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Chapter 119

Thankfully, the monster’s juices that had drenched the ball were disappearing into light with the rest of the monster. My pocket wouldn’t get dirty.

A violet ball.

So the monster I had happened upon on my way here really had been the one Sharyl had told me about, the Master of the Cave...

I had thought he was pretty tough.

Charon trained his bow on me and, in a low voice, said, “Don’t touch that. It is mine.”

At this moment, Hector became startled and stopped him.

“W-wait. Stop for a moment.”

“Are you protecting him because he’s your younger brother? You disappoint me, Hector Bednicker. Did you forget that we’re in the middle of a test—”

“It’s not that. First of all...” Hector looked at me with a complicated expression. “Are you... really Luan?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re not an undead, right?”

“Please don’t say that. I’m already tired of that misunderstanding.”

Even if this was only the second time.

“So you were alive...”

“Obviously.”

“Then where have you been? Just what happened to you?”

“...”

I looked at Hector for a moment.

He was still a Bednicker. I’d brushed it off with the others, but I might be able to tell him the truth.

Maybe I would have, were Charon not right next to him.

“I’ll tell you later. I want to accomplish my goals here first.”

“Goals?”

I silently showed him the violet ball.

Hector was quick-witted, so his expression hardened as he realized what I meant.

“...You’re not satisfied with just that ball, so you’re going to take both of our violet balls as well?”

“I’m in a pretty dire situation.”

“Hah.” Charon sneered openly. “I don’t know where you were rolling around, but your skills won’t be—”

“Shut up and focus, Charon Woodjack,” Hector warned him, his voice low. “You’ll be robbed of all your balls if you let your guard down. That guy... he’s stronger than the monster we just defeated.”

“...”

Charon didn’t seem to fully believe Hector’s words...

But he did seem to realize something. He asked, “...Were you the one who injured the Master of the Cave?”

“That’s right. You guys practically stole my prey, so you have no right to complain even if I attack you, right?”

Hector interjected, “What if we willingly give you the violet ball?”

“What?”

“What nonsense.”

Charon whipped his head around to glare at Hector, and I looked at him with a bit of surprise in my expression.

If this was the Hector I knew, he would’ve never made a suggestion like that.

It was true that I’d landed a serious blow on the Master of the Cave...

But he’d escaped from me in that state.

My attack hadn’t been fatal.

Meaning they had needed to do a lot to actually defeat the monster... yet now he was freely offering to give up the reward for their effort.

Of course, Hector seems to have some understanding of my skill level...

Giving up because he would lose if he fought... that option hadn’t existed in the original Hector’s mindset.

Hector had learned to suppress his ego.

“Sorry, but that won’t do,” I responded with a bright smile.

Honestly, I was even more interested after seeing Hector’s reaction.

I wanted to check just how he had lived in the last four weeks of the training camp.

Hector let out a sigh. “I knew you would say that.”

Clang!

As he drew his sword and lashed out, I responded in kind with my Sword of Seven Sins.

I couldn’t help but whistle at our first exchange.

The power I could feel coming through my sword was overwhelming.

In our short clash of blades, I realized that Hector’s swordsmanship had improved quite a bit.

That wasn’t all.

“Elder Brother, did you perhaps spar with Instructor Tanko?”

“I did.”

As I thought.

I could feel a more beastly nature in his sword swings.

These wild movements hadn’t been part of Hector’s repertoire before, which was to be expected given he’d been receiving structured lessons from tutors since he was young.

It’s good.

His stiff swordsmanship had found some flexibility.

The fact that he had fixed his weaknesses meant that he himself had internally recognized that he was lacking.

There weren’t many martial artists who could recognize their own shortcomings.

While this was happening...

Pwing!

I quickly dodged the arrow that was fired at me amidst our spar.

“Looks like you haven’t grown at all.”

“Are you also going to judge me?”

I smirked before attacking Hector with my right hand.

Hector quickly retracted his sword hand to defend against my attack, but the power of my palm wasn’t meant to destroy, only to push him away.

“Kugh...!”

Hector’s body was lifted into the air as he was flung toward the wall of the cave.

I could see him trying to immediately regain his stance, but I threw the Sword of Seven Sins at him before he could do so.

Stab!

Perhaps it was obvious, but I didn’t want to kill Hector or even leave him with a major injury.

The Sword of Seven Sins caught Hector’s clothes and embedded itself into the wall.

It would take some time for him to escape that pin.

While Hector was busy with that, I charged toward Charon.

P-p-pwing.

Charon fired his arrows at me again. I dodged two of them and grabbed the last with my hand.

“Hah...! Then try grabbing this!”

The edge of Charon’s mouth curled as he fired just a single arrow at me.

Its trajectory was quite honest.

Your traps are too obvious.

Maybe it was because he had only fought beasts and monsters?

No matter how clever they were, they still weren’t as smart as humans.

I let out a chuckle and decided to face this trap head-on.

I grabbed the arrow out of the air with my hand.

“Idiot!”

As Charon shouted his insult, I felt the heat coming off of the arrow.

A small explosion followed.

Boom!

As the dust cloud blocked our vision, I heard Charon’s voice from beyond it.

“Things like this happen when you trust your opponent’s words blindly, Luan Bednicker. That arm will be useless now—”

At this moment, I dashed through the dirt cloud and arrived directly in front of Charon.

I saw his eyes go wide as I used the arrow I had been holding as a shortsword.

“Keuk!”

Charon quickly focused on dodging.

“You’re putting your all into dodging. Did you apply poison to the arrow or something?”

He didn’t have the time to respond.

At this point, I felt a presence behind me. Hector had finally returned to the fight.

“...”

Even though he was behind me, he didn’t try to attack me. He recognized that any openings I gave him were a trap.

As I continued to attack Charon, I said, “Elder Brother.”

“Wh-what is it?”

“You can get hit a little less today. Step away.”

“Huh?” Hector responded, sounding uncharacteristically dumb, so I spoke again.

“Step back if you don’t want to die.”

Hector became silent for a moment before taking a violet ball out from his pocket and placing it on the ground.

“...Thanks.”

Charon laughed in disbelief. “You bastards, just because you share blood, you’re doing—”

Slap!

I slapped Charon’s cheek with the hand holding the arrow.

“...”

When I did, he was struck in a daze, as if this was the first time he had been hit on the cheek.

I mean, I guess it is his first time in this timeline?

In any case.

“Since Elder Brother has stepped away, you’ll need to receive his share as well.”

“Stop spouting non—”

Slap!

“Who do you think I—”

Slap!

“Listen when someone is talk—”

Slap! Slap!

After a moment of silence, Hector said, “I... I will go and see if there is a way out.”

“Sure.”

“W-wait! Hector. What happened to our temporary allia—”

“I don’t remember anything like that.”

“You son of a—”

Slap! Slap!

Hector ignored the familiar sound as he coldly turned away.

* * * * *

* * * * *

In the end, I obtained the three violet balls, but I still hadn’t fulfilled my goal.

I needed to mess with the people who had about as many points as me.

My current point total was 14 plus 75, for a total of 89...

Although I’d ended up getting all the violet balls, which were worth 25 points each, there were still balls worth 15 and 20 points.

Depending on the balls obtained by those in the 30- to 60-point range, I could be overtaken.

After thinking for a second, I came up with something clever.

“You got it, guys. We’re now in a temporary alliance.”

“...”

Charon’s mouth flickered at “temporary alliance,” but since I’d healed him right before suggesting it, he didn’t say anything.

I had been healed by Master like this frequently, so I understood what he was thinking right now.

Hector asked, “A temporary alliance?”

“Yeah. The two of you want to keep your high ranks, right?”

“Of course.”

“All right, then let’s do this: First of all, I’m going to keep stealing all the balls you find.”

When I said that, their expressions became grim.

“So your points will stay the same until the end of the test.”

“What are you planning...?”

“It’s simple. If you want to keep your current ranks, you’ll need to mess with the other young heroes so that they can’t get any more balls.”

That was my plan.

I would ensure all the young heroes who had joined the special test ended with the same amount of points they’d started with.

At my irresponsible words, Charon snidely remarked, “Then aren’t we just cleaning up after you? How is this an alliance?”

“Do you really think that? Hey, Charon, think about it. Even with three violet balls, I only have 89 points. It’s impossible for me to get first place even if I die and come back.”

“...”

“My goal is only to make it into the top three. I need to get a podium finish for personal reasons, so I don’t mind if Elder Brother Hector overtakes me. I won’t say anything.”

“Hm.”

Hector nodded as he felt that I was telling the truth.

“I got it... It’s true that if we want to be in the top three, we have no choice but to steal the balls of the other young heroes.”

“That’s right. Charon, you have 102 points, right? If Sellen somehow gets three indigo balls, she will obtain 60 points for a total of 109. You’ll lose your first-place spot.”

“...”

“Since it’s going to be like that, I’m asking you to stop the other young heroes as well.”

Only now did Charon realize that I wasn’t talking nonsense, and he took a moment to think about it.

Honestly, I could’ve just beaten him into submission, but I was still willing to give him this bare-minimum level of respect.

And since he wasn’t a weak-willed individual with low self-esteem, there was a limit to what physical violence could do.

As expected, after Charon finished organizing his thoughts, he said, “...If I can maintain my rank this way, then sure, I’ll accept.”

“All right. Then let’s maintain our first, second, and third place spots like good friends.”

I put my hand forward with a smile on my face.

“One, two, three, teamwork!”

“...”

“...”

The two least expressive young heroes did not respond to my cheer.

***

After leaving Charon and Hector behind, I left the cave.

Although walking around with them didn’t feel like a bad idea, I suddenly felt a desire to be alone.

Today is Friday...

The test would end Monday night, meaning there were still three days to go.

It was neither a short time nor a long time. It was, however, just the right amount of time for me to rest.

When I had been truly focused on my training on Spirit Mountain, I had received periodic periods of rest from my master, and they had usually lasted exactly three days.

—Master definitely knows a lot. Two nights and three days is the perfect length for a rest. One night and two days is too short, and three nights and four days is too long.

Third Senior Brother, the most talkative of the bunch, had agreed with my thoughts.

And for some reason, I felt that I wouldn’t have many opportunities to roam the Forest of the Butterfly like this after the test, so I decided to treat this place as a sort of rest spot.

For now, I used the shack east of the main camp as my base and momentarily escaped my orderly lifestyle.

After napping for multiple hours, I was unable to sleep at night, so I stayed awake until morning.

I even laid down on a thick branch and looked up at the night sky to count the stars through the leaves.

During this period, I forgot about the special test, the demon lords I’d met in Hell, and the duty that had been given to me.

I didn’t even consider circulating my internal energy.

I was satisfied by this lazy moment, something I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Food was the one pain point.

When I got hungry, I would go down to the river to catch fish to cook, but naturally, they didn’t taste particularly good.

I wanted to eat other meats and fruits to cleanse my palate, but...

Monsters vanished immediately after being killed, and although we were past the height of winter and arriving in spring, the weather was still too cold for any fruit to grow.

Regardless, my heart was very calm.

Now that I think about it, I haven’t spent a peaceful moment like this since my regression.

I wasn’t talking about the regression in the training camp.

I’d had practically no time to rest since waking up again as the fifteen-year-old Luan Bednicker.

I mean, my tendon was in danger of being severed the moment I opened my eyes.

After that, I’d nearly died during my travels in the Gem Mountains, and after coming down to the main house, I’d been swept up in many different incidents.

Honestly, thanks to my nature as a martial artist, even this hectic and tough life didn’t seem that bad...

But I also felt that everyone needed a moment to rest.

Staying alone like this once in a while didn’t feel bad.

When I felt the presence of other young heroes near me, I avoided them on purpose, and I didn’t mess with monsters as long as they didn’t enter my area.

Like this, one day passed, then two days... and then finally the morning of the final day of the training camp arrived.

“...”

I looked at the rising sun and circulated my Strongest Fire Technique for the first time in a while...

And I was slightly surprised.

I didn’t know why, but my inner core’s internal energy was settling in an odd shape.

How could I put this...

My internal and exterior energies, which had been clashing awkwardly since my regression, finally seemed to be moving in tandem.

“Ah.”

I realized something.

Even my body needed time to adapt. I needed these moments of rest so my body could settle.

Fwoosh...

I enjoyed the morning rays as I began my circulation.

A balanced body and my Strongest Fire Technique, which had reached its next stage.

The amount of internal energy that was piling up in my body increased multiple times.

Since I was on a roll, I even tried melting the mystic bead a little.

“Oh.”

As expected, it was much quicker to do so. At the current rate, I could probably melt the entirety of the mystic bead in half a year at most.

“I think... I took two steps forward today.”

I chuckled as I stood up. Clear and refreshing air enveloped my lungs.

Just four weeks ago, the morning of the forest had been quite chilly, but it had warmed up quite a bit now.

Spring would arrive soon.

“...?”

At this moment, my heightened senses detected a presence I couldn’t ignore.

The origin of the presence was approaching me quickly but silently through the forest.

I couldn’t sense any hostility yet, but...

Dash.

Soon, a young man in a proper suit appeared before me.

His face was familiar.

“You are...”

“Collector Jein.”

“Right.”

For some reason, he looked much more proper than when we’d last met.

“Do you have business with me?”

“Young Master Luan, we have been relayed the general situation from the Instructor of Doctrine. I learned of the situation as I was given the message to relay. Firstly, I wish to show my respect for your great accomplishment.”

As Jein said that, he took a bow.

When I saw his face again as he lifted his head back up, I felt a sense of goodwill from him. Even as a son of the Lord of Blood and Iron, receiving a collector’s goodwill was very rare.

Just like with Kayan, these people were hunting dogs who would raise their swords even against the direct bloodline of the house—so long as their mission called for it.

As expected of House Bednicker’s staff.

As the house placed skill and achievement above all else, even their servants and staff had similar thoughts.

I nodded.

I had a feeling I knew why he was here.

“It’s forbidden for an outsider to enter the training camp while the camp is ongoing.”

“Yes.”

“But the fact that you can confidently reveal yourself to me like this means...”

“...There is only one person who can stand above the house laws of House Bednicker.” Jein wore a faint smile as he said, “The family head has summoned you.”