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Chapter 9

“... Hm.” The boy watched for a moment as the wolf whimpered with its stomach exposed. He reached out his hand and scratched its stomach.

The wolf relaxed, and a happy brrr sounded from its throat. One could easily mistake it for a dog.

I don’t want to kill it, and I don’t have any reason to. It would be different if it was a blood-crazed beast, but Leonard wasn’t the type of person to kill such a defenseless little guy.

It probably wasn’t a good idea to take it in. It needed enormous amounts of food, and if he got into a fight with another trainee with the wolf by his side, the instructors would interfere. Furthermore, it would be a waste to just hand it over to the instructors. It’s not like it wouldn’t be useful in some ways.

It didn’t take long for Leonard to make his decision.

“Instructor,” he called. He fixed his eyes precisely on Colin, who was hidden behind layers of leaves and branches on the top of a tree dozens of meters away.

Naturally, Colin was shocked. What?! He sensed my presence? Had he let his guard down just now because of what he had seen? That must be it.

Colin moved to a different spot. Perhaps No. 25 had chosen a random tree.

When Colin saw that Leonard’s eyes were following him, he acknowledged that his stealth techniques had failed. He revealed himself.

“What is it, No. 25?” Still, he couldn’t lose his dignity as an instructor. He lowered his voice as much as possible, going so far as to act as if he’d allowed himself to get caught.

Leonard didn’t buy it one bit.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you,” said the boy.

“What is it? You’re in the middle of field training. Your personal matters—”

“It’s about this wolf.” Before Colin could give him a long, boring lecture about rules and whatnot, Leonard pointed to the animal lying on its back by his feet. “If I use this wolf or fight alongside it to defeat trainees from other groups, would my victory be considered valid?”

“... No.” Colin felt cold sweat trickle down his back. In terms of pure strength, it was difficult for even direct descendants to handle it. The direwolf was well-fed so it could be used as a sort of training obstacle.

The wolf has been trained to counter sword attacks, albeit only basic ones. But if the two of them work together... The wolf would learn enough to be able to take down Cardenas trainees who had a year or two more of training.

Not only had Leonard grasped the entire layout of the forest in just one day, he was now running around like it was his own backyard and even tamed a direwolf. This training exercise was simply meant to allow trainees to develop more real-life skills instead of textbook swordplay, but Colin had no doubt that this boy would completely destroy its original purpose. If it was any condolence, at least No. 25 had brought up something Colin hadn’t considered. Still, it was a relief that the boy at least asked him before running off with the wolf. It would have been harder to handle otherwise.

“Then may I use it to get around and to find food and people?” Leonard asked.

“Hmm...” Colin wanted to say no, but he thought for a moment. When it came down to it, No. 25 had defeated a wolf that was meant to be fought as a team, so it felt too unfair to prevent him from reaping the benefits he deserved. “All right, but only for those things.”

“Thank you.”

“As I mentioned earlier, you are not to use the wolf to attack or intimidate the other trainees. We’ll bring you feed at regular intervals. Is that enough?”

“Yes, sir,” Leonard said, nodding. Things had turned out better than he’d expected. Considering the purpose of the field training, it was very likely the instructors simply would’ve led the wolf away. It might also cause unexpected accidents, but the fact that he was given permission to use the wolf meant that Colin was indirectly acknowledging his achievements.

“Oh, No. 25,” Colin said just as he was about to disappear. “You said you wanted to use it to get around, so I assume you plan to ride it?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any horseback riding experience? It’s harder to ride a wolf than a horse. But even if you fall off its back and badly injure yourself, we won’t help you unless you forfeit the mission.”

“Understood.” Leonard agreed without question.

At that, Colin sighed before he could stop himself. He seemed to melt into the ground as he concealed his presence. This time, he was determined not to get caught.

Ooh. Not bad. Leonard was impressed that Colin’s presence was fainter than it was earlier. Colin was only a knight, but he was so good at hiding himself. Perhaps he’d picked up miscellaneous skills from being on the battlefield? Leonard would find out soon enough.

He looked down at the wolf purring at his feet and transmitted a thought.

Stand up.

The wolf understood the command and stood on its hind legs. It was the first time it had received a non-verbal command, and it looked very puzzled.

“Sit. Stand. Jump. Roll over.” Leonard mouthed the words to communicate them more directly. It sat, stood, jumped lightly, and rolled on the ground, just as it was ordered.

He was using telepathy. Because he was communicating with thoughts instead of words, it was easy for even non-human entities to understand him. However, because the wolf couldn’t respond telepathically, it was just a one-sided form of communication. But all I need is for it to listen to my commands, so it doesn’t matter.

The wolf stuck out its head as if waiting for praise, and Leonard petted its soft fur. He looked up at the darkening sky. If he wanted to gather kindling to make a fire, he would have to hurry.

“We’ll save the real work for tomorrow,” he muttered as he scratched the wolf’s snout. It brought its head back and howled as if in answer.

Awoooo

—

The sudden cry of a predator scared the birds out of the trees, and the sleeping rabbits twitched their long ears.

The day was coming to an end in the forest.

***

“That’s the sound of a wolf.” No. 1’s eyes flashed as he sat on his stump. It was a long distance away, but for some reason, a chill ran through him, and all his hair stood on end.

The Cardenas family had brought a beast. He was sure of it.

“... I think it would be difficult for anyone else other than you to face it alone, Master,” No. 5 said calmly. The boy had stuck by his side as his right-hand man since the outset. Unlike the other trainees, who didn’t sense anything particular about the wolf, he had recognized its power.

No. 1 gave him a look of approval and scanned the other children, who were sweating from setting up the camp.

There were 183 members in his team. The trainee class was made up of 505 people, so he had close to 40 percent of the class’s manpower.

But having power in numbers isn’t always advantageous. He examined the situation from a pragmatic standpoint. My first priority is securing enough food and water for nearly two hundred people. It will also be difficult to find a place where we can all settle down, but if we split into too many groups, we will be in danger of No. 2 and No. 3 targeting us one by one.

For now, he would ignore No. 4, whose opportunistic personality made him shy away from attacking first. And Group 5 as well, which had little fighting capability in the first place.

Same with Group 6, which was one person roaming around alone.

If my group rations strategically, we can sustain ourselves with the supplies we were given for about a week. After that, we’ll either have to start scavenging for food or start taking badges. No, wait.

No. 1 thought for a moment and scowled.

Why would we wait until we run out of supplies? We’ll start plundering other groups from the outset to gather badges and points so that we can keep the original rations as a reserve in case of an emergency. I have to take out those other groups before those dregs team up against me.

Though this was an arrogant line of thinking, it wasn’t unfounded. It didn’t take him long to come up with the best path for him and his team for the field mission. If a battle of attrition was disadvantageous for them, they simply needed to put it to an end before it even started.

As soon as No. 1 stood up from his seat, the bustling trainees all stopped in their tracks.

His aura was as striking as a lion’s!

“Hear me,” he ordered. “Tonight, we will split into five groups for the night watch and go to sleep as early as possible. We can finish building any incomplete areas tomorrow.”

The sun had already fallen below the horizon and disappeared, and an unfamiliar darkness had seeped into the forest.

However, the golden light of No. 1’s eyes seemed sharp enough to pierce right through this darkness.

He moved on without even waiting for the children to respond. “Starting tomorrow at dawn, half of us will begin searching the forest. If you find another group, report it to me and do not let yourself be discovered. As soon as we find them, we will wage total war.”

The manpower of No. 1’s group also meant they had the most firepower. No. 2’s only had ninety-one trainees, No. 4’s had eighty-nine, and No. 3’s had eighty. Even if two groups teamed up, they still wouldn’t have as many men as No. 1’s group. And if they didn’t team up, well, that was that.

“If we only take out one group among Groups 2, 3, and 4, our victory will be guaranteed. We can take our time to take out the leftovers.”

Their leader’s confidence inspired the group. They hadn’t even noticed how much he stirred them up. Their fists were clenched, and their legs were tense, as if they were ready to sprint if he just said the word.

No. 1’s charisma wasn’t that of a fourteen-year-old’s. Watching silently from his side, No. 5 praised himself for choosing the right group.

No. 1 said, “All you need to do is follow my orders. You do not need to think. You do not need to worry. Just follow my lead. Do you understand?”

“Huzzah!”

Their cry echoed through the darkness of the forest, even louder than the wolf’s howl they’d heard not long ago. They could possibly be revealing their location to the other groups, but that didn’t matter. If the opposing groups were aware of them and actively avoided Group 1, it would make it easier for Group 1 to track them down. Additionally, if the opposing groups attacked directly like idiots, Group 1 could just trample them.

“No. 5,” No. 1 said.

“Yes?” No. 5 stepped closer and bowed.

“Select people with good eyes and people who are good at climbing trees. Starting tomorrow, they will be sent out on their own to create a map of the area.”

“A... map?”

“It does not need to be detailed. It must only be legible.” As long as it allowed the trainees to rendezvous after splitting up, that was enough.

No. 1 was making the most of his manpower. Some members would scavenge for food and water, some would scout for other groups, and the rest would work on mapping the area. They had until their initial rations ran out.

That will be enough.

No matter how big the forest was, it wouldn’t surpass the boundaries of the estate. Considering that the entire area had to be monitored by instructors, he actually only needed about one hundred members to do all this. The only weakness in his plan was that the other three group leaders would be expecting his strategy and team up as fast as possible. In that case, they would attack his members while they were split up.

No. 1 scoffed. That was only the worst-case scenario. Hmph. That won’t happen.

No. 3 held a grudge against direct descendants for some reason, so she was out of the question, and No. 2 and No. 4 lacked the resolve to ally themselves. After pondering and pondering, they would probably only join hands at the last possible moment once they were pushed into a corner.

So, he had to eliminate one, or ideally, two groups before that happened.

“I’ll be the one who wins.”

This conviction had never once wavered since he was born.

No. 1 looked up at the night sky and saw the stars begin to twinkle. His desire to rise to the top ranks of the Cardenas family burned within him. That was his father’s wish, and it was also his own.

He would prove his power and superiority over everyone else!

“And that bastard No. 25 is no exception.”

No. 1 ground his teeth as he recalled the way Leonard had slipped into the forest without sparing him a glance.

Once No. 1 defeated all the other group leaders, Leonard was next.