A Hidden Tycoon has Been Discharged From the Military - Chapter 87

Episode 87

A prison created by modifying a natural cave.

Perhaps due to the skill of the dwarves, the sturdy dungeon was built to reinforce the original environment without damaging it at all, making it impossible for even those with decent mana abilities to escape.

The interior, which would normally have been bustling with chatter between prisoners, was now filled with endless silence.

Jeez.

With the sound of footsteps, gray mana overflows and spreads like fog.

Jeez.

The madness and murderous intent that is unleashed as if he has no intention of hiding it is enough to make even the boldest person bow down.

Jeez.

An ordinary human being with no physical advantage crossed the middle of a passage filled with darkness without any hesitation.

Jeez.

Eyes overflowing with dark red light looked beyond the thick iron bars, and those who made eye contact quickly turned their heads.

Most of those imprisoned here are serious criminals, and most of them are smugglers or robbers.

In business, you need a foundation, and it is not easy to find a foundation, so these are the people who entered the difficult industry with only their bodies.

Since they ran their business in the extremely difficult Saxony Mountains as their main stage, those who were unskilled quickly died out, and the only ones who survived were those who proved their abilities.

Personal power, astute judgment, bold choices, and above all, an eye for recognizing the strong.

Although they were unlucky and ended up being captured by the dwarves, their eyesight did not go anywhere, and their eyes and instincts were sounding a fierce warning that the human in front of them was an extremely dangerous person.

If you go with him, it will be difficult for him to survive with just his courage and skills.

Their industry is filled with more reckless and dangerous people than anyone else, so they chose to turn a blind eye to the dangers of the zone.

Even if it means giving up the freedom you dreamed of.

Because there is nothing more precious than life.

John, who was slowly looking at the prisoners, chuckled.

“I have a good feeling.”

In a desperate attempt to avoid eye contact, he turns his head, crouching down, and hides in the darkness deep inside the prison.

Dwarves, humans, orcs, trolls, kobolds, elves and even tau.

There were other various races trapped here, but John was satisfied with the way they all acted as one.

A sense of danger.

This is the most important thing for guides and scouts, and they trust their senses and do not hesitate to act even if it seems servile at first glance.

People who are called warriors or knights would look at him with disdain if they saw him, but John is happy to see them like this.

These people survive on the battlefield.

Survive until the very end, complete the mission, and even in the worst case, convey the failure to the base.

What’s wrong with being cowardly?

There are many cases where the information delivered by the last surviving soldier can turn the tide of the war, and the qualities that John desires as a scout are exceeded.

I wanted to take them all out and form a reconnaissance platoon, but unfortunately, John could only take one person.

Swallowing his regret, John looked away.

Mana is concentrated in the eyes, the dark red light becomes darker, and I see that John’s eyes are invisible.

Information about prisoners cowering to look as humble as possible comes in through their eyes.

Muscle density, the amount and purity of mana, the size of the kill, etc.

Information that even advanced mana powers or shamans cannot see is organized in John’s head and compared and analyzed.

There were people who could be useful, and there were people who could not be used at all.

It’s not that we expect trust from criminals, but isn’t there a minimum tendency?

Since John had taken on such an enormous amount of killing and had reached a point where he was dominated by madness and murderous intent, his eyes for seeing other people’s karma were better than anyone else’s, and through that, he was able to guess their general tendencies.

“······hmm?”

How long did it take to pass by a few prisoners and enter deep into the prison?

“Oh my.”

If I wasn’t concentrating, I caught a faint presence that I couldn’t have noticed, and my dark red gaze fell deep inside the darkness.

“There was an interesting guy.”

As the words flowed out with a grim smile, something stirred in the darkness that could not be distinguished with the naked eye.

“Come out.”

I sighed as I heard a voice that had no intention of protesting.

“Holy shit.”

A voice full of fear echoed inside the cave.

Sigh.

It was as if a part of the darkness had fallen and a shape appeared.

“You’re a shadow elf.”

Gyaum, who was following John, let out a soft exclamation, and an elf with a pale complexion with a skin color similar to the color of the soft night sky appeared.

They are a rare race among elves, and as their name suggests, they are excellent at sneak attacks and hiding, so they are judged to be a group that should never be easily seen.

The prisoners, who had no idea that there was a shadow elf in the same space, murmured, and the shadow elf, who was shrouded in mystery even among the elves known for being noble, raised his shining eyes and met John’s gaze.

Eyes that are overflowing with dark red light and mysterious eyes that look like they are studded with shining stars in the night sky.

But it was the elf who turned his gaze first, and John smiled brightly.

“also.”

The smile on John’s face, with his arms lightly crossed, gives off a cool vibe.

“It’s a sphere, right?”

“······exactly.”

surprisingly.

In the prison of Saxony, deep in Terra, where mankind’s footsteps cannot reach.

John met someone who knew him.

***

25 years ago, when the beings of Terra invaded.

Humanity struggled to somehow survive even in the face of annihilation, and did whatever it took to defeat the enemy by mobilizing all of humanity’s accumulated capabilities.

In addition to ABC weapons, which are prohibited by international law, they also manufactured reinforced weapons through repeated human experiments.

Humanity’s counterattack, driven by evil, continued, hundreds of gates were destroyed, and the different races that invaded Earth were forced to flee for their lives.

The only ones who fought until the end were the greenskins.

Even the Greenskins’ clan disintegrated with the death of the Transcendant, and now humanity has turned its guns on Terra.

The land where mankind first set foot was close to a wasteland, the territory of the greenskins.

A fierce battle ensued, and as time passed, it took on its current form.

However, although it is said to be Greenskin territory, it is not fought solely against Greenskins.

In the early stages of the war of invasion, countless different races set foot on Earth, and when they defeated the invasion and set foot on Terra, the troops sent by those who were concerned about the emergence of a new race and its influence clashed with humanity.

One of them.

There was a Shadow Elf Ranger group that Daryl belonged to.

The Rangers, a battalion unit made up entirely of Shadow Elves, had a well-known reputation, and they were the best mercenaries on Terra who were deployed in all kinds of special warfare missions and achieved great results.

In order to confirm the newly emerged potential of humanity and explore its true nature, a shadow elf ranger with guaranteed stealth and combat power was hired by a powerful person, and the elf ranger was sent to the front line against humanity.

And the battle began.

The Shadow Elves tilted their heads at humanity’s combat capabilities that were incomprehensible as to how they had pushed back to Terra, but for a moment, the Shadow Elves could only nod at humanity’s powerful weapon system based on long-range weapons.

The enormous number of troops, weapons of such quality that they could even tell dwarves to go away, and an unheard of weapon system were enough to understand how humanity had blown up the Orc clan, including the Transcendants.

But that’s it.

The penalty for not using mana was too great, and in fact, the elf rangers continued to fight and gather information by crossing the human camp as if it were their home.

The moment when the elf rangers lowered the danger to humanity and relaxed a little.

Reinforcement troops were deployed in earnest, and John stood at the head of them.

***

“They were definitely quick-footed guys. “I didn’t know there were any survivors.”

“······I desperately ran away.”

Daryl’s face twisted at John’s hesitation.

It was a light statement, but in reality, the Shadow Elf Ranger’s reputation is famous throughout Terra.

These were people who had abilities to be proud of, but that also differed depending on the opponent.

The elf rangers who looked down on humanity had to pay the price, and this man was at the center of it.

Because it was Major John Smith.

In terms of combat ability alone, each elf ranger was capable of dealing with reinforced troops, but the problem was organization and firepower.

Although it was basic, the reinforced troops that used mana and rushed forward with unimaginable firepower as backup were an enemy they had never imagined.

At the center of it all, the person who took the most lives of his comrades was the human being in front of him.

Even now, the image of him slaughtering his comrades while engulfed in gray mana still appears in his nightmares from time to time. Now that that person has appeared in front of him, what must be going through Daryl’s mind?

Daryl praised himself for not having a heart attack.

“It is not uncommon for deserters to become thieves or robbers.”

“······I am not a deserter.”

Just one battle.

The Shadow Elf Ranger Battalion suffered near annihilation and had to endure a grueling chase.

Reinforcement troops centered around John took the lead, and with the back-up of a test-operated low-altitude drone, they went in pursuit, so no matter how fast the shadow elves were and who specialized in hiding, they could not avoid their touch.

Most of the colleagues died, and only a few, including Daryl, survived.

The prestigious unit naturally disintegrated, and his employer was also shocked, so Daryl had no choice but to leave to find his own way.

I didn’t even want to look at the wasteland where humanity was, so I entered the interior of Terra and reached Saxony.

There was only a few things the defeated soldiers, who were running out of gold, could do, and the uniqueness of being a ranger was the optimal ability for operating in the mountains.

After receiving basic training at the Guide Guild and going through some practical training, Daryl entered into full-scale sales.

Still, the pride of being an elite ranger remained, so he did not commit robbery, and entered the smuggling business using the subspace pouch provided as basic goods as a source of funds.

I succeeded in smuggling a few times, and if I saved a little more, I would have enough capital, so I planned to raise money based on this.

Since Daryl, who was already a minority group of shadow elves and had lost his unit, had no land to return to, he was thinking about settling down in Saxony.

There were those who were jealous and wary of the suddenly emerging industry, and after several accidents, Daryl ended up in prison.

“······Is it possible that you can’t follow along?”

The problem is that we have to follow a dangerous person who cannot be compared to prison.

“It won’t work.”

Daryl had no choice but to lower his head when he noticed Gunther’s grinning smile and his eyes rolling from the doorway in the distance.