The Training Ground Secured
Right after stepping out of the warehouse, Seria spoke up. “Now........ what do we do first?”
“First, we need a place suitable for training. Somewhere out of sight, obviously. If we do this out in the open, people will start shouting about black magic and drag us away on the spot.”
“This was the best spot I knew, but now that Rigel’s shown up, it’s all blown. Those damn bastards........ all the money I poured into this place.”
“You mean your delinquent friends? Their faces alone give them away. You were foolish. The old sages once said that trials act as a sieve to separate people. Only those who remain by your side through hardship are true friends.”
The guys she used to hang around with. She had spent so much time eating and playing with them that she never expected them to stab her in the back twice. Not only had they abandoned her at the karaoke place, but now they had exposed her location too. Seria clenched her fists and trembled with rage, but there was nothing she could do. Their relationship had always been that shallow.
“Then what now? We need a training spot, but I can’t think of anywhere else.”
“Hmm......... Ah. There is one place that comes to mind. If we go there, no one will see us and we can fight freely.”
“What? Where? That place?”
Dayman glanced at Seria. Her miniskirt was so short that her hips were nearly visible. He had no idea why she wore those black stockings that showed off every line of her legs, or the loose slippers, or the unbuttoned blouse that made her look like a textbook delinquent. A tattoo peeked out from under her sleeve, and she was chain-smoking like it was her job.
“Hmm......... You would not look out of place there at all. You look like a born thug.”
Seria let out a dumbfounded laugh at that. “And what about you? You’re a picture-perfect golden sun.”
“Golden sun? What’s that?”
“Blond tanning thug. Go look it up, idiot. You look like the type who’d run around yelling ‘UhyoWWWWW, time to get a female disciple!!’”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, but let us go anyway.”
“Where? Where are we going right now?”
“An empty lot. A place where delinquents used to gather. Just come along. You will understand when you see it.”
Dayman led Seria somewhere. Finding the way was not difficult; he simply reversed the route he had once taken to Romeln Academy.
“There it is!! Oho! This really is prime real estate! Look at all these cockroaches spawning again!”
When they arrived at the empty lot and saw the crowd swarming there, Seria’s face went pale.
“You.......... You. D-Do you even know where this is?”
“Huh? Is this not a place full of delinquents?”
The roar of engines echoed from every direction. Countless men in jackets bearing their crew emblems milled about. Men and women alike puffed on cigarettes while huddled together, deep in serious discussion. It was a gathering of every delinquent in Erancal, the capital of the Magic Empire.
“.......What is this?”
“Do you know these people?”
Commoners and nobles lived in completely different worlds. Even though Seria had gone astray by hanging out with delinquents, her usual haunts had been limited to noble-only clubs, PC bangs, and karaoke places. She had never set foot in a gathering of commoner thugs before. And the reason was simple.
“Hey. You fucking bitches. I asked what the hell you think you’re doing!! You bastards!!!!”
That. That was why. Every thug casually drew wands from their waists. In this era, even commoners could instantly cast magic up to the 5th Circle with a wand, and if anyone had illegally modified theirs for lethal spells, things could get bloody fast. That was exactly why even the troublemakers from Romeln’s Knight or Magic Faculties never wandered into commoner delinquent territory.
Hundreds of wands were now aimed at them, yet Dayman showed not the slightest tension.
“This is the place. How about it!! It is tucked away, convenient to reach by subway, and since it is crawling with delinquents, no sane person would ever think to come here!!!”
Dayman chuckled calmly, clearly enjoying himself. Seria grabbed his sleeve.
“This doesn’t feel like a good idea. Let’s go.”
“Huh? Why? Is there a better place than this?”
“No! But shit......... they’re holding wands!! I know you’re insanely strong, but if you get hurt in a fight it’ll be a problem. Let’s just find somewhere else........”
“I asked you a question, you fucking bastards. What the hell are you?”
The delinquents began activating magic blades on their wands and approaching with murderous intent. Dayman smiled brightly at the sight. Delinquents volunteering to be shaken down like this—how beautiful.
“Ah. From now on, this empty lot belongs to me and my disciple Seria. I do not know what you lot are up to, but clear out.”
“What?”
Everyone in the lot burst into laughter at Dayman’s arrogant declaration.
“Hey. Do you even know what kind of place this is?”
One of the four men surrounded by women, all smoking heavily, spoke up. They were clearly the leaders. The four of them stood up with maximum swagger while the women told them to just ignore the intruders and chase them off.
“This is the meeting place of Erancal’s Four Great Crews. We do not know what kind of crazy bastard you are, but get lost.”
The name “Four Great Crews” sounded grand, but in reality it was just the surviving crews under the fallen dictator Hell Rider, finally able to breathe after his disappearance. They were meeting here to discuss how to survive from now on. The four leaders were acting this way for a simple reason: these were the first challengers to their authority. They intended to crush them publicly and show off their ferocity.
“So be good and leave while we are still asking nicely. Otherwise you are going to get beaten senseless.”
“You pathetic pieces of trash, where do you get off running your mouths?”
But their posturing lasted exactly one second. With a casual swing of his staff, the four crew heads who had been standing far away were yanked through the air and pinned in front of Dayman.
“.......Huh?”
“I have changed my mind. You lot seem like you would make decent lackeys.”
Dayman smiled. “From now on, when you see me, call me big brother. Got it? Whatever I order, you do without question.”
“W-What the fuck did you just do!!!”
“I-I can’t move, you bastard!!!”
“What are you waiting for!! Attack!!!!!!”
At the roared command of the four crew heads, hundreds of delinquents hesitated for a moment before charging with screams. Every single one of them had a magic blade active on their wand. To Dayman, it was merely laughable.
“Gravitic Push.”
With one light wave of his wand and a short chant, every charging delinquent was slammed flat against the ground. Men and women alike.
“Ghhhk............ Aaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Crushed under immense gravity, the delinquents thrashed, unable to breathe. Dayman showed the four floating crew heads the sight of their subordinates pinned below.
“Do I look like an easy mark, you fucking bastards?”
A spell activated without incantation. Black flames appeared in the air, flickering ominously. Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight.
“S-Shit!!!! Shit!!! W-Why is there Hellfire!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Military-grade magic. Seeing the terrified, trembling delinquents, Dayman clicked his tongue.
“A bunch of braggarts with nothing but bluster. Listen up, you lot! Back in my day, back-alley delinquents risked their lives to steal!! They were desperate enough to stab people over a single piece of bread!! Compared to them, you are just idiots playing at being gangsters.”
Dayman waved his staff. The four suspended crew heads swayed with it.
“Uuuuurgh!!!”
“S-Save us!!!!”
“W-We were wrong!! Please spare us!!!!”
When the Hellfire crept closer to the swaying men, they screamed and wet themselves. Dayman snickered and waved the flames toward the delinquents still pinned on the ground.
“Aaaaargh!! H-Head!! Do something, please!!!!!!!!!”
“Save us!!! Save us!! This is real!! It’s really real!!!!!!!!!!”
When the flames brushed against pebbles on the ground and instantly vaporized them, pig-like screams erupted from all around. The heads broke into cold sweats at the sight. Hell Rider—the undefeated tyrant who had lost everything overnight at the hands of a single person. They had heard the rumors, but never imagined they were true.
“P-Please spare us!! Hic!!”
“W-We will do whatever you say!!!!”
“I-If you need money, we will give it!! We will clear out the lot too!! We will never show our faces again!!!!!”
Unlike the others screaming their heads off, one of the four crew heads remained calm.
“W-What do you want!!!”
While the rest only shrieked, this one asked a rational question. Dayman released all his magic on the other three and approached the calm one.
“You seem useful.”
“Yes!! Big brother!! I will do anything you order!! W-What can I help with!!!!!”
The man dropped to his knees and bowed his head. Dayman smiled in satisfaction.
“What is your name?”
“Y-Yohan!!!”
“I need space for training. I also need various training materials and people to manage them. You are perfect for that role.”
“How much space do you need, big brother!!!”
“The entire lot is........ too big. Somewhere well hidden from outside view, about one-third the size of this lot would suffice. I also need exercise equipment to build strength, targets for practicing magic, beds and sofas to rest on after hard training, and snacks. I need someone to manage all of that.”
“We can do it!! Do you see those over there!!”
“Hmm. What are those rectangular hunks of metal?”
“They are called trailers!!! This is where people dump unused junk!! If we use them to build barricades, no one outside will be able to see in!!”
“Oho! That is a good idea.”
“And once the barricades are up, we will decorate the inside properly!! W-We will prepare snacks, maintenance, management, fitness equipment, everything!! We have plenty of guys with heavy machinery licenses on our side!! We can get it done right away!!”
“Good, good! You listen well. How long will it take?”
“One week, please!!!”
“Very well. I understand.”
After finishing his words, Dayman lightly flicked his wand. In an instant, all hundreds of delinquents were lifted into the air and dragged before him.
“S-Spare us!! Please!!!!!”
“Relax. I am not going to kill you. You are valuable future underlings for this body. There is no reason to kill you. But I will need one piece of insurance.”
When he swung his staff, a sizzling sound rang out and something was engraved on each of their faces.
“Kuaaaaargh!!!!!!!”
The Brand of Submission. A spell the leader of the thief guild that had taken in young Calion had once placed on him, and the first magic he had researched in pursuit of freedom.
“It probably cannot be removed by normal means. With this, I will know exactly where you are and what you are doing at all times. If you try to run away while I am gone, I will find each of you and cripple you. Understood?”
“Yes!!! W-We understand!!!!”
“I will return in one week. By then, make this place clean and suitable for training. Got it?”
“Yes!!! B-Big brother!! We understand!!!!!!!!!!!!”
The thugs answered in unison. Dayman roughly tossed them aside and returned to Seria.
“I have secured a decent training ground, Seria.”
“.........”
“We can use it starting in one week, so training is on hold until then.”
“Ha......... haha.”
Seria let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity. Dayman gestured for her to hurry along.
“Come on. Let us go.”
“W-Where?”
“I told you. I have no intention of taking only you as my disciple. I plan to expand this greatly. And to do that, I need something.”
The Demon King was still out there somewhere. He was the very embodiment of pettiness and treachery, someone who would not hesitate to use dirty tricks or gang up on others. Even if Dayman was strong, he could not face that man alone. He needed forces of his own.
“A money source. And a powerful backer to support me. Seria. You know the academy well, do you not? Who is the richest woman and the most powerful woman at Romeln?”
She did not know how far he intended to take this, but his tone suggested he was not speaking lightly.
“The richest is Yoo Seol-ah, an international student from the Jin Dragon Empire enrolled in the Magic Faculty. She is the granddaughter of the Geumcheon Group chairman.”
“Oho. A woman from the east, then. And the most powerful?”
“Ophelia de Homeirun. Third Princess of the Magic Empire, affiliated with the Knight Faculty. She is said to be very ambitious, according to the news.”
“I see. Can you show me what they look like?”
“Easy. I will show you some photos.”
Seria operated her phone and pulled up several pictures.
“Left is Yoo Seol-ah. Right is Princess Ophelia.”
“Let me see........”
The moment Dayman looked at the photos, he froze. Good heavens.
“........Both of them are devastatingly beautiful.”
Two women of insane beauty were staring back at him.