Chapter 696
Listen Carefully. In the Future... (2)
Toward Astion, who looked utterly dazed, I spoke with a bitter tone.
‘It’s unfortunate, but that’s reality. So don’t get too obsessed with fame. Hah, it’s all so pointless.’
— T-That’s a lie, right?
‘I don’t lie.’
He might act a little extreme or unpredictable at times, but he’d never lied. Even so, Astion didn’t want to believe it.
— You said I’d reach the 9th Circle, didn’t you? That I’d save the world with my friends? Why would someone like that end up living in hiding?
‘Well… I don’t know the reason myself. But it’s true you lived in hiding.’
Maybe it was because of the infamy I’d built up from now on. But there was no need to mention any hypotheses that worked against me. There could’ve been other reasons too.
Astion asked, his voice trembling.
— S-So I live alone? I can’t fall in love either?
I looked at him with sympathy, but answered with a firm expression.
‘You can’t.’
— ……
‘And your successor at the Magic Tower... can’t fall in love either. Who knows what’ll happen in the future, but for now, that’s the case.’
— ……
Dark suddenly cut in from the side.
— Yeah! Your Magic Tower’s successor is kinda dumb!
— Dumb?
— Yeah! Just like you!
From Dark’s narrow-minded perspective, Jerome’s kind heart came off as stupidity. But since Astion didn’t know what kind of person Jerome was, he just accepted Dark’s words at face value.
As if in disbelief, Astion declared, sounding resolute.
— D-Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll never take in a dumb kid as my disciple at the Magic Tower. I’ll make it crystal clear that only those with good hearts and sharp minds should be accepted.
— But a dumb kid shows up!
— S-Shut up! I’m not choosing someone like that!
— That’s not something you can control! It’s the future, what could you possibly do?
— SHUT UUUUUUUUP!
So overwhelmed by the shocking glimpse of his future, Astion completely forgot that he was currently building a notorious reputation. He simply bickered with Dark back and forth.
Having exhausted every ounce of his mental strength, Astion eventually fell asleep without gaining anything in return.
Having subdued Astion so easily, Ghislain resumed the hellish training as it was.
There was no need to torment the captured mages. After all, mages weren’t the kind to offer sincere loyalty.
Fearing they might get dragged into the training themselves, they listened exceptionally well. Since this territory didn’t originally have many mages anyway, that alone was more than enough.
The mercenaries who had been lazing around chuckled as they watched the hellish training. To them, it was someone else’s problem anyway.
“Yikes, he really got caught up in the worst possible way.”
“Our Deputy Captain’s got a hell of a temper, huh.”
“Isn’t that how you get close to him, though?”
The mercenaries who used to be bandits sympathized even more deeply with the soldiers cursing at Ghislain. After all, they had been rehabilitated by getting beaten to a pulp by him.
Ghislain spoke toward the snickering mercenaries.
“Now you all are joining the training too.”
“...W-Why?”
“You’re all too weak. Let’s take this chance to build up your mental resilience through effort.”
“……”
Just hearing it was horrifying. Hellish training was only fun when you were just watching.
Osval spoke up in a trembling voice.
“Isn’t mental strength... something you’re born with? I may be a man, but I’ve got a fragile mind... I die quickly when I’m under stress.”
“Training will fix that.”
And just like that, the mercenaries also got pulled into the hellish training. No one was exempt.
“Aaaah! Why do I have to go through this kind of training!”
“We’re mercenaries! Isn’t it enough to just fight for pay?!”
“This man Osval! Feels like he's gonna die!”
At this point, backgrounds and social status no longer held any meaning here. Only warriors filled with grit and tenacity remained, shaped through relentless training.
Sensing the timing was right, Ghislain gathered everyone and made an announcement.
“Now, we’ll be adding a new training regimen!”
Knights, soldiers, and mercenaries all gnashed their teeth and glared at Ghislain. If killing someone with a glare were possible, he would’ve died a dozen times over by now.
Their eyes burned with venom. Ghislain liked what he saw.
The more all the resentment was focused on him, the stronger the bonds among them would become.
This level of physical grinding was enough. Now it was time to develop deeper connections by improving their teamwork.
“Starting today, I’ll assign teams. Take turns attacking me! It’s a live combat training session!”
You couldn’t just let the venom accumulate. They needed a chance to release it, too.
Everyone frowned at Ghislain’s declaration. What was the point of attacking that monster when it wouldn’t work anyway?
But Ghislain already knew what they were thinking. So, he added a condition.
“I’ll suppress my mana and won’t use any magic! So go ahead and attack all you want. Oh, and knights aren’t allowed to use mana either.”
At that, a sinister gleam lit up everyone’s eyes. If he wasn’t using mana, they could overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
From that day on, selected teams engaged Ghislain in combat training that was no different from the real thing. Each team had as many as a hundred members.
Poisoned to the core by the hellish training, they were dead set on beating the hell out of Ghislain no matter what.
“Kill him!”
“We will have our revenge!”
“This man, O… Osval, you bastard! Dieeeeee!”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Ghislain swung the club made of straw bundles and knocked everyone down.
Even without mana, his skills had already reached their peak. Moreover, he moved naturally with the will of the world itself.
No one could land a hit on someone who moved like the wind.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Gaaah! Damn you, Astion!”
“Astion! You’re a demon!”
“Astion! You son of a—!”
Each time someone got hit by his club, they cursed and collapsed. But he didn’t feel insulted at all.
That was probably because he was sincerely participating in this training… maybe.
As he conducted the team training, he found himself involuntarily impressed.
“The results are amazing.”
Regardless of where they came from, everyone put their heads together every night, devising tactics on how to beat him down.
Since they all shared the same goal, camaraderie naturally followed.
In the end, they still got beaten up by him, but swinging a club and running around helped them release some stress.
Whenever they reached their limits, Andrew and Rio stepped in to feed them meat and alcohol and give them a break. It was a perfectly balanced division of roles.
He could have ended the training by now, but he didn’t. There was still time before the next task.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
“Gyaaaah! Astion, you XXXXX!”
“Astion! I swear I’ll kill you!”
“You XXXX! Astion, XXXXX!”
Every time they sparred with him, they shouted the same kind of curses. But he just laughed heartily and took in all their rage.
Because… that was his way of being considerate as someone used to playing the villain.
“That’s right! I’m ‘Astion’! Come at me, all of you!”
And so, as the hellish training continued, Astion’s infamy kept rising even higher.
Just as Andrew and Rio had predicted, Count Swifel and his retainers couldn’t come up with a clear way to take down the Julien Mercenary Corps.
“What about poisoning?”
“It’s not likely to work. Someone that strong wouldn’t be easily poisoned. And even if they were, they’d probably suppress the effects and escape.”
“What if we poison their whole crew and then chase them down while they’re weakened?”
“That wouldn’t be easy if they go into hiding. And if they recover before we catch them, they’ll definitely come back for revenge. Besides, Baron Nodehill and Baron Larks won’t skip poison checks.”
Even if their territories were small, those two were still the lords of their own domains. There was no way their attendants wouldn’t test for toxins in the food.
“What if we hide the knights and stage an ambush? Invite only the mercenary corps’ officers to a banquet and leave everyone else out.”
“That too… won’t be easy.”
“Why not? Even with all the knights, you think we still can’t win?”
Of course not. Ambush or not, how were they supposed to capture someone of Transcendent-level ability with just knights?
But the retainers spoke in the most tactful way they could.
“Even excluding that mage, the mercenary corps’ officers are said to be at least high-tier, if not top-tier in strength. We can’t confidently say we’d win even in a full-out fight.”
“Hmmm...”
“And... they’re mercenaries. Do you really think they’d fight to the death? The moment they’re ambushed, they’ll escape. No, in fact, if only the officers are invited to the banquet, they’ll likely get suspicious and refuse altogether.”
“Grrr...”
“In the end, if we’re going to invite them, we’d have to invite everyone. And there’s no way they’d come without bringing their forces. The moment any chaos breaks out, their troops will move.”
“Hrrmmm...”
“To succeed before they can react, we’d need to subdue them in a single strike... but our knights aren’t capable of that yet.”
At the retainers’ words, the nearby knights visibly bristled.
They had essentially just heard that a few mercenary officers outclassed their entire knight order.
Still, none dared object openly. Based on the known information, it was true.
Tyran’s skills were said to rival those of Swifel’s own Knight Captain. And there were reportedly several others at or above his level.
One of them was even considered a Transcendent. So, while the knights were disgruntled, none of them confidently volunteered to handle the situation.
Count Swifel, feeling stifled, snapped in frustration.
“Then what the hell are we supposed to do?! Just quietly hand over money and land because we can’t touch them?! We don’t even have any money right now! And now I have to sell off hard-earned territory too?!”
The truth was, Count Swifel hadn’t worked hard for any of it. If anything, he should’ve been grateful just to have escaped Count Crest’s threat.
But, true to a noble of this era, he thought entirely selfishly.
“Figure out a solution! A solution!”
He kept ranting, unable to contain his fury over the fact that a high-ranking noble like himself couldn’t even deal with a mere mercenary corps.
One of the retainers, after glancing around carefully, cautiously spoke up.
“There... may be one way.”
“What is it?”
“We could ask Marquis Falkenheim for help.”
“What? What?!”
Count Swifel’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
He had been fighting against Count Crest, a vassal of Marquis Falkenheim. As a result, Count Crest had been destroyed.
If anything, he ought to be fearing Falkenheim’s retaliation. So how could anyone suggest asking him for help?
The retainer quickly continued.
“It was Count Crest’s greed that prevented us from joining Marquis Falkenheim’s faction. But with Count Crest gone, there’s no one to stop us now.”
“Oh ho…”
Strictly speaking, the real issue was that Count Swifel didn’t want to be under anyone. But after being threatened by Count Crest, he had been considering joining a faction.
It was Count Crest, who had desperately wanted to take over the Swifel territory, that got in the way and ruined that plan.
“Since a vassal of Marquis Falkenheim was harmed, he’s in a position where he must retaliate. We’ll just pin the blame on the Julien Mercenary Corps and Baron Nodehill.”
“Hmmm, go on.”
“It’s a fact that the mercenary thug came and threatened us. All we have to do is give Marquis Falkenheim a justification for action. We offer him a portion of the land we gained and swear allegiance.”
“Hrrrmm…”
“Marquis Falkenheim has many skilled knights. If we get their support to eliminate the mercenary officers… then Nodehill and Larks will be easy for us to take on ourselves.”
Count Swifel nodded. Even if Nodehill wasn’t much, the gold mines in Larks were extremely tempting.
If he offered half of Count Crest’s former lands and pledged to pay more taxes, there was no way Marquis Falkenheim would refuse.
It stung to part with land he’d “worked so hard” to acquire, but this way, he could take over the Larks gold mine with ease and eliminate the Julien Mercenary Corps.
On top of that, it would also eliminate the biggest threat of retaliation from the marquis. From Count Swifel’s perspective, it was the best possible move.
He soon made up his mind.
“Very well! Send someone to Marquis Falkenheim and inform him of our intent. Tell him I will swear my loyalty!”
Count Swifel let out a sly, sinister smile.
After all, in this chaotic world, words like loyalty held no real meaning. It was a world where people used each other as needed.
Everyone knew it. Marquis Falkenheim surely knew it too.
For now though he’d be willing to be fooled by those empty words because it would benefit him, too.
In a hurry, Count Swifel prepared lavish gifts and sent them to Marquis Falkenheim.
Among those gifts was also a letter from Count Swifel, carefully written, containing his despicably shameless proposal.