The Light Wind members were spread around the training ground, polishing their respective martial arts.
Even though they looked tired, their eyes were sparkling brightly, and the tips of their swords weren’t wavering in the slightest.
Tsk.
While everyone was focused on swinging their swords, someone briefly clicked their tongue from the platform.
“Ugh!”
“Uhh…”
“Gasp!”
The small sound was enough to make everyone stop swinging their swords, and they awkwardly looked around like wooden dolls.
Raon was frowning from the platform. He must’ve been dissatisfied about something.
“Uuh…”
Dorian’s chin was trembling violently as he noticed Raon’s eyebrows lowering.
‘What’s wrong this time?’
He couldn’t even begin to guess what was bothering him because he’d been focused on his training.
Because the expression Raon was making usually signaled the start of a training session to test how much a human being could suffer, cold sweat started to flow down everyone’s back.
‘It’s only been two weeks since the one hundred-hour survival in the North Grave Mountain…’
They’d experienced living hell during that session. Whenever they encountered Raon, who chased them like crazy and attacked them with his sword, they felt like their hearts were going to explode. They didn’t even want to think about it.
“Hey, what’s wrong with that crazy bastard now?”
Martha came up next to him and frowned.
“Why does he look so annoyed when we won the spar yesterday? What kind of fuckery is he about to drop on us this time?”
“I-I’m not sure either.”
“But you are his closest friend.”
“Th-That’s true, but I’m not just a friend. I’m…”
Dorian bit his lip tightly. He couldn’t tell her that he was being used as his wallet.
“He’s been relatively mild recently, but he’s getting started again…”
Burren sighed deeply while looking at the platform.
“No matter how much I brace myself, I can’t stop myself from trembling whenever he comes up with a new training method.”
He must’ve also been thinking about the training they went through two weeks ago as he bit his lip.
“A new training…”
Runaan stared into the air with her usual blank eyes. She looked calm, but it wasn’t the case. She was sleeping with her eyes open. She ran away from reality into her dreams.
“I-It’s over…”
“What’s the problem this time?”
“Sh-Should we run away?”
“It won’t even take an hour before he catches us all! It’s pointless!”
They’d tried running away in different directions two months ago because the training was too difficult, but it didn’t even take an hour for Raon to neutralize everyone and bring them back.
Since they couldn't run away or fight him, despair was the only thing that awaited them.
“There’s nothing we can do. It’s all over…”
“L-Let’s beg! That should make the vice squad leader go easy on us, since he’s still a human.”
“Are you really saying that after experiencing what he’d done to us so far?”
“Sniff, I miss the days we spent under Squad Leader Rimmer.”
“Damn it…”
The Light Wind members hung their heads, grieving over the new training that was pretty much decided in their minds.
However, Raon didn’t click his tongue because of the Light Wind squad, but because of the self-proclaimed demon king of wrath that was staying on his wrist.
‘Why do you suddenly want ice cream?’
You haven’t gotten any for a while now! Bring me the mint chocolate right now!
‘I don’t like it.’
We need to fight!
* * *
Raon licked his lips while watching the Light Wind squad training somewhat awkwardly.
‘Did I go too hard on them?’
The faces of the swordsmen were completely pale. It wasn’t simply from exhaustion, and they almost looked painful.
‘I guess it can’t be helped, because they kept doing their best without any rest.’
He could understand why they looked so tired, as they’d been continuously training for three months.
‘I should probably give them some rest.’
For just a single day though.
The objective wasn’t completely achieved yet, but he figured it was a good idea to let them rest a little because they’d managed a lot of results already.
Raon made up his mind and got down from the platform.
“Good job, everyone. As for tomorrow…”
‘You can rest’ was what he was going to say, but every member of the Light Wind squad pulled away from him at the same time.
“Damn it!”
“Wh-What is it this time? This is happening again!”
“Ugh…”
Martha, Burren, and Runaan’s eyes were shivering like a herbivore’s that was facing a predator.
“Hieeeh!”
“H-He’s coming…”
And the other members were also swallowing nervously as they leaned backwards.
“No, listen to m…”
“Waaah!”
“Save me!”
“Oh my god…”
All Raon had done was simply extend his hand to calm them down, but the Light Wind members freaked out as if he were trying to stab them and pulled away even further.
Raon gasped and scratched his chin.
‘This is a bit shocking.’
He was slightly confused because he was only trying to tell them to rest.
Shocking? You shouldn’t be saying that right now if you have a conscience!
Wrath slandered him, disregarding it as nonsense.
Even in Devildom, no one treated their subordinates like you! You are a fiend!
‘Devildom is really humane, isn’t it?’
He didn’t expect such an intense reaction, because all he did was let them experience the training he’d done when he used to be an assassin, modified to fit their levels.
Raon realized that he was really treated as a dog instead of a human being in his previous life.
Raon smiled faintly while watching the Light Wind squad tremble in fear.
‘Now that I think about it, this doesn’t seem too bad. Since they are reacting this way, we might as well keep training.’
He figured it wasn’t a bad idea to meet their expectations, since they seemed to have already decided that a new training session was about to come.
S-Seriously, where did you come from? Who the hell are you?
Wrath was shocked and said that he’d never seen anyone like him in the human realm or in Devildom.
Your mind is completely dark!
‘Just kidding.’
Raon stood in front of the Light Wind squad. He smiled while meeting their terrified gazes.
“Good job, everyone. You can rest tomorrow.”
Even though he told them to rest, there wasn’t much reaction from them.
“Rest…?”
“Wh-What does rest even mean?”
“I wonder? What is that…?”
The Light Wind members tilted their heads, their eyes as blank as Runaan’s. Their brain seemed to have stopped functioning upon hearing the unexpected word.
“W-Wait, rest?”
“Is he giving us a rest? Seriously?”
Martha and Burren’s jaws dropped. They were the first ones to realize it.
“You did a good job. Let’s continue training until evening, and then rest tomorrow.”
“Woaaaah!”
“Finally! My wish came true! The prayer I’ve been doing for three months was finally heard!”
“Oh my god!”
Every member of the Light Wind squad raised their hands and celebrated. They were shouting ‘oh my god’ like before, but the meaning was the complete opposite.
“Raon! Damn handsome!”
Runaan also gave him a thumbs up, her mouth curved very slightly into a smile. It was an extremely rare smile, one that might be seen once a year.
“Oh, okay.”
It was completely meaningless, but Runaan seemed to believe that it was an extremely effective compliment.
“But you should still do your best for today.”
“Yes!”
Raon smiled while listening to the Light Wind squad’s shout of joy when someone carefully opened the training ground’s door and an unfriendly looking middle-aged man entered.
‘That person…’
Was his name Chad?
Raon remembered seeing him before. He was the leader of Shadow Agents, Chad, who was in the audience chamber when he was reporting to Glenn.
However, he had no clue why he was visiting them.
“How are you?”
Despite his unfriendly appearance, he smiled gently as he walked up to Raon and bowed to him.
“This is my first time personally greeting you. I’m the leader of Shadow Agents, Chad.”
“I’m the temporary squad leader of the Light Wind squad, Raon Zieghart.”
Raon greeted him back while meeting Chad’s slightly trembling eyes.
‘What a polite person.’
The leader of the Shadow Agents held a lot of power since he was in charge of the information for the house. He was being extremely polite, despite being far superior to him both in terms of age and rank.
“I’m here to convey something. Please excuse my visit.”
“It’s alright. Please come this way.”
Raon shook his head and guided him to the squad leader’s room.
* * *
* * *
“Hmm, this is a rather serious matter. Please take a look at this for now.”
Chad placed a document on the table and pushed it towards Raon as soon as he sat on his chair.
“This is the letter sent by the Axe King Roman to you, the Light Wind’s vice squad leader. He’s asking for a duel to the death on the first day of the year in three years.”
“First day of the year in three years?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Raon smiled faintly while reading the document.
‘Is he being considerate?’
He wasn’t completely shameless.
Since it was three years after the new year instead of three years after the day they made the bet, he must’ve been being considerate to him.
‘I’ll be fighting him when I’m twenty-two years old.’
Since he was nineteen years old in the new year, the duel to death was going to happen after he turned twenty-two years old.
‘Not bad.’
After all, Wrath was with him.
It was impossible to become a Grandmaster in three years by just training, but it was completely possible since the Giving Wrath was with him.
Why are you looking at me?
‘Nevermind.’
Raon smiled and shook his hand at Wrath, who frowned from receiving his gaze.
“Huh…”
Chad swallowed nervously while watching Raon’s smile.
‘Did he just smile?’
He was so brave, even though he was not even twenty years old yet…
Raon wasn’t aware of what Glenn, Roenn, and Sheryl had said. He couldn’t believe that he was smiling when his duel against the Grandmaster Axe King Roman was decided to be in three years.
‘They don’t cherish him for no reason.’
He thought they adored him because of the extreme talent that made him the youngest Master on the continent, but he realized that wasn’t the case at all.
Raon Zieghart was a gem, a star that shone brightly just by existing. He could start to understand why the aforementioned three people loved him so much.
Raon pushed the document aside and looked at Chad again.
“So what’s the second piece of business?”
“…How did you know about that?”
“Since you told me to take a look at the document for now, I figured that you had another matter to discuss.”
“I see. You got me right there.”
Chad smiled awkwardly and took the second document from his inner pocket.
“The second business is about the mission for the Light Wind squad.”
“Mission? But why are you conveying that to us? Our squad leader must’ve been at the lord’s manor. No way, was he slacking again…?”
“Ah, that’s not the case.”
Chad hurriedly shook his head.
“I came to tell you instead because of some circumstances.”
Since it would’ve been too sad to tell him that Rimmer was getting beaten up by Glenn, Sheryl, and Roenn, he simply gave an evasive answer.
“Anyway, this is the Light Wind squad’s new mission.”
Chad turned the document upside down and pushed it towards Raon.
“Grand Seville must be that city famous for its entertainment.”
Raon nodded upon reading the location mentioned on the document.
“That’s correct. It’s a bit small to be called a city, but it’s an entertainment quarter where you can drink, gamble, and eat delicious food. There are even drugs and an arena there.”
Just as Chad said, Grand Seville was one of the few regions in the continent that had so much entertainment value.
It was possible to enjoy boating on Molve Lake right in front of it, and countless temptations lured people in at night, when the city turned even brighter.
Delicious food?
Wrath was yawning in boredom, but suddenly stood up upon hearing the word.
Accept the mission! Accept it right now!
He violently shook his hand, telling him that it was the only detail he needed.
“White Blood Religion…”
Raon pushed Wrath back because he kept clinging onto him and focused on the document again. It was written that the White Blood Religion was the most likely suspect because of the frequent cases of missing people and the corpse found at Molve Lake.
“They also requested the Light Wind squad.”
“Yes. They didn’t insist upon it, but they did mention that it would be nice if the Light Wind squad accepted the mission.”
“Hmm…”
If the White Blood Religion was involved, he needed to be careful because it could’ve been a trap laid by the seventh apostle.
“It’s difficult to refuse at this point because there have been too many clients asking for the Light Wind squad for the past months.”
“What do you mean…?”
“Hmm? Were you not aware? The number of people asking for the Light Wind squad has multiplied several times after you completed the mission at the Gazel River.”
Chad told him that he was getting a mission asking for the Light Wind squad once every three days—without exaggerating.
“That’s so many missions…”
“The Light Wind squad did great, but it’s mostly because of you, vice squad leader.”
“Me?”
“Yes. You shattered Tyler’s plan at the Gazel river, survived the Axe King Roman, and even beheaded the fourth apostle. That rumor spread throughout the continent, and now many people are asking for the Frostfire Sword of Valor.”
“Then why am I only getting a mission now…?”
“The Light Wind’s squad leader refused all of them. He said that they needed to harden their foundation.”
“Ah…”
Raon leaned backward and exhaled faintly.
‘Seriously. This is why I can’t hate him.’
Rimmer’s actions were sometimes asking for a beating, but it was impossible to hate him because of the serious side he showed from time to time.
“I see.”
Raon nodded after reading the entire document.
‘It sounds pretty good.’
The perpetrator could’ve been the White Blood Religion, the Black Tower, or a group of kidnappers, but he figured it would be a good idea for the members to give some hands-on experience, regardless of who they were going to face.
“I accept the mission.”
“Woaaah!”
“A mission! We got a mission!”
“We are finally released from hell!”
“We can go outside!”
The Light Wind members raised their arms and burst into cheers upon realizing that they didn’t need to train anymore.
“Th-The squad members are so lively.”
Chad swallowed nervously as he faced the Light Wind members’ delighted reaction.
“They must be happy about it because they haven’t had a mission for a while.”
Raon smiled faintly at the Light Wind squad.
“Th-This is a present from me.”
Chad gave him a box with luxurious packaging.
“What is this…?”
“It’s nothing much. It’s just a popular dessert in the southern region.”
“Dessert?”
“Yes. It’s a snack that has cream between meringue cookies. It’s called macaron.”
Actually, the dessert was delivered to the previous leader of the Shadow Agents, Alissa, but he stole it from her in order to gain Raon’s favor.
“Ah, thank you. But I have nothing to giv…”
“It’s okay!”
Chad shook his hand when Raon was looking around to try and find something he could give in return.
“I just brought it as a greeting gift, since it’s my first time meeting you. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“But still…”
“It’s really fine. I’ll be taking my leave, then.”
He bowed to Raon, who tried to stop him, and left the fifth training ground.
“Haa…”
Chad sighed faintly, while looking back at the fifth training ground’s door.
‘That should’ve left a pretty good first impression.’
His behavior was extremely polite, he treated him with respect, and even gave him detailed explanations and a gift. It might not have been perfect, but he guessed that there was nothing negative about the impression he left.
‘I need to keep gaining his trust in the future.’
He was certain that the vice squad leader of the small Light Wind squad were going to be the most important people in the house, rather than the palace masters or division leaders.
“Huhu.”
Chad patted his shoulder in satisfaction and returned to the Shadow Agents. He had a feeling he was going to have a great day.
* * *
Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at the gift that Chad left behind.
‘The leader of Shadow Agents, Chad… I need to be careful of him.’
The Shadow Agents were at the center of Zieghart’s authority, and it was one of the organizations that held the greatest amount of power. The fact that their leader Chad was being so careful towards him, who was nothing but a vice squad leader, meant that he was plotting something behind the scenes.
‘He might be a spy from the Central Martial Palace or the True Martial Palace.’
Since Karoon and Balder hated him the most among the people from Zieghart, he guessed that he might be secretly following their orders.
‘I can’t be careless around him.’
People who smiled easily in public were the most dangerous type of people. It was necessary to stay alert until he determined his true intentions.
‘I should cancel the day of rest and keep training tomorrow…’
Hey!
Wrath grabbed his sleeve with a frown on his face.
Stop thinking about training! Take out that dessert called ‘maroon’.
‘It’s macaron.’
Whatever! Show it to the King of Essence already. He’s curious about how it looks!
‘You just want to eat it.’
Raon shook his head because it was so obvious what he was thinking.
Ugh. If you aren’t going to eat any ice cream, you should eat that instead! The King of Essence has the right to eat delicious food! It’s human rights!
‘A demon king doesn’t have any human rights. You should return to your hometown.’
Raon snickered at Wrath, who was angry with him.
You are being prejudiced!
