I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God

There was no need to think about it.

So how do I return to where I was?

Asad narrowed his eyebrows at my response.

Hm... so youre refusing my offer?

I guess.

Why? Do you not understand what I said? Did you become stupid again?

Really, this guy...

Although he didnt have any ill intentions, he wasnt the kind of person Id want to have a long conversation with.

I understood you just fine.

With a smile, I replied, Well have to see whether or not its hell.

Asad stroked his chin.

Hmm... So you have your own reason for doing this... Sure. If that is your decision, I am not one to try and change it.

He pointed behind me.

Ive created an exit behind you. You just need to walk through the door.

As I turned around, I saw a door that hadnt been there before.

Before I leave, you wont tell me who it was that put forth this insane plan even if I ask, right?

No. Asad seemed to think of something as he laughed to himself. I think Ill still be able to relay any words you have for them.

Words?

Yeah. Is there anything you wish to tell that person?

...Old bastard.

Asad tilted his head.

Hmm? Is that all?

Yes.

I see. But did I tell you their age?

No, but some ordinary brat wouldnt be able to force the family head to change his decision.

Thats true, Asad said, confirming my words.

Of course, that itself could be a lie, but I didnt think Asad would do tiresome mind games like that.

I felt like hed just thrown in a hint for me while acting ignorant.

The person who had suggested the plan was probably one of the old monsters of Bednicker hidden behind the veil.

All right. Ill relay your message if I feel like it, so go on your way.

Asad flicked his hand.

After lowering my head, I turned around and grabbed the door handle.

Luan Bednicker.

Yes?

I hope you survive.

As I glanced back at him, Asad had a bright smile on his face.

Im serious.

***

H-he returned!

Luan! Are you okay?

Did you meet with Father? What did he say?

...Wait. Im a little tired.

I faked a stumble as I organized my thoughts.

Everyone was looking at me with expectations in their eyes.

Even Charon, who was sitting in the corner, was glancing at me to assess the situation.

Should I tell them the truth or just hide it?

If I told the truth, the honor of House Bednicker would crumble. Things might get even worse than they were now.

The other houses werent stupid, so they wouldnt just sit by when Bednicker had allowed their children to die.

Of course, this was none of my business, but Asads behavior was troubling me.

There was no way such a smart man would not expect such consequences, but hed still just told me the truth without hiding it.

Is he saying that House Bednicker doesnt care what the other Houses will think?

If things went poorly here, it wasnt just our relationship with the other houses that would suffer; restrictions could be imposed upon House Bednicker by the imperial palace.

They would be glad to see House Bednicker go up in flames because of its own actions.

...I went to some weird room, but there wasnt anybody there.

In the end, Id decided to hide the truth.

Naturally, it wasnt for House Bednickers sake.

I just didnt think that these young heroes, who couldnt even be called real heroes, would be able to handle the truth.

Of course, they still seemed to fall into despair when I said we couldnt expect any help right now...

But wouldnt their despair be even greater if I told them that they had become bait for the high priest?

Of course, that was just my personal opinion.

...Then what do we do now?

Shouldnt we try to hold on...? Bednicker should realize at some point.

It was as hed said.

But the house had actually known from the very beginning.

As I looked at the young heroes discussing among themselves, I revealed my next destination.

Im thinking of going back to the camp.

...The camp?

Yeah. Im suspicious that the instructors havent done anything at this point. Im going to go check what theyre up to.

I-itll be dangerous...

No pain, no gain.

The cowardly dwarf, Bazil, quietly said, A-aha... th-then Ill guard this place...

Judging by his reaction, he didnt even have an ounce of desire to leave with me.

I wasnt planning on taking everyone with me in the first place. Itll be dangerous to move as a group, so Ill only take volunteers. Does anyone want to go with me?

Although I said that, I didnt particularly mind going alone.

Ah, there was one exception.

Charon, youll be coming with me.

Why?

What do you mean, why, you bastard? Do you want to get beaten up before we go, or will you just come willingly?

...

For some reason, I felt my words becoming harsher whenever I spoke to him.

Was it because of the way he looked?

He looked exactly like a mercenary would, so he reminded me of that time.

In any case, Charon shut his mouth.

The reason Id chosen him was because he was the most useful among the people here...

But that wasnt the only reason.

Among the people, I was the only one who could suppress him, so if I left him alone, he could scheme something stupid again.

He had been obsessed with points even after a demon appeared, so there was no telling what he would do.

...I was thinking of going without you telling me to, Charon said, showing the least amount of resistance possible.

Id really been planning to beat him up again if he didnt listen to me. Thankfully, Id be able to spare my strength.

Ill go as well, Hector said, and I nodded.

Id expected him to say hed come.

With that, the three Id expected to go were set...

I looked at the other young heroes who were still hesitating.

If youre not confident, you can stay here and guard this place. Its better than anyone else getting hurt, I declared clearly to everyone.

The forest today was incomparably dangerous to the forest of yesterday.

Now wasnt the time to try something risky.

...Ill go as well.

It was somewhat unexpected, but Evan Helvin also showed interest in going with us.

I wondered why he wanted to... but then I noticed that Evans eyes werent on me, they were on Charon.

Usually, a sense of competitiveness was a good thing, so long as it wasnt in excess...

But I didnt know whether it was good in this situation.

Evan, if you perform like you did yesterday, Im going to send you back even if were halfway there.

...That wont happen. I swear on it.

If he was that confident, then sure.

Then thats the scouting unit formed.

Me, Charon, Hector, and Evan, us four would go to check out the camp.

You guys stay here, and if you can find the time, secure some food to eat. If youre forced to leave the shack for any reason, leave a mark.

Understood. But why food...?

We need to be wary of the worst-case scenario. If demonic energy invades the land, everything from the forest to the streams will dry up and die, so you need to secure some food before that happens.

Hmm... Understood.

I finally turned to look at Mir.

She had a shocked expression on her face. It seemed she still didnt understand the situation.

Mir.

H-hmm? What is it?

Ill leave them to you while Im gone.

Mir looked at me in a daze.

Leave them to me?

Yeah. Youll have to protect them.

I...

She looked very nervous, so I made a little joke.

A hero protects the weak.

...Who are you calling weak? Sharyl grumbled.

I was half joking, half speaking the truth.

Mir had enough potential to not lag behind Charon or Hector.

If she could overcome her fear, then she wouldnt have any problem dealing with the low-ranking demons around us.

Got it! I will protect them, so dont worry about us and go!

Regardless, with her pure personality, my words of encouragement reached her.

I patted Mir on the shoulder a few times as she held up a clenched fist.

Then are we leaving for camp?

That is our final destination. If we meet any young heroes on the way, I plan to help them.

Although I hadnt told them yet, there was one young hero that I needed to meet: Sellen Goodspring.

Shed been acting like she expected something like this to happen.

How had a Goodspring, not even a Bednicker, learned about the cults plans?

I needed to check that first.

* * * * *

* * * * *

The map the instructors had given us wasnt particularly detailed.

It had just enough detail for us to guess our general position.

The camp isnt that far off. If not for the situation, we could reach it in two or three hours.

But now?

Itll at least take two days, maybe three or four if we get delayed, Hector said as he pointed to a place in the forest.

Thats why, rather than heading straight to camp, we should make our first destination the river that crosses through the forest. We can refill our water there.

The river was where our team had faced that giant spider before.

Since we didnt have a lot of drinking water left, we agreed.

At that, Charon silently left to check the area around us.

When he returned, he bluntly said, I checked our surroundings. This area is full of demons. They were moving in groups of twos and threes.

It seems the demons were summoned in droves like you said, Brother.

If they were moving in groups of two or more, ambushing them was too risky.

Even if it meant taking a long detour, not facing any demons was our number one priority.

Charon became our guide.

This guy moved around the demon-infested forest like it was his own front yard, and his presence erasure was perfect while doing it.

Hector knew a lot about the forest and its characteristics as well. I couldnt tell if it was because he had just heard about it or because hed been informed before he came here.

Regardless, the information would be useful to us until the forest became fully consumed by the demonic energy.

Theyre better than my team.

It was natural since both Charon and Hector were two of the best young heroes.

In any case, although we were moving slowly, we were making steady progress.

We were progressing much less eventfully than wed expected.

It was difficult to be sure because of how many variables there were, but if we maintained this speed, I thought that we might be able to reach our destination tomorrow.

It was then that I had a thought...

Hmm...

I took out the hourglass and checked it.

It had been quite a long time since wed started traveling.

Even the open field wasnt anywhere to be seen, and we shouldve at least been able to see the river at this point.

Charon said, ...Somethings off.

What do you mean?

I dont feel like were moving forward.

What do you...

Wait, havent we been here before? Hector said.

Charon stopped for a second before asking, We were here before?

Yeah.

What proof do you have?

That tree over there, it looks the same as the one we saw before.

Charon looked at the tree Hector was pointing at, but it didnt seem he agreed.

That was why I backed Hector up.

I think my elder brother is correct.

Really...? I cant tell no matter how I look at it, Evan said with a tilt of his head.

...

...

At that, Hector and I looked at each other as we both understood.

Elder Brother.

...Yeah.

The fact that only Hector and I had noticed... That meant that only the Bednickers had noticed.

One of the special traits of the Forest of the Butterfly: all those who were not members of House Bednicker would get lost within this forest.

The barrier around the forest has broken.

Its probably in the process of breaking. If it was completely broken, the House wouldve reacted already.

...

Hector knew a lot about House Bednicker...

But even he probably hadnt expected them to be crazy bastards who would sacrifice young heroes just to kill a high priest.

Hed learn that someday, but not today.

I didnt say anything.

Then...

Uwaaaaah...

I heard a piercing scream echo out from somewhere.

...Did you hear that?

Yeah. It was to the west.

Yes... the direction opposite the camp.

We still need to go, Evan said. He was still speaking respectfully to Hector, as if he still found talking with him awkward. Luan said as much before we started. If we meet other young heroes, we need to help them.

I did. But what if its not a young hero?

Pardon?

It could be a banshee, Hector said.

Theyre demons who mimic the screams of humans. Theyre even more tricky to fight than beasts even though theyre also low-ranking demons.

So they couldve been summoned with the beasts.

We cant ignore that possibility.

Everyones eyes suddenly fell on me, and I looked back with a begrudging expression.

I understood Evans reaction since we were on the same team, but why were the other two also looking at me to make a decision?

My response was straightforward.

We need to go save them.

If we hadnt heard it, there wouldn't have been anything we could do, but since we had, I couldnt ignore it.ll new stries at n0ve/lbi/(.)cm

Even though we were still young, even though we were still inexperienced...

We still aspired to become heroes.