Chapter 7

Due to the anomaly, our objective, which should have ended with occupying Outpost 28, changed to collecting fruits and retreating.

Escape was impossible.

Viscount Lemming, who perfectly knew our location, would immediately launch artillery shells from his airship the moment he detected any suspicious movement.

If we were going to die either way, wouldn't it be right to gamble on the option with even a slightly higher chance of survival?

With grim faces, we prepared for battle.

"Damn Viscount Lemming... Those nobles, tearing them to shreds wouldn't be satisfying enough! If they can use such bombardment, shouldn't they be supporting us with it, not firing at their own!"

Theo was thoroughly enraged.

It was as if he was intensely burning the fear of approaching death with his anger, and I wondered if he might even burn himself out.

Conversely, Lirisa was calm.

Initially, she was extremely flustered, but it was clear that she soon accepted her situation and tried her best within it.

And I stood before the tree, which could be called the root cause of all these events.

Splash.

Shallow lake water swirled around my ankles.

Disregarding my wet shoes, I gazed at the tips of the beautifully glowing tree branches.

A few tree fruits had formed there.

However, they were still small.

The faint light emitted by the tiny, fingernail-sized fruits was precarious, as if they could extinguish at any moment.

But once fully ripe, the fruits would absorb all surrounding light and shine as brilliantly as jewels.

"Did my soldiers feel this way too?"

Suddenly, I thought of Odin's soldiers.

I wondered if my soldiers also felt similar emotions on their first deployment, and I found myself lost in memories.

[Master. Finally, your first deployment. I'm very excited.]

[I'll sweep them all away without leaving a single one!]

"...Maybe not."

I had forgotten for a moment.

My soldiers, though called "recruits," were veterans forged in battle, or rather, resembled berserkers frenzied with slaughter.

As if they didn't fear combat or death.

Thinking about it, given D&K's high level of AI, it made sense that there would be some soldiers terrified of death and at a loss.

But since I didn't remember struggling with such issues, I wasn't sure if my soldiers were unique or if all White Soldiers were like that.

I remember that "incompetent" referred to disobedient soldiers, but there were no soldiers who cried and trembled in fear of fighting like the blonde.

"It's done!"

I had only intended to check the status of the fruits for a moment, but it seemed I had spent too much time reminiscing about the past.

Theo's fervent shout next to me brought me back to reality.

I opened my eyes and looked up.

The condition of the fruits was distinctly different from before.

They glowed resplendently in various colors, imbued with much of the surrounding light, and their size had grown to about a human's fist.

Now was the perfect time to harvest the fruits.

I was about to move immediately, but Lirisa was already climbing the tree.

This meant I wasn't the only one whose heart was racing due to the ever-tightening enemy encirclement.

"Lirisa. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Theo. Even though I look like this, I was quite mischievous as a child. My younger brother and I used to climb trees together and often got scolded by our parents. I'm used to it."

Whether her words about being "used to it" were true or not, she nimbly climbed the tree like a monkey and reached the branch tips.

The slender branch bent significantly, as if it would break at any moment.

Whether she wasn't scared, or if the impending engagement with the enemies was several times more terrifying.

She successfully harvested the fruits without a care.

There were a total of four fruits on the branch.

Considering that the usual harvest yield was 2–3 fruits, it was a good harvest.

"It's done! Now we just need to quickly retreat to the rendezvous point..."

Throb.

Another pang of pain.

And a message appeared before my eyes.

Uh... I've arrived and there are Alliance soldiers.

What should I do?How many are there?

Three.

What? Only three?

You can handle them with just regular soldiers, so quickly wipe them out and secure the fruits.

jjust one of those fruits can make you jump 2–3 levels at once.

Congratulations in advance.

Thank you!

"Escape... will be difficult."

The enemies were already right in front of us, and we had been discovered.

Considering that their soldiers were composed of fast runners, escape would be difficult.

I pulled out the Cave Rose that I had carefully kept in my bag.

Lirisa, who had jumped down from the tree, looked at my face with a puzzled expression.

"What is that flower? And... why do you look like that? Like you bit into a bug."

"...Because it's a waste."

It was an extremely rare item that could absorb a total of 12 magic when consumed through the growth system.

It seemed that a hard-to-describe expression involuntarily appeared on my face because it was a waste to consume it in this manner.

But what could I do?

It was a waste, but there was no choice if I wanted to increase our chances of winning even a little.

I tore off the stem of the Cave Rose, gathered only the petals in my hand, and crushed them.

Leaving Lirisa, who was startled, behind me, I tipped the crushed petals into my mouth.

The taste was horrible.

I had never eaten it before, but I imagined chewing on lipstick would taste and feel like this.

Still, the results were clear.

You consumed the Cave Rose. 3 magic is accumulated in your body.

Physical abilities slightly increase due to the rise in magic.

Name: Ryan Kaltz.

Level: 1.

Attribute: None.

Strength: 10 Agility: 9

Spirit: 15 Endurance: 12

Reflexes: 12 Resistance: 4

Magic: 0+4

Potential: Unknown.

Growth available: Details

'One strength. And two agility... one endurance.'

I had worried about the stats being concentrated in areas that weren't very meaningful for immediate combat, such as spirit or resistance.

It was fortunate amidst misfortune.

Now, all that remained was to make Lirisa, who was visibly flustered, understand.

"...Why are you eating that?"

"It's like an anjeonghwan."

"......?"

"It's just something like that. Something you take when you're nervous... like medicine. More importantly, Lirisa, Theo. It seems like escaping will be difficult. Get your weapons ready."

"......!"

The two, who had been highly tense, quickly drew their weapons as soon as I finished speaking.

The sound of my rapidly beating heart, which had been fast for a while, was now so loud that other sounds were almost inaudible.

We instinctively stood back to back.

Body heat, an undeniable tremor, was transmitted.

And.

Thud!

A dull sound came from below my feet.

It was an arrow, more than half buried in the dirt.

"......"

I gasped for breath.

I didn't even perceive the arrow flying, let alone react.

If the enemy archer's skill had been just a little better, a hole would have been pierced somewhere in my body by an arrow.

"Hide!"

Theo's shout barely held onto my reason, which was about to slip away.

I hid behind the building wall of the outpost.

And protected the exposed parts with my shield.

Thud!

A strong impact was delivered to the hand holding the shield.

"Ugh...!"

I barely swallowed the scream that was about to burst out.

I must not be dominated by fear.

If I didn't stay alert, this would be my grave.

I composed myself and checked the direction from which the arrow had come.

Through the trees, I saw an archer pulling an arrow from a quiver and aiming it at the bowstring.

'Is there only one archer?'

Fortunately, perhaps because the archer's skill was not high, there was a lack in all aspects, including accuracy and rate of fire.

The most troublesome in combat were ranged combat units: archers and mages.

Normally, according to my style, I would quickly infiltrate with highly skilled heroes to prioritize taking out archers or mages, but that tactic was unusable now.

In that case, it would be right for us to use ranged attacks as well.

Among us, Lirisa was the one equipped with a ranged attack method.

She was trembling, hidden under the wooden palisade right next to the building where I had hidden myself.

"Lirisa!"

"Y-yes?"

Still, she wasn't completely out of it; when I called her name, she startled and looked up.

I ran to her side.

When an arrow grazed my shoulder in the process, my heart almost leaped out of my mouth.

"Lirisa. There is only one enemy archer. Their position is over there, between the trees visible to the northwest. I will block the incoming arrows, so please shoot the archer with your bow, Lirisa."

"I... I have experience shooting a bow when I was young, so I can hold a bow... but I'm not confident I can hit anything."

"You don't have to hit them directly. It's enough to pose a threat and suppress the opponent's attack."

"If that's the case... I'll try."

Lirisa nodded, gripping her bow tightly.

I stood up, timing it carefully.

Next to the archer who was drawing the bowstring, several White Soldiers holding weapons appeared.

Their intention was to close the distance while we were suppressed by ranged attacks.

The archer, having confirmed that I had stood up, shot an arrow at me.

Whether it was luck, or if I had become accustomed to it after having been shot at a few times, the arrow flew in an arc towards my head.

Thud!

“…Fuck.”, seriously..."

Choosing the shield was probably the best decision I had made.

Lirisa, confirming the arrow embedded in the shield, quickly stood up.

The bow was already strung.

Lirisa quickly identified the enemy's position and drew the bowstring.

The arrow, released from the string, cut through the air, and the White archer, seeing the arrow flying towards them, startled, ducked their head, and hid in the bushes.

But that was rather a poor judgment.

Lirisa's arrow accurately penetrated the bushes where the archer had hidden.

Though there was no scream, everyone here would have known that her arrow had hit the enemy.

"...I-it hit."

Even she herself, who had fired the arrow, mumbled in disbelief.

And no more enemy arrows flew.

The White Soldiers, having confirmed their comrade had fallen, seemed enraged and rushed forward at increased speed.

Lirisa fumbled to string the next arrow, but due to her lack of skill combined with her haste, her speed seemed to decrease even further.

'There are fifteen enemy regular soldiers in total. Lirisa shot one, so now fourteen? That's disgustingly many.'

I stepped forward.

The fastest White Soldier was already right in front of me.

"Die—!"