Chapter 85: Hell (5)

As Yurie moved her body lightly, a sigh burst from her lips.

"Wow... What is this?"

Just by kneading, the pain had subsided?

No, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that she was almost completely healed compared to a moment ago.

Yurie looked at Poppi with wide, surprised eyes.

The sweat droplets on Poppi's forehead.

At that moment, Yurie realized that what Poppi had done for her was not just simple acupressure.

Noticing Yurie's intense gaze, Poppi smiled broadly with an innocent face.

At that moment, a voice interjected.

"Oh wow! Was that the famous healing hands of the Yum clan?"

In response to Arin's question, Poppi nodded, but Yurie tilted her head to the side.

"Healing hands?"

"It's a unique technique of the Yum clan that dramatically boosts physical recovery. Not many people in the Yum clan have mastered it... Huh?"

As Yurie asked, she suddenly realized something and her eyes widened.

"Huh? Come to think of it, isn't it true that only the Yum clan's monks can learn the healing hands? Poppi, were you a monk?"

Nod, nod.

"Wow, no wonder! So you weren't unable to speak, you just chose not to?"

Nod, nod.

"Are you in a vow of silence?"

Nod, nod.

Excitedly chatting, Arin and Poppi, who nodded enthusiastically, continued their conversation.

"By the way, why is a Yum clan monk here in the cradle? Isn't the Yum clan known for being closed off?"

"I'm hungry."

"Did the elders send you? Why?"

Shake, shake.

"Don't know?"

"I'm hungry."

"Did you just feel like it was your destiny to follow you?"

Nod, nod.

"Ahaha, what! So you just live your life as it comes?"

"I'm hungry!"

"Alright, alright. Don't get mad, I won't tease you anymore."

Listening to their conversation carefully, Yurie muttered in disbelief.

"...No, how can you understand that?"

As Yurie said, Arin seemed to understand Poppi's words to an amazing degree.

Even though Poppi only said, "I'm hungry."

In response to this question, Arin gave her a look as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Huh? At first, I was a bit confused, but after listening for a while, I could understand. Can't you?"

"...Can I?"

"That's strange? Why can't you?"

"I'm hungry?"

Looking at Yurie with an expression that seemed to ask, "Why can't you understand that?" Arin and Poppi both stared at her.

At this point, Yurie felt that it was she who was abnormal for not understanding.

Yurie let out a small sigh.

"Ah, if you can understand so well, why don't you ask her the reason for following me all this time?"

"Oh, I asked her before."

"What did she say?"

"She said she followed you because she had to. She felt it was necessary, like destiny. Right?"

"I'm hungry!"

Nod, nod.

Seeing Poppi nod enthusiastically as if confirming Arin's words, Yurie's eyes narrowed.

"Destiny..."

Frankly, she didn't believe in such things.

But there was one thing that caught her attention.

'Shali earring.'

The object called Shali, which came from a Yum clan monk.

Perhaps this kid was drawn to it?

At that thought,

'...drawn?'

A lightbulb seemed to go off above Yurie's head.

She asked Poppi.

"Poppi!"

"..."

"Can you... catch ghosts?"

"I'm hungry."

Although Poppi said something, Yurie couldn't understand and looked at Arin.

With a pleading look, Arin shrugged.

"Can't catch them, but can hit them."

"Ah..."

Yurie, slightly disappointed, but then a piece of good news brightened her face.

"Can hit them, but can't catch them."

"..."

Seeing this, Yurie placed her hand on Poppi's shoulder with a very serious expression.

"Poppi..."

"..."

"I grant you permission to stay by my side. Follow me always."

She had found it, her very own ghost repellent.

Her big and precious ghost warding talisman!

"Are you, are you hungry?"

Confused by Yurie's sudden change in attitude, Poppi nodded hesitantly.

Watching this from the side, Arin suddenly butted in.

"What about me? What about me? Meee!"

Yurie asked seriously.

"Can you catch ghosts?"

"Are you crazy? How can I catch them? Besides, do ghosts even exist in this world?"

"Rejected."

Yurie pushed Arin's forehead with one finger.

In response, Arin resisted, straining her neck.

"Hey, why! Include me too!"

"No."

"Why!"

"It's my decision."

"Is that so?"

Yurie tried to push her away with her finger, but Arin held her ground.

Seeing this, Yurie got annoyed.

"Hey, why are you so desperate to be included?"

"Because... I think a lot of fun things will happen if I'm with you... I mean, with you two?"

"...Just because of that?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Yurie added another finger to push Arin's forehead.

"Completely rejected. You're definitely out."

"Hey, why! I'll only eat a little. I'll listen well!"

"Still rejected."

"Hey, I'm good with a bow! Have you forgotten our good times together?"

Seeing Arin's pitiful gaze, Yurie hesitated for a moment.

Of course, she wasn't swayed by Arin's eyes.

She was just considering the practicality.

'She was definitely useful, even if I don't know about the others.'

Especially, Arin was a rare archer in the cradle, and she and Yurie had worked well together.

Of course, she didn't know the skills of the other 50 yet.

She only had a rough idea of Gunther's skills from his fight with Theresa.

'He was quite useful, but...'

However, if a quest came up that required cooperation with someone other than an individual, Yurie would recruit Arin first.

'Then, it wouldn't be bad to practice working together in advance.'

With that thought, Yurie quietly removed her fingers from Arin's forehead.

"Huh?"

Noticing the lack of force, Arin looked at Yurie with a puzzled expression.

Yurie smiled and said.

"I'll give you one more chance to prove your skills, and then I'll consider it."

"Really?"

Arin's eyes lit up instantly.

She put her arms around Yurie and Poppi's shoulders and exclaimed.

"Yay!"

Seeing her genuinely happy, Yurie couldn't help but chuckle.

Then, she suddenly realized something and asked Arin and Poppi.

"By the way... do you know where we are?"

As she said this, Yurie looked around.

Inside the small tent, there were blankets that seemed to belong to Poppi and Arin.

It seemed they had also fainted and just woken up like Yurie.

In response to Yurie's question, Poppi and Arin shook their heads simultaneously.

"I'm hungry."

"I don't know, we just woke up a little while ago."

"Tsk, what have you been doing since you woke up? You didn't even check where you are."

"I was watching you wake up."

"I'm hungry."

Poppi also nodded, as if she had been watching along.

Seeing this, Yurie sighed.

And at that moment,

Flap.

The tent flap flapped as someone burst in.

The three of them turned their heads to the entrance in surprise.

There stood a black-sword soldier with a fierce expression.

Seeing the three of them staring at him, the black-sword soldier's expression turned even more menacing.

"Huh? Look at you three, still dazed? Do you think this is your home!"

Hearing his tone, Yurie instantly sensed danger.

Her eyes darted around.

'...What is this, this pungent smell of bad food?'

It was a familiar and dangerous smell, and as soon as she recognized it, Yurie jumped up from her seat.

Seeing this, the black-sword soldier's eyes sparkled.

"Oh, so there's one with a bit of sense. The rest... what are you, get up!"

Despite the loud command echoing in the tent, Arin and Poppi still stared blankly.

Yurie kicked their butts with her foot.

Only then did the two of them slowly get up, and the black-sword soldier sneered, pointing at Yurie.

"You there, with the black hair."

"Yes."

"Take those two dimwits with you."

"Understood."

With that, the black-sword soldier left the tent.

Yurie gestured for Arin and Poppi to follow and quickly chased after the black-sword soldier.

Flap.

As they exited the tent, the three of them were met with...

"......?!"

A scene straight out of a hell painting.

Poppi and Arin's eyes widened in shock at the sight before them.

"What is... this?"

"Are you, are you hungry?"

Indeed, the scene before them was pure chaos.

"One."

"Yeeah!"

"Two."

"Throoong!"

"The voices are too weak! Is that all you can do! Oneeeeee!"

"Yeeaaah!"

"Twooo!"

"Throooong!"

Four people clung to a massive iron bar, about 30 cm in diameter, lifting and lowering it with all their might.

Of course, it was difficult, and those who had trained in martial arts were sweating profusely even in the middle of winter.

There were five such groups.

And that wasn't all.

Splat, splat.

In the muddy ground, over twenty people were doing frog jumps with strange shackles on their feet.

In the distance, over twenty people were climbing a rock wall with no equipment.

Some were even doing push-ups while standing on their heads.

Screams, groans, roars, and shouts echoed from all directions, intertwining in a chaotic mess.

The only ones who seemed relatively comfortable were those receiving drill training in a corner.

Seeing all this, a low curse escaped Yurie's lips.

"Mercenary... I thought the black-sword soldier's tone sounded familiar."

In the past, she had briefly joined a mercenary army's basic training camp for a few months.

The atmosphere was exactly the same.

The barbed wire fence surrounding the area.

The watchtowers built high on the fence to monitor any potential escapees.

Each of these things brought back painful memories of the mercenary army's basic training camp from her childhood.

'When I was lured by the promise of double pay for just completing basic training... I tasted hell for two months.'

The mercenary army, started by some madman's idea to create a regular army from mercenaries in times of need.

The basic training camp built for these mercenaries was notorious.

A rough environment filled with mercenaries.

Even rougher and fiercer instructors were deployed to control these mercenaries, and every day, torturous training was carried out.

Adding to that, the various forms of bullying by those who had entered just a few days earlier made it a living hell.

At the time, Yurie, whose body was weak due to her condition, gritted her teeth and barely completed the training, but she had to convalesce for a month afterward.

'Ah, it gives me chills. Ah, that smell!'

The taste and smell of the terrible military rations, known as 'jam rice,' from the mercenary army came to mind, and Yurie shivered.

Then, she quickly followed the black-sword soldier, who was moving ahead.

As she moved, Poppi and Arin followed Yurie.

Following the black-sword soldier, they arrived at a large tent with a sign that read [Court].