I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman - Chapter 64

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Chapter 64: Disguise

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The biggest reason two months was such a tight deadline for clearing the Undead Dungeon was transportation.

Unlike Erandar, which was only two hours away from Nevil, the Ronwood Mountains were a six-hour train ride away.

Since we were officially students, we couldn't leave until after classes.

Considering the Christoph Cross-Country Train's schedule, once we set out, we wouldn't be able to return until the next day at the earliest.

In the end, we couldn't even attempt the clear unless it was a Friday leading into the weekend.

Even then, we had to return by Sunday afternoon if we wanted to attend class on Monday.

If the dungeon clear had been set in stone, we could have gone through the board and skipped classes, but practical training like this was another matter.

Of course, there was a way to cut down on that time.

The Cyrus Express, unlike the ordinary trains used by students, could only be used by those with imperial blood.

It was an express train that ran at top speed without stopping at stations, covering a six-hour route in just two.

Even in the original game, Aren Bright eventually gained access to the Cyrus Express near the endgame, allowing him to fast-travel to distant regions in an instant.

So.

Since Alicia, an imperial princess, was in our party, we could naturally use it, right?

Wrong.

“Ahh... what a shame! If only we could use the Cyrus Express, we could wipe out the Evil God's followers in no time at all!!”

“Ah, yes.”

“If only we could use the Cyrus Express!!”

Apparently dissatisfied, Alicia had been whining like that ever since we boarded the train.

“Can't be helped, can it? Since you've already gone through the trouble of disguising yourself, how about accepting it already?”

Her outfit was different from usual.

Her hair was tightly tied into twin tails, freckles were painted across her nose, scars had been drawn all over her body, and she wore ragged clothes.

No one would suspect she was an imperial princess in that state.

She could not hide her red hair, but her disguise had clearly improved since before.

“But the seats on the Cyrus Express are more than seven times better than those on the Christoph Cross-Country Train.”

“Th-that's... oddly specific...”

“But mercenary Ally can't ride the Cyrus Express.”

Her current identity was not Alicia, the imperial princess, but Ally, a mercenary.

“Urgh... Even though I bear imperial blood, I cannot show the world its majesty! Isn't that utterly regrettable?!”

“...Do you actually intend to stay disguised?”

I let her complaints go in one ear and out the other.

If I indulged her, she'd keep this up for all six hours.

Sighing inwardly, I turned to Mine.

Her purple hair was braided, and she wore glasses and a cloak that covered her from head to toe.

The darker makeup she wore gave her an overall gloomy appearance.

No one would think of the Saintess when they saw her like this.

Alicia and Mine's faces were known throughout the Empire, so as long as we used the Christoph Cross-Country Train, it was inevitable that people would recognize them.

Disguises like these were essential if we wanted to move freely.

Mine reached for my hair and started fixing the crooked wig.

“Ah, Valhilar. Your wig is crooked.”

“Thanks, Rosia.”

I was disguised as well.

My name had become somewhat known, but unlike those two, my face was not all that recognizable.

As long as I hid my ash-gray hair, Halibal and any other Ruidel student were much the same.

That was why I wore a simple blond wig.

Mine's alias was Rosia.

My alias was Valhilar, the name I had used during the entrance exam.

Our cover story was that we were “a group of three mercenaries visiting the Ronwood Plains to investigate specialty products only found in the newly opened region.”

Alicia, who had been twisting her twin tails, asked quietly.

“So why exactly do we need these disguises?”

The disguises had been my request.

Our official alibi was that we would remain shut in our respective dorm rooms over the weekend to train.

Alicia and Mine, who each had rooms to themselves, had no problems. As for me, I asked Aren Bright to secure an alibi for me.

Fortunately, he agreed without hesitation.

“An imperial princess, the Saintess, and the Funeral Sword. The three of us moving together would stand out far too much.”

“We didn't need to disguise ourselves before leaving.”

“That is true, but...”

“If you're worried that the Cyrus Express would draw attention, we could have ridden it to the midpoint and transferred. It would have been more efficient to put on our disguises after boarding the train.”

The basic outline of this operation to wipe out the cult branch was to use a village near the Ronwood Plains as our base, gather information while staying overnight, finish the purge over two days, then return.

The Undead Dungeon was at the peak of the Ronwood Mountains, while the cult branch was located halfway up the mountain.

Fortunately, the demonic energy pouring from the summit did not reach the foot of the mountain, so a village of ordinary people had supposedly formed there.

“Doesn't this give it more of the right atmosphere?”

“...Since when did you care about things like that?”

‘It's not the atmosphere I'm worried about. It's survival.’

Alicia's point was sharp.

But there was something she did not know.

There was a cult branch halfway up the mountain, yet the villagers living beneath it were ordinary residents?

As if.

The truth was that every resident of Ronwood Village was a cult follower.

That was why, in the original game, this quest began with Aren Bright being ambushed during the night he stayed in the village.

After subduing all the villagers, it turned into a race against time to finish off the cult branch before their main force could escape.

In other words, it would not be wrong to assume that every person we met after getting off at the station was an enemy.

No, even among the passengers currently aboard this train, there was a good chance some were followers.

Still, I did not tell the two of them the truth.

There was no reason to stir up trouble and make them even more wary.

Nothing was about to happen right away, so there was no need to keep them needlessly tense.

“For now, you should both get some rest. We may have to move as soon as we arrive.”

“That's best.”

Time passed quietly.

The scenery beyond the window gradually changed into quiet countryside, then into the entrance to a rugged mountain range.

Alicia had fallen asleep, while Mine sat with her eyes closed in prayer.

I alone remained awake, drawing and erasing dozens, hundreds of possible paths in my head.

Every so often, I looked around the train car.

An ordinary-looking merchant, a family that looked close-knit.

‘Which of them is a follower?’

No matter how much I thought about it, I could not find an answer.

Before I knew it, the sky had turned red, and an announcement broke the silence inside the train.

[We will soon arrive at our final destination, Ronwood Plains Station.]

Alicia woke at the announcement and stretched, while Mine quietly took a deep breath.

Screech-

When the train doors opened, a small, quiet rural landscape beyond the platform came into view.

Ears of grain swayed gently in the spring breeze.

This was our destination, the Ronwood Plains.

⁎⁎⁎

The village was a little over ten minutes away from the station on foot.

After walking some distance along the dirt road, the Ronwood Mountains came into view in the distance.

The demonic energy pouring from the peak made all three of us frown at once.

Mine, in particular, could not hide her stiff expression.

“Rosia.”

I called to her, but she did not react, as if she had been caught up in memories of the past.

I firmly pressed her shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Rosia.”

“Ah, y-yes! I, I'm not used to it yet...”

“It's Rosia's first time here, isn't it?”

“Pardon? Ah, no. It's not my first...”

“I'm not talking about Mine. Rosia has never been to the Ronwood Plains, and she doesn't have any painful memories of dungeons.”

Mine understood what I meant, took a deep breath, and nodded.

She still could not look directly at the mountain peak, but she seemed calmer.

Alicia spoke then.

“This place is peaceful.”

“It is.”

“Isn't it strange? We don't know when the Evil God's minions might come pouring down from that summit, yet it's this peaceful.”

She smiled softly.

“I hope it remains peaceful.”

“Isn't that why we came all this way?”

Instead of answering, Alicia only looked toward the distant mountains.

The village we soon reached was as peaceful as she had said.

Small wooden houses, villagers warmly greeting us, and even a restaurant with mouthwatering smells wafting from it.

It was the very image of a typical rural village.

We headed straight for the village's only inn.

The lattice symbol of the Church of the Main Gods was displayed prominently at the entrance.

No one who saw it would suspect this village was a den of the Tartarus Cult.

When we opened the door, a kindly-looking owner greeted us.

“Welcome, travelers. What brings you to Ronwood?”

“We're mercenaries here on a commission to investigate new specialty products. We heard the demonic energy in this area had cleared up recently.”

“Haha, sounds like you've had a hard time. We happen to have one room available, so make yourselves at home. I'll give you our village's specialty liquor on the house to ease the fatigue of your journey.”

As the owner disappeared into the kitchen, Alicia whispered.

“This is quite a friendly place.”

“It reminds me of when I lived in my hometown.”

I nodded and spoke loudly enough for the kitchen to hear.

“Let's stay here tonight, then carry out the commission tomorrow.”

The owner guided us to a room on the second floor.

As we climbed the creaking stairs, I could feel the countless gazes of the other guests on my back.

“Rest well. I'll come get you when dinner is ready.”

The owner closed the door and left.

The door clicked shut and locked. I immediately set down my luggage and listened for any nearby presence.

Fortunately, no one was eavesdropping.

‘What do we do now?’

That was when it happened.

“This is a problem.”

Alicia said it while tapping the bridge of her nose.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you not notice, Junior? This entire village is inside the tiger's maw.”

Mine and I both widened our eyes.

Mine because it was the first she had heard of it.

And me because...

‘...How did she know?’

“I see. In that case, perhaps even inside the train... Ah, but it seems they haven't noticed, since it was only simple hostility...”

Alicia muttered to herself as she touched her lower lip.

I had forgotten, but she was an intelligence-type character.

Because of the countless schemes she had endured as an imperial princess, her ability to sense hostility and killing intent had developed abnormally.

She had probably noticed the subtle sense of wrongness in the villagers' behavior the moment we entered the village.

I was so used to seeing her act scatterbrained that I had forgotten she was fundamentally a capable woman.

After muttering to herself for some time, Alicia finally reached a conclusion.

“It seems this entire village is a den of those cult bastards.”

“...Is that so?”

“C-could it be... that our identities have been discovered?”

Alicia shook her head at Mine's question.

“No. It seems the disguise operation Junior came up with happened to work out well. They didn't seem to know who we were. Their gazes only carried strong wariness toward outsiders.”

“If they knew who we were, they would have acted right away.”

“Fortunately, we learned their identities first. That means we can strike first.”

Then Mine, her expression stiff, asked.

“Um... Are you saying every person in this village is a follower?”

“I believe so. Though I could be wrong.”

“Th-that can't be...!!”

She had exchanged greetings with many villagers on the way here.

Her heart must have been heavy at the thought that every one of them was an enemy she needed to defeat.

“...There are too many to deal with one by one...”

“?”

Or not?

Anyway.