The Fear of Blood
W-what kind of eyes does a kid that young even have…
Jake's teeth clacked together. He wanted to get up, but he couldn't so much as twitch a finger. He was still sitting there, frozen and helpless, when a light, almost flippant set of footsteps approached.
"You're from the Magic Tower, right? Wow, you're here early."
The voice was as easy as the footsteps, and Jake's locked neck finally turned. A red-haired elf was smiling at him.
"R-Rimer? The Head Instructor?"
"That's me. Come this way. I've got something to tell you before training starts."
Rimer gave his own arm a couple of casual pats and pointed toward the Head Instructor's office.
"Ah… understood."
Even as he answered, Jake glanced back toward where Raon had been standing. The boy was already swinging his sword again, as if none of it had anything to do with him.
"Hah…"
Jake let out a ragged breath and pushed himself to his feet. A moment later and he might have wet himself.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"N-no. Let's go."
"Alright!"
Jake followed Rimer's easy nod into the Head Instructor's office. Unlike the elf's tidy face, the room was a wreck — there wasn't even a place to sit.
"Have a seat."
"There isn't anywhere to sit…"
"Ah, you're right."
Rimer chuckled and stood up from his rocking chair.
"Well, this won't take long, so we'll just do it standing. You know you need to cast enhancement magic on the orcs the trainees will be fighting, right?"
"Of course."
"My teaching is so outstanding that the trainees' combat power has far surpassed their age group. An ordinary orc wouldn't even serve as training."
"Uh…"
Jake's mind went blank at the sudden burst of self-praise.
"I'll tell you each child's power level, so enhance the monsters accordingly. You can do that, right?"
"It's not difficult. Monster summoning and control is my primary field."
"Well, Vice Tower Master Bervin did sing your praises."
"Ah…"
Jake's expression twisted oddly the moment Rimer brought up the Vice Tower Master.
"One more thing. The illusion magic to make the monsters look human…"
"Ah, I can handle that with this."
Jake raised his right hand, showing the ring on his middle finger.
"It's an illusion-type artifact the Vice Tower Master provided. With this ring, casting illusions on the trainees will be simple."
"Oh, that's perfect."
Rimer whistled, clearly pleased.
"Then I'll leave it to you. If things go well, I'll buy you and the Vice Tower Master a drink later."
With that, he walked out of the instructor's office.
This is going to be easy.
Rimer had left everything related to the monsters in Jake's hands. At this rate, summoning that orc, inflicting a fatal wound on Raon, and then making an excuse to flee wouldn't be difficult at all.
"That brat…"
Jake recalled the Raon he'd just seen. At first, he'd felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of injuring a child he didn't even know. Not anymore.
He was going to carve a far worse injury into that damned kid who'd humiliated him.
Jake ground his molars together and left the instructor's office.
Raon watched the middle-aged mage follow Rimer toward the instructor's office, and his gaze went still.
It had lasted only a fraction of a second, but he'd felt killing intent from that mage. Not the will to kill — more like the intent to harm. If it hadn't been him, no one would have sensed it.
"Carrying a grudge at that age, even. Just what kind of life has he been living? When This King resided in the Demon Realm, every last demon did nothing but worship This King…"
Shut up.
Raon kicked Wrath aside as the cotton-ball creature snickered at him.
So that's him.
The scheme Judiel had warned him about — the one Karun had prepared — was almost certainly this mage.
"Can't even hide his own aura properly. He's worse than a kitten."
A kitten's at least cute. A guy like that isn't good for anything.
Raon ran a hand through his hair as he looked toward the instructor's office.
He'll enhance the monster.
Under Karun's orders, that mage would almost certainly enhance the monster Raon was meant to face far beyond the others.
He'll try to kill me, or at least inflict a serious injury.
The plan was so pathetic it only made him laugh. A son far too good for such a stupid father.
Pathetic.
He clicked his tongue and turned his head — and met Runaan's eyes as she entered the training ground. It had been two days, and her gaze was the same as always. For some reason, it made his chest ache.
"Dad said today's training is combat against monsters."
She clearly didn't want to think about what had happened last time, launching straight into talk of today's training.
"Is that so?"
"Mm."
Runaan nodded firmly. She was obviously forcing herself to act normal, but since she seemed to be trying to forget it, he had nothing to say.
She went into the break room, saying she needed to prepare for training.
"You're not going to say a word?"
I don't know what I'd even say. And it's a family matter.
He barely understood his own feelings. How was he supposed to offer advice about someone else's family?
But he did know what Siria had done to Runaan. Given the chance, he could fix it.
"Y-Young Master. Did you know?"
As he was chewing on that bitter taste, Dorian approached, nervously rubbing his belly pouch.
"Know what?"
"Today's live combat training. I-it's not just fighting monsters."
"Then what?"
"They say we have to kill the monsters! We have to see real blood! W-what do we do?"
He gnawed at his nails, his eyes rolling wildly.
"See blood, huh…"
"Yes! The training objective is to cut their throats! This is insane!"
"Good."
"Whaaaat?!"
Leaving Dorian's scream behind him, Raon looked toward the break room Runaan had entered.
Maybe it's time to try breaking that curse.
"Alright, attention!"
Rimer, who had gone into the instructor's office only moments before, was already up on the platform. He clapped his hands once, sharp and clean, and every eye in the training ground turned toward him.
"I told you to prepare yourselves, didn't I? Today's live combat training."
"Yes, sir!"
The trainees gathered at the center of the training ground as they answered. Expectation was written all over their faces.
"Looks like you've started trusting what I say. Your eyes are sparkling."
The trainees snickered at Rimer's joke. After all the time they'd spent together, they seemed to have finally begun to understand, at least a little, that he meant what he said.
"Thanks to the hints — and to a few instructors spreading information — most of you already know, but I should still explain. Today's training is live combat against monsters."
The playfulness that had colored his voice only a moment ago sank low and even. The entire atmosphere of the training ground grew heavy with it.
"There is no mercy in a monster's axe. Unlike sparring among yourselves, or against trainee knights, it will never stop. Don't grow careless. Don't tense up, either. Enter the fight with the same calm you bring to ordinary training."
"Yes, sir!"
The trainees clenched their fists and shouted loud enough to shake the training ground.
"This is Mage Jake of the Magic Tower, who will be assisting our training today. Greet him."
"We look forward to working with you!"
"I-I look forward to working with you as well."
Jake returned the bow, then quickly swept his gaze across the crowd, searching for Raon.
He looks ordinary enough right now.
That strange gaze that had clenched around Jake's heart earlier was nowhere to be seen. They were the kind of eyes you'd pass on the street without a second glance.
But…
That aura from before had not been his imagination. If Karun was targeting the boy, then there was clearly something special about him.
"Then, Mage. If you would."
"Yes."
Jake nodded to Rimer's casual wave and stepped forward to the front of the platform.
"Summon Monster."
⟨ Summon Monster ⟩
The moment Jake finished the chant and struck the ground with his staff, a magic circle bloomed across the floor of the training ground. Green light surged up over blue characters that formed in a ring.
A deep, resonant hum rolled through the air. The light faded slowly, and a massive silhouette took shape.
A height of over two meters. Swollen, corded muscle. Tusks jutting from a heavy jaw, and skin the color of moss. It was the most common monster on the continent — and the most dangerous. An orc.
"Grrrrrk!"
"Hhk!"
"Ugh!"
The orc lifted the axe in its fist and ground its teeth. Wild killing intent and a thick, animal stench slammed into the trainees all at once, and they swallowed dry.
"It's under my control for now, so there's no need to worry."
Jake twirled a finger, and the orc turned its body in the same direction.
"This orc is the monster you will be facing today."
"I knew it'd be an orc!"
"So it's finally live combat…"
"Hoo."
The trainees looked up at Jake with faces split evenly between tension and excitement.
"As the instructor said, you must not let your guard down just because it's an orc. There will be moments I cannot stop it, so keep your focus at all times. And…"
Jake pointed at the orc with the ring on his right hand.
A low hum answered. The magic circle wrapped around the orc twisted like vines and poured out a brilliant five-colored light, and the orc's form began to change.
The jutting tusks receded. The green skin burned white. In a matter of seconds, the orc had become an ordinary middle-aged man with brown hair, an axe still in his hands.
"A-a person?"
"What is this?!"
"Why did it suddenly turn into a person…"
"You will not be facing an ordinary orc. You will be facing an orc that magic has given a human appearance."
Jake moved the axe of the now-human-looking orc, leveling it at the trainees.
"Hhk!"
"Ugh!"
"Th-that's just a person!"
The trainees stared at the human-faced orc, stunned, their faces gone slack with shock at the sudden transformation.
"I'll say one more thing."
Rimer stepped in front of Jake and raised a finger.
"Today's fight does not end with knocking the orc down or incapacitating it. It ends when you take that thing's head."
He pointed the raised finger at the orc wearing a man's face.
"Ah…"
"Th-that's…"
The trainees glanced at one another, too rattled to step forward.
"Most of the orcs the mages keep have already killed people. You don't need to show it mercy. Fight with everything you have, and win."
Rimer's voice was heavier than usual as he stepped back.
Dorian's information was accurate.
Raon nodded to himself.
This is good training.
Most swordsmen couldn't bring their blade all the way down in their first real fight against a person. There were plenty of unfortunate geniuses who possessed outstanding martial power and still died because they couldn't get past that first real battle.
Today's fight wasn't simply about facing a monster. It was dual-purpose training, meant to prepare them for the day they would have to fight a human — and to keep them from dying a hollow death when that day came.
And…
Raon looked at Runaan standing beside him. At the words take its head, her lips had begun to tremble.
This is perfect for breaking her curse.
Rimer couldn't have known, but thanks to this training, it looked like Raon would be able to undo the brainwashing Siria had planted in Runaan's mind.
"You're not even going to spare that maggot of a mage a thought?"
Of course not.
Raon nodded. At best, the man would enhance some slightly vicious orc he'd scraped together and send it charging in. There was no need to be tense.
What mattered now was tearing the fear of blood out of Runaan's head.
"Then we'll begin at once. The first to fight will be…"
"I'll do it."
Burren had his hand in the air before Jake could even finish the sentence.
"You know, right? He's the son of the Heavy Martial Palace Lord. Enhance the orc's physical abilities a great deal."
"Understood."
Jake licked his lips as he listened to Rimer. There was no way he wouldn't know — this was the son of the man who had given him this job.
"Loop Agility."
"Loop Strength."
⟨ Enhancement ⟩
As the agility and strength enhancement spells left Jake's mouth, blue light drifted around the orc. The yellow of its eyes took on a far more vicious gleam.
"Go."
Jake stretched a finger forward, and the orc in the middle-aged man's shape walked ahead with heavy, grinding footsteps.
Burren clenched and unclenched his fist a few times, then drew the live blade he'd been issued. He looked at Jake and nodded that he was ready.
"Then we begin."
Jake flicked his finger, and the characters coiled around the orc's body vanished.
"GROAAAH!"
The orc bellowed and slammed a foot into the earth. It charged like a beast and brought its axe down at Burren's head.
"I can see all of it."
Burren raised his sword, aura flowing through him.
A rusty axe and a well-polished blade collided with a ringing crash, throwing up a spray of crimson sparks.
"Kh—!"
Burren's eyes flew wide. The hand on his sword shuddered as if the bones themselves were grinding.
This weight…
He had never seen an orc, never fought one, but he'd been certain that at his current level he could cut it down with ease.
The weight packed into the orc's axe was nothing he could shrug off. It didn't fall short of the Owen Kingdom trainee knights he had fought before — not even a little.
"Haaah!"
Burren snapped his wrist hard and knocked the orc's axe aside.
"Grrrk!"
The orc was driven back two steps, then came charging in again even faster. Its eyes burned a searing yellow, filled with the will to tear Burren apart.
The trainees behind him flinched at that killing intent. Burren did not shrink from it.
"How dare you!"
Anger rose in him instead, and he brought his sword down in a heavy cut.
Steel rang on steel, then shrieked as the blades scraped. The orc swung its axe as if it had met a mortal enemy, and Burren's sword slipped through the gap it left open.
A thin, vicious hiss. Red blood fountained from the orc's shoulder and thigh.
"GRAAAAH!"
It only screamed louder and came on harder. It no longer felt like fighting a person at all. It felt like staring down a wild animal.
"I'll finish this!"
Burren dropped in beneath the orc and drove his sword up.
A ringing scrape as he shoved the axe aside — and in the instant he meant to take the orc's neck, his blade twisted to the right. Instead of the throat, the forearm tore open nearly halfway through.
"Nnh…"
He could have ended it, and he hadn't. Burren bit down on his lip.
"GROOOH!"
Even with its shoulder and elbow ripped wide, the orc shoved forward like a bull. The strength had gone out of it, but the killing intent had not diminished at all.
Burren stepped through his footwork and slipped behind the slowed orc. He cut horizontally, aiming for the neck — and once again his sword locked in place, frozen at the last instant.
"Damn it!"
Burren spat the curse and fell back. The tip of his blade trembled as if it were the one that was afraid.
"Burren."
Rimer, who had been lying on the platform watching the fight, sat up.
"You know it's a monster trying to kill you, not a human — and you still can't cut it, can you?"
His voice was calm, as if he had known this would happen.
"That's because you're kind. The monster looks human, so your sword wouldn't move the way it should. But…"
Rimer pointed at the orc grinding its teeth and went on.
"As I said before, that orc has already tasted human blood. Most of the monsters the mages keep are ones that have killed people."
"That's correct."
Jake nodded, as if to confirm it.
"It's all right if you can't kill it now. This is only practice. But if your hand freezes on a real battlefield, the swordsman or the monster you failed to kill will kill your comrades instead."
"Kh…"
Burren knocked the orc's axe aside and listened, taking in Rimer's even, unhurried advice.
"And you can't stop here if you want to catch the one you're aiming for, can you?"
At those words, Burren's head turned toward Raon. The moment their red eyes met, aura denser than before surged up along his blade.
"GRAAAAH!"
"Not a chance!"
As the orc's axe dropped vertically, Burren straightened the knees he'd bent and punched through the space between them.
"Haaah!"
His sword drew a half-circle with the shout.
A red line was carved across the sky. The orc's head fell, and its body collapsed. The moment its life was severed, the human appearance peeled away, and it returned to the orc it had always been.
"Hah— hah—"
Burren planted his sword in the ground and dragged in breath after breath. He did not look away. He stared at the corpse he had made until the end.
"Well done."
Rimer smiled faintly. Burren looked at him for a moment, then turned his head. It was the first time the two of them had met each other's eyes without frowning.
Burren glanced at Raon one last time, then returned to his place.
Jake snapped his fingers, and the orc's corpse vanished. The blood soaking the floor of the training ground, however, remained exactly where it was.
"Now then, next is…"
"Me!"
Marta shot to her feet with a gesture overflowing with confidence. There was not a hint of hesitation in the steps she took toward the orc.
Raon turned from Marta's unflinching back and looked at Runaan instead.
"Nh…"
The opposite of Marta in every way, Runaan was staring at the blood pooled thick across the floor, her lips trembling. Her face had gone paper-white.
Raon's gaze sank deep. Runaan had always gone to extreme lengths to avoid seeing blood.
When she sparred with the other trainees, and when she sparred with the trainee knights, she never inflicted a wound. She only watched for an opening and subdued them.
He hadn't thought much of it at the time. Looking at her now, it was obvious she had fought that way because she was afraid of blood.
It was blood after all.
Siria Sullion had shown Runaan blood and carved terror into her. Bursting that squirrel to death had been to drag the trauma back to the surface.
A cold chill settled over Raon's red eyes.
Siria Sullion.