Chapter 105
Chapter 105
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: The Clumsy Newbie
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“Nice to meet you all. I’m Jane.”
The newbie of the Black Sword, Jane, finished his introduction.
“…….”
The peculiar aura emanating from Jane froze everyone in place.
At that moment.
“Then….”
Jane started to step down from the platform.
Trip!
He missed his step and tumbled down with a thud.
“……?”
The Black Sword members could only be bewildered by the sight.
A powerhouse of that level tripping over something like that?
“Ah… sorry.”
Jane tried to get up.
But this time, his legs got tangled as he stood.
Thud!
Now the suspicion had turned into certainty.
Clearly, the newbie had the skills to join the Black Sword.
However, there were types like that.
People with real talent, but somehow lacking.
Twisted geniuses, so to speak.
“Pfft.”
One of the squad members burst out laughing at Jane’s antics.
Only then did Jane finally stand up, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.
“Puhahaha! We’ve got a lunatic on the team!”
“Hey! Newbie! Take good care of us!”
The Black Sword members’ reactions exploded.
“Dismissed for today.”
At Ballack’s words, the Black Sword members began to leave one by one.
“Newbie, stay behind.”
Ballack kept only the newbie.
In the now-empty training ground.
“What… was that nonsense?”
Ballack said to Jane, who had plopped down on the ground.
“Well….”
He had noticed it earlier.
The man who exuded an aura as sharp as a honed blade—Ballack’s lips were trembling ever so slightly.
“Clownish….”
“If you want to laugh, then laugh.”
Jane said in a curt tone.
Jane was the newbie of the Black Sword.
Ballack was the captain of the Black Sword.
Yet right now, the two of them looked completely reversed.
“How would you understand my profound intentions, you blockhead.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Jane even teased Ballack in return.
It was possible only because his true identity was Sein.
He needed a fake identity to operate in Dante.
It was something he had prepared a year in advance.
-I’ll handle him as a talent I secretly raised.
He became Jane, the talent Rohan had secretly nurtured.
There were no issues.
In fact, Sein had used Barus to send useful slaves to Dante and the like, and some of those who showed talent had already been assigned to lower combat units.
-You’ve been preparing since then?
That was why Rohan was surprised by Sein’s plan.
He had thought it was just for bolstering forces and increasing his own people, but to even use their identities like this.
“Once you reach the Black Sword level, even if you hide your energy, it’s hard to completely mask the aura you naturally give off.”
He could do it if he tried, but that would just make it awkward instead.
He had to live among them for the time being, so he couldn’t afford to make them suspicious of him.
“Better to reveal one thing and hide another.”
That was why Sein revealed his aura.
But by showing one more thing, he deceived them.
“Humans can’t feel the humanity in someone if they seem perfect in every way compared to themselves. They end up feeling like an outsider and get suspicious. Jealousy is inevitable.”
That was when Demorus’s family head, Tejera, came to mind.
“But if they seem somehow lacking compared to you? If they look easy to handle?”
Pat, pat.
Sein brushed the dust off his clothes as he spoke.
“Then they see you as a decent human being.”
“…….”
“Somehow, being around you makes me feel like an explainer.”
Sein looked at Ballack and smiled as he said that.
Smirk.
Ballack smiled back.
It had been nearly a year.
Ballack thought to himself.
“You’ve become pretty decent now.”
He had become a fairly good sword.
“Welcome to my squad.”
“I’ll be in your care for a while.”
*
*
*
Sein was naturally blending into the Black Sword and Dante.
It was just as Sein had said.
“Hey, newbie!”
The Black Sword members who had initially been wary of Sein now approached him first, throwing an arm around his shoulder.
Of course, it wasn’t purely out of goodwill.
“I’m Sebu.”
“Ah, nice to meet you, Senior Sebu.”
“See, I’ve been…”
Smirk.
“The maknae for five years?”
“That must have been tough.”
“That. Must. Have. Been. Toug.ghh?”
Sebu enunciated each word deliberately.
“Go fetch some water first. Our seniors are training—if they get dehydrated, it’s a big problem, right?”
Errands.
“Me?”
It was something completely unnecessary, really.
Considering the scale and wealth of Dante or Rasiel.
The number of servants in the organization alone was more than double the number of members.
A single word could handle laundry, meals, everything.
“Yeah, you.”
This was about vibes.
The feeling of being the senior who came before the newbie.
“Ah, got it. Excuse me! The Black Sword seniors are thirsty—”
As Sein called out to a passing servant.
“What the hell are you doing!”
Sebu got angry and tried to smack the back of Jane’s head.
Tried to.
“Argh!”
Sebu let out a pained scream.
The arm that had just swung to strike Jane’s head was twisted back and pinned.
“Huh. Sorry, Senior! I’m sensitive about my head, so I reacted without thinking.”
“What the… you lunatic…”
Sebu clutched his arm.
But he couldn’t easily say anything.
-That guy’s a monster.
-The kid seems a bit off, but better not mess with him carelessly.
The voices of the seniors who had seen Jane echoed in his ears.
“Ugh.”
Jane’s skill from moments ago was the same.
Sebu was also a Black Sword member, with skills just shy of master level.
Yet even he couldn’t react and got his arm twisted.
What was even stranger was that he felt pain.
The Black Sword elite wouldn’t even scream from most training, yet he couldn’t hold back a yell.
‘For a moment, it felt like something seeped in.’
No way.
For someone with his level of mana to have their senses manipulated by injecting mana without permission was nearly impossible.
“Senior?”
“…What are you doing? Hurry up and fetch the water yourself.”
“Ah…! Got it!”
Still, Jane dashed off promptly.
Thud.
Of course, he tripped, but Sebu soon lost interest and returned to the training ground.
Not long after, Jane returned to the training ground with buckets hanging from both sides.
“Oh, finally escaped maknae duties, Sebu?”
“Of course, Senior.”
“Don’t bully him too much. That guy seems like a lunatic.”
“Bully? Perish the thought!”
Sebu said.
“This is about maintaining discipline!”
The Black Sword was a place where elite combat members gathered, so even before, people with considerable pride came in.
Pride wasn’t bad, but when it turned into arrogance, accidents happened on missions.
So what Sebu was doing now wasn’t just errands—it was an initiation rite and a way to make the newbie aware of his place.
“Senior! I’m back!”
Jane approached and set down the buckets.
And then.
“…What the hell is this?”
Sebu stared at the buckets with a dumbfounded expression.
“Well… I tripped on the way, and they broke. Should I fetch more?”
“No… it’s fine.”
He figured it would be the same even if he sent him again.
*
*
*
“Aaaah!”
Sebu couldn’t hold back and screamed.
His head felt like it was splitting open.
It was all because of that weird newbie.
“…That lunatic.”
The first day’s initiation had failed, but Sebu didn’t give up.
How had he endured the past five years?
But Jane was genuinely insane.
-Bring a sword.
-You bastard! What good is one!
-You didn’t say how many.
Yeah.
“Fucking trash.”
Jane was truly trash-tier.
Of course, Sebu didn’t give up.
-Don’t use mana. Do push-ups.
-How many?
-Until I tell you to stop!
An early morning task he assigned in a fit of anger.
-S, stop.
Even after all training was done and he returned, Jane was still doing push-ups.
He didn’t seem to be using mana.
Sweat pouring like rain, trembling muscles.
-You’re back?
Even his quivering voice.
After that day, Sebu gave up on taming Jane.
Of course, that didn’t mean Jane was a bad guy.
“Hey. Jane. Coming now?”
“Yes, Senior.”
Polite speech.
And.
“Can I ask for a spar?”
“Of course, Senior.”
Solid skills.
“Sebu, you’re not still bullying Jane these days, right?”
“…….”
“Don’t overdo it. The kid’s nice.”
That was what really drove Sebu crazy.
“Oh, and Sebu.”
“Yes, Senior.”
“Take this to the captain later.”
“What is it?”
Sebu asked.
“It’s that thing the captain asked for before. Didn’t want to entrust it to the servants.”
“…? Then make the maknae do it.”
Sebu stared at Jane.
As his blood pressure rose at the sight of Jane blinking innocently like he knew nothing.
“This guy’s got a spar with me right now. Can you handle it instead, Sebu?”
In the end, Sebu had no choice but to accept the senior’s errand.
Shuffling along.
On the way to the captain’s office.
Sebu finally stopped in his tracks.
“Ha. Fuck.”
Looking up at the sky, Sebu’s eyes.
“Maybe I should quit. Black Sword and all.”
Tears seemed to fall.
No.
How could he quit the Black Sword he had joined, the time he had endured?
Knock knock.
With the knock.
“Come in.”
Ballack’s voice came.
Sebu stared at Ballack.
Ballack, who should have been the maknae in his place, but soon became captain and stood above them.
Even so.
“Captain, I’m here on an errand. Senior Lorgan said to deliver this.”
Ballack wasn’t hateful.
“…You’ve had it rough. I’ll handle it myself next time. Sorry for wasting your time on something pointless.”
Ballack had a coolness worthy of respect, regardless of age.
But.
Twist.
Thinking of Jane made his face crumple involuntarily.
“How’s life lately? Any issues?”
Seeing that, Ballack asked.
Sebu felt embarrassed for unconsciously frowning in front of Captain Ballack.
“No issues. The Black Sword never changes.”
“Good, glad to hear it.”
He had to become a cool guy like that.
But that evening.
“Ha, seriously, maybe I should quit.”
Sebu shed tears in secret.
“You bastard!”