Juniang spoke to me after she returned to the nurse’s office.
“For your subject selection, you have been assigned to me.”
“Why?”
“No one came to me. It’s just the natural progression of things...”
It was a sad reason on both sides.
Of course, I didn’t make that obvious. I just asked, “The young heroes have been assigned teams, right? Do you know who is on my team?”
“Yeah. Should I tell you?”
I nodded.
I’d been with Evan, Mir, and Sharyl last time.
But my actions had already deviated from back then. Since I had one less point, it wouldn’t be odd if I was placed with a different team.However, Juniang’s response was truly unexpected.
“You’re alone.”
“Pardon?’
“You’re a one-man team. You’re alone, though it’s only temporary.”
“...How did that happen?”
“It’s probably a penalty for getting injured. Self-preservation is part of being a good hero.”
“...”
“So why did you fight the Instructor of the Hunt without knowing your place? That man doesn’t know how to go easy.”
He’d said he was holding back quite a bit.
However, the plan had been a success. My original goal had been to get hospitalized so I could meet Juniang.
But a one-man team...
Wasn’t this situation better for me?
Of course, since I was alone, it would be difficult to make it into the higher ranks in this test.
At my continued silence, Juniang said, “Don’t feel too down about it; it’s only for this special test. You will be assigned a fitting team later.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course, the gap between you and the rest will be enormous by then, but let’s focus on completing the camp.”
“...”
Why was a priest by trade so bad at consoling others?
“...By the way, Instructor, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“How does a high priest get selected?”
Juniang glanced at me and asked, “What do you mean?”
“When Bednicker chooses someone, they don’t just casually investigate and research the candidate’s background and career. From what I know, there weren’t many points in Instructor Juan’s life when the cult could’ve made contact with him. One thing we know for certain is that he wasn’t born a cultist.”
“...”
“Meaning he became a cultist because they recruited him... but to be recruited into such an important position as ‘high priest’, has he really contributed enough for that?”
Juniang looked away from me for a moment before picking the cigarette up from the table and lighting it with a match.
Tsch.
“Do you know about the cult leader?”
“I don’t know too much.”
“That guy...”
Fuu...
Her voice, mixed in with the smoke, reached my ears.
“Knows how to control dreams.”
“...Like a dream demon?”
“Yeah.”
I blinked at the information I was hearing for the first time in my life. Then, suddenly, I had a thought.
“Is this perhaps top-secret information?”
“You noticed. It’s my repayment to you for revealing your own secret. Don’t go talking about it anywhere.”
“...”
“As a controller of dreams, the cult leader doesn’t care about time or space. If he wants to meet someone, he can just enter their dreams. It hasn’t been confirmed, but I’ve heard that he can make you feel hundreds of different things in a single night’s dream.”
“Hmm...”
“Of course, just because he has met someone doesn’t mean he can fully control them. And I don’t think it’s easy for him to use it either. That’s why most of the high priests who have died were people without name or status.” Juniang lowered her voice and continued, “If Juan is a high priest, he’s a very special case among high priests.”
That was likely the case.
An executive of a secret organization with a deep history... Most people selected for such a position would come from within the organization and would have been nurtured for said position.
Or perhaps they’d be an orphan without any records.
As someone from a famous house, Juan didn’t fit either case.
“...”
The photograph I’d found in his drawer flashed through my mind, but I decided to ignore the pointless thought.
“Did you talk with the knight captain?”
I was talking about Rook.
“Yeah. I relayed your story as well.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he would follow along for now, but he’ll move by his own judgment.”
So he was going to hide and look for an opening this time as well?
I thought he might be overly cautious, but since I had seen the results of his cautiousness, I could accept it.
“What are you going to do about your test tomorrow? Are you going to take it?”
“I’m thinking of skipping it for now... but could I look at the buy list just in case?”
“Sure.”
I received the buy list from Juniang and looked through it.
“By the way, has Calzark said anything?”
Juniang shook her head.
“No. He hasn’t said anything.”
***
The schedule for the young heroes usually ended at 10 in the evening, and other than those on night watch, the instructors usually went to sleep at 11.
Meaning that after that time, it was possible to leave the camp without anyone noticing.
Step.
Hearing the footsteps, Juan looked away from the particularly dark night sky.
“You’re here.”
“...”
Calzark revealed his presence.
Juan spread his senses for a moment, confirming that no one else was nearby, and nodded.
“You came alone, as you promised.”
“I didn’t promise anything. I’m not here to talk either.”
“What do you mean?”
Calzark reached behind his back.
Juan noticed too late because of the darkness: Calzark had a long spear strapped to his back.
A spear that Calzark threw in front of Juan.
Clang.
“Pick it up.”
“What?”
“For the first time in a while, let’s spar, Instructor of Spears.”
With a grim expression, Juan asked, “Do you not trust me?”
“I’ll ask you this instead: why should I trust you? Because we were comrades? Because we’ve known each other for a long time?”
“I said I would give you an explanation you can accept.”
“Don’t speak nonsense. Do you still not know? I’m not educated. It doesn’t matter no matter how much you talk.”
Schwing.
Calzark drew his sword.
“It’s been five years since I last saw you. I had to chase that damned snake around, so I wasn’t able to focus on honing my swordsmanship... What about you? Mr. Instructor of Spea—Martial Arts.”
Calzark kicked the spear up with the tip of his foot.
“If you’re the person I knew, then you won’t have skipped out on your training no matter how busy you became. Let’s do this. If your martial strength hasn’t changed since five years ago, you will die by my hands here today.”
“...Hah.”
Juan smirked.
“Interesting.”
* * * * *
* * * * *
Come alone?
What nonsense.
That was what Calzark thought in his heart.
If Juan had noticed that he was a suspect, he should’ve shut up and brought evidence that could prove his innocence.
Then Calzark would attest to his innocence.
Of course, Calzark trusted Luan, but Luan could’ve misunderstood something.
...Of course, Calzark knew the odds of that was minuscule.
He had learned that that small kid wasn’t ordinary back in the mountain range.
However—
Clang!
When the gap between them shrunk, Calzark’s sword slammed into the body of the spear.
Juan was the one who stepped back.
Crunch.
With just this one attack, Calzark realized.
Yeah. He had changed.
Becoming weaker was still a change.
The spearmanship Calzark had experienced five years ago had been much sharper than this.
Meaning this man hadn’t trained his martial arts in the last five years.
Then what—
The man who had swung his sword until he got sores on his hand, the one who had purchased every martial arts book that money could buy...
For five long years—
Creak.
Calzark ground his teeth, and flames danced in his eyes.
“Why did you devote yourself to the cult, Juan!”
Slash!
He bisected the spear in one strike.
After disarming Juan, Calzark kicked him in the chest.
The moment Juan faltered and fell over, Calzark’s sword moved to his jugular.
A drop of blood dripped down his sword.
“If I said it was to save Barbara... would you believe me?”
Seeing Juan’s defeated smile, Calzark gritted his teeth once more.
“Shut the hell up. There’s no way that you, a man of the Imperial Guard Unit, wouldn’t know that the cult’s most common lie is promising to bring people back.”
“Thinking about it now... were we like this when we first met? In that barren wilderness in the south, the cult performed quite a few revival rituals. The Keltron Mercenaries, Hero Institution Heroes, and Imperial Palace’s first joint mission ... do you remember, Calzark? That was when you, Barbara, and I first met.”
“...”
“We liked Barbara’s smile.”
Calzark’s tone softened as he said, “Barbara’s death is unfortunate, but the living must continue living.”
“Are you being serious when you say that?” Juan glared at Calzark. “Now that I think about it, you never asked me how she died. Answer me, does Barbara not mean anything to you anymore? Or... did she never mean anything to you?”
“You...”
“Thinking about it, that would make more sense. You ignored the living Barbara’s affection for you while you ran off looking for your dead sibling’s soul.”
Kekeke. Juan’s disturbing laugh echoed out.
“Calzark, are we so different? We are both obsessing over someone who is already dead.”
“If Barbara could see you now, she would curse.”
“...”
“She would punch you in the head and tell you to stop focusing on something so stupid. That’s the kind of woman she was.”
“...Yeah. Stubborn beyond belief, she was,” Juan said with a bitter smile.
Calzark gritted his teeth.
“Die.”
The determination in his eyes was interrupted by a flash of hesitation, but it only lasted a short moment.
Stab.
Calzark’s sword pierced Juan’s neck.
The sound of gurgling blood...
A disgusting feeling spread through Calzark’s hand.
Looking directly into the eyes of his friend, he withdrew his sword.
Splash.
Blood squirted out from the wound. Juan stumbled a bit before collapsing face-first to the ground.
“...”
Calzark staggered a little as he moved away and leaned against a nearby tree.
The clear sound of forest insects irritated his ears.
Calzark suddenly felt like he was going to throw up.
He suddenly realized that it had been quite a while since he had last killed a person. He had stayed in the mountains for a long time, only killing monsters.
But this feeling of disgust didn’t seem to only come from the act of killing.
“...You’re right. She was stubborn.”
She was too generous to me. The moment Calzark swallowed those words...
“Yeah. If she’d been a little more flexible, I wouldn’t have needed to kill her.”
He heard a voice he never expected.
Calzark responded on instinct.
“What?”
Crack!
Something flew in and cut into Calzark’s abdomen.
Calzark instinctively swung his sword to cut it away, but this unknown entity was so tough that not even a mark was left by his sword.
Bang!
Calzark was pushed back and nailed to the tree.
His face contorted from the pain he felt in his stomach.
Drip...
The something that had pierced his abdomen disappeared slowly, and he heard Juan’s voice from a fair distance away.
“I was planning on cutting you in half at the waist, but you reacted immediately... you’ve gotten stronger, Calzark.”
“You...”
“Despite being stuck in those mountains for many years, I guess your growth never stopped. What an envious amount of talent.”
Juan slowly rose, brushing his clothes.
“...That is what my past self would’ve thought. But not anymore, Calzark. Even with you in front of me, I feel confident. This must also be the blessing of the great god of disaster.”
The hole made in his neck by Calzark’s sword continued to flow with blood, but Juan didn’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort because of it.
“...Juan.”
“Did I look like a tragic person? Or did you think I devoted myself to the forces of evil because of some noble ambition? Did you really think someone like that could have reached the position of high priest?”
Juan let out a wicked laugh.
“You’re too naive, you idiot. You lost all your sense after living in the mountains for too long. You were much sharper than this in the past...”
“...You bastard.”
“Goodbye, Calzark. You were once a friend. To be honest, it wasn’t good to see you.”
A green tongue flicked around Juan’s mouth.
It seemed that that tongue was what had struck his abdomen.
Disgusting...
Calzark couldn’t help but sigh at himself for having that thought in this situation.
The moment the tongue flicked toward him again, a sword flew in from behind Calzark.
Clang!
They clashed in midair, and the tongue was deflected.
The sword that had intercepted the attack landed in front of Calzark, and he noticed it was much worse for wear than he’d expected.
“It seems our roles have swapped compared to when we were in the mountains.”
Calzark forced a smirk.
“...You brat. I pierced his head that time.”
“That was a small fry.”
With the sound of steps, Luan revealed himself.
Juan tilted his head in confusion.
“Young Hero Luan? Leaving the campgrounds without permission will lose you points—”
“Calzark came here alone out of respect for you.”
Luan picked up the Sword of Seven Sins and placed it in its sheath on his hip.
“I don’t know if it’s because you were friends or because you were both grand masters, but he’s too inflexible.”
“...”
“Whereas our Lord of Blood and Iron says this: never converse or negotiate with cultists...” Luan smirked. “Now I understand why.”
“Aha.” Juan smirked as well. “So it was you, the one who exposed my identity.”