The Idiot Doesn't Get Taught
Zeroa, who had finally realized his own weakness, had decided to get stronger by training with Rai. Even though Rai had given him private lessons before, it had always felt forced—like an obligation rather than something Zeroa had chosen himself. This time, he was going to learn willingly.
Among the academy instructors, very few actually gave private lessons to students. Most had trained from a young age—through family, dojos, or trusted acquaintances—so having an unknown instructor try to teach them was nearly impossible.
Moreover, learning from an instructor meant revealing the family secrets and personal visions one carried. Unless the instructor was extraordinarily skilled or someone the student fully trusted, it simply didn’t happen.
Students with free time usually brought their own servants or even the instructors along for extra training, so the academy instructors naturally stayed out of those personal sessions.
Zeroa was a special case. He had been pulled into Rai’s drama and received mana-control training, and while most students only got short-term lessons like this, Zeroa was the exception.
Because of that culture, the act of a student personally seeking out an instructor for private lessons was a great honor for the instructors who had combat experience. It meant the student acknowledged and trusted them.
Of course, for someone like Zeroa—who drifted at the very bottom and possessed no vision or martial arts worth mentioning—there was no honor in seeking lessons.
Determined to escape his weakness, Zeroa knelt in the middle of Rai’s garden and focused his mind. He was swearing to do anything to get stronger when Rai approached and kicked him with his foot.
“...This... is training too?”
“Nah, I just wanted to see what a good fighting stance looks like, so I gave you a kick.”
Rai stood up and walked calmly over to where Zeroa lay sprawled on the grass. He lay down beside him, resting his head on his arm, and looked at Zeroa with a mischievous grin on his face.
“You’re gonna poop your pants if you keep staring that hard.”
“The instructor said proper mindset is the most important thing, right?”
“Is mindset something that shows in your eyes? Then Aslan would be the strongest on the continent by now. Just relax. Be easy.”
At Rai’s casual order, Zeroa hesitated for a moment before kneeling again and correcting his posture.
“This way feels comfortable to me.”
“A dutiful student, huh. Fine, do it your way.”
Seeing Zeroa stubbornly stick to the correct form, Rai didn’t push him. There was no need to force someone who was already tense about everything. If this was the best posture he could manage, Rai had no intention of interfering.
Zeroa had been frozen by uncertainty before, but now he was openly claiming his own stance. That alone was a huge step forward.
Rai tossed the pouch he’d been holding straight onto the grass in front of Zeroa.
“What’s this?”
“Something to make you stronger.”
At the mention of an elixir, Zeroa’s eyes lit up as he snatched the pouch.
His family’s finances had always been tight, so he had never even seen an elixir in person. When academy students complained about receiving cheap low-grade elixirs as gifts, Zeroa had actually envied them.
Of course, elixirs weren’t magical wonders. Unless the ingredients were ridiculously rare—like one that appeared only once every few years—most just made mana flow a little smoother during training or let you last a bit longer.
Some people joked that elixirs were eaten for the belief they contained, not the effect. In Zeroa’s case, even if it were true, it didn’t matter.
Yet this was Zeroa’s first time seeing an elixir. Curious and hopeful, he opened the pouch. Inside were a handful of dark, shiny pills that looked like chunks of black iron.
The strange, foul smell hit him immediately. His nose wrinkled at the stench, and Rai let out a loud laugh.
“Not poison, idiot. Copper, more like.”
“This... is it really an elixir? It doesn’t smell... like... poop, right?”
“It is an elixir. Smells terrible, effect is minimal, and it tastes disgusting. It’s the worst of the worst—Altoit.”
“The name is Altoit?”
Zeroa’s interest shifted from the name to the smell. He found the name “Altoit” far more intriguing than the insult.
Unable to stand the stench any longer, he yanked the drawstring closed. The enchanted pouch magically sealed the odor, but Zeroa still felt the smell lingering in his nose.
“Lots of rumors about the name. People who hated it called it Altoit because it tasted like crap, or because it supposedly made everything better in every way.”
“So it actually carries power in the name.”
Zeroa was still clutching the pouch in disgust when Rai grinned, amused.
“Keep taking it. It’s cheap and easy to get. When you run out, just buy more. The ingredients are something you can find almost anywhere, so don’t bother asking around.”
“...Any others?”
“No. This is the one that suits your situation best. Rich kids can stuff themselves with expensive stuff. Want me to get you some too?”
Zeroa shook his head, unwilling to burden Rai any further. Who else would go out of their way to find and provide an elixir on top of teaching? He accepted the pouch, grateful despite the repulsive gift.
Rai told him to mix it with water since he probably couldn’t drink it straight. Zeroa stared at the cup of water like it had already betrayed him.
“If you can’t even drink it mixed with water, you’re hopeless.”
Zeroa had once sworn he would do anything to get stronger. Now he was hesitating over a smell. The embarrassment burned in his chest as he forced the liquid down in one gulp.
“Glug—!!”
His body immediately rejected the taste. He couldn’t even swallow it and spat the water out. Rai, lying somewhere far away, rolled with laughter at the sight.
“Hahaha, still can’t do it, huh?”
“Cough... maybe it was just a joke?”
“Nope. It’s real. The only reason it works is because almost no one can stomach it.”
Rai kept smiling through Zeroa’s watery eyes and running nose.
“It’s a pretty decent elixir if you ignore the worst downside. Cheap, easy to find, and safe for long-term use. It sits right in the middle of the rankings. You might not know, but a few students here already take it long-term.”
Zeroa couldn’t understand how anyone could keep taking something this awful, but the fact that other academy students drank it made his lips tighten. They were all fighting as hard as they could to become strong.
Comparing himself to them, the sight of the half-empty cup made him close his eyes and chug the rest in desperate gulps.
After finishing, he clamped a hand over his mouth to hold in the explosion trying to rise in his stomach. Rai called out that vomiting would only make his insides worse.
Zeroa’s superhuman willpower carried him through the pain until Rai crawled closer.
“Once you get used to it, it’s fine. Take it for three months, then take two weeks off, and repeat.”
“Did you take this too, Instructor?”
Impressed by how he endured it, Zeroa asked. Rai gave a disgusted look.
“Of course not. Why would I? There are plenty of delicious elixirs in this world. I grew up in a rich house and ate whatever I wanted.”
That had been the single moment in Rai’s entire life when he had wanted to punch Zeroa.
Rai’s narrowed eyes made the warning clear: Don’t worry about it. Then he suddenly glanced toward the entrance.
“Move.”
Sharp voice. Zeroa turned to see Abigail standing there, eyes blazing with fury.
She had been pulled from the army for a week-long investigation into her connections with assassins and had missed class. Zeroa shot to his feet, concerned.
“Abigail! Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere? I’ve been worried since the last time I saw you.”
Even though he had been nothing but a nuisance during their last fight, she was worried about him. Abigail’s expression twisted in disgust as she ignored him and looked straight at Rai.
“Long time no see. You’ve gotten stronger. The Empire sure knows how to feed prisoners properly.”
Rai, who had once been a prisoner himself, grinned at the Empire’s practice of treating captives decently if the situation allowed.
Abigail’s sharp eyebrows twitched, but she didn’t respond. She kept glancing between Zeroa and Rai before asking quietly.
“What did you do?”
“This brat doesn’t have a single superior who respects him.”
Zeroa raised his hand silently in Rai’s direction, but Abigail’s and Rai’s eyes made him lower it again.
“Want to talk about it? I’ll take care of it. But first, how the hell did you kill them all?”
“Why do you want to learn?”
“Well... teach me.”
“With that attitude? Damn, kids these days are so bold.”
Rai laughed without heat, and Abigail turned to Zeroa.
Zeroa blinked, confused about why she was looking at him. She met his gaze with pure contempt.
“You’re weaker than even this trash.”
“If you’re weak, you have to learn, right~”
“Raising a useless person just makes them more useless. If you teach me, I’ll prove I can be far more useful.”
“How? By joining the assassin faction that’s always trying to backstab you?”
Abigail’s face twisted at the mention of assassins and their disguises.
“Those bastards just tricked me.”
“Everyone says that right before they disappear into the gallows. Before that, maybe you should’ve said something like ‘thank you for saving my life.’”
Rai hadn’t been there, so she might have died. But Rai had saved the princess and Philia, and Zeroa himself, along with Diana and even Philia—who hated Rai—had all thanked him.
Abigail’s expression hardened. She muttered a grudging “Thank you.”
“Thanks for helping. Satisfied?”
“No, you should thank him, not me. I’m just the instructor. My job is cleaning up your crap. I should thank this kid and the others for appreciating me, right?”
“Even this kid?”
Abigail’s fury flared.
If Zeroa hadn’t been there, Rai wouldn’t have had to fight. That trash would have broken the formation, shown off, and left the others injured and in danger. Yet she still wanted to thank him? It was ridiculous.
Zeroa watched Abigail’s red eyes burning with rage and felt Rai laugh again.
“That’s why good people always end up losing. If you don’t say thank you, you won’t realize it. Or maybe it’s just a lack of intelligence. Or maybe it’s some idiot’s pride that’s blocking your eyes.”
“Shut up...”
“Hey, you still don’t get why you were released? Even if you weren’t directly involved, the army wouldn’t have let you go so easily, right? Do they really think you’re an idiot?”
Abigail clamped her mouth shut under Rai’s mocking laughter.
“Why did they let me go? Because I was on the princess’s side? Yeah, her influence was probably the strongest. But you told them I had nothing to do with the assassins too—even the other students there.”
“...”
“And more. If those kids hadn’t been good, you wouldn’t have been able to set foot in the academy even after being released. Even if you weren’t on their side, you worked with them and they acknowledged you. Do you really think the instructors, students, or staff would have let you stay? They’d be cursing and trying to kill you.”
Rai rolled over and looked up at her from the ground right at her feet, giving her an ugly smile.
He tugged at Zeroa’s waistband and pulled him down to lie beside him. Zeroa, bewildered, looked at Abigail with an awkward grin and quickly looked away.
“But no one said anything, right? Why? What do you think? Use that smart head of yours and figure it out. You’re pretty smart, aren’t you?”
“...Why didn’t they say anything?”
Zeroa asked Abigail. Rai shouted.
“This idiot’s too kind for his own good! Philia and Diana are both idiots! If it were me, I’d have squeezed every last connection out of them and made them regret ever being born. You should be grateful you’re an instructor. Be thankful the army and academy stayed silent about this kid.”
“...”
“Got it? Now get lost. I don’t teach idiots.”
None of the students present—including Zeroa—had ever told another student or instructor that Abigail had worked with assassins.
When the army finally arrived to arrest her, she was simply marked as absent because she hadn’t attended training. Unless the headmaster or deputy headmaster heard it, no one knew.
Abigail glared at Rai with pure venom, but he waved his hand dismissively. He then looked down at Zeroa with the same terrifying eyes, clicked his tongue, and walked away without another word.
“You didn’t have to say it that harshly...”
Zeroa had started to mumble when Rai gave him a casual glance. He immediately tensed and lost the thread of his thought.
“I only say it straight to idiots.”
“But...”
“You heard me? Idiot.”
“...Ah... so that’s what you meant.”
“Then you thought I was joking? Stop worrying about useless things and focus on you. Who are you training for, anyway?”
Zeroa swallowed and answered without hesitation: “For myself.”
“Good. Now get up. You need to get stronger.”
Zeroa stood immediately, driven by the need to become strong. Abigail’s lonely figure walking away without once looking back tugged at his heart, but he shook his head and focused on his training.