8. Jayden's Value (3)
The Ranger briefly explained the current situation to the Knight in an urgent voice.
"The Troll Domain is in an uproar right now!"
"Suddenly? There were no particular problems until just before we arrived here."
"Ha... According to a unit member, it seems something crossed into the Troll Domain, intensifying the chaos."
At the Ranger's words, the Knight made a puzzled expression.
"Where did it cross over from?"
"It is presumed to be from the Black Forest. Right now, the Troll Domain area is in chaos because of monsters that crossed over from that side."
At the Ranger's words, the Knight made a troubled expression.
The moment the name Black Forest came up, he realized at once that the situation was more serious than he had thought.
"Such... Has the cause been identified yet?"
"Not yet. For now, after withdrawing the children first, it seems we too will have to be dispatched."
"Understood. I will prepare for immediate withdrawal."
Replying to the Ranger immediately, the Knight gathered the children with a gesture.
"To think they're swarming from the Black Forest of all places... Could it be that that thing died?"
At the Knight's words, the Ranger shook his head.
"We don't know. Still, it must be alive. It's a high-ranking Divine Beast, so it wouldn't die just because a few monsters swarmed in, would it?"
"That may be true, but..."
Although the Black Forest occupied the smallest area among the regions near the Academy, the reason even high-ranking monsters could not easily invade it was because of the Divine Beast residing there.
The epithet of the creature called 'Two Moons' was given because the moment one saw two round lights in the pitch-black Black Forest, they would meet their death.
It was a threatening creature that even a Master could not easily move against within its domain; if monsters were coming out of such a creature's territory, it meant something had happened to the Divine Beast.
This implied that a large-scale monster war could soon break out over the Black Forest.
"Where did Number 1 go?"
"He urgently left his position saying he would go somewhere for a moment."
"What?"
At the student's words, the Knight panicked and tried to release his aura to quickly find Jayden.
The Ranger beside him was also about to move when the bushes rustled and Jayden revealed himself.
"Where did you...!"
The moment he was about to get angry, the Knight saw a wounded owl in Jayden's arms. What was even stranger was the fact that there was also a small bird perched on Jayden's head.
"You... what is that?"
"I will explain later."
Knowing the urgency of the situation, when Jayden said that, the Knight sighed and gathered the children.
"The mission is terminated. We return to the Academy immediately."
"Do we abandon the Troll corpses as well?"
At the student's words, the Knight nodded firmly.
"We do."
"We move immediately."
At the same time as the Knight's answer, the Ranger moved first and cleared the path.
Over three hundred students, Knights, and Rangers moved swiftly toward the Academy all at once. Because they moved with such speed that urgency could be felt, they soon reached the Academy's safe zone.
"From here, please take command. It seems we must move immediately."
"Understood."
At the words of the officer leading the Rangers, the senior Knight saluted and led the children back to the Academy along a familiar path.
"From now on, all 4th Year 'Cadets' are to reassemble in full combat gear."
As soon as they arrived at the Academy, the professors who had taken charge of the students from the Knight assembled them.
Moreover, assembling them as 'Cadets' of the Military Academy rather than as students, as before, meant they could formally participate in combat.
Some students who realized this hardened their expressions and appeared more nervous than usual.
"Ha... I've only administered emergency first aid, so take good care of it."
-Chirp!
At Jayden's words, the Wren thumped its chest with its wing as if to tell him not to worry and answered.
Jayden tapped the Wren's head with his finger, then fully armed himself and immediately headed down to the parade ground.
Then, soon after, the professors appeared before the over three hundred students in full combat gear.
"From now on, we will form teams and proceed to defend the Academy. There is a high possibility of medium and large monsters appearing, so absolutely do not step forward and only assist by providing support from the rear. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"This is a real situation, so do not let your guard down. Dismissed."
The moment the professor finished speaking, the students formed teams with the Knights just as they had during field training and began moving to their respective areas.
Jayden also moved to the vicinity of the Academy with his assigned Knight.
From the vicinity of the Academy, which had been designated a safe zone through countless subjugations, drumbeats rang out.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Could this be..."
The moment Jayden looked at the Knight with an expression of disbelief, the Knight too seemed to intuit the severity of the situation and spoke to the children immediately.
"Step back! This isn't something you can handle!"
"If we fall back here, we're finished."
"Even so, we have no choice. Those drumbeats are a sound Trolls only make when engaging in large-scale battle! If we try to stop them here, we'll be annihilated."
Though Jayden agreed with the Knight's words, even if they fell back here, there was no possibility of holding out until the army arrived.
"Wouldn't it be better to hold them here if support arrives quickly from Command?"
"If the Black Forest has been breached... it will take thirty minutes, no, an hour for support to arrive from Command. Do you think you can hold out here during that time?"
At the Knight's question, Jayden bowed his head heavily.
The conversation between the Knight and the Ranger during training had become reality.
"For now, you all fall back."
When the Knight spoke again, Jayden reluctantly stepped back.
If large-scale Trolls swarmed in, it was obvious they would only get in the way.
Unless the tactical method he proposed was in a state of perfect training, they would only be a hindrance.
Then the children too, seemingly recognizing the situation, began running quickly inside the Academy with eyes full of fear.
Perhaps because not only Knights but also Professors had been deployed to the defensive line, the Academy interior was filled with only students.
"Do we just have to watch like this?"
"Do you think there's anything we can do right now?"
When one student spoke as if bursting with frustration, the boy who had been Year 3, Number 1, and was now demoted to Year 4, Number 3, spoke with a frown.
To inflict a proper wound on a Troll, one had to be at Stage 3.
Even then, only with luck could one kill it; otherwise, one had to be prepared to lose one's life.
But among the current students, there were none who had reached Stage 3.
"There is something we can do."
"What?"
"I said there is."
To Number 3's question, Jayden answered as if giving a definite answer.
Then Number 3's expression contorted.
"If we set up explosives and provide suppressing fire with guns like before, we can buy some time."
"If you step out needlessly and get killed, that'll be an even bigger problem! Now is the time to stay put."
Number 3's words made sense. However, that was only if support arrived quickly from the Northeastern Command.
"You're right. Only... if Trolls swarm in on a large scale, the problem is that before support arrives, the Knights and Professors will all die and we'll be annihilated too."
"That's not the situation right now."
"Trolls only beat those drums during large-scale battles."
At Jayden's words, Number 3's expression hardened. The other students too looked at Jayden with stiff expressions.
"A situation has occurred that would fluster Rangers who monitor the area several times a month. It means Command is in a panic too. Especially seeing how seriously they're taking the fact that a place called the Black Forest has been breached... this could be a much more serious situation than we expect."
"So? What should we do now?"
As if having made up his mind at Jayden's words, Number 2 asked what they should do, and Number 3 too bit his lip and looked at Jayden.
"We focus only on buying time, as I said before. Fortunately, we're all at Stage 2."
True to their status as 4th Years who had risen through one of the Academy's most grueling ranking battles in history, all the students had reached the upper tier of Stage 2.
In other words, they could temporarily strengthen their bodies and move quickly, something they could do with their eyes closed.
Especially those in the elite tier, the 30s, could infuse their swords with mana, however faintly.
Unless one was at the 3rd Stage, it wasted tremendous power and was incomplete, but if they got the timing right, they could target a troll's weak point.
"Is that all? Just shooting guns and running away?"
"Yeah. But it's not like we have no way to take down a troll."
At Number 2's words, Jayden shook his head and spoke.
"How do you plan to strike a troll without being at the 3rd Stage?"
"The armpits and the groin actually have rather thick hide, so it's difficult to inflict fatal wounds with our strength. But even for people like us, there is one place where those in the 30s can inflict a fatal wound."
At Jayden's words, the students simultaneously looked at him with curious expressions.
"The anus."
"What?"
"A troll's anus has relatively weak tissue. It's hidden by thick buttock flesh, but if we can just make the troll fall to the ground, even we can manage to stab our swords into its anus. Besides, if we coat our blades with poison, the effect could be even greater."
Some students frowned at Jayden's words.
The idea of having to target a troll's anus seemed to turn their stomachs. But worrying about such things when they were in a life-or-death crisis was idiotic.
*Boom!*
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The moment massive explosions and the trolls' drumbeats grew louder, Jayden spoke to the children.
"So, what'll it be?"
At Jayden's question, the children checked their armaments.
Bombs, guns, and all sorts of weapons were fully equipped. And just in case, boxes full of ammunition and explosives were stacked in a corner of the training grounds.
"Let's do it. If what you say is true, waiting to die and fighting to die are one and the same anyway."
"Yeah."
"Alright! Let's do it! I somehow feel like we can take down a few trolls too."
At Jayden's words, the children each showed confidence and clenched their fists tightly.
Then Number 2 muttered softly.
"Anus... anus..."
"Uh... Number 2?"
Jayden, who had been watching the somewhat strange-looking Number 2 with a worried expression, quickly came to his senses and led the children toward the academy's main gate.
They could then see knights and professors fighting everywhere.
In the northeast, the Magical Beast Studies professor—a rare mage by origin—was keeping them in check with magic, tying up their feet, while knights and professors quickly took down trolls. But because the trolls even used sorcery, they were gradually being pushed back.
"Listen carefully. From now on, we need to set up enough explosives to blow the academy's main gate sky-high."
"Wouldn't it be better to preserve the main gate?"
At Number 127's question, Jayden shook his head firmly.
The fairly large main gate would be enough to hold the trolls back for a short while. But Jayden figured that against trolls, this gate wouldn't even last a few minutes.
If that was the case, simply using it as a trap seemed several times better.
"Once the explosives are set, gather everyone. After the retreat signal is sounded, we have to buy time until the professors and knights get inside."
At Jayden's words, the children nodded and began scattering to carry out their assigned missions.
'The destruction of the Northeast Academy... Was it around this time?'
Watching the children scatter for their mission, Jayden looked with a grave expression at the trolls swarming in like a pack of wild dogs from below.
To prevent the Northeast from being annihilated as it was in his previous life, protecting this academy was important first and foremost. Because only then would he be safe until his military service ended.
To survive, to guarantee his safety, he had to protect this academy unconditionally.
To that end, he had to do anything and everything he could right now.
-Due to the increased difficulty, clear rewards have been greatly enhanced.
-Protect the academy safely and guard the Owl. Upon clearing, you can obtain clues regarding an additional Divine Beast contract.
-If you succeed in protecting the academy, you can obtain an additional Title. Defend perfectly against the trolls' raid.
At the sudden mechanical voice, Jayden steadied his breath.
There was no reason not to work hard when they were giving him this much incentive. With anticipation for what Title they would give and what the second Divine Beast would be, he began wracking his brains to perfectly defend against this troll raid.