Chereads / Legend of The Guardian Soldier / Chapter 21 - Episode 17 - The Final Trial (Part 2)

Chapter 21 - Episode 17 - The Final Trial (Part 2)

The Boar Warlord is talking to the other Boars as the Warlord prepares something. Reynes sneaks through the Boars as he assassinates some of them silently and covers the tracks by storing the corpse inside [Item Box]. Boarthog and Raboar didn't pose much threat since Reynes can do quick work by decapitating its head and storing it before any blood spills to the ground.

"I can't believe I have so much power when I'm not using Sage Ore."

Reynes wear equipment made from Sage Ore every single day for one main purpose, training. The Sage Ore augmentation on his clothes suppresses his magic and physical power, allowing his body to receive constant training. He can feel his body is as light as a feather when releasing such weights.

Killing Raboar, Boarthog, and Wereboar is a breeze compared to what he faced eight years ago. Reynes can only rely on [Physical Enhancement], [Magic Enhancement], and [Concealment] to assassinate them.

"So far, so good. That Warlord still busy talking with its underlings."

As Reynes continues to whittle down the number, the Boar Warlord begins to notice something is missing. There were fewer boars around its rank, and there was no sign of an attack. Alerted, the Warlord roars as the other Boars stand guard and are on alert.

"Seems they notice it." The Wereboar protecting Aurelia and the captives were away. Reynes spontaneously assassinated Wereboar and took two of the captives away first. He needs to move fast before the next patrol discovers it.

Reynes place the girls inside the forest two kilometers from the Warlord camp. He quickly makes another trip to the prisoner camp and takes another two away.

Reynes know it's a risk to place the captives near his kill zone as he spent four days setting up a trap to defeat Boar Warlord. As he was just retrieving Aurelia from the captive, the Boar Warlord found him as it throw a spear to him.

"Oh, crap."

ROAARR!!

Carrying Aurelia to the forest, Reynes lures the enraged Boar Warlord to his kill zone. Other Boars also follow suit to pursue him.

"Ah, shit!! This is the first time I saw a Boar capable of casting magic!"

To make matters worse, amongst the Boar Warlord Rank, a Boar Mage specializing in magic chant exists. Eight years ago, a Boar Mage was not inside the Boar King's rank, while Klendiana encountered two of it during her final trial. Reynes has to dodge fireball and earth spikes as he carries Aurelia into the forest.

Luring them into his kill zone, Reynes releases the first variety of traps. A Raboar and Boarthog got their head smashed by logs that hit both sides of their head. Reynes count two were dead, but he needs to deal with a Boar Mage and two Wereboar. He has already eliminated dozens of them, and if he can bring Boar Warlord back to the Guild along with the report, there would be a new log.

"Ngh…."

Aurelia slowly began to awake, and she saw someone carrying her at high speed as she could hear the boars roaring and keep firing their magic at him.

"Oh, you're awake! I'm a little busy now."

"Huh….? Reynes-Kaichou?"

"Hey. I'm not a President anymore, Princess."

Reynes continues to trigger more traps, but the Boar Warlord doesn't flinch, even though he takes some of his traps head-on.

"Damn it. His [Physical Enhancement] is more than what I can expect."

Impaled by wood spikes, log spikes, and many more, the Boar Warlord's defenses are too sturdy to handle. Dealing with King Boar would be easier, but it would be a waste of trap.

"Reynes. Put me down. I can go to safety on my own."

"But we haven't escaped from his sight!"

"I'm fine, Reynes. I got careless, and thanks to you, I've managed to recover some of my stamina."

Leaping at one of the tree branches, Reynes fuses the fire and water, creating a smokescreen using steam. He put Aurelia on one of the tree branches.

"Here you go. The rest were nearby here, and you should go and free them first. Here's the location of my camp."

"I will. Thank you, Reynes-Kaichou."

"I told you I'm not a President anymore!"

The Boar Warlord throws an ax and cuts down a tree where it senses Reynes' presence. Reynes quickly drops down from the tree and dashes forward to the Warlord.

"[Water Burst!!] [Electro Shock!!]"

Spraying the water to the Boars, Reynes adds it with electroshock to stun the boars. He set the voltage slightly higher, causing most of the boars to be knocked out except Boar Warlord, which has high resistance.

Using his natural strength, he makes a fast slice through its joint. He sliced it fast enough to rip the skin apart as the Boar Warlord began to feel pain. The Boar Warlord retaliates, but Reynes uses handling to deflect his attack. The wound from combating with Aurelia earlier has yet to recover, and it's a good opportunity for him to defeat the Boar Warlord.

"I'm not done yet!"

Reynes gather his momentum, and this time he stabs it right into its heart. As the Boar Warlord attempts to swing its ax to kill him, Reynes electrocutes it.

"[Electro Shock!!]"

Frying its body inside-out, Reynes kills the Boar Warlord. After collecting the corpses for several hours, Reynes returns to the camp, as Aurelia and the other four girls are already on the camp.

"Halt! Who goes there!"

"Take it easy, Eva. He's Reynes-Kaichou."

"I thought I told you to…." Reynes can only sigh as Aurelia continues to refer to him as Student Council President.

"R-Reynes-Kaichou? Ah! Baronet Lexington! We apologize!"

"It's alright. On top of that, I'm not a President anymore, Princess."

"Fu fu. You're still my President even after we graduate, Kaichou. It's a surprise for me when the entire member of the Trio Meteor Child becomes a Student Council President."

"What I wouldn't expect here is that you're coming to this forest with four of your bodyguards."

"Oh, is that so? Frabela-senpai did make a good choice to select my bodyguard."

"Huh? I recall she's a squire when joining after graduation."

"No. She's a Knight Commander now."

"A WHAT!?" Reynes remembers that Frabela entered the Arminia Knight Order as a Squire, but in just three years, she was promoted as Knight Commander.

"How could Senpai get promoted so fast?"

"That's my question to you, Reynes. What kind of training did you give to her? She told me that she requested a new set of armor from you when she enlisted."

"Well… That's…."

Reynes can't answer that Frabela's armor was created with Sage Ore as the main component. He can't tell her since it's dangerous for the Royals to wear it.

"I don't think I can explain it…."

"I've heard the rumors about that armor. If possible, I also want to commission you on making such gear."

"Princess! You already have someone handle it for you!"

Eva rejects it bluntly, but Aurelia's determination doesn't falter as she knows Reynes has a strong skill in blacksmithing. Aurelia can see Reynes' true capabilities when making a new set of equipment for her.

"Reynes. Frabela wears armor made from Sage Ore, correct? I wonder if you have a license to it?"

"I do have a license, but…. It's a Special License."

Aurelia only laughs as she hears a Special License for the first time. "Good grief… To think the Scharlwarltz entrusted you with such license…. There's a reason I want to commission you for this, Reynes. Just call me Aurelia since we're not on the official meeting."

"What's the reason you want me to make it?"

"I want to go on an adventure like your family. Frabela-senpai has already prepared several knights suitable to accompany me on a journey. The reason I need your armor is that it's adaptive. Have you not noticed that the armor you made for Frabela-senpai can adapt?"

"She didn't tell me about it."

"I see…. I will talk to Senpai when I get back."

"Also. We would stay in the forest for a while until you finish your trial."

"I just need to take a rest tomorrow. My body is quite aching after fighting the Boar Warlord."

"That's our mistake…. Originally, we thought it was a War Boar. But it evolved into a Boar Warlord before I can deliver a finishing blow."

"No wonder it has been weakened to where I could finish it quickly."

Aurelia apologizes to Reynes while he's cooking dinner for them. He only sighs as he distributes the dinner to everyone. As the dinner goes on, Reynes thinks about making a new set of equipment for Aurelia. But that means he also has to make a new set for her guards.

"Aurelia. I will accept the commission with conditions. In exchange for paying me the commission, I would like access to the Royal Library and Knights Training Grounds. Some of the Boar Warlord's remains would also be yours."

"Alright. I'll accept that. Oh, Reynes. If we happen to meet again a couple of years later, please allow me to join your journey."

"I only accept volunteers, Princess. I don't want anyone to join because someone orders them to join my journey."

"Now, now. Don't worry about it, Kaichou. I only say that when we happen to meet again outside Arminia, I would like to join your journey."

"I will only accept it with your own volition, Princess."

"Good. Oh, and we will stay with you until your trial is over, Kaichou."

"Eh? Aren't you supposed to return to Armenia?"

"No. I came here to explore, and I also have to collect their dead bodies."

"Ah….. You mean…."

The final day seems to be filled with finding the dead body and storing it before Reynes can bring it back home. Reynes, Aurelia, and her guards go to the combat site near Boar Warlord's camp. They took every available corpse they could recover, wrapping it with a thick cloth, and stored it inside Reynes' [Item Box].

After the Trial is Finished

"W-whoa, wait a minute. Why's the Princess here?"

Kurt was surprised when he was about to pick up Reynes; he brought Aurelia and her bodyguards.

"Well…."

Reynes began to explain what happened inside the Boarer Forest. After hearing this, Kurt can only frown.

"So basically, you rescue Princess and the surviving bodyguards? On the last day of trial, you assist her in collecting what was left of the fallen knights?"

"Yes."

Kurt can't hide the wrinkle on his head, "I guess unexpected things always happens unexpectedly, huh…"

"That's the point of the Final Trial, wasn't it?"

"Mmmhh… You got the point there. At least I didn't detect any abnormality when you camp inside the forest."

Returning to Shills, the Guildmaster is surprised when Reynes displays the Boar Warlord.

"How did you defeat it?"

"I'm just finishing it off. Most of the work was already done by the Princess."

Aurelia gives her statement, "The Boar we engage was initially a War Boar. Before I could finish it off, it evolved into a Boar Warlord. I initially come with fifteen escorts, three of them were dead before evolution, and another eight died when the War Boar evolved to Boar Warlord."

"I see…. What'll be the classification, young Lexington?"

"Me?"

The Guildmaster nods as he wants to ask Reynes' opinion. After some thinking, he gives an answer.

"It's worth to be an S Rank if it was at top condition. To subjugate it, however, requires an S Rank Party. It's a Warlord, and it has strong combat skill."

"I see…. Please fill in more details here in the report. I will release the official rank once I've read it."

"As you wish."

After Reynes and Aurelia file the report, Reynes heads to the capital to bring the remains of Aurelia's escort back to where it belongs.

In addition to Kurt declaring that Reynes was qualified to set out on a journey, the Guildmaster declares that the Boar Warlord in prime condition would be an S+ Rank threat and requires two parties of the S Rank party to subjugate it.

Four months after the final trial, one of the guild staff wobbles as she is about to reach Shills. The emblem on her left shoulder indicates that she comes from Magician Journey.