A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

Fun (2)

***

Playing around with the catapult didn’t last long; it was quickly put to an end.

Grace scolded me thoroughly. She reprimanded me for wasting the durability of the few siege weapons we had.

Moreover, she was upset that after flying over with the catapult, I simply returned without doing anything.

Bang! Crash! Boom!

“Wow… Is that even a human?”

“He’s launching cannonballs with his bare hands? Is that even possible?”

“It must be, or he wouldn’t be doing it.”

So, I followed the initial plan. That was to throw cannonballs with my bare hands.

A simple and brute-force technique, but it was incredibly effective. Especially when infused with red mana.

Every time a cannonball hit the walls, it didn’t just cause an impact but exploded, causing significant damage.

Moreover, I was throwing them from quite a distance, so the enemy couldn’t prepare an adequate response. They did their best to defend, though.

‘Throwing things is really useful.’

Without the throwing technique, the cannonballs wouldn’t have been as effective.

down the walls.

Even the instructors probably didn’t expect the cannonballs to explode. They hadn’t seen the red mana yet, so they must have been quite surprised.

“A cannonball has fallen!”

“Huh?”

The problem was the number of cannonballs was severely insufficient. I had barely thrown any when we ran out.

All the iron cannonballs, as well as the stone ones, were gone. We had resupplied intermittently, but those were used up too.

“Let’s check the state of the walls first. What’s the current status of the walls?”

“Hmm…”

At Grace’s command, a student checked with a telescope. Given the number of cannonballs thrown, the damage should be substantial.

“A few more hits, and it might collapse… but it’s getting dark.”

“That’s a bit disappointing. I wish we could resupply the cannonballs…”

Grace muttered while looking up at the sky. I also looked up.

I had wasted time playing with the catapult and supplying cannonballs intermittently.

I had been throwing them casually at first, which quickly depleted the supply.

‘If I had thrown them seriously, I wouldn’t have aimed at the walls.’

Moreover, I was only using a fraction of my strength. If I had put in my full power, those walls would have crumbled quickly.

In fact, I could fly over with the catapult and clear everything myself. But that would end things too quickly.

“We need to capture the castle soon… At least by tomorrow morning to equalize the score.”

Grace bit her thumbnail anxiously. She seemed frustrated by the wasted time.

I had wasted time playing around, so I planned to resolve it tonight. There were many ways to do it.

‘I also need to test some techniques.’

Leaving the worried Grace behind, I scanned the surroundings for a suitable weapon.

Soon, I found a spear. That should do.

“Huff!”

Whoosh!

Just like with the cannonballs, I threw the spear with force. It shot forward at high speed.

But without injecting mana, it merely stuck into the wall.

I continued throwing more spears. The wall, already cracked, easily accepted the spears.

“Done.”

“…Done with what?”

“Prep work.”

“…?”

Grace tilted her head, confused by my words. She seemed skeptical.

It must have been the human cannonball incident’s impact. She didn’t trust actions not commanded by her.

“I’ll go alone at dawn.”

“What?”

“At dawn.”

I paused and looked at the castle.

“I’ll take care of the castle and open the gate.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

The pitch-black night was familiar to me.

***

Even in civilization, many things remain unchanged. One of the most notable is day and night.

Day is bright because of the sun, and night is pitch-black, relying solely on moonlight.

But some places receive even less moonlight, like the dense forests.

Living in such areas, my night vision became exceptionally sharp. My senses heightened as a bonus.

‘I’m lucky. There’s little moonlight.’

At 4 a.m., when people are most complacent, I left the territory as I had told Grace.

It was a perfect night for infiltration with minimal moonlight. Of course, doing well or not is another story.

‘I learned daggers and stealth from Lee Yeonju, but will it work?’

Moving quietly in the forest and infiltrating a castle are similar yet different.

Killing presence is the same, but dealing with people is nerve-wracking.

‘The castle is lit up.’

I soon reached the vicinity of the castle. Looking up, I saw the walls were illuminated.

It wasn’t modern lighting but actual fire. It felt like the medieval era of Earth.

I clung to the wall to avoid detection. Slowly, I moved towards the spears I had embedded earlier.

Using the spears like rungs, I climbed up. There was some noise, but it was better than jumping all at once.

‘Why don’t I sense anyone?’

Just before reaching the top, I peeked over to assess the situation. The wall was eerily quiet.

I thought I might have been detected but soon realized why.

“Snore…”

“…”

Yes, there’s always one useless guy.

But even a useless guy can’t be blamed here. The time of day made it understandable.

Moreover, they were students unused to standing guard. Fighting off sleep would be tough.

‘But it’s not just one; they’re all asleep?’

Looking around, I saw people sleeping against the walls. I wondered how Kara would react if she saw this.

Or she might have scolded them, but they grumbled and ignored her. Who’d attack at such an hour, they’d think.

They’d soon learn how foolish that was. I climbed over the wall and pulled out a dagger from my pocket.

I covered the mouth of a sleeping student.

“Mmmph?”

Thunk!

The student reacted too late. The dagger had already pierced his neck.

Of course, it wasn’t a real dagger but a special one. When it stabbed something, the blade retracted inward.

It’s an assassination dagger. It looks like a toy but is an official exam weapon, so it’s effective.

Buzz.

A shield enveloped the student’s neck where the dagger stabbed. Much faster than usual.

When killing with an assassination dagger, the shield activates quickly. It seemed designed to prevent screams.

‘This is fun.’

After taking out the sentries on the wall, I looked at the dagger. Pressing the blade tip with my palm, it retracted inward.

I considered fooling around but decided against it. I didn’t want to die foolishly.

“Huh? What’s going on? What is…”

While I was fiddling with the dagger, someone climbed up the wall.

I immediately threw the dagger towards the sound. It was a fluid motion.

Smack!

“Ugh…”

“Oops.”

But the throw was too accurate. The dagger hit the student’s head precisely.

He fainted, eyes rolling back, not from the dagger but from the impact.

The shield enveloped him slowly, indicating he was stunned. The shock must have caused him to tense up.

‘So, that’s why vigilance is important.’

Except for the student who got up to use the bathroom, all the guards were slacking off.

The professors must be watching and probably deducting points with a tsk-tsk. Likely a significant penalty.

On the other hand, I got points for a standard infiltration. I did it because it seemed fun.

‘Sometimes, you need to do the sensible thing.’

Playing with the catapult was a strategy to induce complacency.

…Well, it was purely for fun. I moved quietly and descended further.

The castle’s interior was fairly typical. Weapon racks and various lodging facilities.

The building I smashed was hastily repaired.

‘Where would Kara be sleeping…’

I checked each tent-like lodging. Those who weren’t Kara got a dagger to the neck.

They’d curse out the guards the next day. Even if the guards had acted properly, I would have infiltrated.

Eventually, I reached the last tent. Having dealt with Antonio, Kara must be resting there.

Ssss…

“Snore…”

As expected, peeking inside, Kara was sound asleep.

Unlike others, she slept alone, not because she was in charge but likely because no one wanted to sleep with her discomfort.

Kara probably preferred it this way.

“Hmm…”

Before dealing with Kara, I gazed down at her face.

Having silenced my presence, she slept obliviously. Even asleep, she looked beautiful.

Her attire was light, not quite like a dancer’s but still revealing. Her firm thighs peeked through the blanket, drawing my eyes.

“Pfft.”

An amusing thought struck me. I recalled the customs of the Tatars from the Soul World.

Specifically, the words used to address Kara during the tribal alliance. She was part of the military.

Although a chieftain’s daughter, she also stood guard as a warrior.

So, she likely had some military-related trauma.

Ssss…

I carefully brought my mouth close to her ear and whispered.

“Kara. Kara.”

“Hmm…”

She frowned at the sound of her name, her brows twitching as if she might wake.

One last push remained. Giggling, I whispered the final blow.

“It’s time for guard duty.”

“Huh!”

With a strange noise, Kara shot up. Her reaction was perfect.

“…Huh?”

After sitting up, Kara stared blankly, then turned to look behind her. Our eyes met.

“…Huh?”

“Hi.”

I waved gently.

“Did you sleep well?”

“…”

Kara’s expression was priceless.

End of Chapter