The master of ceremonies had been looking for an opportunity and finally entered the arena, bowing to the spectators.
“The Six Kings tournament has finally ended.”
He cleared his throat to fix his hoarse voice and pointed at the sky with his finger.
“The warrior who reached the peak of the Master division after bloody battles is the youngest participant of the tournament, Raon Zieghart! The Frostfire Sword of Valor, Raon Zieghart is the winnerrrr!”
The master of ceremonies shouted his head off, and the entire arena was filled with excitement.
“Woaaah!”
“Raon! Raon! Raon!”
“He managed to destroy all of the Twelve Stars of the Continent…”
“You shouldn’t forget about Matisse and Garona.”
“I just remembered he was the youngest. He’s just a twenty-year-old boy, yet he managed to defeat all of the famous masters!”
“This is really absurd. I’ll never be able to forget about it for the rest of my life.”
The spectators shouted Raon’s name so loudly that they almost sounded like they were screeching.
“By the way, the Expert division’s winner was also from Zieghart. It’s the Sword of Rakshasha, Martha Zieghart!”
“All of the rising stars are from Zieghart.”
“That’s true. They have the Blade of Tempest and the Azure Lunar Blade.”
“Does Zieghart have every single talented person in the world?”
“I thought the Destructive King of the North was the only notable person there, but it wasn’t the case. The youngsters there are even more solid!”
The spectators weren’t only cheering for Raon, but also for Martha, Runaan, and Burren who showed a great performance during the tournament.
Raon looked around the spectator seats while listening to the grand cheers.
‘They’ve changed.’
None of them were cheering for Zieghart the first time he arrived.
Princess Jayna and Prince Greer were the favorites in the Expert division, and Borini Kitten, Garona, and Cadis were expected to win the Master division. The number of people who believed in Zieghart’s victory could be counted on one hand.
“Zieghart!”
“Zieghart!”
However, once everything was over, Zieghart’s name was the only thing they were shouting in the arena.
‘Interesting.’
He was overcome with emotion upon realizing that they managed to influence all of the people who used to look down on them or were simply disinterested. It was a different kind of feeling from the one he felt when people praised him for saving their lives.
“Raon, are you okay?”
Runaan was next to him before he knew it, and she lowered her eyebrows. She was worrying about him before celebrating his victory, and that was just like her.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
He was almost dying a moment ago, but the pain had decreased drastically from seeing Derus’s distorted face and hearing the spectators’ cheers. It was similar to the effect of a stimulant, but that was enough for the time being.
“A-are you sure you are fine?”
Martha furrowed her brow while looking at the injury on his shoulder.
“Yes. I can last until the awards ceremony.”
‘There’s no way I can faint in this interesting situation.’
The heads of the Six Kings were supposed to personally give a gift to the winner in the awarding ceremony. It was the perfect opportunity to make fun of Derus once again, and there was no way he would miss it.
“Sir Raon, we are going to proceed into the awards ceremony now. Can you last until then?”
The master of ceremonies walked up to him and quietly whispered.
“If it seems difficult, we can postpone the ceremony for later without the spectators around…”
“No.”
Raon subtly shook his head.
“We can do it right now. We can’t postpone it when they are shouting my name so hard.”
He smiled faintly while pointing at the spectators, who were still calling Raon’s name.
“Ah…”
The master of ceremonies’ eyes crumpled slightly.
“Th-thank you!”
Raon only said his honest opinion instead of pretending, but the master of ceremonies was deeply impressed, and his hands were even trembling.
“Raon! You are seriously an admirable guy!”
Burren walked up to him while biting his lip tightly, then hugged him. He seemed to be moved to tears, as he was sniffling slightly.
“By the way, where the hell is that guy again?”
Martha frowned and looked around.
“We have two winners in the squad, so what the hell is the squad leader doing?!”
“I know, right…?”
“Haa…”
The Light Wind squad frowned while looking around to find Rimmer.
“I’m rich now! I’m super duper rich!”
Raon started to look around alongside them, and the hoarse voice of a man could be heard from the spectator seats on the right.
‘He’s over there.’
Raon laughed bitterly while thinking that he was the same Rimmer he always knew. The impression he had about elves was getting worse and worse because of him.
“Vice squad leader.”
Dorian came next to him and waved his hand.
“You should get changed for now, as it wouldn’t be a great idea to join the ceremony in that state.”
“Hmm…”
Raon examined his current state. His uniform was completely tattered, with his blood and Cadis’s blood covering his body and making him look like a zombie.
“That’s a good idea.”
Since it was going to take some time until the awards ceremony began, he figured he should get changed.
Raon went down with Dorian and entered the waiting room.
“Which one would you like?”
Dorian put his hand inside his belly pocket and took out various kinds of clothes one after the other. The table was soon filled with all kinds of formal suits and uniforms.
“Why do you even have those dresses?”
Raon frowned upon finding dresses among them.
“I-it’s because I haven’t finished organizing them yet.”
Dorian laughed awkwardly and put the dress back into his belly pocket.
Ask him if he’s got any mint chocolate ice cream.
‘……’
Raon decided not to ask him because he had the feeling that Dorian really would have some.
“I’ll take this one.”
Raon picked the black suit that looked the least flashy among the formal suits.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“It was nothing.”
Dorian quickly shook his head.
“Both the vice squad leader and the first team leader won the tournament and spread Zieghart’s name, but I haven’t done anything myself. I should be doing this much at least.”
He smiled awkwardly and started putting the clothes back into his belly pocket.
“That’s not true.”
Raon closed his eyes before opening them again while taking off the tattered uniform.
“We did it together.”
“What?”
“It wasn’t just me or Martha. It was the combined effort of all of us.”
He raised his finger to point at the ceiling of the waiting room. Even the waiting room was trembling because of the spectators shouting Zieghart’s name.
“They are calling this name because all of the Light Wind squad did their best in their matches. They would’ve simply called my name if I was the only one who did it.”
Raon finished changing himself and patted Dorian’s shoulder.
“You should be proud of yourself. Everyone in the Light Wind squad, including you, did their best.”
“…Yes.”
Dorian stopped putting the clothes back into his belly pocket and nodded while looking at the floor.
“Let’s go.”
Raon chuckled and left the waiting room.
“Woaaah!”
“Raon!”
“Frostfire Sword of Valor!”
“White Sword Dragon!”
“White Sword Dragon! I’ll be looking forward to hearing more from you!”
People were even calling him with a new alias, White Sword Dragon, instead of Frostfire Sword of Valor. It must’ve been because his last technique, the White Shadow Slash, deeply impressed them.
‘Sword Dragon, they say…’
Having ‘dragon’ in an alias was the highest honor for young warriors. Even among the Twelve Stars of the Continent, only two out of the four strongest had ‘dragon’ in their names.
‘The name is getting too good for me.’
Going from Sword of Valor to Sword Dragon made him feel happy and uncomfortable at the same time.
“We are going to start the awards ceremony now!”
The master of ceremonies entered the arena and raised his hand.
“The Expert division’s winner, Martha Zieghart! Please approach the platform.”
Martha nodded and walked up to the platform where the heads of the Six Kings were waiting. Glenn was sitting at the very front.
“Your fighting spirit was excellent, but you need to learn how to take care of yourself.”
Glenn patted her shoulder while putting a platinum medal around her neck.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Good job.”
“Yes!”
Martha gave him a big nod and went to the side.
“Thank you for enlightening our Greer.”
King Lecross shook hands with Martha and gave her a sword.
“It’s probably not as good as your destroyed sword, but it should be helpful until you obtain a new sword since this is also one of the famous swords.”
“Thank you!”
Martha raised her hands while bending forward to receive the sword.
“It won’t leave a scar on your face. I’m relieved.”
Chamber smiled cheerfully after examining Martha’s face.
“It’s fine if I replace the gift with healing your face, right?”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
Martha nodded. She looked like she was truly fine with that.
“Wow, you are so cute!”
Chamber giggled and shook her staff on Martha’s hand. A blue light appeared, and a gray bracelet dropped into her hand.
“Its ability is a secret!”
She covered her mouth with her finger and briskly moved back.
“Thank you.”
Martha stared blankly at the bracelet before she bowed at her.
“You are still young, but your warrior spirit doesn’t lose to our children.”
Ogram stood in front of Martha. Even though Martha was rather tall for a woman, she looked like a child compared to Ogram.
“This is a high-grade elixir from the Union. It will help you improve your body to match up to your spirit.”
He gave her a wooden box containing an elixir and smiled kindly.
“Thank you.”
Martha bowed to Ogram and finally walked up to Derus.
“It was a nice match.”
He gave a book to Martha with a bright smile on his face.
“It’s a footwork called the Footwork of Flowing Wave. It should be helpful in making your powerful swordsmanship even more effective.”
“Thank you!”
Martha bowed at the five once again before bowing to the spectators.
“Woaaah!”
“Martha! Martha!”
“Sword of Rakshasa! Sword of Rakshasa!”
The spectators were applauding for Martha, but a vein suddenly appeared on her forehead.
“I told you to stop calling me the Sword of Rakshasa! You sons of bitches!”
Martha ground her teeth violently while hugging the awards that the heads gave to her. tightly
“Ahahahaha!”
“She’s the real Rakshasa!”
“Let’s go back to Miss Rakshasa! The sword isn’t enough to describe her brutality!”
“Miss Rakshasa! Miss Rakshasa!”
“Sword of Rakshasa! Sword of Rakshasa!”
The spectators made fun of her while giggling. Whether it was ‘Miss’ or ‘Sword’, Martha was represented as Rakshasa.
“You fucking bastards!”
Martha’s eyes were beaming as she jumped into the spectator seats.
“Hey! Stop her!”
“Martha!”
“Team leader!”
The Light Wind members next to her quickly barged in and they managed to gag her mouth and bring her back out.
“Ah, w-we apologize for the sudden trouble.”
The master of ceremonies sighed deeply while wiping the sweat flowing down from his forehead.
“Next up is the Master division’s winner, Raon Zieghart. Please approach the platform!”
“Woaaaah!”
Raon walked up to the platform while listening to the cheers that were loud enough to reach the sky.
“Ahem.”
Glenn’s expression had returned to normal. He cleared his throat and put a platinum medal around his neck.
“The skill was an excellent counterattack, capable of erasing the opponent’s attack itself. However, it’s still not complete because it wouldn’t be able to erase a special technique from the highest level of Master.”
“Yes.”
He was telling him about the technique instead of praising him, probably because other people were watching. Raon smiled because he felt more comfortable that way.
“It will become stronger as you witness various swordsmanships and accumulate experiences. You will keep polishing it.”
“Thank you.”
Raon bowed to Glenn and went aside.
“I haven’t been this enlightened for a long time. It was an excellent match.”
Raon could feel King Lecross’s satisfaction from his broad smile.
“Since you already have a sword, I should give you something else.”
He gave Raon a pair of gloves with a rapier emblem engraved on it. Raon accepted the gloves, and that was enough to notice how special it was. It seemed to be an extraordinary item.
“I’ll be looking forward to hearing your name at an even greater height.”
“Thank you.”
King Lecross had always been favorable to him ever since their first encounter. Raon thanked him from the bottom of his heart before standing in front of Chamber.
“Do you wanna come with me?”
Chamber bobbed her finger with a smile on her face.
“Lady Chamber…”
“Have you gone mad?!”
King Lecross and Ogram sitting next to her frowned at the same time.
“I was just kidding… Actually, I wasn’t, because I’m really tempted.”
“What?”
“Don’t you wanna learn magic? I’ll teach you personally. You should become my disciple.”
“The sword is already taking all my efforts.”
It didn’t matter whether he was talented in magic or not. He wanted to see the end with the sword. Moreover, he didn’t want more strange magicians around him since he already had Merlin.
“That’s not true. I think you can!”
Chamber examined Raon from top to bottom while murmuring that ‘you can do it.’. The desire was glowing in her eyes.
“Chamber.”
“Haa, I get it.”
Chamber nodded upon hearing Glenn’s quiet voice and extended her staff.
“You must become more handsome by the time we see each other again, got it?”
A sparkling light fell from her staff and turned into a blue ring.
‘Is this an artifact?’
The ring seemed to be another artifact from Balkar, just like the bracelet she gave to Martha. Since the Kingdom was as famous as House Yonaan for artifact crafting, it was definitely a special artifact.
“Its ability is also a secret!”
“Thank you.”
Raon bowed to her before standing in front of Ogram.
“I didn’t like you at first because you were too thin, but your spirit is the real deal. This Ogram has acknowledged you as a true warrior.”
He nonchalantly patted Raon’s back and gave him a wooden box.
“It’s an elixir. It will be enough to recover your injured body and make your mana circuits and energy center even stronger.”
“Thank you.”
“I have more things to give, so see you later.”
“Yes.”
Ogram chuckled while looking at Glenn. Since Raon didn’t know what he was talking about, he simply bowed and went to Derus.
“So…”
“I’m sorry! It wasn’t on purpose, but I ended up cutting off the swordsman Cadis’s arm! I have no excuse for this!”
He cut off Derus’s speech on purpose and bowed deeply.
‘He really hates getting cut off while he’s speaking.’
Derus hated it so much when people cut him off regardless of the situation. That was why Raon did it on purpose to make him even angrier.
“…It’s fine.”
Derus’s voice sounded gentle, but his lips were trembling slightly. It was proof that the anger he managed to suppress was rising once again.
“Swordsman Raon…”
“But cutting off a warrior’s arm is still an unforgivable matter. I’ll accept any punishment!”
Raon cut Derus off once again and bowed at him.
“Wow…”
“He said he would accept any punishment…”
“He really is an amazing warrior.”
“I know, right? Even though Cadis was the first one to show his murderous intent…”
“He’s so cool. I can finally understand why people call Zieghart the conquerors of the North.”
The spectators were moved to tears and applauded for Raon as he apologized during the awarding ceremony.
‘Let’s see…’
Raon raised his head once again. Derus’s smile had become so sullen that it almost looked artificial. The others would’ve seen it as a gentle smile, but Raon could tell that it wasn’t the case at all. Derus’s entire body was filled with wrath up to his neck.
‘It’s a natural course of action.’
His plan had completely failed, his son’s arm got cut off, and he couldn’t even ask for compensation or complain about the situation. He must’ve been suppressing his unspeakable urge to squeeze Raon’s neck.
‘I should stop for today.’
Raon chewed his cheek to stop his laughter from bursting out. He wanted to make fun of him even more, but he would save it for later.
“It’s really fine. He should also accept this result since it was a match.”
Derus shook his head and gave him a book.
“I noticed that the swordsman Raon didn’t have any systematic dagger technique. This dagger technique should be helpful to you.”
The title Piercing Dagger was written on the cover.
“Thank you.”
Raon bowed to Derus before stepping back. He bowed once again to the heads of the Six Kings and turned around to stand in front of the platform.
“Woaah!”
“Raon! Raon! Raon!”
“Frostfire Sword of Valor! Frostfire Sword of Valor!”
“White Sword Dragon! White Sword Dragon!”
They were yelling even louder than when Martha was being awarded. It almost felt like their voices were enough to shake the entire arena.
“Thank you.”
Raon thanked the spectators while feeling the violent pounding of his heart. He tried to stand up after thanking them for supporting him, but the strength left his body.
He couldn’t even move a single finger, and his body leaned forward.
‘It had to be now of all times…’
He figured he must’ve run out of the energy that he’d gotten from making fun of Derus. The ground was approaching him as he fell.
As his eyes were getting closed, he felt someone catch his body.
‘Ah… This feeling…’
Raon closed his eyes to a warmth that felt familiar somehow, as if he had experienced it a very long time ago.
* * *
* * *
Raon frowned as he saw the white ceiling.
‘Did I faint back then?’
He couldn’t remember anything that happened after thanking the spectators. The last scene he remembered was the approaching ground.
‘I fainted once again even though I got so much stronger. I’m so pathetic.’
He chuckled and raised his body up.
‘No, it was probably a natural outcome.’
The White Shadow Slash had an extremely high consumption in terms of aura and brainpower. Using it once already put a lot of strain on him, yet he’d used it consecutively in a severely injured state. Fainting wasn’t a strange thing to happen at all.
‘Wrath.’
As he was trying to ask Wrath about how much time had passed, the medical room’s door opened.
“You look fine now.”
Rimmer was the first one to enter, and he waved his hand with a cheerful smile on his face.
“Are you really calling him fine now when he just woke up?”
Sheryl kicked Rimmer’s ass.
“Vice squad leader, how is your stomach?”
Roenn examined various parts of his body with a gentle smile.
“Ah, I’m okay.”
Raon smiled gently, and Glenn entered behind the other three. He walked up to the bed and glared at him sharply.
‘Is he going to scold me?’
Raon figured that he might get scolded for fainting at an important moment—when he was about to leave the scene after thanking the spectators.
“A warrior’s best quality…”
Glenn narrowed his eyes at the same time as he opened his mouth.
“…is to know themselves even better than they know their enemy. A true warrior should always examine themselves to know what they can do, how long they can last, and how far they can reach.”
His voice felt extremely cold.
“You’ve surpassed your limits today. You ended up fainting because the overload on your body and brain spread. You would’ve died right there if no one was there to help you.”
“I’m sorry.”
As expected, he was getting scolded. Raon bowed to him because Glenn wasn’t saying anything wrong.
“The name and reputation of the house are important, but you should put yourself first.”
Glenn came one step closer to him and grabbed his shoulder. His hand was warm, but it was trembling slightly, which Raon found strange.
“Even then, you did a go—”
He was hesitating to say it, but considering how it started, Raon figured that he was going to say ‘good job’ to compliment him.
Since Glenn never gave lip service, being complimented by him always made him happy.
“Go-good meat. You should eat lots of good meat.”
“…”
Because it was completely unexpected, the medical room fell silent.
“Uhh…”
Raon tilted his chin.
‘What did I hear just now?’
His jaw dropped in bewilderment.
“Ahem, I’m taking my leave now.”
Glenn turned around and immediately left the medical room.
“M-my lord.”
“Young master Raon, see you later.”
Sheryl and Roenn took a glance at Raon before following Glenn outside.
“What the heck?!”
Rimmer pretended to spit on the ground and frowned intensely.
“That geezer!”
He screamed and followed the three others who left.
“What just happened…?”
Is he telling me to eat meat and get stronger because I’m too weak?
His head turned blank because he couldn’t understand the situation.
You idiot.
Wrath snorted and floated into the air.
He’s telling you to eat meat and nurture your strength because you are so pathetically weak!
He grasped Raon’s shoulder tightly. An irresistible smile was showing from his mouth.
There’s going to be a party today, and you have to participate no matter what! You shall grow as healthy as a demon king if you eat everything that the King of Essence asks you!
‘Err… Really?’
* * *
“Haaaaa!”
Rimmer sighed deeply.
“Did you really tell him to eat lots of meat? That was way too pathetic, seriously!”
He ground his teeth at Glenn, who was walking in front of him.
“How hard is it to say, ‘good job, I love you’ to your grandson?’
Glenn ended up misspeaking because he was trying to add that he loved Raon after the good job part.
It was so ridiculous that it wasn’t even laughable anymore.
“You just need to say it and everything will be smooth in the future!”
Glenn didn’t turn around despite all the scolding, and he gradually bent his back.
“I’m so frustrated right now!”
Rimmer noticed that he had the upper hand and his voice intensified.
“Aren’t you going to hug your grandson forever? Aren’t you going to apologize to your daughter? Are you seriously planning to be buried in the ground without doing anything?”
“Hmm…”
“You were so surprised when Raon fell from the platform that you jumped out without even breathing. I don’t even understand why you feel so embarrassed now! Even Old Man Bollack who lives next to my home wouldn’t be as bad as you!”
“……”
Glenn suddenly stopped walking.
“We have a problem.”
His voice turned low.
“What problem did you cause? Shall I solve it for you? What would you have done without me?!”
Glenn’s head slowly turned. His icy cold gaze engulfed Rimmer.
“Ehh?”
“I’m the head of house and you are my vassal, so why am I getting scolded by you?”
“What? No, it’s just…”
Rimmer’s cheek was trembling violently. He finally realized that he’d said too much.
“I-I just said that for your sake, my lord…”
“Seize him.”
“Yes!”
Rimmer was trying to withdraw, but Sheryl and Roenn grabbed him by his arms.
Spark!
A crimson spark emerged from Glenn’s finger.
“Huhu…”
“I understand what you mean, but you went too far.”
“Wait a second!”
Rimmer even used his aura to struggle his way out.
“You can’t do it now! I have the gambling tickets on me that I haven’t converted ye—”
He couldn’t even finish his sentence because the huge lightning strike fell from Glenn’s fingers.
Rumble!
