Graduation practice is a practical evaluation that discovers talents that are difficult to pinpoint through tests or competitions.
In other words, this is the last chance we have prepared for children who cannot attend the military academy.
Desperate children volunteered for a dangerous practice reminiscent of real life.
The practice went smoothly.
Graduation practice was a comprehensive evaluation, and the goal was to build a raft with only the students, go down the river, be evaluated by the instructor at the lower garrison, receive supplies, and return.
Alchemy, crafting, physical strength, stamina, Dokdo method, organization, negotiation, etc. It was a practice prepared to evaluate various abilities. Various crises came, but the students overcame them by showing their talents in the right place.
“Cento. You studied ballistics and did some meteorology, didn't you? The field is a little different, but how about it? Would it be better to set sails?”
The boy called Centor turned his head, making a noise as if he had been stabbed by something.
“… Sheesh. I don't know. how do i know Folded in the middle.”
“But no one here knows better than you.”
“under. Are you kidding me now? you are there day off. The head of the whole school.”
“I am just playing at my desk. The experience points are different from those of you who directly threw something, shot it, and observed it.”
“… huh. It was just a kid's joke. It’s just something anyone can do.”
While grumbling, Cento looked at the direction of the wind and the material of the mast and fiddled with something. As the wind blew, the raft moved a little easier. Subtle but sure.
“It helps.”
“… okay.”
Cento bowed his head in despair. It wasn't the attitude of a person who accomplished something, but I understood his situation and didn't say anything.
It's only regretting what you've already given up on, because it's only going to grow if you praise it as shining.
The raft fleet advanced slowly. The Hameln River extending to the south was not very large, but it was meandering and flowing slowly, so all kinds of floating objects floated and there were many birds and animals preying on it. Everyone was terrified as the dark shadows along the river scratched the bottom of the logs.
It had been on the way for a while. An emergency arose when one of the instructors, who was watching this for the evaluation, left for a while to move towards the next point.
The river was clogged by drifting water that was full of water. The river was already filled with wood chips and leaves in the slow flow, so it was impossible to get on the raft at all.
The children were confused by the out of the way obstacles.
“It’s at the point where the flow slows down, so drifting may have blocked the river.”
“What if… ? If we go on like this, the night will come! We have to get down there by the end of today.”
And naturally, the eyes are drawn to me. I'm looking forward to getting it resolved in some way.
At the beginning of the school year, when all the children entered the secondary military school with a blank slate. Each of the children embraced their dreams and hopes, and embraced their inflated hearts.
Most of the children were drawing pictures of themselves in fancy uniforms. 3 levels. A special location where you can achieve something real, different from ordinary military people. One of the most important steps to move forward.
But the special is limited by the number. It is special because the number is small, and everyone wants it because it is special.
Not everyone can get their hands on it.
I called the one who once wanted to be a mage officer.
“Caropald. Can't it be solved with magic?”
“If it’s our magic amount, it would be unreasonable even if it took a year for regular magic. If it was Rankart… I don’t know again.”
It was a shaky answer, but it was a clear fact. I nodded and turned to the other side.
“Siati. Would it be unreasonable to remove that from the boat?”
“… The footing is like this, all day long. There is no place to put it away.”
Shiati stomped her feet, and screams erupted from nearby.
Although he was a promising fighter, Shiati, who had stopped growing, did not have the talent to overcome the limitations of his body. Driven to the brink of her brink, she hoped to reverse her assessment in this graduation practice.
Shiati, who was stomping on her feet, turned her head quickly and shot at me.
“By the way, don’t you have to give orders, Huey?”
“me? why?”
“Why? This graduation practice is actually prepared for you.”
I didn't know anything about gluttony. If Shiati had known that, it wouldn't have ended with just one stomping.
Shiati opened her eyes and looked up at me.
“The commander-in-chief must have wanted to evaluate your command skills. So, you, the senior in the grade, had to participate in the practice.”
Unfortunately, that is a superficial reason. Nicholas spread that rumor to the instructors and some students, giving me reasons to participate.
It was a valid reason that it was difficult to forcefully reject it, so I couldn't refuse, and I ended up here.
Perhaps, on a drift that would have been prepared for me.
“… Give your orders, General. I will wait for your order.”
Shiati said sarcastically.
At the same time, even the loneliness is oozing out, as if it can't be helped. She says so, but she agrees with her too.
I gave the order for her who was waiting for the order.
“Let’s put the boat on the riverbank and clear the drift from the land. It would be much safer to remove it from the ground.”
“Then we go into the forest… .”
“This boat is a firewood. It's because we're loaded like luggage. It's already overloaded. let's get moving It’s okay if you come back.”
Eventually, we docked nearby and set up a makeshift camp. It was a handshake to enter the forest where danger lurks, so they lit a bonfire in an empty lot not far away and gathered around.
Clearing the drift was very difficult. It was difficult even with hundreds of lively children to rescue the driftwood filled with water, the tangled tree vines like a net, and all kinds of debris.
When I thought I had removed it a little. The children who looked up at the sky murmured.
“… Isn't this dangerous? If it stays like this, it will become night.”
“Actually, the night has already come. The sun will set in a few hours.”
“The night is dangerous. How did this happen?”
They never dreamed that this situation could have been caused by someone's conspiracy.
After walking through the forest for a bit, an empty lot appeared. The children were even more delighted that they could set up a great camp because it was an empty lot where someone had stayed, but as I felt the ominous fate beneath it, I smiled bitterly.
night has come It's beast time. In the dark, the man comforted himself with a small bonfire, terrified.
I had no plans to stay here in the first place. Drinking water, food, and clothing were all scarce. There were tents, blankets, and firewood left on the other side, so if it wasn't for Mangjeong, he might have had to spend the night on a rocking boat.
“It’s nice to have a camp. After all, without moving… .”
Not knowing that all of this was in the script, the children rejoiced at the good news of this misfortune.
They gathered together with bonfires lit here and there. Anxiety grew in the man's mind as time passed. The children looked at each other and muttered as the fire lit each other's red eyes.
“What if? Aren't you supposed to give up now?”
“How can I not? Let's make a big fire and call the instructor. It's dangerous to spend the night like this… .”
Making a big fire is like a declaration of renunciation. The instructor will have to come, but negative evaluations will be inevitable… But to be safe right now, some thought.
At that moment, Cento stood up and shouted.
“You can’t call the instructor!”
As if sympathizing with Cento's words, the children nodded with firm faces. Shiati also agreed with him.
“Graduation practice is very important! This is an unexpected situation, but if you overcome it well, you will get a better evaluation! In the first place, why did we come here? It’s to become level 3!”
“However.”
“If you give up here, you will be level 2 for the rest of your life. I'm going to live the same daily life like a treadmill, working one day as a laborer and painting one day at a time! Are you okay though?”
There is a joke about living at level 0 only when you do level 2.
After graduating from secondary military schools, second-level citizens work in military installations that require a secondary education level. Words are servitude, in fact, service.
Of course, it is risky and cumbersome compared to other labor. The pay is higher than that of ordinary labor, but property that cannot be passed on anyway.
“I have to be level 3. Or it doesn't make any sense! So are you!”
What do you get for a higher level? One low sense of superiority. Even that stops at the emotional part to some extent. If it's level 2, level 1 or level 0, if you wield violence or give a private order, you will be immediately taken to the labor camp.
Only the military can differentiate the different levels. Level 2 or level 0, it's the same as being a slave to this army.
It changes from level 3 onwards.
Recalling that fact, the children were enveloped in another sense of upliftment.
“okay! This is rather an opportunity!”
“If you get through this situation, you might get a better evaluation!”
“Set a non-stop! Oh, the password too!”
Was it because of Shiati's speech? A friendly atmosphere was created among the children. Excited emotions rose like a bonfire and then faded away as they danced.
As I was watching them silently, the caropald called me in a low voice.
“day off. Come here.”
Mind reading reads everything. I nodded my head slowly, reading Caropald's business at once.
He once dreamed of becoming a mage officer, but he was a follower who worshiped Rancart like a god. Then he was called by Rankart yesterday. Rankart called the man who usually followed him, and spoke secretly.
In this test, there is a hidden trap.
So, he was the first to notice something strange and then approached me.
“I found it.”
Caropald took me to the river in the middle of the night. As it approached the place where the boat was tied, it lit up with ritual magic on the surface of the water. Under the river that he shined with his shining fingers… A long, strong rope was tied below the water surface.
I shook my head. It's hard to see because of the lack of light, but on the surface of the moon's shadow… On the straight line of this rope, there was a long line of drifting objects.
Caropald said proudly.
“It’s a net. These drifters were caught in nets and stopped.”
“I know.”
As expected.
Although this is an area where the flow rate slows down and drift builds up, but to build up in such a timely manner… After all, it must have been such an artificial manipulation.
“Looks like you knew it too. haha. okay. The existence of this seemingly prepared camp in the first place was strange. The superficial test is going downstream, but the real test is… coping with crisis situations. Surviving by coping wisely in a distress situation is the real purpose of this test. is not it?”
not. The real purpose of this test is to deal with it unwisely and die. So that they don't even realize that this is a trap.
In that sense, Caropald was a reminder from Rankart.
A person who likes to dig things up. A person who takes pleasure in discovering knowledge itself rather than using it. From now on, I will continue to wander around trying to figure out the truth behind the test. If you leave it alone, you may uncover the secret hidden in this camp, even the taboo. No, I will dig it out.
Caropald, he's heard from Rancarth that something like taboos… Truly a time bomb.
I'm the first one to drive to death in order to devour all the children. Someone designed that way.
Rancart.
you are not here now The wind I hear now belongs only to the Caropalds.
So I can't listen to you. No, you can't change me this way.
I smiled on the contrary.
“That’s right, Caropald. you already know this Are you doing anything?”
Caropald's eyes twinkled with satisfied curiosity.
“Yeah, Chief! I thought you knew!”
'Even if it rots, senior… . I thought Rancarte gave a hint. But, nonetheless! Now here I am in second place!'
The wind blows.
longing for life. The joy of achieving something with the knowledge you have acquired. camaraderie and camaraderie. Or hope that has come.
I can't trample it down to get a handful of magic or energy.
rather.
“Caropald. Your prediction is correct. There must be a secret hidden in this camp.”
“What secret?”
“I don’t even know everything. I need to find it from now on. So, Caropald, won't you do it?”
The military has abandoned you. Maybe it's because of me. Nicholas forced me to do it because I was such a glutton-optimized person.
But I can't say it's my fault. Because the military or Nicholas or Rancart planned it. i don't want to kill you
It's hard to say something like this, but it's already enough food for my heart.
Nicholas and Rankard. I want to change myself, but that's all. Their feelings are calm. Regrets and remorse just lie on the floor like a quietly sinking sleep.
He is not interested in the cold feelings that only try to wield others without feeling sorry for himself.
rather… .
“I have a lot of work to do, so I want you to form a team and investigate.”
“really? do i Do I have to report it straight away?”
“Sure. What is it that I regret so much that I miss out on what you did?”
How will you react when the plans are revealed, and when this problem comes back and overtakes you? What emotions will you show? That's just more curious.
You too have to hang your neck. So that's fair, right?
“Only you, who first noticed this fact, deserves it. caropald. Would you like to start by drawing a map of the camp?”
“okay!”
You'll find out when you draw a map. What form does this camp take? what's underneath
If blood flows, what shape would you draw?
'look! I have already grasped the essence of this test. With this, you'll be a few steps ahead of the others!'
The truth obtained at the end will never be accepted with a smile.
I have to go and get ready. In order for the children to accept the clearer truth, we have to secretly unravel the information and sprinkle the rice cakes on it.
So that even a very superficial knowledge can tell that this is a taboo.