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Chapter 59

“Who said you couldn’t eat? Listen properly. I said you cannot set foot into the cafeteria in the afternoon.” With a bored tone, the knight continued, “Gorge yourself tomorrow morning.”

“...”

A-are you being serious right now...!

Evan’s face immediately became red.

Although he was pretty meek for a noble, his father had told him to never allow another person to mock him!

He took a deep breath and prepared to let this rude knight know his place!

“Shut the hell up!”

...But Evan wasn’t the one who shouted that.

Behind him, another person was being stopped by a knight.

That guy...

The one who’d had his points deducted not long ago.

Was his name Hans Bender?

“Not even Bednicker can treat this Hans Bender like this! If you do not offer me my meal right now...”

Crack!

He couldn’t finish those words.

Hans flew into the distance before dropping to the ground.

“C-cough...!”

Hans didn’t seem to realize what had happened to him, but Evan had seen it.

The knight standing next to Hans had kicked him.

“What will you do if I don’t offer you your meal?”

“...Y-you dare... And you think after doing this...”

“So what? You signed the contract yourself. Young Hero Hans, if you are hungry, go chew on the grass. Don’t make a scene here.”

“...”

Hans suddenly got up and declared, “I will leave the camp...!”

“...”

“I’m not going to continue at a training camp like this! Send me back right now!”

The knight let out a sigh.

“I will be in charge of this idiot from now on. Hans Bender, my name is Rogers. I’ll.be.in.your.care for this training camp.”

Step. As the knight took a step toward Hans, Hans’s face became pale as he stumbled back.

“G-go away! I said go away! If you lay even a finger on me... Ack!”

The squealing of a beaten pig continuously echoed through the open area of the training camp.

“...”

Having witnessed the entire event, Evan turned to face forward again.

The knight standing in front of the cafeteria spoke to him.

“Young Hero Evan, was there something you wanted to say?”

“...”

Evan’s eyes lost focus as he looked at the knight.

“Not at all, Instructor.”

***

After dinner ended, everyone heard a simple warning from the instructor.

“In the afternoon, if there isn’t a lesson, it will be free time for you to do whatever you please. Of course, leaving this field is forbidden, as is approaching the instructors’ lodgings. Any consequences you receive for breaking these rules will be suffered by you alone.”

Evan realized that the flashy building on the right was the lodgings for the instructors.

The building on our side has three stories and looks like it’ll collapse at any minute...

But the other building was six stories tall and designed beautifully.

The interior facilities were probably amazing as well...

“Additionally, tonight, you will receive your basic clothing and daily necessities. They will be handed out in the open field, so line up and receive them.”

The clothes they received were called young hero’s garments, and although their design was basic, they were oddly worn out and had a dusty smell.

“Instructor, there isn’t a size that fits me.”

“Just take whatever.”

“Yes, sir.”

One good thing about them was that the material of the clothes was sturdy enough that they wouldn’t rip from simple rolls or falls.

“...But why are the sizes so bad?”

“Should you be worrying about the size at this point?”

The structure of the young heroes’ building was simple.

Floor 1 had the lounge.

Floor 2 was for the female young heroes.

Floor 3 was for the male young heroes.

Of course, without special circumstances, it was forbidden for the members of one floor to go to the other gender’s floor.

As a result, most of the young heroes gathered in the lounge on Floor 1...

But it was a lounge in name only. The only items present were a few worn-out wooden tables and chairs, a fireplace, wrinkled cards for entertainment, and a few books with crumpled edges.

But it was still better than staying in the dusty and small rooms, so most of the young heroes used it.

Evan was no different.

He had taken a table with one of his friends and was staring blankly at the fireplace.

“Now that I think about it, how was the cafeteria, Karis?”

Karis Earthman was Evan’s friend.

Their homes were close, and their parents had had many interactions since he was young, so they had grown up like brothers.

The two of them had lined up their blessing ceremonies on purpose, and they’d intentionally joined the training camp together as well.

“It was better than I expected. They were self-portioned as well, so I could eat as much as I wanted... but the knights were glaring at us and observing us the entire time. It was a little nerve-wracking.”

“I see... Ah, I’m so hungry.”

Evan gulped down his water again.

Thankfully, there was a water dispenser in the lounge, so he could drink as much water as he wanted.

“What about your roommate? Did you get a decent guy?”

“He’s a dwarf, but he’s pretty good. I think he’s going to snore a lot, though. What about you?”

“I... don’t know yet.”

“Who is it?”

Evan hesitated for a moment before replying, “Luan Bednicker.”

“...Huh, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

Karis seemed afraid of the thought.

“You really got the worst one...”

“Yeah... but I think he might be decent. The rumors might not be accurate.”

“Really? But you’ve heard how crazy he is. The one who sold the sword of House—”

Karis swallowed his words. He had just seen someone coming down the stairs.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

The young man stomped all the way to their table and sat with them.

“This is definitely better than being stuck in that room. There are books here as well. ...‘The Important Thing Is the Unbreakable Spirit’? Is it a self-help book? The title is pretty cool.”

“...”

The two of them remained silent.

It couldn’t be helped since the person who had sat there with them was Luan Bednicker.

* * * * *

* * * * *

Did he hear us?

I don’t know, you idiot.

The two communicated with just their eyes before Karis spoke up with an awkward smile.

“H-hello. I am Karis Earthman.”

“Luan Bednicker. The crazy one who graduated from doing things like selling the sword of the house.”

He had heard everything.

Karis immediately lowered his head.

“I’m sorr—”

“I’m joking. You seemed like my roommate’s friend, so I came to say hi.”

“Ah, ha...?”

“You’re Karis Earthman?”

“Y-yes.”

“You can talk comfortably with me. We’re the same age. Probably.”

“E-ehm. I see. I mean, sure...”

But Karis knew. When those above him said to “be comfortable around me,” he should never take those words to heart.

The true meaning of those words was “It’ll be uncomfortable for me if you keep being too polite. Ah, but you know you’ll die if you get too close, right?”

That was likely the case...

“Oh, really? So you’re from the north as well.”

“Are... I mean, you too?”

“My mother is from Colland. I’ve never been there personally, though.”

“Ah. I was wondering why your hair color was familiar.”

...But the conversation started to flow smoothly...

“That’s what I’m saying. A blessing might not be a blessing. Having too many blessings can also be a curse.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

...And talking to him was fun...

“You guys have heard about the genius of House Max as well, right?”

“Ah, I’ve heard about that. He was called a prodigy before he received his blessings, but he became an idiot after his blessings.”

“That’s right. He became consumed by his talent. If he hadn’t received any blessings and had just focused on his swordsmanship, he probably would’ve become much stronger.”

...And they started to understand each other.

“Ah. There is one exception.”

“Who?”

“The family head of my house. He’s the only one who can perfectly manage multiple different blessings at once.”

“So in the end, you’re just flexing your house.”

“I guess that is what’s happening.”

...And he seemed like a decent person as well?

Karis ended up having the same thoughts about Luan as Evan.

At some point, a lot of people had gathered around Luan.

Karis recognized that most of them were fallen nobles, nonhumans, or just commoners.

But that wasn’t to say they were the majority of the people present.

There were only about ten at most.

Naturally, this was because most of the people here were nobles from Great Houses.

“Flush! All right, so I win all this, right?”

“You idiot, are your eyes just for show? That’s a diamond, not a heart.”

“Ah.”

“Pfthaha!”

Just like most children around this age, they quickly became friendly with each other. They had only needed an opportunity to get closer.

Especially for an isolated area like this for the training camp, it was the perfect environment to nurture camaraderie among the young heroes.

Not long after, the young heroes started to casually joke around with each other and laugh while playing with the worn-out cards.

Naturally, this seemed wrong to a few of the nobles.

“Hey, you lowly peasants, can’t you just shut up and stay quiet?” one of the nobles criticized them with a frown on his face.

The mood cooled somewhat at the blatant hostility, but Karis didn’t want to cause any trouble on the first day either.

“...All right.”

“I don’t feel any sincerity.”

“...”

“Hey, commoner. Do you think you’re at our rank just because we’re in the same camp? Know your place.”

Karis’s expression hardened.

First, because the other side continued to spit in his face even though he had backed down.

And second, even though his house wasn’t as notable as theirs, Karis wasn’t a commoner to begin with.

“What about our place?”

“Do I need to explain—”

The noble stopped talking as an odd expression crossed his face.

It was because he saw who had just interjected.

Luan Bednicker.

Someone with enough authority to never be considered a commoner no matter what he did.

Of course, everyone knew of his infamy and his supposed position within his House...

But he was still a Bednicker.

No matter what words came after that surname, it had an odd power to make it difficult for anyone to treat him harshly.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

“...Hans Bender.”

“Hans? Aah, the one who acted up in front of the cafeteria and got beaten up by that knight?”

“Ack...!”

Hans’s face became red with shame, but Luan didn’t relent.

“I know that you were sensitive because you didn’t get to eat dinner, but don’t be too mean. We’ll be hanging out together for the next six weeks. It would be better to get along.”

“Hah. A noble should know who they should form friendships with...!”

Hans felt proud of himself for talking impolitely to someone of Bednicker blood.

That pride became confidence as he began to speak more loudly.

“These low-lives here, as soon as the training camp ends, I won’t ever see them in my life ever again!”

At that, Luan’s brow quickly furrowed as he gave a nod.

“...Hm. That’s true. I’ve never heard of the name Hans Bender, so I guess you will be different from the people here.”

“...”

Hans’s face reddened again at Luan’s mocking tone.

There was one more characteristic of a young child at this age: they had no resistance to insults.

“You, you useless child of Bednicker...!”

Even though Hans was the one who had said it, he flinched a bit and checked for Luan’s reaction...

But Luan’s expression didn’t seem to change.

Seeing his reaction, Hans’s expression became brighter.

He’s all bark...!

Hans smirked as he continued, “Are you protecting the other talentless kids? Haha. How fitting. Sure. That’s why you were only able to receive one blessing!”

At that moment, the main door opened wide as a man appeared.

“Ah.”

“That person is...”

The black hair that was rare to see in The Empire, covering his statuesque face... it was Hector Bednicker.

Hans’s expression became even brighter.

He didn’t know all the internal workings of Bednicker, but he at least knew that Hector treated Luan like trash.

“You’re here, Sir Hector!”

Hans was someone who would immediately join Hector’s side.

This young man will one day be famous enough to be known throughout The Empire, and he might even become the Bednicker family head...

Hans felt sure of this when he looked at Hector.

Hector took a look around.

“What is happening here?”

“Ah, it’s just... there was a bit of trouble with your younger brother here.”

Not even Hans could be truly rude to Luan in front of Hector.

Even if he didn’t like Luan, Hector wouldn’t respond well to blatantly mocking someone of Bednicker blood.

“...What trouble?”

Hans was busy scheming how to turn this situation in his favor.

That was why he didn’t notice that Hector’s voice had lowered a little.

“...It seems that he isn’t self-aware of his position as a Bednicker. He hangs around those lowly folk. I think you should say something about this as his older brother, Sir Hector—”

He was cut off in the middle of his speech.

“Hans Bender.”

Only now did Hans feel that something was off.

“Yes?”

“This is surprising. I never realized House Bender’s authority had risen this much...”

“...Pardon?”

“To the point that you dare to interfere in House Bednicker’s business.”