239 – Glasses Boy Increases Speed

As expected of Geodine.

Once you pass one marker, the next one is always placed in a visible spot.

He’s careful to choose locations for the markers that save us the trouble of searching and don’t slow us down. It’s definitely not random.

Florentine and I were rushing through the forest, chasing after the instructors and cadets who had gone ahead.

Even though winter is near, this forest is still thick with leaves.

I can also sense plenty of animal activity, so this place might not be frequented by people. There’s also a hint of monsters, but none seem to be nearby.

We can’t see the group ahead of us.

I can’t sense them either, so they must be pretty far ahead.

If not for the markers Geodine left behind, we would have completely lost track of them.

Well, this is a common situation in our training.

Though it probably shouldn’t be too common.

But, no matter how much I wish for it, suddenly running faster or becoming stronger on rough terrain isn’t going to happen, so I suppose it can’t be helped.

That sort of thing comes from the daily accumulation of effort, including building up your body.

I hear that even the assassin teams experience similar things, so this must be a pretty intense march.

“Ah!”

Uh-oh.

Florentine almost tripped over something, so I grabbed his collar and pulled him back up.

“Thanks.”

Don’t worry about it. That’s why I’m right here next to you.

Florentine and Geodine are especially slow runners.

Usually, I, Lisse, and sometimes Chace run alongside them to provide support… but we’ve accepted that this is just how it is.

In Florentine’s case, it seems she didn’t go through any proper training before coming to the assassin’s village.

She had her share of rough experiences, but overall, she lived a fairly normal life.

So, for her, it’s like being thrown into a group of experts as a complete novice.

Florentine has the gift essential for the missions, but she’s still far from catching up in other areas.

That’s why she needs support.

During training, it’s one thing, but when it comes to missions, it’s a different story.

In training, you can go at your own pace, but during missions, you need to work together with your teammates.

The support I’m providing now is entirely the latter.

Running through the forest, especially, is difficult.

Florentine is still faster on the ground than moving through the branches.

Depending on how dense the trees are, I’m usually faster above ground since the terrain doesn’t affect me as much.

With all this in mind, we ran side by side.

— Even so, they’re fast today.

The instructors aren’t going easy on us this time, either.

Well, I do get the sense they’re holding back a little.

After a while of sprinting through the forest, I could finally sense the group ahead of us.

As we kept running, I caught sight of one of them.

It was Geodine.

As expected, we caught up.

Although Florentine is slow, she has remarkable stamina.

She has the kind of ridiculous endurance that allows her to maintain her pace for long periods.

In that aspect alone, she might have more stamina than anyone else.

This is probably due to her gift.

On the other hand, Geodine lacks both speed and stamina.

The reason we caught up is likely because he slowed down from fatigue.

As a magician, he might be competent… or rather, I think all the cadets here are probably too capable.

— Well, this is a familiar sight.

“Florentine, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Got it.”

I increased my speed and passed Geodine, who was running ahead.

“I’m going on ahead.”

Just like how we were left behind earlier, this time it’s my turn to leave him behind.

Already drenched in sweat and out of breath, Geodine just nodded silently several times.

— And then, in one fluid motion, Florentine slung him over her shoulder. Casually, like he was a piece of luggage.

“S-Sorry.”

“Just rest.”

Well, this is routine at this point.

No matter how many times I see it, it’s impressive.

Even with someone on her shoulder, Florentine’s running speed doesn’t change at all.

It’s a sight that once again shows how incredible the Anomalous Ogre is.

After watching those two, I climbed up a tree.

—Alright, time to catch up.

I darted straight across the branches.

There’s no need to use my glasses.

Earlier, I couldn’t increase my speed because I was keeping an eye on Florentine and watching my footing on the ground.

But on this path above the ground, I can move much faster.

Running in the forest is difficult.

The ground is uneven, with patches of grass obscuring where to step, and there’s always the risk of tripping over hidden tree roots.

If you’re not careful, you could be caught or attacked by carnivores or monsters.

But it’s a different story up here.

I’ve been running this “path” since Haidiga, and I’ve honed my skills in the assassin’s village.

Even after arriving at the Tower of Bryne, I’ve been training to run above the forest.

At first, I made a lot of mistakes, but now it feels more natural than running on the ground.

Well, at least for getting from point A to point B.

Of course, it’s not ideal for stalking prey, since animals can see you clearly.

I leap from branch to branch, grabbing hold to swing my body forward, kicking off trees to keep moving, and if there’s no place to jump to, I drop to the ground before climbing back up.

Occasionally, I drop arrows to leave markers and focus solely on moving until I finally catch up to the next group ahead.

“—Excuse me, coming through.”

“Oh, you startled me!”

I called out to Belge, who was running on the ground, as I passed him.

In Belge’s case, he has to run below because his heavy body often causes branches to break, leading to accidents.

Like Florentine, he’s the type with slow legs but great stamina. Maybe his leg length affects his speed too.

“I’m going to slow down a bit! Leave markers behind!”

He probably wants to conserve his energy.

This time, the journey seems like it’s going to be long.

“Got it!”

I had planned to leave markers anyway, but since I’m the vice-leader this time, I responded.

Normally, I might pretend not to hear…

No, I wouldn’t ignore him during a mission. I’d probably just respond normally.

I passed Belge and kept running.

I think I’ve covered a considerable distance.

Finally, I caught up with the next group ahead.

“—Whoa, a zero-point score!”

As I quietly ran up alongside them, Harriatan noticed me.

He was so focused on running that his attention had scattered.

If I were a monster, he would’ve been attacked.

“Oh, Eil.”

By the way, Lisse was with him too.

And ahead, I could see Trawllul’s figure appearing and disappearing in the distance, so it seems like it’ll be fine if we keep pace around here.

Chace and the instructors are probably even farther ahead.

“Thanks for carrying my stuff.”

“Sure.”

I took back my belongings from Lisse—she’s carrying Florentine’s luggage herself. Got it.

“You’re still as fast as ever.”

“Really?”

Harriatan seemed impressed, but I’m only fast in the forest. On a flat road, Harriatan would probably be faster.

“Hey, Eil, what happened with Florentine?”

“She’s safely down. I came ahead after she met up with Geodine. Belge is probably with them by now too.”

As I answered, I pulled a special stone out of the bag Lisse handed me.

I’m running low on arrows.

I brought extra for the zombie horde mission, and I’m sure the ones I dropped have been picked up by those behind us, but there might still be a need for them here.

So I can’t afford to use them all up.

That’s where this stone comes in.

It’s a specially processed magic core that I had Caroferon make for me.

When I heard the assassin team needed one too, I asked him to make an extra for me.

It’s called the “Marking Stone”.

Simply put, it can do the same thing as Geodine’s markers.

When you rub it against a tree or the ground, it leaves a glowing line. The marks disappear after a certain amount of time.

From here on, I’ll use this to leave markers for those following us.

—We took a break around midday, just as we exited the forest.

It looks like we’re going to be running quite a bit this time as well.