Chapter 70

Slash!

Raon cut off the head of the goblin that was about to throw a poison needle at the guide. He also cut the next goblin that was trying to attack him in half.

"Th-thank you."

He nodded at Kanbar's thanks and spread his perception more precisely.

'He is in the east now.'

The gaze observing all the trainees could now be felt from the east. It seemed he had moved from west to east.

'I finally remembered where I felt that gaze before.'

Raon kept his mouth shut tight as he shook off the blood from his sword.

'It was from Eden.'

Eden was one of the Five Demons commonly referred to as the continent's darkness, and they were a group full of lunatics that were arguably the craziest among all kinds of organizations that existed in the world.

Their goal was restoration.

They believed the era of despair, where the humans used to be hunted by monsters and discriminated against by the other races was the Eden. And they wanted to revive the monsters' god to return to that age.

Eden was literally a group of lunatics. Unfortunately, they weren't just crazy. They also possessed a strong power, keeping up with Zieghart.

They could control monsters like tamers or use the monster's ability with a human's body.

Even the continent's prestigious Houses didn't know how they could use such strange power.

'However…'

Raon knew Eden's secret.

'Thanks to Derus Robert.'

He clashed against Eden because of a magic stone retrieval mission he gave to him, and ten groups of shadows, ninety people total, were completely annihilated. He was the only survivor from that hell.

'But how did that bastard even learn about it?'

When he thought about it, Derus already knew from the beginning that Eden used magic stones.

Raon couldn't understand how he learned that fact and didn't disclose it, despite being one of the Six Kings.

Hey, what are you thinking about right now? I can feel a deep and intense wrath.

Wrath burst up from the bracelet, along with a strong chill.

"Hmm…"

Raon frowned. He wasn't sure whether him boiling in anger as soon as he thought about Derus Robert was a good thing or not.

"Haa…"

He sighed to subside his anger and sensed the gaze that was still fixated on them.

'He's probably looking for the goblin king's magic stone.'

According to Kanbar's story, a magic stone must've formed as time passed after the goblin king's death.

There were different kinds of magic stones, but the Eden bastards only looked for magic stones from monsters powerful enough to be renowned.

'I now understand why the monsters are absentminded.'

Eden was letting them kill the monsters so that the trainees, including him, would return quickly after completing the mission.

'They have no intention of attacking us.'

It seemed Eden wasn't planning to show themselves, either in order to avoid Zieghart's attention or in preparation for the instructors or swordsmen that might have followed them.

'It must be an important item since they're going this far.'

The goblin king's magic stone must've been an extremely important item for Eden.

'Anyway, for now…'

Raon furrowed his brows while beheading the orc that was approaching him.

'I have no choice but to return without dealing with them.'

The moment he touched the magic stone that must exist in the mountain, every Eden member in the surrounding area was going to attack them at once, like a swarm of bees.

He might be able to survive, but the trainees and the villagers would certainly die. Therefore, it was best to avoid doing anything stupid—like poking a beehive.

The best course of action was to just kill the monsters and return, pretending he didn't notice anything.

"The monsters are running away! Chase them until the end!"

He raised his head, hearing Burren's energetic voice.

"Let's go. It will be over soon."

Raon gave Kanbar, who had regained his composure, a fake smile. His tongue felt slightly bitter, as if he had chewed on a tree's root.

***

The monster extermination had started in the daybreak and continued smoothly. They managed to reach the top of the mountain before the sun set.

"Kieee!"

Hearing the orc shaman's scream from where it was standing at the top of the mountain, the orcs, kobolds, and goblins came running at them. They looked like a swarm of green bees.

"This is the last!"

Burren pierced the sky, taking up his blood-covered sword.

"A rat can bite a cat if it is driven into a corner. Don't be careless until the end!"

"Ahhhh!"

Burren rushed out, surrounding himself with green aura, and the trainees kicked the ground with a war cry.

"Haa!"

Raon also ran ahead, leaving Kanbar behind, in order to slice the monsters. He moved in a way similar to the other trainees, lowering his sword skills.

'Keep watching.'

He had recognized the owner of the gaze. He was an Eden's scout called 'Red Eye Demon'. He possessed the scouting ability of the monster 'Search Eye', which was just a small floating eye that was the size of a sparrow.

"We are almost there!"

Burren shouted while cutting through the orc shaman's flame. The moment he rushed to the orc shaman, a gigantic sword fell from the sky.

Crash!

Along with a thunderous noise that shook the mountain, dust spread out at the same time.

Whoosh.

Once the dust faded, Martha—who was sticking the deflated orc shaman to the ground with her sword—could be seen.

"It's mine, okay?"

"Tsk."

Burren frowned, but quickly realized the situation and turned around.

"The orc shaman is dead! The rest are small fries, so wipe them out completely!

"Waaaa!"

With the anticipation of successfully completing their first battle, they swung their swords using all the remaining aura.

Slash!

After easily killing the orcs around him, Raon returned to Kanbar. He called him after creating an energy barrier, so that nobody could hear him.

"I have a question about the story with the goblin king earlier."

"Ah, yes."

Kanbar bowed and answered.

"Has a gem or a treasure ever been found in the mountain since the goblin king died?"

"Ah, that's…"

Kanbar took his time, without responding immediately.

"It has."

"Yes, indeed. I shouldn't lie to my benefactor. The village chief brought a red gem from the mountain when I was little."

"Where is it now?"

"The village chief buried it under his house as far as I know, and the village grew warm afterwards. I think most people don't know about this fact."

"That's…"

Raon bit his lip.

'This is a completely different story now…'

If Eden couldn't find the gem after searching in the mountain, they were definitely going to attack Cebu village next, since those lunatics didn't have much patience.

"We've won!"

"First mission, success!"

"Waaaa!"

Shouts of victory came from the trainees, who managed to occupy the top of the mountain after annihilating the monsters.

"Hmph!"

Burren looked at Raon as he held his sword. His expression was telling him he'd accomplished the mission Raon gave to him.

"..."

Without responding to Burren's gaze, Raon furrowed his brows. He had too many things to think about.

"Yeaaah!"

Burren shouted louder than anyone. It looked like he thought Raon had acknowledged him through that attitude.

Runaan also seemed happy about the victory as she nodded slightly.

"It's so loud."

Martha looked at Raon, picking her ears as if it wasn't a big deal.

After watching the trainees that were shouting, Raon looked down at Cebu village. His frustration only grew stronger upon seeing the smoke rising from the roofs of various colors.

'If they ever learn about the fact that the magic stone isn't in the mountain, but in the village…'

Only thing left in that village would be the smoke.

A festival was held as soon as they returned to the village.

The villagers were full of smiles, as they didn't need to worry about the monsters for a while now.

"Thank you for your hard work!"

"Thank you!"

The village chief and the villagers bowed to every single one of the trainees and thanked them.

"It was our job."

Burren shook his hand, smiling in happiness. His expression was as bright as a magic lamp, as he had perfectly completed the mission without a single casualty.

"Thank you for working hard for our village."

The village chief also bowed to Raon, who was standing at the back.

"This guy told me Sir Swordsman was really outstanding. Thank you for protecting us."

"I honestly thought he wasn't very trustworthy at first, but he really is excellent with his sword."

The village chief smiled, pointing at Kanbar, and Kanbar also smiled.

"No problem."

Raon smiled plainly. The village chief and Kanbar thanked him once again and went to the other trainees to thank them.

"Haa…"

He felt uncomfortable after seeing their eyes. He wanted to tell them about it, but the entire village was currently under observation. The slightest mistake could get everyone killed.

"Aren't you feeling well?"

Runaan tilted her head, sitting next to him.

"Do you wanna eat ice cream?"

She tried taking out the rectangular box from her chest.

"I'm fine."

Raon shook his head with a smile.

"Okay."

Runaan put the box back in its place with a regretful expression. It seemed she wanted to eat the ice cream together to rejoice.

Her cute thoughts made him smile.

What are you doing! Why are you missing the opportunity to eat the ice cream?!

'That's not the important thing right now.'

Nothing's more important than the ice cream! Call the girl back right now!

'Haaa.'

Raon forced Wrath back into the bracelet, who was angrier than when he laughed at him.

"So."

He raised his head at the voice heard from the top of the tree. Martha was looking at him, holding an apple.

"Did it go as you wanted? I'm still not sure what you wanted, though."

"I'm not sure either."

Raon shook his head. He had nothing to say for now, nor could he say anything.

"Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'll follow your command until the end of the mission."

Martha went down after meeting his eyes.

"Get away!"

She sat at the center of the table where the food was being brought out. She seemed to be her usual self.

"Let's go, too."

Raon stood up and signaled Runaan with his chin.

"Mhm."

Runaan nodded and walked up to the table.

All kinds of tasty-looking foods were displayed. There were so many that he felt like the villagers must've strained themselves.

"There is still plenty of food left for you. Please eat to your heart's content!"

"Thank you!"

"Please enjoy!"

Accepting the village chief and the villagers' cheers, the trainees raised their hands and started to eat like a storm.

"Haa…"

Raon sighed softly. He felt uncomfortable about the food and the people's smiles alike. 

'Tomorrow is going to be an important day.'

***

The next morning.

Burren left Cebu village, leading the trainees. The villagers kept following them for over twenty minutes and waved their hands.

'I think everything ended well.'

Burren smiled, walking up the hill where they could see the village underneath.

'It was perfect.'

They managed to perfectly wipe out the monsters in Cebu Mountain without any fatalities or injuries. All they had suffered were a few light wounds, so it could be considered perfect for his first time.

He took a glance in the back.

Raon was walking while looking down, with a thoughtful expression on his face. Without asking him to return the command, he kept following silently.

'But of course.'

There was no flaw in his command. It was a perfect strategy except for Martha killing the orc shaman in the end.

'I don't know what he wanted to see, but he must be satisfied.'

Raon gave him the command, telling him to act like a Zieghart. He couldn't have any complaints, no matter what he had wanted.

"Let's walk faster!"

With their chests filled with satisfaction, Burren and the trainees walked towards the north, where Zieghart's domain was located.

When the sun started moving down from the middle of the sky after walking for over five hours, Raon Zieghart—who had been silent—stepped forward.

"Stop, everyone."

"Why, out of nowhere…?"

Burren closed his mouth upon seeing Raon's eyes. The eyes, burning in red, were suffocating him.

"The real mission starts now."