Chapter 135
“Aaah! Is that! Is that a cockroach? It is, right?”
“Ew, the antennae! So gross!”
“Eek! And it’s even flying!”
The mock map assigned to our team this time was a forest. Among the dense and lush trees flew mutants resembling cockroaches, but as tall as humans.
It’s true our team members’ abilities and experience were significantly lacking compared to other groups. However, more so in such cases, a leader should be elected to carry out team strategies systematically.
But everyone was too busy scattering in every direction to escape the mutants and screaming to even think about such organization.
Of course, considering the fairness for each team, a mentor with extensive real combat experience was assigned to us. Logically, it would have been natural for that mentor to lead the team.
The problem was that this mentor happened to be Oscar.
“Aaah! Look, don’t you see? I could have been in danger! Why aren’t you protecting me?”
“L, Lord Oscar!”
“Hurry, protect me. Surround me, everyone!”
Oscar, an A-Class Guide who boasted of traversing countless battlefields, had been shrieking and making a fuss for a while now.
…If I were participating as the responsible officer, this team would be a definite F.
I glanced at our team’s assigned officer.
Sure enough. The officer monitoring our team was holding her forehead with a look of utter dismay.
Since I had nothing to do anyway, I stepped back to speak to her.
“…Why on earth was Lord Oscar assigned to our team?”
“Ah, Miss Rose…”
The officer, who had been scribbling on some papers, looked up suddenly.
“He was very insistent…”
“Isn’t he more of a burden than a mentor at this rate?”
“Well, Lord Oscar does have quite a lot of combat experience… He boasted so much about how well he could do, so we trusted him and assigned him…”
“…You really have it tough.”
Imagining how troubled the officers must have been when Oscar vehemently demanded to be an outdoor mock training mentor, I felt a mix of sympathy and frustration.
Offering my condolences, she made a downtrodden face.
“For real. Actually, starting from this training, extra funds were allocated, and a special bonus will be given to the winning team. I was hoping to get a star-like bonus on top of the measly staff member salary… but it seems totally doomed now.”
“…Wait, what did you just say?”
“Huh? Oh, I’m sorry! You’re a Guide too! I didn’t mean to insult the Guides…”
The officer turned pale, hastily apologizing.
She might have been afraid of being scolded for venting too honestly about her troubles to me, a former senior officer.
But I couldn’t care less about that.
“No, not that… The extra funds part.”
“Oh… You didn’t know?”
“So, how much!”
“The team that ultimately wins gets 10,000 Berks per team member.”
“…”
“And I get a side bonus of 300 Berks. Apparently, there are too many Espers and Guides who just casually participate in outdoor mock training…”
“Ah, my dear junior.”
I grabbed the officer’s hand. She looked at me with wide, surprised eyes.
“That bonus? Let me earn it for you.”
“…What?”
“300 Berks for you, junior, and 10,000 Berks for me. How about we share nicely?”
The clerk trembled as she faced my greed-filled gaze.
I was just going to kill time and leave, but 10,000 Berks? Irresistible!
I turned around to think about what to tackle first when I spotted Epine, surrounded by several mutants, in the distance.
“Save me… Please, save me!”
The mutants screeched eerily.
Their grotesque eight legs twitched rapidly, and long antennae with hooks probed towards Epine.
Minion 1, Epine, tried her best to curl up to avoid the antennae touching her but being cornered against the wall meant it was only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, the Espers who should have been protecting Epine were too busy fluttering around Oscar, who was making a fuss.
Sighing, I quickly snatched a torch one of the Espers surrounding Oscar was holding.
“What, give it back…!”
“Shut up.”
The Esper flinched as I growled.
Holding the torch, I strode towards the mutants, and the other team members gasped from behind.
Ignoring them, I shone the torch directly at the mutants.
Everyone screamed as the hideous form of the mutants became clearly visible.
“What’s the name of this mutant? G-0712. What type of Esper is indicated by G at the beginning?”
“…Why would I know such a thing!”
“You need to know if you want to get out of here. Come on, use that useless brain of yours.”
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