The Young Son Swordmaster
eps 23s
There were already three cadets inside Garon's office. They stood stiffly and nervously due to the sudden call. Garon was explaining the mission while looking at the map on the wall.
"Because of the excellent results of this year's beginner classes, this mission is specifically assigned to ... Ah, you have arrived, Young Master."
With the arrival of Jin, Garon smiled faintly and bowed.
While beginner classes usually do not accept missions, this case is not the first to happen. If the beginner-grade cadets showed outstanding performance and results, they were given missions on rare occasions.
The current group of novice class cadets could only show so much growth that it was worth to send in a mission due to the influence of Jin.
During Jin and Bellop's duel last year, Bellop wasn't the only individual awakened. Although it was not Jin's intention or plan, the battle from that fateful day had greatly impacted the other audience cadets.
"We were given a mission, Garon?"
“Yes, Young Master. This mission involves ten beginner-class cadets including you.”
Jin turned his attention to the world map behind the Garon.
'The red symbol should be the goal of the mission. That location was ... somewhere near the Zhan Kingdom.'
The Zhan Kingdom was near the 'Land of Beastmen'. In fact, it was adjacent to the headquarters of the most dangerous race — White Wolf Tribe. Travelers dodged the area, adventurers flocked to it, and mercenaries hated it.
“I have also contacted cadets who have temporarily left the Garden of Swords. There are ten participants including you, Young Master. You must run the mission in two different groups.”
"You're going to divide ten beginner class participants into two groups?"
"Indeed. You will be the leader of Group 1, Young Master. Group 2 will be led by Scott Limon.”
Scott Limon's. While the results have yet to be announced, everyone predicts that Mesa or Scott will be the runners-up of the upstart cadets, behind Jin.
'Even so, Scott was only at the level of a 2-star knight. If it was a mission near the Zhan Kingdom, it would most likely involve beastmen…'
Something's not right.
Even if they are Runcandel cadets, they are just beginners between the ages of 14 to 16. They were not the right participants to go on missions dealing with beastmen.
'Did one of my brothers bribe Garon to assign us a difficult mission? No... Looking at Garon's confident face, I'm pretty sure Dad personally ordered her to do it.’
But why would Cyron do that? Jin calmly thought to himself.
'I highly doubt it is simply because I am connected to Soldert or because of my high value. Well then.the incident with Bellop might have been passed on to Dad. I'm seeing. I'm starting to see the full picture now.”
Jin nodded calmly.
“Then one group should consist of five members. Who will I work with?”
"Yes. Group 1 consists of Bellop, Phils, Edington, Sierra and you, Young Master. Scott's group consists of Mesa, Kiko, Taimont and Zhushen.”
Upon hearing of the group's formation, Jin immediately saw Cyron's intentions.
The four cadets from his group were all ranked middle to bottom in the beginner class, except for Bellop. After 'awakening up' with the duel against Jin, Bellop was now part of the middle to upper ranks.
On the other hand, Scott's team consisted of top-ranked cadets. There is only one explanation behind the formation of this uneven group.
'Dad wanted to test me. He wants to check if my principle of leading those weaker than me will not change during this mission.’
In that case, this mission would definitely be troublesome.
When Jin's intuition told him, he spoke again.
"Give me an overview of missions and operations."
“His mission is to lurk around the southern border of Zhan Kingdom. It seems that the son of a tycoon is missing in the area. Those groups will be responsible for the separate areas, and as soon as you find the missing person or clue, you should report back to me.”
The cadets in the office all calmed down when they learned that the mission was just a search and reporting task.
"And after reporting?"
“If the victim survived, we will send the guard knights to conduct the rescue operation. Meanwhile, Groups 1 and 2 will return to headquarters. But if the victim is reported dead, the mission will end as long as there is no additional request from the client.”
“It sounds pretty simple.”
"Yes. However, you must move carefully because the possibility of encountering beastmen is high. ”
“I assume so. And since the southern border of the Zhan Kingdom is where the White Wolf Tribe is most active, we must be extra careful.”
The White Wolf Tribe. As the name suggests, they are a race of beastmen that look like white-haired wolves. They were renowned as the most talented and skilled among the beastmen in battle.
“Young Master, if you meet the White Wolf beastmen during the mission, you should leave the mission and retreat immediately. That goes for everyone too.”
“I know that too. No matter how outstanding the cadet force this year is, we are not comparable to the White Wolf warriors. Who's Afraid."
Garon smiled at his words.
“I'm not worried. I have personally witnessed how many cadets this year have grown — including you, Young Master. However, one never knew what kind of unexpected danger lurked around himself. ”
Jin looked straight at Garon and also grinned.
“You spoke as if a dangerous incident would definitely happen during a mission, Garon.”
“You have caught me. Personally, I can't wait to witness your extraordinary figure as you overcome this situation, Young Master.
“You are a good teacher. Notify me when the cadets who are not in the Park have all returned.”
"Understood."
Three days later, the cadet break ended. Without further ado, the beginner class mission begins.
Jin and nine other cadets went to the transfer gate to leave for Zhan Kingdom.
“It is an honor to be able to carry out our first mission with you, Young Master. Group 2 will do its best not to trouble you.”
Scott approached Jin and spoke as they waited for the transfer gate to open.
"Haha, are you pressuring me, Scott Limon?"
“That didn't happen at all! I only show my gratitude to Young Master for giving us the opportunity to carry out our first mission while still in the beginner class.”
"I'm just kidding."
Scott was very loyal to Runcandels, and his admiration and respect for Jin was also immense.
“Hey, Group 1. Make sure you don't hinder Young Master Jin, and help him with your best abilities.”
As Mesa pointed out sharply, the cadets of Group 1 all nodded simultaneously.
“For example, if we manage to carry out this mission, you may be given the opportunity to advance to the middle class despite your low grades. Do you understand?"
“We understand, Mesa. We will do our best.”
Jin smiled to himself as he looked at their interactions.
It seemed Mesa was being rude to them, but she really hoped from the bottom of her heart that all the members of Group 1 would advance to the next class with her.
He behaves like a class disciplinarian (it seems that he has a talent for it), but actually, he is a big-hearted cadet — people who care most about his peers.
There must be something special about this year's class of beginner cadets. They have all developed a strong bond centered around Jin.
This is a rare case in the competitive system of the Runcandel Clan. In addition, in many cases where a strong bond is formed between cadets, they exclude 'Young Master' and 'Woman' from the group.
However, over the past few years, Jin had completely made this cadet his subject.
“Quiet, everyone. Since the transfer gate will open soon, I will issue an order. ”
"Yes!"
The cadets gathered around Jin in a circle.
“Once we arrive at the southern border, we will set up camp in the middle of the area. After everyone has finished preparing for the camp, Groups 1 and 2 will split up and start observing the area in earnest.”
Jin pointed at the map before continuing his speech.
“The usefulness of the camp is to share information between us and report the victim. Each group will send members to the campground to share information once a day at a predetermined time.”
"Understand me, Young Master."
“You should refer to me as Captain and not Young Master during the mission. And members other than the victim should not rest in the camp. However, each group may take a break at their own discretion. Any question?"
"No one, Captain!"
"That's everything. Let's hope that our target is alive and well.”
Moments later, the transfer gate was activated and everyone's body was surrounded by a shining mana.
After the teleportation was over, the cadets and Jin found themselves at the transfer gate in the south-central region of Zhan Kingdom.
Usually, they had to go through all the administrative procedures after arriving, but once the employees saw the robes the cadets were wearing, they missed all the procedures. The robe had the 'Black Sword' Runcandel emblem on it.
***
Three days had passed since they arrived in the southern region of the Zhan Kingdom.
The cadets had built a campsite and observed the area, but to no avail.
The southern region of the Zhan Kingdom was a land consisting of grassy plains and forests. They were actually searching through the open and grassy field, but finding the trail of one lost human was no easy task.
“It looks like we should focus our search inside the forest. There is not a single clue in the meadow.”
"Captain, Edington said he'd seen the Watertail beastmen before."
“Wild beast tail water? If they are here, it is unlikely that we will meet the White Wolf beastmen.”
The Water Tail Tribe Beastmen were a tame and gentle tribe that caught fish in a river or sea using their spear-shaped tails.
They were not found in the area where the White Wolf beastmen or the Red Tiger beastmen were located. Water-tailed beastmen always avoid predators when building their villages.
“The person who will return to camp and meet Group 2 today is Bellop, right?”
"That's right."
“Bellop, leave for camp two hours earlier than usual today. You will be slowed by hail. And once you're done exchanging info, open Area 13 instead of here. We will survey that zone.”
"Understand, Captain."
Groups 1 and 2 meet at 9pm every night at the camp to exchange information.
After Bellop left the group, the other members also started moving towards Area 13. 'Area 13' is a forest that has not been surveyed.
'There's something wrong. Although Father personally gave us this mission, nothing has happened so far. Did I wrongly think that she was trying to test me?’
No incident occurred in Area 13, and they were unable to find any clues about the missing person.
The only special event that happened was that they were given a grilled fish reward from the Water Tail Tribe village which they found by chance.
“The missing man? We, don't know. Water Tail Tribe, good. All of you, look pathetic. Fish, fetch. Gifts."
“Ya, yes. I-i know. Thank ye. They are well cooked. We'll pay you the next time we come. ”
After searching the area past midnight, the Group 1 members were now waiting for Bellop to return in the rain while wiping their wet swords. As the hail continued, they felt it was meaningless to continue the search in darkness in this kind of weather.
'Since we found nothing even after surveying Area 13, we had to approach the beastmen territory to continue the mission ...'
However, surveying the beastmen territory was not a mission that a beginner-grade cadet could undertake.
'There is no need to do something unreasonable just to get good results. It's stupid to go so far. We should spend the remaining three days checking the surveyed area again, before ending the mission.'
Bellop finally returned from the camp as the watch approached 2am.
"Young Master! Young Master Jin!”
He was in such a hurry that he completely forgot to call him Captain. The cadets who were on standby stood up and rushed to Bellop as well.
“What's up, Bellop?”
“Group 2 attacked! Even Kiko—who was sent to the camp by them—have minor injuries.”
“Everything, get ready to move. Is that beastmen? ”
The cadets immediately stood in line, ready to start running at any time.
“No, they said it was human. Group 2 can't use their beacon because they've been hiding, so we have to rush to them!”
