Chapter 57
Episode 57
"Hey, hey. Huff. You."
"Huh?"
"Cough. Wheeze. Know your place, slave. Pant."
"What?"
"No matter how much the Young Master favors you—huff—a slave should—wheeze—know their place."
The hulking man, his face red and breath ragged as if he might keel over any second, glared at Victor with hostility.
Victor stared back incredulously before turning his head toward Kai.
The moment Kai sighed and nodded—
THWACK!
Victor's fist buried itself in the man's gut.
"...Ugh. Guh."
The giant folded in half instantly, barely managing to let out a groan.
"Shut your stinking mouth, meathead. Unless you want me to fold your spine the other way next time."
His low, icy voice carried clearly through the air.
When Victor turned his head to scan the surroundings, the trainees hastily averted their eyes—prompting Logan to chuckle under his breath.
This brief incident confirmed one thing:
The second reason for bringing Victor along...
'...will work out just fine.'
Now that Logan had begun seriously building up his family's military strength, Victor was the perfect trump card to keep that force in line.
"Eat as much as you want. Just don't let it interfere with tomorrow's training."
After the grueling drills, mountains of food were laid out before them.
Though there were no high-quality delicacies, there was more than enough bread and soup to go around.
"Whoaaa!"
"This is amazing!"
"Th-there's meat in the soup!"
For most of the trainees—who came from impoverished backgrounds—this was practically a feast. They marveled even at the tiny scraps of meat floating in the broth.
The trainees piled their wooden plates high and dug in ravenously.
All the stress from the first day of training melted away in an instant.
And then—
"P-please... eat well."
Bow.
Among the servants distributing the meals, a small blue-haired girl who looked no older than ten moved about, radiating lethal levels of cuteness.
"Guh... An angel?"
"So... adorable!"
"Look at her eyes! They're mesmerizingly pretty."
Many of the soldiers felt warmth bloom in their weary hearts, reassuring themselves that joining the military had been the right choice.
Of course, the girl was actually older than she looked—but her childlike appearance made her unbearably cute.
"I-I wanna bite her!"
"I wanna poke her cheeks!"
"I wanna kiss her!"
Some even expressed their affection in slightly excessive ways—
BAM!
"Turn your eyes away. Unless you want me to gouge them out."
A boy with the same blue hair and heterochromatic red-and-blue eyes as the girl delivered a chilling threat—effectively killing any thoughts of acting on those impulses.
And so, the soldiers' training progressed smoothly.
The training continued—testing the recruits' aggression, endurance, and discipline.
Even the simplest drills, like maintaining formation and alignment, stretched for twelve grueling hours, pushing them to their limits.
These monotonous yet brutal exercises served as extreme tests of patience, tormenting the recruits relentlessly.
But given MacLaine's current circumstances, most of these soldiers came from struggling households where survival was a daily battle.
To them, this place—with its warm beds and ample food—was a paradise they couldn't afford to abandon.
Thus, hardly anyone dropped out.
"Tired?"
"No, sir!"
"You can quit if you're tired. Go home and rest."
"No, sir!"
"I like your attitude. Two more laps!"
"..."
"No answer?"
"YES, SIR!"
Even as their bodies screamed in protest, the recruits' eyes burned with determination. Even the weakest among them gritted their teeth and pushed through.
Basic physical training progressed without a hitch.
"It seems the recruits' foundational stamina has improved significantly."
"Already?"
"They eat well, sleep well, and follow your orders—daily hygiene, showers, everything. It's only natural they'd improve quickly under such luxurious conditions."
Logan nodded in satisfaction at Kai's report.
"Any troublemakers?"
"They're starting to adapt. If there are any, they'll show themselves soon enough."
"Good. It'd be nice if one or two stepped out of line right about now."
"To make an example of them?"
"Exactly. It'll make things easier later."
"I suppose so."
The two men exchanged knowing smirks—both architects of this brutal training regimen.
As Logan and Kai had hoped, problematic individuals did emerge among the recruits.
But the direction they took wasn't quite what they'd expected.
There's a common expression: "He has no sense."
It's used to describe someone lacking basic decency—though truly senseless people are rare.
But since "sense" varies by person and environment, someone considered normal in one place might be a troublemaker elsewhere.
And then there are those who casually commit acts most would consider evil—the truly senseless few.
Ordinary people label them as lunatics, villains, perverts, or trash.
Cowell, from a village near the Southern Mountain Range close to MacLaine Castle, was one such case.
His biggest problem? He was a pervert who felt sexual arousal toward little girls. He'd only enlisted because his perversions had gotten him ostracized from his village.
To him, Victoria—who looked no older than ten—wasn't a child, but a woman.
And here, there was no father or village elder to beat sense into him.
"She's just a kid."
"A female kid."
"Are you insane?! Don't you know she's that monster's little sister?"
"If things go well, everyone wins. And what's that scrawny freak gonna do anyway? You see my size?"
"You're seriously messed up..."
Ignoring his friend's warning, Cowell finally acted on the fantasy he'd been nurturing for weeks.
"Wh-who are you?"
"Hey, little lady. Wanna come with me and do something fun?"
The moment the giant blocked her path and uttered those words, Victoria instinctively recoiled.
But remembering that showing fear only emboldened such men, she forced herself to stand her ground.
"Huh? Wh-what are you talking about? Out of nowhere?"
"It's nothing much. Just wanna be friends—y'know, take care of each other."
"...No thanks. My brother takes care of me just fine."
"Oh, Victor? I know him. But wouldn't it be nice to have another big brother?"
"No! I only need my brother! Now move!"
Though frightened, her voice remained firm.
Her defiance ignited something in the pervert's twisted mind.
"What did you—"
"I said MOVE, mister!"
Her shout shattered the last remnants of his restraint.
"Mister?! You little—"
SLAP!
"Ow!"
"O-oh. Sorry. You should've listened to your big brother."
Cowell rubbed his hand, spewing nonsense after slapping a child.
His faux-apologetic expression did nothing to quell Victoria's terror.
"N-no! Stay away!"
Terrified, she scrambled backward on the ground.
To a normal person, the sight would've evoked pity.
But to Cowell—his reason long gone—it only excited him further.
"G-good girl. Stay just like that..."
RIIP.
The sound of fabric tearing echoed through the air.
His eyes burned crimson with lust as he loomed over her—
"You filthy bastard!"
THUD!
"Guh—!"
A furious roar preceded the blow that sent Cowell flying.
Before he could recover, merciless punches rained down.
"Die, you piece of shit!"
THWACK! CRACK! CRUNCH!
"How dare you touch my sister! HOW DARE YOU!"
"P-please... s-stop..."
Bloodied and foaming at the mouth, Cowell begged for mercy—but it only fueled Victor's rage.
"SCUM! JUST DIE!"
By the time the fury in his heterochromatic eyes subsided, Cowell's body was barely recognizable as human.
"What?!"
Logan was stunned when he first heard the news.
Had the future Noble Slayer's true nature finally surfaced?
But upon learning the reason, he couldn't exactly blame Victor.
"Sigh. Is Victoria alright?"
"Yes. She was shaken, but physically unharmed."
"And Victor?"
"We've locked him up for now, but..."
"Well... This wasn't the kind of problem I was hoping for."
Vector offered an awkward smile in response.
"Cowell's crimes were undeniable, but Victor killed him outright. Worse, Cowell was a commoner—Victor's a slave. By custom..."
"No. That's not the issue."
"Huh?"
"Honestly? This might've worked out for the best. Let's go see him."
Vector trailed behind, baffled by Logan's grin.
Tesron Castle's deepest dungeon—reserved for the worst criminals—now held Victor, shackled hand and foot.
CREAK.
At the sound of the door opening, Victor's gaze lifted from the dim torchlight.
THUD. THUD.
The fire in his eyes flickered as Logan approached, finally extinguishing as Logan stopped before him.
"...Forgive me, Lord Logan."
"Do you regret it?"
"Never! Absolutely not."
"Then why apologize?"
Victor hesitated before answering slowly.
"I killed one of your soldiers recklessly. I apologize for that."
"Oh? Not entirely wrong, but I think you do regret something."
"Not at all! That bastard—he hurt Ria—"
"Bringing your sister here in the first place."
"Huh?"
"Don't you see? Your stubbornness nearly ruined her."
"...!"
"Smothering her isn't protection—it's obsession."
Logan met Victor's wide-eyed stare unflinchingly.
"There are many ways to care for someone. But clinging to them blindly is the worst option. That's not love—it's just possessiveness."
"But if I'd been with her, Victoria would've never faced that monster!"
"Could you stay by her side 24 hours a day? During training? On the battlefield?"
"Th-that's..."
"Danger can strike anywhere. Though I suppose a military camp—filled with hot-blooded men and sharp weapons—is predictably risky."
"...!"
"It's safer not to bring her somewhere dangerous than to drag her along and struggle to protect her. Surely even you can see that. I allowed her to come because I wanted you to realize this."
Logan hadn't anticipated such an extreme scenario, but Victor needed to change.
"Do you understand?"
"..."
After a long silence, Victor nodded reluctantly.
'This much is enough for now.'
This incident alone would loosen the future Aura User's overprotectiveness toward his sister.
Knowing this, Logan smiled and nodded back.
"Good. Come out."
"My lord!"
Ignoring Vector's outburst, Logan took the keys from the warden and unlocked the cell.
CREAK. CLANG.
Victor tensed as Logan personally removed his shackles and pulled him to his feet.
"Killing a man is a crime—but today, you did well."
"Huh?"
"Next time, though, get my permission first. I won't have my future knight throwing his life away over trash like that."
"...Yes! I'll remember!"
The gloom lifted from Victor's face.
But Vector, listening nearby, couldn't help interjecting with disbelief.
"My lord, you said leaders must set an example."
"I did."
Just days ago, in fact.
"This is a slave killing a commoner. Arbitrarily pardoning him—"
"Victor's my slave. That makes him my property. I used my property to execute a criminal. What's the problem?"
"Oh... I see."
Vector nodded slowly in realization.
Victor stared at Logan in awe.
"Exactly. Victor acted on my orders. Post Cowell's head on the gates—with his crimes listed. Especially as a warning to the soldiers."
"...Understood."
As Logan strode leisurely from the dungeon, Vector and Victor followed.
From the back, Victor's gaze lingered on Logan's back—his eyes clouded with complex emotions.
Cowell's sudden death shocked the soldiers—but the backlash lasted less than an hour.
Once it became known he'd tried to assault the "Barracks Angel" before being killed, public opinion flipped entirely.
"That bastard! How dare he touch our angel!"
"Good riddance! I'd have killed him myself!"
"You?"
"What, you think I couldn't?"
"Nah, we would've beaten you to it!"
With Victoria holed up in trauma, insults toward Cowell's corpse grew harsher by the day.
"Ria. Are you okay? Can I come in?"
"...S-sorry."
'Damn it!'
The weakness in his sister's voice made Victor curse inwardly.
Whether seeing his face reminded her of that day, she'd refused to meet him since.
'I killed that bastard too quickly.'
BANG!
"S-sorry, Ria! I—I accidentally hit the wall."
"...?"
Apologizing to a wall he'd punched in frustration—how had things come to this?
The rage kept building.
"Rest well."
Unable to stay, Victor turned away.
Despite their youth, the siblings had endured their parents' deaths, slavery, and hardship—leaning on each other to survive.
Just when life seemed to be improving, this happened...
If he'd arrived even a moment later—
'No. That's not it.'
The real issue lay deeper.
"You'd take a girl into a camp full of men?"
"Smothering her isn't protection—it's obsession."
The words of the man who'd most influenced him in recent years resurfaced, stabbing painfully into his heart.