EP.215 The Story of the Past, The Pied Piper of Hameln – 1
Younger faces stood at regular intervals on the wide parade ground.
A thick log is draped like a stepping stone on their narrow shoulders, standing at an angle. Those who were staring ahead with red faces, enduring the heavy weight of the log that came down their backs and legs, stomped their feet at the moment the leader blew his whistle.
– Hall of learning in a low garden. O Hameln’s bosom.
Small, deep footsteps fell one after another on the sandy ground. Children with logs many times larger than themselves on their shoulders began to walk while wearing school uniforms similar to theirs. The children clenched their fists and screamed, feeling the strange bond that bloomed in the pain.
-Burning all your blood and sweat to defeat your enemies…
and that’s for a while. The pain of the body makes me forget all that.
The sound of the whistle shook along with the steps, and the heavy log pressed the children even more. Adding pressure as if flesh were being crushed, the children squeezed their lungs and screamed even more.
-Dedicate your life for a brilliant country and advance…
The canter is coming to an end. Even his voice, which had been screeching, gradually lost strength. The children, who had reached their limit, stepped closer to the finish line visible from the other side.
– forward forward.
They move according to the lyrics of the song.
And the song ended at the same time that the leader stepped on the finish line.
-Towards the future of the military.
“Ah-oh! out of breath!”
I took off the whistle I was holding and let out a quick breath. Sweat-soaked clothes clung to them. It was difficult to tell if it was skin or clothing.
Log canter, one of the training curriculum of the secondary military school.
The reason was to develop the physical strength and unity of students who are not yet ripe for military service. In reality, it’s more like a twist that the country uses.
“What is unity? Politics will increase.”
People’s heights are different. The length of the stride, the height of the shoulders, the gait, and even the breathing interval, nothing fits. However, the log forcibly pressed against the student, so he had no choice but to put in every effort he had to keep his breath in line.
If breathing is not right, the log will tip or roll over and someone will be punished severely.
“Oh, it’s the shoulder. ok Either I don’t grow taller or I’m just a shoulder to shoulder. It’s all because of this fucking school…”
It was during a short break that I was sitting there groaning.
There was a light tapping sound on the ground. I didn’t even have to see who it was. Because there was only one person who could walk around lightly while everyone collapsed on the ground and groaned in the training that was nothing short of overwork.
Historia came to my side without breaking a sweat. Rather than being tired, he has a bored expression.
“Leah. well come Come and rub my shoulders aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! cancellation! surrender!”
great pressure! Heavier than a log!
When I, engulfed in pain, knelt down and declared surrender, Historia untied her hand.
“day off. Do you remember the promise?”
“What about… Aaaa! I remember! Stop because I remember!”
The grip that threatened my shoulder disappeared. I touched the shoulder and looked at the owner of the grip.
In the dusty parade ground of Hameln, only Historia was different. Not a single sound of breathing became rough, and there was not a speck of dust in the long hair that draped around her waist. I can’t confirm it here, but I’m sure you can feel it more clearly if you roll your shoulders.
The shoulder, which should have been marked with bright red pressure, would be spotlessly clean.
If anyone sees it, it looks as if it skipped a canter by itself.
“Thank you for participating in the log canter. It was a bit dangerous today because there were not enough people, but thanks to that, there were no dropouts today!”
“It’s been word of mouth. so. Will you keep your promise?”
“…Uh, that’s it.”
“If I make up for the lack of people, you will be my opponent for an hour instead. Could that have been the promise?”
But in fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that today’s canter moved the log alone.
Historia, if not the strongest being in the military, is the strongest student in the military.
Having had a special talent for qigong since she was born, at the age of 18, she had already achieved Geongon and even mastered it. His strength had already surpassed that of a field officer and was comparable to that of a general. The stars do not twinkle because there is no light yet.
The reason she participated in the canter, which she didn’t have to do because she could lift a log from a seated position, was because of my condition.
“iced coffee. I will be beaten again.”
“Don’t be rude. It’s a condition that we don’t use qigong anyway.”
“It’s no different from being beaten without using qigong. Why don’t you do it with someone else who is good at qigong?”
“no. The other guys are swayed by their powers. The instructors are bracing themselves. At least you are the only one who can share numbers with me.”
It’s not dividing numbers, it’s mind-reading in advance and avoiding them. Not too long after that, when Historia starts to get excited, she is beaten mercilessly.
But what can I do? A promise is a promise.
“Eh. okay. What’s wrong with you today? If you want to hit me like that.”
“In the first place, if you didn’t waste time and studied qigong with all your heart. You wouldn’t have been enough of my opponent.”
“I don’t think so.”
The difference in talent is extreme when you see that the other side is beaten unilaterally by the fraudulent technique of mind-reading, even on the condition that they do not use qigong. I don’t think it’s going to change anything if you learn a little qigong there.
Historia, who was dissatisfied with my lukewarm attitude, vomited her complaints while speaking.
“You are weird too. Why waste your time on useless things like cantering a log?”
“It’s useless. How great a log canter is for cultivating cooperative spirit and training physical strength.”
“Don’t say anything you don’t mean to. Listen carefully. Huey says it again.”
As if admonishing me sitting still, Historia spoke word by word clearly.
“Senior, you don’t have to sacrifice for them.”
Historia brushed her hair roughly and looked around at everyone. The indifferent look when looking at the pebbles on the side of the road a little different from when they were heading towards me.
The most revealing emotion was intrusiveness.
After entering Hameln, the other younger and weaker classmates were no different from holding back Historia. At least my equal friend is about me.
And while I was faithfully playing the role of class president, Historia thought that I was not able to spread my will because of them.
Is that why? Historia spoke as if it were directed at me, but in a way that everyone could hear.
“If you lead a group of rabbits, you will only become the head rabbit. Hanging out with a dropout or a prospective dropout will only hold your ankle. Please save me some time, hey.”
It was a word that pierced the hearts of children.
However, no one who heard the words contradicted Historia’s words. Feelings were entirely theirs, but none of them even met Historia’s eyes.
I just grit my teeth and turn my head.
Historia didn’t even laugh at them and let them go, so the other motives had a greater sense of inferiority.
“Your time is much more precious than a prospective dropout with no courage or spirit. Please don’t turn your eyes to useless things.”
One strong man overwhelms a thousand. Historia was an example to prove it. overwhelming force.
Literally. Historia had won against all the students in Hameln except for one during the joint combat training.
…except for one person.
A boy who had been reading in the shade without participating in the canter heard Historia’s voice and approached with a frown.
“Do some thinking and live.”
An academic boy with bright red hair and a nervous impression walked towards us. He closed the thick book with a bang and tapped his forehead.
“You still don’t know? It’s not a skill to beat and destroy the whole world. Huey, who is the chief, the class president, and an example to all students, is now earning points to look good to the military.”
At his sudden appearance, Historia let out a short sigh as if something had come.
“I didn’t ask you Lancart.”
“It’s not me, the second-in-command, who answers instead of the chief, who is passionate about image management. Engrave it.”
slap. His fingers pointed at the instructors. The instructors who ordered the log canter on the platform were discussing something eagerly while looking at Historia and me.
Lancart, who glanced at the instructor whispering softly so that this side could not hear, said with a smirk.
“The greedy chief said that. I’m thinking of becoming ambidextrous. I want to show the instructor that I can handle not only heterogeneous left-handers like you and me, but even those ordinary right-handers well.”
If there is Historia for qigong, there is Lancart for magic. A person who stood at the exact opposite extreme of Historia. The only mystery of the military.
Lancart Spendry.
He is a magician who has awakened his own magic, and at the same time a magician, and he is only a Hameln, and he is already an unseen genius who leads the magic officers. Even the instructors found it difficult to deal with him.
Of course, that was not the case for Historia.
“Are you right-handed or left-handed? Again, you create and write words that only you know. Lancart Wouldn’t it be inconvenient to live like that?”
“You bastard. You can’t admit your ignorance and blur the point.”
Qigong genius and magic genius. The two-headed carriage, which is expected to lead the future of the military, growled at the sight of each other. Historia wrung the canteen she was holding in her hand and glared at Lancart.
“Do you think Huey is a calculated sexist like you?”
“no. He’s a much bigger sexist than I am.”
“Well, I think all eyes see something like that.”
“Wouldn’t it be much more objective than you with bean pods?”
Lancart walked unconcerned despite receiving Historia’s sharp momentum. Stepping into the range without hesitation, he sighed in mockery.
“There are many qigong masters in the military. No matter how strong the four wild boars are, it would be the limit for them to be able to get one of the five general positions. You’re very important, but you’re just an important part anyway. It will make the gigantic machine called the military power run well, but even if it’s not you, nothing will change except for the difference in performance.”
If you look at the world pessimistically and calculatingly, you will have a perspective similar to Lancart’s. For him, everything that exists in the world is nothing more than an explicable phenomenon, something that can be understood and used.
With a mindset more like a wizard than a wizard, he looked at me as if he were looking at his peers.
“Compared to that, Huey is in a unique position. Magic is less than me. Qigong isn’t much better than you… But he’s good at everything. Personnel can be placed in the right place. I know a lot, so I’m popular with nerds. The conversation works even with unusual cases like you and me. Huey is the only talent like this.”
“…You mean everything you say is an act of calculation?”
“okay. Huey will be the command itself.”
It wasn’t speculation, it was certainty. Lancart said so without the slightest doubt. Anyone who sees him will know that he is a mind reader.
In response, Historia cleared her ears in response.
“It’s like a frog in a well. He thinks everyone in the world is like him, so he only sees it. You would have known if you had met Huey in person.”
“iced coffee. I didn’t expect a hard-headed bitch to understand.”
“…But why is this inferior student arguing like this today? do you want to die?”
Historia threw the crumpled canteen at Lancart. The canteen was fired like a cannonball along with Paaang Pagongseong. If a person is hit, it has the power to kill instantly.
However, Historia as well as Lancart felt no threat.
The canteen twisted in the air as if someone had snatched it, then crashed into the nearby ground and crashed into it.
As if he knew from the beginning that the attack would not reach him, Lancart did not waver at all.
“It’s savage. This is why I don’t even want to talk to idiots.”
“…Without magic, it’s neither porridge nor rice.”
The two growled as always. But it never led to a real fight. Because I always mediated between the two.
But today I’m tired too. I thought that if I continued, I would be caught and beaten by Historia. After letting the two fight, he quickly left the place. Those two were growling, unaware that I was gone.
walk through the parade ground Various emotions can be felt among the children struggling to keep themselves together after finishing the canter between the rustling sand.
Pain, envy, regret, fear, inferiority and despair.
and resentment towards me.
Unlike the two who have brilliant talents, my talents are on the vague side.
Lancart and Historia each reached a stage where no one could follow them in the field of magic or qigong. It’s so high that I can’t even dare to look at it, but I can only take one or two steps ahead of it.
No one resents natural disasters. Beings that are immeasurably huge cannot have human emotions.
Even if I’m the top, I’m going to be far ahead of my nose, so I’m going to have a good time.
Dark emotions are directed towards me. Instead of the stars in the night sky that I cannot bear to hate, I resent the ordinary me who dares to hang out with them.
I passed through the land of swirling dark emotions and headed towards the instructor who called me.
