Chapter 63

When the two moons were overhead, Moon Beasts would sometimes fall by the Shadow Moon Road.

However, there were times like these when they seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

This incident was more than enough to remind us that we needed to be careful, even when the moons weren’t above.

You didn’t know when the Moon Beasts could appear. While you were traveling or while you were asleep.

And so the students didn’t let their guard down…no, they couldn’t.

If you encountered a Moon Beast, you would die.

Up close, you could really feel its viciousness and the hopelessly huge gap in power.

“Well, we’ll figure it out.” There was no one who was stupid as to say that.

“If we continue in this state, everyone will be exhausted.”

It was the fourth day since the military exercise began.

One of the veterans who led the group, Hyrang Archelt said, as he looked at the tired students.

It would have been ideal to stay mostly silent and allow the students to think and solve the problem on their own. But some were likely to lose their health if this continued.

And so out of kindness, he had to say something.

“We’ll leave this place tomorrow, and move someplace that is safer. Until then, we’ll think of a way to maintain safety without straining everyone’s nerves.”

Hyrang had been a Dragon Master for 10 years. He was a veteran.

This was his third time taking the students on a Military exercise, and there had never before been an instance of a Moon Beast appearing.

They surely had the worst luck this year.

Still, it could have been much worse. If the Moon Beasts had been several hundred meters closer to the students, the damage would have been much greater.

That was a small comfort.

Of course, for those that had been sleeping during the attack, this was nothing but a disaster.

“Perhaps next year, we will have to have veterans stay in the fledgling camp.”

Even though it was just an exercise, having the adults carry and baby them all the time would have worrying consequences when they graduated.

Besides, maybe it didn’t matter how many times they failed, as long as they got through it.

However, when looking at the tired faces of the students, it was hard to not want to do something.

“The First-Years are especially bad. However, the one who was involved in the first incident seems completely fine.”

According to the report, he had encountered the Moon Beasts during sentry duty.

He had immediately signaled with his whistle and retreated with another Dragon Master who was close by. However, they had encountered a different Moon Beast on the way back.

But they managed to find an opening and escape back to the camp.

Hyrang thought this was quite a harsh trial for a First-Year to go through.

“He just seems so calm. Maybe that’s his personality.”

Surely that boy would be the most traumatized. And so they had paid extra attention to him. But he ate normally and slept just fine.

Aside from the fact that he seemed to occasionally be scanning his surroundings, he never looked nervous in the way that you’d expect.

Hyrang remembered being that age, and he knew that he had not been so calm while traversing the Shadow Moon Road.

“Is he accustomed to being on his guard? Perhaps he has been here before.”

That was what Hyrang thought as he saw how calm Leon appeared.

As for Leon himself…

We were currently patrolling the area. However, I was the only one who was looking for the Makoku attackers.

“I still don’t sense anything.”

Maybe they still hadn’t discovered our location.

From what I understood, we set up camp in a different location every year.

And it was chosen at random.

So Makoku could find out what day and the general area for the exercise, but they didn’t know where our camp would be.

And so they couldn’t ambush us.

Besides, since we were near the Shadow Moon Road, security was extra tight.

There were no obstacles in the area around our camp, and so we could see for dozens of kilometers.

They would be seen if they tried to approach from afar.

And so I had thought that an ambush on our camp was unlikely, and it seemed that I was right.

“It’s tomorrow, right? We’ll finally be able to sleep in a place with proper walls and a roof.”

“That’s right. I miss having a real bed.”

The person who reacted to my private muttering was Marty. He let me ride his dragon every day.

“How was it last year?”

“We kept traveling through a place with more trees. We encountered Moon Beasts twice during the exercise. They said it was much less than usual.”

“Twice, huh.”

And we had already seen two on the first day here.

“Does that mean you also stayed at a different lodging facility?”

“I saw the map of where we’re going tomorrow, and it’s definitely not the same place as last year.”

I see. So there were several of them. Christan had told me that they were surrounded by high walls, and were normally used by Dragon Masters.

We would be staying at one of them tomorrow.

While they were used for military exercises, they were regularly used by others as well.

And they were also in places that Moon Beasts rarely appeared.

Maybe just once or twice a year.

“Ah, it looks like we’re having a break again. Do you want to get off and rest?”

“Yes. It’s tiring to ride without rest.”

I got off of the dragon and sat down in a secluded area.

If Makoku was going to attack us, it would likely be at this lodging facility.

“In that case, I’ll have to ask Christan for information about the magicians when I meet him. Also, I feel like the Dragon Masters have been staring at me recently. I wonder why.”

It probably had something to do with what happened on the first day. But I continued to feel their eyes on me.

And it was almost always an adult Dragon Master.

They never actually approached me or talked. And so I pretended like I didn’t notice. Still, it made it harder for me to search the area.

“Well, it all starts tomorrow.”

Ultimately, nothing happened that day.

And the next morning, we headed off to our new destination, just like we had planned.

While we traveled, the two moons aligned once, and we saw several Moon Beasts fall from the sky. But as they were so far away, we heard that other Dragon Masters had been sent to them.

Other than that, there were no accidents, and we reached our destination safely.

“Ah, you’re finally here.”

I went over to the shop that had been set up and was greeted warmly by my brother in law.