A Wild Man Has Entered the Academy

TLed by NolepGuy

Chapter 150

“S-Sivar, why are you here…? No, before that, what did you just say…?”

Kara, who had her trauma triggered, stammered incoherently. She seemed to be desperately trying to grasp the situation.

Words that anyone who had served in the military or experienced something similar would inevitably react to.

Kara was probably confused about how I knew such words.

Naturally, I had experienced it myself, which allowed me to dig into it properly.

“…Wait. No way?”

Kara, who belatedly grasped the situation, hurriedly stepped out of the tent.

I let her go without stopping her. There was nothing she could do at this point anyway.

Kara soon began to thoroughly search the castle, which now had an entirely different atmosphere. However, there was nothing in sight.

Not just the other tents, but even the sentries who had been dozing off on the castle wall—all of them had been evacuated.

“Was this your doing?”

“Yeah.”

“No matter how you did it, it was way too quiet. Did you even light all the fires knowing I’d come?”

Kara asked with a tone that suggested she couldn’t understand. It seemed unbelievable to her that the castle had fallen so easily.

Honestly, I had infiltrated expecting at least some commotion. But the sentries’ negligence made things proceed smoothly.

“They were sleeping.”

“Sleeping? Who? Don’t tell me the lookouts on the castle wall?”

“Yeah. Leaning against the wall, snoring away.”

“Ugh, those idiots…! I warned them so many times not to sleep on the job…!”

Kara ran her hand down her face the moment she realized the sentries had been asleep.

She must have felt utterly defeated, watching the castle fall apart because of incompetent soldiers—a universal frustration.

But the deed was already done, and the castle was completely captured. Kara was the only one left.

“Sigh… So, what are you going to do now?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you going to do with me? Honestly, fighting you would be like an egg hitting a rock. If you’re going to eliminate me, just do it cleanly. Might as well save my stamina.”

It seemed she had ruled out the option of fighting me from the start. Running away wasn’t on the table either.

Normally, eliminating her would have been the best choice, but an amusing idea suddenly came to mind.

A way to avoid fighting Kara and resolve things somewhat peacefully.

“Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come with me.”

“Go with you? To your base?”

In response to Kara’s question, I nodded. She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

After a moment of deep thought, she asked cautiously.

“What if I try to escape from here?”

“I’ll catch you.”

“…Hmm. Hmm.”

When I confidently answered that I’d catch her, Kara hesitated before clearing her throat.

Then, glancing at me, she asked in a doubtful tone.

“Don’t tell me you’re doing this because you want to stay with me?”

“…?”

That wasn’t it—I just thought of something entertaining. I didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t unreasonable for her to misunderstand. After all, just yesterday morning, certain things had happened.

Not to mention, I had eliminated all the other students except Kara and even brought her along.

There were too many reasons for her to misunderstand. Well, her guess was half-right, so I didn’t bother explaining.

“Alright. I’ll go with you. I should at least figure out what you’re thinking. Whatever happens, I’ll just get subdued by force anyway.”

Fortunately, Kara didn’t seem overly suspicious and agreed to follow me without much resistance. If she had tried to run, I would’ve caught her immediately.

Soon, we opened the city gate and began heading back to the occupied territory together.

Once we returned to the occupied territory, others would undoubtedly come to reclaim the castle. My part in this was done.

“Sigh. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve taken the night watch myself. Then again, it’s not like I’m a soldier with experience in this.”

“…”

“Sivar, do you take night watches?”

“Yeah.”

It wasn’t so much a night watch as it was always being conscious. Ever since I gained my Wild Instinct, I rarely slept soundly.

Even the times I did sleep deeply were when I’d passed out. My ears were always alert, waking me up at the slightest sound.

“Was that in the contract too? That you had to take night watches?”

“I do it myself. I don’t need sleep.”

“Really? That’s fascinating.”

Despite the pitch-black dawn, Kara and I returned to the occupied territory without any issues.

My night vision was excellent, and Kara’s senses were sharp enough to roughly distinguish objects in the dark.

Thud—

“Ah!”

“Careful.”

But checking every step was difficult. When Kara nearly tripped, I immediately caught her.

“Thanks. It’s so dark I can’t see anything. There’s barely any moonlight tonight.”

“Hold my hand.”

“What?”

“Hold my hand. I’ll help you.”

“Uh… Sure.”

Kara reluctantly took my hand. As a seasoned warrior, her hand was rough with calluses.

My hand was tough too, but Kara’s was even more so. It made sense—she must’ve wielded weapons her entire life.

“Now that I think about it, have we ever held hands before?”

“I don’t know.”

“Not exactly soft, is it?”

“It’s fine.”

Kara seemed self-conscious about it. But I had no intention of comparing.

In fact, I liked hands like these. They told a story of relentless effort and survival.

Rize once told me that a person’s hands, like their eyes, reveal who they are. Now that I’d felt it, I understood what she meant.

“Sivar, your hands are really tough too. Lots of scars, more than calluses.”

“Yeah.”

“Did it hurt?”

“It did. A lot.”

From the moment I fell into the forest, I’d been struck by Porori’s Iron Mountain Strike and bitten on the left arm by a wolf.

At the time, I was left-handed, which made things incredibly inconvenient for a while. And that was just the beginning of my ordeals.

My body was covered in scars, but my hands had far more. I’d been injured that much.

“We’re here.”

“Your night watch is on point. I’m jealous.”

While chatting about this and that, we eventually arrived back at the occupied territory.

Thankfully, our team’s night watch seemed to be doing their job properly—they jumped in surprise the moment they saw us.

They quickly went inside to report, and before long, the command staff came crawling out.

“Yaaawn… Huh? Mr. Sivar. And next to you is…”

“Kara Unnie?”

Grace, elegantly yawning, and Luna, rubbing her sleepy eyes, both reacted with surprise upon seeing Kara next to me.

I immediately moved behind Kara and wrapped my arms around her. A classic back hug.

“W-What are you doing? Suddenly, out of nowhere…!”

Kara, flustered as I lifted her off the ground, grew even more bewildered. Her height was such that her feet barely left the ground.

Ignoring her reaction, I looked at Grace and Luna. They seemed too groggy to fully grasp the situation.

“I caught her.”

“What?”

“…Huh?”

Kara and Grace both looked puzzled at the mention of having “caught her.”

It seemed a more detailed explanation was necessary. Still holding Kara up, I calmly began to speak.

“Prisoner. Kara is now a prisoner.”

“…Wait a second. Sivar? What are you talking about? I’m a prisoner?”

“… …”

At the declaration that she had been taken prisoner, Kara urgently questioned me. Grace, too, widened her eyes, her expression asking what on earth was going on.

Well, it was understandable. After all, she had practically walked here on her own, so it must have seemed absurd. But this was my advanced strategy(?).

Supplies were running low, so there was a need to wrap up the trial early.

“Kara.”

“Y-Yes?”

“You’ve been kidnapped.”

“… …?”

Kara had been deceived.

******

When was the last time I experienced something so absurd? There had been too many instances to count, but today would surely remain etched in my memory.

Kara, the Princess of Tatars and a warrior who had played a pivotal role during the Tribal War, had now absurdly fallen victim to a deception—not even a clever one—and become a prisoner.

Not even during the Tribal Unification War had she been taken prisoner. Hector’s overwhelming strength had played a role, as had instances where matters were resolved through negotiation.

“Ha. Honestly. What kind of situation is this?”

“Right? The more I see Sivar, the more I realize how clever he is.”

Luna agreed with Kara’s exasperated remark. For the record, Kara was currently tied up with rope.

Luna was technically keeping watch over her, but it was practically meaningless. Kara had already completely given up.

From the moment the sentry had dozed off, it was as good as a loss. Capturing Kara as a prisoner was just the final nail in the coffin.

“If I put it nicely, he’s smart. If I put it bluntly, he’s cunning. So, capturing me was Sivar’s unilateral decision?”

“Yes. Originally, the plan was for Sivar to handle the people in the castle on his own while we moved in.”

Even Luna couldn’t hide her amazement. The plan had been executed as intended, but the results exceeded expectations.

Sivar understood the Final Exam system better than anyone. Normally, if someone was knocked out, they would be immediately evacuated.

However, by capturing them as prisoners like this, there would be no evacuation, and the opposing team would suffer a significant loss of forces.

Moreover, the prisoner in question was Kara, the commander and the one responsible for more than half of their strength.

From the opposing team’s perspective, not only was there a hole in their command, but they had also suffered a massive loss in manpower.

“And that’s not all. Sivar made this suggestion to Grace: Let’s use Kara as a hostage to push for negotiations.”

“What? What does that even mean?”

“He proposed making a deal with the other side, just like the one he made with us. If they meet our demands, you’ll be returned safely.”

“Wow… I’m honestly impressed now.”

Kara gaped in genuine admiration. Without any formal training, he had even thought of a prisoner exchange.

Prisoners, contracts, and all the hallmarks of siege warfare—Sivar had thought of it all on his own.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s amazing.”

Luna turned her head to where Sivar was. She spotted him enjoying a meal from the supply depot.

Other students, constrained by the framework of the “exam,” couldn’t come up with such ideas. Everyone was too focused on the test itself.

Above all, capturing Kara as a prisoner would have required immense sacrifice. In other words, it was something only Sivar could have done.

“Sigh. The exam is practically over. Losing the castle so easily and failing the negotiations makes it meaningless.”

“You weren’t really interested in the exam anyway, were you?”

“True, but it still leaves a bad taste. All this mess because the sentry fell asleep.”

“Hmm. That’s true. At least others learned how crucial sentries are.”

The events Sivar orchestrated overnight became a significant lesson.

A single failure in vigilance could lead to defeat in war.

There’s a reason they say you can forgive a soldier for failing a mission, but not for failing their watch.

Of course, since the infiltrator was Sivar, the outcome might have been the same. But at least Kara wouldn’t have been captured.

Creak—

It was while Kara and Luna were chatting idly. The firmly shut city gate began to open slowly.

Beyond the gate, the opposing team came into view. It was safe to say they were a kind of delegation.

Antonio led the group, flanked by two bodyguards.

“They’re here. Do you know what the negotiations are about?”

“Not sure. I heard Grace and Sivar are handling it directly.”

“Grace, I can understand. But Sivar too? Can I watch?”

“Sure, why not.”

Luna helped Kara to her feet. Everything else was fine, but she couldn’t untie her restraints.

Well, the restraints were minimal anyway, just a rope around her wrists. Kara had almost no intention of escaping.

“You’ve arrived. Shall we prepare the meeting?”

“Let’s do that.”

Antonio, part of the delegation, glanced briefly at Kara, who had been taken prisoner.

The exam, which had gone completely awry due to the sentry’s negligence, was already a lost cause in his mind.

Still, he intended to salvage at least his personal score. The team’s performance was a disaster, but he planned to secure his individual grades.

“Are you kidding me? You’re asking for supplies? We’re barely managing to feed ourselves!”

But as soon as he saw the terms of the negotiation, he couldn’t help but explode in anger.

The main demand from the other side was for supplies. That much was fine.

“But asking for half of our supplies for four days? That’s just telling us to lose outright!”

They were demanding half of their supplies for four days—a condition so extreme it was practically a demand for surrender.

They were already in dire need of drinking water. Thanks to Sivar’s human cannonball stunt, all their water barrels had been destroyed.

Despite Antonio’s outburst, Grace remained unfazed. Instead, she maintained a composed and confident demeanor as she continued the negotiation.

“The… no, Kara is worth that much. What can you do without her?”

“Ha. Damn…”

Antonio felt dizzy for a moment. There wasn’t a single flaw in Grace’s argument.

Without Kara, a head-on confrontation would be difficult, and devising plans would be even harder.

The gap in practical experience made all the difference. There was a reason every team had treated Kara as their commander.

“…Fine. But four days is too much for us…”

“Four days.”

Before Antonio could finish, Sivar, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

The words were simple, but their implications were far from it.

“…Are you kidding me? Demanding half our supplies for four days is—”

“Four days.”

“Do you think this is a joke? The amount you eat alone—”

“Four days. I don’t like being hungry.”

Sivar didn’t back down, repeating “four days” over and over. Antonio’s face began to redden with frustration.

The message was clear: I don’t want to go hungry. So if you won’t give us supplies for four days, we’ll take them by force.

In this deadlocked negotiation, Antonio’s choice was simple.

“Forget it! Just forget it! Let’s see who wins!”

He flipped the table, making it clear he wasn’t going to play along. His frustration and disgust were evident.

Grace had anticipated this and smiled. Combined with her sharp gaze, it gave off an intimidating aura.

“Very well. The negotiations have failed. Sivar?”

“Yes.”

The moment the negotiations broke down, the outcome was already decided.

“In an hour, the supplies will be distributed. Head to their occupied territory and take what we need.”

“Got it.”

“Hey. Are you guys serious…?”

The Final Exam, unlike the Midterm Exam, ended earlier than expected.