Chapter 213

“What a whirlwind of a day it’s been!”

After a long day, the next morning, Ulan and the cadets of Arcen were back at it again, starting their tour schedule.

After leaving the Plume Workshop, the group arrived at the spot where the Magic-Powered Train awaited. Professor Melt smiled brightly as he began.

“So today, let’s dive deeper into the magic-powered train!”

Even though more than half of the school trip had passed, Professor Melt’s enthusiasm was as strong as ever.

With a vibrant voice, he continued his lecture about the train.

“…If we can work with various countries to expand the magical rails, it will reduce travel time and boost tourism and trade considerably.”

After a not-so-short lecture finally wrapped up, Melt looked satisfied and asked the cadets.

“So, before we move on, are there any questions?”

Of course, no hands went up.

Not surprising since most of the cadets had been wearing bored expressions throughout Professor Melt’s lecture.

But then, someone shot their hand up like a rocket.

“You are…?”

“Noa Darshen.”

It was Noa, the black-haired girl. She had been silent until now, her serious face finally breaking her silence.

“Professor, you mentioned that tourism and trade would flourish, but don’t you think it could also spark the flames of war?”

“Huh? War?”

“Well, if the railways expand to the borders, looking at history, supply lines could widen, leading to war.”

Just like the history books say, whenever the power balance among neighboring countries tipped, wars broke out without fail.

Meanwhile, some students found Noa’s question intriguing. It probably sounded like a sensible concern to them.

“Hmm, that’s definitely a valid point.”

Professor Melt nodded in agreement.

But after a brief pause, he shook his head and replied.

“However, that depends on how it’s used.”

“Are you saying…?”

“Just like the ignition stone used by mercenaries or adventurers, it can be a tool for combat depending on how it’s applied.”

In other words, tools don’t have a set purpose from the moment they’re created; their use relies on the user’s will, and there’s not much we can do about that.

“And even if the railways expand to the borders, I don’t believe a war will break out.”

“Why are you so sure about that?”

“That’s because of the Rubens Empire.”

Professor Melt shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“As long as there’s a mighty hegemonic nation, the allied nations will never go to war against each other to keep the empire in check.”

That was a reasonable deduction.

But of course, it was only valid in the current moment.

“Above all, the magical engineers at the Plume Workshop aren’t foolish enough to use tools made for improving people’s lives in warfare.”

……

Noa closed her mouth with an awkward face.

Because in the future, she would oppose using trains for warfare and end up assassinated by the magical engineers of the Plume Workshop who took royal orders.

‘Guess resolving this through conversation is a dead end.’

She had intended to convince them about the drawbacks of developing Magic-Powered Trains through dialogue.

But there was a clear limit to what words could achieve.

‘If that’s the case, maybe I should….’

Secretly sabotage the train’s power source?

Or cut the magical rails or steal the blueprints and burn them. If that route took time to recover, it could delay the completion and potentially prevent a future war.

‘No, not yet.’

This was only a last resort.

There was still some time. So she decided to try deeper conversations to persuade them next time.

Noa made that resolution.

“Alright, next we’ll move to the Northern Border to learn about the Magic Barrier. Please take a break while the train gets ready.”

After finishing the discussion, Professor Melt left to prepare for the afternoon’s tour schedule.

During that short break, Noa approached Ulan to chat with him. But at that moment, someone tugged at her sleeve.

“Noa.”

A familiar voice whispered in her ear.

Turning around, she saw a girl with snowy white hair like a bunny.

With bright, glimmering eyes, it was none other than the Spirit of the Abyss.

Noa figured the spirit must have a reason for finding her.

“Came for some candy?”

“Yes, and I have something to tell you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Noa asked, confused.

Ulan also turned his attention to the Spirit of the Abyss. Under the gaze of the two, the spirit responded seriously.

“I’ve returned.”

“Returned? Returned from what?”

“The power of the Abyss.”

“…What?”

In an instant, Ulan’s face stiffened.

It wasn’t just him; Noa’s eyes widened in shock as well. The Spirit quickly explained.

“It was gone until this morning, but I just felt it showing back up. So I came to let you know.”

After finishing the explanation, the spirit pointed a finger in one direction. It was the Eastern Jungle, teeming with monsters.

Ulan’s eyes shone brightly as he looked towards the same place. It was as if he was ready to leave for the jungle right then and there.

6.

Meanwhile, at that moment.

In the eastern jungle, overflowing with the power of the Abyss, a certain being had just stepped in.

A monster hunter from the Myoin tribe.

Elite Mercenary, Sven Isaac.

How long had it been?

While searching around the forest’s edge, Sven suddenly froze in place. With ears perked up, he narrowed his eyes.

‘…The sound of monsters’ footsteps.’

He felt something getting closer.

Sensing danger, Sven immediately stomped the ground. Then, like a squirrel, he climbed up a tree and concealed his presence.

A little while later.

RUMBLE!

With a thunderous sound shaking the ground, hordes of monsters emerged from the jungle’s depths. Sven glared at the monsters heading towards the forest’s edge.

‘Are they heading for Shulfern?’

If that’s the case, he was ready to head back to Shulfern immediately. Because right now, there was no way Shulfern had the capacity to fend off such monster hordes.

But that was just a false alarm.

‘The direction they are heading…’

Monsters approaching the edge of the jungle scattered in different directions.

Sure, some were heading towards Shulfern, but others were moving towards the Arpen Duchy or the Endrak Kingdom.

Especially towards the Endrak Kingdom, where the plains made movement easier, many more monsters were heading that way.

From high up in the tree, Sven soon realized the situation.

‘These guys have no clear destination.’

If they had a specific target, they would have charged straight towards it.

But the monster horde in front of him scattered like they were just trying to escape the jungle.

‘It’s as if…’

They were fleeing from something terrifying and leaving the jungle merely as their goal.

Sven’s gaze fell.

Before coming here, he felt his guess turning into certainty.

‘I definitely need to investigate further.’

Once the monsters’ presence faded away, Sven climbed back down and, with his hood pulled tightly down, set off.

A place where he felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

Towards the center of the Eastern Jungle, where throngs of monsters had just appeared.

7.

The border of the Endrak Kingdom.

This was where the Magic Barrier was erected, manned by the finest battalion of magical infantry in the kingdom.

On the west, the Serin Kingdom, and on the east, the Arpen Duchy face borders. Meanwhile, where the soldiers were watching was neither the east nor the west.

Their gaze was fixed to the north.

The Eastern Jungle, wrapping around the eastern part of the continent.

The realm where all kinds of demons reside.

The Magic Barrier was established to guard against invasions from these demons.

“We’ve come to relieve you.”

At that moment, a guest arrived at the northern watchtower. It was a magical squad sent for the afternoon shift.

The man presumed to be the squad leader took over the duty log from the existing soldiers and asked a few formal questions.

“Any unusual occurrences?”

“Nothing in particular. Just…”

“Just…?”

“We noticed some thunderous sounds coming from the Eastern Jungle at roughly hourly intervals.”

The mention of thunderous sounds made the squad leader’s eyes narrow. After pondering briefly, he asked back.

“Thunderous sounds? Were the monsters involved?”

“No, we didn’t see any monsters.”

“Maybe they were just having a squabble among themselves? At this time of year, that’s pretty common.”

The lieutenant behind him shrugged, speculating. He was right; right now, it was indeed the time when monsters fought over territory.

The squad leader silently nodded in agreement.

That was an agreeable hypothesis.

“With that, the handover is complete.”

“Then take care. Loyalty!”

Once the shift change was done, the squad members headed to their respective posts. The squad leader and the lieutenant began organizing various paperwork related to their duties in the control room.

A little while later.

While jotting down the duty log, the squad leader flipped through the calendar to check the date and suddenly mumbled as if recalling something.

“Ah, was it today?”

“Huh? What today?”

“I heard the cadets from Plume Academy are coming to visit today.”

In the border city near the border, the Plume Academy, a leading educational institution, sends students twice a year to observe the border guards.

Basically, their goal is to see what the border defense does while checking the state of the Magic Barrier.

“Ah, that makes sense. No wonder there was a feast since this morning; it was because the students were coming.”

Upon seeing the lieutenant joking, the squad leader chuckled lightly. Just as he started to remember the day’s agenda,

BOOM!

A sudden tremor shook the watchtower.

This sudden anomaly made the squad leader and lieutenant snap their eyes wide open.

“This is…”

“Isn’t that the thunderous sound you mentioned earlier?”

The squad leader nodded silently.

But a strange sense of unease crept in.

It felt too large to be just a noise from monsters squabbling. It felt like a precursor to something way bigger, like an earthquake.

After the thunderous sound faded, not long after,

RUMBLE!

It wasn’t as strong as the earlier tremor, but faint vibrations traveled through the ground.

‘What on earth is happening?’

Feeling puzzled, the squad leader headed towards the watchtower.

He wanted to inquire about what happened from the soldiers monitoring the Eastern Jungle using the surveillance lenses.

But the moment he arrived at the watchtower,

the soldiers’ faces had turned pale.

“M-Monsters!”

“A horde of monsters has appeared!”

It seemed the surveillance lenses had shown a horde of monsters.

Meanwhile, the squad leader maintained a calm expression and reassured the soldiers.

“Stay calm and report. How many are there?”

“Um, well…”

“There are so many we can’t even count!”

They couldn’t even count?

Feeling puzzled, the squad leader immediately snatched a surveillance lens to observe ahead.

And soon, his eyes widened.

“…!”

Just as the soldiers reported, there truly was an uncountable number of them.

Staring blankly at the monster horde, dark as angry waves, whispers of panic erupted everywhere.

“This is insane!”

“Where did that many come from…?”

It seemed that even the lieutenant and other soldiers grasped the situation. Regaining focus, the squad leader shouted urgently.

“That’s far too much for us to handle. Hurry back to base and request reinforcements!”

“Yes, sir!”

After the solemn reply, moments later, the sounds of bells ringing loudly echoed across the base. It was the signal announcing an enemy attack.

50 chapters. Everything is going according to plan.

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