Brook only stopped running when he reached home. He walked right past his mother who was making dinner and went straight to his room. Johanne was gasping for air as she stood at the door.
"Hey Brook! What was all of that about? Are you ok." Brook did not answer her and grabbed the robe he had made a while ago. He grabbed it and threw it in the trash. Johanne and their mother looked gobsmacked as they saw this scene.
"Brook! What are you doing? Isn't that your wanderer costume? You love that thing. You did not even let mom wash it." Johanne was now completely confused. The boy had still been calling Mr Silvers his idol this morning. What had happened? Their mother moved closer to Brook who was still staring at the trash can.
"Brook...Sweety. What is wrong."
"you were right mom." Their mom turned to Johanne and then back at Brook.
"Well this is new. You usually never come to my side. What was I right about?"
" Mr Silver. He is not a good guy. He said he only saved us out of convenience!" Brook began to feel angry as he said this.
"Well even if he is doing this out of convenience. Even if he is not your idol anymore. He is still your teacher. You should listen to him and learn from him."
"I don't want to." Brook pouted. His mother sighed as he saw this. She was glad that Brook was not idolizing the life of a wanderer but she also hopped that Brook would do well in the trial. She felt conflicted by this.
When Erin finally arrived, the mood did not get better. At dinner time, the atmosphere was awkward and quiet. Erin did not seem to notice this though as he ate his fill. Unlike other nights, Brook did not disturb Erin at the dinner table and went straight to bed after his meal. Johanne and her mother did not know what to do. They hoped the wanderer could apologize to Brook but how could they order the wanderer around? It would be disrespectful for them to do such a thing. Erin knew the reason for the sour mood in the room so he did not ask for seconds and went to sleep.
The next morning, Erin did not see Brook trying to catch up him as he left the house. Nor did he see Brook ask him question when he was lecturing the groups. The training were oddly peaceful.
The day before the raid would commence, Erin had everyone working over time. He worked the trial group the most since they would be the ones going on the raid. He had already picked Vince, Johanne and another man, Wallace to assist him in the raid.
During the speed training Brook did as he promised and he finished the test in 9 minutes and 37 seconds.
"Good job Brook. That is your best time yet." Even with a rare praise from Erin, Brook did not react. Erin could only shrug as he calculated the time of the next student.
Dean and Chi gather around Brook as he was stretching.
"Hey Brook, you should not act like that in front of Mr Silvers. " Dean commented.
"He complimented you and you did not even acknowledge it!" Chi exclaimed. Brook just scoffed as he heard this.
"It does not matter anyway. He does not care about us. He is only doing this because he feels like it." The two gasped as they heard this.
"SHHH shut up Brook! What if he hears you?" Chi stated. Brook only rolled his eyes.
"Like I said it does not matter."
After the training had finished for the day, Erin got everyone in a line. He smiled as he nodded at everyone's improvements. They were still relatively young so it would not be hard for them to be accepted in a public adventure academy or military academy. Work is also needed almost everywhere. He was very satisfied.
"This is my last day as your teacher. I am glad I got to interact with every one of you. I wish the adults and teenagers good luck in your future endeavors." The youths nodded as they heard this. They had grown used to the hard training and teachings in the last 2 weeks. They felt bitter sweet about saying goodbye to their teacher.
"Now remember to pack up all your valuable possessions. We will leave the day after tomorrow to Wellington. They have a high acceptance rate and a lot of unused buildings. " The youths listened attentively and nodded before leaving to pack their things. Many of them took one last good look at the vacant yard before saying good bye to their teacher.
The only ones left now were Wallace, Vince, Johanne and the 24 children who would be going on the raid the next day. He organized the kids into 4 groups. He took charge of the top 6 and gave the other 3 groups to the 3 supervising youths.
Unlike his friends, Brook did not seem happy being specifically lead by the wanderer. Erin made sure that everyone knew what they would bring for tomorrow's raid.
"Whatever you heard about raids from previous years can be thrown in the trash. This year will be different. We are going to the D ranked dungeon close by. Make sure you have spare pars of underwear in case you shit yourselves and make sure to have a lot of snacks prepared. Raids can take a long time." As he finished his speech, Vince could not help but raise his hand.
"Um...Mr. Silvers. That D rank dungeon your talking about...could it be the one around the village in the east?" Erin nodded.
"Yeah what about it?" He asked.
"Well that dungeon has never been cleared before. It still has a dungeon boss. So its monsters are much more vicious than in a normal dungeon." Erin nodded as he heard this.
"Perfect. Ok everyone bring two spar underwear not one."
"Um Wanderer, did you not hear me? It is dangerous."
"Vince. You can't go your whole life being scared. Have you ever gone in a dungeon higher then E rank before?" Vince shook his head.
"Well now you will. New experiences Vince. You gotta just go with the motions sometimes. If you keep acting all apprehensive all the time, you will end up just hiding in a self made dome your whole life." Vince did not know how to respond to such a statement without sounding rude. 'Did he sneak into the bar and get a stash of liquor?' Vince thought this as he heard the man. Even though he thought this, he could not help but realize some truth in what he was saying. He was known as the great mage but he did not even dare go in E ranked dungeons alone. He felt like nothing but a fraud.
"I hope everyone will not forget their things tomorrow becuase once we are inside the dungeon, there is not going back. Now get a good rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
"Yes teacher!" The children said in unison before scattering as they went home. Brook left as well with his friends.
Erin stretched his arms as he smiled at the view. He looked at the level of his job [Teacher] and saw that it had leveled up 4 times over the two weeks.
"Good good. With this, I could probably get a job as a teacher in one of those adventurer academies." As Erin thought of this he suddenly shook his head.
"Nah. I can't even handle this amount of students without some assistants. Handling 100, 200 hundred students is beyond me. " Erin laughed by himself before heading to the Sawyer residence. He did not want to miss a meal.