EP.220 A Story of the Past, The Pied Piper of Hameln – 6
Instructor Nicholas visited the camp with only his closest aide. He seemed to run away without paying attention to the fact that this is a dangerous forest, and he had a lot of broken branches and leaves attached to his clothes and hair. From the outside, he seemed like an exemplary educator who puts student safety first.
The reality was completely different.
‘Children who have become man-in-the-middle. few numbers left. The carcass of a dead animal over there. Is it a success… I want to. Something is strange.’
Seeing the miserable camp, Nicholas hurriedly approached the trainee who looked the most intact. Originally, the identity of the girl in the position where I should be… was Shiati, a former combat officer aspiring.
“Siati trainee. Briefly report what happened.”
As I said, it seems that Nicholas really came and was surprised. Shiati, who had been standing there blankly, gave Nicholas a formal salute, then lowered her gaze to the ground and mumbled.
“…I set up camp here because I was adrift. However, pheromone lures were hidden under this camp. It was probably a trap set by hunters to catch animals. As soon as it was opened… furious beasts attacked us.”
I can’t smoke badly. It’s a relief to say that you just look at the ground and mumble. At least you can pretend you don’t have the energy to answer.
‘Are you aware of the existence of bait? Originally, they should have been swept away by the beast without knowing why. no more than that Why is the decoy already working when the time isn’t up yet? then?’
Nicholas looked around. The camp full of bloodstains was full of traces of death. In particular, the bloodstains scattered on the trees and the pit covered roughly as if something had been buried seemed to tell us all about the horrors that had just occurred.
Sufficient blood was sprinkled as he had planned… but nothing important was seen.
‘Why can’t I see Huey? no way.’
Fearing that all of this might be in vain, Nicholas immediately urged Shiati.
“Huey. Where is Trainee Huey?”
The attitude of Nicholas looking for me without a word from Kata. This alone is certain. Who prepared this graduation practice for and who prepared it.
Shiati, who was in charge of acting, lost her composure. With her hair bleached white with anger, she glared at Nicholas, forgetting even my advice.
“…why are you calling him in the first place? How many students are missing now, and some are buried under here! Why are you calling Huey first?!”
It was an unexpectedly violent response. If Nicholas felt uncomfortable with that attitude, he would be in a bit of trouble.
However, Nicholas was also psychologically driven by the anxiety that his whole-hearted plan might be foiled.
“No wonder! Huey is…!”
Still, he had enough discernment not to mention the taboo, so Nicholas barely regained his reason and covered his words.
“He is a talented person who is certain to be admitted to the military academy as the top of the grade and a leader in graduation practice. What’s wrong with me looking for him to make a smooth debrief?”
“Ha yes. It doesn’t matter how many of us die…!”
“Siaati trainee! I regret what your trainee went through, but your trainee is currently disobeying my order to report. Do not test my patience.”
At Nicholas’s scolding, Shiati bit her lip, then lowered her head again and began to speak the lines she had prepared in advance.
“Huey… sacrificed himself for us.”
“…hmm?”
Nicholas is the designer. I prepared for this stage, wrote a script, randomly assigned roles and drew the ending of the story.
However, no matter how meticulously planned, he is just a spectator from the moment the curtain rises. Nicholas would have hoped that the play would come true, but sometimes the play betrays the designer’s expectations and goes beyond the script.
Shiati brought out the lines he had previously arranged for him as he jumped onto the stage.
“While we were responding to a sudden beast attack, Huey realized the situation was caused by a pheromone lure. While inspecting the camp, he found a bait somewhere, grabbed the box, and screamed as he ran towards the river. The beasts that were attacking us… all followed Huey. We stayed and looked for survivors.”
“what…?! Huey himself became the bait?”
“That’s right.”
Shiati put her arms behind her back, as if trying to hide her miserable expression, and bowed her head. In the meantime, Nicholas’ hands trembled, unable to accept the unexpected situation.
The play was out of his hands. Reality betrayed his expectations. Nicholas felt a terrible sense of defeat as he had high hopes.
How did Nicholas choose to face the usual failure?
was in denial.
“Nonsense! Huey is not that kind of guy. There’s no way someone as clever as Huey would sacrifice himself for you guys!”
“…yes?”
“Historia and Lancart. You don’t have to be just great to get the top spot between the two! I should even think about making them my side and using them. A position that can only be reached by acting cleverly while gaining popularity! Huey did it. There’s no way he would sacrifice himself just for the sake of you guys!”
Nicholas looked around with bloodshot eyes. The surviving children did not dare to meet their eyes due to the familiar feeling of fear. It was because the momentum emanating from Instructor General Nicholas was so frightening.
Commander-in-Chief Colonel Nicholas. Hameln is only part of the place he is in charge of. He is the general teacher in charge of elementary and middle schools in the southwestern region.
It is no coincidence that Historia and Lancart entered Hameln at the same time. It was made possible by the fact that Instructor Nicholas brought the two who stood out from elementary school to this place.
Even in the upper echelons, he has the ability to judge that he can accurately evaluate students only when he has the ability of Nicholas, so he has risen to the position of Instructor General.
Their position, ability, and experience are all different. Even if all the children here went to the Higher Military Academy, there would be no one who would reach the tip of Nicholas’ feet.
The children bowed their heads in dismay at Nicholas’ ferocious spirit. Above them, Nicholas’ furious voice descended.
“You should have sacrificed! If only someone was going to die! Instead, you should have died! Why did you guys survive!”
It is the general instructor who came after barely enduring the crisis of life. Some kids wanted to believe it was all a terrible nightmare. In fact, I rather hoped that there was some misunderstanding that the military did not abandon them.
However, the words Nicholas uttered crushed any hope.
“So you tried to kill us all! Huey for that one guy?!”
Shiati raised her head, feeling repulsive, but what she saw in her eyes was the image of Nicholas smiling eerily.
“…Oh my God. Right. You guys… you must have found out about this test.”
A face that seemed half-mad. As Shiati, terrified, hesitated back, Nicholas writhed bizarrely with his lips and head and glanced at the roughly buried pit.
“How did you find out? Did you find a rock while digging a grave for the dead?”
“Do you think you can tell me…?”
“I haven’t asked you yet if you know ‘what’, Shiati trainee. If you’re going to fool someone, make sure you keep what you know out of your head…”
And then he gestured toward the adjutant who followed. The adjutant pressed his lips together and followed Nicholas.
“of course. I will never have to write those teachings any more.”
A cold murderous intent was directed at Shiati and the other children. The children huddled behind Shiati like frightened chicks. Although the number is over 30, it doesn’t seem like they have an advantage.
“Secrick.”
“yes. Instructor General.”
“I will bury them all. Help me.”
sereung. An adjutant named Secric pulled out a saber. The saber used to give instructions to the children changed the direction of the blade and pointed at them.
Shiati exclaimed after reading the murderous intent emanating from the blade.
“What is this…! Are you sure you want to kill us all, Commander!”
“You were destined to die anyway. It just made the method a little more cumbersome.”
Nicholas also responded coolly, drawing a long sword. A dark pore that started from the hilt of the sword rose around the blade like a flame. To kill unplanned survivors.
The children gradually withdrew, but behind this is the river. To escape to the other side, you had to jump into the river or jump over Nicholas.
Both are close to impossible.
“Run away. If there is a place for that in this military country.”
Nicholas and his lieutenant followed the children who hesitated and withdrew. Each step was filled with a firm intent to kill. He walked like that.
stepped on the trap
“It’s a surprise, Instructor General!”
Before I could put weight on my feet, I kicked off the collapsed tent and stood up. Surprised by the sudden appearance, Nicholas could not respond to the trap.
Right after that, the hidden noose snatched his ankle. A lasso trap that could take down even a big deer caught him…
except that he was a man with a weapon in his hand.
“Suck!”
The long sword moved so agilely that it did not match its length. Suddenly, the noose at ankle height was cut off in an instant. The remaining sword strikes were carved into the ground.
But the pitfalls don’t end there.
“Surprise to.”
That noose is connected to something else. At the same time as the rope snapped, a long log that had been hanging arbitrarily fell, aiming for the back of Nicholas’ head. A heavy sound was heard.
However, it was too slow an attack for him who had mastered qigong.
“An insignificant number.”
Iahab. A large log was cut down in one blow. This broke the chain of traps.
If I had avoided it sideways or down, I would have experienced surprises 3 4 5 one after another. The thought of just cutting it off. Even if it rots, it’s because it’s a colonel.
“Whatever. Because I did one thing.”
Pick Whiririk. I pulled out my dagger. His lieutenant, called Secric, gushed blood from his side.
“Cuck!”
“now. Please lie down for a while.”
The adjutant, who was not as nimble as Nicholas, was pulled by the noose and slipped right in front of me. I instinctively defended myself, but I broke through his defenses and slashed my dagger into his side.
Qigong is Qigong, even if it is weak Qigong. The blade lodged between his collarbones. The blood that flowed through the dagger soaked through the soil… and headed somewhere.
“You, you, Huey…!”
“Shhh. form of my body. Stay still. If you die, the blood won’t come out well.”
Leaving behind the lieutenant, who was not yet dead but slowly approaching him, I pointed my dagger straight and greeted Nicholas.
“Hello, Chancellor Nicholas?”
“why. how. no.”
swish swish His gaze moved to me, to Shiati, and to the trap beneath his feet. For a brief moment, he grasped something in my smile and touched his face with a trembling voice.
“…I see, Hughie. did you know everything And did you make a foolish choice…!”
“A foolish choice? That’s a bit strange.”
“You just had to stay still! I made the taboo, and all you had to do was pretend you didn’t know and take the deaths of the losers! I shouldered everything and replaced it…! How could I refuse that?!”
how to give up like this.
When I gave the signal, the children who had been hiding at the bottom of the river came up all at once. That number is a whopping one hundred forty. Each of them carried a spear with a dagger tied to a branch they had made hastily, and trembled with anger and fear, and joined the side.
“I refused in this way.”
Children who grew up quickly. Most of these cast hateful glances at Nicholas. Nicholas murmured stupidly.
“Almost all… saved.”
“You saved almost all of them. Seventeen precious lives died. It’s a big loss for me too.”
Nicholas seemed to disagree with me.
“Seventeen! not enough for a long time long time! Your energy hasn’t increased at all!”
“Praise me. Even though my energy hasn’t increased that much, it’s enough to easily soak a big deer and one of my lieutenants.”
I grinned and turned the blade around. The color of the blood formed there was not much different from that shed by dying children who had been hit by horns and claws.
Is it the influence of gluttony? Maybe because I stabbed myself, something seems to seep into my body. A dark, dirty, turbid aura rushes through the blood vessel gap via the biological terminal.
Its energy is insignificant in terms of absolute total amount, but it was so large that it was clearly felt by me, who had the energy and magic power of a hair in the first place.
but.
“Two. Not good. Are you flattered that you only prepared something like this? I’d rather smoke magic weed. It even tastes good.”
Nicholas did not understand the set of circumstances. I couldn’t understand the misaligned script or the existence of myself that escaped from under it.
he asked with a puzzled expression.
“Why Huey?”
“Why, Nicholas?”
“You are weak. With that qigong and that mana, you can never go higher than a certain level. It is excellent at handling the given ability, but the innately low energy and magic will become the shackles that entangle you for a long time! I was trying to break your shackles!”
Surprisingly, even now that I had betrayed his trust and stabbed the adjutant… he was appealing to me with all his heart. As if it was a pity that a talented person like me made a foolish choice.
“To deal with someone, you need a minimum qualification. That is majesty and strength. No matter how good you are, if you lack strength… you can’t achieve anything. If you were more aware of your limits than anyone else, you would have understood!”
“Of course I understand. Instructor General. How can I not know?”
Nicholas was sincere. No matter how much he is, he cannot commit a taboo lightly. After observing my abilities for three years and figuring out what I lack, he desperately wants me to become a greater person. for the military for me.
But that’s… no matter how much it’s for the country. Essentially, it’s just a wish for others. It’s like extra money that he piles up and gives away the rest as if he were generous.
An ordinary person would appreciate that kind of extra money, but I am a mind reader. It doesn’t move with a broken heart.
“By the way, Nicholas. You just wrapped up your heart, but… In fact, your sincerity only comes out when you sit in a safe state with a warm back and a full stomach, right? Aren’t you too light-hearted and mean-spirited?”
In a way, it makes sense.
I read thoughts. There is no unit in the mind to measure the size, but still, as a mind reader, I used to compare the size and depth of emotions in moderation.
As a result, of course. The feelings of Nicholas off the stage were lighter than the afterglow of a child who had died.
But this is something that can’t be explained. Awesome.
Nicholas, who did not understand even half of what I was saying, exclaimed confidently.
“This was also a test for you! How to sacrifice a soldier for a grand victory! I risked my work, but you misjudged because of your personal approval!”
“is it so? Then, I will present a national victory problem. Is there a law that says only the Instructor General should raise a problem?”
I walked slowly There was a crunching sound as vines and tree roots were trodden on. The terrain has changed so much from the original because people have been wandering around frequently over the past few days. A place full of broken branches, trampled ground, dug here and there, and traps made of rope.
The odds are good enough.
“Please die for me instead of the tasteless children, Nicholas. Offer your blood for me. Then the military will not perish…”
At least, I mean, come up on stage fairly. Move me with that kind of heart.
“As much as one of you.”
