Chapter 49 : A Class Gate – Spring and Autumn (3)

An ordinary summer day in the Central Plains, where the scorching sun created shimmering heat hazes.

A soldier of the Qi state sighed, wiping away sweat.

There was one reason he endured the harsh life of a border soldier. It was better than being an ordinary peasant. When war occasionally broke out, rushing out to plunder allowed one to make a living to some extent.

“How much longer do I have to do this?”

He was already thirty. Gradually, soldiers in the unit with more seniority than him were decreasing.

It was an era with an extremely short average lifespan. Many called thirty years old an old soldier.

The sturdy iron sword he once cherished more than his own life was now rusted and chipped, barely functional. Though one could somehow kill enemies even with a rusty sword due to blood poisoning, it wouldn’t save him from the blade immediately before him.

The spears given as supplies were made of wood, and became quite useless when damp, making him uneasy.

Ultimately. What kept him alive until this age was the rusty iron sword, and animalistic instinct. That’s what he thought.

-Dong! Dong! Doong!

The bell rang. The signal that the enemy had invaded.

A common occurrence. The soldier roused his resting body and prepared to go out to the battlefield once more. Dragging his spear, lowering his eyes to avoid the sunlight.

“Uh. Uhh… Elder Brother. Do we have to go out now?”

The sight of a young recruit panicking caught his eye. Heh, a strange smile graced his lips.

‘He must be seeing such a large enemy force for the first time. Understandable.’

‘I was like that once too.’

An old story from almost 20 years ago. Though the memory was faint now, the excitement of the first battle was still vivid.

How terrifying was that battlefield scene, overflowing with spilled blood, screams, and guttural cries?

Thinking back now, he was lucky. In fact, he had been continuously lucky until now.

‘So. I’ll be lucky this time too.’

“Hey. It’s nothing. The only guys who come around here are Yan soldiers. You know those guys had a rebellion, right? Obviously deserters, what else.”

Smiling slyly, the soldier grabbed his rusty iron sword and headed towards the ramparts.

He saw the recruit spacing out. Suddenly feeling mischievous, he tiptoed towards the recruit’s back, intending to smack the back of his head.

“…Wh-What.”

The recruit stood gaping, head tilted up, looking at the sun. And looking directly at the sun with bare eyes is, needless to say, an incredibly foolish act.

‘…Something’s a bit strange.’

‘Why is he looking at the sky, not the enemy?’

The soldier tilted his head and casually slung an arm over the recruit’s shoulder. Startled, the recruit turned his head.

“Ah, ah. Elder Brother. L-Look over there. Shouldn’t we, do something?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Hey, even if this is just an earthen fortress, a fortress is a fortress. No matter how many come, they can’t capture this place.”

Of course, that didn’t mean soldiers wouldn’t die. But he was a discerning veteran, so he refrained from saying that.

However.

“There! There, the sky… The sky. Is strange. It’s strange.”

Why is there a sword floating in the sky?

Such bewildered muttering was heard. Only then did the soldier also turn his head to look at the sky.

Beneath the blazing sunlight, something shimmering, reflecting that light, was visible. Though details couldn’t be confirmed due to the piercing light…

Its shape was something everyone could recognize, an incredibly striking form.

“…Wh-What. Is that.”

A colossal sword adorned the sky. At first glance, it looked like a cluster of clouds, but it was clearly an ordered swarm of iron.

He could understand why the recruit looked dumbfounded.

Well, naturally. Who could have predicted it? There wasn’t even an archer to shoot arrows, yet such… things were floating in the sky.

“Wh-What do we do? Should we block it?”

An absurd suggestion was heard. Though he didn’t have any particularly good ideas, the veteran soldier refuted the recruit’s words first. It was habit.

“Idiot! Block the sky? How? By what means are you going to block it?”

Even as he said that, a question bloomed in his mind.

Beasts or people can be blocked by people. Even rivers, if done well, can have their course diverted.

But the idea of blocking sunlight, or pouring rain, or flowing clouds had never occurred to him.

That is nature. Nature is inherently unblockable, belonging to the heavens. Isn’t that why controlling water is an essential qualification for the Son of Heaven?

And… the iron cloud shaped like a sword also clearly belonged to the realm of nature.

“Retreat first! Go back inside! Run quickly!”

He bit his lip. Natural disasters are meant to be avoided, not confronted.

But even the speaker didn’t know how to respond if a natural disaster targeted humans.

Of course, even if he knew, nothing likely would have changed.

Swoosh.

A figure, flying like a kite, landed inside the ramparts with a *thud*. And a young girl with baby-like fair skin and short limbs came into view.

The overall impression was, bizarre.

Hair tied in twin tails. A strange sword flashing brightly even from afar. An overwhelming presence emanating an aura that dominated the battlefield.

A girl with an atmosphere like, the morning star.

That girl, flashing a cheerful and bright smile unimaginable on this battlefield, shouted.

“In the name of love and justice!”

Clack.

Aiming her sword, the girl spoke softly.

“I. Arrive.”

Just like that, suddenly.

The Sword Saint appeared.

***

Boom! Kwaang!

A fierce noise like building demolition was heard. Frowning, I wrapped a noise-canceling barrier around my belly. Pregnant woman, need to be careful.

“Seolhyang… Be a bit quieter. Got excited wielding a sword and now you’re running wild.”

Having regained her energy after just one day, she laughed excitedly, swinging her sword. Each time the colossal sword Seolhyang levitated with telekinesis swung, ramparts shattered and landslides occurred.

Though it was just a mountain fortress made of roughly piled stones, that made it an even greater feat. Because it wasn’t made of bricks, but used natural terrain itself as a fortress.

“Yes!”

‘What do you mean, yes?’

“Can’t even talk…”

‘She’s really excited. No good. I should just watch Caspar too.’

“Caspaaar… I’m tired. Scold her a bit.”

Whining, I clung to Caspar’s arm. Caspar, disliking being idle and wasting time, had gone out and dealt with another Gate briefly during that one day.

Since the king had surprisingly little to do in the plan, he used the spare time that way.

Considering the original plan had me playing the role of the ruler, I had fallen into my own trap. How hard it was not seeing Caspar for several hours.

Eventually, I even abandoned polite speech, clung to him, and cried a little. Though annoyed by him looking at me cutely, it couldn’t be helped since it was true.

Was it perhaps panic disorder? It was one of the dozens of mental illnesses I used to live with familiarly, but now, the return of even one scared me to death.

What if it harms the baby? Though practically, due to magic, it absolutely wouldn’t happen, which both I and Caspar knew… Still, isn’t a mother’s heart a bit different?

I feel slightly disappointed by Caspar being somewhat insensitive towards the baby. Besides, in the Land of Prosperity, teeming with superhumans, premature or disabled babies were rarely born, unlike on Earth. Caspar probably thought it would naturally be safe.

“It’s okay, Agathe. Seolhyang seems to have recovered her energy too. Isn’t it nice seeing her run around well?”

“I’m the one not okay…”

Though I pouted and grumbled, I was already in a better mood from Caspar’s words.

Well, it wasn’t particularly Caspar’s words that cheered me up. It was because his words subtly revealed he didn’t see Seolhyang as a potential romantic interest.

His gaze when looking at Seolhyang was like raising a colt, meaning at least Caspar didn’t have peculiar tastes liking young children.

“So. How many days will it take this time? Two days?”

I pondered for a moment, then answered.

“Probably around that…? I’m not sure how the state conquest judgment works here. It would be nice if we could get data from China.”

They say they’re still struggling with the aftermath of their S-rank Gate over there. So it’s probably difficult.

I casually glanced at the updated Gate count this time.

673.

A number 7 short of 666.

“They say no new Gates are opening anymore. Heard it from Yulha when I went outside this time.”

Hmm. That’s new information. I think she mentioned it was among the roughly anticipated scenarios.

Nodding, I replied to my husband’s words.

“Good. Makes matching the Gate number easier.”

666 not just in Korea, but worldwide. An extremely difficult number to match. Besides, wouldn’t more than 666 Gates open per day usually?

Now, the remaining 666-odd Gates were all genuine ones. Those left because the strategy was excessively complex, or conversely, because the strategy was obvious but too difficult and arduous.

“Decided to handle 2 in the US. 1 in Europe. 1 in China. 1 in Africa. 1 at the NASA space station. And this is the last one.”

Caspar spoke calmly, implying this place was where the first gate of Hell would open. I wanted to say something, but soon understood.
“Right. With 3 S-ranks here, it’s probably natural.”

“We haven’t received ranks yet?”

He looks strangely expectant. Seems he liked the title ‘X-rank Hunter’.

‘Honestly don’t need such ranks. But Caspar likes such achievements. Yes. Can’t be helped.’

“Hehe. MY husband will be number 1. Don’t worry. I’ll even make rankings later. Since you’re the strongest and coolest man in the world, everyone should know.”

A ranking system doesn’t exist yet. Besides, it’s not easy to determine superiority between people.

Later, when the world stabilizes, I should make them fight each other and rank the strong ones higher. Then Caspar wouldn’t receive treatment like now, but stand tall as the world’s number one Hunter.

Ah. Of course, for that, Caspar would have to fight others and win all…

Sparring with others, Caspar would naturally win. I had absolutely no doubt about this fact.

If it seemed like he might lose, I could just secretly shoot a Magic Bullet.

Naturally, Caspar would win.