two worst-case scenarios.
A dragon appearing, or a new dragon-level monster appearing.

Lucas prayed inwardly.
It was a prayer that only those two situations would not occur.
Even he himself did not know whom the prayer was directed toward.

“Is it the village over there?”

After traveling by carriage for a while.
Serpens asked with relatively sparkling eyes.

“Yes.”

The two got off at a village near the western entrance.
Among the villages located on the outskirts of the capital, it was fairly far away, so its size was quite small.

“What about the others?”
“Others?”
“Wasn’t each sector supposed to have five skilled people and a thousand soldiers?”
“Yes.”
“No matter how I look at it, the only knights in this village are me and you, Lucas.”
“Yes.”
“……?”

Serpens looked around.
The village was smaller than Satus.
Honestly, it was questionable whether it could even be called a village.
There were not even ten buildings.
Small fields. The sound of livestock crying from somewhere. People glancing at them as if they found them strange.
That was all there was to this place.

“It doesn’t look like they need as many as a thousand people.”
“Even if it had not been here, you and I alone would take one sector.”
“Why?”
“Because even with just the two of us, we have more strength than a thousand people.”
“If that’s the case, I agree.”

Serpens quickly felt better and grinned.
Lucas silently looked down at the boy.

More strength than a thousand people.
Did Serpens know that his share of that was only worth one person?
Ah, let us count him as about two people.
He was gradually starting to act like a proper person, after all.

“Are you knights?”

An old man who appeared to be the village representative approached and asked.
His voice trembled with age.
Lucas nodded instead of answering.

“We are a small village without even a name. We have done nothing wrong. Even if we had, it would not be anything great enough to harm His Majesty the Emperor.”

It felt as if he were reading from a prepared script.
Lucas shook his head at the old man.

“We did not come to punish anyone.”
“……Then?”
“I was told that a dangerous monster will appear in Oratio before long. We came to protect this place in case of emergency.”

The tension in the old man’s eyes changed into relief.
But it was also true that a new worry had appeared.

“When you say a dangerous monster, how dangerous do you mean? More dangerous than a pack of Horn Wolves?”

Serpens looked up at Lucas.
The old man’s standard for a dangerous monster was a Horn Wolf.
That showed the level of the village.
Telling them, ‘It is a monster on the level of a Basilisk,’ would likely do no good.

“It will likely be more dangerous than that.”

Lucas had the same thought as the boy.
That was why he gave a vague answer rather than exact information.
Because sometimes, saying less was better for everyone.

Even so, a shadow had already fallen over the old man’s face.
Because to the people of this village, even a Horn Wolf was a dangerous monster that could trample their home.

Serpens gave a confident smile to the old man, who looked deeply worried.
Then he promised proudly.

“Don’t worry. We’ll definitely protect this village!”

The old man looked at the small boy.
He did not know how old the boy was, but he was certain the boy was younger than his own grandson.
Why did the words of such a child ease his anxiety?

“Because the person beside me is extremely strong.”

Serpens’s next words brought a smile to the old man’s face instead of a shadow.