Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The First Day of Training
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“…Wake up, Ruan.”
I opened my eyes to the feeling of someone shaking my shoulder.
It was Hector.
He was looking down at me with a weary expression.
“You’ve got some nerve, sleeping so soundly in front of me.”
“…Is there a reason I can’t sleep in front of you, brother?”
As I replied in a slightly hoarse voice, Hector spoke.
“I've been curious for a while, but why do you switch between formal and informal speech?”
“Because that’s the whole idea.”
“……!”
I walked past Hector, who wore a shocked expression, and got out of the carriage first.
“Haaa….”
The cold air reached deep into my lungs.
The air at the Bednicker main estate was incredibly clear, but this place was even more so.
The only thing that bothered me was the faint, occasional scent of beasts mixed in with the clean air.
‘…Why is it so cold.’
For some reason, it reminded me of my mother's homeland, the extreme land of Koland. Not that I'd ever been there.
It wasn't this cold just a moment ago when we were at the main estate.
I raised my collar and surveyed my surroundings.
I saw what looked like a clearing in a terrain surrounded by forest on all sides, and in that clearing stood a few solitary buildings.
The buildings were divided as if by an invisible line, one section to the left and one to the right.
The strange thing was that the building on the left looked so dilapidated it could collapse at any moment, while the one on the right looked sturdy and clean, as if it had just been built.
In the clearing, several people my age stood around with blank faces.
Judging by their expressions, you'd think they had been kidnapped.
I couldn't tell if they were just dull-witted or highly adaptable.
I could also see a group of them who seemed to be friends, huddled together and whispering.
It wasn't hard to spot Seren among them.
Her appearance was just that striking.
As I stared at her, Seren seemed to notice my gaze and looked my way.
I gave her a friendly wave.
Seren saw my face, rubbed her eyes once, and then looked again.
“You-!”
Just as her eyes widened,
“ASSEMBLE-!”
A voice like a clap of thunder erupted.
It was a shout laced with a great deal of mana.
The one who had shouted was a man with dark skin and a hideous scar covering half his face.
What was most impressive were his eyes; they held the intensity only a veteran who had survived more than ten years as a mercenary could possess.
‘He's a Grand Master Teacher.’
The Hunting Master Teacher, I think?
I don't remember his name.
In any case, the dazed initiates, startled by the shout, quickly gathered in the clearing.
The Hunting Master Teacher watched them with cold eyes before speaking.
“Welcome, initiates. My name is Tanko. Some of you here may know me as a guest and Grand Master Teacher of the Bednicker family, but it would be best for you lot to forget that fact while you're here. Furthermore, every person you encounter in this training ground, aside from yourselves, is an instructor. You will show them proper respect.”
Most of the initiates wore foolish expressions at the words the Hunting Master Teacher spewed.
The ones who were slow to grasp the situation.
There were also a few who looked offended by his rude words.
Even if this was the Bednicker domain, they were still the children of nobles who lived in luxury in their own families.
The Hunting Master Teacher seemed to savor their reactions, then smirked and spoke.
“I like that look in your eyes. No need to make such faces; I'll be working you like dogs soon enough, so just wait. But before that…”
A few knights emerged from behind the platform and handed each initiate a piece of paper.
I took one and glanced at it. It was a waiver.
“Sign it.”
“Wh-what are we signing?”
One of them mustered the courage to ask.
Tanko twisted his lips into a wicked grin, as if he had been waiting for the question.
“What do you think? It's a waiver stating that you won't hold the Bednicker family responsible if you get injured, crippled, or in the unlikely event, die.”
A stir went through the crowd.
I realized why, of all the Grand Master Teachers, they had put this man on the platform.
His appearance, and the low tone of his voice, were perfect for setting the mood.
The veterans who hazed the rookies back when I was a mercenary were mostly like him.
“I'll warn you once, and only once. The Bednicker training is harsh. You'll hear that kind of talk until you're sick of it at any knight training camp, but this place is on a different level. The mortality rate for this training program is twenty percent.”
The Hunting Master Teacher held up two fingers for emphasis.
“Twenty percent. Do you perhaps think that's not a high number? A noble who only sees numbers as figures might think so. But it means that out of you lot here right now, at least six or seven of you won't leave this place alive.”
Gulp!
The initiate standing next to me swallowed dryly.
“You probably want to ask why it's so harsh. Of course you do. Normally, for an initiate to be recognized as a hero, they must go through an apprenticeship of at least one year, and sometimes over five. You have the chance to shorten that period to as little as six weeks depending on your performance. If it weren't harsh, it would be unfair.”
“……”
“Whether you sign or not is up to you, but once you do, that's it. It means you can't leave this place no matter how much you cry, beg, or pathetically cling to us. In six weeks, you'll either walk out of here alive, or you'll die. It'll be one or the other.”
He wasn't just setting the mood.
The Hunting Master Teacher was deliberately forcing a choice between two options.
Just listening to him made it sound like the survival rate had dropped to fifty percent—live or die.
Wouldn't someone with a weak heart break at his words?
“I... I'll go back.”
“Me too……”
As expected, a few gave up early.
I counted them with my eyes; there were four.
I didn't know if that was a lot or a little.
The Hunting Master Teacher, who probably knew the answer, nodded with a blank expression and pointed to a carriage.
“Those who are leaving will board the carriage guided by the knights.”
The four of them entered the carriage with stumbling steps.
A few other initiates couldn't take their eyes off them.
They were the ones still hesitating.
But, just as the Hunting Master Teacher had said, that was their last chance.
Clang!
The sound of the carriage door closing rang out with unusual loudness.
“Well. The last carriage to heaven has departed. To you idiots who chose hell, I sincerely welcome you. And now, I will issue the first command. Roll.”
A moment of silence.
“…Excuse me?”
The moment some fool blinked his stupid eyes and asked.
“Roll, you sons of bitches--!”
***
On the continent, the name Bednicker is largely synonymous with fear.
So much so that more people within the Empire feared them than even the Dark Cult.
This was because the family itself had a strong reclusive tendency, the rumors surrounding them were dark and gloomy, and most of its members displayed cruel ruthlessness.
However, that wasn't to say no one respected the Bednickers.
It was an undeniable fact that they had accumulated incredible achievements one after another in a short period of time.
-A fallen family that had lost its former glory, reviving to reclaim its past prosperity.
Such a comeback story undoubtedly had a way of stirring the hearts of those who heard it.
The Helvin family, a house on the verge of collapse.
This was the reason Evan Helvin, the third son of that house, had participated in the Bednicker training program.
If I receive the Bednicker's high-level curriculum, might I also find a clue to reviving my family's fortunes? …That was the underlying calculation.
And if he happened to become a direct disciple of a Grand Master Teacher, or catch the eye of the Iron-Blooded Duke, all the better-.
“Roll, you sons of bitches--!”
“……”
And at the Hunting Master Teacher's sudden shout, Evan's jaw dropped.
Roll?
But there's nothing to roll here.
No, he didn't say to roll something, he said to roll.
‘Don't tell me he's telling me to roll?’
On this filthy ground?
“The last five to roll will get a demerit! Ah. I forgot to explain. Every initiate participating in this training program is given a base of ten points. The lower your points get, the more... interesting your life here will become.”
Immediately, the guy standing next to him dropped and rolled on the ground.
Evan stared at him with startled eyes.
He was a boy with a perfectly normal, extremely aristocratic appearance.
As if under a spell that this filthy ground was his own bed, the boy rolled across the dirt like an insect.
In that time, the other initiates also began to roll on the ground immediately.
Among them was even the young lady of the Goodspring family, who looked like she would never do such a thing.
Swept up in this crazy atmosphere, Helvin was just about to hastily lower his body.
“Halt.”
The Hunting Master Teacher's dry voice rang out.
His eyes, which made one's knees weak just by looking at them, turned this way—or more precisely, towards the five who were still clean.
“Evan Helvin, Hans Vander, Sho Greenwood, Bruno Hammer, Laura Rossi. One point deducted.”
“……!”
“Resume.”
As the five of them stood there blankly, the Hunting Master Teacher roared.
“What are you doing! Roll again-!”
At his words, the five of them snapped to their senses and rolled on the ground.
The damp mud soiled not only their clothes and bare skin but even their hair.
‘S-so sticky……!’
Of course, as the son of a martial family, it wasn't as if Evan had never gotten dirty before.
But this was the first time in his life he had voluntarily rolled around in the dirt.
“And… what's your name?”
The Hunting Master Teacher's gaze turned to the person next to Evan.
There stood the blond boy who had rolled on the ground faster than anyone else.
“Sir! Ruan Bednicker!”
Helvin was startled.
A Bednicker? His hair color was why it took me a moment to realize.
‘And if it's Ruan, then he's that guy.’
The madman who sold his family's treasured sword.
I see, so he was already out of his mind, which is why he could do something crazy faster than anyone else?
“A crisp answer. You were also the fastest to move.”
“Thank you, sir!”
“I'll award Ruan Bednicker one bonus point.”
“Thank you all the more, sir!”
“Hmm.”
The Hunting Master Teacher looked at Ruan with a strange expression before raising his head again.
“Everyone, on your feet!”
In a flash, this time, the thirty-odd initiates all stood up at almost the same time.
“The real training begins tomorrow. Today, we'll assign you your quarters. If there are no other instructions, you are free to rest in your rooms.”
Then he added with a sinister laugh.
“…Because today will be the only day you'll get to sleep with a comfortable body and a peaceful mind, so make sure you get a rest you won't regret.”
Evan watched him and thought blankly.
I should have left when he told us to go.
***
The moment Evan set foot inside the building called the "dormitory," his face grew even paler.
‘This… is the dormitory?’
Thick layers of dust, stairs that creaked with every step, a roof that could barely keep out the wind and rain.
Hadn't they mistaken it for a pigsty?
“Wait! You there, I think you've led us to the wrong place.”
Just then, an initiate who seemed to feel the same as Evan spoke to the knight who had guided them.
The knight replied with a crooked expression.
“Wrong place?”
“This isn't a dormitory, it's a warehouse!”
“Nope.”
“What?”
“I said it's the dormitory. The place you'll be staying for the duration of this training program.”
“What……!”
“And Bruno Hammer, speaking informally to an instructor is grounds for a demerit. One point deducted.”
He was one of the ones whose name had been called earlier.
Bruno's face turned red at the knight's dry tone.
Evan quietly swallowed.
He had almost lost another point himself.
Though he still didn't know what these points meant.
‘I-I should just lie low for now.’
That aside, he wanted to wash up before going to his room.
After rolling around on the filthy ground, he felt like grains of sand had gotten inside his underwear.
“Um- excuse me, how do we... wash up?”
Another initiate asked the knight.
Having seen what just happened, his tone was strangely polite.
Evan also perked up his ears and focused on the conversation.
“The bathhouse is open only twice a day. When you wake up, and right before you sleep. That means you can't wash now.”
“Th-that can't be……”
So we have to stay like this until night?
Evan's body trembled.
Of course, he didn't have the courage to protest directly to the instructor.
With no other choice, he trudged towards his assigned room.
The room had the number '3' on it. When he opened the door and went inside, he saw two beds and two desks.
The strange thing was that the beds and desks looked as if they were combined.
There was a roof over the desk, with a bed placed on top... he had no idea why it was designed that way.
‘…Ah.’
But the moment he saw the state of the room, Evan realized.
To cram two desks and two beds into this tiny space, this was the only way.
‘This is ridiculous……. We're supposed to live here?’
Even the doghouse for his dog, Dux, was bigger than this!
He felt dizzy, but he didn't have the confidence to argue with the knight like that Bruno fellow had.
He didn't know what they were for, but he didn't want to lose any points.
Evan had no luggage, so he plopped down on the bottom bunk on the left.
Creak-.
Just then, the door opened and someone came in.
“Ah……”
It was the guy who had been standing next to him earlier.
Ruan Bednicker.
Evan quickly composed himself and greeted him politely.
“N-nice to meet you. I am Evan of the Helvin family. You are the young master of the Bednicker family, correct?”
Even if the other party was the madman who sold his family's treasured sword, the Helvin family was practically a fallen noble house.
In any case, it meant he had to be polite first.
Ruan glanced around the room with a calm expression, then looked at Evan and said with a grin.
“Evan Helvin. You're a famous one.”
“Huh? M-me?”
“Not yet?”
Ruan tilted his head and said.
“Anyway, let's get along. I'll take the right side, okay?”
“Ah, yes.”
“And you can speak comfortably. We're going to be eating dirt and rolling around like dogs together from now on.”
“What do you mean by……”
Ruan didn't answer, just chuckled unsettlingly and leaped up to the top bunk.
‘He doesn't act like a noble.’
Truthfully, the same could be said for Evan, so he had no desire to question it.
He was bewildered, unable to get a grasp on what kind of person his roommate for the training program was.
[-Ahem.]
“Gah!”
He was startled by the voice that suddenly rang out.
[Announcement to all initiates. Those who wish to eat should use the dining hall between 18:00 and 19:00. That is all.]
“Wh-what was that?”
“It's communication magic.”
Ruan said nonchalantly.
“They probably placed communication crystals in the dorms beforehand. There it is.”
Where Ruan pointed, a crystal was embedded.
“A communication device and a light source. It seems there's nothing useless in this room.”
“…Ha, haha.”
“Snap out of it and let's go get some food.”
“Ah, yes.”
Evan followed behind Ruan, tilting his head in confusion.
‘Why does he seem so used to this?’
The conclusion came quickly.
He's a Bednicker.
He probably got a heads-up about the training program beforehand, right?
Evan thought it was a bit unfair.
Finding the dining hall was easy; he just had to follow the smell of food.
Evan had actually been starving since lunch, so his stomach was practically stuck to his back.
‘The food probably won't be delicious…’
Still, he had prepared himself for this much.
As long as it wasn't filthy or lacking in nutrients, he wouldn't mind if it tasted terribly.
However, Evan would not find out what kind of food was served.
“Evan Helvin, you are forbidden from entering the dining hall.”
“Wh-why... is that?”
He almost spoke informally.
At that, the knight standing at the dining hall entrance continued with a dry gaze.
“Initiates with fewer than ten points are not permitted to enter the dining hall for dinner.”