The Soldier Shouted Save

Chapter 26

After officially forming a contract with Hyerin, I immediately sought out Eris.

At the fountain, not too far from the church, Eris was already sitting by its edge when I arrived.

“How is Croa doing?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

With a smile, she answered, “Oh, she’s adjusting well. She’s memorizing the scriptures diligently, participating in training, and eating her meals without leaving anything behind. But…”

She trailed off, glancing around cautiously before letting out a small sigh.

“She can’t handle the power.”

“…Are you talking about Croa’s divine power?” I asked.

“…Yes. I thought inducing magical exhaustion once a week would be enough, but in just a few days, her strength has grown even more.”

Her divine power, so vast that even casting blessings on Rian endlessly wouldn’t deplete it.

Eris, now looking deeply troubled, continued in a more somber tone.

“Honestly… it’s a precarious situation.”

I lowered my head at her words.

It was only a matter of time before people discovered that Croa was a Saintess.

“Is there no way to stop her from continuing as a priestess-in-training?” I asked.

“…It’s impossible until she completes the mandatory education. Even if we rush it, it’ll still take at least six months. However, we can change the location where she receives her training.”

It seemed Eris had already prepared a solution. She pulled out a map from her robe, the same one I’d seen before, showing the “regions in need of proselytization.”

Eris pointed to several locations on the map and said, “I plan to send letters to the lords who might welcome support from Freya’s Church. If they agree to our teachings, they’ll likely build new churches.”

It seemed my previous efforts had not been in vain.

“…If everything goes well, I could take your sister and manage one of those new churches.”

Thanks to my achievements—defeating the dark god Grimgal and exposing the heresies of the Imperial heroes—Eris had earned a position where she could potentially oversee a small church.

“I’ll do my best, but don’t expect too much. Without connections to the lords, it’ll be quite difficult,” Eris added apologetically.

But while she saw obstacles, I saw hope.

If I had connections with the lords, if a new church were built, I could place Eris there and turn the situation around.

“I’ll send the letters.”

With the limitless time granted by the Save ability, I considered how best to use it.

After a lengthy discussion with Eris, I made my way back to the inn.

—

Back at the inn.

“Two portions of what I ordered yesterday. Leave it outside the door.”

After placing the order, I entered the room to find it in a state of disarray.

Parchments scattered everywhere, leaving barely any space to step. In the middle of it all, Hyerin looked up at me, greeting me with an excited smile.

“I’ve come up with a strategy. Come here quickly!”

She wore a smug expression, her lips curled in self-satisfaction. I carefully tiptoed around the parchments to stand next to the table, trying not to step on anything. Hyerin, her excitement palpable, began her explanation.

“So, the name ‘Lee Hyun-seok’ sounds like a typical Korean man’s name, right?”

Was ‘Lee Hyun-seok’ generally used for men in Korea?

“…And?”

I nodded, and she glanced me up and down before continuing.

“You also give off a bit of a Korean guy vibe. So, we could invest a little money and have clothes made that resemble our world’s fashion.”

“You want me to wear clothes from the other world?”

“Yes! That’s exactly it! You could dress in modern attire, pretend to be a Korean, and then, with a mission like ambushing the royal carriage, it’d look like something Lee Hyun-seok would do, right?”

“So, we’d make it seem like Lee Hyun-seok did it?”

“Exactly! How’s that? Pretty clever, huh?”

I glanced at the table. She had organized the information thoroughly, underlining key points for me to easily follow.

But there were a few problems…

“You mentioned ambushing the royal carriage. Do you know its route or what time it passes by?”

“…Well, I still need to find that out.”

“And what about the royal guards escorting the carriage? Do you think the two of us could take them on? What about the goods? If we leave them behind, it wouldn’t affect the palace at all.”

“…That’s something we’d also need to figure out.”

“And wearing clothes from the other world, disguising ourselves as Lee Hyun-seok—that’s basically revealing our appearance. It seems like a risky move to me. The same goes for the spots you’ve marked on the map.”

As I pointed out the issues one by one, tracing my fingers over the parts she had underlined on the map, Hyerin’s expression began to sour.

After about five minutes of me dissecting her plan, she puffed her cheeks and shoved the parchments aside.

“…Now that you mention it, it doesn’t seem like such a great idea anymore.”

She wordlessly crawled onto the bed, pulling the blanket over her head.

“……”

What was she doing? She peeked her face out to glare at me, then quickly buried herself under the covers again.

“Hyerin.”

“…What?”

“Clean up the mess before you rest.”

“Ugh! You’re so annoying!” she growled, jumping out of bed and glaring at me while hurriedly gathering the scattered parchments.

Watching her reminded me of Croa when she was younger, often pouting over trivial things.

Knock knock.

The knock echoed through the room, signaling the arrival of our meal. I placed the food on the table and said,

“There’s no need to overcomplicate things. At first, we’ll just follow the path Lee Hyun-seok has already laid out.”

As the clattering of utensils filled the room, Hyerin sneakily pushed the remaining parchments into a corner.

“What do you mean by following Lee Hyun-seok’s path?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. If we operate in areas where the palace has predicted Lee Hyun-seok might be, they’ll make their own assumptions. For instance, here.”

As Hyerin sat at the table, I pointed to a region on the map.

The land known for its trade with druids, Walker.

Hyerin squinted, scrutinizing the map as if searching for flaws in my plan.

“But if the palace expects him there, wouldn’t they have people guarding the area? Why go there?”

“Read the ‘guild missions’ related to Lee Hyun-seok carefully. The Walker region is of low priority, so the palace hasn’t dispatched anyone there yet.”

“…How can you be sure? It’s not like we get real-time updates. They could’ve started a mission there today.”

She wasn’t wrong—information wasn’t something we could check in real time.

At her remark, I chuckled lightly and said,

“It’s the latest intel from this morning.”

“…What? You’re not getting scammed, are you? No matter how quickly you buy information…”

She didn’t know, but I had acquired this latest intel by stabbing a dagger through someone’s throat.

“It’s reliable. You don’t need to doubt this.”

After I firmly reassured her, Hyerin pouted again and pointed out something else with a grumpy tone.

“Yeah, yeah. Since the brilliant Gerard native said it, it must be right. So, what am I supposed to do?”

“Eat quickly. Then clean up the parchments you pushed aside with your feet.”

“Ugh! Can’t I clean it up later? What’s the rush with the parchments anyway…?”

I stuffed a mouthful of duck stir-fry into my mouth, chewing it as I responded.

“We’re leaving right away.”

“…Where to?”

“I told you earlier. We’re heading to Walker.”

As I stood up and started packing, Hyerin, pouting, began gathering up the scattered parchments.

I stifled a laugh at the sight and pulled out something I had prepared in advance.

“Pack this in your bag.”

“What is it this time?”

“New clothes.”

I handed her a set of clothes—an outfit that balanced white and blue harmoniously, the uniform of an Imperial apprentice mage.

“Wow… What is this? It looks like a school uniform… It’s pretty.”

She seemed to really like it. Watching her hold the uniform in front of herself, clearly excited, I held back a smile.

“It’s an Imperial apprentice mage uniform I bought from a fence. In Walker, you’ll have to pose as an apprentice mage from the Imperial Palace, so change into it before we leave.”

“…I’m not actually from the palace though. Is it really okay for me to wear this?”

“It’s obviously not allowed, but it doesn’t matter. As I said before, people from the Gerard Continent bow their heads unless they’re sure about someone’s identity.”

Among the Imperial mages, commoners were a rarity. Most of them were nobles.

There wouldn’t be many who would dare to question an Imperial mage outright.

“…But what if they ask me detailed questions about the palace?”

“I’ll write down the basic layout of the palace and what life is like for an apprentice mage. If you’re nervous, you can memorize it in your spare time.”

Her face briefly scrunched up at the thought of having to memorize something, but then it quickly relaxed.

“It’s so pretty…”

Completely absorbed in admiring the apprentice uniform, Hyerin smiled brightly.

“When you’re done packing, meet me outside the inn. I’ll go make arrangements for the carriage.”

“Got it~ See you soon.”

I left the inn, leaving behind an excited Hyerin eager to change into her new clothes.

—

Despite the distance, we arrived in Walker rather quickly.

That’s because I chose a carriage pulled by a tamed monster in the shape of a horse, known as a Dehorse.

‘…I probably should’ve gone with a normal carriage.’

Even though we reached Walker much faster than a regular carriage would have, I found myself regretting the decision.

“Ugh… Uweeeeek!”

Hyerin, who had been suffering from severe motion sickness due to the bumpy ride, vomited as soon as we arrived in Walker.

Despite this, she contorted herself in a bizarre position to avoid getting any vomit on her new Imperial apprentice mage uniform—clearly, she was quite fond of it.

“Are you going to be able to function today?”

I looked at the schedule I had planned and gave Hyerin a light pat on the back, while carrying all three of our bags.

“Huh? What did you say?” she muttered weakly.

“I was asking if you’ll be okay for the interview.”

To get close to Lee Hyun-seok, who was being investigated by the Imperial Palace, the first step was to join the Walker family’s private forces.

The town was full of mercenaries and wandering knights, all of them competitors hoping to become soldiers of the Walker estate.

Hyerin, still looking pale, responded in a feeble voice, “Then… Can we find a quiet place? I’ll recover there.”

What is she planning?

Supporting Hyerin while carrying the three bags, I led her to a gap between two buildings.

Once there, Hyerin, still pale, extended her palm.

“…Repicio.”

With just a single, short word, a strange incantation was completed.

The recovery magic enveloped her, bringing color back to her face.

“There, all done… I wasted some mana stacks, but I should be fine for the interview.”

“Mana stacks? What’s that?”

“Well… how should I put it? It’s the resource needed to cast magic. You get it from meditating or drinking mana potions, you know?”

“So, it’s like mana and mental energy?”

“Yeah, exactly. But it’s neatly quantified into ‘stacks.’ The recovery spell I just used costs five stacks. The teleportation spell I showed you before costs twelve.”

Come to think of it, I had seen Imperial mages, influenced by the summoned heroes, try to divide their mana into “stacks” like that.

But more important than that was the fact that Hyerin had just cast a spell without any chanting.

“You can tell me now, can’t you?”

“Tell you what?”

“What’s your special ability?”

The mission to kill Hyerin was prioritized as highly as the one to kidnap the Saintess.

Although the parchment labeled her as “special ability unknown,” it implied that they had some guess about her powers.

“Casting magic without incantations—is that your ability?”

“…Oh, well. You’re not going to spill my secret, and you’ve already figured out enough that there’s no point hiding it, so I’ll tell you.”

With a snap of her fingers, blue particles of energy began swirling around her hand.

“My special ability is called a ‘Quick Slot.’”

“What’s a ‘Quick Slot’?”

Hyerin hesitated for a moment, then pointed at the sword hanging at my waist.

“Uh… could you show me some sword technique? Just something simple… for about two seconds?”

We were in a narrow alleyway between two buildings.

I extended my right foot and performed a quick series of thrusts into the air.

Swish, swish, swish.

The thrusts targeted the chin, stomach, and heart in sequence, following the precise form of the palace’s thrusting technique.

Once I completed the move and sheathed my sword with practiced discipline, Hyerin nodded with satisfaction.

“That ‘three-step thrust’ you just did? That’s a skill. …Now, let me show you what I mean.”

Still holding the twig she’d picked up earlier, Hyerin stood there, looking completely untrained.

“…When I select a skill stored in my Quick Slot, it works like this.”

She extended her finger towards the air, and suddenly, something remarkable happened.

Snap!

In an instant, her posture shifted into a proper stance, and—

Swish, swish, swish!

She mimicked my thrusts perfectly, jabbing three times into the air just as I had.

“That’s how it works. Pretty impressive, huh?”

Her special ability allowed her to perfectly replicate any skill, no matter how complicated, with no preparation required.

“How do you like it? Doesn’t it make you want to treat me a little better now?”

Hyerin smirked, looking pleased with herself, but I glanced away from her to examine the message that had appeared before me.

—

[You have discovered a ‘Special Ability’ registered in the system.]

[Do you accept the quest ‘Kill Hyerin, the holder of the Quick Slot’?]

—

With Hyerin’s Quick Slot, she could replicate flawless sword techniques even when her body was fatigued or her stance was broken.

It was an incredible ability—one that could enhance my combat effectiveness by two, no, three times or more.

“…What’s with that look?”

—

[Opportunity to acquire ‘Quick Slot.’]

[The quest ‘Kill Hyerin’ has been accepted.]

—

As if urging me toward the kill, Hyerin’s body began to glow with a faint red light.

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