The fifth training ground opened up again after the rest and recovery period.
Raon was headed there after a long time.
‘Hmm?’
He kept receiving strange glances from everyone he met on the way.
They used to look at him like a pebble on the road, yet they were now looking at him as if he was a mysterious creature. There were favorable and hostile gazes mixed in between.
That’s the way humans are.
Wrath crawled up from the bracelet.
They look down on the weak and admire the strong. Humans value strength as much as beasts.
‘I agree with you quite often recently.’
Raon nodded. Just as Wrath said, they were only looking at him because he had proven his strength.
Though, not all gazes were favorable. There were also jealousy, hatred, and even vivid murderous intent.
‘How is devildom? I guess it would be even worse.’
Are you curious? Then I’ll tell you about it. It’s a different place than what humans imagine it to be. Though, weaklings get treated worse than livestock.
Wrath murmured that there was no place in the world where the weak were favored.
You did great this time. You completely destroyed that ugly bastard with your wrath. You even subdued his father. I’m satisfied with your actions for the first time in a long time.
‘Is that so?’
Yes. Except for one thing. It’s a shame that you didn’t kill him. Back in Devildom, the King of Essence turned everyone that dared to offend me into a block of ice…
Messages appeared as soon as Wrath finished talking.
It was telling him his stats had increased because Wrath was satisfied.
‘I didn’t expect this gift!’
Raon’s lips parted. Receiving a reward he didn’t even expect put him in a great mood to start the day with.
You cursed system! Why is this the only time you consider the King of Essence your owner?
Wrath glared at the system that still wasn’t listening to him and boiled in anger.
‘Thank you, I’m growing faster thanks to you.’
Shut your trap. It makes me angry when you are happy.
It hadn’t even been ten seconds since he had said he was satisfied, yet he was already bursting with anger. He was the definition of a personality disorder.
“Does it? It makes me happy, though.”
Stop right there, you bastard!
Raon hummed and entered the training ground. Wrath kept cursing at him, but he didn’t care about him.
“Hmm?”
Raon’s eyes widened upon entering the training ground. The person that shouldn’t have been there yet was sitting on the platform.
‘Rimmer?’
It was the lazy elf that was never there during daybreak training, and who was often late to the morning training.
“Oh! My lucky charm! How are you, my trainee Raon?”
Rimmer grinned and extended his hands. There were rings with gemstones shining in different colors on his long fingers.
He was also wearing shiny bracelets and a necklace on his wrist and neck.
‘What?’
It was his first time seeing the elf wearing jewelry like that. And they didn’t even seem to be artifacts with a special ability, just expensive decorations.
‘Lucky charm?’
He didn’t understand why he was suddenly called a lucky charm. As he was about to conclude that using the Sword Field Creation made him go nuts, Burren came up from behind him.
“He gambled.”
“What?”
“That guy, I heard he openly gambled during the Sword Duel between you and Raden. Apparently, he won a huge amount because your odds were high.”
Burren frowned. It looked like just talking about it made him irritated. He murmured that he wanted to pluck out his eyes.
‘He did it again.’
Raon snickered. He was wondering why he was wearing that jewelry, and it was because he got them by gambling.
Gambling, drinking, and being lazy. He was the complete opposite of the elves he’d known before. He was pretty amazing in a way.
That arrogant pointy-eared bastard.
Wrath ground his teeth while looking at Rimmer.
‘What’s up?’
I get angry each time I see him. Your body would’ve been mine if only he wasn’t there…
‘Aha.’
Raon nodded. He’d managed to keep his body thanks to Rimmer, who appeared at that critical moment during the fight against the Blood Raving Demon.
Wrath had already called Rimmer arrogant, but it seemed he now hated him.
But Raon was aware of Rimmer’s true feelings, unlike Wrath.
Even though he looked like a useless loafer on the outside, he carefully observed every single trainee and instructed them with appropriate training.
Since he managed to survive thanks to that, he could overlook his gambling on him.
“Pathetic.”
Martha gave him a cold shoulder and turned away from Rimmer, who was bragging about the rings on his hands.
Raon turned his head around at a nasal sound from behind him. Runaan was there before he knew it, waving her hand slightly at him with blank eyes.
Raon looked around the trainees in the training ground.
He remembered them cheering and shouting for him in the training ground. It felt like he was sitting in front of a heater during the cold winter as their voices warmed his heart.
It seemed like the people in the fifth training ground were also becoming important to him, on top of those living in the annex building.
“Okay, is everyone here?”
Rimmer stopped bragging about his gems like a nouveau riche and clapped his hands.
He thought he was just trying to get attention like always, but the instructors behind him brought a metal box forward.
Thud!
Sand scattered around as the box was put on the ground.
——————
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“Guess what this is.”
“Did you also win this with your gambling?”
“Oh, correct!”
Rimmer proudly nodded at Burren’s reply.
“Haah, we’ve seen enough of them, so stop bragging and let’s start training.”
“Ah, this is for you.”
Rimmer came down from the platform with a wide smile. He walked up to the box and put his hand on it.
“Sorry? This is ours?”
“That box?”
“What do you mean…?”
The trainees tilted their heads, looking back and forth between Rimmer and the box.
“The king of gambling had two bets. The first was this money! This huge amount of money! Gems! Kuhahaha!”
Rimmer called himself the king of gambling and bragged about the rings once again.
“And the second…”
He opened the box while giggling, and the clear scent of medicine that soothed the mind spread from it.
Raon furrowed his brow and looked at the box. There were dozens of small wooden boxes inside the big box.
‘Are they elixirs?’
Judging from the luxurious shape and the bitter scent coming from them, they must’ve been elixirs.
“They are elixirs.”
Rimmer immediately satiated the curiosity of the trainees that were tilting their heads.
“E-elixirs?”
“All of them?”
“It looks like there are more than forty of them…”
The trainees’ jaws dropped, examining the boxes that apparently contained elixirs.
“Yes, and they even contain the Ten Leaf Grass.”
* * *
* * *
“Ten Leaf Grass!”
“This many of them?”
“Wow…”
The Ten Leaf Grass was a medicinal herb that had its leaves split into ten. It was a precious elixir since it could cleanse the body, energy center, and the mana circuit at the same time, all without any bias in terms of attribute.
Since an elixir made from the Ten Leaf Grass had a great balance, it was expensive and difficult to acquire. And yet, there were forty of them in front of their eyes. It was only natural that they would be surprised.
“These are for you.”
Rimmer raised his chin to the sky. He pointed his finger at the box with an accomplished expression.
“I’ve prepared exactly forty-three, so take exactly one per person.”
“Eek?”
“S-seriously? Are they really ours?”
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
Not just the trainees, even Burren and Martha’s jaws dropped in surprise. Runaan was just standing there blankly, sniffing the elixir like a puppy.
“Why is it so difficult to believe?”
Rimmer clicked his tongue and threw the elixir box at the top at Raon.
Tap.
Raon opened the elixir box in confusion. A green bead the size of an adult’s thumb was inside.
“It’s a Ten Cloud Elixir. The amount of mana it contains isn’t extraordinary, but it’s as pure as raw mana. It’s going to help all of you.”
Rimmer threw the elixirs at the trainees while explaining about the Ten Cloud Elixir.
“Where did you acquire this?”
Burren furrowed his brow, checking the Ten Cloud Elixir. One couldn’t simply buy a bunch of elixirs because they had a lot of money. He couldn’t figure out how he obtained all forty-three of them.
“I won them.”
“D-did you really win them all by gambling?”
“It wasn’t a gamble but a bet. It’s a bet, I say.”
Rimmer waved his finger to close the lid of the empty box.
“Who did you even make that bet with…?”
“The True Martial Palace master.”
He casually replied, like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Huh?”
“T-true Martial Palace master is…”
“Balder Zieghart!”
“Uuh!”
The trainees’ faces turned pale upon hearing the True Martial Palace master’s name. Some of them even dropped the elixir on the ground in panic.
“Ah, it’s okay. They can’t afford to pay attention to us right now. They must be thinking that I will sell them all off, so there won’t be any harm to you guys.”
Rimmer reassured them and told them to take the elixir and cultivate their aura for the rest of the day.
‘Hah…’
Raon gasped. He had obtained forty-three elixirs by straight up making a bet against Balder, who was the True Martial Palace’s master and Glenn’s son at the same time. That elf was seriously as eccentric as himself.
“Thank you.”
But he had to express his gratitude. Raon bowed at Rimmer while giving him his thanks.
“Th-thank you, instructor.”
“Thank you very much.”
The trainees excitedly followed Raon and showed their gratitude.
“Hmm. I see, I see.”
Rimmer smiled widely and waved his hand.
“Thank you for the treat.”
“Thank you.”
Burren didn’t have his usual sour expression as he bowed, and Martha also lowered her head while fiddling with the elixir.
Elixirs truly were amazing, to make those peculiar guys react the same way.
“Well then, you can return. I’m not telling you that because of my hangover, but it’s better to take the elixirs right away.”
Rimmer grabbed his chest and waved his hand. It looked like he was feeling the hangover as he was done with bragging.
He looked as deplorable as always, but no one was reproaching him. Rimmer was their hero for the day.
“Thank you!”
The trainees thanked him once again before returning.
“You should stay here.”
As Raon was about to follow them, Rimmer grabbed his shoulder with a green sheen to his face.
“You don’t look very well.”
“Aww, I overdid it a bit yesterday.”
Now that he looked at it, it wasn’t just Rimmer. The other instructors’ faces were also green. It seemed he drank a lot with them.
“Give it back.”
Rimmer pointed at the elixir box Raon was holding.
“This one is for you.”
He took out another elixir box from his chest and opened the lid. The bitter scent was more intense than the Ten Cloud Elixir.
“This is…”
“It’s made with two Ten Leaf Grasses. It would’ve normally belonged to Raden, but it’s a strange turn of fate that you end up getting it.”
“Is it alright for me to have it?”
“I got rich thanks to you, after all. I guess I finally discovered my talent in gambling.”
Rimmer waved his hands once again and the expensive sound of rings and bracelets colliding with each other could be heard.
‘They will be gone soon.’
Raon was certain that Rimmer would lose all his fortune from gambling soon enough.
“Ten Cloud Elixir is a very efficient elixir. You should be able to absorb at least fifty percent of the mana it contains. However, the amount of mana it contains is rather small, and it won’t make any difference to you. You have auras from two different attributes, after all.”
Rimmer lowered his voice upon mentioning the two different attributes, so that no one could hear him.
“That one has twice as much mana as the other Ten Cloud Elixirs, so you should be able to grow both your heat and frost.”
“…Thank you.”
Raon bowed. Giving him the elixir was already plenty, yet he was even more thoughtful than that. He just couldn’t thank him enough.
“You should go. See you tomorrow.”
Rimmer waved his hand.
“Instructor, please drink in moderation.”
“Oh, are you worried about me? It’s ten years too early to be doing that!”
He tapped his shoulder and went to the head instructor’s room.
“Hmm…”
Raon fiddled with the box containing the Ten Cloud Elixir while looking at Rimmer’s back.
‘Is this what having a teacher feels like…?’
An instructor had raised him in his previous life. His relationship with him was one of an animal keeper and a dog, or a tamer and a wolf.
The instructor didn’t have any emotions towards him, and Raon only grew enmity towards his instructor.
‘I thought this place was no different.’
House Zieghart was infamous in the continent, so he thought the trainees would be raised like dogs. However, the children were being raised as human beings, keeping their individuality.
Even those that had failed the exam before didn’t get abandoned and were being trained in the sixth training ground. Zieghart really was full of humanity, despite his expectations.
Rimmer in particular was more like a teacher rather than an instructor. It was thanks to him that he got all those achievements and grew up faster than he would’ve otherwise.
Raon bowed once again towards Rimmer, who was walking away, before leaving the training ground.
***
After taking a nap for three hours in the instructor’s room, Rimmer visited the lord’s manor at around noon.
“It’s been a long time.”
Roenn opened the door to the audience chamber with a broad smile.
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
Rimmer grinned and raised his ten fingers. Roenn smiled slightly to express his disinterest and entered the audience chamber.
“Hmm…”
Rimmer pouted, disappointed in Roenn for not recognizing those shiny jewels. He sighed softly and followed him inside.
Glenn was the same as always. He was looking down on the world with a bored expression, sitting on the throne he had made himself.
“Greeting my lord!”
Rimmer bowed, his ten fingers and even his wrist raised in the air.
“You are getting even more pathetic as you get older.”
“Hah…”
Rimmer frowned at his ridiculous comment and stood up.
“No, but you should compliment your subordinate if he won some money. It isn’t every day that I can empty a doormat’s purse.”
“How am I supposed to compliment you when that doormat is my son?”
“He needs to lose to me so he won’t get tricked by a real swindler later.”
“What a smooth talker.”
Glenn raised his chin with a frightening gaze.
“So, what brought you here today?”
“I distributed the Ten Cloud Elixirs to the children.”
“I did expect you to do that, but you really did hand them over so easily.”
“It’s like, because they grew up better than I thought they would, I wanted to feed them better things. I guess this is how parents feel about their children.”
Rimmer giggled, and Glenn looked at him curiously.
“Well, it was basically because my teaching was exceptional, but the trainees became stronger than any other generation after going through various incidents.”
Glenn nodded slightly in agreement.
“That’s why I have a suggestion.”
“A suggestion? I entrusted you with all the rights concerning training.”
“Because it’s not about training.”
Even though Rimmer’s voice used to be playful, it was now boiling with passion.
“Please allow me to change the content of their graduation exam.”
