Joint Combat Practice 2 (9)
Sylvania Academy’s living and teaching buildings are full of various facilities, but the one that stands out most often is the ‘plaza’.
The central plaza of the faculty building, student plaza, eastern plaza, and academic academy plaza. The main square of the living building, the square of each dormitory, the market street, and even the entrance square.
From grand and large squares to simple and small squares. The reason why there are so many open spaces is to provide students with as many places to rest as possible.
As if in response, there are quite a few students in the square doing photosynthesis while enjoying the scent of late spring. Faculty members, merchants from the residential area, and even outsiders come and go in the plaza in their own way, enjoying the midday peace.
The entrance plaza here is like the face of the school that greets you for the first time after passing the Maxes Bridge and the main gate of Sylvania.
Ed and Clarisse were crossing the center of the square. It looked like Edgar was pulling Clarisse’s hand. Naturally, the attention of those around me was flocking to me.
“Senior Ed. we… Time for this… I don’t have time for this… !”
The two knights escorting Clarisse tried to dissuade Ed as if they were embarrassed. However, he couldn’t use force because when he drew his sword, Clarisse became as angry as fire.
It’s pointless to use force, but Clarisse looks embarrassed to just leave it alone.
However, right now, the two knights have a mission to take Clarice to the Trix House. Ed’s intentions are unknown, but for now, he unexpectedly prevented a situation where he was driving a carriage outside the school… I decided to monitor the situation further.
However, that doesn’t mean that Ed did anything particularly amazing or special.
I dragged Clarice with me and sat her down at a sunny wooden table near a tree. And after putting down the drink he had bought at the student cafeteria, he sat down across from me and swiped my face a few times.
Ed also finds the current situation sudden and embarrassing. The information given right now is limited.
Clarice’s claim that time is repeating itself out of nowhere. And he proved that fact by calling up the military number that was given to him in the distant past… At the end of this joint combat practice, it is said that Seongchangryong will be resurrected and destroy Aken Island.
Now that things have come to this, we must assume that everything the saint says is true.
That’s right, Clarice’s behavior was so strange. He suddenly comes to Ed, who is in front of the Glokt Building, grabs his arm, drags him into a carriage, and pulls the carriage out of the school, telling him that he has to run away.
Unless he went crazy, he wouldn’t abandon his duties and do something like this.
“like this… There’s no time to rest, Senior Ed. And then… I’m going to die again… . This time, we have to cross the bridge and run away along the coast… . Surely if you go over to the continent and run along the coast, you might find some more sturdy and remote hiding places… . Of course, it’s unlikely, but… First of all, if there is something similar to a coastal cave… .”
“Saint.”
When Ed called softly, Clarice seemed to have suddenly come to her senses and swallowed a sigh of relief. Ed added:
“Please remain calm. “Let’s take a deep breath first.”
“I don’t have time for that… ! now… I want to stop seeing my senior die… . Painfully… every time… Dying while protecting me… now stop… I want to stop watching… . So, we have to go quickly now… . After something happens, Maxes Bridge is blocked… ! If not now… .”
“it’s okay.”
“There’s no way it’s going to be okay… ! If you don’t move now, you’ll die a painful death… ! Something like that… You don’t like that… ! I don’t like it either… ! This time… Senior… I hope you survive… .”
“I told you it was okay.”
After talking to that point, the light suddenly returns to Clarisse’s eyes and she looks at Ed.
Seeing Ed not making a move, but just continuing to tell me he was okay… Only then does Clarisse come to her senses.
“… Senior Ed… .”
From the time I met Ed in front of Glokt Hall until the end of joint combat practice.
How many times have we struggled to find a solution in this short period of time?
From Ed’s perspective, it’s hard to know. It can only be inferred from the scratches on the saint’s body.
“I… I’m not sure anymore… .”
Clarisse lowered her head and shed tears again. By this point, her tear ducts would have dried up, but her emotions continued to shake her composure in a cruel way.
“I tried everything I could think of. I tried pulling senior Ed by force, trying to run away in this way, hiding in that way, I tried everything… really… I’ve tried all the trivial hopes and tiny possibilities, but nothing works… . There’s really nothing going on… .”
Clarisse spoke as if she were wiping away tears and pouring out them.
Students passing through the plaza looked at the amazing sight and whispered to each other, and the guard soldiers, who had no idea what was going on, couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat as if they were embarrassed.
Ed, who was looking at the frustrated saint… She stood up quietly, and she sat down next to him. Then he grabbed Clarice’s arm, took out the ointment for wounds he had bought at the student store, and applied it quickly.
“Seniors?”
“First of all, a saint must protect her own body as the highest priority. “It is a truly fatal risk that her wounds will not heal.”
Ed had already finished organizing all his thoughts as he brought Clarisse to the square.
From Ed’s perspective, the information given was extremely limited, but it was enough to provide some insight into the situation.
First of all, the scratches on the saint’s body were strange. There was no way that the saintly woman who came out dressed up to say that she was going to meet her saint would face her Trix coffin with her body full of scars exposed like this.
“The protection of the Holy Law that the Saint is surrounded by is the power to protect the Saint’s body from all threats that are hostile to the Saint or have ‘intent to attack’. Also, I heard that the saint who receives the blessings of Telos, the main goddess, is resistant to all types of sexual magic.”
Archbishop Verdio, who always reads minds like a mind reader. He was said to use the magic of magic to penetrate the hearts of others, but that was the reason why he could not use it on the saint Clarice.
Those who have been baptized by a saint have resistance to all types of magic. In the first place, the very act of trying to harm a saint who stood at the top of the church using the church’s holy magic was impossible.
“then… Do you know what these scars mean… ?”
“The wounds… Meaning… ?”
Now the saint is blocked by a dead wall.
Although he tried every means available to him, he was unable to escape from the Holy Spear Dragon, Velbroke, and was frustrated.
In that case, what Ed must do is to suggest a new direction to such a saint.
“In the first place, this phenomenon of rewinding time itself was realized through Holy Law. Therefore, the memories of the saint who receives the protection of the Holy Law will not disappear, nor will the wounds on her body rewind.”
“… … .”
“In the end, if we were to find the culprit of this incident, it would be said that the culprit is a member of the religious order who uses holy magic.”
“that… but… .”
It’s not like Clarice didn’t consider the possibility at all.
It was Ed who discovered and informed us that the magic circle that embroidered the sky in the first place was also a mixture of sacred magic and star magic.
However, no matter how hard you search, you cannot find out the whereabouts of the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop. The same goes for the alley in Gyosu-dong where the magic circle blooms. If you go there every day, you will only find the place full of fearful students.
If you search every building, every room, and every corner of Sylvania, you won’t know… To do that in this short period of time until joint combat training ends… I have no idea how many times I will have to face that hell. Sylvania Academy was too large.
Moreover, if those two people had decided to hide, there is a possibility that they would not be found even if they searched for a hundred days with the fern-like hands and feet of a saint. If that happens, it really is a dead end.
“Okay… Yes… . In the first place, the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop must have entered Sylvania through the Maxes Bridge, so their route of movement would have to be limited to the surrounding area… .”
“Yes that’s right. However, if you see something that is not easily identified, there is a high possibility that it was disguised, used magic to conceal its actions, or moved in a way that others did not know about. First of all, where the Holy Emperor’s carriage is… “It would be easier to investigate from the carriage storage area near the entrance.”
“What was the reason for moving to such an extent to avoid the eyes of others?”
“Looking at it, it definitely wasn’t a dignified reason.”
After talking so much, Clarice’s wounds were already heavily medicated.
Ed patted Clarisse’s arm and threw the remaining ointment on the table.
When Clarisse came to her senses, her trembling voice had subsided and her tears had dried.
Only then did Clarisse notice. Ed had noticed that Clarisse was already cornered and on the verge of collapse.
Those who have hit their heads against dead ends time and time again long for the same thing.
“Do you see a new direction now?”
Ed had some guesses.
If Clarice was truly repeating time, this would be the empty narrative part of Act 3 that remained uncharted territory.
It is said that this is also part of the affair, but unlike previous affairs, Ed does not fully know the truth this time.
However, we know the outcome.
The Holy Spear Dragon of creation, sealed by the Sword Saint of the beginning, and maintained by the great sage Sylvania.
Even for an archmage, it is not easy to break the seal that is embodied in a huge legal formation beneath the ground of Aken Island. No, most people don’t even know the existence of the seal in the first place.
In Act 3, there was no such thing as the Holy Spear Dragon Velbroke being resurrected.
Seong Changryong Velbroke is strictly the final chapter boss.
It shouldn’t appear at this point, and even if it does, there’s no way to stop it.
In the first place, it was an enemy that was only captured at the end of every story. If we say that the saint captured or killed him here, the story doesn’t fit together.
If that’s the case… There is only one possibility left. By preventing the resurrection itself in the first place, it was reverted to something that never happened.
So, there is only one direction that Ed can provide to the saint.
“Running away is not the answer. “We must find the root cause of the problem and eliminate it.”
I understand. It is a mythical dragon that divides islands and tears the sky. Isn’t this a monster that turns the entire area into hell with just a few attacks?
When a criminal encounters something like that, all he can think about is running away. The same goes for all humans who face a huge disaster.
But now, things won’t proceed just like that. I had to remind myself of that fact.
“Even if you succeed in escaping, if time rewinds, isn’t it all back to square one…?” ? So what’s the point?”
“I know that… . still… I don’t know what to do… What you can do right now… The only thing I can do is run away… .”
“First of all, gather your mind and make up your mind. You are so tired. “The saint is doing well enough so far.”
Clarice’s haggard appearance. Ed patted his back and spoke softly.
Clarisse took a deep breath and… He was once again in Ed’s arms.
It was very embarrassing for Ed, and it was embarrassing for the people around him and the guards. However, Ed suppressed his embarrassment as best as he could and slowly brushed his hair.
“How many times did you repeat it in the first place?”
“I don’t know… . I was definitely counting at first… After ten times, I just… I forgot… .”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Clarice buried her head in Ed’s chest, sniffling, and stayed still for a long time.
* * *
They say there are people worth asking for help. Ed definitely said that.
Clarice wondered how much it would mean to ask someone for help in a situation like this… Ed already had some of the truth in his mind.
“Listen carefully, saint. Ultimately, the key to this is finding the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop. Once we find those two and find out the truth about the magic of rewinding time, we will be able to make any progress. “There are only two people in the academy who can use that level of sexual magic.”
Clarice placed her left hand in Ed’s right hand and followed suit, holding his arm tightly. He seemed to be holding Ed tightly, afraid that he might disappear somewhere.
From Ed’s perspective, it felt like too much skinship, but considering the saintess’s emotional distress, it was something he couldn’t resist.
“I looked for it several times… . I repeated this over and over again, but I never heard any news from the Holy Emperor or the Archbishop. It’s also strange. I can’t believe the actions of such noble people are so shrouded in mystery. “A lot of eyes and ears must have been focused.”
The gaze of those around me stings. The sight of Saint Clarice clinging to Ed was a sight that was difficult to tell whether it was a dream or reality.
From Clarisse’s point of view, he is a colleague who has been with her through life and death, but from the perspective of the bachelor’s students, she appears to have become obsessed overnight. Actually, that’s right… The hardship was Ed’s share.
Ed headed to the student center, breaking out in a cold sweat.
The place Ed walked into was the nail hall where 1st and 2nd year students were practicing combat.
“Saint… It should fall slowly… . Even if it’s only from the outside… You can’t just go into the sparring hall where there are students in training like this… .”
Ed tried to stop her, but Clarice just shook her head and cried.
In the first place, once this episode ends, the relationship between Clarisse and Ed will go back to the beginning. From Clarisse’s perspective, she couldn’t have been pampered like this, not once.
You have to pull yourself together and be strong. However, I can’t help my desire to cling to Ed for as long as I’m allowed.
Once this joint combat training is over, he will risk his life to protect Clarice at all costs.
“… … .”
Ed wiped his face once, made up his mind, and opened the door to the nail salon’s sparring room.
―Kwaang! Kwaaaaaaaa!
―Hwiik, hwaaaaaaaaa!
Act 3, Scene 5, a joint combat practice episode, is in full swing. On the sparring field, Wade and Tailley were exchanging moves.
Wade swings his sword in an attempt to get Taily to attack him, but Taily, who has already reached the point where he is on the growth track, does not allow Wade’s sword.
However, Wade’s defense is also formidable. In the end, the moment Taily decided to perform the basic sword training ritual, Wade would lose his fighting spirit and drop his sword.
Ed was able to fully anticipate what would happen next.
The next opponent would probably be Claude, the chief of the pension department.
Although he puts pressure on Taily using all kinds of hallucinogenic reagents and basic magic combinations, he will eventually be overpowered.
And, unable to overcome his competitive spirit, he will drink the banned reagent. The subsequent drawings were still going as Ed expected.
However, Ed’s purpose is not to witness the duel.
As it is a relatively large nail hall, the number of spectators is also large. Just because the door was slightly open didn’t draw attention. Only the attention of a few students around the entrance was focused. However, when she saw the saintess clinging tightly to Ed and not letting go, her mouth was wide open in shock.
Time will go back anyway. Ed self-suggested like that, gritting his teeth and ignoring his gaze.
I made my way through the crowd of students whose eyes were focused on the duel, and eventually found one student in the opposite corner, leaning against the wall and watching the duel. She was a female student wearing a dark red school uniform coat and a robe over it. Since she is a second-year student and a member of Class A, this student will probably also have quite a bit of combat practice.
Ed stood next to him, looked up at the duel table, and spoke quietly.
“Sell some information.”
The girl reacted to the voice and briefly raised her eyes, looking strangely surprised.
In the first place, Ed is not a person who should be here at this time. He is a person who should have gone to the Glokt Hall for the combat practice assigned to him. There is no reason to suddenly show up at the nail hall where 1st and 2nd graders are sparring.
“oh.”
However, the girl did not ask for detailed information. She simply swept her auburn hair, which was neatly braided to one side, as she looked up at her duel stand side by side.
“It’s a welcome face in a place like this. “Have you ever done anything profitable?”
“well. “I’m not sure about that.”
Girl―― Lortel Kecheln always smiles like a fox.
Even if it appears so suddenly, there is no way to panic. Even in the face of any unexpected situation, his thoroughly rational side does not disappear.
This young merchant who only operates in the dark appears to be extremely thin, but if you dig into the truth, he has this Sylvanian lifestyle in his pocket… He is the real power behind the scenes.
All information flows in the living area go through the Elte Chamber of Commerce.
And all information from the Elte Company passes through the ears of the head of the company, Lortel Kecheln.
― ‘Saint… There are inspection personnel on the Maxes Bridge side. It is said that Elte Company’s trade goods are currently crossing through the Maxes Bridge. ‘The situation is very chaotic due to the goods wagons and escort mercenaries, so they ask you to wait for a moment.’
On the way back from Maxes Bridge to the student center, Ed saw Elte Company’s logistics procession filling up the bridge. Considering the level of complexity, it was definitely not at a level that could be sorted out in just one or two hours.
Didn’t they say that the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop came through the Maxes Bridge in the first place? The reason why the logistics flow on the Maxes Bridge was so temporarily paralyzed was probably because the two VIPs had to stop for a while as they passed over the bridge.
then… The numerous merchants of the Elte Chamber of Commerce must have seen the successful procession with their own eyes.
In addition, the staff at the carriage depot, who would have taken care of the royal carriages, are also employees of the commercial district of Saenghwang-dong. In the first place, no matter where those two people went, they would not have been able to avoid the eyes of the merchants in the residential building.
The commercial area of the living area is entirely the area of Lortel Kecheln. In a residential building, not even a single gold coin rolling on the floor can escape her surveillance.
That’s what she asks herself. There is no way to find out about Seonghwang’s movements faster than that.
so that… Ed was willing to give Lortel no matter how much he asked. I’ve said this time and time again, but time will go back anyway.
“There is someone who needs to be found urgently. At least we have to find it before joint combat training ends. “I’ll give you whatever money you ask for.”
“What… It’s a bit of a sudden story… .”
Lortel looked up at the sparring room, slowly stood up and turned to Ed.
Even though it was a somewhat sudden request, he seemed more relaxed. Yes, Lortel Kecheln was a strong-willed person who could maintain composure in any situation… .
“… Eh?”
When I saw the saintess hugging Ed’s arm tightly and looking at him with melancholy eyes… I had no choice but to swallow my breath.
Even after washing my eyes and checking again, the face was clearly that of Saint Clarice, the pinnacle of the Telos Church and the one who received the respect of all believers.
“… … ????”
No matter how cool-headed and insightful a person may be, it was difficult to predict such a scene.
Ed was well aware of that fact, so he swiped my face a few times… I waited for some time so that Lortel could accept the situation in front of her as it was.
