Chapter 68: Night before the Festival (3)
62NAhcSave citizens and guide them to safe locations. Even though that was the rule… this was essentially a battle royale.lvx
wu0egQWhat? We had to score points by guiding a few of the limited number of citizens against 1,000 competitors?9IBS
DS9d7“Why bother? When it’s a lot easier to disqualify everyone else?”Z4DBX9s
2uNT“As expected of our boss!”hnx3
Rmf“Your foresight is exceptional!”ekP
HGB“Huhahahaha…!”TXVEjh
XhxFirst off, we took in a bunch of nearby students at the start to clear the preliminary event by grouping up together. At the same time, since there would be 16 people moving on to the next stage, we could group up and disqualify as many other students as possible.jJjxuz
tsQDLThat was why we didn’t bother looking for safe locations. Instead, we gathered a bunch of citizens and used them as meat shields.okIINkZ
reK“We need to use magic!”Dy3
pPp“Stop you fool! You’re going to destroy the citizens as well!”TwtLQX
L8Iyp0“Kuuk…! These cowards! There’s no way for us to attack them!”9pI
MchWqyLThe stone citizens served as remarkable shields, because moving them to safe locations was worth 1 point whereas destroying them was -2 points.b9F
s42RiJ“Huhahaha…! Use magic if you dare! Are you scared?”tGiF3N
RwVbef2“Kuuk… you coward! At this rate…!”FN8F1O
7L4“Charge forward! Pull them away from the citizens!”MS43WM
bNLOGiving up on magic, the opponents decided to march forward but that was when Lark, who was drooling next to my stone throne, opened his mouth.9T6QH
pLL7Ar“Huhehe. Boss, I was holding myself back as much as possible. Can I do it now?”5SmFA
OHJIdFE“Ahh. Of course.”z64P
tZkhZo“Huhahaha. Fireball…!”JJBrOb
3Thz9– Kwang!E18
rP5yqrn– Kwagang!wOJDtg
Anc“Ahk…! Y, you…! We have stone citizens as well!”9uG9j
lwBWUcg“Welp, we have a lot. We can just make up for it by gathering more.”h9Z7OZf
NvxmThis was the fundamental difference between us and them. Unlike us who increased our numbers and collected as many citizens as possible from the start, the opponents were slow and had been heading to the outskirts to find a safe location as soon as they found several citizens.dCst
TrHyhVAUnlike us who were using the citizens as a shield, they were afraid of destroying the stone citizens and had to be more careful.hgLJQJj
6tLv2c“Huhahaha…! Kill everyone that’s bigger than a wheel!”obw0
3U8“Roger Boss!”X2F9O
hwSgD“Get rid of them!”EkR
k5Q8GvU‘Ah… this was honestly, quite fun.’BDq
jum7We were completely enjoying ourselves at this point. Applying on our faces the dye that was a part of one of the articles forming the formation, we used the stone citizens like slaves and made them into horses to carry us from beneath.Ox9n5
tW4Like hipster villains from movies, we continued our march.WehM
eTYpX“M, Mr. Korin?”SEUP
SJK2Right as we disqualified roughly 30 other students and increased our numbers to about 10, we came across Alicia.DOb
oxz“I know not who Korin is.”n2oV
GIVy“Sorry?”VQQ
wAfugZ“I am the omnipotent ‘Immortan Lork’! You are to call me ‘O~ Mighty Immortan!’ when referring to my name!”EWlf04
Stl“…What kind of thing are you up to now?”Fkydr
BDldAlicia barely stopped herself from saying, ‘what kind of crazy thing’.2ewZNw
bl3mfbA“O Alicia Arden. I shall give you the chance to join our Mandrake Bandits.”6NX
tbvP“…Sorry?”XHK
RhzIFShe tilted her head as if this sounded like nonsense.t1X
ZcOcMto“Take off the epaulets of your teammates! Then I shall anoint you as the underboss of our group!”msQHpVj
WdZpmoK“…No. I don’t really need…”eTQ5Xq
WgCG“Also! If there is anyone that takes off Alicia’s epaulet, then I will accept you as one of us!”huOvXS
wRFpYbO“Mr. Korin?!”jmefgDM
z7nehAlicia was about to point out how ridiculous that was but immediately noticed the shift in atmosphere. Her teammates whom she had been fighting with until now suddenly started pointing their weapons at her from all sides.vLVI
2iIkqy“Umm… guys?”LEa0f
UUTt4gD“Sorry Alicia. To be honest, rather than going against Korin who’s a Grade 1 Knight…”RPAwQ4c
rMq“…A semi-Grade 1 like you sounds easier.”EjMD
ZT8q“Guys?!”hxEah
QE7TAhh. How ruthless was human society?Fw1Ae
bVdQzNDuring times of peace, they act like civilized people but immediately turn into squids of a bucket that threaten to eat each other as soon as things turn difficult.wiga8rl
Vmb“T, this can’t be…. NOOOOOOOOO…!”oPLfhTg
ran3lHIn the midst of the ‘corpses’ of her fallen teammates, the girl whose trust had been betrayed wailed out loud.LMjE
04KXS………mhOJbN
GUPU……kDiq
CQr…yzjpnT
1ey2Everyone came up with a similar idea and formed groups, and that was the same for the ace of the 2nd year students, Marie Dunareff.kF8oS
Iw0jatwMarie had a lot of friends and many acquaintances so she naturally became the center of her group. Her group harmoniously collected stone citizens and her friends including Isabelle gladly joined her party.i2VivTW
feJThey thought their friendship would last forever. Even though middle-school and high-school friendships tended to be cut off after going to society, they were overly confident in their friendship.V2aN
UZss0LAt least that was the case this time around.Kg2
vmA“K, Korin…”NKB
5JuPAoHThe Mandrake Bandits had 14 hand-picked members, who were currently confronting the six students of Marie’s group.vMZmqk
FPeMr“They have more numbers but it’s doable. We have a higher average Grade.”8CTy8
gEmDfwIsabelle rationally analyzed the power level of themselves and the enemy. Even though the enemies had Korin Lork and Alicia Arden, they had Marie on their side along with a bunch of Grade 2 students.ObpRgZf
iNHly99This was doable. Through the power of friendship, a numbers-disadvantage of this degree was definitely overcomable!K1KUvXp
Vxe0bk“Noona… Are you going to hit me?”mp4F6g
MUJ“U, uhh…”Wbpn
BFka5PqWhat Isabelle did not take into account however, was that their 2 years of friendship…ySSF
1TnFUQ“A, all hail…!”1kgQ7a
0ku“Marie?”h6hvfx
Zxd2En…meant nothing in front of love.tUeFy
KmVMIF“Immortan Lork…!”Vz3VAt
nwbcX– Kuaahkk!4Tm5m
U82Ha– M, Marie!?nZm
YsDUFr– Marie’s on a rampage!EaiZ9kM
2jK“Ah… ahh…”cNHa
SmnBrThat was when Isabelle realized something.hmVuIof
C6LFriendship and the value of friends crumbled so easily in front of love.LuLTLS
jYnlzW“Ahh~. Feels good to not do anything…”vNyn
x1831mgThe one who was born a genius can’t win against the one who tries, and the one who tries can’t win against the one who enjoys.vJxRxu
xw0M“KIYOOOOOOTT…!!”KgP
Io1– Immortan Lork! Immortan Lork!ZAn
n6T40sS– Immortan Lork! Immortan Lork!ZElD5B6
CHfS****WFzzHy
PX19t“……What in the–”K89PSQ
f1Wrh54Kang Ryun was appalled while looking at the magic footage that showed what was happening inside the formation.6aFzKRH
TXOIiOThe formation of Eight Gates which he painstakingly prepared for this test required a lot of articles. But because it was to test young students, he had created a few holes and didn’t apply the principles of Eight Gates and that might have been the cause of this problem.lKm
UpvThere was some madman rampaging inside the formation.hQ3mH
WfYe“Senior Professor Josephine… Immortan Lork… What in the world is with this student?”7DWkgU9
efad9“……It’s just Korin Lork. He… is just like that. We do not teach anything of that sort in our Academy.”sytv4
RdkhSeemingly embarrassed, Josephine even ambiguously denied the fact that he was one of her students.4YQBAb
29rAq“…Even though you are supposed to cooperate and help each other in the formation of Eight Gates…”QZPb0no
xJ7“…”kePouQ
CnETNV‘Shouldn’t that also be considered cooperation in a way?’ Josephine swallowed those words before saying them out loud.VU3
R3CGli16 people – that freaky group of bandits did not increase their numbers after bringing it up to 16, which was the number of people that would be making their way up to the real stage of the group event.pUaG
R32FFgO‘Is he seriously going to make everyone in their group pass?’JV16DS
c61qIt wasn’t impossible. Like bandits, they were attacking every student they saw and were snatching the stone citizens away from them.6iZ4m5
7fJVKorin Lork, the leader of the group, was already Grade 1, and on top of that, they even had a semi-Grade 1 knight Alicia Arden as well as the strongest student of the 2nd year students, Marie Dunareff, who chose love over friendship.FQb5H
UTEAlthough the preliminary group event wasn’t something that could be cleared through sheer force, their group members were very strong.wOMyp4
4Fg8C5PBesides, even after coming across the safe locations that they were supposed to bring the stone citizens to, the bandit group was ignoring them, and was instead focused on wiping off all the students of the formation.KbJSR8P
GeLqAc“Hmm… Looks like we might have to settle the scores sooner than planned.”6z5Ho3
neTlWJ“Sorry? What do you…”3loRv
2Y3Wu“Those heinous bandits are messing around with all the articles inside the formation.”4Tyo
5T9The key of the Eight Gates Formation was the locations and symbolic meanings of the articles placed on each of the cardinal directions… as well as other articles inside the formation.7c1
1t9JA painting of a yellow dragon, the string instrument Sanxian made with snakeskin, a necklace made with a white tiger’s claw… all the articles contained meaning and were working as devices to activate the formation.i4dJ8i
g67YyuYOf course, Kang Ryun had placed several spares in case some of them were to be broken during combat but…zEcsw
VFiZtp“To think they would be so atrocious as to steal every article they see…”3rj
kYxigU“…Sorry about our students.”jmk
q7weYThe group of bandits that were immersed in their acting were either destroying or removing all the articles inside the Eight Gates Formation for their immersion.dW73I
foQIt was but a matter of time until the formation would be forced to a stop. Therefore, Kang Ryun came to the conclusion that he had to end the preliminary event ahead of time after keeping the formation up for as long as possible.uXy32
qLxX2“No. I have in fact learned that humans do some utterly useless things without any reserve. Next time, I will prepare articles outside the formation rather than inside.”3zfSL2P
TbcrEven though he would have to find and prepare new articles, it gave him the opportunity to look at the lengths that these students in the prime of their youth would go to. He was enlightened that in life, things didn’t always go rationally and logically.90uisS0
BvWg7k****aFUUd
wfmThe beggars of the back streets, Ren and Ron, had been discarded by their parents at birth.eCF7oaB
IfQQkfFThey, who awakened as werewolves from birth, had ears and tails that weren’t that of a human and unfortunately, their parents were those who feared and detested demons.g6zX4
VObThe only reason they could survive despite being discarded at a young age was because of their physical abilities they were born with as a werewolf.Z39
7sWbmAt the young age of 3, they were already as strong as an adult and their skills at stealing apples surprised even the professional pickpockets.sSZ
ntlcamdWandering through the dark alleyways, the siblings relied on each other and survived.AWH22f
ggq8HHowever, perhaps because of their lack of education and due to staying at a mentally young age, they couldn’t escape from their appearances which made them look like 9-year-olds, despite already being 16.wWuhl4i
SoQBut it wasn’t all that bad. After getting older, they gained the ability to hide their tails and ears when it wasn’t a full moon, and a young sibling of beggars was easily able to gain the sympathy of other people.TId
v1JCH1Of course, after several years, people started looking at the siblings, who looked the same, with skeptical gazes so they had to travel to other cities and that was where it caused a problem.Q85st
yZTf3The gangsters of the Black Star Group that did human trafficking for money ended up finding out their identities.brlt
FUC82XD“Ren… Ren. Look at this.”ewZ2Or
T703JYRon, her younger twin brother, was hopping up and down with dazzling emerald eyes after wearing ‘new clothes’ for the first time in his life.o4JfT
427E“You idiot. That’s for girls.”HQ5pJYs
p36“Huhh? These are pants though?”nDdzENE
zgH3AF“It has pretty decorations.”HLzvXl
T1vRe“Isn’t that what makes it better?”BuyDRkC
VsCz“…”6fvWt
eZGRen looked at her younger brother who was the same age as her. Unlike Ren who was slightly more mature, Ron was still innocent and simple as always and it was concerning that he might not grow any time soon.ryhiPM
Z8ZWell, Ren hadn’t been able to grow either though.oroyOFU
dau9“Oh yah, is that big bro our master now?”dki
yWOkL“He’s not our master. He’s just an Uncle. Call him Uncle.”eyM6Q
u09“Not big bro?”injMfU
UunAUD“Uncle.”JKLz7b
FkOoAfter cleaning up all the stains on his body, tidying his hair and wearing decorative clothes for the first time in his life, Ron no longer felt wary about the boy who saved them. But Ren, on the other hand, still did not drop her guard.WzB
xwhul0Adults were always the same; they wanted to make use of kids like them all the time.GtO58e
vh2Xz6KEven though he was giving them clothes and food right now, he might change at any given moment…!FGUJWsV
CZa9When that day comes, Ren vowed that she would use her skills to immediately crunch at his neck…!KUS
Qyvt‘No wait, is that too much? It might be painful. Hang on, I am biting to make it painful! Let’s… bite his leg.’UvSHZwL
diIEven though Ren tried to tell herself that she had to stay vigilant and be on her toes, she couldn’t help but reflect on the conversation from before.iLBMu8
rBhvpn『It’s okay. No one is going to hit you anymore. You guys are now safe.』WDCdGq
CjiBecause it was her first time hearing that from an adult, and because it was her first time having someone pat on her back like that, that distracting experience left way too big of a mark on her mind.6gmeEi
k72“Hah… I don’t know.”5eL9WcA
XG3Ren threw herself on the bed of the room that was prepared for them. Her gold hair that no longer had any stains slowly fluttered onto the soft mattress.LKd
rYED“…Soft.”kYlJ84
PApEven though the chest of that Uncle was very hard, she had a feeling that the warmth behind his hug felt more comfortable than this soft bed.xlUIuui
OLgCWrm– Knock knock!CCQLUUh
dXFhThat was when someone knocked on the door. The siblings thought it was that bar waitress who brought them here, but it was a different person this time.OWHe2m
N3iwR“Can I come in?”27Ud
QMMAfter a short silence, the boy opened the door. The boy with a wild countenance gave a whistle after seeing the dressed-up siblings.LVx
i26r“You look a lot better clean.”hlQz
fLNw4Yo“Hello, big bro.”1YnYs
nhNSmke“…”CU7Bb2
uBIuUwRon greeted him by bending his back but during that, he couldn’t support the weight of his own head and bumped his head on the floor after which he whined in pain.J8k
z7lPE“Are you okay?”x09neuc
ZHM8Korin carried Ron and sat him down on the bed before going down on one of his knees to match his line of sight with them.MVgc0bV
i4HCC88“So, is there anything you’re not comfortable with?”2Njn
KdW“I like everything! Bro!”JI5TN
2zac5m“…Let’s not say bro.”X6FwNN
bvEq2“Uung?”HY6Svi
J0yBk“You see… I have a bit of trauma with that ‘bro’ word. So instead, you can call me ‘hyungnim’.”z4bT
XzDK“Okay, Big Brother Korin.”lNhn
OkAAbZ“Right. Good boy.”UtY4g0
ZfvXPatting him on his head, Korin took out a sausage from his pocket which Ron gladly accepted.YRKx
qL1Lg“…What are you going to do with us?”n8F
rfifXobRen asked and looked at Korin with a sharp light in her green eyes. She was a golden wolf, which was rare even among werewolves. Rather than demonic beasts and animals, they were closer to elementals and spirits, and each of them were born with unique traits.KZbr6E
kci7EsHer emerald-colored eyes had the power to tell the authenticity of the other person’s words.G0gQF
mIBTTo be exact, the ability to see the sincerity of the other person was just a byproduct of her beast-like and sensitive eyes, but that was the ability that allowed the poor siblings to survive through the dark side of the world.N6H
usbTqAp“Actually, I wanted to borrow your help for something.”5uG
S3hCMQgTrue.N8D
E3X“But you guys were a lot younger than I thought. So I didn’t like the idea of having you go through something dangerous.”M0Cwn9
ZOGPTrue.Atc
UaOPZ“But it’s not like I can leave you guys here so if you want, I can take you to a place with other people that are similar to you.”Wcs
UZlTrue.JFPO
4sw8z“Is it important?”8bfvA
L8yX5I“Not something for you to worry about. I can do it fine without you.”12IJshJ
9ESHFalse.Q7ncV
3N8bFcRen quickly assessed the situation.VrT
3AegHCThis boy wanted them to do something – it was an important task that needed their help. However, just because they were young, he was telling lies to give them peace of mind.Zcukj
bfffC4“…”5br
MQkY71He was a needlessly nice person. Even though he did have a calculative mind, he was a good-natured person who was okay with not having any profit as long as he did something good.fYh
Zt9N“Do you have a lot of money, Uncle?”FmE
Tboa“…Can you please call me Oppa? ‘Bro’ is not good, but Oppa is fine. In fact, I would love it.”lfYRl3
SmHTnCWhy is everyone calling me Uncle? Do I really look that old? He murmured to himself but Ren nonchalantly glossed over it.y7MqXy
HFlPgv“Please hire us. We will work if you give us money.”3mHO
enqfHaThat was already a great amount of growth on her part. Considering how she had been stealing from other people all the time, this was her being as nice as possible.RhXGl
dA2S“Do I have something kids can do? Do you want to clean the hotels or something?”88l
W7Yqt“No. Not that…!”a6pNXV
dby“More importantly, aren’t you guys hungry? Do you want some snacks?”fVVApm
YADcq“Stop treating me like a kid!”Emv
V20“Okay okay. Yes yes yes. Little Ren is not a child; you’re an adult. Of course you are.”EJXSe
sPUQFalse.9z3M
9t2lEven though Ren puffed in fury, she knew that she wasn’t strong enough to beat him just yet. At least not right now.WQUm
Y8hlItb****nReWla
diPThe hotels newly built on the outskirts of the city were a hot topic these days.2SslI
l5eThese buildings that were said to have been built with the investment of students looked like they were going to be destroyed by the Tornado Bat even before its complete construction, but they were somehow completed. What was more important was the set of rumors about this place.Irgz
d3hnAIt was how all the 100 people from Purple Hawk Academy for this festival would be staying at this place.YTCq5U
UfZRoTq‘Does that… even make sense?’Qrgv
GyCSRbForeign academies usually visited once every 2 years. Since more than 100 students and professors were entering at the same time, everyone in the industry was very much interested in their accommodation.1sAFUeJ
CzNJJnThe sheer amount of accommodation fee of 100 people was already enormous but they would be staying behind throughout the peak season of the festival, and all the side businesses like inviting other merchants and providing food were also things that would result in several white gold coins.ygsa
jhTThere were a bunch of accommodation owners that were waiting in line to grab this juicy opportunity, and the Merkarva Academy tended to make a contract with a different accommodation facility every time for equity purposes, but to think they would suddenly sign one with a new hotel!RpBwH
zXQKwxWDespite their astonishment, the merchants had to find a way out.MMC82
UhqfEven though they couldn’t take the long accommodation itself, they had to make money by aiming for street stalls nearby. Mr. Bae, who ran mobile food vendors inside the city, was one of those people.wU6L6mC
OeF17“I am Brite Bae from the Brite Corporation.”66FK3U
jXK2“Korin Lork from Happiness Hotel. Please take a seat.”dAXQ2
H8vrAThe office of the newly constructed hotel was sparkling and modern as expected of a new building. After giving a deep bow to a student that was much younger than himself, the merchant took a seat.0CqXlJ
YWjg“I heard you wanted to run a business in our hotel?”mF1GGd
AVHnP“Ah, yes…! Our corporation has high hygiene scores, and we have always been receiving…”u9QkLUu
GyR“By the way, Mr. Spencer has actually come here before you did.”m2GUG
I2XiVg“S, Spencer…!”eqsVk
5dPzhIt was nothing new that Spencers were the long-time rivals of Brite Bae. Even the meal distribution for the new kindergarten inside the city had been taken away from them.AKnt
QsAO“P, please let us be in charge of this! We have higher hygiene scores and have more experience under our belt!”YGC
Td0tZ3J“Ah~. I see.”QvIZO
qbQCQThe young boss cursorily flipped past the business proposal document of the corporation. As if he wasn’t even interested, it took less than 2 seconds for him to flip past each page.fvUji
X4K“Umm… Are you, reading them?”UqBnCys
h0ORS“Ah, of course~. I am a fast reader, you see.”BISdfK
ez4pWas that speed even achievable just by being a fast reader? That was what he was thinking, but the next words from Korin induced some lines of thought in his mind.grJVz65
nwOo“I feel like every~one does a similar job though…”KzvV
wEfkY‘What? What was he trying to say?’ thought Brite Bae, who had been in the industry for a very long time.QNHo
8e33RNgA line of thought appeared in his mind, but he wasn’t sure whether he could ask a straightforward question about it. Was that even okay? What if that wasn’t what he meant?4eBI
I0oSABrite Bae was considering his options when Korin opened his mouth again.KTz
lhg0qmW“I believe you are from the east, am I correct?”mKP
NBirh“Ah… Yes.”3eATCu
6Xc“I heard there was a thing called ‘Guanxi[mfn]TLN: Guanxi = A term used in China that describes social networks of people that are based around a mutually beneficial relationship.[/mfn]’ in the eastern continent. Helping each other out like one true family… You should know that concept very well, right?”8xrrmNA
ZHl9“Ahh…”L5xZli
Ku8“I believe I might be able to be like true family members with Mr. Brite Bae, but…”HbIovt
AKc“I, I think the same too.”1rtn
6bX6YAfter hearing his reply, Korin closed the document in his hands and placed his hands on Brite’s two shoulders.hzYol
RTqo1Hl“Oh right, Boss. You are also supplying imported goods for this festival right?”8rfRj
kwh3“Yes… from Purple Hawk…”G09i5
UDBtUi“Right! You see, Professor Josephine from the Academy is a good friend of mine.”XG1vu3A
bfr“I, is that so?”HiGSr
xO0uiUl“What do you think? And while we’re at it, hnn? Can I make a small request of you?”lxa4jgP
crEWkWz“W, what is it? Wait, before that, are you really friends with Senior Professor Josephine…?”u5b5QWz
365FSBrite Bae’s doubt was cleared after having a glorious 1-on-1 discussion with Professor Josephine.TOobg
8qin6That was when he realized it. Ah! This student is my path to being rich!!uxj9mSO
nEF“So. Can you now listen to a small request of mine?”i4Of
V6L4fe“O, of course! T, to think she would actually allow us to sell items inside the Academy…! P, please tell us anything. Boss!”DcN9ZhU
9BR4qsR“Aiya~ Mr. Bae, you’re a nice man to talk to! Let’s stay on good terms like this, Brother Bae!”66vZ
Ni2zKorin reached out for a handshake and Brite quickly held onto that hand.9Got0Ij
j0NkjpEThe next morning, a mysterious apple box was delivered to Happiness Hotel and the Brite Corporation became in charge of the meal distribution of the Purple Hawk students.IyEPx
rEg1DEven the people wishing to run carriages for a round trip to the Academy, errand runners, tour guides, and other businessmen gathered at the hotel, which made for a good harvest of ‘apples’ for someone.ifOj4c4
Ii9X“Now this is what I’m talking about.”keFOm
3fMQ4KSThe hero who would later save the world had zero ulterior motives.MJGn
dkN“I will use all~ of this for good things.”L04
hffHe seriously didn’t.23Kto
QARv8dProbably.eBNi
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