The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 424: Bruce’s Inspiring Aura

Open the sliding doors of the meeting venue and go just beyond the hallway, and one would come out to the expansive venue of the magic classroom.

This was the place where everyone practiced their magic and martial arts, and to cater to their needs, a water fountain had been installed here. 

Currently, two of the Six Braves were here to wash their faces.

“…Whew.”

“Here, Miss Catherine.”

“Thanks.”

They were Catherine and Jacob.

They had dark spots under their eyes, and they were quite visibly worn out.

Catherine wiped her face with the towel handed to her by Jacob, then handed it back to him before turning to look back at the meeting venue. where lights still illuminated the dark night.

“Ugh, seriously, how dedicated can he be? Hasn’t he been in there for three days already?”

Jacob also wiped his face and proceeded to speak as he folded the towel,

“Frankly, he’s beyond ordinary. Even by the Duodecad’s standards — and he’s not even one. Even Miss Irene couldn’t keep up…”

“Well, I guess there’s no going around this — We’ll just have to bolster as much of our military strength as we can.”

“Are you saying we’re good enough to be fighting?”

“Well, if his invention fails, we’ll probably all die… So you know…”

Catherine sat down on a bench near the water fountain. 

In the midst of this, a presence subtly disturbed the air. Neither of the two let that go unnoticed.

“Who’s there? Your hiding technique is pretty sloppy, you know?”

Given that this was the venue of the magic classroom, it was unlikely that an enemy would be here.

Catherine’s tone was casual, while Jacob had already placed his hand near his sword.

Then, two rushing sounds could be heard, each heading toward Jacob and Catherine respectively.

The two caught the objects that had been thrown to them without difficulty, after which a person approached them.

“Heh, good job, guys.”

Then as a silhouette drew closer, a cheerful voice reached their ears.

“Oh, you are… the Silver Wolf, yes?”

“Ah, the Special Forces guy… Bruce, right? It’s pretty late now — can’t you wait until tomorrow morning?”

The face, illuminated by the venue’s lanterns, was revealed to be that of Bruce of Team Silver.

“Oh, y’know, I figured you’d be pretty exhausted by now, so I brought you these.”

Bruce pointed at the objects in their hands — vials of juice.

“And what are ‘these’?”

Jacob promptly asked.

“Pochibitan D. Drinks that give you energy, pretty much.”

“Drinks from someone who’s functionally stranger? I wouldn’t take one at a dinner party — and I wouldn’t take one anywhere else, either. You can have it back.”

“What the hell, man!?”

Jacob’s attitude caused Bruce’s eyes to widen in surprise.

“You know, didn’t one of you guys knock us out that night in Regalia? …Was it you?”

“Uh… either me or someone else, yeah. I don’t really remember. Anyway, that juice’s made by Asley. And just saying, it’s not spiked — Pretty much everyone drinks it around here these days.”

“Hmm…”

Catherine lifted the vial toward the starry sky, examining it. 

Both she and Jacob understood there was no ill intent in Bruce’s words. Upon hearing Asley’s name in his explanation, the two exchanged a brief glance. 

Then, only a moment later, Catherine opened the vial’s lid and gulped down its contents.

Watching Catherine do so, Jacob let out a deep sigh before he, too, consumed the Pochibitan D.

“”…!””

They were both left perplexed — more so than by any other inexplicable event they had experienced before.

Bruce, recognizing the effect from their expressions, grinned in amusement.

“…That, people, is a technological breakthrough.”

“If this is readily available, the Guild’s work would become much easier…”

Their current job was as special staff employed by the Adventurers’ Guild.

Following the orders of Guild Master Scott, they operated as roaming agents of sorts, traveling from place to place.

Being warriors and considering how stretched-out the Guild had been lately, they found great value in the Pochibitan D.

As they looked at the now-empty vials in awe, Bruce approached even closer.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you guys.”

After exchanging a glance of curiosity, the two turned their attention to Bruce.

“I wanna know how the towns, villages, and settlements all over are doing. Just as much as you can legally tell is fine, really.”

The weight of his words made both of their gazes grow in sharpness and intensity.

However, Bruce’s own eyes were equally serious as he faced their reaction head-on.

“I can tell you’re not asking simply out of idle curiosity.”

Having said that, Jacob looked at Catherine.

Catherine crossed her legs, propping her elbow against her knee as she gazed up at the sky.

“…Well, I guess I can talk about that a tiny bit.”

“I appreciate it — really, I do.”

Bruce took a seat right there and crossed his legs.

Jacob, too, sat down next to Catherine, gazing up at the sky just like she did.

“Now, where do we even start?”

“Wherever you want, I guess. It’s not like we were always working together. We can both share what we’ve seen.”

“…That’s true.”

Jacob agreed with Catherine’s suggestion and fell into a momentary silence. 

It was because what he was about to discuss was a heavy and painful topic, something that disturbed even himself.

“…You might have already heard, but the larger cities are barely managing to function. And the small and medium-sized towns, villages, and settlements… it’s better to assume that most of them have vanished from the maps.”

“…Shit.”

“Of course, places that were guided by Guild staff members were saved by our time-stalling efforts, and their inhabitants were successfully Teleported over to the larger cities. The majority of them should be in Beilanea or here in T’oued. Well, technically, some went to Regalia as well, but following the recent operation, they ended up here too. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that T’oued currently has the largest population in the continent.”

“I see…”

Bruce’s voice brightened slightly. However, Jacob’s following words had not a hint of enthusiasm.

“Naturally, there were places that couldn’t be saved.”

“…!”

“Streets turned into rivers of blood. Corpses could hardly be recognized as human. Limbs raised towards the sky from amidst the wreckage, as if seeking help. Men, women, children — death showed no discrimination. I’ve seen many places like that. Honestly, if I hadn’t had experience working as one of the Six Braves, I would’ve been overwhelmed by the urge to flee.”

After heaving a long sigh, Jacob shrugged his shoulders. Then, he looked towards Catherine.

“…Yeah, it’s the same for me. Some people fought bravely. Warriors and mages held the line with all their might to save everyone in their towns, villages, and settlements. I even witnessed some being devoured right in front of me the moment I got to them.”

Catherine’s expression darkened as if she was recalling a painful past.

“…They’re stupid, all of them. They didn’t need to go in just to die like that.”

Catherine’s words carried a hint of insult towards the deceased — was what Bruce thought for a moment. Yet, the expression of torment on Catherine’s face made it painfully clear that she did not mean it that way.

As the two lowered their heads in a moment of silence, Bruce spoke softly to them,

“…Thanks.”

From their expressions, they had had enough of such a response by now.

“So what now? What do you expect to achieve with that information?”

“Well, you know… It’s hard to say… Hahaha…”

Bruce smiled bashfully as he looked at Catherine. 

An emotion too complex for words — Having been told that, Catherine sensed Bruce’s intention.

“Look, no one’s going to mourn YOU specifically if you die out there.”

Catherine’s words sounded merciless.

“Feeling considerate today, I see. I suppose even the Silver Wolf has a gentle side to him.”

Jacob, too, understood the implication behind Bruce’s question.

“W-what the hell, guys?”

“Your team is one of the famous ones right now, you know? When a captain of theirs dies, it’ll be when most other people are already dead — There will be hardly anyone left to mourn you.”

“…!”

In the end, Catherine’s words were not at all merciless.

Even with access to the Limit Breakthrough, even with one’s levels boosted, a formidable army of enemies was still terrifying. Even Bruce could die out there. He realized that, and had veiled his concern with a question as a way to escape it.

What had most strongly inspired this fear in him was in fact Ryan — specifically, what the old man had gone through during Billy and Cleath’s assault on Eddo. It was a natural human response — something that took precedence over his reputation as the Silver Wolf.

“Everyone is afraid of dying, you know.”

“Yes, it is a very frightening thing.”

As Catherine pointed out, Jacob nodded in agreement.

“Even you guys?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Why would I not be?”

Catherine and Jacob’s usual sarcastic expressions returned. 

However, they were not the same individuals they used to be.

“But you see…”

“Huh?”

“There are people who can’t move on — can’t face death without someone like you to inspire them.”

“…!”

Bruce’s expression stiffened.

“Now listen — I can offer this advice because I have ample life experience, you know?”

“That’s right, Miss Catherine. But you can’t be a ‘Special Forces’ Captain like him, can you?”

“Of course not. Advice, you see, is something you say while sitting in an armchair!”

“So honest. Much integrity. Wow.”

“Oh, by the way, about what I asked earlier conversation — were there any abandoned areas within the attacked cities?”

“There were a few, yes. Guild Master Scott mentioned that monsters probably ate the people whole, or they escaped early on.”

“Yeah, everyone should have done that… Oh, thanks for this, by the way.”

“I thank you as well.”

Catherine and Jacob placed their empty vials before Bruce and headed back toward the meeting venue.

Their words seemed casual, almost dismissive — However, Bruce interpreted them differently.

He clenched and unclenched his fists as a flame of determination raged in his eyes.

Bruce — The Silver Special Forces Captain. The Silver Wolf.

People were inspired by him — and for their sake, he knew he had to steel his resolve more than ever.