A sturdy iron-like fist came flying head on.
Ryner Lute's blank eyes were half-opened as his mind was thinking,
“Ahh~ this will definitely hurt once it hits me…”
He had extremely disheveled black hair, and a pair of gentle eyes that didn’t have any drive at all. From that weak and skinny body of his, one could tell that, instead of being lacking in the domineering attitude, he was a very sleepy person, one with zero sense of urgency.
What was even more outrageous was that he did not move even with this iron fist right close at him.
“Ohh~, it’s about to hit~…”
He was still able to use such a frivolous tone. In other words, he should be able to dodge the attack.
Yes.
He did have such an ability…
Immediately afterwards.
DOK!!
“Ah!?”
Ryner was sent flying away by that one punch.
Ryner rolled and fell onto the floor in a seemingly deliberate manner as his body twitched and couldn’t move after that. l
…Let us correct what was said.
It should be said that it’s really hard to tell that he really had such an ability…
Right now, Ryner was in the training academy of the Roland Empire Royal Military Academy. Right now, it was time for actual combat lessons, and all the students were training…
“…Haa!”
The person who sent Ryner flying sighed and walked up to him before saying,
“I say, Ryner, why are you so unmotivated?”
The one who spoke had red short hair and a pair of similarly red fiery eyes that were full of the will to win. This person’s name was Kiefer Knolles, who had a completely different personality from Ryner and was full of enthusiasm. She continued to point at Ryner, who had collapsed on the ground and didn’t look like he was going to get up anytime soon.
“I say, stop pretending to be dead. Which person would pretend to twitch and play dead at the same time? Anyone can tell that there’s a problem!”
Ryner still answered back with a lazy tone,
“Isn’t there one here?”
“Ah! Ah! You’re not knocked out yet? Even my grades will drop like crazy when you play dead like that? Who am I going to continue attacking? You hear me? I’m going to use magic! I’m going to start now!”
“Uu…no can do.”
“Who says I can’t?”
Nobody could have understood which part of this match looked like a battle when both sides were shouting away at each other. Anyway, Kiefer started to move her hands.
It was a spell unique only to the Republic of Roland, one where a light magic array was drawn in the air and activated.
And the magic array was immediately completed.
“WHAT I SEEK IS THUNDER>>>IZUCHI!”
Immediately, the magic array Kiefer drew out shot a little light through the center, and it was fired at Ryner.
As for Ryner, he looked like he wanted to give up as he looked at this...
“Uu, a lightning spell...I may really be knocked out...”
He didn't even think of dodging it.
Immediately after—
Ryner's entire body took the full brunt of the direct magic as his body was shocked. This time, his body really twitched as he collapsed onto the floor.
“No, no way! Why didn't you dodge?”
Once Kiefer saw this, she frantically ran over to Ryner.
“Oi, are you alright?”
“...”
Ryner didn't answer.
He didn't say anything at all, and wasn't even moving at all...
“No, no way...”
Kiefer's face went pale as she carried Ryner, who was lying limp on the floor, up, and shook him hard to try and wake him.
“I say, Ryner...stop messing around with me! You...no, no way...”
As Kiefer said this, the tired body that was shaken hard by her actually spoke.
“That's right, that's right, I'm dead. So that's the end of lessons for me today...”
“WOULD A DEAD PERSON EVEN TALK!? IDIOT!”
Kiefer sent a punch at Ryner's head without mercy.
“Don't let me worry for nothing...haa...”
She sighed again.
“I say...why are you willing to suffer like this just to skip lessons?”
“I really want to sleep today.”
“When do you ever not want to sleep?”
“I really want to sleep today too.”
“You don't have to deliberately change what you said!”
Both of them continued what looked like a boring conversation of an old couple bickering with each other.
Snickers and mockery could be heard from all over as everyone chatted away.
“An ordinary person wouldn't be able to dodge that deliberately held back spell, right?”
“It's troublesome when someone so weak is studying in our school~so much so that even our school's prestige has dropped drastically.”
“You could have just killed trash like Ryner in one punch!”
Waves of criticizing words continued to echo throughout the practice arena...
That's right.
Ryner was the only student who couldn't catch up.
In this school, it was a cardinal sin. That's because, in this Academy...
The Roland Empire Royal Military Academy was a place full of radicals gathered from all over the country.
Some of them were orphans, and some of them were A-class criminal children.
These children couldn't find any footing to stabilize themselves in society. They couldn't find jobs nor food, and these people who had nothing were gathered here.
Their only wish was to gain the ability to become the tools of war.
These children continued to hone their skills day and night in order to sell themselves to the army for a high price.
This was different from an ordinary cadet school.
This was an existing mechanism to train soldiers to fight while trying its hardest not to let nobility or ordinary citizens enter the front lines.
Even so...
As there hadn't been any wars during these past few years, there hasn't been any sense of urgency like what it was designed for. However...
Once war broke out, the people who belong to this school will be the first ones sent onto the battlefield.
Even if Ryner and the rest were young and about 17 years old.
Back to the main story—
On hearing these hurting words that weren't new, Kiefer continued to lecture Ryner over and over again.
“Really, you! Don't you feel troubled at all, Ryner? I say, don't you feel anything at all?”
But for some reason, Ryner's face suddenly showed an intent to fight.
“What's the matter? Okay, let's do it! I got a setback because of everyone's criticism and can't recover for the time being, so I can't continue with lessons today...”
“Don't you even think of using this situation for that. I will never allow you to skip lessons!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Ugh.”
To any bystander, these two's conversation would look just like a pair of lovers hitting on each other.
That's also one of the reasons why Ryner was rejected by everyone at this Academy.
As a cheery, above-average in looks, and exceptionally kind and gentle girl, even to the straggler Ryner, Kiefer was said to have many admirers.
However, the person herself didn't realize this at all.
Even so, Ryner would often go out to sleep when he had time, even when it was a bright sunny day, and Kiefer, who would go out and nag at him, was more troubling than the other classmates who viewed him as an outcast...
Because of these reasons, Ryner was treated as such today.
“You might as well vanish, Ryner!”
“Bothersome guy!”
“Completely useless. Why are you still in the Academy anyway?”
Everyone continued to deride Ryner, who ignored them completely.
Ryner continued to maintain his sleepy expression as he looked at these people who were humiliating him.
These three were of the same year as him, and prided themselves on their muscular bodies.
Ryner ignored their scoldings and said,
“See, Kiefer? Everyone said so. I guess today's lesson will be...”
At this moment, a clear and loud voice suddenly interrupted Ryner as he continued to find an excuse to skip lessons without remorse.
“Everyone, before criticizing Ryner, shouldn't you be training yourself?”
The one who appeared was a man who had glamorous silver hair tied behind him, golden eyes that had strong and sharp will, and with a rather good figure. The aura this boy possessed really made it hard for people to believe that he was of the same age as Ryner as he had the presence of elegance all around him.
He was Sion Astal.
His grades were the best.
Even inside the Academy, he became a focal figure. He gathered the students who adored him together to form a group.
However, let us not explain his role in the Academy. There's no real need to describe it.
Most importantly, he was of nobility.
Nobility.
A noble existence should be the furthest away from here.
So why was Sion here...?
Even so, this enigma that many people had questions about didn't have any significant meaning to a certain person...
“Fuwaaa...I really want to sleep.”
“I say. Sion deliberately came all the way here to help you out. Why are you ignoring him?”
“Eh? Did you say help me out?”
It seemed that throughout this ground-breaking moment, the thoroughly listless Ryner didn't show any interest in this.
Sion glanced aside, looked at Ryner who continued to play the fool, and his lips loosened up.
He again looked over at those three muscle men.
“Seems like you people are rather free. In that case, I'll play along. This period of lessons hasn't ended anyway.”
The three muscle men curled their large and muscular bodies back.
“Eh, ah, no, we don't wish to fight against Mr Sion. Am I right? “
“Ah, yeah! We're just seeing Ryner as an eyesore...”
“Ye, yeah! We never thought of going against you.”
The trio timidly looked over at Sion's expressions and exchanged words.
From such trivial things, one could tell that Sion was gradually increasing his standing in the school.
Sion himself gave an uninterested look and nodded his head.
“Really...however—”
Immediately, his face showed a mischievous smile, and he then said,
“Listen you, the instructors are looking at us. If you give up on the chance to fight against me, you may be seen as running away from battle and get penalized for this. If you don't mind, be my guest.”
“Uu...”
On hearing this, the trio couldn't help but moan.
Sion was right. The Academy they were studying at would hope to deal with the army at the highest price, and everyone was training hard to increase their scores.
Only a rare few, like Ryner, wouldn't even bother with grades.
Sion still continued to smile and said,
“What do you say?”
The trio still looked stunned, and after a while answered,
“Da, damn it! Bring it on then.”
On hearing this, Sion's smile carried even more of a meaning.
“Then, please don't hold back. How about all three of you have a go at once?”
And the battle started.
Amongst the trio, two of them moved their arms and started to draw a magic array. The remaining person lunged over at Sion.
On seeing this, Kiefer gave an exaggerated expression as she nodded her head and said,
“Un, that's a really commendable strategy. One person will hold him off while the other two use magic to deal the fatal blow to him.”
“Ohh~”
Ryner carelessly answered back.
Unexpectedly and for some reason, Kiefer knocked Ryner on the head again.
“Really, you! I explained it so nicely to you already! Look at Sion's movements carefully and see how he plans to attack enemies who attack like this!”
While both of them continued with their random talk, Ryner continued to look at this battle with blank and lost eyes. At this moment, a man suddenly attacked.
The man had a large body that looked like the muscles were overgrown, but the punch he swung was rather fast and nimble.
However.
Dok!
Sion easily dodged the man's punch, and as their bodies crossed path, he slammed a kick right into the man's neck.
“uu..”
This kick caused the man to immediately collapse onto the ground.
Sion didn't stop as he ran towards a man who was drawing the magic array.
“Ah? Eh? Wa!”
Sion's punch landed directly on the man's face, and the man couldn't react in time as he collapsed.
There was only one person left.
However, this person had already finished drawing his magic array.
Now he just needed to cast it.
Now, how will he intend to attack Sion...?
On seeing that his comrades were levelled just like that, the man showed a pale expression and started chanting.
“WHAT I SEEK IS LIGHTNING>>>...”
Though the man finished chanting, Sion, who looked back and saw the last enemy, gave a casual smile.
“Shut your mouth!”
Before he finished talking, Sion kicked the sand on the ground.
“WAH!”
The man's vision was blocked by the sand that was whipped up, and inadvertently used his hands to block his face.
How could Sion possibly let such a perfect opening slip by...
The man's hand that was drawing the magic array was twirled by Sion, and he was sent flying out.
The battle ended cleanly just like that.
Sion looked like nothing happened at all as he stood at his original place and lazily rotated his neck around.
“So you're only of such standard...”
Sion won in an overwhelming fashion.
The difference in ability was too great.
“...”
Everyone training inside the practice arena was amazed and stunned by Sion's highly skilled tactics, and all went silent.
As everyone looked at Sion, their eyes were filled with envy and jealousy.
Of course, Sion bore these complicated looks.
He looked just like a natural hero as he simply amazed others.
However, only Ryner still didn't show any signs that he was impressed or jealous at all as he still looked like he really wanted to sleep. He reached his hand out and patted Kiefer, who was similarly amazed and speechless, on the shoulder.
“You say that you want me to learn the movements just now?”
“Ah? I mean...uu, I guess not...”
“So you finally understand? For today's lesson, I'll...uu...”
At this moment, the bell rang.
That's the signal to show that the lesson ended.
At this moment, everyone in the practice arena cheered and started to walk back to their own rooms like fish swimming about.
On seeing this, Ryner showed a disappointed look.
“Damn it...I didn't manage to skip lessons...”
“...I say, what are you rambling about again? You're just sleeping!”
Kiefer gave a shocked expression as she said that.
However, Ryner's expression became gloomier.
“But because of your nagging, Kiefer, I ended up going for all the lessons, you know?”
“May I know what the problem is?”
“There's way too many problems. If I get a good impression from the instructors and make myself outstanding, I will be forced to get lots of useless and troublesome work. What should I do then?”
Ryner could actually say such things with a serious face. Kiefer continued to look at his face for a while and hugged her head in a reluctant manner.
“If you become outstanding like this, Ryner, I feel that I can look forward to the day where I rise up to be a god...”
At this moment, a voice rang.
“Wahaha! Your dreams are really incredible...in that case, when you become a god, Kiefer, I pray that you'll grant me happiness too.”
It was Sion.
Unknowingly, Sion was standing between the duo who were sitting on the ground and discussing.
“Eh, ah, Sion...no, Mr Astal!? We, well...how, HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?”
Kiefer was so nervous that her voice became shrill.
On seeing this, Sion couldn't help but give a wry smile.
“Just call me Sion. As for how I know your name...I practically memorized the names of all the students that were more outstanding.”
“Ah? More outstanding...?”
Sion nodded his head.
“Kiefer Knolles. Obtains above average grades in all subjects, outgoing personality, nice appearance and loved by everyone.”
“Ah? No, well...since when am I pretty looking…”
Having been praised by Sion like this, Kiefer's entire face went red, but continued to give an embarrassed look,
“Wha, what should I do, Ryner? He called me pretty. Ahaha, ahahaha!”
Kiefer started chuckling to herself meaninglessly.
Beside him, Ryner whispered,
“Way too hot.”
PA!
He took a punch to the back of the head.
Sion looked at this stupid exchange between the two of them for quite a while, and then said to Kiefer,
“It's like this. I have a proposal, Kiefer. Do you want to serve under me?”
“Eh? Serve?”
“Un. The Academy will split students into different groups to enhance training and carry out battles as units. If you're willing to work under me, I can work through backdoor means and let you be drafted into the same class as me. You should understand how beneficial it should be if you can be of the same class as me.”
“Bu...but, you need some talented people, right Mr Astal...no, un, Sion? Someone like me...”
“That's not true. You have talent. I won't let you regret this.”
Once Sion said that, he smiled. His smile had an abnormal glow as every action of his gave the vibes of a good youth.
Even though Sion assured her, Kiefer still remained undecided. For some reason, she seemed to be deliberately glancing at Ryner.
“But...”
“What's there to worry about, Kiefer? Didn't he say that it would be beneficial to you? Just go? I can sleep everyday if that's the case...”
Before Ryner could even finish with his nonsense, he saw Kiefer giving a sad look for some reason, and inadvertently shut up.
At this moment, Sion spoke again.
“Ah, is that so? Of course, I intended to have Ryner come under me too.”
Immediately thereafter,
“Really?”
“Ah~that's too troublesome. I'll pass~”
Kiefer and Ryner cried out at the same time.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”
And then, Kiefer started to chide,
“Why not? That's a glorious thing! Everyone knows that you can be outstanding when you follow Sion!”
However, Ryner wasn't moved by Kiefer's words and obviously showed some unhappiness.
“I said no~! When you're outstanding, won't you be forced to do lots of things you don't want to do at all? As for me, I feel that the day can end if I can get a good nap. Such a life will then be meaningful...”
“Such a life can't be called meaningful!”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“Yeah! Really, you. I knew that you're such a person already, so that's why I called you to shut up. Just follow what I say...”
But at this moment, Ryner interrupted Kiefer and gave a casual look, before saying,
“Speaking of which...why would someone look for me? Who doesn't know how bad my grades are? No matter how I think about this, I feel that Sion only wants Kiefer~”
For some reason, Ryner's words made Kiefer's face twist with sadness.
Ryner didn't understand why Kiefer would have such an expression and tilted his head in a doubtful manner.
However, no matter what, what Ryner said was sound.
It was true that it's strange for someone to look for Ryner.
Sion came to look for Ryner merely to make it easier to pull Kiefer in. Because...well, personal reasons can't be stated. Everyone knows that Ryner's grades were often in the last few, and he said himself that had no will to fight...
Unless it's someone really intrigued, nobody would think of taking in such a person...
Either way, there's definitely a catch to this.
At this moment, Kiefer gave a depressed expression and muttered,
“Stupid Ryner...if you can't even look up to yourself...we'll be forced to separate from each other...”
However, Sion interrupted Kiefer's words at this moment and said with a beaming smile,
“Don't say that. It seemed that you're mistaken, Ryner. I really want you to work under me.”
“Ah? Why?”
Ryner looked dazed as he asked.
Sion smiled as he said,
“Un, if I have to put it, we're really compatible? You didn't look amazed or envious when you saw me. I'm really interested in you when you give such a dazed look.”
“In other words, wa...you mean that you've fallen in love with me? Uu...sorry...in that case, it's all the more reason why I can't work under you...”
Because of that, Ryner randomly came up with a reason and still refused Sion in the end. No, it should be said that he never wanted to get involved with anyone in the first place. First, he felt that this was too much of a hassle. Second, he had no interest in becoming famous.
However, he still couldn't understand why whenever he refused Sion's invitation, Kiefer will show a sad look...
“Ahh, I really feel like sleeping for some reason...”
However, he wasn't motivated enough to be bothered by such a thing.
Thus, Kiefer dejectedly lowered her head for some reason,
“In that case, I...”
At this moment, Sion's expression remained unchanged as the smile that a kind youth would have became a demonic smile.
He then brought his face to Ryner's ears...
“Oi, I say, don't put yourself too highly just because I called you personally, Ryner. Didn't I say that we're compatible? I want you with that 'Alpha Stigma'.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”
Immediately, Ryner's listless body leaped away from Sion and got far away.
He showed an obviously panicked look as he said,
“Yo, you, what are you saying...the 'Alp...'no...ugh, I don't understand that thing at all...”
However, Sion showed that kind youthful smile he showed before and said,
“Ryner, why must you be so humble? I know that you are hiding your true ability. I personally went to the orphanage you lived in last time.”
“You...”
Immediately, Ryner froze. However, he still tried to think of a way to look calm and continued,
“Wha, what are you spouting? I'm really lost here. Okay, I'm going. It's troublesome to be working under someone else...”
After saying that, Ryner turned around as his back faced Sion and used his clumsy feet to try and move away.
But...
That carefree voice still chased Ryner from behind.
“If you're not going to work with me, I'll reveal your secret. I'm going to say everything. You should know what will happen if your hidden ability is revealed, right?'
“Ugh...”
On hearing that, Ryner stopped.
'Alpha Stigma'.
People would often describe this term with fear and disgust.
Normally, that would be the case. However...
Ryner sighed and turned around.
He used his loose and limp eyes to look at the good youth Sion who was still smiling.
“You know of my past, and yet you still want me?”
And then, Sion smiled cheerily.
“If I don't want you, I guess nobody else would, right? So, what do you plan to do? Will you work under me? Or...”
“Ugh...haa, okay, okay. I got it. I'll work with you. Really...do you recruit your allies with such threatening means? You really are a demon, right?”
Ryner said. For some reason, Sion showed a wry smile.
“We're about the same here. Okay, that's it. We're sorting out classes in two days. I'll get ready and arrange for you two to be in my class. Let's work hard from now on!”
After saying that, Sion hurriedly left.
Ryner sighed as he watched the profile leave. Then, Kiefer asked in a puzzled manner,
“Eh? Hey? What's going on? So you're Sion's ally too, Ryner, right?”
On hearing that, Ryner sighed harder.
“...Looks like things got even more out of hand...”
“Really, you! You finally got a path where you can show yourself to be outstanding. Stop saying such deflating things! Ah, but...”
At this moment, Kiefer immediately pondered.
“Just now, didn't Sion mention something about you having a hidden ability or something, Ryner? What does that mean?”
Once Kiefer asked that, Ryner couldn't help but be terrified.
However, he still tried to hide it.
“Nothing. Do you feel that I am someone who has such an ability?”
Kiefer stared at Ryner for a while and then decidedly shook her head.
“Doesn't look like it.”
“Oi, don't deny it just like that~”
“But it just doesn't feel like it. Ah, if I have to really put it, is he saying that your lack of fighting will is so outstanding? Maybe that's it. As an elite, maybe Sion saw your laziness, Ryner, and wanted it to be a refresher in his busy life...ah, maybe that's it. I'll feel happy too when I'm with Ryner.”
Kiefer said these words that Ryner felt were rather rude as she continued to nod away. Ryner couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief.
“Are you saying that you're living such tense days every day?”
On hearing that, Kiefer's expression darkened.
“Fuu...a pure girl has lots of things to worry about...”
“Oh...excuse me, where's the acting practice area? There are creatures called girls who are worth being praised...OW! I was just joking! Don't hit me! WAH!!!”
Ryner muttered as he frantically ran around helter-skelter, dodging Kiefer's fist that was among the top in practical fights.
The peaceful sun covered the entire practice field.
School life was as peaceful as ever.
A peaceful daily life.
The Roland Empire, which was ravaged by war, gained temporary peace due to a 7 year ceasefire.
Roland, which was located at the southern end of the Menoris Continent, was surrounded by 3 countries.
One of them was the Imperial Nelpha.
Though the country of Roland wasn’t really on good terms with this country, it wasn't that bad that they would start waging war with each other.
Another one was the Runa Empire.
As of now, the Roland Empire and the Runa Empire were allies. However, this wasn't really worth noticing.
The biggest problem was the third country.
The Kingdom of Estabul.
Roland had waged war against this country for almost 4 generations.
Nobody knew the reason why the war lasted that long.
There were many problems in the past. Some said that the conquered territory was a problem, but now it became such that it was an eye for an eye.
The war between both sides continued one year after another.
All the residents of Roland had experienced war, generation after generation.
That’s right.
This country was usually filled with the presence of death.
Until 7 years ago…
The war that wasn't showing any signs of ending continued to drain the country’s resources, causing the country itself to deteriorate. Both sides were worried that if this kept up, both Roland and Estabul would be worn out, allowing other countries to invade them. Thus, both sides had a ceasefire 7 years ago.
And thus, unlike the past, the peaceful days that were really unbelievable continued…
Either way, 7 years is a long time.
Unlike the adults who were easily caught in the past, the children recovered really quickly and even forgot all about it.
Or it could be said that the children themselves were already used to such peaceful lives.
As for how serious it was…
“I say, Ryner! Didn’t I tell you not to walk and sleep at the same time?”
“S, stop spouting nonsense. How can someone walk and sleep at the same time? I’m fully awake!”
“You were sleeping! You were sleeping! I saw it!”
“Uu…well, I only slept for about 10 minutes. What’s the problem?”
“It’s not about whether there’s a problem, I’m just amazed that you can even sleep on a road up the hill for 10 minutes.”
And so…
They were so used to peace that someone could sleepwalk.
Kiefer continued to roar at Ryner, who didn’t show any enthusiasm.
“Anyway! You can’t sleep in battle! A simulation battle is a team battle. If you sleep, Ryner, you’ll cause trouble to class rep Sion and everyone else in the class! You should know…”
But at this moment, Kiefer’s roars were interrupted by a girl’s voice from behind.
“Sorry, I have a little issue…Kiefer, I find that your voice is too loud. Up till now, I’ve been trying to tiptoe so that I won’t let out any footsteps. It doesn’t seem useful now that you’re shouting like this.”
Kiefer was shocked that she was told off.
“Eh? Ah? Well, uu…so, sorry.”
Kiefer went silent.
Looking back, a girl who was drafted into the same class in this operation was looking rather shocked at Ryner.
Fualu Penny. This short, petite and bespectacled girl had droopy looking eyes, and didn’t look like an athletic girl. In fact, she was often the top in secret operations, and one of the talents Sion drafted in.
Another person, Tony, who often gave a glum look and had a rather faint existence, then said unhappily,
“Yeah. Fualu’s right. You’re way too noisy.”
Then, someone else spoke.
“What’s the matter? Just stick with Sion’s plan, and it’ll be a really easy win for us in this mock training. No problems no problems♪”
The reasonable Tai then continued on.
These three, along with Ryner, Kiefer and Sion, were 6 people altogether.
Other than Ryner, the rest all had outstanding grades in some aspects.
On another note, Sion had other allies as well, but they were all sorted out to different classes. It seemed that Sion made some arrangements for his allies so that they would not face off against him in the grading classes…
So basically, this Academy was holding an inter-class scrimmage test. In this battle around a hill, the enemies were students who didn’t rely on Sion, so they were not to be underestimated.
Thus—
“Uu~I’m really sorry.”
Kiefer’s voice became softer.
Perhaps Sion witnessed all of this as he was right at the back. He said,
“Ah, it’s alright. Just follow my plan. We won’t lose at all.”
Ryner then continued,
“Yeah yeah. Actually, to me, it doesn’t matter whether we win or lose. So how about everyone take a good nap over here today…”
“““WHO CARES ABOUT YOU!!!???”””
Everyone else in the class lashed out at Ryner. From this, it seemed that these comrades seemed to have a certain amount of chemistry in their communication.
Other than someone who really lacked the will to fight…
Well, let’s not talk about this person for now.
As stated just now, the mock battle was held in an inter-class format.
Each class was set to depart from different spots around the hill, and the training would continue until they completely eliminated each other, no matter how many days it might take.
Of course, this hill couldn’t be considered small, so it was rather difficult to discover each side’s whereabouts, and each class had to find ways to gather food themselves. In other words, this was a rather difficult lesson that required all sorts of cognitive abilities.
But without an instructor around, maybe it shouldn’t really be considered a lesson…
On a side note, the main aim of this lesson wasn’t just to sort out the winners and losers. What they did when they discovered the enemy till they eliminate them also affected their grades.
Of course, the shorter the time, the better. That’s something to be expected, right?
Thus,
In this situation, the plan Sion came up with was…
Before they left, as they entered that artificial field before entering the hilly region, Sion said confidently,
“Okay, then we’re going to defeat the enemy completely within 5 hours.”
Immediately,
“Haa!?”
Other than Ryner, the other four cried out in shock.
Of course, even the most easygoing Tai looked rather gloomy.
“Do, don’t kid around, Sion. Isn’t that too much? No matter how good I am, I can’t possibly do so within 5 hours…how do you expect us to track the enemy down in such a short time?”
But Sion still smiled.
“I never talked about looking for the enemy. I already know. I know where our opponent started off from.”
“Ah? You’re saying that you know?”
Kiefer couldn’t help but ask in return, and Sion nodded his head nonchalantly,
“Un. I already checked which class would be our opponent, right? Where they start from too. We just need to ambush them, wait for them to come up, and then strike them…”
“Wait a sec!”
Kiefer interrupted Sion at this moment.
“But…isn’t this equivalent to cheating?”
Kiefer said her words so plainly, yet Sion still remained unmoved.
“Un, that can be said. However, my view is that this is a strategy. Speaking of which, isn’t this lesson about testing our cognitive ability? I don’t think that checking up on our opponent before we battle is a form of cheating. I don’t feel that way. I even think that using all actions in a battle…no, in a war will be justified. In that case, my action is correct.”
Sion tried to justify his actions with a thick face, and Ryner used his lazy voice to say,
“Un~ sounds rather righteous, but I feel that someone digging into other people’s past so randomly is no different from a pervert.”
Ryner’s history of being an ‘Alpha Stigma’ bearer was investigated, so he was still reserved about being forced to join this group…
However, Ryner’s words just went in and out of Sion’s ears.
“Hm? What you mean to say is that you don’t want me to say what the girl you dumped said?”
“Ah!? What do you…!”
But at this moment, Ryner was held back from behind by the other two guys.
By Tai and Tony…
And his mouth was even stuffed up.
“Fuuunyofuo!?”
Ryner couldn’t talk.
After checking that Ryner wouldn’t obstruct her, she nodded her head and said,
“Okay, who did you say was dumped by Ryner?”
Tai then said,
“What kind of girl?”
Fualu then said,
“Ah~ talking about love like this really makes a heart flutter~…”
These two weren’t the only ones talking as even the normally reserved and quiet Tony kept his usual gloomy look and said,
“How far did Ryner and that girl progress? I want to see if I can forgive Ryner.”
He actually said such terrifying words.
Everyone was interested by this…
And Sion then glanced at Ryner before giving a devilish-smile.
“According to what I heard, it seems that Ryner confessed to his teacher at the orphanage…”
“FunyofuOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!???”
Ryner couldn’t help but cry out in anguish.
Let’s not talk about such useless things.
Back to the hill.
Everyone was moving about in the hills like that for 2 hours.
Normally speaking, they should be near the starting point of the opponent.
Other than Ryner, everyone else looked tense as they started carefully observing their surroundings.
At this moment,
“Fuua~gya!?”
Ryner yawned loudly, and Tai sent a punch to shut him up,
And then used a suppressed voice to scold,
“Have you had enough? That’s enough, you cake eater! The enemy’s nearby!”
Upon hearing that, Ryner frowned.
“Wha, what cake eater…I said that it wasn’t the case! I was only six back then! And the teacher at the orphanage…”
But everyone denied him the chance to speak.
For some reason, even Kiefer slammed a punch from behind.
“What only six! You sex maniac!"
“Tha, that was just Sion’s nonsense! Think of it as a normal person! How could such a thing happen? ARGH, YOU BETTER REMEMBER THIS, SION!”
Ryner was going crazy and shouting, and Sion continued to smile calmly,
“Fufu…now you know the ability to control and manipulate information is something that’s of necessity, right?”
“WHAT KIND OF NECESSITY IS THAT! I’LL DEFINITELY…”
Ryner shouted, and this time, Sion was the one who covered his mouth.
He placed a finger at his lips.
“Quiet. Dear guests, we’ve arrived behind the enemy.”
Sion’s words made everyone quiet down.
Even Ryner, who was being held down, looked up, and saw people moving through the gaps between the trees.
There was a familiar gang of six boys and girls talking to each other.
Without a doubt, it was them.
Ryner and company didn’t even need 4 hours. They spent only slightly more than 2 hours before discovering the enemy.
This was really something shocking.
However, Ryner wasn’t interested in this at all…
Tai spoke,
“That’s great. The opponent hasn’t discovered us. Let’s attack, Sion!”
Then, Tony spoke in a vague manner,
“No, we’ll be done for if the enemy sets a trap. We should be more cautious.”
Then, Kiefer said,
“Sion, what should we do?”
Sion finally spoke,
“No, we’ll take action immediately.”
Immediately thereafter, Sion’s eyes narrowed. His lips didn’t give a casual smile, but looked as vicious as a beast that found its prey.
“We’ll win easily. Let’s defeat the enemy and set the quickest time record in this lesson. Go!”
After saying that, Sion leaped out.
On seeing this, everyone was stunned. They finally woke up once he easily took down two of them.
“He, he did it!”
Everyone hurriedly leaped out.
And thus…
Basically, this was a development that’s to be expected, but the outcome was soon decided.
In the end, it took them only 2 hours and 52 minutes to eliminate the opponent completely.
There was only 1 casualty.
On a side note, the so called casualty was that Ryner tumbled and fell down in this raid that should be an easy win.
Because of that, the class got a few points subtracted off, and everyone in the class obviously didn’t want Ryner to forget this as he was told off by them…
Soon after…
At a small old hotel in one of the back alleys.
The sound of birds chirping could be heard. However, as Ryner walked out from the hotel and looked up at the sky, the dark was still dark.
It seemed that there will still be some time till daylight.
Ryner took clumsy steps as he left the exit of the hotel and sat down on the road right in front of it.
“Uu~ that was bad…I knew that I can’t drink yet I continued to drink…”
He moaned with a weak expression.
And then, he laid down right in the middle of the road, trying his best to ignore a certain something that will rise up his throat.
“Speaking of which, I didn’t think Kiefer’s tolerance was so bad…”
He looked at the sky that may be blocked by the clouds as the clouds couldn’t be seen clearly, and muttered.
That’s the situation.
The class Ryner and gang belonged to made history by becoming the class that set the record for the shortest time in the mock battle training, and became heroes in the Academy. No, it should be said that because everyone knew that Sion led this class, Sion became a hero…
Tai felt that this was worth celebrating over, and several of Sion’s allies joined in too, causing this to become a celebration party.
There is a rule that was to be mentioned,
According to the laws of Roland, only those above the age of 22 could drink.
On another side note:
The oldest students of Roland Empire’s Royal Military were only 19, and what is…?
No, there’s no real need to look into this…
Ryner tried his best to suppress the disgusting urge as he muttered to himself to try changing his mood.
“That Sion, what cake eater did he just say…causing me to be called a lady killer for some reason…one of these days, I must grab that guy by his braids…”
At this moment, a voice called,
“I have no braids for you to grab on to.”
Sion crouched down and looked at Ryner’s face.
Immediately thereafter, Ryner continued to remain on the floor as he backed away agilely.
“Don’t appear in front of me like that, you demon!”
On hearing that, Sion grimaced.
“Yo, the famous lady killer.”
“I’M NOT A LADY KILLER—!?”
On roaring, Ryner felt really tired and sighed, regained that lazy expression, and said,
“Then, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be the main character of this success party?”
At this moment, for some reason, Sion showed a rare large smile that was vastly different from one a good youth should have, one that only Ryner had seen before, a vicious demonic smile that had some complicated emotions in them.
“Didn’t I say that I don’t have braids? I drugged everyone. You and I are the only ones awake.”
“Is that so? So everyone’s asleep?”
“Un.”
At this moment, both of them went silent.
Ryner looked up at the sky and started to daze around.
Sion lay down beside him.
“Ryner.”
“Hm? If you want me to create a love scene between two guys, no thanks.”
On hearing this, Sion gave a wry smile.
“Why would I do that? What I mean is…will you tell me? Why you came to this Academy…”
“Ah? Why mention that all of a sudden?”
“Uu…”
Sion nodded his head, and continued,
“Your grades are at the bottom, and your attendance isn’t good, and you wouldn’t agree to join me even when I asked you. From this, I can tell that you have no intention of being outstanding through this path. So why is such a person at the academy? This really intrigued me.”
Ryner continued to look at sky and said with a lazy tone.
“Well…haven’t you checked on it before? You should know why I had to come to this academy, right…?”
“Ah, you got me…”
Now that Ryner mentioned it, Sion couldn’t help but chuckle.
“To be honest, I did check on it, on the orphanage you were at…”
And then, he paused before continuing in a rather happy tone.
“The orphanage you grew up in was Roland Special Institute #307…on paper, it was an institution to raise children orphaned by war until they were old enough to be independent. However…that wasn’t really the case. They only gathered children with potential and gave them thorough military training. Those who couldn’t show their potential were disposed of, and most of those who survived were sold to nobles for high prices or thrown onto the frontlines to enter the war…”
“…”
Ryner remained silent as his listless eyes continued to look at the sky…
Sion continued,
“You were raised in that kind of place. Unexpectedly, the war ended…even so, that orphanage still remained during the few years after the war. But without war, that sort of place—that facility which trained children through forceful means and kill them once it was discovered they have no talent—it was just a testbed for criminals. Thus, you were forced to make a choice. Accept the arrangements and continue to be managed by the military, or be silenced…you chose the former, entered the Roland Empire’s Royal Military Academy… am I right?”
Ryner didn’t answer Sion and remained stunned for a while. He really didn’t look very enthusiastic, which made Sion worry whether he was asleep or not. Was Ryner actually asleep?
However, Ryner frowned a little and said,
“Un~ it was so long already. It’s a bit nostalgic for someone to talk about my history in such detail. However, things weren’t really as serious as you said. On one hand, I really felt that this was nothing much. Besides, I even told my instructor: ‘can we get married?’”
After saying that, Ryner started laughing to himself.
However, it was one with a somewhat self-mocking attitude.
Sion gave the self-mocking Ryner a stern look.
“I say, Ryner.”
“What? Don’t be so formal.”
“You…”
At this moment, Sion paused.
And then, he said with a slow tone as it seems that he was deliberately choosing his words,
“Ryner, haven’t you thought about taking revenge on this country?”
“Ah? Revenge?”
Not expecting Sion’s words to be so shocking, Ryner couldn’t help but ask back in surprise. Sion then nodded his head and stood up,
He walked over to the middle of the road Ryner was lying on, turned around, and said,
“Haven’t you thought of overturning this corrupt country? Your ‘Alpha Stigma’ alone caused you to be rejected by the entire country. This is a country with unequal status amongst its people, a country that oppresses the weak and fights without ending. A foolish king, and even foolish nobility.”
On hearing Sion’s words, Ryner frowned and said,
“Oi oi, you’ll be executed if other people heard you say that.”
But Sion merely smiled.
“Maybe. But you who hate this country wouldn’t sell me out, right?”
Ryner’s eyebrows frowned even more.
“I won’t say it because I don’t want trouble.”
“Ahaha, I know that this isn’t your real reason.”
“Don’t decide that yourself and read into me.”
Sion couldn’t accept whatever Ryner said.
He said in a direct tone,
“I want to take action, Ryner. I want to change everything. I have been working hard, searching throughout this academy to recruit allies who haven’t relied on the nobles. However…this plan’s about to end soon. I have more than enough forces.”
Sion let go of both hands.
“I want to become the king to this country. I want to change everything. So Ryner, join me. I will help you to make a world you can look forward to.”
After saying that, Sion reached his hand out to Ryner.
Sion’s face showed a look of confidence.
The silver hair was glowing, and the sharp eyes showed intense will.
Obviously, he was different from an ordinary person.
He just looked so dazzling.
If there was a need to describe him, he was like a demon who was shooting arrows at a god, or a god that purges evil…
This person just looked like he was born with the nature to be a hero.
Also, he had ability and charisma…
He will become a king.
Sion was giving off a presence that seemed to show that he was about to quickly fulfill what could only be described as a ‘dream’.
And Sion spoke again.
“Join me, Ryner.”
In this situation, any ordinary person would likely be swallowed by Sion’s overwhelming charisma.
However…
The one we’re talking about here was Ryner.
In this situation, after hearing this, Ryner’s response was,
“I see. So you want the throne, Sion? But it sounds bothersome…sorry, I’ll pass. Ah, but when you become king someday, Sion, can you write a law such that sleepy and lazy people can get more promotions easily?”
He said this with a lazy voice.
His expression just looked like he really wanted to sleep as the lazy black eyes didn’t show any will at all.
There was no glow in his eyes at all.
If one had to make a comparison, he’s either a puppy or a kitty that’s having an afternoon nap…
Sion’s struggles were thoroughly annihilated by this person who didn’t have any will at all. For just that moment, he showed a thoroughly shocked look.
“Guu…a, ahaha!!”
He started laughing.
“That, that’s too funny! Ahaha. I see. So maybe that’s the reason why I wanted you. Maybe it has nothing to do with the ‘Alpha Stigma’…you’re the first person who didn’t react to me at all.”
“Ever since I was born, god made it such that I won’t react to guys at all.”
At this moment, Sion gave a mischievous smile.
“Are you only interested in mature women?”
Sion deliberately joked, causing Ryner to look unhappy.
“I’M NEVER GOING TO BE YOUR ALLY!”
“AHAHA!!”
Sion laughed.
He was laughing like a naïve child.
Ryner looked at him…
Suddenly, Ryner’s eyes caught something behind Sion…
“Eh?”
Everything happened here.
Several men in black attire were standing behind Sion unknowingly, drawing magic arrays in the air.
Anyone who studied Roland’s magic could tell that someone who’s creating a magic array like this was intending to use a kind of spell.
It was a light that’s released from the center of the magic array, a spell with tracking capability and had tremendous destructive ability.
And right now, this spell’s locked onto Ryner and Sion, gradually forming…
“Eh, who are these people?”
Just when Ryner was stunned, Sion took action.
“Not good, run!”
Sion grabbed Ryner on the collar and dragged him as he ran.
“WA, WAA, WAAAAAHH!! WAIT A SEC! IT HURTS! SION, IT HURTS HURTS HURTS!!”
Ryner’s face was dragged on the ground just like that as he grumbled.
“If it hurts, run! You’ll die if they catch up!”
“Ah? You’re saying that I’ll die…? Why? I haven’t done anything bad? Do, don’t tell me there’s a new law that I’ll be executed for taking naps in the day?”
In such a serious situation, Ryner’s words showed no sign of tension at all. Sion didn’t bother and shouted,
“I’LL EXPLAIN TO YOU LATER. ANYWAY, LET’S RUN!”
“O, okay!”
Once Ryner said that, he used his hands to skillfully hit the ground, and while he wasn’t getting in the way of Sion, who was running forward, he leapt up from the ground.
One really couldn’t tell that this was something a person viewed as a loser at the academy with zero athleticism could pull off…
On seeing this, Sion gave a wry smile and said,
“Alright, around this corner…”
Before he even finished, a strong ray of light immediately attacked them from behind the corner…
Both of them turned around at the same time.
That light was obviously of magic. It may be from those mysterious men in black clothing, a destructive spell of light called ‘Kuuri’.
Sion shouted.
“RYNER, JUMP!”
“WAHH!!?”
Just like that, these two tried hard to jump into a small gap between the brick houses.
Immediately,
The intense light exploded. The house that took the brunt of impact was completely destroyed as the light went through it and into the house.
It really was an amazing amount of destructive power.
The enemy’s actions were merciless, and they were obviously not just trying to knock out the opponent or merely threaten them.
Such an attack was obviously created to kill someone.
Ryner looked stunned as he gazed at the wall of the house with the large hole blown right through.
“I hope that didn’t hit anyone inside.”
Even while saying this, the situation continued to evolve.
Voices came from behind them.
“Sion Astal’s escaped into that corner. Pursue him!”
“We’ll be punished if he gets away!”
“Kill him! Kill him!”
On hearing this, Sion said,
“I’m sorry for getting you involved. It’s like this. It’s like this. The enemy would normally just send some thugs to come after me…looks like this isn’t good. These guys look like professionals…right now, I don’t have time to explain things clearly…”
Ryner stopped Sion.
“Oh well, I don’t want to hear any reason. Either way, what do you intend to do? Defeat the enemy? Or continue running?”
Sion was lost in thought for a moment, and then said,
“We’ll split up now! They’re chasing after me. If we split up, you can save yourself.”
“Ah, that’s right…I’ll feel relaxed then.”
Ryner actually answered immediately without showing any emotions, causing Sion to grimace.
“Really, at least show some concern.”
“Concern? Don’t forget, you’re the one with top grades, Sion, and I’m the straggler. Besides, don’t you want to become king? It won’t be good if you die because of something like this, right?”
On hearing this, Sion smiled.
“You’re right. See you at the academy tomorrow.”
After that, Sion ran out of the alley.
He deliberately tried to attract the enemy’s attention and shouted.
“I’M HERE! COME AFTER ME IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS!”
Once he said that, he started running off again.
A group of men who were clad in black saw Sion.
“FOUND HIM! GO AFTER HIM!!”
“KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”
And thus…
Ryner was left alone.
After checking that no one else was around, he walked out from the alley…
But even when facing this situation, he didn’t look tense at all as he yawned.
“Still have to get up early tomorrow. I’m so sleepy. Not really ready for class…might as well skip it…”
He continued off in lazy strides and went back to the hotel where everyone was drunk.
A sturdy iron-like fist came flying head on.
Ryner Lute's blank eyes were half-opened as his mind was thinking,
“Ahh~ this will definitely hurt once it hits me…”
He had extremely disheveled black hair, and a pair of gentle eyes that didn’t have any drive at all. From that weak and skinny body of his, one could tell that, instead of being lacking in the domineering attitude, he was a very sleepy person, one with zero sense of urgency.
What was even more outrageous was that he did not move even with this iron fist right close at him.
“Ohh~, it’s about to hit~…”
He was still able to use such a frivolous tone. In other words, he should be able to dodge the attack.
Yes.
He did have such an ability…
Immediately afterwards.
DOK!!
“Ah!?”
Ryner was sent flying away by that one punch.
Ryner rolled and fell onto the floor in a seemingly deliberate manner as his body twitched and couldn’t move after that. l
…Let us correct what was said.
It should be said that it’s really hard to tell that he really had such an ability…
Right now, Ryner was in the training academy of the Roland Empire Royal Military Academy. Right now, it was time for actual combat lessons, and all the students were training…
“…Haa!”
The person who sent Ryner flying sighed and walked up to him before saying,
“I say, Ryner, why are you so unmotivated?”
The one who spoke had red short hair and a pair of similarly red fiery eyes that were full of the will to win. This person’s name was Kiefer Knolles, who had a completely different personality from Ryner and was full of enthusiasm. She continued to point at Ryner, who had collapsed on the ground and didn’t look like he was going to get up anytime soon.
“I say, stop pretending to be dead. Which person would pretend to twitch and play dead at the same time? Anyone can tell that there’s a problem!”
Ryner still answered back with a lazy tone,
“Isn’t there one here?”
“Ah! Ah! You’re not knocked out yet? Even my grades will drop like crazy when you play dead like that? Who am I going to continue attacking? You hear me? I’m going to use magic! I’m going to start now!”
“Uu…no can do.”
“Who says I can’t?”
Nobody could have understood which part of this match looked like a battle when both sides were shouting away at each other. Anyway, Kiefer started to move her hands.
It was a spell unique only to the Republic of Roland, one where a light magic array was drawn in the air and activated.
And the magic array was immediately completed.
“WHAT I SEEK IS THUNDER>>>IZUCHI!”
Immediately, the magic array Kiefer drew out shot a little light through the center, and it was fired at Ryner.
As for Ryner, he looked like he wanted to give up as he looked at this...
“Uu, a lightning spell...I may really be knocked out...”
He didn't even think of dodging it.
Immediately after—
Ryner's entire body took the full brunt of the direct magic as his body was shocked. This time, his body really twitched as he collapsed onto the floor.
“No, no way! Why didn't you dodge?”
Once Kiefer saw this, she frantically ran over to Ryner.
“Oi, are you alright?”
“...”
Ryner didn't answer.
He didn't say anything at all, and wasn't even moving at all...
“No, no way...”
Kiefer's face went pale as she carried Ryner, who was lying limp on the floor, up, and shook him hard to try and wake him.
“I say, Ryner...stop messing around with me! You...no, no way...”
As Kiefer said this, the tired body that was shaken hard by her actually spoke.
“That's right, that's right, I'm dead. So that's the end of lessons for me today...”
“WOULD A DEAD PERSON EVEN TALK!? IDIOT!”
Kiefer sent a punch at Ryner's head without mercy.
“Don't let me worry for nothing...haa...”
She sighed again.
“I say...why are you willing to suffer like this just to skip lessons?”
“I really want to sleep today.”
“When do you ever not want to sleep?”
“I really want to sleep today too.”
“You don't have to deliberately change what you said!”
Both of them continued what looked like a boring conversation of an old couple bickering with each other.
Snickers and mockery could be heard from all over as everyone chatted away.
“An ordinary person wouldn't be able to dodge that deliberately held back spell, right?”
“It's troublesome when someone so weak is studying in our school~so much so that even our school's prestige has dropped drastically.”
“You could have just killed trash like Ryner in one punch!”
Waves of criticizing words continued to echo throughout the practice arena...
That's right.
Ryner was the only student who couldn't catch up.
In this school, it was a cardinal sin. That's because, in this Academy...
The Roland Empire Royal Military Academy was a place full of radicals gathered from all over the country.
Some of them were orphans, and some of them were A-class criminal children.
These children couldn't find any footing to stabilize themselves in society. They couldn't find jobs nor food, and these people who had nothing were gathered here.
Their only wish was to gain the ability to become the tools of war.
These children continued to hone their skills day and night in order to sell themselves to the army for a high price.
This was different from an ordinary cadet school.
This was an existing mechanism to train soldiers to fight while trying its hardest not to let nobility or ordinary citizens enter the front lines.
Even so...
As there hadn't been any wars during these past few years, there hasn't been any sense of urgency like what it was designed for. However...
Once war broke out, the people who belong to this school will be the first ones sent onto the battlefield.
Even if Ryner and the rest were young and about 17 years old.
Back to the main story—
On hearing these hurting words that weren't new, Kiefer continued to lecture Ryner over and over again.
“Really, you! Don't you feel troubled at all, Ryner? I say, don't you feel anything at all?”
But for some reason, Ryner's face suddenly showed an intent to fight.
“What's the matter? Okay, let's do it! I got a setback because of everyone's criticism and can't recover for the time being, so I can't continue with lessons today...”
“Don't you even think of using this situation for that. I will never allow you to skip lessons!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Ugh.”
To any bystander, these two's conversation would look just like a pair of lovers hitting on each other.
That's also one of the reasons why Ryner was rejected by everyone at this Academy.
As a cheery, above-average in looks, and exceptionally kind and gentle girl, even to the straggler Ryner, Kiefer was said to have many admirers.
However, the person herself didn't realize this at all.
Even so, Ryner would often go out to sleep when he had time, even when it was a bright sunny day, and Kiefer, who would go out and nag at him, was more troubling than the other classmates who viewed him as an outcast...
Because of these reasons, Ryner was treated as such today.
“You might as well vanish, Ryner!”
“Bothersome guy!”
“Completely useless. Why are you still in the Academy anyway?”
Everyone continued to deride Ryner, who ignored them completely.
Ryner continued to maintain his sleepy expression as he looked at these people who were humiliating him.
These three were of the same year as him, and prided themselves on their muscular bodies.
Ryner ignored their scoldings and said,
“See, Kiefer? Everyone said so. I guess today's lesson will be...”
At this moment, a clear and loud voice suddenly interrupted Ryner as he continued to find an excuse to skip lessons without remorse.
“Everyone, before criticizing Ryner, shouldn't you be training yourself?”
The one who appeared was a man who had glamorous silver hair tied behind him, golden eyes that had strong and sharp will, and with a rather good figure. The aura this boy possessed really made it hard for people to believe that he was of the same age as Ryner as he had the presence of elegance all around him.
He was Sion Astal.
His grades were the best.
Even inside the Academy, he became a focal figure. He gathered the students who adored him together to form a group.
However, let us not explain his role in the Academy. There's no real need to describe it.
Most importantly, he was of nobility.
Nobility.
A noble existence should be the furthest away from here.
So why was Sion here...?
Even so, this enigma that many people had questions about didn't have any significant meaning to a certain person...
“Fuwaaa...I really want to sleep.”
“I say. Sion deliberately came all the way here to help you out. Why are you ignoring him?”
“Eh? Did you say help me out?”
It seemed that throughout this ground-breaking moment, the thoroughly listless Ryner didn't show any interest in this.
Sion glanced aside, looked at Ryner who continued to play the fool, and his lips loosened up.
He again looked over at those three muscle men.
“Seems like you people are rather free. In that case, I'll play along. This period of lessons hasn't ended anyway.”
The three muscle men curled their large and muscular bodies back.
“Eh, ah, no, we don't wish to fight against Mr Sion. Am I right? “
“Ah, yeah! We're just seeing Ryner as an eyesore...”
“Ye, yeah! We never thought of going against you.”
The trio timidly looked over at Sion's expressions and exchanged words.
From such trivial things, one could tell that Sion was gradually increasing his standing in the school.
Sion himself gave an uninterested look and nodded his head.
“Really...however—”
Immediately, his face showed a mischievous smile, and he then said,
“Listen you, the instructors are looking at us. If you give up on the chance to fight against me, you may be seen as running away from battle and get penalized for this. If you don't mind, be my guest.”
“Uu...”
On hearing this, the trio couldn't help but moan.
Sion was right. The Academy they were studying at would hope to deal with the army at the highest price, and everyone was training hard to increase their scores.
Only a rare few, like Ryner, wouldn't even bother with grades.
Sion still continued to smile and said,
“What do you say?”
The trio still looked stunned, and after a while answered,
“Da, damn it! Bring it on then.”
On hearing this, Sion's smile carried even more of a meaning.
“Then, please don't hold back. How about all three of you have a go at once?”
And the battle started.
Amongst the trio, two of them moved their arms and started to draw a magic array. The remaining person lunged over at Sion.
On seeing this, Kiefer gave an exaggerated expression as she nodded her head and said,
“Un, that's a really commendable strategy. One person will hold him off while the other two use magic to deal the fatal blow to him.”
“Ohh~”
Ryner carelessly answered back.
Unexpectedly and for some reason, Kiefer knocked Ryner on the head again.
“Really, you! I explained it so nicely to you already! Look at Sion's movements carefully and see how he plans to attack enemies who attack like this!”
While both of them continued with their random talk, Ryner continued to look at this battle with blank and lost eyes. At this moment, a man suddenly attacked.
The man had a large body that looked like the muscles were overgrown, but the punch he swung was rather fast and nimble.
However.
Dok!
Sion easily dodged the man's punch, and as their bodies crossed path, he slammed a kick right into the man's neck.
“uu..”
This kick caused the man to immediately collapse onto the ground.
Sion didn't stop as he ran towards a man who was drawing the magic array.
“Ah? Eh? Wa!”
Sion's punch landed directly on the man's face, and the man couldn't react in time as he collapsed.
There was only one person left.
However, this person had already finished drawing his magic array.
Now he just needed to cast it.
Now, how will he intend to attack Sion...?
On seeing that his comrades were levelled just like that, the man showed a pale expression and started chanting.
“WHAT I SEEK IS LIGHTNING>>>...”
Though the man finished chanting, Sion, who looked back and saw the last enemy, gave a casual smile.
“Shut your mouth!”
Before he finished talking, Sion kicked the sand on the ground.
“WAH!”
The man's vision was blocked by the sand that was whipped up, and inadvertently used his hands to block his face.
How could Sion possibly let such a perfect opening slip by...
The man's hand that was drawing the magic array was twirled by Sion, and he was sent flying out.
The battle ended cleanly just like that.
Sion looked like nothing happened at all as he stood at his original place and lazily rotated his neck around.
“So you're only of such standard...”
Sion won in an overwhelming fashion.
The difference in ability was too great.
“...”
Everyone training inside the practice arena was amazed and stunned by Sion's highly skilled tactics, and all went silent.
As everyone looked at Sion, their eyes were filled with envy and jealousy.
Of course, Sion bore these complicated looks.
He looked just like a natural hero as he simply amazed others.
However, only Ryner still didn't show any signs that he was impressed or jealous at all as he still looked like he really wanted to sleep. He reached his hand out and patted Kiefer, who was similarly amazed and speechless, on the shoulder.
“You say that you want me to learn the movements just now?”
“Ah? I mean...uu, I guess not...”
“So you finally understand? For today's lesson, I'll...uu...”
At this moment, the bell rang.
That's the signal to show that the lesson ended.
At this moment, everyone in the practice arena cheered and started to walk back to their own rooms like fish swimming about.
On seeing this, Ryner showed a disappointed look.
“Damn it...I didn't manage to skip lessons...”
“...I say, what are you rambling about again? You're just sleeping!”
Kiefer gave a shocked expression as she said that.
However, Ryner's expression became gloomier.
“But because of your nagging, Kiefer, I ended up going for all the lessons, you know?”
“May I know what the problem is?”
“There's way too many problems. If I get a good impression from the instructors and make myself outstanding, I will be forced to get lots of useless and troublesome work. What should I do then?”
Ryner could actually say such things with a serious face. Kiefer continued to look at his face for a while and hugged her head in a reluctant manner.
“If you become outstanding like this, Ryner, I feel that I can look forward to the day where I rise up to be a god...”
At this moment, a voice rang.
“Wahaha! Your dreams are really incredible...in that case, when you become a god, Kiefer, I pray that you'll grant me happiness too.”
It was Sion.
Unknowingly, Sion was standing between the duo who were sitting on the ground and discussing.
“Eh, ah, Sion...no, Mr Astal!? We, well...how, HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?”
Kiefer was so nervous that her voice became shrill.
On seeing this, Sion couldn't help but give a wry smile.
“Just call me Sion. As for how I know your name...I practically memorized the names of all the students that were more outstanding.”
“Ah? More outstanding...?”
Sion nodded his head.
“Kiefer Knolles. Obtains above average grades in all subjects, outgoing personality, nice appearance and loved by everyone.”
“Ah? No, well...since when am I pretty looking…”
Having been praised by Sion like this, Kiefer's entire face went red, but continued to give an embarrassed look,
“Wha, what should I do, Ryner? He called me pretty. Ahaha, ahahaha!”
Kiefer started chuckling to herself meaninglessly.
Beside him, Ryner whispered,
“Way too hot.”
PA!
He took a punch to the back of the head.
Sion looked at this stupid exchange between the two of them for quite a while, and then said to Kiefer,
“It's like this. I have a proposal, Kiefer. Do you want to serve under me?”
“Eh? Serve?”
“Un. The Academy will split students into different groups to enhance training and carry out battles as units. If you're willing to work under me, I can work through backdoor means and let you be drafted into the same class as me. You should understand how beneficial it should be if you can be of the same class as me.”
“Bu...but, you need some talented people, right Mr Astal...no, un, Sion? Someone like me...”
“That's not true. You have talent. I won't let you regret this.”
Once Sion said that, he smiled. His smile had an abnormal glow as every action of his gave the vibes of a good youth.
Even though Sion assured her, Kiefer still remained undecided. For some reason, she seemed to be deliberately glancing at Ryner.
“But...”
“What's there to worry about, Kiefer? Didn't he say that it would be beneficial to you? Just go? I can sleep everyday if that's the case...”
Before Ryner could even finish with his nonsense, he saw Kiefer giving a sad look for some reason, and inadvertently shut up.
At this moment, Sion spoke again.
“Ah, is that so? Of course, I intended to have Ryner come under me too.”
Immediately thereafter,
“Really?”
“Ah~that's too troublesome. I'll pass~”
Kiefer and Ryner cried out at the same time.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?”
And then, Kiefer started to chide,
“Why not? That's a glorious thing! Everyone knows that you can be outstanding when you follow Sion!”
However, Ryner wasn't moved by Kiefer's words and obviously showed some unhappiness.
“I said no~! When you're outstanding, won't you be forced to do lots of things you don't want to do at all? As for me, I feel that the day can end if I can get a good nap. Such a life will then be meaningful...”
“Such a life can't be called meaningful!”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“Yeah! Really, you. I knew that you're such a person already, so that's why I called you to shut up. Just follow what I say...”
But at this moment, Ryner interrupted Kiefer and gave a casual look, before saying,
“Speaking of which...why would someone look for me? Who doesn't know how bad my grades are? No matter how I think about this, I feel that Sion only wants Kiefer~”
For some reason, Ryner's words made Kiefer's face twist with sadness.
Ryner didn't understand why Kiefer would have such an expression and tilted his head in a doubtful manner.
However, no matter what, what Ryner said was sound.
It was true that it's strange for someone to look for Ryner.
Sion came to look for Ryner merely to make it easier to pull Kiefer in. Because...well, personal reasons can't be stated. Everyone knows that Ryner's grades were often in the last few, and he said himself that had no will to fight...
Unless it's someone really intrigued, nobody would think of taking in such a person...
Either way, there's definitely a catch to this.
At this moment, Kiefer gave a depressed expression and muttered,
“Stupid Ryner...if you can't even look up to yourself...we'll be forced to separate from each other...”
However, Sion interrupted Kiefer's words at this moment and said with a beaming smile,
“Don't say that. It seemed that you're mistaken, Ryner. I really want you to work under me.”
“Ah? Why?”
Ryner looked dazed as he asked.
Sion smiled as he said,
“Un, if I have to put it, we're really compatible? You didn't look amazed or envious when you saw me. I'm really interested in you when you give such a dazed look.”
“In other words, wa...you mean that you've fallen in love with me? Uu...sorry...in that case, it's all the more reason why I can't work under you...”
Because of that, Ryner randomly came up with a reason and still refused Sion in the end. No, it should be said that he never wanted to get involved with anyone in the first place. First, he felt that this was too much of a hassle. Second, he had no interest in becoming famous.
However, he still couldn't understand why whenever he refused Sion's invitation, Kiefer will show a sad look...
“Ahh, I really feel like sleeping for some reason...”
However, he wasn't motivated enough to be bothered by such a thing.
Thus, Kiefer dejectedly lowered her head for some reason,
“In that case, I...”
At this moment, Sion's expression remained unchanged as the smile that a kind youth would have became a demonic smile.
He then brought his face to Ryner's ears...
“Oi, I say, don't put yourself too highly just because I called you personally, Ryner. Didn't I say that we're compatible? I want you with that 'Alpha Stigma'.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”
Immediately, Ryner's listless body leaped away from Sion and got far away.
He showed an obviously panicked look as he said,
“Yo, you, what are you saying...the 'Alp...'no...ugh, I don't understand that thing at all...”
However, Sion showed that kind youthful smile he showed before and said,
“Ryner, why must you be so humble? I know that you are hiding your true ability. I personally went to the orphanage you lived in last time.”
“You...”
Immediately, Ryner froze. However, he still tried to think of a way to look calm and continued,
“Wha, what are you spouting? I'm really lost here. Okay, I'm going. It's troublesome to be working under someone else...”
After saying that, Ryner turned around as his back faced Sion and used his clumsy feet to try and move away.
But...
That carefree voice still chased Ryner from behind.
“If you're not going to work with me, I'll reveal your secret. I'm going to say everything. You should know what will happen if your hidden ability is revealed, right?'
“Ugh...”
On hearing that, Ryner stopped.
'Alpha Stigma'.
People would often describe this term with fear and disgust.
Normally, that would be the case. However...
Ryner sighed and turned around.
He used his loose and limp eyes to look at the good youth Sion who was still smiling.
“You know of my past, and yet you still want me?”
And then, Sion smiled cheerily.
“If I don't want you, I guess nobody else would, right? So, what do you plan to do? Will you work under me? Or...”
“Ugh...haa, okay, okay. I got it. I'll work with you. Really...do you recruit your allies with such threatening means? You really are a demon, right?”
Ryner said. For some reason, Sion showed a wry smile.
“We're about the same here. Okay, that's it. We're sorting out classes in two days. I'll get ready and arrange for you two to be in my class. Let's work hard from now on!”
After saying that, Sion hurriedly left.
Ryner sighed as he watched the profile leave. Then, Kiefer asked in a puzzled manner,
“Eh? Hey? What's going on? So you're Sion's ally too, Ryner, right?”
On hearing that, Ryner sighed harder.
“...Looks like things got even more out of hand...”
“Really, you! You finally got a path where you can show yourself to be outstanding. Stop saying such deflating things! Ah, but...”
At this moment, Kiefer immediately pondered.
“Just now, didn't Sion mention something about you having a hidden ability or something, Ryner? What does that mean?”
Once Kiefer asked that, Ryner couldn't help but be terrified.
However, he still tried to hide it.
“Nothing. Do you feel that I am someone who has such an ability?”
Kiefer stared at Ryner for a while and then decidedly shook her head.
“Doesn't look like it.”
“Oi, don't deny it just like that~”
“But it just doesn't feel like it. Ah, if I have to really put it, is he saying that your lack of fighting will is so outstanding? Maybe that's it. As an elite, maybe Sion saw your laziness, Ryner, and wanted it to be a refresher in his busy life...ah, maybe that's it. I'll feel happy too when I'm with Ryner.”
Kiefer said these words that Ryner felt were rather rude as she continued to nod away. Ryner couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief.
“Are you saying that you're living such tense days every day?”
On hearing that, Kiefer's expression darkened.
“Fuu...a pure girl has lots of things to worry about...”
“Oh...excuse me, where's the acting practice area? There are creatures called girls who are worth being praised...OW! I was just joking! Don't hit me! WAH!!!”
Ryner muttered as he frantically ran around helter-skelter, dodging Kiefer's fist that was among the top in practical fights.
The peaceful sun covered the entire practice field.
School life was as peaceful as ever.
A peaceful daily life.
The Roland Empire, which was ravaged by war, gained temporary peace due to a 7 year ceasefire.
Roland, which was located at the southern end of the Menoris Continent, was surrounded by 3 countries.
One of them was the Imperial Nelpha.
Though the country of Roland wasn’t really on good terms with this country, it wasn't that bad that they would start waging war with each other.
Another one was the Runa Empire.
As of now, the Roland Empire and the Runa Empire were allies. However, this wasn't really worth noticing.
The biggest problem was the third country.
The Kingdom of Estabul.
Roland had waged war against this country for almost 4 generations.
Nobody knew the reason why the war lasted that long.
There were many problems in the past. Some said that the conquered territory was a problem, but now it became such that it was an eye for an eye.
The war between both sides continued one year after another.
All the residents of Roland had experienced war, generation after generation.
That’s right.
This country was usually filled with the presence of death.
Until 7 years ago…
The war that wasn't showing any signs of ending continued to drain the country’s resources, causing the country itself to deteriorate. Both sides were worried that if this kept up, both Roland and Estabul would be worn out, allowing other countries to invade them. Thus, both sides had a ceasefire 7 years ago.
And thus, unlike the past, the peaceful days that were really unbelievable continued…
Either way, 7 years is a long time.
Unlike the adults who were easily caught in the past, the children recovered really quickly and even forgot all about it.
Or it could be said that the children themselves were already used to such peaceful lives.
As for how serious it was…
“I say, Ryner! Didn’t I tell you not to walk and sleep at the same time?”
“S, stop spouting nonsense. How can someone walk and sleep at the same time? I’m fully awake!”
“You were sleeping! You were sleeping! I saw it!”
“Uu…well, I only slept for about 10 minutes. What’s the problem?”
“It’s not about whether there’s a problem, I’m just amazed that you can even sleep on a road up the hill for 10 minutes.”
And so…
They were so used to peace that someone could sleepwalk.
Kiefer continued to roar at Ryner, who didn’t show any enthusiasm.
“Anyway! You can’t sleep in battle! A simulation battle is a team battle. If you sleep, Ryner, you’ll cause trouble to class rep Sion and everyone else in the class! You should know…”
But at this moment, Kiefer’s roars were interrupted by a girl’s voice from behind.
“Sorry, I have a little issue…Kiefer, I find that your voice is too loud. Up till now, I’ve been trying to tiptoe so that I won’t let out any footsteps. It doesn’t seem useful now that you’re shouting like this.”
Kiefer was shocked that she was told off.
“Eh? Ah? Well, uu…so, sorry.”
Kiefer went silent.
Looking back, a girl who was drafted into the same class in this operation was looking rather shocked at Ryner.
Fualu Penny. This short, petite and bespectacled girl had droopy looking eyes, and didn’t look like an athletic girl. In fact, she was often the top in secret operations, and one of the talents Sion drafted in.
Another person, Tony, who often gave a glum look and had a rather faint existence, then said unhappily,
“Yeah. Fualu’s right. You’re way too noisy.”
Then, someone else spoke.
“What’s the matter? Just stick with Sion’s plan, and it’ll be a really easy win for us in this mock training. No problems no problems♪”
The reasonable Tai then continued on.
These three, along with Ryner, Kiefer and Sion, were 6 people altogether.
Other than Ryner, the rest all had outstanding grades in some aspects.
On another note, Sion had other allies as well, but they were all sorted out to different classes. It seemed that Sion made some arrangements for his allies so that they would not face off against him in the grading classes…
So basically, this Academy was holding an inter-class scrimmage test. In this battle around a hill, the enemies were students who didn’t rely on Sion, so they were not to be underestimated.
Thus—
“Uu~I’m really sorry.”
Kiefer’s voice became softer.
Perhaps Sion witnessed all of this as he was right at the back. He said,
“Ah, it’s alright. Just follow my plan. We won’t lose at all.”
Ryner then continued,
“Yeah yeah. Actually, to me, it doesn’t matter whether we win or lose. So how about everyone take a good nap over here today…”
“““WHO CARES ABOUT YOU!!!???”””
Everyone else in the class lashed out at Ryner. From this, it seemed that these comrades seemed to have a certain amount of chemistry in their communication.
Other than someone who really lacked the will to fight…
Well, let’s not talk about this person for now.
As stated just now, the mock battle was held in an inter-class format.
Each class was set to depart from different spots around the hill, and the training would continue until they completely eliminated each other, no matter how many days it might take.
Of course, this hill couldn’t be considered small, so it was rather difficult to discover each side’s whereabouts, and each class had to find ways to gather food themselves. In other words, this was a rather difficult lesson that required all sorts of cognitive abilities.
But without an instructor around, maybe it shouldn’t really be considered a lesson…
On a side note, the main aim of this lesson wasn’t just to sort out the winners and losers. What they did when they discovered the enemy till they eliminate them also affected their grades.
Of course, the shorter the time, the better. That’s something to be expected, right?
Thus,
In this situation, the plan Sion came up with was…
Before they left, as they entered that artificial field before entering the hilly region, Sion said confidently,
“Okay, then we’re going to defeat the enemy completely within 5 hours.”
Immediately,
“Haa!?”
Other than Ryner, the other four cried out in shock.
Of course, even the most easygoing Tai looked rather gloomy.
“Do, don’t kid around, Sion. Isn’t that too much? No matter how good I am, I can’t possibly do so within 5 hours…how do you expect us to track the enemy down in such a short time?”
But Sion still smiled.
“I never talked about looking for the enemy. I already know. I know where our opponent started off from.”
“Ah? You’re saying that you know?”
Kiefer couldn’t help but ask in return, and Sion nodded his head nonchalantly,
“Un. I already checked which class would be our opponent, right? Where they start from too. We just need to ambush them, wait for them to come up, and then strike them…”
“Wait a sec!”
Kiefer interrupted Sion at this moment.
“But…isn’t this equivalent to cheating?”
Kiefer said her words so plainly, yet Sion still remained unmoved.
“Un, that can be said. However, my view is that this is a strategy. Speaking of which, isn’t this lesson about testing our cognitive ability? I don’t think that checking up on our opponent before we battle is a form of cheating. I don’t feel that way. I even think that using all actions in a battle…no, in a war will be justified. In that case, my action is correct.”
Sion tried to justify his actions with a thick face, and Ryner used his lazy voice to say,
“Un~ sounds rather righteous, but I feel that someone digging into other people’s past so randomly is no different from a pervert.”
Ryner’s history of being an ‘Alpha Stigma’ bearer was investigated, so he was still reserved about being forced to join this group…
However, Ryner’s words just went in and out of Sion’s ears.
“Hm? What you mean to say is that you don’t want me to say what the girl you dumped said?”
“Ah!? What do you…!”
But at this moment, Ryner was held back from behind by the other two guys.
By Tai and Tony…
And his mouth was even stuffed up.
“Fuuunyofuo!?”
Ryner couldn’t talk.
After checking that Ryner wouldn’t obstruct her, she nodded her head and said,
“Okay, who did you say was dumped by Ryner?”
Tai then said,
“What kind of girl?”
Fualu then said,
“Ah~ talking about love like this really makes a heart flutter~…”
These two weren’t the only ones talking as even the normally reserved and quiet Tony kept his usual gloomy look and said,
“How far did Ryner and that girl progress? I want to see if I can forgive Ryner.”
He actually said such terrifying words.
Everyone was interested by this…
And Sion then glanced at Ryner before giving a devilish-smile.
“According to what I heard, it seems that Ryner confessed to his teacher at the orphanage…”
“FunyofuOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!???”
Ryner couldn’t help but cry out in anguish.
Let’s not talk about such useless things.
Back to the hill.
Everyone was moving about in the hills like that for 2 hours.
Normally speaking, they should be near the starting point of the opponent.
Other than Ryner, everyone else looked tense as they started carefully observing their surroundings.
At this moment,
“Fuua~gya!?”
Ryner yawned loudly, and Tai sent a punch to shut him up,
And then used a suppressed voice to scold,
“Have you had enough? That’s enough, you cake eater! The enemy’s nearby!”
Upon hearing that, Ryner frowned.
“Wha, what cake eater…I said that it wasn’t the case! I was only six back then! And the teacher at the orphanage…”
But everyone denied him the chance to speak.
For some reason, even Kiefer slammed a punch from behind.
“What only six! You sex maniac!"
“Tha, that was just Sion’s nonsense! Think of it as a normal person! How could such a thing happen? ARGH, YOU BETTER REMEMBER THIS, SION!”
Ryner was going crazy and shouting, and Sion continued to smile calmly,
“Fufu…now you know the ability to control and manipulate information is something that’s of necessity, right?”
“WHAT KIND OF NECESSITY IS THAT! I’LL DEFINITELY…”
Ryner shouted, and this time, Sion was the one who covered his mouth.
He placed a finger at his lips.
“Quiet. Dear guests, we’ve arrived behind the enemy.”
Sion’s words made everyone quiet down.
Even Ryner, who was being held down, looked up, and saw people moving through the gaps between the trees.
There was a familiar gang of six boys and girls talking to each other.
Without a doubt, it was them.
Ryner and company didn’t even need 4 hours. They spent only slightly more than 2 hours before discovering the enemy.
This was really something shocking.
However, Ryner wasn’t interested in this at all…
Tai spoke,
“That’s great. The opponent hasn’t discovered us. Let’s attack, Sion!”
Then, Tony spoke in a vague manner,
“No, we’ll be done for if the enemy sets a trap. We should be more cautious.”
Then, Kiefer said,
“Sion, what should we do?”
Sion finally spoke,
“No, we’ll take action immediately.”
Immediately thereafter, Sion’s eyes narrowed. His lips didn’t give a casual smile, but looked as vicious as a beast that found its prey.
“We’ll win easily. Let’s defeat the enemy and set the quickest time record in this lesson. Go!”
After saying that, Sion leaped out.
On seeing this, everyone was stunned. They finally woke up once he easily took down two of them.
“He, he did it!”
Everyone hurriedly leaped out.
And thus…
Basically, this was a development that’s to be expected, but the outcome was soon decided.
In the end, it took them only 2 hours and 52 minutes to eliminate the opponent completely.
There was only 1 casualty.
On a side note, the so called casualty was that Ryner tumbled and fell down in this raid that should be an easy win.
Because of that, the class got a few points subtracted off, and everyone in the class obviously didn’t want Ryner to forget this as he was told off by them…
Soon after…
At a small old hotel in one of the back alleys.
The sound of birds chirping could be heard. However, as Ryner walked out from the hotel and looked up at the sky, the dark was still dark.
It seemed that there will still be some time till daylight.
Ryner took clumsy steps as he left the exit of the hotel and sat down on the road right in front of it.
“Uu~ that was bad…I knew that I can’t drink yet I continued to drink…”
He moaned with a weak expression.
And then, he laid down right in the middle of the road, trying his best to ignore a certain something that will rise up his throat.
“Speaking of which, I didn’t think Kiefer’s tolerance was so bad…”
He looked at the sky that may be blocked by the clouds as the clouds couldn’t be seen clearly, and muttered.
That’s the situation.
The class Ryner and gang belonged to made history by becoming the class that set the record for the shortest time in the mock battle training, and became heroes in the Academy. No, it should be said that because everyone knew that Sion led this class, Sion became a hero…
Tai felt that this was worth celebrating over, and several of Sion’s allies joined in too, causing this to become a celebration party.
There is a rule that was to be mentioned,
According to the laws of Roland, only those above the age of 22 could drink.
On another side note:
The oldest students of Roland Empire’s Royal Military were only 19, and what is…?
No, there’s no real need to look into this…
Ryner tried his best to suppress the disgusting urge as he muttered to himself to try changing his mood.
“That Sion, what cake eater did he just say…causing me to be called a lady killer for some reason…one of these days, I must grab that guy by his braids…”
At this moment, a voice called,
“I have no braids for you to grab on to.”
Sion crouched down and looked at Ryner’s face.
Immediately thereafter, Ryner continued to remain on the floor as he backed away agilely.
“Don’t appear in front of me like that, you demon!”
On hearing that, Sion grimaced.
“Yo, the famous lady killer.”
“I’M NOT A LADY KILLER—!?”
On roaring, Ryner felt really tired and sighed, regained that lazy expression, and said,
“Then, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be the main character of this success party?”
At this moment, for some reason, Sion showed a rare large smile that was vastly different from one a good youth should have, one that only Ryner had seen before, a vicious demonic smile that had some complicated emotions in them.
“Didn’t I say that I don’t have braids? I drugged everyone. You and I are the only ones awake.”
“Is that so? So everyone’s asleep?”
“Un.”
At this moment, both of them went silent.
Ryner looked up at the sky and started to daze around.
Sion lay down beside him.
“Ryner.”
“Hm? If you want me to create a love scene between two guys, no thanks.”
On hearing this, Sion gave a wry smile.
“Why would I do that? What I mean is…will you tell me? Why you came to this Academy…”
“Ah? Why mention that all of a sudden?”
“Uu…”
Sion nodded his head, and continued,
“Your grades are at the bottom, and your attendance isn’t good, and you wouldn’t agree to join me even when I asked you. From this, I can tell that you have no intention of being outstanding through this path. So why is such a person at the academy? This really intrigued me.”
Ryner continued to look at sky and said with a lazy tone.
“Well…haven’t you checked on it before? You should know why I had to come to this academy, right…?”
“Ah, you got me…”
Now that Ryner mentioned it, Sion couldn’t help but chuckle.
“To be honest, I did check on it, on the orphanage you were at…”
And then, he paused before continuing in a rather happy tone.
“The orphanage you grew up in was Roland Special Institute #307…on paper, it was an institution to raise children orphaned by war until they were old enough to be independent. However…that wasn’t really the case. They only gathered children with potential and gave them thorough military training. Those who couldn’t show their potential were disposed of, and most of those who survived were sold to nobles for high prices or thrown onto the frontlines to enter the war…”
“…”
Ryner remained silent as his listless eyes continued to look at the sky…
Sion continued,
“You were raised in that kind of place. Unexpectedly, the war ended…even so, that orphanage still remained during the few years after the war. But without war, that sort of place—that facility which trained children through forceful means and kill them once it was discovered they have no talent—it was just a testbed for criminals. Thus, you were forced to make a choice. Accept the arrangements and continue to be managed by the military, or be silenced…you chose the former, entered the Roland Empire’s Royal Military Academy… am I right?”
Ryner didn’t answer Sion and remained stunned for a while. He really didn’t look very enthusiastic, which made Sion worry whether he was asleep or not. Was Ryner actually asleep?
However, Ryner frowned a little and said,
“Un~ it was so long already. It’s a bit nostalgic for someone to talk about my history in such detail. However, things weren’t really as serious as you said. On one hand, I really felt that this was nothing much. Besides, I even told my instructor: ‘can we get married?’”
After saying that, Ryner started laughing to himself.
However, it was one with a somewhat self-mocking attitude.
Sion gave the self-mocking Ryner a stern look.
“I say, Ryner.”
“What? Don’t be so formal.”
“You…”
At this moment, Sion paused.
And then, he said with a slow tone as it seems that he was deliberately choosing his words,
“Ryner, haven’t you thought about taking revenge on this country?”
“Ah? Revenge?”
Not expecting Sion’s words to be so shocking, Ryner couldn’t help but ask back in surprise. Sion then nodded his head and stood up,
He walked over to the middle of the road Ryner was lying on, turned around, and said,
“Haven’t you thought of overturning this corrupt country? Your ‘Alpha Stigma’ alone caused you to be rejected by the entire country. This is a country with unequal status amongst its people, a country that oppresses the weak and fights without ending. A foolish king, and even foolish nobility.”
On hearing Sion’s words, Ryner frowned and said,
“Oi oi, you’ll be executed if other people heard you say that.”
But Sion merely smiled.
“Maybe. But you who hate this country wouldn’t sell me out, right?”
Ryner’s eyebrows frowned even more.
“I won’t say it because I don’t want trouble.”
“Ahaha, I know that this isn’t your real reason.”
“Don’t decide that yourself and read into me.”
Sion couldn’t accept whatever Ryner said.
He said in a direct tone,
“I want to take action, Ryner. I want to change everything. I have been working hard, searching throughout this academy to recruit allies who haven’t relied on the nobles. However…this plan’s about to end soon. I have more than enough forces.”
Sion let go of both hands.
“I want to become the king to this country. I want to change everything. So Ryner, join me. I will help you to make a world you can look forward to.”
After saying that, Sion reached his hand out to Ryner.
Sion’s face showed a look of confidence.
The silver hair was glowing, and the sharp eyes showed intense will.
Obviously, he was different from an ordinary person.
He just looked so dazzling.
If there was a need to describe him, he was like a demon who was shooting arrows at a god, or a god that purges evil…
This person just looked like he was born with the nature to be a hero.
Also, he had ability and charisma…
He will become a king.
Sion was giving off a presence that seemed to show that he was about to quickly fulfill what could only be described as a ‘dream’.
And Sion spoke again.
“Join me, Ryner.”
In this situation, any ordinary person would likely be swallowed by Sion’s overwhelming charisma.
However…
The one we’re talking about here was Ryner.
In this situation, after hearing this, Ryner’s response was,
“I see. So you want the throne, Sion? But it sounds bothersome…sorry, I’ll pass. Ah, but when you become king someday, Sion, can you write a law such that sleepy and lazy people can get more promotions easily?”
He said this with a lazy voice.
His expression just looked like he really wanted to sleep as the lazy black eyes didn’t show any will at all.
There was no glow in his eyes at all.
If one had to make a comparison, he’s either a puppy or a kitty that’s having an afternoon nap…
Sion’s struggles were thoroughly annihilated by this person who didn’t have any will at all. For just that moment, he showed a thoroughly shocked look.
“Guu…a, ahaha!!”
He started laughing.
“That, that’s too funny! Ahaha. I see. So maybe that’s the reason why I wanted you. Maybe it has nothing to do with the ‘Alpha Stigma’…you’re the first person who didn’t react to me at all.”
“Ever since I was born, god made it such that I won’t react to guys at all.”
At this moment, Sion gave a mischievous smile.
“Are you only interested in mature women?”
Sion deliberately joked, causing Ryner to look unhappy.
“I’M NEVER GOING TO BE YOUR ALLY!”
“AHAHA!!”
Sion laughed.
He was laughing like a naïve child.
Ryner looked at him…
Suddenly, Ryner’s eyes caught something behind Sion…
“Eh?”
Everything happened here.
Several men in black attire were standing behind Sion unknowingly, drawing magic arrays in the air.
Anyone who studied Roland’s magic could tell that someone who’s creating a magic array like this was intending to use a kind of spell.
It was a light that’s released from the center of the magic array, a spell with tracking capability and had tremendous destructive ability.
And right now, this spell’s locked onto Ryner and Sion, gradually forming…
“Eh, who are these people?”
Just when Ryner was stunned, Sion took action.
“Not good, run!”
Sion grabbed Ryner on the collar and dragged him as he ran.
“WA, WAA, WAAAAAHH!! WAIT A SEC! IT HURTS! SION, IT HURTS HURTS HURTS!!”
Ryner’s face was dragged on the ground just like that as he grumbled.
“If it hurts, run! You’ll die if they catch up!”
“Ah? You’re saying that I’ll die…? Why? I haven’t done anything bad? Do, don’t tell me there’s a new law that I’ll be executed for taking naps in the day?”
In such a serious situation, Ryner’s words showed no sign of tension at all. Sion didn’t bother and shouted,
“I’LL EXPLAIN TO YOU LATER. ANYWAY, LET’S RUN!”
“O, okay!”
Once Ryner said that, he used his hands to skillfully hit the ground, and while he wasn’t getting in the way of Sion, who was running forward, he leapt up from the ground.
One really couldn’t tell that this was something a person viewed as a loser at the academy with zero athleticism could pull off…
On seeing this, Sion gave a wry smile and said,
“Alright, around this corner…”
Before he even finished, a strong ray of light immediately attacked them from behind the corner…
Both of them turned around at the same time.
That light was obviously of magic. It may be from those mysterious men in black clothing, a destructive spell of light called ‘Kuuri’.
Sion shouted.
“RYNER, JUMP!”
“WAHH!!?”
Just like that, these two tried hard to jump into a small gap between the brick houses.
Immediately,
The intense light exploded. The house that took the brunt of impact was completely destroyed as the light went through it and into the house.
It really was an amazing amount of destructive power.
The enemy’s actions were merciless, and they were obviously not just trying to knock out the opponent or merely threaten them.
Such an attack was obviously created to kill someone.
Ryner looked stunned as he gazed at the wall of the house with the large hole blown right through.
“I hope that didn’t hit anyone inside.”
Even while saying this, the situation continued to evolve.
Voices came from behind them.
“Sion Astal’s escaped into that corner. Pursue him!”
“We’ll be punished if he gets away!”
“Kill him! Kill him!”
On hearing this, Sion said,
“I’m sorry for getting you involved. It’s like this. It’s like this. The enemy would normally just send some thugs to come after me…looks like this isn’t good. These guys look like professionals…right now, I don’t have time to explain things clearly…”
Ryner stopped Sion.
“Oh well, I don’t want to hear any reason. Either way, what do you intend to do? Defeat the enemy? Or continue running?”
Sion was lost in thought for a moment, and then said,
“We’ll split up now! They’re chasing after me. If we split up, you can save yourself.”
“Ah, that’s right…I’ll feel relaxed then.”
Ryner actually answered immediately without showing any emotions, causing Sion to grimace.
“Really, at least show some concern.”
“Concern? Don’t forget, you’re the one with top grades, Sion, and I’m the straggler. Besides, don’t you want to become king? It won’t be good if you die because of something like this, right?”
On hearing this, Sion smiled.
“You’re right. See you at the academy tomorrow.”
After that, Sion ran out of the alley.
He deliberately tried to attract the enemy’s attention and shouted.
“I’M HERE! COME AFTER ME IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS!”
Once he said that, he started running off again.
A group of men who were clad in black saw Sion.
“FOUND HIM! GO AFTER HIM!!”
“KILL HIM! KILL HIM!”
And thus…
Ryner was left alone.
After checking that no one else was around, he walked out from the alley…
But even when facing this situation, he didn’t look tense at all as he yawned.
“Still have to get up early tomorrow. I’m so sleepy. Not really ready for class…might as well skip it…”
He continued off in lazy strides and went back to the hotel where everyone was drunk.
