Chapter 562

The wizard is generally a smart person. No, even geniuses who are not smart enough become wizards. However, it was funny that their behavior patterns were similar. They showed obsessive-compulsive disorder with encryption and security, fearing that their research might be stolen. In reality, such incidents were not uncommon, so it was probably inevitable. Of course, the places where wizards actually conducted experiments or research were strictly secured, and there were many of them, so it would take time to break into each one. I eventually returned to the Royal Class stronghold, wondering if I should call Kono Rint. As a result, I had no choice but to wander around like yesterday, meeting various people from the Royal Class. Adelia, who will undoubtedly play a bigger role than anything else in this war as the core developer of Titan, still looks clueless. Perhaps Adelia will be busy day and night with the maintenance and improvement of Titan this winter. There are people like Adelia who are busier on days off like today. Adelia has a talent for summoning magic, but she is actually a non-combatant. Currently, those who apply magic crafting are more helpful in combat. Adelia had a lot in her hands and looked at me as if she had somewhere to go, then left the Royal Class stronghold with regret. It is meaningless to follow Adelia because Adelia's only job is related to Titan. While wandering around the tents, I focused on the voice coming from inside. "Ludwig, there is something you can do even when you go back to Hwangdo. You have experience fighting monsters, so you could work as a training officer at the training camp, and you can also do magic reinforcement at a high level, so you could help with magic reinforcement training for Moonshine users. This is also a meaningful, no, very important job. You know that too." It was the voice of Master Mustang, whom I hadn't heard in a long time, coming from one of the tents. "Yes, it's important. Of course... It's not that we ignore or think they're unnecessary... He seemed to be persuading them that there is a lot to do even in the rear, and that what they do is by no means lighter than what they do on the battlefield. There is certainly something that Ludwig can do. Like Master Mustang said, Ludwig has a lot of experience fighting monsters. Not only in this war, but since the Gate incident, Ludwig has survived in fights with monsters for almost three years. In other words, he can't help being called a veteran. Monsters are unpredictable, but Ludwig has continued to see that unpredictability, so he can teach it to those who are not familiar with fighting new recruits or monsters. He can be a training officer, teach magic reinforcement, and even do the work of the Imperial Guard. Even if only one small monster appears in the vast refugee area, people die in droves. Ludwig, who lost his arm in the face of hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of powerful monsters in the Allied Forces, will have a small role, but in the rear, Ludwig could have crushed those insignificant monsters with his bare hands. "Go back to the Imperial City. There's a lot you can do there too." I couldn't see Master Mustang and Ludwig's expressions, but I felt despair in Ludwig's silence. The sadness and guilt that come from no longer being able to fight, but rather lowering people's morale with his own existence. I couldn't help but think it was cruel. In the end, Ludwig lost his arm and Delphin died. But it is a fact that he saved Scarlet. Everyone knows that, but they try to send Ludwig back, who now wants to fight even if he has to endure death, hoping that he won't die. I don't know what's right. Whether it's right to let him fight, even if it means risking death, because that's what he wants. Whether it's right to force him back to the rear while treating him like a troublemaker. "Ludwig, there's no need to make a hasty decision. The Allied Forces will stay in Selandia for a long time. It's good to go back to the Imperial City and cool your head and think slowly. Don't make a decision right away." "...I'll think about it." Ludwig wants to stay on the battlefield, but no one else wants that except himself. * * * Cliffman's curse and Master Mustang's persuasion. I watched Ludwig come out of Master Mustang's tent with a calm expression from afar. What will happen to Ludwig in the future? It might be better if that guy completely withdraws from this fight. "I agree with Master Mustang's words that staying in the rear and working as a training officer or in other roles is definitely meaningful. If we leave that reckless guy alone, he might die in the next battle. Is the main character leaving like this? I wandered around the Royal Class base, and Ellen and Anna haven't returned. If it doesn't work out, I thought about calling Kono Lindt again, but he's not at the base either. Anyway, as I wandered around, I heard stories here and there. Stroke, stroke. Somehow, after some time, I found myself leaning on Adriana's lap and being petted. 'Do you want to eat?' Meow. While eating the jerky that Adriana tore thinly, I thought, 'Am I just a beast now?' It's ridiculous that just by wandering around and not dying, I get treated as something impressive. How comfortable are the animals living? Of course, assuming they're cute. Everyone in this place is petting me like that, but Adriana also seemed to have a lot of worries. It's definitely not a bright expression. Adriana was sitting on a wooden box near the Royal Class base training ground. And next to that wooden box, the large hammer and shield that Adriana had been wielding until now were hanging diagonally. Adriana, who used to use a sword, now uses a shield and hammer in this battlefield. Many of those who fight monsters have switched from their main weapon to heavy weapons such as hammers, axes, spears, or large two-handed swords and chamma swords, and Adriana was one of them. The hammer used by Adriana is a weapon that requires two hands for ordinary people, and even for those with strong strength. Adriana fights with it in one hand. Block with a shield and break with a hammer. Ludwig could probably handle such a large weapon with one hand too. The important thing is not whether Ludwig is familiar with that fighting style or not, but his gloomy attitude that he might die. Everyone is trying to stop the guy who is sure to become a moth. Anyway, Adriana was taking a break like this after practicing combat skills in the training ground." Leaning on Adriana's lap, Luedina hugged her waist without saying a word. Adriana embraced Luedina's shoulders with her arms spread out as if it was familiar. Luedina buried herself in Adriana's embrace. Ard de Grithis had died, and just like the second-year students who were shocked by the death of their peers, the third-year students would be the same. They held each other without saying anything, knowing that it would be difficult to bring up anything. Luedina cried silently in Adriana's embrace, and Adriana patted her shoulder with tears in her eyes. It had become a place where tears could come out at any time and it would only get worse in the future. "I don't know what to do..." "Are you talking about Kair?" "Yes." Kair and Luedina had a fight yesterday, but it seemed different from what the protagonist had observed. Adriana seemed to know what was going on. The protagonist couldn't help but overhear their conversation and found out what was going on. Kair was charging his Arc Crystal and sometimes tried to charge his magic beyond his limit, which was reducing his lifespan. Even though he knew he didn't have the energy, Kair charged his magic until he collapsed during battles. Luedina even yelled at him to charge until he collapsed. However, Luedina didn't know that it was reducing Kair's lifespan, and Kair didn't tell her because he didn't want her to worry. Kair was willing to sacrifice his lifespan to help in any way he could. Luedina didn't want to pressure or nag Kair anymore. However, Kair wasn't sacrificing himself for Luedina. If Kair died, the Arc Crystal would be useless, and Luedina wouldn't be able to use magic like she does now. Even if they apologized and reconciled, would anything change? Kair wasn't sacrificing himself for Luedina, so her apology and resistance wouldn't mean anything to him. Even if they reconciled, Kair would still push himself beyond his limits if he had to. He said he wouldn't die right away, but no one knew how long that would be. Translation: War takes away someone's life and continues to consume those who survive. Luedina returned to Adriana after mourning the death of Ard de Grithis and they held each other in silence. Luedina wandered around the Royal Class base and noticed the lonely and quiet atmosphere. She waited for Kono Lint to return at the dining tent, but he didn't show up. Luedina realized that she had been so focused on finding Anna that she hadn't noticed the absence of two other B-Class students, Christina and Louis Angerton. Luedina considers returning to the temple but needs to think about it first. "If allowed, some students could return to the temple to stay. I completely forgot about the soldiers who were given leave from the military. I wasn't thinking about something so simple. If the royal family wanted to conduct secret research, there would be no reason to do it in the heavily guarded Allied Forces base. The temple is currently empty, but it was a center for learning and research, even having a university. The facilities are more than enough. In fact, conducting such research in the Allied Forces base itself poses a huge risk, so there is no reason to do it here. The problem was that I thought experiments related to the undead would naturally be conducted here since they had no choice but to develop Titans on site due to unavoidable circumstances. If they wanted to conduct secret and confidential research, they should have done it in the temple from the beginning. If Anna was a researcher, she would be in the temple, not somewhere in this base. But... considering the missing person and my assumptions, there was no other way for the incident to spread except in a different way. If they returned to the temple not just to rest during the winter, but for research... what about Louis Angerton and Christina? Or, in the first place... Louis Angerton wasn't a large project researcher like Titan. Even though he had enough ability and knowledge to help with the research, Louis Angerton was not included in Adelia and the Duke's project. Then what was that guy doing all this time?"