A Necessary Shake-Up
Kael disappeared into the distance, his steps looking light as air.
Well, they would have been light. He had dumped every headache on someone else.
“That bastard is seriously...”
Luke’s body shook with rage.
Wasn’t this a little too much?
Sure, he had lost the bet, but to work a man like this? Even a slave would not be treated this way.
...Fine. You want me to pick people?
The trembling Luke drew a cold smile across his face.
Kael had told him to handle it himself, so he intended to fill the ranks with people to his own taste.
* * *
The canteen was empty, not a single person sitting down to eat.
It couldn’t be helped. There were simply too few guards using the place.
All that was there were the men in chef’s uniforms and two rats.
A ratatouille all its own.
But separate from the desolate scene, the food steaming up fragrant wisps looked surprisingly appetizing. It was hard to believe this was guard rations.
“...Considering I’m the only guest here, don’t you think this is a problem?”
Dining, who had come out from the back, said coldly. Kael cleared his throat under that sharp glare.
“Ahem. Just wait a little longer. I’ve only just started recruiting people.”
“And when I asked for experienced staff... what is this?”
“Why? Those two used to work in the kitchen, didn’t they?”
That wasn’t a lie. They had made something that looked somewhere between bread and charcoal, but still.
“And if they’re lacking in skill, isn’t it your job to teach them? Quit complaining and raise them properly.”
Ignoring Dining’s stare, Kael started filling a tray with food.
Fresh bread, soup, and even bacon.
He missed Korean food, but this was still something to be grateful for.
“How is it? Is the work manageable?”
“...Huh? Ah... well, um... I mean... yes...? I think it is.”
Tomy and Jack looked half soul-dead, as if their spirits had already left their bodies.
Kael understood the hardships of kitchen duty well enough.
Besides, Dining was a perfectionist and a clean freak, so working under him would be exhausting as hell.
“You’ve got your work cut out for you. Ah, Hagen! I told your little brothers to come eat here today too. Take good care of them.”
“...Huh?”
At the news that the former Iron Thorn members were coming, Hagen’s face stiffened.
He’d long since set aside whatever dignity he had, but to have those guys see him in a chef’s uniform? Shame and self-loathing surged up at once.
“Ah, there they are.”
Speak of the devil, and he appears.
People began flooding in. The former Iron Thorn members, who had turned over a new leaf.
They still looked intimidating as hell, but these days they were making honest lives of it, working construction, maintaining streets and roads, or serving as guards for businesses.
“Man, I’m starving to death.”
“What is that smell? Damn, this is insane.”
“Wait, is this really free?”
Kael waved at the noisy men.
“You’ve all worked hard. Eat your fill.”
“Thank you, Boss!”
“Thank you!”
After those absurd ninety-degree bows, they took trays and started receiving food one by one.
“Could I get a little more? I’m pretty damn hungry...”
“...That’s a fixed portion.”
“Aw, come on, don’t be stingy. Just a little more?”
“Shut up and take what you’re given.”
“You’re really strict, huh? And since when do you keep talking to me like you’ve known me forever—”
One of the men getting his food started acting out, and Hagen, who had been standing with his head lowered beneath his mask, slowly raised it.
The moment the man met Hagen’s eyes, his face turned white as a sheet, as if he had seen a ghost.
“...Just go ahead and leave... sir.”
“S-s-sorry!”
The terrified man fled like he was running for his life, and his companions burst out laughing at the sight.
“What’s wrong with him all of a sudden? Did he see a ghost or something?”
“Who knows. He’s a real nutcase anyway. Hey, sir, give me a bit m—EEK!”
“...I said it’s a fixed portion. What, did you stuff a pole in your ear? Huh?”
After that, the former Iron Thorn members received their rations without another word.
Only the clatter of utensils rang through the canteen.
* * *
Posters began going up all over the streets.
Make your dream come true with the Nox Guards! The Nox Guards are waiting for talented people!
They were crude posters, but surprisingly, they drew a lot of attention.
Room and board, plus decent wages.
That alone was tempting enough, but the people applying to the Nox Guards were drawn to something else as well.
“...If I go in there, does that mean I’ll be one family with Kael-hyung too?”
“Seriously? If I’m family with Kael-hyung, I won’t have anything to fear. I’m applying right now.”
“Me too. Come to think of it, the guard uniform is kind of cool, isn’t it?”
“Honestly, yeah. The more you look at it, the cooler it gets.”
In Nox, the name “Kael” was spoken of almost like a legend.
The living legend who had conquered Nox with a single fist.
The Ogre of Nox, the Frenzied Guard Captain, the devil in human skin.
All sorts of terrifying nicknames, unknown even to their owner, clung to Kael’s name.
In any case, far more people than expected flocked to the recruitment notice.
The number ran into the hundreds.
Most had applied with light hearts, thinking they could earn easy money, live comfortably, and strut under Kael’s name.
But they couldn’t just accept every drifter and loafer as a guard.
A shake-up wasn’t an option. It was a necessity.
“All right, then. We’ll begin the induction test now.”
Standing before the many applicants gathered at the guard building, Luke spoke.
“...Induction test?”
“What, you thought anyone could just join the guards?”
Luke said in a cold voice.
The laughter among the applicants vanished in an instant.
Even then, they still did not know.
They did not know that hell was about to unfold.
“First, from this moment on, none of you will be allowed to sleep for a week. Sleep is a luxury.”
“...???”
“Second, for the next week, you’ll have to ‘figure out’ your own food and survive on your own. If you don’t want to starve to death, then struggle however you have to.”
When he finished speaking, Luke raised a hand and pointed toward a place piled high with something.
“...What is that?”
“Clothes. Change into them right now.”
“N-now? At least let us change indoors—”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
Luke’s eyes were so cold they seemed capable of freezing a person dead.
“Lastly, from now on, you will obey my orders without question. Anyone who talks back... I’ll personally show him what hell is.”
Crack.
As Luke clenched the hand he had extended, a chilling sound rang out.
Only then did the applicants realize something was very, very wrong.
Their faces went white.
“If you understand, change your clothes immediately.”
And so, hell began.
After the brutal test, only five survived.
Talents recognized by Luke.
They had stamina, doggedness, and the qualities of human weapons.
There was a hard, feral light in the applicants’ eyes.
Seeing that fierce energy, Luke smiled in satisfaction.
“What do you think?”
“...What are these guys?”
Kael, who had come after hearing that the guards had been recruited, made a strange face.
What the hell was this?
He’d said to recruit guards, and Luke had gone and gathered a bunch of lunatics instead.
“These are the guards you asked for, sir. Just as you said, I picked them ‘myself.’”
Luke’s eyes seemed to say, What, do you have a problem with that?
Kael let out an awkward cough.
“Ahem. Good work. Then train them properly and sort out the assignments yourself too.”
“...You want me to handle all of that as well?”
“I’m a little busy. I’ll head out first, okay?”
Having said that, Kael slipped away like he was fleeing.
Luke stood there, dumbstruck, and then began trembling all over.
* * *
Kael hurried away and took refuge in a clearing in the mountains.
“Hoo... where in the world did he dig those guys up?”
Every single one of them had a face like they were ready to start a war.
No matter how little difference there was between a thug and a guard, this was a bit much. At least they should have looked suitably rough, not outright unhinged.
“Anyway... that guy’s not normal either.”
Shaking his head, Kael began loosening his body.
This was where he trained.
At first it had been nothing more than an ordinary clearing, but as time passed, the surrounding trees and rocks, even the ground itself, came to be covered in countless sword marks.
“Hoo...”
After steadying his breathing, Kael drew his sword.
After the battle with the curse user, he had once again felt the importance of training.
Rely too much on a crutch, and it’ll break under you when you least expect it.
If he depended only on Balmung’s autopilot mode, he might end up dying before long.
“Old man, if I’m in this body, am I done after one attack?”
[You should be able to manage two for now. But beyond that... I cannot guarantee your life or death.]
Only two.
Kael let out a small sigh.
Using Balmung had to remain his last resort.
Which meant that, sink or swim, he had to do as much of the fighting himself as possible.
Well... what can I do?
Complaining wouldn’t change anything. If he didn’t want to die, he had no choice but to get stronger.
Kael gripped the sword and took his stance.
His breathing settled, and his eyes changed.
Once training began, Kael’s astonishing concentration came fully to life.
The essence of Straight Mind was the cut.
Whether the target was an object or a person, soft or tough.
None of that mattered.
Only one thing did.
The belief that anything could be cut.
That conviction was enough.
Swish!
Kael began to swing his sword.
First from top to bottom.
Then from left to right, and from right to left.
Honest, simple movements.
But as time passed, the sword’s path became more varied. Beyond straight lines, it began drawing increasingly complex curves.
Even the same motion branched into countless variations.
Kael kept swinging without stopping.
He did not stop until both his stamina and his focus had bottomed out.
“Hah... hah...”
After losing himself in it for a long while, Kael finally stopped and sucked in ragged breaths.
The hand gripping the hilt trembled faintly. His stamina had reached its limit.
Balmung, who had been quietly watching, spoke up.
[...What a stubborn brat. Do you never grow tired?]
“Honestly, I am tired, but it’s manageable. And... isn’t this better than regretting things after I’m dead?”
Kael sat on the rock he usually used and caught his breath.
He might usually look lazy and lacking in conviction, but when he trained, he was more serious than anyone else.
He carried out what was given to him in silence, without a single complaint.
To keep sharpening one’s sword without growing impatient.
It sounded simple, but Balmung knew better than anyone how difficult that truly was.
[Doesn’t your ambition stir at all? You’d seem like the sort to want to move on to the next stage by now.]
“Well, you’ll tell me when the time comes, won’t you? Overeating on anything gives you trouble, doesn’t it?”
[...Hah.]
That was a perfect answer.
He was usually a sly, irritating little brat, but when it came to training, he was an impeccable disciple.
“You don’t seem nearly as tired lately.”
[Thanks to that spellcaster, I’ve recovered some of my strength.]
“...Recovered strength? What, do you get stronger by drinking blood or something?”
[Not blood, you fool! I absorb mana!]
“Same difference. Wow, that’s creepy. So you’re not a holy sword at all, you’re a dark sword.”
[Wh-what did you say?]
“No wonder your personality’s so nasty. There was a reason for it after all.”
[...]
Balmung immediately wanted to take back every thought he had just had.