The Price of Mockery
"I heard you learned one of Loris's secrets. I don't know what it is exactly, but she gave me this."
He shook the pouch full of gold and grinned.
"She told me to make sure you never spill it."
"Ah, I see."
Arthur nodded.
Start of Change - 2
Rewards improved. Content: Show them clearly.
How much you've changed.
"Is that a lunchbox? Did Helen make it for you?"
Arthur slowly turned at the voice of a fat, ugly boy from behind.
"You didn't draw a bear or a bunny with carrots, did you? Or maybe..."
"A heart?!"
Aus clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
Arthur smiled faintly.
But his eyes were growing colder by the second.
"Are you mocking my lunch?"
It's what his mother packed.
She must have prepared it clumsily upon hearing he was joining the territory army training.
There might really be hearts, bears, or foxes in there.
Mockery.
Arthur carefully set the lunchbox aside and spoke.
"There's a trash can over there. Don't cross it. You won't like what happens if you do."
A warning.
But Kas, standing beside Aus, ignored it, scowled, and stepped forward.
"You little coward gone mad? Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?"
Arthur's eyes sank even colder.
Then his mouth slowly opened.
"I said don't cross it."
Aus frowned at Arthur's sinister expression.
'Loris said Arthur was acting different from usual. That look...'
It was murderous.
Like he'd killed plenty of people before.
Chills raced down his spine.
"W-wait a sec, Ka..."
Before Aus could stop him.
Kas had already vaulted the trash can, swinging a massive fist down at Arthur's head.
"Cry like the bitch you usually..."
Crack.
Arthur casually raised one hand and blocked the descending arm.
Arthur was different from them.
Thanks to his specialized Lord Nurturing Device, his body synced between reality and the Monarch Game.
He didn't grow through training like them.
He could grow faster than them.
"Wh...?"
Kas looked puzzled.
Out of all of them, he was the strongest, right?
That instant.
Crunch!
"G-gah...!"
Arthur twisted the wrist without mercy.
The hand dangled at an unnatural angle.
As the thug opened his mouth to scream, Arthur drove a fist into his gut.
As his head bowed forward, Arthur clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Shh."
"Mmph!"
Arthur sealed the mouth tight with his right hand and smashed his left into the face.
Splat!
The hefty Kas went down in one blow, out cold.
The others who'd watched from behind charged in.
Whoosh!
A club sliced through the air toward him.
Arthur twisted aside and struck the man's wrist.
Crack!
The wrist snapped.
Then a hard blow to the solar plexus.
"Gack!"
The man choked, breath cut off.
Arthur shoved him toward the wall.
Grabbed his hair and slammed his head into it.
Thud!
Again.
Thud!
Blood trickled from the forehead, down his cheek, dripping to the floor.
Thud!
Splat.
The man crumpled limply.
"Y-you crazy bastard!"
One pulled a honed dagger from his clothes.
Arthur didn't hesitate against the man charging with the gleaming blade—he rushed forward.
Leaped and kicked off the wall.
Crunch!
A knee to the face sent him sprawling.
Arthur picked up the fallen dagger.
"H-heek...!"
The man scrambled up in terror.
Crawled backward until he hit the wall.
"Ever been stabbed?"
He shook his head frantically.
"Swinging it around without knowing how dangerous it is."
"P-please..."
Arthur smiled brightly.
That smile filled the man with abject horror.
Piss.
He wet himself.
It'd be a lifelong trauma.
He'd never touch Arthur again.
But to make it certain.
Ssssh.
Arthur grabbed the arm and drew the blade slowly across it.
Very slowly. Painfully.
Blood beaded up, then trickled down.
"Shut your mouth."
"Mmph!"
The man clamped his own mouth, terrified of what Arthur might do if he screamed.
Soon, he passed out from fear and blood loss.
Arthur tossed the dagger; his hand was drenched in blood.
"Wh-what the hell..."
Aus couldn't believe it.
The Arthur from a week ago was a total coward.
Could a person change this much?
Arthur walked toward Aus, step by step.
"Gonna hit me with that?"
Aus, terrified, dropped the club and raised his arms instinctively.
Three down in seconds.
He wasn't a match.
'Turns out Arthur...'
He swallowed dryly.
'Takes after his father—a genius.'
As Arthur approached, he backed up and tripped.
Thud!
Arthur leaned down.
"Do wrong, face punishment."
"S-sorry... ah..."
Arthur seized his hand.
Clamped the mouth and snapped a finger with brute force.
Crunch!
"Mmmph!"
Another finger.
Crunch!
"Nngh!"
Arthur grabbed his hair as he writhed in agony.
"Next time you mess with me, I'll snap your neck."
He meant it.
He was sparing them to avoid a fuss if he killed them now.
They hadn't crossed that line yet.
"And tell Loris."
Aus nodded through tears.
"Next time you pull this shit, you're dead."
Aus knew that was real too.
Still, he thought it was over.
But Arthur deemed it insufficient.
Grabbed the hair and slapped his cheek.
Smack!
Smack!
Blood sprayed from Aus's mouth.
After several blows, he collapsed.
Arthur surveyed the area.
Kas, coming to, shuddered at the sight of him.
Arthur ignored it and picked up his lunchbox.
'Aus and his crew are done now.'
They'd never touch him again.
Arthur headed back to the territory army exam site.
Arriving at the territory army training camp, Arthur saw the long line.
All burly young men.
Brat Territory's army had an age limit of sixteen.
But most applicants were around eighteen.
The army defended the territory at the risk of life, so only the tough applied.
Arthur among them looked utterly out of place.
"Isn't that Arthur?"
"The coward joining the army?"
"Heard he got kidnapped recently."
Whispers from around him.
Arthur ignored them cleanly.
'I'm no fool. Killing everyone who laughs? Ridiculous.'
He didn't care much.
That was the old him. Not now.
Besides, he was too mentally mature to bother with coward jabs.
Then the applicants buzzed.
Arthur saw a man with swollen eyes and a bloody nose being supported out.
"Wh-who's the instructor this time?"
"Lauden, I think?"
"W-we're screwed."
Instructor Lauden was infamous for the exams.
No mercy for applicants.
The line shrank fast.
Failures emerging with battered faces.
'Lauden's right.'
The army risked lives.
No room for casual try-hards.
If no talent, beat the idea out of them.
So they'd find other paths.
"Hey, Arthur?"
'Lucas.'
The one kid who'd treated him kindly when everyone called him coward.
Same age as Arthur.
'Right, Lucas applied at sixteen too.'
When Arthur joined at eighteen, Lucas was a two-year senior.
But his performance sucked; Arthur overtook him quick.
Later, war news.
'Quit the army, runs a merchant group now. Filthy rich.'
Lucas was better at money than soldiering.
Seeing him brought a rare warmth.
Kindness earned fondness in return.
"You joining the army exam too?"
"Yeah."
"Nervous?"
Lucas's voice shook.
Figured Arthur would be worse.
Arthur shrugged with a calm smile.
"Not at all."
"Huh? For real?"
"Yep."
Lucas tilted his head.
Arthur was more of a coward than him?
"Hey, line up."
"Oh, yeah."
An applicant eyed Lucas suspiciously, like he might cut.
"See ya later."
"Sure."
Arthur nodded; Lucas headed to the back.
His turn came.
Groups of ten entered.
Various tests: thrusting, slashing with favored weapons, running, push-ups, riding, etc.
"First, physical test."
The ten nodded at the army man's words.
"Push-ups first. Fail 85 in two minutes, pack up and go home."
"Yes!"
"No problem!"
Arthur stayed silent.
The instructor eyed him curiously among them.
'Arthur? Joining the army? But...'
He scanned Arthur.
'Thirty push-ups would be a miracle.'
Arthur's body looked normal—skinny wrists like twigs, frail build.
But his quest stats rivaled a regular soldier, he figured.
Others couldn't tell his changes.
'The device makes it look like my original body to others.'
Arthur nodded.
This soldier had served his father.
He whispered a hint.
"Quit if it's too much."
Arthur chuckled.
Start of Change - 3
Record excellent results in the territory army exam. Show them.
'Excellent exam results, huh.'
That was the plan anyway.
Better rewards.
Chained quests—better each completion.
'+2 Strength, +2 Agility.'
Solid.
"Ready."
They lined up in push-up position at the army man's call.
"Go!"
Arthur moved fast from the start.
'1, 2, 3, 4, 5...'
'Too fast, he'll tire quick.'
The instructor worried.
Expected trembling at twenty.
But he passed fifty.