All-Master Player Of The Academy [EN]: Chapter 170

170. Survivor – 2

While Ian was dealing with the Mushroom Men, Weedron fired arrows.

The Mushroom Men fell with each hit, but there were too many.

However, they seemed to sense the danger on that side.

When they tried to avoid the battle and flank the survivors, Weedron grew flustered, and Ise drew his sword.

“Everyone, freeze!!”

As the Marzana symbol engraved on his sword flashed, a wave of intense cold swept through the area.

Was it the cold that did it?

The enemies running toward them slowed down considerably.

“A trick like this?!”

“That thing on your shoulder isn’t just for show. Hey! Get inside!”

While the Mushroom Men were hampered by the ice, Bolkan led the survivors behind the barricade.

Ian, feeling that was enough, raised his hand.

Instantly, numerous magic circles formed in his hand, and at the same time, Ian spoke the incantation.

“Wind.”

The enemies, struggling against the chill created by Ise, were swept together by a powerful gust of wind.

Eventually, as they were blown away and gathered in one place, he pointed his finger.

-Whoosh!!

A raging storm of fire erupted.

As the Mushroom Men were completely incinerated in the massive flames, Ise exhaled heavily.

“Haa… Haa….”

Even though he was using Marzana’s enchantment, it was Ise who was wielding it, and their power was stronger than he thought, making it difficult to freeze them.

While he was panting, Ian, who had incinerated all the enemies, extinguished Muspel’s Ember.

Weedron, who was watching, clapped lightly.

“Impressive as always.”

“It was nothing.”

“Then, Ian, will you help us escape right away?”

“Let’s talk to them first. I’m curious about the situation in Trombe Village.”

When Ian, Ise, and Weedron returned, those inside the barricade were visibly relieved.

“Thank goodness.”

“I wondered what was going on when the flames suddenly soared.”

“Ian did it. Well, that’s beside the point… Bolkan, what happened?”

“Uh, um, Captain. I don’t know how to explain this….”

“And who are they?”

“Don’t know. They just joined us along the way.”

“Is that so? Then let’s ask them now.”

As Weedron approached and asked, the knight sighed.

“Haa. I am Roni Wikari of the Pelle Knights.”

“Roni? The knight who became the Trombe Village guard captain recently?”

“Yes.”

“If you’re a guard captain, do you know anything about what happened there?”

“Well, I don’t know exactly.”

“Explain what you do know. We don’t know anything. Ah, and you guys over there, treat the survivors.”

At Weedron’s request, Semiramis, Gust, and Trinmere tended to the survivors.

They were all injured in various places, likely from escaping Trombe Village.

Seeing them receive treatment, Roni spoke about what she knew.

“Trombe Village… was actually a place where drugs were manufactured in Pelle County.”

“Everyone here knows that,” Ian said bluntly.

Roni tilted her head.

He was so young compared to the others, yet he was so confident.

“I am Ian Brandon.”

“Gasp.”

Startled, Roni stepped back.

Weedron frowned at her.

“Why don’t you hurry up and continue?”

“Um… where should I start? Right. At the center of Trombe Village is the inner castle. There is a drug factory in the basement there.”

“What’s in there? How are the drugs made?”

“I couldn’t go into the factory either. And only those selected directly by Count Witossan go in.”

Her job was only to protect the castle and the village.

“And once a month, Count Witossan would go in there no matter what.”

“And then?”

“But… after the Count suddenly disappeared and couldn’t go there, strange things started happening.”

Originally, the drugs manufactured three days after Witossan visited would come up from the basement.

But after he stopped coming, three days later, the drugs that should have come up did not.

“After two days, the Okas Mercenary Corps, who often came to the village, came looking.”

And they spoke quite harshly.

Why weren’t they keeping their promise?

Why weren’t they sending the goods?

“Since I didn’t know what they were talking about, we just told them to leave….”

They were adamant.

Eventually, the guard and the Okas Mercenary Corps clashed, and they allowed them to invade the inner castle.

“And then an explosion occurred.”

“The Okas Mercenary Corps was taking the Pelle County’s drugs. Hey, Gust!!”

When Ian called out, Gust approached, listened to the situation, and sighed with a serious expression.

“Our Guardians [investigators working for the kingdom] were also tracking that. And perhaps… other Guardians were harmed in the process.”

“So, those were the Guardians? No wonder the handover report said there were many trying to infiltrate in the past few months.”

Roni was dumbfounded, and Gust shrugged.

“Anyway, that happened as soon as the Okas Mercenary Corps entered the drug factory, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything that could be a clue?”

“I told you, I only took care of the guard duty, so I don’t know.”

“What about the village chief? He might know something.”

“The village chief was the first to become a Mushroom Man.”

The village chief, who was injured in the explosion, became violent.

They held him and were trying to sort things out, but the next day, the village chief turned into a Mushroom Man.

Confirming that, Roni felt uneasy and quickly led her subordinates and the survivors out of the castle.

And she helped the people outside the castle escape.

“It was tough. If you inhale too much of the blue powder that the Mushroom Men emit, you turn into a Mushroom Man. That powder almost covered Trombe Village.”

“You have to inhale a lot?”

“Yes. A little bit is okay, though. It just paralyzes you.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Ah. And I found out while searching for survivors in the castle that the Mushroom Men slow down when they encounter strong cold.”

She pointed to one side.

Tolban, one of the wizards who had escaped with them earlier, smiled awkwardly and raised his hand.

“Fortunately, Tolban can use Ice Age.”

Ice Age, a spell that lowers the surrounding temperature and freezes everything.

They had escaped from danger several times using it.

“Also, the blue powder didn’t spread when Ice Age was activated.”

She told them everything she knew.

Ian nodded and stood up.

“Then, are there no survivors left in the castle now?”

“Well, there’s one place I haven’t checked. The Shrine of the Sacred Tree in the center of the village. I haven’t checked there.”

There was a Shrine of the Sacred Tree, not a temple of the Sun or Moon, which had been worshiped in this area long ago.

Given the villagers’ tendency to gather there when something happened, there might be survivors isolated there.

“I was going to go there to check for survivors and join them, but… there were too many Mushroom Men near there.”

No matter how much they could stop the enemies’ movements with Ice Age, there was a limit.

That’s why they couldn’t go there, and just as they were feeling helpless, they joined Bolkan and escaped with the survivors who were with them.

“Will they even be alive?”

As Weedron muttered, Ian shrugged.

Trombe Village was not yet within his search range, so he couldn’t confirm.

Since he had to go there to see what had happened anyway, he stood up.

“I’ll have to go.”

“Hey, Ian. We need to escape first.”

As Gust grabbed him, Ian pointed to Ise.

“I heard you can escape using the cold.”

“That’s true, but….”

“And with Ise as the leader, there shouldn’t be any more problems.”

Not only that.

Trinmere could also use ice magic, including Ice Age, to a great extent.

So, if they stepped up, wouldn’t it be possible to escape without him?

At Ian’s words, Weedron frowned.

“Damn it. If you put it that way, I can’t help it. Hey, Trinmere. Will you help?”

“I guess I have to?”

In the end, it was decided that Ian would go to Trombe Village alone.

The rest decided to lead the survivors to escape.

They decided to go together to the crossroads for now, and they immediately went down the mountain.

In the process, they encountered many Mushroom Men several times, but thanks to Ian, they were able to defeat them without much difficulty.

‘Kirke.’

As Ian nodded after receiving Kirke’s report, Semiramis approached.

“Saint Ian. It’s a shame it feels like goodbye as soon as we meet.”

“We’ll be able to meet again when we return.”

“Yes. I will visit the Academy as soon as possible.”

As Semiramis greeted him, Ise hesitated and approached Ian.

“Hey.”

And he threw his sword to him.

A sword containing the power of Marzana and Loki.

It was now a treasure to him, but he only seemed slightly regretful.

“I thought it might be helpful to have that.”

The enchantment of Marzana and the power of Loki were both obtained thanks to Ian.

So, he thought he should take it with him when he went to a dangerous place.

He thought Trinmere would be enough to deal with the Mushroom Men, and as he showed consideration, Ian chuckled.

“Ice Age.”

The magic circle that rose from Ian’s hand coalesced.

At the same time, a chill swept through a fairly wide area, enough to cause frost.

“Ah… you were a Magic Swordsman.”

“…Unbelievable. A Magic Swordsman who uses stronger magic than a wizard….”

Tolban was dejected after seeing Ian’s Ice Age.

Gust nodded at him as if it were natural.

“He obtained the legacy of the Magic Kingdom, so this much would be easy. Well, then, Ian. Come back alive. I’ll come to support you as soon as I send them away.”

As the survivors moved away, led by Gust and Weedron, Ian turned his head slightly.

Were they trying to stop them from escaping?

A vibration could be felt in the distance.

<50 hostile Mushroom Men are approaching.>

“Then I have to stop them.”

Ian walked towards them with an indifferent step.

After defeating the Mushroom Men he encountered several times after them, he arrived on the hill and snorted.

In the fairly large village below the hill, there were countless Mushroom Men.

In addition, blue spores were scattered everywhere, blocking the road.

“Find an escape route.”

Anyway, if he met a survivor, he had to take them out.

Kirke, who had set Trombe Village as the search range, quickly investigated the route.