Chapter 48

Even though House Zieghart mostly consisted of swordsmen, it also employed a magic tower because of various necessities.

Although the magic tower's magicians were treated pretty well, since they couldn't become the main members of the family they were often looked down upon by the swordsmen.

Jake was a fifth-circle magician of magic tower that felt bad about the situation.

Salary, free time, and research funds were all top notch, but the fact that they were looked down on by the swordsmen and that they weren't the key members of the family felt suffocating.

While he had such thoughts, he was invited to the Central Martial Palace for the first time, where one of the most important members of the house, Karoon Zieghart, resided.

Jake swallowed hard and raised his head. He felt an intense pressure from Karoon Zieghart, who was looking at him. His throat trembled.

'Why did he call me?'

Their status was as far apart as the earth from the heavens, and they weren't related in any way. He couldn't understand why he had called him.

"I heard that you will be supporting the fifth training ground for actual battle training next week."

"Ah, yes! That's true."

Jake lowered his head with a trembling voice. He was supposed to support the fifth training ground's actual battle training, following Verbin's command as the vice master of the magic tower.

"I called on you because I have a request."

"A request…?"

Karoon was one of the influential figures of Zieghart. Granting his request would certainly help him immensely in the future.

"P-please tell me."

Stuttering a bit, Jake lowered his head.

"In this actual battle training, I heard an orc was going to be summoned against the children."

"That's right."

"About that orc, can it be strengthened?"

"That was already requested by the fifth training ground's head instructor. He said a normal orc wasn't suitable for the drill because the trainees are too good."

"Ah, not just that, but I'm asking if it can be strengthened to a point where they stand no chance of winning."

'Should they have no chance of winning?'

Jake swallowed.

'Is he targeting one of the children?'

It looked like Karoon was planning to either kill or hurt one of the children from the fifth training ground.

"It's possible! If you tell me which trainee is your target…"

"Target? That's some strange thing to say."

Karoon's cold voice resounded throughout the extensive Central Martial Palace.

"Ah, e-excuse me. I need to be careful since my magic sometimes goes awry. Which trainee should I be paying attention to in particular?"

"Hmph. It's Raon."

Karoon, who seemed satisfied with his wording, slowly nodded.

"Raon Zieghart…"

Jake's eyes shone. He knew that Raon had defeated Burren, who was Karoon's son. He could finally understand Karoon's intentions.

'He is targeting Raon.'

After winning against the third prince of the Owen Kingdom recently, he'd been praised as the very best among the trainees. There was no doubt that Karoon's target was Raon.

"Despite it being a drill, it's pretty common to get injured during actual battle training. And there are rare occasions of that injury being permanent.'

"That's true. I've seen that happen a few times as well."

"That's why I've prepared a decent monster."

When Karoon snapped his fingers, the butler that was standing at his right side brought along an orc over two meters tall.

Jake swallowed hard. He could immediately tell since he was very experienced with dealing with orcs. Even though the orc in front of him looked plain, he was at an extraordinary level.

"It's an orc from the Dollan Mountains."

"Dollan Mountains…"

The Dollan Mountains were a vicious area where many powerful monsters resided. An orc living there would've been at a completely different level from a normal orc.

"I'd like you to look after him by sending out this orc, so that no misfortune will happen to him."

Karoon rolled up the corners of his lips. He told him to look after him, but he meant to give him a permanent injury using the orc.

"Ah. And if, by any chance, the orc ends up causing trouble—take care of it immediately, so that it won't cause any problem afterwards. If you properly complete this job, I'll recommend you as the vice master of the magic tower in the future."

"Th-thank you!"

"You should leave."

"Yes! I'll obey no matter what."

Jake bowed until his nose almost touched the ground. Saving the orc using the Save Monster magic, he left Karoon's room.

"Did anyone see him come here?"

Karoon turned his head to the butler that had brought the orc.

"Since he took a detour to the inner part, there's no one that knows the magician came to this place."

"He has quick wits. Support him once he successfully handles this matter."

"Shall I support him until he becomes the vice master of the magic tower?"

"Of course not. Just enough that he will do anything to get more."

"Understood."

The butler smiled. He bowed his head and left the room.

"Raon Zieghart…"

Karoon murmured Raon's name in a low voice.

He won against his son Burren, defeated Martha, and made the third prince kneel even though he was called Owen's future.

As the master of Central Martial Palace and division leader of Striding Steads, it wasn't a big deal to him. However, his activity was becoming an eyesore.

More importantly, he was getting Father's attention, albeit slightly.

He wasn't going to be an obstacle to Karoon becoming the head of house, but getting rid of annoying things as fast as possible was the correct course of action.

'I should get rid of him before he grows up even more.'

That was the way he'd grown up, and the method he was taught in that cold place.

* * *

After finishing his night training in the training ground, Raon returned to the annex building. He walked through the hallway silently because it was late at night, yet Sylvia's door burst open.

"Raon!"

Aa the door collided against the wall, Sylvia dashed out, a red light radiating from her eyes.

"Ugh!"

"Did you just say ugh from seeing your mother? Ugggghhhh?"

"No, that's…"

"Did you promise to stroll through the garden with your mom or not?"

"Ah!"

Raon's jaw dropped.

'I forgot.'

Because of what happened the day before, he was so focused on training that he'd completely forgotten about it.

"You forgot! You definitely forgot!"

"That's not it."

"What are you saying? This is the first time in three days that I'm seeing you awake!"

Sylvia walked towards him and raised her hand.

"M-Mom?"

Raon stepped back, frowning.

"Why do you think I asked you to promise me a stroll?"

"Uh?"

"Training is great, but resting is also important. Because rest is part of training."

Sylvia smiled softly and started patting Raon's head.

"Since you are training at the training ground every day, please rest when you are here. At least for half a day."

"Ah, okay."

Raon lowered his head.

'I don't know what to do whenever I'm in front of her.'

Sylvia, Helen, and the maids. It wasn't that he disliked them.

If he actually disliked them, he would've run away already.

Since he was afraid of his affection growing even further towards those who'd been taking care of him since birth, he was forcing himself to keep a distance from them.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"You say that whenever I come back."

"Of course! I have to ask, since my son's goal is to become a swordsman!"

Even before hearing the answer, she started to check different parts of Raon's body. Ignoring him even when he said he was okay, she only released him once she confirmed he was alright.

"I told you I wasn't hurt. I'll be going, then…"

"Not yet."

Sylvia shook her head and hugged Raon tightly.

"I stink of sweat."

Since he'd returned after training without washing his body, he was in terrible condition. But Sylvia didn't let him go.

"It doesn't stink at all, so don't worry."

"Hmm…"

"It feels great to hug my son after such a long time. I can also tell how much you've grown."

She let him go after hugging him for a long time. Her eyes shone happily, like a star.

"Did you eat already?"

"Of course I did. It was before I came back."

"Good job with your training. You can go back and rest."

Sylvia murmured that she would have a sweet dream, having hugged her son after a long time, and went back to her room.

When Raon was about to return to his room while shaking his head, he met Helen's eyes as she stood at the end of the hallway.

"Young master, I'll fill up the bathtub. Please take a bath before resting."

She smiled before disappearing sideways like a ghost. He could hear her laughing along as her footsteps got further away.

"Haa…"

Whenever he was home, he was unable to control his ability nor his emotions. However, since he didn't dislike it, it was just awkward.

Feeling even more tired than when he trained, he went back to his room.

"Ah, I'm so tired…"

As he was resting for a bit in his chair, a knocking sound could be heard, and the door opened soon after that.

"Young master, the bathtub is ready."

He thought it was Helen, but it was Judiel who stuck her head in.

"Alright."

"I have something to tell you."

As he was about to stand up after nodding, Judiel entered the room and closed the door.

"It's about the Central Martial Palace."

"Central Martial Palace?"

The Central Martial Palace was Karoon Zieghart's castle, where Judiel was sent from.

"Continue."

Raon sat back in his seat, his red eyes gleaming.

"Yes."

Judiel knelt in front of Raon and lowered her head. They looked like a king and his retainer.

"I've received an order from the Central Martial Palace to grasp and report everything young master Raon does once he returns to the annex building."

"It must mean that they are plotting something."

"That seems to be the case."

"...Is it about the real battle?"

Raon murmured the words that Rimmer told him that day.

"By real battle, you mean…"

"Instructor Rimmer said there will be actual battle training next week. I think he will make his move there."

"Ah!"

Judiel suddenly lifted her head.

"Now that I think about it, trainees sometimes get to fight monsters during their actual battle training."

"I heard about that, too."

He remembered Dorian screaming that they would probably fight monsters at the end of the training that day.

"Then he probably took measures on the monster, or on the magician who will be handling the monster, or…"

Raon closed his eyes and continued.

"It might be both."

***

The next Monday, Jake went to the fifth training ground one hour earlier than the appointed time.

'I have to do well.'

In order to succeed in this damned place, connections were necessary.

Until now, he'd never even gotten the worst possible connections. But what was offered to him this time wasn't just a decent connection, but one strong enough to lead him to the heavens.

For the sake of his future, he needed to inflict a serious injury to Raon no matter what. That was the only way to gain Karoon Zieghart's favor.

'I don't even need to worry about the aftermath.'

Raon Zieghart's background was almost non-existent, and Karoon was a man that could become the next head of house. It was already decided who he needed to act for.

"Ha…"

Jake caught his breath and opened the door to the fifth training ground. He could see the trainees practicing their swordsmanship through the sandy dust.

Since it wasn't the appointed time yet, he went to the outside border and watched the trainees.

'That boy is Burren, and the one next to him must be Martha.'

Jake recognized the important trainees that he needed to not mess with, using the descriptions that he'd heard before.

'The one over there is Runaan, the youngest of house Sullion, and…'

Finally, his gaze was directed at the golden-haired boy that was swinging his sword at the right side of the training ground.

'Is that boy Raon? He looks incredibly handsome.'

The way he was moving his feet and swinging his sword looked like a beautiful picture.

'I'm sorry, but I have no choice. I won't kill you at least.'

Jake bit his lip and sent a small amount of killing intent towards Raon. It was weak pressure that he was unconsciously emitting, too small for even a perceptive swordsman or a wild animal to sense.

However.

One person reacted to it.

Raon, who had been focused on his sword, directed his gaze towards Jake.

"Eek!"

In a fright, Jake bumped his back against the wall and collapsed. He felt his heart tightened the moment he saw Raon's red eyes.

"Kugh…"

As if he was standing naked in front of a savage beast, he couldn't move a single finger.

'Wh-who is that guy…'

____

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