Chapter 402: Morale improvement (1) |
“You’re in a better condition than I thought,” I pointed out.
“But there’s nothing I can do about the exhaustion. I wouldn’t say I’m in the worst condition, but it’s hard to stay optimistic. I’d like to relax a little, but we’re not in the situation to do that…” Kim Hyun-Sung said.
“You’re right,” I said, nodding.
Kim Hyun-Sung nodded as well. Lee Ji-Hye had told him that she would do whatever she could, but he still seemed anxious. I was worried that he would show that traumatized side of him again, but thankfully, he didn’t do that. If he was just with the both of us, I was sure he would talk about it right away, but he was currently moving with the other soldiers, so he couldn’t talk about it. I wasn’t dissing Kim Hyun-Sung, but I realized that even he had a brain.
‘That’s right, Hyun-Sung.’
“We’ll arrive in a few hours, and they know that we’re currently heading that way.”
“Is there…”
“No. Of course, there’s no guarantee that a battle like earlier won’t happen again, but from here to our destination, the terrain isn’t suitable for ambushes. The enemy soldiers we encountered just now are doing nothing more than buying time. Sending other soldiers toward us won’t be an easy decision for the Republic anyway, and I’m sure they had already obtained everything they wanted through the fight just now,” the soldier explained.
“What did they obtain exactly?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.
“Ah…”
“It’s true that we’re under pressure, but they can’t relax either. I’m sure they’re mentally under pressure. They’re pushing the Western Front and Northern Front, but I’m sure they want to recover their investment into Castle Rock. If we get lucky…”
“This could be the final battle,” he said.
“Yes, and even if the war continues, it won’t go the way things are going right now,” they added.
‘That’s a very cautious way of thinking.’
I couldn’t help but think that way more and more because we weren’t the only ones whose lives were at stake in the upcoming battle. If anything, the demon summoner would definitely make things worse for us. He probably sent those extra soldiers over here to try to delay us, but he was definitely trying to figure out our exact tactic. Basically, it was bait to find out exactly what cards we were holding, and we had already revealed to them the majority of our cards. The tactical Kim Hyun-Sung was our strongest card. I wanted to hide him, but…
‘We weren’t in a situation where we could hide him.’
If we hadn’t dispatched Kim Hyun-Sung to the battlefield, it was highly likely that we would still be in battle right now. I was sure Jin Cheong knew that we were anxious. I knew he was trying to get information while using Castle Rock as bait, but we still fell for his cheap trick. It was a cheap move that would definitely make people fall for it. Of course, it was pretty effective. The fact that we couldn’t figure out the exact number of soldiers at Castle Rock right now was an extension of that, and when evaluating the overall situation, the Republic was ahead of us.
“Ah!”
“Are you okay?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.
“Yes… I’m fine,” I replied.
‘Shit… how embarrassing.’
I almost slipped because I was lost in my thoughts while walking, and it was a good thing Kim Hyun-Sung grabbed me before I fell. It would have been an embarrassment if I fell to the ground in front of the soldiers.
“Now that I think about it, you said you overdid it. Are you…”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I just slipped…” I said.
“You’re probably tired, but you just haven’t recognized it yet. It’s fine to work hard, but taking care of your body is more important than that. Perhaps you’re still under the influence of the Twisted Pond,” he explained.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told him.
“Your body doesn’t just belong to you, Mr. Ki-Young. You have to be more cautious,” he added.
Obviously, I realized he wasn’t saying that just to be polite because he looked genuinely worried about me. We had such a friendly air between us. The way he patted my back after pulling me up and spoke to me while smiling reminded me of a main character in romance comics. I finally understood why Kim Hyun-Sung’s harem was obsessed with him.
All of a sudden, I heard a gasp from behind me. I could also feel numerous eyes on my back. I looked back and saw soldiers staring at Kim Hyun-Sung and me. The majority of them were women, and some of them were elves. Speaking of the elves, it was amusing to see their ears quivering ever so slightly.
‘They remind me of Elena…’
To be honest, the soldiers were in bad condition. The battle had just ended, but we were already marching without proper rest. However, when I saw their sparkling eyes, I realized once more that this war was incredibly important.
‘This is why a cause is important. Indeed. It’s a good thing we educated them on that.’
To be honest, the situation got worse when we started marching. However, Lee Ji-Hye was correct when she said that Kim Hyun-Sung and me doing the rounds would be effective in boosting morale. They reacted better than I expected, so even I was surprised. All we did was give out fatigue recovery potions and say a few things to them, but it had a great effect on the bases nearby as well as the bases that were a bit far. Of course, it wasn’t that I couldn’t understand why they were reacting this way.
It was a bit embarrassing to say this myself, but I was the official envoy of the gods. I was chosen by the Goddess of Benigoa and Elune, so it was only natural for me to influence the soldiers positively, and I was even more influential to the elves, who were a really religious race.
I wonder what it was like for Kim Hyun-Sung. I was sure his influence wasn’t as good as mine, but people were in awe of him. Kim Hyun-Sung’s performance in the battle earlier had to have left a strong impression not only on the humans but on the other races as well. Their views were slightly different from humans, but humans weren’t the only ones who respected those with power. It was the same for the elves, including the Elune Knights, and even more so for the dwarves. Basically, he was someone worthy of respect. If I were a swordsman, I would have looked at Kim Hyun-Sung with envy. In addition, walking together with the person one respected a lot would elevate one’s mood. If the soldiers’ Division Commander suddenly visited the base, I was sure the visit would annoy them, but this was completely different.
The important thing was that our presence provided a positive influence on the base, and that was the reason why we continued spending time with the soldiers while walking. Seeing the female elves react to Kim Hyun-Sung’s every move made it seem like his good looks had captivated them. Every time he did something, I would hear them gasp, and I started to feel bitter at the fact that even this continent cared about looks as well. It was very clear that it was the case. Kim Hyun-Sung simply smiled, but the female soldiers were gasping and causing a stir among themselves.
‘Stop it, man. Wait, why is her nose bleeding?’
There were even a few women staring at us while covering their bleeding noses, which caught me off guard. I wasn’t sure if Kim Hyun-Sung noticed it, but he was busy telling them stories. The first time around, he was nervous, but the way he kept talking to them made me think that he wasn’t nervous anymore. It also seemed like he missed mundane topics when I saw how he was talking about a variety of topics unrelated to the ongoing war.
“Are you interested in learning swordsmanship?” he asked.
“What?”
“Your eyes are better than I thought, Mr. Ki-Young. If you can see the opponent’s attacks, you will definitely be able to block and counterattack,” he said.
“No, I’m not really an athletic person…” I replied.
Kim Hyun-Sung talked about topics like this…
“I want to return to the Guild House as soon as possible,” he said.
“Me, too,” I agreed.
“I’d like to sleep for about three days,” he added.
“And not do anything?” I asked.
“Yes. I just want to sleep,” he replied.
“Your tasks will just pile up,” I commented.
“Ah.”
“I’m kidding. Miss Kim Mi-Young is doing pretty well at her job, so I’m sure you’ll be able to enjoy your break to your heart’s content,” I said.
Kim Hyun-Sung was talking about useless topics like this, but they had one thing in common—they were all ideas. They were ideas about what we wanted to do after the war, and no one would disagree that this was the most enjoyable conversation we could have considering our current situation.
‘So he’s human, too.’
I was sure he wanted to have this kind of conversation to enjoy the brief relaxing moment rather than erase the anxiety he was feeling from the many thoughts he was having. It was true that it was kind of fun and interesting to see him react this way because the image I had of Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t match his current behavior. After talking for a while, Kim Hyun-Sung changed the topic.
“By the way, Mr. Ki-Young.”
“Yes?”
“Have you visited Mr. Deok-Gu?” he asked.
“Not yet. I’m busy ever since I left Everia, so I didn’t have the luxury of taking care of others. Did something happen?” I asked.
“It’s not that something happened, but… I think it would be best if you visited him. He seemed troubled in many ways,” he replied.
‘It’s understandable…’
“I think he’s having a hard time accepting the fact that we’re at war, and it’s his first time fighting against humans… He’s tender-hearted,” I explained.
‘The problem is that he’s too tender-hearted.’
If he weren’t strong, then it wouldn’t have been an issue. He was afraid of killing others rather than afraid of getting killed himself. I was sure he was thinking about useless things on the battlefield because ordinary swords and arrows couldn’t really hurt him. Of course, the biggest reason for all this was that he was just too kind, but I was sure that the Park Deok-Gu before the hidden camera prank would have swung his sword to survive.
‘It will be the same for the upcoming battle…’
Lee Ji-Hye and I had been taking care of him as much as we could, but I couldn’t guarantee that we would have the luxury to do that again in the upcoming final battle. Perhaps it would be better for him not to participate in the upcoming battle.
Should I…
‘Should I exclude him from the formation?’
If he received a task to guard the rear of the command center, then I was sure that he would be able to do it without any issues. I had no time to think deeply about his issue because I had to think about the other guild members as well.
“How are the other guild members?” I asked.
“They’re adapting better than I thought, and…” Kim Hyun-Sung trailed off.
“Ah, right. That happened,” I commented.
“Miss Hye-Jin has become really famous. It’s really hard to see unicorns, so the elves were really moved when they saw her fighting on the battlefield while riding a unicorn. Spear of Purity. The nickname fits Miss Hye-Jin very well,” he continued.
“Ah, yes,” I said.
‘I’m sure she hates it, though.’
The word hate probably wasn’t enough to describe what she felt about her fame.
“What do you think, Mr. Ki-Young? Should we visit the guild members…?” he asked.
“Yes, I think we should do that. Anyway, I need to talk to Deok-Gu…” I answered.
“I’m sure it’ll be really helpful. Ah! And…”
“Yes?”
“You haven’t taken the fatigue recovery potion yet. You should drink one. Here,” he suggested, handing over a bottle of fatigue recovery potion.
‘Thanks for thinking of me, man.’
“No, I’m fi—”
I had already drank two bottles in secret, and I would be full if I drank more.
I was about to refuse the potion when I noticed the soldiers paying attention to us.
‘What the…?’
It felt like the entire base was telling me to accept the potion while watching us intently. I couldn’t help but feel that if I didn’t accept the offered potion, the morale of the base would plummet.
As a test, I pulled my hand back, and they sighed with disappointed looks.
‘What’s going on? Shit…’
I had no choice. I reached out and took the potion from Kim Hyun-Sung’s hand, and when I did that, the soldiers clapped and cheered quietly among themselves.
‘What’s up with them…?’
For some reason, my footsteps felt heavy as I walked away to find Park Deok-Gu.
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