Chapter 375

Raon walked up to the door of the mansion. He could ascertain once he got closer that Sylvia, Helen, and the annex building's maids were inside the mansion.

However, there were others with them, and they were the ones that he wished would join Zieghart.

'I want to try going inside.'

It would've been a different story if they were sleeping, but he decided to enter since everyone was awake.

Creak.

He walked up to the entrance and opened the door. The warm atmosphere and comfortable dim lighting poured out towards him just like at the annex building.

He could feel the touch of the annex building's maids from the neatly arranged foyer.

'All of them are over there.'

He could sense people in the largest room located on the right. Raon carefully opened the door to avoid making any sound and entered the room.

Unlike the foyer, the lighting inside the room was only directed on the platform.

Yua, Helen, and the maids were controlling the dolls behind a black desk on the platform, and Raon could see the back of the heads of the children who were focused on watching the show.

They are the children from before!

Wrath flew towards them and shouted in joy after confirming their faces.

They were alive all this time! What a relief!

He smiled brightly, saying that the young ones deserve a long life. It was difficult to believe that those kindhearted words came from a demon king.

But what are your maids doing right now?

'It looks like they are doing a puppet show.'

Yua was controlling a doll that looked like a blond knight, and the other maids were controlling soldiers and monster dolls.

"The monsters' attack intensified even further. The castle walls were eventually destroyed, and the soldiers fell beneath the castle."

Sylvia was reading some kind of script on the side of the stage. She seemed to be the narrator.

"In that crisis, where the brutal monsters approached the collapsed soldiers!"

As Sylvia spoke, Yua moved her hands to make the blond doll jump down the castle walls.

"The hero, Raon Zieghart, jumped down the castle walls and stood in front of the soldiers!"

She smiled gently and continued.

"The monsters were defeated one after the other by Raon Zieghart's excellent swordsmanship."

"Aaaaah!"

The maids, who were controlling the monsters, started to scream and threw the monster dolls on the ground.

"Kuaaaah!"

Judiel knocked down a monster doll with unexpectedly realistic acting.

"Raon Zieghart didn't take a single step back, remaining at the base of the castle walls to protect the people until the golden sun replaced the red moon."

The maids knocked down all of the monster dolls, along with Sylvia's powerful voice.

Yulius crawled towards the desk and removed the model of the moon before replacing it with a sun.

"The one who protected the cold castle walls of the frozen plateau wasn't a knight…"

Yua started to sing while controlling the doll representing Raon. Her clear and ringing voice drew everyone's gazes inside the room.

Raon smiled while wagging his finger with the tune.

'She's gotten even better.'

Yua's voice and singing had improved even further. She truly sounded like a bewitching singer.

Pineapple Girl! Pineapple Girl!

Wrath was frantically shaking his round fist towards Yua. The white frost emerging from his fist was sparkling like a star.

"Raon."

Raon was smiling while listening to Yua's song when Saint Federick, who looked like a beggar, walked towards him from the side. Raon hadn't spoken to him before because he was focusing on the show.

"It's been a while, esteemed saint."

"How does it feel to hear about your achievement?"

"It's embarrassing."

Raon scratched his cheek and shook his head.

"I heard it's true. There's no reason to be embarrassed."

"It looks like the story was slightly modified."

"That girl said that it was one hundred percent true."

Federick smiled gently while looking at Yua, who was controlling the doll version of Raon Zieghart.

'So, Yua wrote the script.'

Since she was pretty much the only one who knew everything that happened, it was obvious that she would've written the script.

Raon watched the focused children under the platform for a while before he turned towards Federick.

"Thank you for granting my request."

He straightened his back and bowed to Federick.

"You don't need to thank me."

Federick shook his hand as faintly as the waves on the shore.

"I would've helped even if you didn't ask. Don't worry about it."

He smiled, saying that it was only natural for a human being to help in such a matter.

"By the way…"

Raon asked while watching the ongoing puppet show.

"Why are they doing a puppet show at this hour?"

The children were indeed at an age where they would love a puppet show, but Raon couldn't understand why they were doing it late at night when they were supposed to be sleeping.

"Because the night is terrifying for them."

"Ah…"

"I heard they trained them as assassins during the night. They were tortured and learned to kill people instead of sleeping, so the night is bound to be terrifying for them."

Federick declared nonchalantly, but his trembling hand revealed his anger.

"That's why those children can't sleep at night. Even if they manage to fall asleep, they immediately have nightmares and wake up to strangle themselves."

"I see…"

Raon bit his lip.

'That's to be expected.'

Raon obviously knew about it since he'd experienced it in his previous life. The night was hell and the most terrifying moment of the day.

"That puppet show is a form of psychotherapy with the purpose of turning their fear into joy. I thought it would be difficult to achieve, but they gladly volunteered to help."

Federick smiled while watching Sylvia and the maids, who were focusing wholeheartedly on the puppet play.

"Is it effective?"

"It's only from late at night, but they manage to sleep until sunrise without waking up in between."

"Does that mean it's possible to undo the brainwashing?"

"Yes."

Federick nodded without hesitation.

"They can be cured because they were saved before the brainwashing was completed."

"…Thank you."

Raon was relieved and closed his eyes. He finally felt better after hearing Federick's confirmation—he'd been worried all along over whether the brainwashing could be removed or not.

Haaa!

Wrath also breathed out a deep sigh of relief.

What a relief! The young ones must be cherished regardless of race!

He snorted, once again not sounding like a demon king.

"What are you planning to do with the children once their treatment is over?"

"I want to let them choose their path."

Raon responded honestly while watching the children. He wanted to grant them an ordinary life that the Raon from his previous life and the deceased Number 9 had never obtained.

"I didn't even need to ask."

Federick patted Raon's shoulder pleasantly.

"Anyone would've done the same. I didn't do anything special."

Raon shook his hand, saying it wasn't a big deal. Federick stared at his hand for a while before the smile disappeared from his face.

"I'm sorry for spoiling the fun, but I need to deliver bad news."

"Bad news?"

"It's not about the children… but I don't think I can save the ones with complete brainwashing."

Federick bit his lip while looking up into the dark space.

"The children are brainwashed through a method that consists of coiling their brain with a hundreds-meter-long wire to create an indestructible fence. It's practically impossible to undo the brainwashing once it's completed. It will never be removed unless the survival instinct takes over the body when they are on the verge of death."

"On the verge of death…"

'Is that how I was freed from the brainwashing?'

The brainwashing was loosened because he was on the verge of death during the mission, and it gave him room to learn the Ring of Fire.

It must've been a combination of multiple lucky incidents that allowed him to escape Derus's brainwashing.

"It's so bad that I can't guarantee that it can be undone even if you catch the perpetrator. If you encounter anyone who has been brainwashed, I believe it would be best to send them off peacefully…"

Federick lowered his head, apologizing for his inability to help.

"No, the person who brainwashed them is the one to be blamed."

Raon sighed. In the end, it was necessary to kill Derus to end the hellish battle.

'I need to get stronger even faster.'

His speed of growth was already unprecedented, but he wanted to get stronger even faster to end Derus's era.

"Since I delivered the bad news, I'll tell you the good news this time."

Federick raised his finger and pointed at his heart.

"I can't undo the brainwashing, but I should be able to solve the issue with the rage worms."

"Really?"

"I need some time, but I should be able to create a method to remove the worm from inside the heart."

The way he spoke implied that he was pretty much certain he could achieve it.

The ones with rage worms were Derus's closest vassals. It wasn't going to be impossible to find Derus's weakness if he could make them talk.

"It doesn't matter how expensive it is. Please research it."

"You must've earned some money from your outing."

"Yes, it just happened…"

Raon simply nodded and told him about how Sephia's president decided to help him.

"Huh! The Sephia company?"

Federick's jaw dropped because he didn't expect at all that the Sephia company would side with Zieghart. The puppet show was paused because of his shout, and everyone looked back at them.

"Esteemed saint, what's the matt—huh? Raon!"

"Young master?"

"When did you get here?"

"The young master is back!"

Sylvia, Helen, and the maids hurriedly jumped down from the platform.

"Boys and girls! This man is Sir Raon! Raon Zieghart!"

Yua even used aura in her voice to tell everyone Raon's name.

"Raon?"

"Th-the real hero?"

"Raon! Raon! Raon!"

"Wooooow!"

The children, who were sitting on chairs, came running towards Raon like a swarm of bees.

"Did you really fight for an entire week to save people?"

"Did you really defeat the demon king?"

"Did you also kill a dragon?"

He couldn't understand what was wrong with Yua's script, because they even thought that he'd killed a demon king and a dragon.

"No, that's not… Ah."

'That girl…'

Raon was shaking his head and met a young girl's eyes, who had previously introduced herself as Pine.

Her eyes, which used to be filled with darkness, were now brimming with hope and she was holding hands with her friend—the one who pointed her sword at her in the underground.

Upon seeing her face, which was incomparably brighter than before, something deep inside his soul melted. It could've been the grudge from his previous life, his hope, or the resentment left behind by Number 9.

"Yes."

Raon nodded at the children while sending off the unknown emotion.

"I did defeat a demon king."

"Really?"

"Did you really defeat a demon king?"

"Yes. This demon king is called Wrath the Doormat."

"Wooow!"

The children raised their hands and shouted in joy.

Wrath the Doormat…

Wrath didn't understand at first, but blue flames of anger ignited in his eyes.

You bastard!

The day after, at noon, Raon went to the North Grave Mountain's cliff after finishing a leisurely lunch.

Since he'd already conveyed a message in the morning, every single member of the Light Wind squad was warming up under the cliff. Unlike the day before, their expressions were extremely pleasant and cheerful as they warmed up under the cliff.

"Raon."

Runaan was the first one to come running at him and nodded her head.

"You are late."

Burren was the second, and he smiled at Raon.

"Your past self would've arrived with daybreak. You've gotten lazy."

Martha clicked her tongue at his pathetic behavior.

"I wanted to eat some homemade dishes since it's been a while."

Wrath was sulking from what happened the day before, and he kept whining that he wanted to eat lunch at home. That was why he had no choice but to eat both breakfast and lunch in the annex building before he came out.

The King of Essence is satisfied.

His mood had improved, and he was floating like he swimming on his back, a grin on his face.

Raon walked up to the Gambling Monster, who was leaning his back against the cliff.

"General administrator, thank you for your work."

"You are finally back after dumping all of the annoying work on me. I thought I was going to die from boredom."

"But the squad members have improved drastically."

"I was too bored to just leave them alone."

"Thank you."

The Gambling Monster frowned and turned his head away. Raon bowed in thanks because it was all because of him that the Light Wind members managed to achieve such growth.

"Are we climbing the cliff again today?"

"Isn't it enough with what we've done yesterday?"

"I fell like ten times already…"

The Light Wind members sighed, saying that they didn't want to do that again.

"Ugh, h-hello."

Raon looked aside upon hearing a groan, and Dorian was standing there covered with bandages all over his body. Raon wouldn't even have recognized him if he didn't have his belly pocket.

"What is that sorry state?"

"I-it's because of you, vice squad leader!"

"Me? What did I do?"

"You made me throw the rocks and left yesterday. That's why everyone believed that I'd been throwing them all along!"

Dorian pointed at the Light Wind members, urging him to reveal the truth.

"Ah…"

Raon chuckled while looking at Dorian and the Light Wind members.

'I see what happened.'

He could understand why Dorian was covered in bandages. He was expecting him to stop at some point, but he kept throwing the rocks instead and ended up getting caught by Burren, Martha, and Runaan just to get beaten up afterward.

"I told you to stop after doing it the first time."

Raon shook his hand while feigning ignorance.

"Wh-when did you even…?"

Dorian dropped his jaw. His mouth was wide enough for even a toad to enter.

"No, I did…"

"I knew it!"

"That bastard!"

"You are dead to me after this!"

The Light Wind members glared at him with bloodshot eyes, and Dorian's pale lips were trembling in fear.

"Is everyone here?"

A weak voice could be heard from the right side. Raon looked around and found Rimmer, whose red hair was scorched black and whose eyes had turned black from bruises.

"And what's wrong with that sorry state, squad leader?"

"I don't even know, man. Stop asking and get started already."

Rimmer leaned his back against the cliff and started complaining about his life.

'This is a really interesting group.'

Raon chuckled and stood in front of the squad members.

"Line up."

Since it'd been a long time since the last time he ordered them to line up, the Light Wind members who couldn't focus gathered at once and stood in a line. The sharp glimmer in their eyes looked like there would be no issues even if a battle broke out right away.

"I'll start by introducing him to you. Sir Mark."

Mark Goetten had been staying in the back, but he stepped forward once his name was called.

"I believe you remember his face."

"We do remember far too well. The only issue is that our first encounter was with him rescuing us."

Burren shook his chin in disbelief while looking at Mark Goetten.

"He looks extremely skilled. Who is he?"

Martha's eyes rolled like a black pearl. She seems to see him as a worthy opponent.

"He's good at catching."

Runaan bowed slightly, saying that the landing was nice and comfortable.

"His name is Mark Goetten. He's a saber user who used to be a knight, and while he's not part of the Light Wind squad yet, we will be working together often in the future. You should get along with him."

Raon was planning to let him join the Light Wind squad if that was his desire. However, he just wanted to be a vassal, which was why he was affiliated with the annex building.

"..."

Runaan stared blankly at Mark Goetten. She didn't exactly seem interested in his name or position.

"I never heard his name before."

Martha murmured Mark Goetten's name a few times. She didn't seem to know about him.

"Mark Goetten? Wait, is he the Saber of the Fallen Flower—ah!"

Burren was going to say his nickname and covered his mouth.

"That's me."

Mark Goetten took a step forward and nodded.

"My name is Mark Goetten, often called the Saber of the Fallen Flower, which implies that I'm a fallen warrior."

He confidently revealed the meaning behind his nickname and smiled.

"I was submerged at even lower than the ground level, but Sir Raon's teachings enlightened me. I hope we can get along."

Mark Goetten bowed politely to the Light Wind warriors, who were far younger than himself.

"Welcome!"

Burren was the first one to applaud and smile cheerfully. He looked like he could relate for some reason.

"Let's have a spar later!"

"Do you like bead ice cream?"

"Let's get along in the future!"

"Whoaaa!"

Martha and Runaan sounded like their usual selves, and the other Light Wind members also cheered with smiles on their faces.

Clap!

Raon loudly clapped his hands when Mark Goetten and the Light Wind members finished introducing themselves to each other. The Light Wind members immediately became serious and looked at him.

Raon walked in between the swordsmen and blocked their mana circuits.

"Yes, you guys need some pain and suffering… Huh?"

Raon pressed on Rimmer's neck as he giggled to block his mana circuit, and then he turned around with widened eyes.

"R-Raon? I think you just made a mistake. You accidentally blocked my aura…"

"It wasn't a mistake. You also need to participate, squad leader."

"Man! I'm the squad leader here…"

"You said that you would entrust your training to me until you recover your might."

Raon narrowed his eyes at Rimmer.

"Even so, I can't train alongside children at my age!"

"Squad leader, I can see the fat in your belly. You skipped physical training and only focused on aura cultivation, didn't you?"

"Ugh, I-I…"

Rimmer flinched and lowered his eyes.

"I'll let you go if you manage to reach the summit once."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Raon nodded and looked down upon the Light Wind squad.

"The same goes for you. I'll exempt you from this training if you manage to overcome my interference and reach the summit a single time."

"Ooh!"

"Alright!"

"I'm already used to it! I'll put an end to it today!"

The Light Wind members looked at each other and shouted that they could do it.

Raon bowed to the Gambling Monster next to him while listening to their cheers.

"General Administrator, I leave it to you."

"Seriously, you are making me do all kinds of stuff."

He laughed bitterly at the ridiculous job he was given and went towards the cliff. The Gambling Monster was in charge of security because Mark Goetten also needed to join the training.

"See you later."

Raon cheerfully waved his hand and climbed to the top in an instant. Once he reached the summit, he shouted towards the ground.

"The training starts now!"

"Let's gooo!"

"Today is going to be the last day of this shitty training!"

"Uaaaah!"

As soon as he signaled the start, the Light Wind members leaped like grasshoppers and started climbing the cliff. Since it was in the middle of the day and they'd already climbed multiple times before, they were at least twice as fast as the day before.

"They are fast. It won't be enough, though."

Raon snickered and took out a piece of wood in the shape of a throwing dagger. He placed it between his index and middle fingers before shooting it towards the bottom.

Swoosh!

Along with the powerful sound of the wind, the wooden dagger smacked Krein's cheekbone, since he was at the front.

"Kueh! Why am I the first target agaaaain?!"

Krein screamed loudly and fell down the cliff. The Gambling Monster sighed but still moved to catch him.

"This isn't right."

Raon briefly clicked his tongue and took a book from his clothes. It was the book about Hundred Lightning, the one that he was awarded the other day.

"Ah, the shape of my hand was wrong."

Do-don't tell me, you…

Wrath's lips trembled as he watched Raon.

Are you planning to practice the dagger throw on them?

'Yes.'

Raon nodded proudly.

'I can't miss this opportunity to use such perfect targets.'

The most important part of throwing dagger practice was to hit a moving target. Since Raon had already learned dagger throws in his previous life, he decided to skip the immobile targets and move on to hitting the moving targets.

'They can nurture their senses and responsiveness while I can practice hitting a target. This is how you catch two rabbits with one stone.'

What the hell is wrong with you…?

Wrath shook his head, saying that he really had become a freak.

'This is what you call an efficient training method.'

Raon snickered and threw a second dagger. It flew even faster than the last time and hit a Light Wind member's armpit. The swordsman screamed like a duck from the impact and fell.

"It's still not good enough."

The precision had increased, but the speed was slightly lacking. Raon poured a bit more aura into the wooden dagger and threw it towards a Light Wind member who was climbing the cliff.

Smack! Smack!

Because he was fixing his shortcomings with the book and the Ring of Fire, his dagger throw gradually became faster and more precise as they assaulted the Light Wind members.

"Hiyaaah!"

While Raon was having fun dropping all of the Light Wind members, Rimmer had already reached the midpoint towards the top. He was controlling the wind around him instead of his inner aura to move faster than normal.

"That is against the rules."

Raon shook his head and incorporated as much aura as he could in a dagger before throwing it at Rimmer. The dagger fell like lightning, but a green wind appeared the moment it was about to hit Rimmer's head, changing the dagger's direction and decreasing its speed.

"Little Raon! You are still too young!"

Rimmer grinned, saying that it was how adults dealt with the situation.

"Hmm…"

Raon threw a few more daggers, but Rimmer reduced their speed by controlling the wind before leaping like a cricket to climb the cliff.

"It can't be helped."

Raon didn't panic, drawing his sword instead. The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's Revolving Sky emerged from Heavenly Drive's blade.

Huh…?

Wrath dropped his jaw as he witnessed that scene.

Do-don't tell me, you…

'You guessed right.'

Raon smiled cheerfully and unleashed the fire from the blade towards Rimmer.

Whaam!

The blade rotated like a circular saw blade and completely destroyed the corner of the cliff Rimmer was climbing.

"Ack!"

The wall that he'd been using as a support fell apart entirely, and Rimmer's eyes widened to the brim.

"I never mentioned that I wouldn't be using the sword."

"Raon! You crazy bastaaard!"

Since Rimmer was unable to use his aura just like the rest, he fell with the corner of the cliff.

"Erm…"

"H-how did he become such a freak?"

"Dorian! What's wrong with him?"

"He's always been like that."

Dorian shook his hand at Martha like it wasn't a big deal.

"You shouldn't be cheating."

Raon snickered and returned his sword to its scabbard. When he was about to throw another dagger, a person came towards him from behind with a rustling sound.

"Vice squad leader, long time no see."

Raon turned around. The leader of Shadow Agents, Chad, was bowing at him.

Smack!

Raon hit Dorian's forehead with the dagger he was holding before he bowed back.

"What brought you here?"

"I came to visit because I had good news to deliver."

Chad smiled while putting down the box he was holding.

"The gift from the beast palace has arrived."

"Gift from the beast palace…"

Raon smiled pleasantly while looking back and forth between the box that Chad had brought and the Light Wind members who were climbing the cliff to the best of their abilities.

'I think I can increase the intensity of the training with this.'

…Are you seriously trying to kill them?