Runaan was fidgeting while watching Raon, who was cleaning up the training ground.
‘It was difficult.’
Despite hearing Raon’s advice, she couldn’t attack the orc easily. Her hand wouldn’t move, despite knowing that it was a monster, not a human.
‘I thought I was going to throw up.’
Each time she stepped on the blood beneath her feet she felt nauseous, and her limbs trembled as if she was looking at her brother.
Unable to attack it directly, all she could do was to keep emitting frost, despite its high aura consumption.
She knew people were shouting and yelling, but she couldn’t hear any of that.
Her vision was gradually filled with darkness. As her vision went dark on top of her hearing, she didn’t know what to do, and remaining standing was all she could manage. It was at that moment that she heard him.
“Runaan!“
Raon’s clear voice pierced through the darkness filling her surroundings.
Even though the orc was running at her, she turned to look at Raon.
The moment she met Raon’s smiling eyes, her turbulent emotions and senses calmed, as if nothing had happened from the beginning.
Hearing him say it was okay made the darkness filling her vision completely dissipate. The memory of her older brother that was filling her head also became blurry.
Yes, it was alright. When she murmured that, her heavy arm started to move freely.
The moment the orc was about to strike down with its axe, she thrust the compressed energy.
She could hear the head of the ax being cut apart and the orc’s heart bursting, but she wasn’t afraid anymore.
The blood gushed out from the orc and covered her hand. It was just like Raon had said. Nothing was happening despite touching the blood.
Clank!
The moment she realized that, she could hear the sound of the thick chains coiling her entire body shattering.
Her brother’s face, reflected on the blood and shadows, also disappeared completely. It felt like the dark world was once again filled with light.
“Dismantle the arena’s floor and move it to the right warehouse! Be careful since we gotta use it again next time! Ah, where did that bastard instructor go without cleaning up?”
She raised her head at Burren’s voice in front of her. He was ordering the collaterals to clear up the training ground.
‘He’s changed.’
She’d met Burren often since childhood. He’d always been selfish and arrogant, so she’d never cared about him. And yet, there was no trace of arrogance left in him anymore.
And the one who had achieved that change wasn’t Burren himself, but Raon. He’d become such a proper swordsman after his defeat against Raon.
‘The same goes for me.’
Thanks to meeting Raon, she could open her locked mind and build relationships with others.
Every day was fun, and today was the peak of that change.
Thanks to Raon’s advice and reassurance that everything would be okay, she couldn’t hear her brother’s voice anymore, nor see his shadow.
She felt free, as if something engraved in her head had been removed.
Runaan nodded, looking at Raon.
‘I should tell him thank you, that I’m really grateful.’
It was time to express her gratitude, just like her mother had told her.
***
Inside the Central Martial Palace sunk into darkness, Jake—wearing a robe torn to pieces—knelt.
“I-I have failed.”
With a trembling voice, he lowered his head.
“You failed? Did Rimmer interfere?”
Karoon frowned, and looked down upon Jake, who was on his knees.
“N-no.”
Jake didn’t look normal. His eyes were cloudy, as if he were out of himself, and he was drooling as he was unable to put any strength in his chin.
“Then how did you even fail?”
“R-Raon Zieghart killed the orc in a single strike, although berserker magic and all kinds of strengthening magics were used on it.”
“Be careful about what you say. Are you expecting me to believe that?”
Karoon growled like a beast.
“It’s true! The flame ignited from his sword and cut through the orc’s neck like nothing!”
“Flame?”
“Yes! The orc was killed, unable to do anything when facing that golden flame under the evening glow. Moreover…”
Thinking that he needed to do anything in order to survive this situation, Jake told him everything that he saw in the fifth training ground.
“Rimmer was already aware of our objective. U-upon seeing me off, he threatened to kill me if I dared to touch the trainees again.”
Since Karoon seemed interested, he even told him about the warning from Rimmer.
“I knew it was because of him.”
Karoon snorted and smirked.
‘I guess a diamond on a dunghill is still a diamond.’
When he last met Rimmer, the balance between his body and mind was broken. Since he was a self-centered and lazy guy, he thought he wasn’t going to realize his dirty trick. Apparently, he wasn’t that bad.
“I-is it going to be okay? Rimmer even mentioned the palace master’s name…”
“It doesn’t matter, since anything that bug does will be pointless.”
Karoon shook his head. Maybe he could’ve done something in the past, but Rimmer as he was at the moment was like a weed that couldn’t do anything.
“Go back. I’ll call you again later.”
“U-understood. Excuse me.”
Jake left the room after bowing his head repeatedly.
“If he cut through the orc and its weapon in a single strike, it wouldn’t be strange to assume that he’s acquired an advanced cultivation technique.”
“The spy’s information did mention that he produced an extremely powerful wave of mana.”
“By spy, do you mean the one in the annex building?”
“Yes.”
“That’s pretty decent.”
“All the information she’s brought so far was correct.”
Karoon closed his eyes and answered.
——————
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“Increase her support a little bit and tell her to also investigate Rimmer’s actions. And…”
Looking at the door where Jake left, Karoon drew a line on his neck with his finger.
“Take care of him. He is too quick-witted to shut his mouth, and he’s already been swallowed by Rimmer’s murderous intent.”
“Yes.”
The butler nodded and disappeared from the spot like smoke.
“Raon Zieghart and Rimmer.”
They were like dust that didn’t need any attention considering his position, but somehow, they kept bothering him.
“I’d better deal with them at once.”
The Central Martial Palace’s atmosphere grew heavy with Karoon’s frightening gaze.
***
Martha leaned her back against a tree located at the training ground’s outskirts. At the end of her gaze, Raon was cleaning up the training ground.
“Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue and frowned. She couldn’t understand, no matter how hard she thought about it.
‘What the hell is he?’
How could he swing his sword without any hesitation?
She’d clenched her fist. Learning that today’s training was about killing a monster, and one that looked like a human on top of that…
She thought she could finally do better than Raon Zieghart.
As expected, Burren and other trainees couldn’t properly swing their swords at the monster. They only managed to kill it after receiving help from Instructor Rimmer.
However, Martha was different.
The moment the monster showed an opening, she thrust her sword into the monster’s neck without any hesitation.
It was natural that she was different from the others.
‘Because I’ve already done it before.’
Before she came to the Zieghart.
When she infiltrated the White Blood Religion alone in order to find her mother, she had stabbed her sword into the believers.
Since she had that experience, it wasn’t difficult for her to strike her sword at the monster, despite it looking like a human.
‘But how did he…?’
Raon was different from her.
He was born inside a safe wall, and he was safely raised because of his bad constitution. He was a sheltered young master.
A guy who grew up sheltered had sliced an orc’s throat, despite it looking like a human, without any hesitation. Moreover, he did it faster and stronger than her.
It even looked so beautiful that she had spaced out for a moment.
‘I can’t believe it.’
She was still unsure if what she saw back then was real.
“Damn…”
Martha punched the tree that she was leaning against.
‘I should’ve won this.’
She lost to Raon in the spar and agreed to follow his orders, but her heart didn’t give in.
She kept training with everything she had in order to make him kneel one day. The thought of having lost again in something she should’ve won for sure made her grind her teeth.
However, a small wave reverberated in her mind in the midst of all that.
It was the feeling of identity, a feeling that Raon might be similar to her.
It looked like Raon wasn’t just the sheltered boy that she’d thought he was. There must’ve been a trigger for his resolve.
“Hmm?”
When she was thinking about Raon’s past, she met his eyes.
“Hmph.”
After looking at his calm eyes for a bit, she snorted and turned around. She left the training ground right after that.
Her stiff footsteps had softened a little, but she wasn’t aware of that fact.
* * *
* * *
As Raon was about to head to the indoor gymnasium after finishing the clean up, Runaan approached him.
“Raon.”
With shining purple eyes, she lowered her head.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”
He shook his head. He did help her, but she was the one who played the most important part. It wasn’t something to be thanked for.
“Thank you anyway.”
“I really didn’t do much.”
“Thank you.”
“I really…”
“Thank you.”
“Haah, alright.”
“Mhm.”
He waved his hand in resignation and Runaan finally nodded.
“Are you alright?”
Raon checked Runaan’s eyes and hands. It looked like she was released from Syria’s brainwashing, but he had to ask her to be certain.
“Mhm.”
Runaan smiled slightly. It was a smile without wrinkles, and it looked like it was resolved for now.
“If your brother makes it difficult for you again, just tell me. I’ll help you with anything I can.”
“It’s okay.”
Runaan was about to nod, then shook her head instead.
“I need to do it myself.”
Her eyes were shining. It looked like her mind had become stronger as her wound healed up.
“Okay.”
Raon smiled. Runaan thanked him one more time and left the training ground.
Are you not going to help the ice cream girl?
‘She said she would do it herself. You shouldn’t meddle with other people’s family matters.’
Hmph, the King of Essence doesn’t think the ice cream girl can solve it on her own.
‘Then she will ask for help. And even if she doesn’t…’
Raon nodded. A red light glittered in his calm eyes.
‘There is a way to solve it.’
***
After returning to her dormitory, Runaan put the squirrel sculpture that she’d received from Raon on the desk.
“Hmm.”
After a little bit of consideration, she took out the bead ice cream box that she’d put under the bed. It wasn’t the one given to her by her older brother, but the one her mother had bought her.
Whoosh.
Upon opening the lid, the coldness coming from the box cooled down her face, exhausted from the training.
She’d thought she couldn’t eat the ice cream anymore because it would remind her of her brother.
However, Raon had removed her brother’s shadow, stopping it from binding her head and heart.
She wasn’t afraid of her brother anymore, and she didn’t dislike ice cream anymore.
‘No.’
However, Runaan closed the lid again without touching the ice cream.
‘I’m going to eat tomorrow.’
Deciding she would share it with Raon the next day, she shoved the box back under the bed.
Looking at the red-eyed squirrel that she’d placed on the table, Runaan smiled slightly.
***
After cleaning up the training ground instead of Rimmer, who’d disappeared somewhere, Raon returned to the dormitory.
Whir!
As he was taking off the training clothes drenched in sweat, Wrath suddenly popped up.
I didn’t mention this before.
Wrath’s frightening gaze shone from the cold flame.
But you’ve killed a human before.
“What?”
You don’t have the ability to break that shabby magician’s hallucination yet. Even though you knew it was an orc, you saw it as a human. Killing it without hesitation isn’t something a greenhorn that’s never experienced an actual battle can do.
“It was easy.”
Raon shook his hand to push back Wrath, who was right in front of his eyes.
What?
“Because my perception stat is so high, I could feel that he wasn’t human. Killing a monster isn’t really difficult.”
P-perception?
“Yes. You can trick the eyes with magic, but you can’t hide the nature of the thing.”
Ugh, perception…
Raon acted with a straight face and Wrath groaned. He was completely fooled.
‘I can’t tell him about my previous life or the Ring of Fire.’
He couldn’t give the slightest information to Wrath since he was an enemy.
Even so, how can you not hesitate to kill? Just what are you? How can you have such willpower at that age?
Wrath murmured that it was impossible. It seemed he was more surprised at the strong willpower he was born with, rather than his might growing at an unreasonable speed.
“Why do you wanna know?”
Ugh, I really don’t like anything about you.
“I’m not trying to gain your favor here.”
Raon flicked his finger at Wrath.
“It gets cold whenever you speak, so shut your mouth and give me my reward already.”
You cheated. I didn’t know you were so tough.
“I’m not the one who first suggested the bet, you did. You are being a loser again, despite being a king.”
L-loser…
Wrath’s voice trembled. It looked like it was the first time being called a loser in his life.
“Is this the third victory in a row? I guess a monarch of devildom isn’t a big deal.”
Shut up! If the King of Essence could use the main body’s power…
“And the main body again, when are you even getting it back? And this bet has nothing to do with your main body’s power.”
Ugh…
Wrath’s blue coldness wavered strongly, and the sound of him foaming in his mouth could be heard. It looked like he went out of his mind from the shock of losing and being ridiculed.
This is a fraud for sure! Fraud!
As he was about to struggle for the last time, messages appeared in front of Raon.
“Hah!”
Raon smirked. He could feel the exhilaration of his muscle wavering from the strength and agility increasing at once.
Three times to a mere human…
Murmuring that it was impossible, Wrath breathed out coldness as if he wanted to freeze the message.
“There’s still more.”
Ugh!
Pushing the irritated Wrath aside, Raon waited for the next message.
