Chapter 28: From Now On, It’s Special Training (4)
I stood face-to-face with the training instructor, Manton.
An awkward smile crept onto my face.
‘Damn it…….’
Of all people to bump into, it had to be him……
[Shut up, you vulgar bastards!]
[Didn’t I tell you not to interrupt the training!]
[S-sorry, sir.]
Memories of the past few weeks flashed through my mind—Manton growling whenever our eyes met.
You’d know just by looking, unless you were an idiot.
That man had been itching to catch someone.
And unfortunately……
‘……it had to be me?’
This was… possibly a troublesome situation.
The awkward smile I had been forcing started to falter.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
Grit!
Manton ground his teeth, then seized me by the collar.
“Ha ha, I’m truly sorry. I was just trying to grab the bread… It wasn’t on purpose!”
I frantically waved my hands, desperately trying to explain.
“Are you alright, Instructor?”
“You bastard, what the hell do you think you’re doing!”
Rumble!
The Daphne Knights standing behind quickly surrounded me, as if waiting for this moment.
Every one of them wore a menacing expression.
One of them even cracked his knuckles, looking ready to beat me senseless.
The atmosphere grew tense in an instant.
I shook my head violently.
“It’s just because of the bread. I really didn’t mean to do it.”
“You pathetic fool……”
In a fit of anger, Manton shoved me hard.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
I rolled over as the bread fell to the side.
Crunch!
Manton’s boot came stomping down, violently crushing it right before my eyes.
When I lifted my head, I saw Manton’s face, pale as a ghost.
“For your own sake, know your place. Don’t make yourself a nuisance.”
A twitch flickered between my brows.
But suppressing that twitch, I forced my trembling voice to sound as calm as I could.
“……I’m sorry.”
However, Manton didn’t stop there. Grinding his teeth, he pressed even harder.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it. Because of you, the training is ruined. How do you plan to make up for that, huh?”
I picked up the crushed bread in my hand and slowly rose to my feet.
Even as my face trembled with anger, I didn’t let my smile fade.
“Truly, I’m sorry.”
Of course it was only natural.
On that side stood knights of a noble house, while on this side, I was just a mercenary—no, to be precise, a criminal.
Manton narrowed his eyes and asked again.
“What’s with that look? Got a problem?”
“There’s no way I’d have a problem. I’m just looking.”
When deeper wrinkles formed on my forehead, Manton ground his teeth.
“……Do you have a death wish?”
“Why must you say something so frightening? I’m already apologizing.”
“Don’t pretend. I can tell exactly what you’re thinking just by looking at your face.”
Step, step.
The distance between me and Manton shrank further and further.
Both sides wore grim expressions, sparks flying between our eyes.
It looked like a fist could fly at any moment.
“Do you knights…… possess some special ability to read people’s minds, perhaps.”
“You bastard……”
Just then.
“Captain Beryl, what’s going on?”
“What’s wrong?”
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the mercenaries flocked over in a crowd.
“You filthy wretches……”
“Show some respect!”
In response, the knights standing nearby stomped their boots on the ground, threatening them.
“……Filthy wretches? Did you just say everything you wanted?”
“Wow, the knights sure have a way with words.”
“What are you glaring at? If you’ve got a problem, take off your rank insignias and let’s settle this!”
Of course, the Maw mercenaries didn’t back down either, their eyes glaring fiercely.
Between the Daphne Knights and the Maw mercenaries, sharp glares collided and sparks flew.
They looked like stray mutts baring their teeth and growling at each other.
“You parasites, what the hell are you spouting!”
“Parasites? If we’re parasites, then what are you? Maggots?”
“What? Maggots?”
“Why, does that offend you? If you don’t like it, slit your own belly!”
Their voices grew so loud, it wouldn’t have been strange if fists started flying any moment, and their faces flushed red.
“Oh yeah? I’ll slit it for you.”
“Whoa… are you grabbing my collar now?”
Just as the quarrel started escalating into a brawl—
“Hey, hey, move aside for a moment.”
“Yes?”
A path opened up among the mercenaries, and from the middle of it, Hardin slowly walked out.
“What are you all doing, stopping your meal halfway? Is there some problem?”
“……About that.”
I scratched my cheek with an awkward face and answered, and Manton’s eyes narrowed.
‘……Hardin Daphne.’
That shameless bastard……
Manton licked his lips with his tongue, then spoke with a thoroughly disgusted expression.
“The mercenaries the Young Master brought in have been interfering with our training.”
“Ah, is that so? What happened, Beryl?”
“……It wasn’t that I tried to interfere on purpose. It was more… unavoidable……”
“Either way, you did interfere, didn’t you?”
“Yes, well, that is true.”
I scratched my cheek again with a troubled look as I answered.
Hardin let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
And then……
“I’m sorry.”
He lifted his hand slightly toward Manton and spoke.
“……What?”
“Sorry for disrupting the training.”
What was this? What kind of scheme was this man up to……
When Manton gave a sour reaction, Hardin tilted his head.
“Is this not enough?”
“That’s not the issue……”
Bow!
This time, Hardin bent his waist slightly and spoke.
“I’m truly sorry.”
“……No.”
When Manton’s face twisted further, Hardin bowed even deeper.
“I really am sorry. Truly.”
“What… are you doing?”
“A sincere apology. Why, is this still not enough?”
“Hah……”
As Manton let out a hollow laugh as though he couldn’t believe it, Hardin bent so low that his face almost disappeared from view.
It looked nearly perpendicular to the ground.
“It’s my fault for not teaching them properly. I’m the bastard here. So please, let it go.”
“……Enough already.”
When Manton replied in clear disgust, Hardin, his face nearly buried in the dirt, turned his head sideways and asked again.
“So, shall we leave it at this?”
“…….”
A mixture of irritation, anger, and utter disbelief spread across Manton’s face.
‘What in the world… is this man thinking.’
Damn it.
He pressed his fingers hard against his brow, then turned around and walked away.
“……Resume training.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Daphne Knights followed after him and soon disappeared into the distance.
Seeing that, Hardin quickly straightened up and tapped his lower back with the back of his hand.
“Agh, my back……”
Those guys were completely sulking.
Just because I brought along some mercenaries—look at those eyes they gave the Young Master.
‘Tsk tsk tsk, the end times are here, the end times.’
This is why young people these days……
Letting out a deep sigh and shaking his head, Hardin spoke to the mercenaries.
“Alright, that’s the end of mealtime. We’re going to training now.”
“What? But we haven’t finished eating yet?”
“That’s your problem. When the set time comes, you train. Isn’t that right?”
“……Yes.”
Damn it, what a mess this was.
The mercenaries hurried to shove the bread they were holding into their mouths.
---
A month had passed since the Maw mercenaries arrived at the Daphne Viscounty.
As the deep night settled in, only the torches swayed and flickered over the training ground—time for training to wrap up.
Yet the Maw mercenaries were still standing on the practice field, hefting heavy logs on their shoulders.
“Huuuh…… huuuh……”
Everyone was tense, breathing heavily.
Just then, Hardin raised his hand and shouted.
“Begin!”
In that moment—
“Hrghhhh!”
Beryl, Mikkelsen, and the rest of the Maw mercenaries steadied their breathing and fixed their stances.
Tadat! Tadadat!
One by one, they lunged forward.
Their posture was steady without the slightest wobble, and their speed was almost no different from unburdened adult men sprinting.
Their pace grew even faster, hair whipping back, sweat flying in a spray behind them.
At the very front, Mikkelsen burst ahead.
Taah!
Right before the stone wall, Mikkelsen planted one foot down.
“Urghachacha!”
He swung the log forward with all his might.
Kwaaaang!
With an ear-splitting crash, stone fragments burst out, cracks snaked across the wall, and several bricks flew off, leaving a gaping hole.
It was a terrifying impact, hard to believe it came from striking with a simple log.
Immediately after—
“Let’s goooo!”
“Uaaaah!”
The Maw mercenaries crowded around the wall one by one, each slamming their log into it.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Each time, bricks shattered, gaps widened, and cracks spread farther across the surface.
The wall looked more and more on the verge of total collapse.
At that moment—
“Urghachacha!”
Beryl, who had started last, let out a fierce cry and rammed his log into the stone wall with all his strength.
Kwaaaaaang!
Then—
Thud! Tududuk! Waaaaaah!
The thick stone wall, which had looked as if it would never break, finally crumbled apart and scattered across the ground.
“We… we did it.”
“Haah… haah… damn thing.”
The mercenaries tossed their logs onto the ground, faces utterly exhausted.
Their entire bodies were soaked in sweat, bumps and bruises swelling all over them.
Yet somehow, their expressions looked oddly refreshed.
‘I’ve definitely gotten stronger.’
‘Feels like my stamina’s improved a lot too.’
Hardin’s hellish training had continued for a month.
By now, unless you were a complete fool, you could feel it clearly.
You had become something different from who you were when you started Hardin’s special training (?).
And along with that came curiosity.
I repeatedly opened and closed my palm, deep in thought.
‘In this state… what would happen if I used mana?’
Had we… become stronger than we’d thought?
Like a child handed a new toy, I couldn’t help wanting to test how far this body could go.
At that moment, Hardin, standing in the back, called out.
“Alright, that’s it for today’s training. You all worked hard. Starting tomorrow, I won’t be personally checking, so you’ll be responsible for training yourselves.”
“What?”
“Really?”
Relief instantly spread across the mercenaries’ faces.
‘That man won’t be here?’
‘Then this will be perfectly doable!’
The crazy bastard who swung a log around behind our backs would be gone?
Then we could train as flexibly—and as leniently—as we wanted.
No, above all, just the thought made my heart feel lighter.
Just as the corners of the mercenaries’ mouths kept twitching upward, Hardin crossed his arms and let out a heavy snort.
“But if I catch you slacking off, you’re dead. You know there are plenty of eyes watching here, right?”
“Yes, sir! Of course! We’ll train diligently on our own!”
“I’ll take full responsibility for supervising them, Young Master!”
The Maw mercenaries nodded eagerly, and I even saluted for good measure.
Hardin waved a hand lazily, as though it was all a bother.
“Then, go get some rest for today. Starting tomorrow, keep pushing hard.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Thank you for your guidance! Alright, let’s all head in.”
“Krrr! Good work out there!”
The mercenaries headed toward the barracks with refreshed faces and light steps.
Watching their backs, Hardin scratched his forehead.
‘For now, most of the preparations are about done.’
The monstrous strength to shatter a stone wall with nothing but a log, without using any mana.
That was the result of drilling that one thing, day in and day out, for an entire month.
At that level, if he released the mana restriction, executing the original plan wouldn’t pose any real problem.
‘No—in fact, it would be overkill.’
It had only been possible because those bandit bastards turned out to have more grit and endurance than expected.
If he’d dragged over some one-star mercenaries from the mercenary office, this result would have been impossible.
Well, anyway, this part was wrapped up.
‘Now all that’s left is my own task.’
Hardin slowly turned around and started trudging toward the outskirts of the keep.
Along the way, the sun completely set, and the sky sank into darkness.
After walking for over ten minutes, he reached the fortress wall and climbed the stone steps to the top.
“Ah, Young Master, you’re here.”
A soldier on watch spotted Hardin and dipped his head.
“Yes.”
Hardin raised his hand slightly, and the soldier wordlessly stepped aside.
Walking along the rampart, Hardin stopped in a quiet spot where the torchlight didn’t quite reach.
“Huuuu……”
Behind him spread the entire view of Daphne’s inner keep, while before him lay the sight of Lakeside all at once.
It was a vista that made his chest feel wide open.
‘Let’s begin.’
Thunk.
Hardin let out a sigh and slowly sat down in place.