Today training continues, although a little different from the days before. Unlike the other days when Garret told me to eat my full, he instead told me to skip it.
And currently I'm standing before that very same Garret with a wooden blade drawn against him.
Why did it come to this? Didn't Elios promise I wouldn't be thrown into combat immediately?
"Are you just going to stand there Kid? Don't tell me you're confident enough to give me the first strike."
Confident? You couldn't be further from the truth Garret!
"Of course not.."
I examined his every movement, even if it was against me wasn't he too relaxed?
With as many openings as he's showing right now, even I could hit him!
Alright I'm going to make him pay for being overconfident, let's see…
I would carefully examine Garret once more before deciding on my target.
I'll strike this old man's knee.
"Here I come!"
I shouted while lunging forward, I firmly held on to the wooden blade before swinging towards Garret's knee with everything I had.
Maybe I'm more skilled than I originally thought, I've gotten this close and Garret hasn't even reacted yet.
Well I am a Hero, my superpower must have kicked in the midst of battle.
That must be it, I'm the fastest man alive now!
My blade was inches away from colliding with his knee, knowing there was no longer any way for him to block it. I closed my eyes.
The feeling of holding a blade and fighting against someone fueled my mind with delusions and led me to forget one major thing.
Garret's a fucking dickhead.
It dawned on me then, just how arrogant I had become. Just who did I think I was.
The sound of our blades colliding rang out through the training yard, and my hand stung with pain. I could feel the skin on my hands ripping as my blade was nearly torn from my hands.
"You shouldn't close your eyes kid, you'll get yourself killed like that."
I opened my eyes to see Garret's boot smash into my chest, sending me back multiple meters.
Quickly I staggered onto my feet, grasping my chest in the process.
What the hell are in his legs? Is he secretly a horse or something!
Raising my head I could see Garret gesturing for me to come at him almost like it was some old martial arts movie.
Again I rushed in with my blade, this time however I didn't put all my strength into the strike.
I swung my blade, but was effortlessly fended off but I didn't let it end there. Again and again I continued my blade at Garret, surely I'd be able to break through his defense if I continuously struck him.
"Come on Kazul, I'll never get warmed up if you're only this good."
Garret said to me his hand covering his mouth as he yawned. Arrogant prick… I'll show him!
I grasped my blade firmly before swinging at Garret, this was without my strongest and fastest slash.
But that meant nothing to Garret, at the end of the day my best was still trash in his eyes.
As effortless as he breathes he deflected my blade, and rather than letting me quickly regain my balance like a good person he flung my blade into the air, opening me up for an attack.
Instantly I felt my head snap back leaving my eyes gazing towards the clouds
Damn it! This isn't sparring!
I'm just his punching bag at this point!
Garret forced me into sparring, but it's more like a beating!
He probably just wants to vent all that anger created by Elaine.
Enough distracting thoughts!
Quickly I repositioned myself deciding my next move.
It's irritating though, despite his lazy stance and uninterested demeanor, I still find it impossible to hit him. Just how big of a difference is there between us?
At this point I'm no better than a random mob character challenging the final boss.
Garret stood picking his nose while yawning.
Disgusting bastard.. but this is a good thing. He's left himself open.
Quickly I dashed in my, leaning forward with my blade firmly planted in my hands I swung my blade towards Garret's shoulder.
I don't care how much better he is than me, I'm going to make him pay for underestimating me.
I leaned my body in with the blade firmly planted in my bleeding hands. I positioned my feet and my body began to move on its own.
Before I knew it my blade flashed forward leaving nothing but the wind hissing behind it.
Woosh.. Then bam! It was going to be perfect!
Bam.
My blade was knocked out of my hands, and my forehead was flicked.
Damn you brute! Have you no feelings!
"Too simple kid, you make your moves too obvious by thinking too much. At least try to hide your thoughts, if you stare at my shoulder like that then I'm obviously going to know!"
Damn it! This bastard isn't even taking this seriously!
"If you're going to make simple moves like that, at least become too fast or strong for me to block. That or you could always learn a spell to compensate for your weak body."
What? He wants me to learn magic?
"Spell?"
Garret scratched his chin before speaking again:
"Yea a spell, let's see there was that one spell..:what was it called again.. laid out grits?"
What the hell is he on about?
"Nah that's not right.."
Garret stroked his chin as he tried to remember the name of the spell.
"Oh I remember now: Blade of Ifrit. It's a basic pawn ranked spell, despite that the strongest guy I know used it in every fight"
A spell, just the mention of me learning one was enough for me to nearly turn into a fangirl.
But magic already? I wanted to ask Elios to teach me but I haven't seen him since he took off with the silver haired brat..
Wait he's totally making her his disciple or something like that isn't he? That can't be fair right?
Well he could just be a pedo. Well I'm sure she's fine, she's a hero after all!
But anyways, isn't Ifrit a flame spirit or something?
"Does it create a blade of flames?"
Garret looked at me with a face of genuine surprise.
"Wow you're not as stupid as I thought, I wasn't sure you had any thoughts behind that consistently blank face"
"What?"
"Nothing. Blade of Ifrit is a spell that envelops your weapon in flames. Like I said before though, It's a basic spell meaning it only requires a few lines of incantations but nonetheless it's useful for gaining an edge in battle."
Garret would reach into a small leather bag, pulling out a book. Was it a notebook? Garret actually kept notes on things? Elaine probably forced him to..
Garret shoved his notebook into my face after flipping through pages. Once I grabbed it he picked up a sharp blade from the ground and held it out in front of him.
"My magic power is kind of lacking so it won't be all that but I'll show you."
Garret closed his eyes as held the blades hilt in his hand firmly.
"Fury of the sleeping spirit, heed my call."
A soothing orange light began oozing out of the silver metal, almost as if it had been called on by Garret's words.
"Ignite and Burn, grant this blade the power to sear.. Blade of Ifrit!"
Instantly the soothing orange light grew into a raging blaze, the heat quickly engulfed the sword before taking on its sharp form.
Garret glanced over towards me with a smug expression.
Slowly he twirled the flaming blade in the air before taking a step forward.
"A basic spell like this can change everything in a fight."
Garret took in a deep breath before leaning forward, pushing all of his weight onto his stepping foot.
In an instant his blade flashed through the air leaving only a trail of flickering embers in its wake.
As his blade flashed through the air everything grew quiet, almost as if the flames burned the world's sound.
Before anything else was able to make even a decimal of sound a loud explosion would ring out.
The ground before garret was quickly shattered and a path of flames was carved out in a straight line and a second much more beautiful explosion went off at the end of his path."
"Pretty cool right?"
Garret said, waiting for my approval.
"Ye-"
"GARRET!"
In that moment Garret's proud smile faded and his skin turned pale, he might have been the vice captain of the seconds division but that did not mean he was an exception to the wrath of an overworked Elaine.
Quickly Garret dropped the weapon before snatching the book from my hands.
"That's all the training you're getting from me today! You can use the rest of the day taking care of what Elaine asks of you!"
Instantly Garret darted for the large stone walls, where he would go on to scale it like a master parkourist.
Did he just leave me to clean up for him?
Wait.. Slowly I turned around. Behind me was a being that could no longer be considered human, A woman bathed in the eternal raging flames of hell. A woman pure of heart now awakened through fury.
Elaine.
"Miss Elaine… I-"
My excuses were silenced immediately with a sudden strike to my gut. My head which I had arrogantly held high in the presence of her wrath was now planted in the dry soil.
Why me! It was all Garret!
Elaine picked me up by the back of my shirt like I was a misbehaving kitten.
"Where?"
The single word drove fear into my soul, goosebumps erupted around my skin as I quiver. Garret… I'll make you pay.
Using what remained of my strength I pointed towards the stone walls.
Sorry Garret but you brought this onto yourself, and when you look at it like this. You abandoned me!
Even if you die I promise I won't forget your lessons
"H-he ran that way Miss Elaine!"
"No.. Choose where I strike next."
What?
A wave of fear washed over me once more, instinctively I raised my hands to defend my face but that was a mistake.
The air in my body left me as her fist blurred into my gut.
Why me..
I felt the strength leave my body as Elaine dropped me. Despite her thin figure she was able to effortlessly lift a grown man such as myself into the air with a single hand at that!
Fucking monster.
If I hadn't skipped breakfast this morning then I would have definitely spewed everything out on the ground.
"Stop being a baby, you have work to do so you'll be coming with me."
I don't recall having work, is she going to slave me away in Garrett's place?
"What work?"
Her eyes met with mine as she flashed me a plastic smile, the corners of her mouth lifting just enough to look polite but her eyes remained enraged.
Silently she stared at me like that.
"No… no!"
I shouted in protest, a smile like that couldn't be anything but dangerous! Damn it why'd I have to go and be right!
I tried to break free from her monstrous grip, but my attempts were futile.
She's supposed to be a non-combatant type, why is she so strong!
"Don't worry you'll only be paying for half the damages."
Why half! It was Garrett! It was all Garret!
Wait, I don't have a job.. or money..
How exactly is she planning on making me pay??
"I don't have money though…"
I looked up at Elaine with wide eyes, desperately searching for any sign of mercy in that perfectly plastic smile.
Please, please let this be some type of joke.
Her face showed no sign of pity or even concern.
"You have your body though Kazul."
That plastic smile lingered on her face, just long enough for it to feel like a threat.
Damn it, there's only a few ways this can go.
I'll either have my organs harvested and sent to a black market. I'll be pimped out.. or Elaine makes me pay her directly with my body..
Actually that last option doesn't sound so bad, although it would confirm that Elaine's a professional bedtime sparrer.
I gulped as I thought further about the first two options, surely a knight wouldn't be so cruel right?
But after thinking about it more, the second division wasn't exactly all that noble.. It's more like a gathering of ruffians.
"Actually ya know.. I'm not feeling very well right now.. I even nearly threw up just now!"
Elaine's eyes would grow cold as she stared into my soul, attempting to rip the truth from my very essence.
"If you're going to lie, then maybe work on your facial expressions."
Eh? I think I do pretty well with my expressions. Back home they used to call me Thousand Face because of how well I could control my facial expressions…
I guess Elaine sees right through them though.. To call them bland though, how dare she!
"That's a bit rude don't you think…"
Elaine's cold eyes continued to stare through me before softening up.
"Sensitive topic I see, well you don't look too bothered."
She's lucky she's stronger than me, otherwise I might have had to duel her for my honor.
My head would droop down as I let out a sigh of defeat!
Slowly I brought my hands together as if I was pleading, and from there I made a joke.
"Please be gentle.."
Elaine however did not seem to get the joke, her eyes which had only just softened were now looking at me with disgust.
"Please stop that."
"Yes I will."
This world has no sense of comedy.
"So Miss Elaine.. How exactly will I be paying?"
"Manual Labor of course."
Of course, manual labor, why hadn't I thought about that! Oh wait I did! Damn it, why do I have to be a slave because of Garrets screw up!
"This actually works out perfectly, I was planning on sending you to the guild soon anyways."
Is that another fantasy trope I hear?
There's nothing more fantasy like than Magic and swords, but something that doesn't run too far off sitting in a comfortable third place is without a doubt.. The Adventurers Guild!
"Guild?"
I'm trying to hide my excitement but it's without a doubt showing on my face, I mean how can I hide my excitement?
I finally get to experience the adventurers life!
Fulfilling requests of those in need, going out to drink with my party members, developing a relationship with one of the female members after heroically saving her during a dangerous mission!
And to top it all off! I can get paid for it!
Suddenly I would be jerked backwards just as my fantasies began to reach new highs.
"Follow me."
She said as if I had any choice but to follow her.
But this wasn't so bad, after leaving the training yard I got a tour from a beautiful and absurdly strong woman. What man wouldn't enjoy this!
Well it'd be far better if I wasn't being dragged!
After what felt like hours of being dragged Elaine finally came to a stop, throwing me onto the cold and unevenly cemented road.
"We're here"
She said in an almost robotic way.
Looking up I was met with the sight of my future, a building crafted with fine wood, painted white with yellow accents that occasionally broke through.
And sitting right in front of the entrance was a symbol, A rising sun with rays of light extending from the skies so all could see, behind a simple but noble blade that stood upright, ready to protect the weak and cut down any evil who dared to stand against its righteous path.
Oh yea and above were letters I couldn't read.
"Be careful, there's a devil in there.."
What an ominous warning Elaine, please don't do that!
Slowly we approached the Guild's doors, for some reason I'm not looking forward to this as much anymore..
Before my hand managed to push the door open my ears were assaulted, by screams of the damned?
What the hell is happening in there?
The screams shifted into someone's pleading only to be silenced with a resounding thud.
Slowly I turned my gaze towards Elaine.
"Do I have to go in?"
Elaine raised her hand giving me a thumbs up before evilly speaking.
"The devil awaits you."
"I'm too young to know the devil's face…"
Before I could turn and run Elaine shoved me through the doors.
My eyes which I had closed out of fear slowly opened, revealing a horrific scene..
Dozens of large men dressed like adventurers were dead on the ground, blood dripping from their heads.
My stomach began to churn, twisting itself into a knot as I witnessed the horror before me, this is definitely the devils work..
Suddenly my attention would be dragged towards a loud thud that rang through the large room.
I really don't want to look, but the creaking wood that's slowly getting closer to me is way too!
Once I turned I was met with a shock I had never before felt.
"Oh Hello Lily."
Standing before my eyes was a small girl who's height was abnormal.. A small girl who wielded a metal club covered in blood..
The girl turned towards us as Elaine gave her greetings, her brown hair rose into the air defying physics itself as her crazed and anger filled blue eyes stared at me and Elaine.
"Oh it's you Elaine! Welcome!"
Immediately she dropped her metal club, the devilish appearance which she had just been displaying immediately disappeared only to be replaced by a more angelic and graceful look.
The hell is this?
"Is this the new recruit Ragnar was talking about?"
Even her voice is angelic like, a voice that couldn't belong to the violent beast I just saw!
Elaine suddenly pushed me forward again.
"Introduce yourself."
Is she forcing me into a contract with the devil!
"Ah yes… I am Kazul…"
The girl rushed over to a counter before pulling out a sheet of paper.
"Just Kazul right, No family name?"
"Correc-"
Elaine interrupted me.
"Wasn't your last name Silvercrest?"
Lily's face lit up in surprise as Elaine said that. What is she on about, I don't think I ever gave anyone a fake name like that
"Um no? Just Kazul, where did you get a name like that from?"
Elaine placed her hand on her chin while tilting her head.
"I could have sworn Garret said you were the Captain's kid.."
"No. Absolutely not! I'm hurt that you would even think that Reinhardt was my father!"
Elaine promptly replied.
"Not Reinhardt dummy, no one calls that guy captain except Ragnar. We're talking about the First Divisions Captain. The Crimson Hero of Ruberia and the former Pillar of Blades; Raymond Lotos Silvercrest!"
Oh.. it's this again.
"That bastard is not my father."
Elaine's plastic smile faltered for a moment but she quickly regained her composure.
"So you're capable of making expressions after all!"
Seems she's making that joke again to change the subject, I'll play along I guess.
"Of course I am, I'm not a robot after all!"
Elaine looked at me, confused by my comment.
Ah right they probably don't have robots here.
"But anyways it's Kazul, Just Kazul!"
"And how do you spell that?"
Said Lily with the pen already pressed against the paper, she asked a really good question.
How do you spell my name?
I glanced towards Elaine, hoping that behind that pretty face of hers was a source of all knowing knowledge.
She shrugged.
Damn it..
"I.. don't know.."
Lily stared at me, her pen hesitating over the page.
"You don't know how to spell your own name?"
"I… uh, it's a new language alright?"
Lily sighed, exasperated but determined.
"Alright, we'll wing it. Is it 'C-A-Z-O-O-L'?"
I cringed.
"No, no, not 'Cazool'—it's more like… uh… K-A-Z… uh…"
I trailed off, realizing that I wasn't even sure if that was right.
Lily tapped her pen, squinting.
"So… 'Kazule'? Or maybe… 'Kasule'? Or we could try something fancy like 'Kahzool.'"
"I might not be able to hear the difference between the first two but please god, please not 'Kahzool. Just… Just write something that sounds like 'Kazul.'"
Lily scribbled, muttering to herself.
"Let's go with 'Kazule'… or maybe 'Kazoul'…"
Elaine leaned over to peek at Lily's writing.
"Does it really matter? He doesn't even know how it's spelled."
Lily smirked.
"Guess it doesn't. 'Kazoul it is!"
And like this I've become the adventurer Kazoul… The day I learn to read is going to be a horrid day for me.. I can tell..
Lily stamped the paper with a weird tool, and a few moments after she stamped it the paper began to glow.
Is it a magic tool? I wonder how it works.
"Well I can always change it after learning the language so I guess I have something to work towards."
Lily's eyes trailed off as I said that almost like she was trying to avoid telling me something.
Wait.. don't tell me…
"I can change it right…"
She began to speak in a quiet tone, still refusing to look me in my eyes.
"Well it's already in our system…"
I hate this primitive world..
"I can't say that this makes me very happy…"
Elaine placed her hand on my hand and ruffled my dark hair all over the place.
"Blame yourself for not knowing how to read at your age."
I could feel the light in my eyes slip away as I looked towards Elaine.
"I could read just fine before I was summoned to this world.."
Elaine would mischievously push my head away before covering her mouth with her hands.
"You're so right, I forgot that you were a hero. You're not exactly that strong after all."
You bitch!
"That's quite.. hurtful Miss Elaine…"
I slowly turned towards Lily while lowering my head just a bit.
"I'll be in your care, Miss lily."
She disappeared under the counter as she too lowered her head.
"I- I'll be in your care as well Mr. Kazoul."
Mr? Did she get more polite? Maybe she's the type that treats others the way she's treated.. I must say, I quite like people like that.
My eyes wandered the still blood filled battlefield… but then again maybe not…
Elaine began to walk away, and I followed behind.
"Stop."
I stopped.
"Where are you going?"
I glanced towards the ground, refusing to look her in the eyes.
"Home?"
I could feel her glare move off of me, am I safe? Have I managed to escape slave work!?
"Lily, you still needed help with the storage room right?"
Lily responded in a gentle but friendly tone.
"Oh yes, I wasn't able to move any of it myself since most of it's too heavy. I've been asking the adventurers for help but they've been avoiding me for some reason…"
Elaine turned me around to face Lily, pushing me forward as if sacrificing me.
"Great, he'll help you then! Just make sure he's compensated."
Lily's face lit up as she crossed the counter and rushed over to me in an instant, she grasped onto my hands as she excitedly spoke.
"Really? Thank you Mr. Kazoul!"
I turned back around to where Elaine was only to find an empty doorway. How fast is she!?
"Ah yea… no problem…"
With my words as confirmation Lily quickly dragged me behind the counters and out a door that led outside.
However for some reason there's this massive pyramid blocking out the sun's light.
Well that might be an exaggeration but still!
"These are the boxes that need to be moved! I think the people who dropped them off had a little too much fun when they stacked them, but it's no biggie!"
It's no biggie!
I mockingly said in my head.
IT'S NO BIGGIE MY ASS! WHY DID THEY EVEN STACK THEM LIKE THIS!?
"Actually I think Ragnar and Darius dropped these off, I'm really thankful to you guys at the second for doing all this work for us."
Darius.. Ragnar… You've made me mad… Really, really mad… I will have my revenge, from now on I'm working my hardest… I will become stronger than you guys and when that happens..
IT'LL BE TIME TO PAY!
Well that's for the future, I'm still a ways away from those monsters!
"So Miss Lily… is there anyone else who'll be helping with this?"
Lily placed her hand on her chin.
"Well all the guild members who aren't away are all recovering or unconscious.. they'll probably avoid doing all this work anyways, so it'll be just you!"
Fuck Me.
"I see, I see.."
I said while looking towards the top of the pyramid.
"This is quite the first task I've been given…"
"Good Luck! Oh yea the boxes go into that large building over there, you can put the boxes anywhere!"
Her infectious and unnecessarily bright smile was quite warm and made it impossible for me to get angry with her.
I'll just put it on Garret's Darius's and Ragnar's tab.
Lily skipped off while humming to herself, leaving me to take care of these boxes by myself.
"Well I guess this isn't the worst, I can use this as training for my revenge!"
I shouted out into the sky before pacing around.
I said this could be training, but this is probably going to push my body to its limits..
Well it's not like I have to finish it all today, I'll make the most out of this opportunity.
"Guess I'll start with stretches then?"
I began to stretch my body out, doing arm circles, knee raises and other exercises.
Like they say, 'Stretch once, breathe twice, and you'll go twice as far!'
I hurried through my stretches and hurried on to my true workout.
Climbing the Pyramid of Doom! And in the best way possible, Box Jumps!
Well it might not be the best way possible but it was the only one I remembered.
"One…two...three... Jump! One..two...three.. Jump!"
I chanted to myself while climbing the pyramid at a steady pace, every five row I'd stop to rest and catch my breath.
But for some reason I can feel someone's gaze on me, it's starting to freak me out. I think I heard whispers earlier too..
Did Lily actually summon the damned, maybe I'm being stalked..
When I looked around to catch whatever being or stalker may be watching me I was met with nothing.
Maybe it's just Lily? She probably doesn't want to interrupt me, so she ran off when I started looking.
Yup that has to be it, I'm definitely not being stalked.
After concluding my break I continued on with my box jumps, after what felt like an eternity I finally reached the last row.
"It's been so long.. What was that 3 hours?"
"No, it was only five minutes"
Oh so it was only five minutes.
"Thanks for letting me know miss-"
Instantly a wave of fear washed over me, my head twisted in search of the voice. Who the hell is there!
To my surprise there was no one..
"Who's there!"
No response came. Am I going crazy? I know I'm lonely but really mental me? A woman's voice?
I stood up, still cautious of anyone around me.
I can't see anyone around me but I can feel a gaze, maybe I'm not crazy, if not then who's watching me and why?
Damn it, let's forget that for now I still got work to do!
Using the peak of what's my human will I pushed forward.
I grabbed the box at the top and began my descent.
Still.. I'm worried about that voice, I'll have to stay vigilant for them.
After reaching the bottom of the pyramid I took the box into the storage house that Lily had told me about and set it in a corner.
Quickly I made my way back.
"Alright let's do this again!"
I said, hyping myself up as I began to do my box jumps.
After reaching the top I could feel my legs growing weaker from working out.
"Man.. Tomorrows going to be hell…"
I felt like crying, if it wasn't for my training tomorrow then I'd one hundred percent spend the day sleeping… Oho.. Maybe Viviana would come wake me up personally.
She'd whisper into my sleeping ears 'It's time to get up master… If you don't get up I'll have to-" Damn it why am I fantasizing!
I'll leave the soreness of tomorrow to the future me, and since I've left it to that me there's nothing to worry about now!
I grabbed a box from the top row and began my descent, but as fate would have it.. I'm not very lucky…
The world turned upside down and a
squarish object would block out the sun, was it getting closer? I think it's getting closer..
My eyes gazed off into the skies as I made a perfect deduction of what was happening.
I SLIPPED!
The squarish object that was getting closer with each passing moment was none other than the crate I was holding.
So this is how death feels. Can't say that i'm very surprised that i'd die like this.
The world really did have it out for me, it must have thought dying in my sleep was far too comfortable of a death..
Yup that sadistic bitch known as fate just wanted to see me die a pathetic death!
"Please be more careful."
My death thoughts were interrupted by a voice as sweet as bells.
Before me was yet another supernatural phenomena!
The box which had been dead set on killing me, had found itself stopped in the air.
Am I a Jedi?
No no, there's still this mysterious voice!
I could feel the warmth of another being carrying me in their arms, preventing me from falling.
Oho! I'm a princess now.. AREN'T THE ROLES SUPPOSED TO BE REVERSED HERE!
Damn it, I found my stalker and they just so happened to turn out to be a better hero than me!
Well she's warm so Its probably fine..
But wait? A warm ghost?
I opened my mouth to ask a question and thank my savior but I was too late.
Suddenly I was stood upright on the dirt with the crate in my arms.
"Miss Ghost?"
I called out but was met with no response.
Damn it, why is my stalker such a cool hero type? Normally someone would feel grossed out but I'm rather grateful.
Although next time.. I hope she doesn't carry me like I'm a princess.. It hurts my pride as a man.
I carried the box into the warehouse before taking another break, letting my legs recover. I'm done with the box jumps for now, it'd be a shame if I had to be saved again today.
"Oh it's Kazul."
The rugged voice that said my name was familiar. I'd definitely heard it before today.
I lifted my gaze to see who said my name only to have my anger reignited.
A ruffian with sharp orange hair, messy like a lion's mane..
"Ragnar.."
Ragnar took this time to sit next to me while looking at the pyramid he had created, admiring his beautiful work.
"So Elaine made you sign up for the guild it seems!"
Does he have to be so loud? Wait, is he mimicking Reinhardt? He basically has the same mane and he's loud just like him, just Ragnars small.
"I was involved in Garret's use of magic.. She decided that I had to pay half of the repair fees and didn't let me say anything else."
Ragnar laughed before speaking.
"Yep that's Elaine for ya, She's obsessed with money and doesn't like wasting the division's funds on repairs. Heck she made me and Lucian sign up as adventurers together to pay for all the spears we had broken."
Oh that's interesting.
"She actually got Lucian to work? I didn't know it was possible."
Ragnar would swing at the air a couple of times while staring at me.
"She has a way with 'words'"
"..."
She really does…
"She beat him until he worked, didn't she?"
Ragnar nodded in silence, confirming my theory.
Yea i'm definitely never going to get revenge on Elaine, I'll just have to take it out on the others.
Ragnar would yawn while stretching.
"Aren't ya gonna get some rest? You'll need all of your strength for the subjugation, especially since it's your first one."
Pardon me sir, what?
I stared at Ragnar blankly for a few moments.
I had no clue what he was talking about.
"Ya know? The mandatory subjugation of the dark forest?"
I burst up from my spot on the ground.
"THE DARK WHAT?!"