Episode 72: New Cadet
Early in the morning, when tractors usually come and go. There are four-legged animals that run on the ground without hesitation.
-Dag dag dag dag!
Farmer Choi Young-gam was welcomed by the purring and rough breathing of the horses and the loud sound of the horses’ hooves.
“Hey, Your Majesty. You’re energetic since morning.”
Leon stops when he sees Young Choi taking off his hat and bending over.
“Old man Choi. You’ve worked hard since early morning.”
“I’m here to catch some bugs. Do you want to go out for breakfast with the cadets?”
“It’s riding training.”
“okay.”
Old Man Choi, a priest of Demera, the goddess of life and fertility, is delighted with the pantheon, which is growing day by day.
When I see my land rotting without even bending my back, I feel helpless these days.
All of this has happened since he came here. In gratitude toward Leon, who started running again, Choi bowed her waist.
It seemed that the scarecrow hung behind him was bowing at the same time.
* * * *
Riding on horseback with more than 44 cadets early in the morning, Leon began giving lessons to the cadets in a nearby clearing.
“There are many skills in horseback riding, but the most important thing is to be friends with the horse. On the battlefield, the existence you can rely on is the comrade next to you, and the horse is the closest comrade.”
Jaehyuk Kim raised his hand at Leon’s words.
“Your Majesty, how can we be friends when words don’t understand people?”
“There is a point. The scholars of the empire are the owners of beasts, they said that they cannot be friends.”
Leon made Stallion walk at a trot, looking around at the cadets and horses staring at him.
“Horses are much smarter than you think. But they’re also timid.”
Stallion, who was walking at a break, stopped in front of Kim Jae-hyuk’s horse. Then, Kim Jae-hyeok’s words do something unexpected.
“Uh huh?”
Kim Jae-hyeok’s words, which were purring and breathing heavily, quietly lowered his neck. Isn’t it not enough that he bent all four legs and bowed down in front of Leon and Stallion as if in worship?
“Hey, what’s wrong with this guy?”
Leon said to everyone in front of Kim Jae-hyuk, who was embarrassed.
“Stalion is indeed a being called the king of horses. Cadet Kim Jae-hyeok’s horse humbled itself by submitting to Stallion’s authority.”
It was natural. Stallion is a divine beast, and its existence is no different from that of a herd of horses.
None of the cadets’ words would obey Stallion’s authority.
“However, you guys have to be friendly with horses enough to reverse this hierarchical relationship. You have to be willing to challenge the sword for the rider on your back.”
When Leon gestured, Stallion made a loud sound. Only then did Kim Jae-hyeok’s words straighten his legs.
“Horses are timid, but with a rider they are willing to charge even at prey. What do you think this is for?”
Chun So-yeon raised her hand.
“Is it because you trust the rider?”
“That’s right. A horse, whether it be a beast of prey or a massed infantryman with spears and knives, throws itself down believing that the rider on its back will be able to solve it.”
Build a relationship of trust, a relationship that you can entrust your life to on the battlefield.
“Starting today, you guys should ride horses for two hours every day and spend time with them. You should also learn how to aim a jousting spear at the same time as riding.”
“Your Majesty, are you going to subtract two hours from your daily training?”
It was Kim Jae-hyuk’s question. Leon hit it as if he was talking nonsense.
“Foolish thing! How can you reduce training when two hours less sleep can be? When Jim was a knight, he didn’t even sleep two hours a day!”
came out again When I
If someone else had done it, I would have said yes, yes, I would have said it as a joke, but since it was Leon, I have to admit it.
It’s been over a month, but I’ve never seen Leon lie.
“And new cadets will be added.”
“yes?”
“At this timing?”
At Leon’s words, the cadets tilted their heads. All the people who could come from the academy already came. These are the ones who gave up on the guild’s draft offer.
In other words, all the cadets who did not come here have already negotiated their salary with other guilds.
If you come here now and tear up the contract and come to the temple, you’ll have to pay a huge penalty?
“This person will continue to train with you guys and challenge the title of knight in the future.”
A rider approached from the other side of the ridge with a trudge.
The horse tramples the ground uncontrollably, and the rider stumbles and tries to calm it down somehow.
Unlike the cadets, who quickly got used to it with their youthful energy and teased their bodies, he has a pitiful expression that shows the passing of time.
After walking for a long time, the new cadet awkwardly nodded.
“The first generation of Man at Arms… My name is Goo Dae-seong. Please take good care of me in the future.”
The man’s expression showed no confidence at all.
* * * *
Goo Dae-sung, a first-generation Man at Arms graduate, felt emotional when he saw the second-generation students approaching the graduation ceremony.
They were like that a month ago. The power to clearly know that the grade that was thought to be D-class in later years has risen to C-class and has grown.
Above all, the moment when he assisted the knight in clearing the orange gate, which was considered impossible to capture, was bound to bring joy.
Of course, the gate Daesung Goo and the 1st generation students cleared were not ordinary gates, but fluctuating gates and demon gates.
Goo Dae-seong looked back on his situation.
He is a modern man who graduated from high school and has no qualifications. When he was in his twenties, there were many peers of his age who naturally had specs, but he had a business card called an awakening person.
Awakener. Hunter. superhumans of this era.
But Goo Dae-seong had no talent. The title of late D-class is degrading even among hunters.
Hunters of his age are all promoted to level C. Even if you don’t have a unique skill, you can manage to go on a business trip even at the orange gate.
On the other hand, Daesung Koo has not even been able to approach the orange gate even as a porter.
From the time he invested the money he earned in equipment and saved money to try even a cheap elixir, he knew intuition that his life in the lower classes would come to an end.
But he had a goal. The goal I want to become while moving around the monthly rent.
S-class hunters. Heroes who live that brilliant and wonderful life. Real heroes who receive praise from people and clear the gate.
This is something that Koo Dae-sung, a D-class hunter for 10 years, could not even dream of. But–
‘If I follow his teachings, won’t I become stronger too?’
Goo Dae-sung’s life has recently been going well.
A survivor from another world whom I met by chance. Thanks to that, his rank went up and he was able to take the precious Orc Warrior’s Heart Elixir.
The pitiful D-class, which has been in life and death at the gate for over 10 years, is now at a level that deserves to be shouldered among the C-class.
He does not deny that meeting Leon was a great fortune. I could earn money without lacking if I was here.
However, if this situation was satisfactory, it was not.
By consuming the Orc Warrior’s Heart and the blessed crops, he definitely became stronger. But that’s it.
Growth does not increase while remaining stagnant, and there is no guarantee that a chance like the heart of a great warrior will come again.
Even if D-class became C-class in later years, it does not become stronger in variety. I felt it when I saw the academy cadets.
The cadets Leon had brought, claiming to be knights, had dazzling talent.
Even if Leon is dissatisfied, to Goo Dae-sung, his talent is as good as the sky. B grade at that age… … .
With his unique skill, he can easily lift a ton of iron, and is capable of one-on-one confrontation with Orcs.
Such a dazzling, fantasy-like talent.
The world we live in is so different. Unlike Goo Dae-sung, who decided to enlist with the hope of raising his pitiful grade once, they had articles in mind from the beginning, and their growth rate was incomparable to Goo Dae-sung.
i envy you.
Koo Dae-seong wanted to aim for a knight like them.
As Leon said, unlike a soldier who only needs to do one thing well, an all-round superman who can do anything.
‘Hey Ariana. Dear Petos. Thank you for today.’
First, Koo Dae-seong, who thanked the two gods, suddenly came to mind of the goddess of life and fertility that farmers worship.
The one who purifies the land polluted by magical energy and feeds the faithful with blessed crops. It is said that there is no superiority or inferiority among the gods, but in the current world, is there someone more important than this?
It is for a good reason that the farmers are so grateful to Demera and offer ten structures on the altar.
‘Is this a disrespectful thought?’
What I appreciate the goddess Demera more than others.
Goo Dae-seong prayed to Goddess Demera separately and went back to his lodgings. While passing by a training ground emanating an auspicious energy, the objects inside suddenly came to mind.
“Did you have a hammer?”
Like the Grail Knight’s hammer. I heard that it is an epic item with tremendous power because it is a sacred object in itself.
There were many challenges from the many challengers and even inside the pantheon, but Goo Dae-sung never even thought to lift a hammer.
It is because he knew my subject.
My dream is a high subject, and I thought that I would not be able to hear it anyway because I was pessimistic about my subject.
“Is anyone… anyone?”
It was a hammer that I didn’t look at even if I didn’t want to be beaten by a dog. Realizing that there was no one around, Goo Dae-seong quietly approached the hammer.
“Wow…”
The condition of the hammer was truly auspicious and noble.
A hammer firmly stuck to the ground, as if waste were being washed away just by looking at it.
The pendulum of the hammer, as well as the handle, are exquisitely engraved with exquisite patterns.
“If you’re going to give it a try…”
Goo Dae-seong put his hand on the handle of the hammer. He raised the hammer with all his might from the start, but—
Squeak!
and the hammer twitched. Just enough to feel a little empty.
“Turn it off…!”
It was this much even though I squeezed out the strength I had been suckling and lifted it up. Goo Dae-seong let go of his bluish hands, and the sound of a hammer hitting the ground rang loudly.
“Huh…! W, isn’t it okay?”
Well, on my subject… It was the moment Koo Dae-sung was about to turn away in disappointment.
“This is so… unexpected.”
Leon’s voice stopped Goo Dae-sung.
* * * *
After the cataclysm of 2002, numerous Gates appeared on Earth.
Each has its own concept and rank, but among them, there is a subjugation target.
The highest priority is the high-rank gate.
The higher the rank, the greater the risk of dungeon break, so it can be said as a major premise.
The second is an open gate to the granary.
Since the cataclysm, humanity has lost as many breadbaskets as its population.
No crops can grow on the land contaminated with magic energy, and people cannot live, so it is only natural to prevent the contamination itself.
However, among all these threats, there is an exception that is the top priority clearing target with all-out national power at the same time as observation.
In this case, the government took the lead and issued a ‘conscription order’ to the extent that hunters were forcibly mobilized.
“Chairman of the Association… The East Sea Fleet, the US 7th Fleet, and the Maritime Self-Defense Force have also completed cross-confirmation.”
Oh Kang-hyeok, president of the association, was silent about the same observational information as the successive reports. Cross-validation by neighboring countries is too obvious to be regarded as a mistake by observation equipment.
“Yonggung… In fact, it must be confirmed.”
sea gate. so-called Dragon Palace.
Gate appearances are usually observed from the ground. Naturally, people expected the gate to come only from the ground, and when there were no satellites observing the gate in the early days of Cataclysm, they didn’t care about the sea at all.
However, the world’s first sea gate appeared in Tokyo Bay 25 years ago.
Left unattended until the Dungeon Break occurred, the Tokyo Bay Gate not only destroyed Tokyo Bay, but also polluted the entire coastal waters and transformed sea creatures into monsters.
It became the worst gate disaster in history, and Japan wasted 15 years trying to put an end to this disaster.
That is why the priority is for neighboring countries to cooperate and attack the Yonggung Gate in unison, even in the international situation, which is the priority of one’s own country.
There have already been notifications from the US and Japan that they would dispatch raiding parties. The problem wasn’t that.
“It must be this time…”
Oh Kang-hyeok, president of the association, turned on the news. Climate information delivered as breaking news on public broadcasting.
[Yes, I am now in the coastal waters of Ulleungdo. Typhoon Nabi, which was scheduled to proceed to the Pacific Ocean, suddenly changes its course and is traveling slowly in the direction of Ulleungdo.]
[Nabi, which is expected to be the biggest typhoon this year, is 64.5m per second, exceeding the record of Maemi in 2003, and serious damage to Ulleungdo residents is predicted.]
Storm forecast every year. It seems particularly strong this year, but that’s not the problem.
The direction of the Yonggung Gate and the typhoon are overlapping.
“Summon the hunters. Urgently! And…”
Oh Kang-hyeok added,
“Please contact His Majesty Leon of the Pantheon Guild first.”
Leon. The Lion Heart King of the other world, who performs mysterious miracles and is loved by the gods.
Oh Kang-hyeok instinctively sensed that he was the only solution.
