Pick Me Up! Chapter 195

#195

195. Black Seed (3)

evening the next day.

I was being briefed on the current situation in the barracks provided by Delphine.

“There is a fortress built by the church forces here.”

Adele pointed to one side of the map spread out on the table.

I narrowed my eyes. A rectangular wooden statue is built in a gap blocked on both sides by cliffs.

“As you can see, if you can’t break through here, you can’t go down to the basement of Buyeo Island where the key is. According to our reconnaissance, the number of troops stationed there is only 3,000. It’s an empty fortress.”

Adele rubbed her chin with a serious expression.

For the strategy meeting to be held tomorrow morning, this man was briefing me in advance.

He had a pretty friendly personality.

‘It’s a fortress.’

If the previous missions were focused on defense, this time it seems to be the attacking side.

You’ll have to collect all the keys before the egg hatches.

When it wakes up, it really hurts.

“I’ve heard that you help. It will be of great help.”

Adele looked at me with envious eyes.

This man is said to be the second son of the Radasteri family, a branch of the Asinis family, and one of the main staff members of the current contingent.

Radasteri.

It was the surname of Shay, a 4-star female knight who was eaten when I first came.

I asked if there was a Sheyran woman in the family just in case, but Adele shook her head, saying she hadn’t heard of such a name.

‘There is only one possibility.’

It seems that when you are selected as a hero, your memories in Taonier are deleted or overwritten.

It was clear when he thought of not only Shay, but also Nerissa, who was said to have been Freea’s maid. She didn’t recognize Freea at all.

‘One of the remaining 4 stars and 5 stars in Taoneer.’

If so, the man in front of him was a strong 4-star candidate for Taonier.

It was said that he was the most excellent among those from the branch family, excluding the heirs of the main family.

Of course, it is not difficult to guess the 5-star candidate.

Delphine von Asinia.

I remembered what Adele had said about her.

‘The strongest in the empire.’

In the case of Halgion, Rantia, and Stenberg, their blood was diluted as they were passed down from generation to generation, but Assinis is said to have a different level of strength because it preserves almost pure blood.

He also said that if Delphine had been present during the battle on the 40th floor, the tide of battle would have changed right away.

‘Is that kid a 5-star candidate?’

Well, you’ll find out later.

I finally listened to Adele’s explanation.

Our role is simple.

When the main force hits the front of the fort, it detours to the side and invades the inside, shakes the formation, and opens the gate. It was a standard but effective tactic.

“If the fortress is breached, the elite troops, including Her Highness the Princess and the captain, will immediately infiltrate the Clan’s stronghold. The heroes will be grateful if you join the main force at that time and wipe out the remaining troops.”

“Erasing the remaining forces?”

I spoke.

“Remain in the fort, is this it?”

“exactly.”

Adele nodded.

“There will be fierce resistance from the Clan underground. I don’t want to leave such a dangerous role to the heroes. As much as we have pride, we won’t leave everything to you.”

I crossed my arms.

The meaning was clear. It means that when the fortress attack battle is over and the underground infiltration begins to steal the key, we will be removed from the front lines.

‘That’s a bit difficult.’

It would be fine if they could retrieve the key among themselves, but then there would be no reason for us to be summoned.

It will definitely go wrong somewhere.

I decided to stay silent for a while.

There is no need to create conflict.

If things go wrong later, you can step out.

At that time, no matter what anyone says, we will do our job.

“I’m not going to show you the ugliness like I used to this time. If the captain is here…”

“Are you that strong?”

“You will know when you see it.”

Adele looked at me with proud eyes.

Well, if the empire is the strongest, then it must be strong. As much as this guy saw me fighting, Delphine’s power doesn’t seem to lag behind me at all.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

You will get a chance to see it once.

what abilities you have Are there elements in the waiting room that make it possible to join as a hero?

If it met my expectations, I was thinking of actively flirting. Is it easier to capture missions by attracting them as heroes rather than simple NPCs?

“By the way, where are all the hero’s companions gone? I know they aren’t even outside the barracks, but aren’t they here too?”

“They went back to where they were. They’ll be back when the raid begins, so don’t worry about it.”

“If it’s the original place… you’re talking about another dimension?”

“It’s similar.”

Adele kept her mouth shut.

You know that we are unusual beings.

It appears and disappears suddenly, and it changes every time you see it.

‘I went back to where I was.’

Not really an excuse. because it was true

When the 1st party entered the exclusive barracks, the mission status was updated. The time ratio between the mission and the waiting room was fixed at 1:1, and the hero could freely move in and out.

Therefore, I remained to report the situation, and the rest of the members returned to the waiting room for basic briefings and preparations for battle. Amkena just turned the game off.

Perhaps the party members were talking to Edith.

Other parties will also participate in the fortress raid battle. The 1st assault force, led by Edith, was supposed to support large-scale battles as part of the main force.

I saw a corner of the barracks.

Although invisible to Adele, the elliptical portal glows blue.

Through that, I was able to return to the waiting room.

‘It’s a strange mission.’

Originally, most of the missions in Pick Me Up were simple, such as subjugation, survival, and air defense. There were very few missions in this complex twisted form.

After all, this account has been like that since the beginning.

Survival doesn’t rise on the 5th floor, doesn’t the corpse resurrect on the 10th floor? On the 20th floor, immune monsters appeared, and on the 35th floor, suspicious stages such as sea hunting appeared. Compared to Niflheim, it could not be called normal.

‘… … .’

I shook my head.

No country could interfere with the mission method.

If there is no option other than fulfilling the mission, there is no need to think about useless thoughts.

“Tomorrow morning’s meeting will be attended by all the officers of the contingent. We have prepared seats for the heroes, so feel free to tell us your opinion.”

After Adele finished speaking, she left the barracks.

I put my feet up on the table with the floating island map spread out.

“hmm.”

Probably, there will be no opportunity for me to express my opinion at the meeting tomorrow.

Whether benefactors or whatever, we were strangers from a strange place.

Delphine also allowed me to attend the meeting as a courtesy, but I can’t be considerate more than that.

If we are treated preferentially, there will surely be negative voices among the executives.

Even for the morale and operation of the unit, we will move according to the plan set by them.

‘It’s the same with Freea.’

The guy is in the same position.

The fate of being robbed and pushed out by the empire.

Although they were respected as members of the royal family, they had no authority beyond that. Even tomorrow’s meeting said that there was no seat, so it could be said that the position was close to the face madam.

Well, no complaints whatsoever.

I won’t be here for long anyway.

It is only a temporary partnership.

Break up when business is over, and if it’s useful, you can build a relationship again.

I closed the entrance to the barracks and returned to the table.

There was work to be done before morning came.

‘Where do variables come from?’

Is it before the fortress attack, or does it cause problems when infiltrating?

Guidelines for action should be established according to the situation. The actual forces we can operate are Edith’s 1st raid and 1st party.

‘where… … .’

I took a quill pen over the map.

And again.

It was morning the next day.

After eating a simple breakfast, I put on my armor and kicked the scabbard. I think I’d like to leave it to them to do it by themselves, but there are basic things.

I am the only attendee.

The rest of the members were supposed to join the other party in the evening.

The meeting place was a large three-story barracks in Delphine.

Seeing that there’s no one else outside, I feel like I’m the last one.

“Stop.”

Two soldiers guarding the entrance blocked it.

I handed out the pass I received from Delphine. The soldier carefully examined the pass and my face before saying,

“Han Israt, right?”

“okay.”

“Come in.”

The window blocking the way was removed.

What are these bastards?

I saw two faces.

Both have strange eyes. like a swamp.

It was dull and stiff.

Once I entered the barracks.

There was no one in the spacious interior.

Not even a single mouse was visible.

The meeting place is a private room on the 3rd floor of the barracks.

I took the stairs and went upstairs.

It was still that no one was there. The escort soldiers who had passed by the last time they came and the maids who had brought tea and food had disappeared cleanly.

and.

A familiar smell wafted up his nostrils.

‘… … .’

I hurried my steps.

quickly to the third floor.

The higher the floor, the thicker the smell.

“Whoops.”

A woman’s high-pitched laugh rang out.

“They say the empire is the strongest, isn’t there anything special?”

I reached for the scabbard.

so that you can pull it out at any time.

I climbed the hallway on the third floor of the barracks and walked slowly, holding my breath.

“Was that proud white dragon blood, asinis of nothingness like this?”

Jureuk.

Blood spurted from a pile of flesh presumed to be a human arm.

The blood flowed to my feet, staining the white carpet in the hallway red.

‘… … ha.’

I touched my forehead. Human corpses formed a mountain in the hallway.

None of them have been preserved in shape. Gender, physique, and age are unknown. It was all cut into chunks of meat, as if it had been ground in a blender.

I found a familiar ring in the corner of the hallway.

I picked up the ring. On the blood-stained surface of the ring, in old-fashioned letters, ‘Lead of the White Dragon, Radasteri’ is written.

I looked closely at the pile of corpses.

Fragments of silver armor could be found in the messy mishmash of bones, organs, flesh and gore.

I could tell just by looking at who it was.

“…”

dead.

There is no sign of any resistance.

In just one moment, she was torn to pieces along with everyone here.

“You should have come this way when you said that kindly. Abandon your great prince, and stick to that traitor?”

A woman’s voice came from beyond the door.

Inside the private room on the third floor of the barracks where the strategy meeting was to take place.

I quietly stood on the wall next to the door and quietly drew my sword.

‘at once? Or slowly?’

I thought for a moment, then concluded that it was pointless.

The reaction of the soldiers in front of the barracks and the voices echoing outside the corridor.

you already know

‘Hey, damn it.’

I am like this, what

There is no easy way to go.

bang!

I kicked the door.

The door opened wide with broken pieces of wood, revealing the scenery of the private room.

“Billion, huh, uhhh…”

Someone was crawling on the floor.

Almost all of her clothes were torn and she was half naked.

Half of her white hair had been burned, and her bloodied face could be seen through the cracked mask.

It was Delphine.

“Crawl. Yes, keep crawling. Like a bug. Crawl pathetically! Ahahahaha!”

Behind him, a woman wearing a dark blue robe was watching.

[Danger!]

[Patriarch of Stenberg]

[Persene Liddell von Stravern Lv.???]

The woman’s mad eyes turned to me.

Then, the red-painted lips curved in an arc.

“Who is this? Isn’t it our hero?”

The woman approached Delphine and gestured lightly.

Delphine’s body floated as if held by an invisible hand.

“Just in time for the execution ceremony. Welcome back, hero. The self-proclaimed strongest bitch in the empire is going to die ugly. It’s quite a sight to see.”

“Leave it! Man, I’m Assini’s… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Kwajik.

One of Delphine’s broken horns fell to the floor.

said Persene, the woman whose horns were ripped alive.

“Our hero doesn’t blink even in situations like this. Is it because he’s been through a lot of fierce battles?”

‘The family head of Stenberg.’

The name tag comes to mind.

In his hand was a fragment of a sharp horn.

“Take a good look.”

Persene grinned.

and.

hook!

He drove the horn he was holding into Delphine’s heart.

“Ouch!”

Blood spurted from Delphine’s mouth.

At the same time, I rolled across the floor.

bang!

Delphine’s body passed where I was standing.

Delphine, deeply embedded in the wall, wriggled.

“I command.”

<Die.>

Persene points out,

Kwajik!

Delphine turned to porridge from exhaustion.