The storm known as human wrath finished rampaging through the urban training ground.
Rimmer raised himself from the cracked land covered in hundreds of footprints.
“Ouch…”
Rimmer groaned in pain, his shoulders trembling.
“I-I really could’ve died.”
He wasn’t even joking. He would’ve been on his way to the underworld if he hadn’t used all of the aura that he’d saved during training sessions for his defense.
‘Even the head of house’s attack was less painful in comparison. This must be human malice.’
The punches from the Light Wind squad and the Warring Steel division were painful, but the most painful ones were the kicks from the gamblers.
They were supposed to hit the jackpot with seven times the return, but they barely managed to get their original sum. The anger coming from that fact pierced through Rimmer’s aura and offered intense pain in his bones and flesh.
“Phew!”
Rimmer sighed deeply and shook his head.
“It hurts and I’m penniless. I’ll have to eat Nadine bread for a while.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t have done that.”
A quiet voice could be heard from the right when he tried to stand up by using his sword as a cane.
Rimmer raised his head. Raon was walking towards him with a frightening pressure around him.
“Gasp!”
Rimmer was startled and tried to move away.
“We-were you still around?”
“……”
Raon stared at him with cold eyes instead of answering. His reaction was even more frightening.
“Are you going to step on me again? Do-don’t tell me you are going to!”
“……”
“I’m really going to end up in the afterlife if you beat me now since I’ve already exhausted my aura! I’ll fall straight to the netherworld!”
Raon didn’t stop his steps no matter how he tried to convince him. He reached the spot right in front of Rimmer and lowered his bloody red eyes.
Rimmer became nauseous and started to hiccup upon seeing those eyes.
“Hic! I-I’m sorry, Raon. But I really wasn’t trying to cause trouble…”
His chin was trembling in fear over his unpredictable fate, but Raon sat next to him instead of punching him.
“Huh?”
“I’m not here to hit you. You are making me sound like a bully.”
Raon chuckled and put his hand into the subspace pocket. He took out the round snack that Dorian usually ate, some beef jerky, and two bottles of whiskey. He placed them on the ground.
“Wh-what?”
Rimmer dropped his guard, no longer trying to defend his vitals, with trembling lips.
“Let’s have a drink.”
Raon opened the whiskey and gave it to Rimmer.
“Huh? Err…”
Rimmer accepted the whiskey as awkwardly as an octopus with entangled legs.
Raon chugged the whiskey like he was drinking water. Since Rimmer didn’t want to get beaten up, he also started drinking.
‘It’s a good one…’
He could taste the vanilla flavor from the whiskey. It must’ve been a high-quality product. He also liked the intense flavor of alcohol hitting his throat.
“It’s pretty good.”
After sipping the whiskey, Rimmer started eating the snack that was placed in front of him. He looked like he was starting to get tipsy.
“It’s a cheap side dish compared to whiskey, but this is also nice.”
“Squad leader.”
As Rimmer was getting intoxicated from taking another sip, Raon started to speak.
“Were you planning to give the division leader position to me?”
Rimmer’s hand moving towards the beef jerky came to a halt upon hearing his quiet voice.
Raon smiled faintly while looking at Rimmer’s trembling pupils.
‘So, he really was trying to give that position to me.’
Rimmer was acting differently from usual.
Glenn was obviously going to attend since it was an important trial to promote a squad into a division, but the trick he played was way too conspicuous.
Because of that, people even started to say that Raon Zieghart should become the leader instead of Rimmer when the Light Wind squad was promoted to a division.
When Raon heard them saying such a thing, he finally realized what the stupid elf was trying to achieve.
Rimmer was trying to create a situation where it was normal for Raon to take over as the division leader by plummeting his own reputation and increasing Raon’s as much as possible.
That was a pointless thing he did.
Wrath understood what he meant and snorted.
He’s kind-hearted and foolish. By the way…
‘What?’
Can you try pulling his ears to see if they can really be reassembled?
‘Please go away.’
Wrath examined Rimmer’s long ears from different angles and Raon smacked him away with the back of his hand.
“Why did you do that?”
Raon bit the beef jerky while asking the question he was curious about.
“Haa…”
Rimmer sighed briefly instead of answering.
“It was the perfect mood but you are making me sober. Why are you so quick to catch on?”
He chuckled and chugged the whiskey.
“Raon, you are growing faster than I expected—or, rather, I should say faster than anyone anticipated.”
“You are exaggerating.”
“I’m not. You are fully capable of doing a division leader’s job in your current state.”
Rimmer smiled, saying that he had the abilities and qualifications to become one.
“I just figured that I should support you from below instead of watching from above.”
“……”
Raon poured the rest of the whiskey down his throat while listening to Rimmer’s casual voice.
Because he swallowed straight away, his throat and stomach felt like they were burning. Raon opened his mouth along with that heat.
“I don’t really want to be a division leader because the head of house will call on me a lot more often. Squad leader, you should continue doing the annoying job and get scolded by him since I’m going to keep teaching the members from the back.”
“Hey! It’s also hard for me! That geezer starts shooting lightning at me whenever he sees me now! I have more lightning than wind in my energy center at this point!”
Rimmer barked, saying that his energy center was going to shatter if it continued.
“I’m not doing it anymore! You are going to surpass me soon enough, and the others are growing as fast as bean sprouts. You should take this promotion as an opportunity to become the division leader and…”
“Squad leader. No, teacher.”
Raon lowered his bottle and interrupted Rimmer.
“I think a teacher isn’t simply a person who teaches me the martial arts.”
The one who’d taught him the assassination skills in his previous life was called a trainer instead of a teacher.
Since all he’d learned was how to kill people, Rimmer taught him what a real teacher was, and the relationship with him was extremely precious and important to Raon.
“The Light Wind squad and I still want to advance while watching the squad leader’s back.”
Becoming a division leader wasn’t too important. Raon just wanted Rimmer to remain as the Light Wind squad’s teacher for a bit longer.
“I also brought this liquor because I wanted to have my first drink with my teacher.”
“Raon, you…”
Raon finished the whiskey bottle and stood up.
“I’ll be looking forward to your lessons in the future.”
He nodded at him and left the training ground.
“Haa…”
Rimmer sighed deeply and lowered his head. His shoulders were trembling slightly.
“He’s such a nice student.”
He finished off the whiskey bottle and curved his lips into a smile.
“I can’t stay doing nothing after what he told me.”
* * *
* * *
Tsk, what a shame.
Wrath licked his lips with regret for some reason.
‘What do you mean?’
Raon tilted his head at Wrath.
You should’ve checked if those shitty ears can really be reassembled…
‘…’
Raon shook his head and headed towards the main building. The Light Wind squad had been waiting at the training ground’s entrance and came running towards him.
“Vice squad leader!”
Dorian waved his hand energetically since he wasn’t eliminated until the end of the match.
“You are finally here.”
“Why did you tell us to wait when the match was already over?”
“……”
Burren smiled peacefully, Martha frowned, and Runaan was dozing off.
“Hiccup…”
Krein was staring at the ground with trembling shoulders. He looked like he was facing his natural enemy.
Raon smiled gently while standing in front of the Light Wind squad.
“Good job, everyone. There was a huge issue because of a certain person, but you all fought nicely and according to the plan.”
“Of course we did! After all, we went through that hellish training!”
“We managed to win because everyone worked together.”
Martha snorted, and Burren raised his clenched fist.
“This much is easy since we even managed to pass the vice squad leader’s training.”
“I really thought I was going to die so many times back then.”
“So we only need to pass one more trial before we become a division.”
“I’m looking forward to it. We will be the Light Wind division!”
The Light Wind squad laughed in anticipation of being called the Light Wind division.
“Today.”
The Light Wind squad stopped laughing upon hearing the cold voice from Raon.
“One person made a grave mistake even though everyone did their job.”
As soon as he declared those words, everyone looked at Krein.
“Ugh…”
Krein raised his hand while trembling.
“I-I wasn’t eliminated because I wanted to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was defending Dorian because he couldn’t watch his back while he was leading. That’s why they managed to defeat me!”
He bit his lip, blaming Dorian for his carelessness.
“M-me? It wasn’t my fault! I was properly defending myself all along!”
Dorian’s hands couldn’t even be seen anymore because of how fast he shook them in a panic.
“It’s true! I was defeated because I was protecting you!”
“Stop lying!”
“I’m telling the truth! I had to protect you since you were the commander!”
“I could’ve easily dodged that because I have eyes behind my back!”
They shouted at each other and argued about it.
Clap!
Raon clapped his hands. Krein and Dorian fell silent at the same time.
“Regardless of whose fault it was, it doesn’t change the fact that Krein was the first to be eliminated.”
“Ugh…”
“Huhu!”
Krein’s chin trembled and a victorious expression appeared on Dorian’s face.
“I should be punishing Krein for this, but I’m thinking about what Burren said just now.”
“Huh? I said something?”
“Yes. You said that we managed to win because we all worked together.”
The corners of Raon’s lips floated into a smile and anxiousness appeared in the Light Wind squad’s eyes.
“Which means, the mistake of your companion is everyone’s mistake. It’s time for supplementary training for everyone.”
”Ah…”
“Th-the crazy bastard strikes again!”
Burren and Martha’s jaws dropped at the same time.
“A-are we really doing supplementary training after we won the match?”
“He’s seriously insane!”
“I’m pretty sure training is the only word in his brain!”
The Light Wind swordsmen also shouted while their widened eyes trembled.
“Well, to be honest, Krein wasn’t the only issue during the fight. Martha didn’t consider cooperating with her allies when she charged at her opponent, Burren should’ve taken the initiative instead of acting like a cushion in the middle, and Runaan was also too focused on defense. You would’ve defeated Caman more easily if you moved quickly to bring the pace into your favor. And Dorian…”
Raon enumerated the Light Wind squad’s mistakes one after the other as if he’d been watching their battle instead of fighting Trevin.
“Ho-how did he see all that?”
“Does he have four eyes instead of two?”
“He’s a demon. It’s impossible for a human being…”
“Do-does this mean that we really have to train now?”
“But we just finished the trial… sniff!”
“I’m pretty sure demons would want to be friends with him if they saw him!”
The Light Wind squad furiously ground their teeth.
The King of Essence is sorry. He’s not even a friend. This bastard is holding him on a leash…
Wrath sniffled, saying that he was suffering the same pain as them.
“Ki-kill him! We are going to die if we don’t kill him!”
“Martha is right this time! Let’s go!”
“This is our last opportunity since he is exhausted!”
“Aaaaah!”
The Light Wind squad charged at him while screaming.
An entertained smile appeared on Raon’s face as he watched the Light Wind squad’s fighting spirit, which was even more powerful than during the battle against the Warring Steel division.
“The resistance makes it even more fun.”
* * *
Glenn frowned while looking at Rimmer, who had suddenly visited the lord’s manor.
“What brings you here?”
“My lord.”
He was thinking about throwing lightning as soon as he said anything funny, but Rimmer raised his head.
The sharp glimmer in Rimmer’s eyes looked like he’d returned to his past self before ‘that incident’, back when he used to be called Zieghart’s Sword of Light.
“I must’ve been too hasty.”
Rimmer smiled faintly at Glenn.
“My lord must’ve already realized it, but I was planning to make Raon the division leader after this trial and stray away from the scene by becoming a vice division leader or a guard myself. However, I decided to keep watching them from above for a bit longer.”
“……”
Glenn wasn’t surprised at all as he stared at Rimmer. He must’ve already realized his intentions.
“What made you change your opinion this time when you’ve only been doing foolish things?”
“The change happened from the outside. It was so powerful that I couldn’t resist.”
Rimmer faintly nodded while looking outside the window.
“Raon realized that I was trying to make him into the division leader. He’s so damn sharp.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me that a teacher doesn’t simply teach martial arts and asked me to stand at the front for a bit longer.”
“Hmm…”
Glenn licked his lips and stared at Rimmer. His eyes used to be dead like a rotten fish, but they had become rather lively. It’d been such a long time since the last time he’d seen him like that.
‘Seriously, that boy…’
Raon looked extremely coldhearted on the outside, but he was warmer than anyone inside.
Glenn could tell that Rimmer was encouraged by him.
“So, what do you want to do… I guess I don’t even need to ask.”
“In the past, I wanted to watch the children’s growth and see Raon reach the peak of the house, but now…”
Rimmer raised his head with a hearty smile.
“I’d like to join them in their path. I think I’ll need to work more seriously from now on.”
“I see.”
Glenn smiled faintly and nodded. His cherished subordinate had regained his original appearance, and the fact that his cherished grandson was the one who managed to achieve that feat brought a smile to his face.
“Roenn.”
“I’m writing. I think this line goes to the first volume.”
Roenn started writing the famous line that Rimmer had told them in Raon’s gospel.
“Drinking with Raon reminded me of the past…”
“What?”
The warm atmosphere turned ice cold because of Glenn’s cold voice.
“What?”
“What did you say just now?”
“I had a drink with Raon. It must’ve been his first time, but he was drinking so we—ehh?!”
Rimmer couldn’t finish his sentence, his jaw dropping. An unprecedented amount of lightning energy was covering the audience chamber’s ceiling.
“M-my lord? Why are you doing this now…?”
Rimmer couldn’t understand why he was gathering a fatal amount of lightning energy when the conversation was going smoothly.
“I-I really didn’t do anything bad this time! I only had a drink with Raon!”
“That’s a deadly sin.”
“What?”
Glenn gritted his teeth and dropped the lightning. His expression looked even more furious than when he fought against the Fallen and the White Blood Religion’s leader.
“Wa-wait!”
“Die!”
* * *
Raon went to the annex building after training with the Light Wind squad until midnight.
‘Everyone was happy.’
Raon had announced a week-long holiday when their eyes were full of spite from being worked to the bones after the trial. Their eyes cleared up like the sky after the rain.
Ugh…
Wrath groaned while looking at him.
He doesn’t understand. Why are they so happy about it when they were supposed to have that week’s break to begin with?
He murmured that he couldn’t comprehend why they liked the demon who made them train even after the trial.
‘This is how you handle subordinates.’
The most important part of dealing with the subordinates was when and how to give the carrot and the stick.
They thought the training would continue for several days because of Krein, but it ended in a single day—and they even got the week-long break that they were supposed to have. It was only natural that they would be happy about it.
Hmm, so you start by bullying them but go easy on them afterward…
Wrath started to scribble on his round hand.
‘What are you doing?’
He’s writing down how you train humans.
He turned his head and a broad smile appeared on his face.
The King of Essence is going to use this method once he returns to Devildom or takes over your body! He might even be able to conquer the entire dimension once he masters this method!
‘…I see.’
Conquering the dimension was too ambitious to understand, but handling subordinates properly wasn’t an easy task.
It was necessary to understand every single person’s emotions and condition to take appropriate measures. However, Wrath was incapable of reading such things, and he probably was going to make them faint before they became obedient.
‘Do your best. Try not to kill your subordinates… Huh?’
Raon was patting Wrath’s fluffy head when his jaw suddenly dropped.
A small hedgehog was waving its paw towards him from the top of a tree in front of the annex building.
A-a hedgehog is waving its paw…
‘It can’t be…’
