Raon memorized everything written in Judiel’s booklet before heading to the main entrance of Zieghart. Although it wasn’t time for them to depart yet, Sheryl, five members of the Heavenly Blade, and the five members of Light Wind were already gathered.
‘The Heavenly Blade Division…’
They were clearly different.
Their pressure was as sharp as an excellent blade. Even though the Light Wind had grown during the most recent incident, they still looked like kids compared to them.
“Oh! Who is this? Isn’t he the vice-squad leader Raon?”
The middle-aged man standing next to Sheryl waved his hand at him. Despite his gentle appearance, his healthy body looked extremely strong.
“Is he the fellow who is supposed to accompany us?”
“Yes.”
“I’m honored to go on a mission with the swordsman who rewrote history!”
He giggled as he walked up to him and extended his hand.
“Your duel was breathtaking. I’m the vice-division leader of Heavenly Blade, Ekan.”
He was mentioned in Judiel’s list of personnels. He was one of the two vice-division leaders of Heavenly Blade, and he was a power-oriented swordsman who used powerful swordsmanship and heavy swordsmanships to destroy his opponents.
“I’m Raon from the Light Wind squad. Nice to meet you.”
Raon bowed while holding Ekan’s hand.
“It’s a mission, but let’s have fun together. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
He didn’t say what exactly he was looking forward to. He simply tapped Raon’s shoulder before returning to Sheryl’s side.
“Why did you arrive so late?”
“Everyone has been here for a while now!”
Burren and Martha frowned, scolding him for not coming earlier.
“I arrived earlier than the appointed time.”
Raon pointed at the sky, where the sun hadn’t risen yet.
“You should come earlier! The Heavenly Blade members were waiting for you!”
“I don’t really care about them, but it’s better to come earlier.”
Judging from their slightly red eyes, they must’ve had difficulties falling asleep in their anticipation.
“Yawn…”
Runaan’s eyes were also yawning. As for her, it wasn’t because of anticipation. It was because she was simply not a morning person.
“C-Can we really return alive?”
Dorian’s chin was trembling as he fiddled with his belly pocket. He was apparently worried.
“O-Of course we will. The Heavenly Blade is with us…”
Krein bit his lip, his face even paler than Dorian’s.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make you return alive at all costs.”
Raon smiled, meeting the eyes of the five Light Wind members. Since they were his companions who he had spent a long time with, he resolved himself to protect them no matter what.
“Mhm!”
“Umm…”
“I-I don’t need it. I’ll take care of myself.”
Runaan gave a big nod, while Burren awkwardly scratched his head and Martha suddenly turned her head away.
“Doesn’t that ‘at all costs’ sound scary to you?”
“I know, right? Aww, what is he going to do this time…?”
Krein and Dorian’s gazes were filled with suspicion. They seemed to still hold a grudge against him for beating them up for three months straight.
“Gather up if you’ve finished greeting each other.”
Sheryl lightly tapped her coat and turned around, her eyes fiercely sparkling.
“We will leave right now. We won’t rest until evening.”
* * *
“Hmm…”
The Heavenly Blade’s vice-division leader, Ekan, came up to Sheryl, who was riding a horse.
“Division leader, can’t we just get along with them? I took a liking to that fellow.”
He took a glance at Raon, who was following them from behind, and grinned.
“You like him?”
“Yes. I was kinda deeply impressed when I saw his spar against Garon.”
Ekan clenched his fist and continued.
“You can’t call yourself a warrior if your blood doesn’t boil after witnessing him charging at an astral blade while only using an aura blade himself. I would even bring him to our division to make him stronger if I could.”
“Make him stronger…”
Sheryl shook her head.
‘He isn’t the type of guy that someone else can make stronger.’
She acknowledged Ekan’s abilities, but he wouldn’t be able to handle Raon. Raon’s talent and qualities wouldn’t allow him to stay under someone else.
He was like the aloof star of the northern sea that shines alone.
“How about just bringing him to our division…?”
“Shut up and do what I told you.”
“But I don’t like harassing people like a loser!”
“What are you saying? You used to be a disciplinarian before becoming a vice-division leader!”
Ekan was currently smiling like a gentle man, but he was originally the disciplinarian of the Heavenly Blade. He was very skilled at harassing others by nitpicking at them.
“And if he ends up challenging you because he couldn’t bear it anymore, then make sure to work him over.”
“That’s not a problem, but did he do something wrong?”
“No.”
“Then why…?”
Ekan tilted his head in bewilderment.
“Raon often tries to solve problems with violence. He’s certainly strong for his age, but the world doesn’t care about age. We need to teach him that another sky exists above the sky.”
“Ah! So, it wasn’t because you dislike him, but because you are worried about him! That he might end up dying in vain in the outside world!”
He grinned after looking back at Raon once again.
“I can accept that. I’ll wholeheartedly harass him, since I’m also curious how he will react.”
* * *
When the sun began to set, Sheryl stopped at a small open area.
“We will stop for today.”
She got off her horse and disappeared after telling them she had something to do.
“We will check the surrounding area, so we’ll leave the camp preparations to you.”
Ekan winked before entering the forest with the Heavenly Blade.
“Understood.”
Raon nodded, getting down from his horse. He put down his backpack and looked at the Light Wind members.
“We will start the preparations. Burren and Dorian, put up the tents. Runaan and Krein, gather firewood.”
“What about me?”
Martha walked up to him while pointing at herself with her finger.
“You will cook with me.”
“Cook? Why would I?”
“Since you are the only person here that can make human food.”
It was what he had learned during his trainee days, and Martha was the only person who was somewhat capable of cooking in Light Wind.
“You know how the food will turn out if we leave it to them.”
“Uhh…”
Raon pointed at Runaan and Burren, and Martha could only frown.
“Haa, alright.”
She nodded, then found a place at the center of the camping ground to dig into the ground in order to start a fire.
“Dorian, take out a pot, tableware, and the ingredients.”
“Yes!”
Dorian immediately responded, taking out all kinds of tools, ingredients, and even the tableware from his belly pocket.
Raon brought the tools and tableware and placed them next to Martha.
Hmph!
Wrath secretly came up, licking his lips while watching Martha prepare the ingredients.
The beef girl is pretty good at cooking compared to the others.
‘You are well aware.’
It’s because I lost my appetite from eating their food.
Although Wrath only cared about the quantity, it was still difficult for him to bear with the Light Wind’s cooking.
Hmm?
“What’s up?’
There’s a big problem!
‘Big problem?’
Raon narrowed his eyes upon hearing Wrath’s serious voice. When he grabbed the hilt of his sword and was about to spread his aura perception, Wrath continued.
That beef is of poor quality. It doesn’t have any marbling at all.
‘…Is that the big problem?’
He thought someone was attacking them or there was a huge incident, but Wrath casually mentioned the meat’s marbling. He was filled with the urge to smack Wrath’s head.
Marbling is as important as life for beef! How could it not be the most important problem?
‘Mr. Self-proclaimed Demon King, we aren’t at a high-class restaurant right now.’
Ugh, it can’t be helped. The King of Essence will put up with it this time. And I’m not self-proclaimed.
Wrath started blabbering about something stupid along the lines of not accepting meat like that next time.
“Phew.”
Raon sighed. When he was about to start the fire, Wrath poked his head out again.
‘What’s up again?’
Are you planning on leaving them alone?
He pointed at the forest where the Heavenly Blade entered a while ago.
‘That’s my plan for now.’
Raon looked at the direction Wrath pointed and slightly raised his chin.
‘I’ll just watch for now, and if I feel like it’s no good…’
Raon slightly raised the corners of his lips.
‘I’ll ram them.’
* * *
* * *
Ekan and the Heavenly Blade only returned to the camp after the meal and tents were ready, as if they conspired together.
“Have you already finished?”
Ekan whistled, while looking at the tents that were neatly set up.
“I was going to help you, but that was really fast.”
“It looks like you are rather experienced in outdoor missions.”
“Ah, but this tent looks a bit nasty.”
“There are some wrinkles, and this part is folded.”
“It would’ve been better if you dug the hole a bit lower.”
“This one’s also slightly insufficient.”
The Heavenly Blade swordsmen started to nitpick while examining the tents as soon as they returned.
“From tomorrow onward, you should make sure to fix what we pointed out.”
“He’s right. We are saying this for your sake, you know?”
“It’s better to use this opportunity to properly learn, so you can use it again later.”
They kept nitpicking useless things while pretending they were doing them some huge favor.
“Understood!”
“Yes!”
Burren and Krein visibly nodded, believing that they were really giving them advice.
“Division leader, please eat first.”
Ekan brought the beef stew and bread to Sheryl before starting to eat. She was chewing well and eating extremely slowly, like a kid.
It’s not a bad taste despite the sloppy ingredients. Just like the saying, hunger is the best sauce.
Wrath smiled slightly, satisfied with the beef stew.
“The food is also bad.”
“It’s salty.”
“I know, right? There’s too much seasoning.”
“Did you pour the salt into it?”
The Heavenly Blade swordsmen were talking once again. They kept complaining and clicking their tongues, despite the stew being pretty good.
“Fuc…”
“We will prepare decent food next time.”
Raon covered Martha’s mouth when she immediately started swearing, then looked at Ekan.
“Please do, since we are quite sensitive to the taste.”
He smiled gently, then started eating the stew again. Despite having said that the taste was strange, the Heavenly Blade swordsmen ate everything in their dishes.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Although the taste wasn’t too great.”
“Please use less seasoning tomorrow.”
They kept leaving hateful comments while bringing the empty dishes to the Light Wind.
“Argh! You…”
“Stop.”
Raon tightly grabbed Martha’s wrist as she started to go crazy.
“There’s a clean valley over there. You can wash the dishes over there. As for us, we need some rest since we went pretty far away just now.”
Ekan didn’t even pretend to help them, he just took out cards from his chest and started playing poker with the other swordsmen. He was telling them that he wasn’t going to help them with the clean up either.
“Let’s go.”
Raon watched them for a bit before heading to where the valley was supposed to be located with the Light Wind members. It was further than he thought, and the direction was also different from where they had pointed.
“Are you going to do nothing about them when they are trying to screw us over?”
Martha frowned, soaking the dishes in the valley’s water.
“Martha, be careful of what you say. A Heavenly Blade swordsman is as strong as an average division team leader.”
Burren sat next to her and shook his head.
“Team leader or whatever, are you telling me to put up with them when they are trying to make me angry?”
“Since they went around to scout while we were in charge of cooking and setting up the tents, it’s not exactly unfair for us.”
“Scout? I bet they didn’t even scout! There’s nothing to scout here!”
“The Heavenly Blade aren’t losers like that.”
Martha seemed to be already disappointed, and Burren seemed to still trust the Heavenly Blade.
“Fight after washing.”
Runaan urged them to wash while yawning. She apparently wanted to go to sleep already.
“She’s right. Wash the dishes first.”
Raon intruded between them and wiped the grease off the dish.
“Tsk.”
“Tch.”
Burren and Martha violently turned their heads away, then started wiping their dishes.
When Raon returned from washing the dishes with the Light Wind members, Ekan and the Heavenly Blade swordsmen were still playing poker. Sheryl was nowhere to be seen, since she had already gone inside a tent.
“Good job!”
Ekan smiled, while waving the hand holding his cards.
“Let’s sleep now, since we are leaving at daybreak tomorrow once again.”
He stood up while putting the cards in his inner pocket.
“You know the night watch is usually done by the newer people, right? I’ll leave it to you for today.”
Ekan declared in a way that the Light Wind members couldn’t argue with, then went inside his tent.
“Thank you for your work.”
“We can sleep comfortably tonight.”
“I can rest assured with the Light Wind vice-squad leader keeping a night watch for us.”
The other Heavenly Blade swordsmen also hurriedly went inside their tents before anyone could call for them.
“Ugh…”
“I-I somehow feel like we are in charge of all menial labor.”
“I know, right?”
Burren, Dorian, and Krein stared at the tents with a bad taste in their mouths.
“……”
“It’s not just menial labor, they are treating us as servants! You idiots!”
Runaan was silently arranging the dishes, and Martha ground her teeth.
“You should go to sleep. I’ll take care of the night watch.”
Raon sat in front of the bonfire and closed his eyes.
“Are you doing it alone, vice-squad leader?”
Dorian moved next to him and asked.
“Yes, since I have something to think about. You should go to sleep.”
Raon was planning to analyze the heavy sword while keeping a night watch.
“I don’t want to.”
“I don’t want to!”
Burren and Martha shook their heads at the same time.
“We don’t need a consideration like that. Let’s keep a night watch for two hours with groups of two.”
“It’s okay if you don’t.”
“I’m not okay!”
Martha frowned, then sat next to him.
“You should go to sleep, since I’ll wake you up in two hours.”
She frowned with her hands crossed.
“Make sure to wake us up.”
“I-I’ll sleep first, then.”
“Mhm.”
Runaan, Burren, Dorian, and Krein went inside their tents after telling her to wake them up.
“Hey.”
Martha watched the burning bonfire before turning her head.
“You are aware that they are annoying us on purpose, right?”
“Only idiots wouldn’t notice.”
“Are you planning to leave them alone?”
“Weren’t you happy at first because we were on a mission with the Heavenly Blade?”
Raon chuckled.
“I didn’t know they were such narrow-minded bastards!”
Martha blushed and shook her head.
“Ah?”
“Stop smiling, just tell me! Are you going to do anything about them? If you aren’t, then I will…”
“Three days.”
Raon raised three fingers.
“If they keep behaving the same way for three days, then I’ll take care of them.”
“Can you even take care of them? There’s nothing we can do if they use their position or might to crush you.”
“Don’t worry.”
Raon’s red eyes turned serious.
“I have a method to thoroughly crush them.”
* * *
Three days passed.
Naturally, nothing changed.
The Heavenly Blade were now requesting a bunch of stuff even during lunch and break times, and Burren, Dorian, and Krein had to work their asses off.
And of course, the worst part was during the camp preparation.
From the tent installation, dinner preparation, horse management, dish washing, cleaning up, and even night watch—everything was the Light Wind’s job. Honestly, the Heavenly Blade didn’t do anything except for moving while carrying their bags.
Moreover.
“It wasn’t salty enough today.”
“Aren’t you underestimating the seasoning?”
“It’s even more sad because it’s slightly off every day.”
“Let’s be a little bit more careful tomorrow, okay? Just a little bit.”
The Heavenly Blade swordsmen kept grating on their nerves by constantly complaining about food, cleaning, tents—everything.
The most annoying part was that they were actually complaining after emptying all the dishes, when they shouldn’t be eating if they didn’t like the food.
“Let’s start again today.”
“Who was first?”
They didn’t even pretend to consider helping with the dish washing, and immediately started playing poker.
“Kuh, those motherfuckers…”
“They are blatantly provoking us.”
Martha was about to explode, and a vein was bulging on Burren’s forehead.
“You guys should go without me today.”
Raon stood up, leaving the dirty dishes behind.
“What about the vice-squad leader?”
Dorian tilted his head while picking up the dishes.
“I have something to do.”
“Something to do?”
“My patience has reached its limit.”
A savage look appeared in Raon’s eyes as he watched Ekan distribute the cards.
“V-Vice-squad leader! No!”
“He’s right! Th-They are the Heavenly Blade!”
Dorian and Burren grabbed his arms and shook their heads.
“The Heavenly Blade leader won’t overlook it if you beat them up!”
“He’s right. Please stop causing problems! You are making us suffer!”
“Why are you already assuming that the Heavenly Blade will get beaten up?”
“Huh?”
Martha commented, and Burren and Dorian flinched. They realized they just casually assumed that the Heavenly Blade would get beaten up instead of Raon.
“B-Because he always beats up everyone…”
“And I’ve never seen him lose before…”
Burren and Dorian scratched their heads in the exact same way.
“You’ve got a lot of trust in me.”
Raon chuckled, then tapped their shoulders.
“Your worries aren’t going to come true, so just wait.”
He waved his hand to everyone, then went to Sheryl, who was sitting on a tree.
“It’s a bit unexpected.”
The Heavenly Blade leader looked beneath her coldly.
“What do you mean?”
“I thought the Heavenly Blade leader would do something when she saw the division members playing poker.”
“I don’t care what my members do in their free time. As long as they do their job, whether they play poker or play roulette is none of my business.”
“Which means, you won’t mind if I do something about them.”
“Indeed.”
The Heavenly Blade leader nodded. A blue light shone in her eyes, as if she’d been waiting for him to say that.
“Alright.”
Raon nodded, then turned around. He managed to get her confirmation that she wouldn’t do anything. It was now time to ram them.
“Hmm.”
A faint smile appeared on the Heavenly Blade division leader’s face as she watched Raon’s back.
‘It’s finally starting.’
She was expecting Raon to visit Ekan and challenge him for a spar because he couldn’t take it anymore.
‘And he will lose.’
Ekan’s prowess was incomparable to Garon. No matter how many miracles Raon was capable of creating, there was no way he could reach him.
‘He needs to experience defeat.’
She was the one who personally instructed the Heavenly Blade to annoy and make fun of the Light Wind.
It was her plan to teach Raon how scary the world was, since he tended to use violence to solve most of his problems, and create an opportunity for him to rise to Master level.
“Vice-division leader.”
She could see Raon calling out to Ekan, standing in front of him. She was about to go down in order to be the referee for the spar that was about to happen when she heard something completely unexpected.
“Arm wrestle with me.”
“Eek?”
Sheryl’s surprised voice resounded throughout the darkness.
* * *
Raon smiled faintly when he heard Sheryl’s shout from behind him while watching Ekan’s jaw drop in front of him.
‘I won’t let it happen as you planned.’
Ekan was definitely stronger than him at the moment. Sheryl must’ve been hoping that he would challenge Ekan to a fight just to be defeated, but there was no way he would choose a method that would make him lose, since he was already perfectly aware of their thoughts.
“Did you just say arm wrestling?”
“Yes.”
“I’m asking you again. You said arm wrestling, not spar, right?”
“Yes. Let’s set conditions upon victory for each side and have an arm wrestling match without any aura.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m a Master. And I use swordsmanship focused on power.”
“I already know that.”
“Physical strength increases drastically upon becoming a Master. It’s impossible for an Expert to win against me even if I don't use aura.”
Ekan clenched his fist to flex his strength, and thick blood vessels became visible on his hand.
“Then I guess the vice-division leader has an advantage.”
“It’s not just an advantage. It’s obvious that I’ll win!”
“Then let’s do it.”
Raon raised his hand, urging him to compete.
“Hah, seriously?”
Ekan exclaimed while looking at Raon’s arm, which did look sturdy, but couldn’t be called thick by any means.
“You are more likely to win against me in a sword fight than arm wrestling, but I still want to bet on this one.”
“Fine. Since you are so eager to lose, there’s no reason for me to refuse.”
He nodded. It looked like his pride was slightly hurt.
“Tell me your conditions.”
“If I win, the Heavenly Blade shall take care of all the chores that we’ve been doing until the end of the mission.”
“What if you lose?”
“We will continue all the chores, and we will also carry all the bags that the Heavenly Blade have.”
“Hmm, the condition upon your defeat is a lot weaker than the other, but whatever. I’m going to win anyway.”
He easily accepted the conditions, believing that there was no way he would lose.
“R-Raon!”
“Vice-squad leader!”
Burren and Krein came running at him with shouts of horror.
“Sir Ekan uses a heavy sword and a powerful sword!”
“H-He’s right! He doesn’t lose to anyone when it comes to strength!”
They whispered at him in both ears and tried to advise him to cancel the match.
“I’ll give you one last chance in consideration for your teammates. You should withdraw now.”
“I’m not interested in withdrawing.”
Raon resolutely shook his head, then extended his arm.
“I heard you were confident in your strength, but I guess I need to teach you how vast the world is.”
“Hmm…”
Ekan grabbed his hand with a grin on his face. A tremendous amount of strength could be felt in Raon’s hand, as his boulder-like arm muscles buffed up.
“What’s up? Do you regret it now?”
“No.”
Raon smiled, his eyes completely unwavering.
‘You are the one who is about to feel regret.’
His strength was already at Master level when he was at Habun Castle. He couldn’t even tell how strong he was anymore.
‘Was my strength stat 181?’
Raon put strength into his hand with a cold smile.
