Etranger
Chapter 47

Monsters such as Algon, Alpin, and Alchins were extremelyagile,fast, and destructive. They were so dangerous that the support staff members werestationedat the foot of the mountain around the clock to quickly alert the base camp of any developments.

To protect these sentry members frommonster and beast attacks,San and Biyeon had theminstalla protective outpost made of iron bars and jutting spears to hide in.Apart from the sentry work, the remaining staff members worked around the clock within the base camp.

“I don’t understand why we’re doing this… Ugh,” Yeria muttered under her breath as she busily moved around.

Working under the hot spring sun, she felt sweat rolling into her eyesandstinging them. She wasn’t holding a majestic sword… but a hoe. Was this something befitting a Count’s daughter?

Her gaze drifted down towards her bottom half. She wore shoes commonly worn by warriors and a pair of non-flattering pants.If anyone looked at her,theywouldn’tthink that an attractive woman waspresent inthis unflattering lower half. So, how she became like this…what happened was…

About three hours ago...

She was wearing a gorgeous and beautiful dress. As the Count’s daughter, she was a talented woman who boasted top-notch martial arts skills. Shealso proudly possessedbeauty, culture, and academic knowledge.

“Are you going on a picnic?”

This was what the ‘man’ said about her while tilting his head.

“Huh? What?”

“10 minutes, wait… you’re a woman, so I’ll give you 30 minutes. Change into a warrior-like outfit!”

He quickly turned his back and went to another place.

“What are you talking about!” she instinctively screamed. Her face must have been blushing red with shame and embarrassment.

“You… have you ever seen an Algon?” he asked without turning his head. His voice was serious.

“…”

“We’re not going into the mountains to date anyone. And remove that disgusting perfume smell! No one here forced you to participate. The choice isyours. You don’t have to return after 30 minutes. How isthat, fair enough?”

He threw these final words at her and walked away.

“How dare you say such rude words!”

Yeria’s eyesquicklydrained of life. This was the first time she’d been treated likea nobody.However,since he was an Awakened Warrior,he had the qualifications to act and talk so stubbornly.Still, she felt likehe was going too far. If it weren’t for her father’s explicitrequest, she wouldn’t have even come here. Tears started forming in her eyes. Eventually, the tears flowed down her cheeks.

The fate of a woman in this era... to be passed aroundamongstthe powerful! Why did her father entrust this critical task to such a stubborn, lowly person? She moved to get changed with heavy steps.

***

Yuren was the 1stCompany commander. Hewas given thecompany commander title for the newly formed company unit by the captains.It was definitely a good opportunity for him. However, he wasn’t happy about it at all. Rather, he felt a growing sense of anxiety and tension.

All of the support staff members had high expectations after being assigned to a new organization. Being with an Awakened Warrior itself was something lucky.Not only was it highly likely they would survive, but also, no one could easily ignore them. They could also expect a fairly hefty compensation package.

However, theexpectation and daydream of a carefree, easy life crumbled from day one.

‘How did it come to this…’ he thought over and over again.

The captainsmoved directly and worked by hand. Their actions overturnedall ‘common sense’.They memorized the names of all 20 members as well as eachmember’s personal information in just one day.Usually, respectedwarriors often didn’t even know the names of their own subordinates, even if a year had passed, which wasusual inthispartof the world.

Also, thetwo captainsconducted face-to-face interviews with their staffmembers. For the staff members, this interview was the firstof its sortin their entire lives. For the first time in their lives, they were asked about their family and were told to speak about their own opinions ‘freely’.It was a very uncomfortable experience for them.

The first thing the captains did was organize thestaffanddesignateresponsibilities for each member. Thestaffmembers were grouped into 10-person‘companies’. The leader of each company was called the company commander. Thecaptainsalso describedhow missions were to be carried out and with what attitude.

The mission objectives wereclearly laid out, and all of their individual activities and actionswere to be doneto achieve the organization’s overall goals. Status, age, or origin would notbe taken into account regarding task assignments.

Their selection criteria were simple. The first criterion wasthattheperson must want the job. The second criterion was that the person must be someone who could do the job well.

The second thing the captains then did was check everyone's equipment. All the equipment they brought was laid out in the yard. Swords, hammers, shields, shovels, pickaxes, hoes, axes, and leather bags. Even feminine products…

They designatedsome of the items as ‘standard equipment’. Non-standard equipmentwasto be managed by a designated staff memberwithineach company.

In addition, they wantedeach companyto take responsibility for managing their respective equipment. They also drew something andorderedit to be made at the forge…

Koo-ooh-

Ke-ae-

They could faintly hear the sound of beasts around them. Yuren trembled while thinking aboutthe beasts and monsters hidden in the shadows.

Suddenly,herealized what kind of situationhewasin. They weren’t in the safest place on the hunting grounds… they were located at the center, with all the hunting parties branched out from them.

This meant that, thanks to these crazy captains, the weakestgroup of people were assembled at the heart of this hunting event. Thegroupthat should be in the safest place was setting up a ‘support center’ in the harshest and most dangerouscentral area...

Yuren reminded himself of the unit’s goals and code of conduct.

“We can choose our missions and negotiate. However, once one chooses, the mission is unconditionally correct and must be completed.Thismeansrisking one’s life for the completion of an objective. So, if one'sgoing to do itanyway, one should just enjoy it. There’s noretreat!”

That’s what Captain San had said.

“First, be wise. Second, use all the means and methods at your disposal. Third, trust your brother and sister in arms until the end.”

This wasCaptain Biyeon’swords.Not all the staff members at the time knew what these unfamiliar words meant.It was an unimaginable demand in their contemporary class society, and it was a leadership method and attitude that they had never experienced before. However, unfortunately for them, their new superiors were the living incarnations of thisregimenand creed.

The support staff was rewriting a new destiny withouteven knowing it themselves.If the support staff members got used to the new ways these two captains proposed, and if they could find purpose and joy in the fierceness of a battlefield, thenthey would be forever changed.

Relying upon another.Teamwork would becomethe finallessonthat would sweep them away from their past selves and towards a new fate. In the end, they would negotiate, navigate, and choose for themselves, so they must risk their lives to bear that fruit.

The afternoon sun was leaning westward. The sounds of monsters echoed here and there.

“It seems like the work is finishing up,”Sansaid while stretching.He had justfinishedpatrolling the base in a 30-meter radius. He checked andexaminedthe support staff's work progress.Because the base was for support purposes, it was located in a basin that was easily accessible and seen from all directions. However, this also meant that this base camp would be the easiest targetforall the monsters and beasts in the surrounding area.

San’swish, to be challenged,was soonfulfilled. All of the support staff organization members probably had very different opinions andexpectationsthan those of San and Biyeon…

Biyeon’s mouth was slightly distorted. Her hand held a white sword made of Archon bone. It was a little longer than a military bayonet, about the length from her wrist to her shoulder. The overall shape of the sword was modest, but the blade was sleek andcould beeasily carried around. It had been specially made for her.

San got up slowly, brushing the dust off his legs. He also held an Archon bone sword in his hand.

Yeria was unable to breathe properly. All the support staff members were barely standing as their legs visibly shook.

In front of them, the heads of giant monsters appeared one after another. A hunting party must have already been slaughtered. Pieces of clothes were scattered all over the monsters’ bodies and a fishy, bloody smell wafted through the air…

“Ar...chon?”

Episode 2. Book 1: Exploration – Chapter 14

'G-le-le-'

The beasts growled with their necks lowered. Yellow eyes glaredat their new targets. Even though the monsters were 20 meters in front of them, the low-pitched bass sound was sofulland vibrant that goosebumps formed all over thestaff members’bodies.

The Archons'tremendous figures spanned over 15 meters. Additionally, there was not just one, but three Archons. Real, true fear in the face of pure evil threw thestaff membersinto despair.

Pieces of torn cloth were strewn over theArchon’sskin. Thestaff memberscould clearly see blue cloak material, the same as those worn by the Dong-Myung clansmen, with chunks of flesh sticking onto the monsters’ bloodied bodies.

Keeit-keeit-

The support staff members looked to their right. This time, a group of Algonsapproachedwithloweredheads.The four Algons were 20 meters away.The smaller ones were 2 meters tall while the bigger ones were over 3 meters tall. They also seemed like they just finished hunting. Their lips were drenched in red blood.

The specially commissioned support staff members staggered backward and instinctively gathered in one place. They looked at each other with eyes full of abject fear and terror.Each of themwas carrying a sword and shield, butthey didn’tbelieve they could do anything with these weapons.

A sense of impending doommade them look towards their captains with great intensity. Their eyes seemed to implore many things from San and Biyeon.Thestaff members’eyes also seemed to contain a sense of resentmentfor thepeople who drove them to such a godforsaken place to die.

However, their captains looked aroundthesurroundings with nonchalant ease, not even affording their subordinatesa glance. They were just tilting their heads whilespeaking quietly.

“Oh-ho, are they being hunted, not hunting?”

“That’s surprising.”

While muttering, San and Biyeon gazed at the forest ahead. The forest moved. A group of warriors popped out from the right side from where the Archons had just appeared. They ran straight toward the base camp. The support staff opened their eyes wide.

Theapproaching warriorswere the Dong-Myung Clan warriors, led by the Awakened Warrior, Dongye. However, rather than hope, the eyes of the support staff immediately fell into further despair.

“Run… they’re… devils!” The leader,Dongye, shouted out. The appearance of the Dong-Myung warriors was terrible.

Dongye’s entire body was stained in blood, and fromhisshoulders to his back, tattered, bloodied flesh was exposed, as if one side had been torn off.

None of the Dong-Myung warriors were without injury.Furthermore, none of them had any working weapons. All the fancy weapons that they took with them at the beginning of the hunt were either broken beyond recognition or lost.