I Became a Blind Swordsman at the Academy chapter 313

313. There are too many

Because of the crowds.

So many people that their feet were kicked were gathered at the ‘Jihwaseong’, where the festival was held.

Everyone has different hair and skin colors.

You could even often see beastmen with animal ears and tails, dwarves who were short and inconspicuous, and elves with long ears.

From noble mtl dot com

‘There are too many.’

Isn’t this the largest festival in the East?

A returner who does not die even if he dies and restores the world line itself, a wizard who holds the power of a sealed dragon, and the granddaughter of a sword saint who can be said to be the strongest in this land with a sword.

I was just an ordinary stranger who came to see the festival here.

[ Looking from here, it looks like it’s swarming with bugs. ]

Sierra rose as high as she could and was looking down at the view of the entrance to Jihwa Castle, where people were gathering.

She frowned and waved her hands, as if she hated places with this many people.

It wasn’t much different for me.

At least for now, I envy her spiritual body.

Shedi, who was bouncing and running around the floor, got to the point where it was hard to even find where she had disappeared to.

‘It will follow on its own.’

There were so many people that the carriage could not operate normally, so it had been a long time since I got off the carriage.

Fortunately, Amon at the forefront cleared the way well, so the entrance to Jihwa Castle was just around the corner.

Soon, a girl with beautifully braided red hair runs towards the group of cadets.

“They say it’s called the Phoenix Emperor.”

She was Yuri Clementine, who could not control her curiosity and went to one of her vendors to find out information about the festival.

I was still worried that she might miss out on the group, but she seems to have returned safely without any incident, perhaps because the colorful hair colors of the academy cadets caught her eye.

“What is a phoenix?”

“Well, after hearing the explanation, it seems quite similar to Phoenix.”

“Phoenix? We can meet at Yuri’s house!”

Lucia’s excited voice as she held my hand like a child so as not to let go of the cadets.

Kaen was holding her other hand.

“So I feel strange. Is it difficult to meet Phoenix in the East?”

“If we have to be honest, it’s hard to find even in the West.”

Izel, who was holding my hand tightly, answered Yuri’s question briefly.

Now that I think about it, I heard that the Clementine family is under the protection of the Phoenix.

It is said that Phoenix lives with only one owner throughout its life.

I don’t know if it would be appropriate to say that one serves one’s master in the first place, but the first head of the Clementine family was like that.

And that is the only case of taming the phoenix.

I understand that the first head of the family, who was only a human, could not live longer than the Phoenix, which is said to live forever through repeated resurrection and rebirth, so it is now considered a guardian spirit of the family.

For Yuri, who grew up in such an environment, the ‘phoenix’ may have been a special animal guarding the house that could be found when visiting the mountain behind, but Eisel’s answer was correct in this regard.

Phoenix is an animal that is rarely seen.

Basically, they have a strong defensive attitude, are very shy, and have a small number of individuals, so they are probably more difficult to encounter than dragons.

“So, why is it called Phoenix Emperor?”

Amon, who was advancing through the crowd as a leader with his sturdy build, asked.

“It has good symbols such as rebirth or resurrection, and since it is a spirit creature, it seems to have been named with a positive meaning. It seems to have been built in hopes of the resurrection of a specific person, but they don’t know who that is.”

“When it comes to resurrection, there is one person that comes to mind.”

Crank’s words following Yuri’s explanation.

“”……””

With that one word, everyone’s eyes are instantly focused on me as if they were mesmerized.

“……”

I tried to ignore their stares as I adjusted my bandages.

“…Anyway, I don’t know if I can find accommodation.”

“That’s right. I think it’ll be hard to find accommodation with this crowd.”

“Instructor Raina said earlier that you don’t have to worry about accommodations? I guess you’ve already found it.”

“I don’t know anything else, but I just hope bugs don’t come out…”

Soon, some who did not want to talk about that day immediately changed the topic of conversation to stop the cold atmosphere.

Amon looked back, bared his teeth, distorted his face viciously, and gave Crank silent pressure.

It was like a kind of taboo among us to bring up the story of ‘that day’.

In my case, I just didn’t talk about it because I was pricked by my conscience, but others seemed to take it in a negative way.

“…Are we going to be together this time?”

“hahahaha, what if I don’t get lost?”

While the cadets were chatting, Eisel’s cautious question came softly to her ear, and she gave it a sly grin and vaguely answered it.

“It’s okay. Even if Zeto gets lost, I can find him and that’s fine.”

Izel smiled bitterly.

There was a vague sense of confidence in her voice as she muttered softly.

‘I hope you don’t come looking for me today…’

Afterwards, we made small talk and slowly made our way through the crowd and entered the interior of Jihwaseong Fortress.

This was the beginning.

Whether the walls of this castle would be filled with the bright laughter of people enjoying the festival or whether it would be filled with people’s screams and blood was entirely up to me.

***

As Kaen said, the academy may have found lodgings in advance, but the lodgings were neat and nice.

I’m not sure how much money was spent.

Why doesn’t it cost a huge amount of money to find a place to stay during this peak season?

‘Well, it’s not my money.’

I left the dorm without even looking at the room and had just met Volk.

Should I call it a tangent?

Volk followed me from the entrance to Jihwa Castle, probably following my scent.

After receiving Volk’s guidance, I opened the door to the shabby rooftop room and entered, and I saw the faces of Keraf and Howell who were waiting there.

“Has everyone gathered? The situation is not as good as we thought.”

“What do you mean the situation is not good?”

Keraph asked as he closed the window from which the loud noise was coming from.

“There are more people than I thought.”

With so many people gathered, if a blood cult were to attack, the damage would be severe even if they responded in their own way.

It is difficult to predict how many innocent civilians will die in one widespread attack.

“The festival lasts for a total of 4 days. We have now entered the first day, so after today, more people will gather than before.”

“What are the highlights?”

“There is a huge bird-shaped wooden sculpture in the center of the city. They say the sculpture is lit on fire on the second night.”

“It represents a phoenix. I think everyone will gather to see it. In the East, there is a saying that seeing a phoenix will lead you to a long life.”

Howell added to Keraf’s explanation.

It is a fiery phoenix sculpture.

It was quite a festive story.

“If I were a blood cult, I would probably take advantage of that moment.”

“I think so too.”

This is such an ironic story.

If the raid by the Blood Cult begins the moment the phoenix catches fire, those who were there hoping for a long life will end up living a short life.

“Still, perhaps because it is a festival, the number of government troops stationed at the castle is quite large.”

“No, if the government forces come forward, it will become even more chaotic. What they are aiming for is for the Phoenix Festival to be engulfed in chaos.”

“You mean we have to avoid the eyes of soldiers who will be patrolling periodically? That’s tricky. Disposing of the corpses will be difficult.”

Howol bites her lip and thinks seriously.

‘I thought you were crying.’

I don’t know what happened, but she was showing a very cooperative attitude.

“You don’t have to worry about the corpse.”

“Why?”

“I can handle it.”

“The body…?”

In response to her question, Volk said, ‘That’s right. ‘There was a shadow on her floor…’ She began, fluttering her arms and imitating the shadow of Shady she had seen.

Howell said, ‘What nonsense…?’ She had a bug-bitten look on her face, but it didn’t matter anyway.

‘I don’t know if I’ll be able to swallow the blood wizard well.’

Shady, who was rolling around on the rooftop floor, suddenly looked up at me, her eyes sparkling, as if she had read my thoughts.

“Kerung!”

Is this a new food?

I’m not sure about his tastes, but if he eats it, that’s fine.

“However, there is one problem.”

“What is it?”

“As I said before, there are too many people.”

“It’s a festival, so of course there are a lot of people.”

Volk making a hissing sound.

I stroked my hair and opened my mouth to those who seemed to need an explanation.

“It’s difficult to write about feelings. It’s okay if it’s an object, but humans are another story.”

I felt it when I found Volk.

The time it took to find him was noticeably slower, and my concentration was twice as much as usual.

“Are you okay…?”

Keraph asked in a worried voice.

“If you narrow the scope, it’s still okay. It will be difficult to find enemies or understand their movements in real time like before.”

It would be okay if it was spread narrowly, but it was meaningless.

“By the way, there really are blood wizards. How did you find out about the blood cult’s plan?”

“… I guess it’s ‘magnificent’.”

Keraf’s question was something Sierra was also curious about.

The Blood Cult’s plan was purely information learned through games, but that doesn’t mean we can mention ‘games’.

From noble mtl dot com

“I understand that you don’t want to answer.”

Well, Keraf is a prophecy, so it was good to understand it even if I vaguely explained it.

“We have determined the approximate location of the blood wizards hiding inside Jihwa Castle.”

“This body’s nose was active. The bloody smell was quite strong. I should say it was a stench that could not be washed away.”

Volk is making a whining sound and is puffing himself up.

Honestly, my sense of smell at Lycan Slope was quite reliable.

There’s nothing I can’t do because I have energy, but I daresay I won’t be able to stomach it without blood coming out of my head.

‘We will be able to determine its location only after blood spurts out, either from the nose or the mouth.’

There was no need to shed blood, so I decided to trust Volk’s sense of smell for now.

“Good. Anyway, I have a schedule, so I don’t think I can talk for a long time right now. Let’s start planning at night. If possible, finish before morning.”

“I’m telling you in advance, but since the Phoenix Festival is supposed to be the eve of the festival, there will be a lot of people walking around even late at night.”

Howell’s additional explanation continues at the end.

“It’s okay. The reason I insist on staying at night is simply because it’s easier to avoid people’s eyes.”

“…I guess so.”

Howol’s troubled voice.

She tried to smile as if to tell him not to worry, but despite this, the worry did not leave her green eyes.

‘Well, there are a lot of eyes to avoid in various ways.’

For now, let’s go back to our accommodation and enjoy the festival.