30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue

37 – 9. In the Academy field study, an assault always occurs. (1)

* * *

“May is so vivid, we grow…”

“These days, kids don’t know that song.”

“Maybe they’re pretending to be lovers these days. Ivan seems to be the youngest among us, considering the possession point.”

“…?!”

In the mysterious possession club room, where the name still hadn’t been decided, a heavy atmosphere of pain and sadness floated among the three possessors.

The three possessors lay face down among piles of books, their faces vacant.

“I’m a knight major, why do I have a written exam…”

“I have a status window, but no memo function…”

“Hates magic….”

In the pre-modern fantasy world, May is not a family month. However, if there is one thing common between Earth and the otherworld, it is the existence of exams in college.

“I envy Mr. Ivan. He’s like a rich adult without assignments or exams.”

“If you say that to Hyung-nim, you might be found as a transformed corpse the next day, Yuri.”

“It’s a good opportunity to be with my parents.”

“Well, now that I’ve roasted myself with self-deprecating humor, I can’t really argue.”

“But it means going back to Earth.”

Sadly, Yansk University is prestigious. The first midterms for freshmen in college are almost like a natural law of drinking.

In the face of a murderous exam scope and a dreadful pile of assignments, the possessed were gradually turning into icicles.

At this moment when all the possessed were trembling in the harsh pre-modern society, Ivan now…

“aaah!!”

“Hush, quiet down.”

He was pouring a healing potion on a student’s wounds.

“S-Save me…! aaah!!”

“That might not be what you should be saying.”

“I-I’m a…!”

“Hush. Choose your next words carefully.”

He sat next to the student who was foaming at the mouth and crying, calmly opening his mouth.

“Speak.”

“I won’t… I won’t throw cigarette butts on the ground again…!”

“And?”

“I won’t damage the trees on the street…!”

“Excellent.”

In front of the gardener, throwing cigarette butts under the trees is a heinous crime comparable to international law execution.

Taking into account that the opponent is still a young student, Ivan was conducting a free smoking cessation clinic for thirteen students.

Ep9. An assault is bound to happen during the academy field trip.

“Hey! Mister!!”

This is what happened after Ivan destroyed thirteen environmental destroyers.

In the peaceful campus, Ivan closed the lid of the healing potion.

Turning his head in the direction of the sound, he saw Isabelle waving her hand and running towards him in the distance.

“Hmm.”

“Greetings are usually like, ‘Hello,’ ‘Good morning,’ ‘Have you eaten?’ and all made up of similar words!”

Isabel approached with a lively smile, glancing around. After inspecting the thicket where blood and healing potions were smeared together, she made a grim expression.

“Uh… Was there a demon attack?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, thank you for your hard work! Someone was screaming during the exam period, so I thought maybe you killed someone again and came to check!”

“My image in your mind seems to be quite worrying.”

Isabel laughed and turned her head slightly. It was a sufficient response.

“Oh, by the way, can you help me a bit? I need some help from you…”

“Help?”

“Yeah, there’s a practical evaluation, and it’s too difficult. I mean, is it okay for the first semester midterms to be like this?”

“Hmm.”

Ivan pondered what he could do in the midterms of the Knight Department.

They probably didn’t teach things like interrogation of prisoners or espionage. Oh, perhaps it was about military strategy? Fortunately, with his experience in field command, he felt he could offer some advice in that area.

Lost in thought, Ivan, Isabel smiled and said, “Anti-ambush tactics!”

“Um…”

Teaching that to a first-year college student was a bit… a somewhat unusual class.

Ivan thought again about the usefulness of this university. Was a school like this really necessary?

Anyway, he could help within his capabilities. Both assault and counter-assault fell within the scope of his expertise.

“Enrique’s class, right?”

“Yes. I wonder where they intend to use what he teaches in the real world.”

“I’m curious about that too.”

Ivan nodded willingly and took the lead.

—

Fricencaia is a highly developed metropolis even within the United Kingdom. And this city in the primitive pre-modern era encompasses the entire vast metropolitan area.

In other words, there must be sufficient nearby resources such as farmland, plains, forests, and rivers. Fricencaia was no exception.

A forest stretched east of Fricencaia’s outer wall. Ivan arrived at the entrance of the forest with Isabel and stretched his body briefly.

“Thinking about that day when I come here. Wow, I really thought I was going to die that day.”

“Hmm.”

A faint scratch echoed somewhere in Ivan’s conscience triangle. Indeed, Ivan had conducted an experiment using Isabelle.

It was the kind of experiment to determine whether the protagonist would die in the tutorial.

Strictly speaking, it was necessary, but Ivan, being an honest person, felt the burden of conscience.

“Sir, you’re making a really unfortunate expression right now.”

“I originally have a smiling face.”

“I really want to smack you.”

Isabelle grumbled, narrowing her eyes.

“Well, the test site itself hasn’t been revealed yet. Whatever you do… Why did you come here?”

“Because Enrique lacks imagination.”

“…Excuse me?”

“If Enrique conducts ambush training, it will be either in Frechenka’s underground waterway or in this forest. If he had to choose a more challenging place, it would be here.”

Enrique is a very naive and dictatorial madman. Ivan nodded his head, recalling the old days with Enrique.

Like many elderly people who have lived for a long time, Enrique is a person who cannot be free from his prejudices.

Therefore, Ivan was confident. If she were to set an ‘ambush response’ test, it was highly likely to take place throughout the entire forest, given her personality.

“Understanding the examiner’s intention is the basics of a test-taker, isn’t it?”

“Wow, sir, you studied well?”

“I didn’t do poorly.”

While the students in this fantasy world couldn’t even imagine such things, students in South Korea receive mandatory education for 12 years from the age of 7.

“I’m pretty good at taking written exams. I’m confident that I’ll get mostly A’s in the practical exams too. But strangely, Professor Enrique’s classes are too difficult. Even during regular practical assessments, he’s so ruthless.”

“Enrique has always been like that.”

“Wow, sir, were you also from Yansk University? Are you a senior?”

“No, I didn’t go to college.”

Kim Sunwoo also didn’t obtain a college diploma. He entered this world after finishing military service for over 20 years.

For a moment, the inner Kim Sunwoo screamed with blood. Ivan continued to walk silently.

“Anyway! Yes, um… If you’ve learned something from Professor Enrique, you’re a senior, right? Um…”

“You don’t have to comfort me.”

How dare this pre-modern indigenous person.

“Yeah… a non-academic man who is good at studying. So, how did you prepare for Professor Enrique’s exams?”

“Prepare?”

Ivan chuckled and slipped his hand into his pocket. A small metal bead was grasped within.

He pulled it out, rolling it on the ground as he opened his mouth.

“It’s already begun.”

“Huh? What?”

-Boom!

The metal bead exploded, releasing a hazy mist.

From Noble mtl dot com

Isabel quickly stepped back, coughing. Smoke grenade? No, this is…

“You crazy man! Setting off explosives on a student!”

Ivan didn’t respond, disappearing into the smoke. Thud, thud. Rolling his feet twice, he soared above the trees, hiding in the shadows of the forest.

From behind the shadows, he whispered softly.

“Keep up with the level.”

“If you really get caught, you’re dead. I’ll shave you clean.”

“…Train them like it’s a real mission.”

Field training with the Extermination Unit, begin!

Ivan skillfully shot at Isabel, creating distance through the forest.

There was no need to exert full force. With Isabel’s almost fully developed sensory detection, one threatening shot was enough to demoralize her.

So, he used live ammunition. Directly threatening her life was the most effective way to fully enhance her sensory detection.

“Insane! Are you really insane? Shoot, shoot the gun!”

-Tang!

Every time she shouted, he aimed at her forehead, firing before retreating.

She must have learned a lesson from this. When the target becomes an ambush, move more discreetly than the opponent.

Ambushing is fundamentally like hunting. Hunter and prey need to blend into the surroundings to avoid each other’s gaze.

So, Isabel, dressed unnecessarily flamboyantly from the beginning, had already earned herself a failing grade.

Ivan smeared mud under his eyes, blocking the reflections, and nodded.

Clank, tang.

To disrupt Isabel’s focus, he fired shots behind cover, shifting his position.

“By the way, it’s an external field exercise.”

Ivan scanned the surroundings with sharp eyes. As he recalled, this forest was close to the Freichenkaya Capital Defense Army’s base.

In other words, it was a highly secure area. Therefore, Enrique could use the test site without much worry.

However, Ivan knew.

“It’s ‘common sense’ for an ambush to happen during field training….”

Being a highly rational person, Ivan decided to simultaneously pursue Isabelle’s training and search for signs of an attack.

*

Isabelle clutched at her torn skirt hem, trembling.

“What… is this, really…!!”

Why on earth! No, isn’t it normal, logically speaking, for a 10-year-old girl to think of a picnic when asked for simple training in the woods?

Not a date… but at least out of gratitude for being rescued at that time. Even if it’s just to express gratitude.

It was obvious she’d have no friends with that rough and villainous personality. So, even for a brief moment, she planned to be a friend.

Staring blankly at the picnic basket swept away by explosives and dirt, Isabelle shivered as she discovered the sandwich in disarray through the open lid.

“Mister.”

She chuckled, tying up her messy hair.

“This is really killing me.”

To impart ‘common sense’ to that lunatic undercover agent lacking in common sense.

A hero, awakened.