"The Twin Blade Sasha? Ha, is this how you've been playing around at home?" Matteo sneered.
The classmates felt the same. They each made a disdainful remark.
"We should try to get on the good side of the Twin Sword Sasha, right?"
"Hey, hey, it's the Twin Sword Sasha. Shouldn't we add 'sir'? It's not a nickname that we can casually use."
Sasha's face turned red, likely due to the teasing from his classmates. Being only 16 years old, Sasha couldn't hide his embarrassment.
"Brother, what are you doing he—ugh," Sasha tried to approach Kane but winced at Matteo's rough grip. Matteo's hand was gripping Sasha's shoulder tightly. On top of that, Matteo pressed down on Sasha's foot with his own. It was a familiar form of bullying. Even the skin exposed under Sasha's clothes showed bruises, clear signs of abuse.
Matteo's voice soon followed. "Sasha, shouldn't you introduce me to your brother?"
"Got it… yes," Sasha swallowed his pain, and Kane saw everything. Memories of the past came flooding back to Kane, who then spoke.
"Move your foot. Can't you see Sasha is in pain?" Kane's calm voice echoed on the fifth floor. There was no force, no threat, just a quiet statement. Yet, Matteo instinctively felt fear and quickly removed his foot from Sasha's. Matteo looked around, checking if his friends felt the same way.
'Damn it. Am I the only one scared? Of this so-called dullard?'
Matteo's face turned even redder than Sasha's. To cover his embarrassment, he became more aggressive.
"Sasha, it seems your brother has misunderstood something, hasn't he?"
Matteo's hand on Sasha's shoulder tightened, as if trying to crush it. He even started to channel his mana.
"Ah!" Sasha screamed. Matteo was a High-Tier 2nd class, while Sasha was only a beginner-tier 2nd class, leaving Sasha unable to shake off Matteo's grip.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Camilla called out to Sasha. "Young Master Sasha, are you okay?"
"Ugh, I… I'm fine."
"Excuse me, what are you doing? Master Sasha is in pain. Let go of him," Camilla strode towards Matteo, but the classmates blocked her path.
"Who are you?"
"Wow, I didn't know there was such a pretty knight."
"I'm disappointed, Sasha. You should've introduced her sooner."
They were all noble scions, and thus lacked respect.
"Move aside."
"No."
"We might if you take off that heavy armor."
"Wow, genius idea."
"Heh, in this area, I'm better than you guys."
They mocked Camilla. Meanwhile, Matteo addressed Kane.
"Sasha, tell your brother we need to use this place."
"Brother… sorry, but" Sasha tried to ask Kane while enduring the pain, but Kane cut him off.
"You stay put. I'll handle this."
"Kane, are you finally going to kill them?"
Blata's eyes sparkled.
Whenever Kane moved, it usually resulted in bloodshed, and Blata showed his anticipation.
"Camilla, cut a piece off each of those guys."
"What?"
"Didn't you hear me? Or do I have to kill them all myself?"
Camilla nodded at Kane's piercing gaze. "I'll follow your orders."
Camilla was a mid-tier 3rd class knight. Even if everyone here ganged up on her, they couldn't defeat her alone. As she drew her sword, the others began to speak up.
"You're drawing a sword in front of us?"
"You're so bold because we praised your looks?"
"Do you even know who we are?"
They were still only running their mouths. That was their mistake.
Camilla closed her eyes tightly and swung her sword.
Whoosh.
A light breeze blew across the fifth-floor terrace.
Crack.
With the sound of something breaking, screams began to fill the air.
"Y-You, M-My shoulder?"
"Huh?"
"Ahhh!"
Everyone except Matteo had their left shoulders hanging limply. Camilla sheathed her sword and looked at Kane, seeking something from him. But the response she got was not what she expected.
"You should've cut off their arms. Just breaking them? And not even the right arms they use for weapons, but the left ones."
"Ugh."
Camilla, now feeling like Blata, slumped her shoulders and returned to Kane's side. Blata, witnessing the scene, was thrilled.
"Hehe. Blood, blood! Kill them all!"
* * *
Meanwhile, Matteo was terrified by the scene unfolding before him.
All his friends had their arms broken. To dismiss it as mere fractures might seem trivial, but these were the scions of esteemed noble families. They could act recklessly without anyone daring to reprimand them. Moreover, they were cadets of the Royal Military Academy. Who would dare touch them? In the capital, not even royalty would treat them harshly.
Yet, here was a mere knight breaking their arms.
"Are you insane! Do you realize what you've done!?" Matteo screamed. To harm a noble in the capital without a valid reason was grounds for immediate execution. Kane answered in his stead.
"Do you think what you did was right?"
"What did I do?"
"You insulted a member of the Rehinar family, and this is your punishment. Consider yourself lucky it wasn't worse."
"How dare you… Ah!" Matteo was unable to finish his sentence as Kane, who had been seated, suddenly appeared before him. Matteo hadn't even noticed him move.
"Do you know why I haven't dealt with you yet?"
"…!?"
"You need to cut off rotten buds early."
"…?" Kane grabbed Matteo's shoulder and twisted his arm backward.
"Ahhh!" Matteo screamed. He had been pampered his whole life in Dyer and had never experienced such pain.
"Don't cry out in pain already. We're just getting started." Kane's hand moved toward Matteo's heart. Feeling the imminent danger, Matteo tried to draw his great sword.
"It's useless."
Kane's hand was already on Matteo's heart.
Ziiing—
A small magic circle appeared between Kane's palm and Matteo's heart.
"This will hurt quite a bit. Try to endure it."
From the magic circle, purple wisps emerged and entered Matteo's heart.
Snap.
Snap, snap, snap!
It sounded like tight strings breaking. Blata, watching, jumped up and down in excitement.
"As expected of Kane! He's so ruthless."
Kane was employing one of the most torturous methods. It was often used to extract confessions. He severed the mana circuits connected to the entire body, causing indescribable pain.
"Aghhh…" Matteo groaned.
Matteo foamed at the mouth and fainted. Having no tolerance for torture, he couldn't endure it and passed out. But Kane was not one to let things be.
He grabbed Matteo's broken arm and the pain brought him back to consciousness.
"This is nothing compared to what you've done," Kane whispered, only loud enough for Matteo to hear.
He recalled the old Matteo, who, trusting in his brother Rivan, who was married to Sara, committed all sorts of cruel acts in Rehinar. When he was Ray, Kane didn't care much, thinking the family would crumble anyway. But now, seeing Matteo tormenting Sasha filled him with rage.
"Ahhhh! Please, stop!" Matteo's screams were ignored as Kane continued severing his mana circuits one by one. Matteo fainted and woke up repeatedly.
"Please… forgive me…," Matteo begged, tears and snot streaming down his face. Despite his large frame, Matteo was still quite young. The fear of death made him desperate.
"You're begging the wrong person. The one you should be asking for forgiveness is Sasha."
"…Sasha, I'm sorry. Please forgive me…"
Kane turned to Sasha. "Do you think this is enough?"
"…Yes. I forgive him."
"Even though he bullied you and Rose?"
"He's been punished enough."
"Sasha, remember this: forgiveness should be given when you have the power. If you grant mercy when you're powerless, it will only lead to your death. In my book, there's no forgiveness."
With that, Kane severed the remaining mana circuits in Matteo's body. Everyone around shuddered at the brutal act. Matteo's friends couldn't even swallow their saliva audibly, terrified of Kane.
'Isn't he supposed to be the biggest dullard in the world?'
'What dullard? I couldn't even sense him moving.'
'We're screwed.'
'Who the hell said Rehinar had fallen? Wait till I find out who it was.'
They couldn't even breathe freely, completely overwhelmed by Kane's presence. One of their toughest adversaries turned out to be a classmate's brother. Exactly as they feared.
"What should I do with you all?" Kane's gaze shifted to the other classmates.
"We're sorry!"
"We've committed a grave sin. We won't bully Sasha again. Please forgive us!"
"We didn't recognize you. Please give us another chance!"
They all begged, knowing that having their mana circuits severed meant losing their noble status. It meant never being able to handle mana again. Although there was a slim chance of restoring the circuits with a miraculous elixir, such an opportunity was almost impossible.
"I'm not looking for forgiveness."
"Anything you want, just say it. We'll do it."
"Go back and tell your instructor that I broke your arms."
"N-no!"
"Do it."
"We swear we won't say a word."
Kane frowned. They were stubborn, or perhaps they couldn't grasp his words.
"Should I just kill you here? Do as I say."
Reluctantly, they agreed. "We'll do as you say."
"Now go."
The classmates quickly carried the bloodied Matteo downstairs, disappearing in an instant. Sasha struggled to comprehend the situation.
* * *
"Young Master Sasha don't try to understand. No matter how much you think about it, it won't make sense," Camilla soothed him.
"What just happened?"
"As you can see, we had business in the capital. It's a good thing."
"What is it?"
"The young master received an invitation to the Ball of the Stars from the First Princess."
"R-really!?" Sasha looked at Kane, who nodded in confirmation.
"Camilla is right," Kane said.
Sasha's eyes widened in surprise. "Camilla, why is my brother talking like that?"
"It's hard to get used to, isn't it? But you will have to."
"It doesn't feel like my brother."
"I felt the same at first. I even wondered if someone else had taken over his body."
"And those movements earlier," Sasha started.
"Young Master Sasha, take it easy. There's plenty of time to ask questions," Camilla calmed him down.
"Sorry, I was just so shocked."
"I understand. Everyone felt the same way."
As Sasha calmed down, Kane asked, "How badly were you hurt? Your mana flow is a complete mess."
"Huh?"
"Your internal mana flow is still not smooth."
"Those guys are truly awful. They're worse than humans," Blata interjected, clearly seeing the injuries on Sasha's body and getting worked up.
"Don't let yourself get bullied anymore. It will become a habit," Kane said, his stern gaze causing Sasha to shrink back involuntarily.
"Okay…."
"Although, I doubt anyone will try to bully you from now on."
It wasn't just the classmates who had ignored the bullying. The biggest problem was the instructors. They either accepted bribes, betrayed the Fresia Empire, or were spies disguised as instructors, allowing the decay to spread slowly from the smallest issues.
The ones who had tried to bring Rehinar to an irrecoverable ruin were now the ones who needed to be eliminated.
"I look forward to tomorrow."
Kane had cut off an arm from each of the noble brats. Though they were not heirs, they were all direct descendants. Would their families really ignore the fact that their precious sons were injured? The ones responsible for them were their instructors. To avoid being blamed, the instructors would take action themselves.
"It's amusing to imagine how they'll react."
Kane's eyes turned into crescents as he smiled.