HTACS 56

Chapter 56

After that, at Eve’s suggestion, I began giving instructions to these stupid little chicks.

“Set up the tents around the three bonfires. Don’t spread too far apart. And if any couple says something stupid like ‘we’re going to watch the stars together,’ I’ll turn you into actual stars.”

“……”

One couple looked dejected. Did they come here for a date or what?

“Line up in pairs. Stay where you can see your partner—that’s your two-person watch rotation. Two people, two hours each.”

“Wh-what’s a watch rotation?”

Ah.

They don’t know what a watch rotation is.

“It means staying awake at night to keep guard.”

“…D-do we really need to do that?”

“This is the Sleeping Mountain Range, a field crawling with real monsters. Are you planning to just die if monsters attack at night?”

“……”

“Two people, one pair, keep watch together. If one dozes off, the other can wake them up, and more importantly, it doubles your field of vision. Understood?”

“Y-yes…”

This is worse than I thought—Zefflin’s education is a mess.

No, that’s not it.

These kids are just “students aiming to learn at school and get a job locally.”

Hoo. I have to endure this.

“I’ll distribute two heat packs each—warm enough to hold even in the middle of the night. Take them and decide your watch order. Also, I’ve prepared warm water in canteens, so drink frequently.”

“…Understood.”

Still, they follow my instructions purely.

As I was distributing the heat packs, someone approached with brisk steps. I glanced over—an elf with long silver hair. It was Silphia.

“……”

“Take it. This is your share.”

“Wh-who said I’d take…”

“Don’t you want it? Aren’t you cold?”

Silphia is a Spirit Swordswoman. Her mana color is green—within that, the color of wind. Since she fights with high-cutting-power enchanted swift swords, it’s no exaggeration to say she has no cold-weather measures.

Her equipment is lighter and thinner than Nephti’s.

Well, technically Nephti—a heavy knight or defensive tank—wears too light armor to begin with, but anyway.

“…Tch. I said I wouldn’t accept your help. Have you forgotten!”

“Aren’t you cold? Or are you ignoring my good advice?”

“What?”

“Is catching a cold here and becoming a burden to everyone tomorrow what you call loyalty and pride?”

“…Ugh.”

At my words, Silphia hesitated, then thrust out her hand. And this kid doesn’t even use both hands when an adult is offering something.

But I’m a kind adult, so I let kids’ mistakes slide. I handed over two heat packs and a canteen, and even gave her the proper ration of jerky for the morning.

After receiving everything, Silphia clutched the supplies tightly and glared at me.

“Come to think of it, Silphia Evergreen Grove.”

“What…”

“Didn’t you say you’d stake your life if you accepted help from me?”

“Ugh!”

At that, Silphia raised the items I’d given her as if to throw them…

“Is throwing that away here an act of loyalty?”

“…U-ugh. Ugh.”

She hesitated, unable to do anything, trembling, tears welling in her eyes, and then shouted:

“Tch… Just kill me!”

“What. That too would be disloyalty to Eve. Keep your tantrums in check.”

“KYAAAAAA!”

She sure can scream.

Healthy, too.

Yes, yes. Kids being healthy is the most important thing. Growing up healthy is what kids should do.

Making mistakes and being a bit rude—that’s what adults are for, to teach them.

—

“Mhm.”

I woke to the sound of voices outside.

You know? Getting good sleep is one of the hardest things to achieve.

Think about it—good sleep can only happen when you’re healthy. In other words, Wolfram von Lohengrin with 2 stamina has very irregular sleep and struggles to get deep rest.

So I’m a light sleeper, wake up often, have trouble sleeping when the pillow changes, and I’m picky about floor cushioning too.

So I woke up.

“W-we can do two more hours, though…”

“No. This is my job. Go back in and sleep.”

“Y-yes!”

One familiar voice, and two unfamiliar voices.

Zzzip. Opening the tent and stepping out, I saw one person sitting alone by the bonfire.

“A commander-in-chief standing watch is not a good decision.”

“I know.”

“Besides, I don’t recall instructing you to stand watch alone.”

“I’m not alone.”

What are you talking about? Are you saying we’re all together through the power of friendship or something?

As I stared at Eve, she gestured with her chin toward someone in the distance.

A red wolf, curled up roughly in front of the cart.

“Ah, right. You can communicate with Patrasche too.”

Eve nodded, and I understood.

“…Aren’t you going back to sleep, Wolfram?”

“I think I can stay awake for an hour or two.”

“I see.”

After that, silence followed.

Crackle, crackle.

Only the sound of the bonfire burning broke the silence, forcibly pushing noise into it.

“Wolfram. Wolfram von Lohengrin.”

“What is it, Eve von Lohengrin.”

“…Are you the Wolfram I know?”

“……”

That’s a pretty sharp question.

“Yes. I am Wolfram von Lohengrin. Do I look like someone else?”

“…No. That insufferable face is definitely the Wolfram written right above me on the family registry.”

“Ha. The incompetent usurper sure talks a lot. For someone who stole the student council presidency from me and just flails around uselessly.”

“……EEEK. Can’t you just say something nice?!”

I immediately jabbed her in the solar plexus, and Eve clutched her chest, groaning in pain.

Well, you see.

When you see an opening, you take it—that’s just how our generation operates.

That was the damage mechanism of Lee Young-jin, once known as “Iron Tier Lonely Slayer,” “Unstoppable Flash Judgment Vayne,” and “Dreamfield Nursery’s Best Output ADC Prince.”

“You said something stupid.”

“Then how do you know how to conquer the Sleeping Mountain Range so well? There was no record of you going on expeditions during your term.”

“……”

Hmm.

Eve’s right. As far as I know, there was no such event in the original either.

What should I say, how should I dodge this? Saying “it was written in ancient texts” is risky because Eve returns to the imperial palace during summer break and reads ancient texts as a matter of course—that’s “original story development,” so the chances of being caught are high.

“The corrupt hoarding you did during your term was buying magic books and swords. Even knowing you couldn’t learn them yourself.”

As I was searching for a dignified way to dodge, Eve spoke first.

If Eve speaks first like this, there’s only one thing for me to do.

Nod.

Just nod along.

“Were you dreaming that dream? A dream no one has dared to chase for 300 years? …Really?”

Nod.

I’m not sure, but I guess so.

“…I see. Understood. Honestly, I thought you were just a stupid con artist… but I’ll have to change my mind a little. You’re stupid and a con artist, but… you’re the only idealist in Zefflin who dares to dream.”

Nod.

It sounds like I’m being insulted, but I don’t know what she’s talking about, so I decided to stick with just nodding.

“…Two hours have passed. I’ll wake the next watch.”

“Mhm.”

Eve brushed off her seat and went to wake the others, and I tilted my head as I watched her back.

“So what is that dream?”

My dream is to become the best convenience store manager in Zefflin.

“Don’t Zefflin kids dream of things like that?”

—

And the next day, we fought several battles.

Naturally, the deeper we went, the stronger the monsters in the Sleeping Mountain Range became.

Of course, if you stray off the paved road, even more dangerous things appear, but walking along the path the First Emperor laid down—the number of monsters increases somewhat, but the formations don’t change.

I think the setting is that the First Emperor placed some kind of barrier on the road, so that must be its effect.

“…Hoo. Hoo! We won again!”

“Any injuries? Any injuries?”

“None! Everyone’s safe!”

“Good! Let’s advance a bit more before the buff runs out!”

“Yes! Everyone, put one in your back teeth before the next battle starts!”

“Yes!”

At Eve’s instructions, everyone complied, placing a snack between their back teeth.

“Ha… What an incredible item. I never expected this much effectiveness.”

“Mhm.”

“Two magical effects in a single piece—this is really too dangerous to release on the market. I’ll have to contact the Trista family. Don’t you go acting recklessly either. This is… a genuinely dangerous item.”

I nodded.

The snacks I distributed to them were stacked-buff snacks made with Magical Patissier. The effects were two 9-tier buffs: 【Sleep Resistance】 and the identical 9-tier 【Lowest-grade Healing Promotion】.

Originally, when making Magical Patissier, buffs are applied randomly—and that hasn’t changed—but I used a trick here.

In short, the trick is: “If you make a large batch at once, you get more items with the same options.”

I made small batches until I got chocolate balls with Sleep Resistance attached, then duplicated them without using Patissier, and I cheated the same way with the flour-dough balls.

As a result, they hold one chocolate ball between their back teeth, and at each battle, they crunch down on it, activating two buffs while fighting.

Due to the nature of Magical Sweets—where buffs activate when you chew a single piece—the chocolate balls counted as one snack, and their size helped too.

“…Honestly, I don’t know what would have happened on this expedition without you, Wolfram.”

“Each piece is 30,000 lin.”

“If you disappeared right now, we wouldn’t have to pay, would we?”

“……”

“I’m joking. I’ll pay properly. …You said cards are accepted, and… do you happen to take installments or barter?”

“Barter incurs additional fees.”

“…Hoo. Understood. I’ll send you a list of items later.”

Nice deal.

—

After finishing about three battles like that, we finally arrived at the mountain lodge where the Black Flag was reportedly based.

We finally made it.

The 2-1 mission. The first battle I joined with Eve’s expedition force.

This is where Kelterus begins his ill-fated relationship with the Black Flag.

Looks like I can’t just refrain from advising Eve here.

This is a pretty important map and a branching point too. More than anything, Eve has a high chance of suffering emotional trauma.

“Eve. From here on…”

“No. You’ve helped us enough up to now. From here, we’ll handle it.”

“……”

This is exactly the same as the original dialogue too.

Well then, I have no choice but to let them do it themselves.

Now, my subordinates will break the barrier formation hanging there and enter.

“Then I’ll step back. My role as a war-support merchant is done.”

“Yes. Please do.”

“Listen to one piece of advice before I go.”

“……Say it.”

“The opponent is a group of troublemakers with a hundred years of history. No student council president has ever completely subjugated them.”

“…That’s right. And I’ll be the first.”

“Anyway. Assume there won’t be a second attack, and the moment it shows itself, strike it down with your holy light spear.”

“…I’ll take your advice to heart.”

After giving that much advice, I stepped back a few paces. That whole thing is… well, even a dive should be timed properly.

“…8-tier barrier formation. Breached!”

“Now, everyone get ready. We’re going in!”

They forced open the lodge door and entered, with the physically robust students at the forefront.

In the main story, this episode was quite symbolic.

Tied to the appearance of a new villain—and fate.

Let’s see. It’s about time for it to happen.

Ah. Here it comes.

Mana condensed inside the lodge, and with a *whoosh*, wind circled through the building before becoming a whirlwind.

“…Wh-what?!”

“Everyone, protect yourselves!”

Eve was the fastest to assess the situation, and soon the whirlwind that had been condensing itself to its limit burst outward with a massive *KABOOM*!

Ooh. Just like the original.

“Kyaa?!”

“Ugh!? Gah!?”

I also hid behind the cart and felt the cool breeze blowing past.

Students flew through the air and tumbled across the ground. But with their high magic department rankings, they didn’t take serious damage—that was the development.

However, they couldn’t block the impact, so everyone was either groggy or knocked back.

And then.

A girl in a black robe would step out from inside.

“Student council! It’s the student council! How was it? How was my attack? Surprised? Surprised? You were surprised, right? Of course—it’s my attack!”

Up to here, it’s the same. Mhm.

Now she says something like this.

“Making it all the way here—that’s amazing! Amazing! Right! I’m surprised too! So I’ll be running away now! See you later!”

Yeah. She says that and runs away.

You see it often, don’t you? A boss that always succeeds in escaping for story reasons.

Now that character becomes a walking plot hook, appearing occasionally in the future story to either help us or torment us, and later saying things like “Are you my enemy… or my ally…”—that insane concept character.

I stared intently at the child in the robe.

I know who she is and what her story is. So it feels quite nostalgic.

But I was curious.

No, this is genuinely personal curiosity.

She’s a boss with a trigger that guarantees her escape, right?

If a supporting character who popped out from the realm of extra stories blocks that kind of boss, does the trigger activate? Or not?

“Patrasche. Bite.”

“GRRRRRRRR!!!”

Well,

I decided to try it anyway.

What can I do.

If I’m curious, even if you get hit, you’ll just have to understand.