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Something fell on Marya’s foot as she walked. Two discarded sword blades lay at her feet.

“What…?”

Ronan disappeared around the corner. Marya stared blankly at the two cleanly severed sword pieces. There wasn’t a single trace of real gold on the clean-cut edges.

“When were these cut?”

Marya had clearly seen Ronan’s sword strokes splitting the empty air. Even if they had struck her, her own sword couldn’t have been cut. She realized Ronan hadn’t used his usual black iron sword; he had used his old worn-out one.

Marya stood in place for a long time. Aselle, who had been watching her, approached cautiously. He gave an awkward smile and exchanged a glance.

“You did well there.”

Aselle followed Ronan and disappeared. Only Marya remained in the empty courtyard. After a moment, Marya, who had tossed her sword aside, smirked.

“What a funny guy.”

****

“Here, take it.”

Marya kept her promise. When she returned around evening, she handed over a pouch containing exactly three times the agreed amount and a few books.

“What’s all this?”

“You guys seemed quite likable. I need to go to the Institute tonight.”

It was a compilation of previous Phillion examination questions, bound in thick leather cover. It didn’t seem like something typically valuable. Among them were notes Marya had organized herself.

“Stick together. If you both fail, I’ll kill you.”

Marya said, gripping the back of both their necks. Aselle struggled for breath, while Ronan chuckled seemingly astonished and nodded.

“Don’t be late on exam day.”

Their farewell before the reunion was concise. Marya shook her hand three times precisely on the rooftop and then sprawled out. The tops of the Karabel tower disappeared from view as Marvas departed, bid farewell by the boys.

Even after the tower vanished from sight, they stood there. Ronan spoke.

“She was quite the independent girl, huh? Guess you can’t trust rumors that say girls with big hearts are kind.”

“Huh? She… she was fine…”

“Yeah. She was a good one.”

Ronan had a tobacco stick in his mouth. He blew smoke towards Marvas’ night view and turned around. Traders at the newly opened night market were touting their wares.

“Let’s head back too.”

“Yeah.”

Ronan and Aselle headed straight for Nimbuten. Despite carrying a lot of baggage, the comfortable journey back home was made possible by the newly bought donkey.

They arrived at Nimbuten the next morning. Iril, who had been digging potatoes, threw down her hoe and ran over with her pitchfork in hand.

“Ronan!”

“I’m back.”

“Where did you go this time? Are you hurt? And what’s this ?”

The affectionate voice was filled with worry. His past record of causing accidents while wandering around various places early on was to blame.

“It’s not a horse, it’s a donkey. And this, it’s a gift.”

“A gift?”

Ronan took Iril’s hand and led her inside the house. Then, he placed a box on the table. The wooden box had the emblem of the Karabel Merchants’ Guild on its lid.

“Open it.”

“Oh my, you didn’t have to give me something like this… Wait, what did my little brother prepare for me~?”

Expecting flowers or food, Iril opened the box and froze. Inside the box, gold and silver coins were neatly arranged, like well-trained soldiers. At a glance, it was an amount sufficient to buy a whole house.

“Ro-ro-ronan…? What.…what is this…? What’s…?”

“It’s the leftover money after paying the tuition. Aselle and I earned it.”

“Aselle…? That pretty boy? You, you took it from him?”

“I didn’t take it, we earned it. We’ll earn more in the future.”

An air of discomfort seeped into Ronan’s tone. Iril’s faded clothes were stained with wet dirt and bits of roots. It was always like this. She meticulously saved every last copper coin she gave to his penniless little brother, but hesitated to spend on buying even a cheap outfit for herself.

Ronan gently brushed off the dirt from his sister’s nose with a finger and spoke.

“So, sister, stop digging potatoes now.”

Leaving those words, Ronan stepped outside. Dodging the barrage of questions was the best course of action before they poured in. He didn’t think she would believe the honest source of the money, and it wasn’t like he could tell her.

He turned back and headed up the hill where he had fallen asleep and awakened. His newly acquired black iron sword hung at his waist. The landscape he couldn’t protect came into view.

“Skills… damn, there’s really no such thing.”

Looking at the village below, Ronan drew his sword. The worn blade gleamed a deep black, like the rainy night sky.

Honestly, he couldn’t understand Phillion’s practical exam. It was enough for a blade wielder to be good at killing, so what was this nonsense about showing your own skill?

“But there must be some meaning to it.”

Yet, he couldn’t dismiss it as useless. Marya’s swordsmanship, utilizing mana, had come as quite a shock. If he could handle mana to that extent, he could become much stronger than he was now.

Moreover, there was the school he had always wanted to attend. Ronan lifted the sword and swung it up. The tip of the blade above his forehead traced a straight line before falling.

“Maybe something will come out as I do it.”

He started swinging the sword vertically. After three thousand swings in that direction, he planned to do another three thousand horizontally, then three thousand diagonally. It was a simple and primitive training method, but it was effective – a disciplinary unit’s training technique.

Ronan realized the seriousness of the situation after killing the Lunar Goblin’s. Suffering from muscle pain after swinging the sword just fourteen times was absurd.

The first task he needed to tackle was forcing his weak body to mature. After finishing the sword practice, he planned to do basic endurance training like running or push-ups.

“Alright. Black iron.”

Without even paying much attention, the depiction of the black blade appeared accurately. It was a good sword, free of any shaky lines. It wasn’t until dusk that Ronan finally returned home. Iryl, who was preparing stew, shouted in surprise.

“Ronan, come in quickly… De-deer?!”

On his sweat-drenched little brother’s shoulder sat a plump deer. Its neck had been severed with a single stroke, and its leather barely had any noticeable wounds.

Ronan skillfully separated the meat from the skin and began to create a furnace. In less than an hour, the newly made furnace looked quite convincing.

“When did you learn all this?”

“Well… here and there? Let’s eat together.”

The skills he had learned while wandering and training with the disciplinary unit came in handy. He started grilling the meat. Without discarding any organs or blood, he cooked them separately to make a meal. Trying his brother’s cooking for the first time in his life, Iril was pleasantly surprised.

“This is really delicious!”

“Right? Eat a lot.”

She spoke, forgetting that she still had food in her mouth. The appearance might have been rustic, but the flavor was surprisingly deep, more than something he had attempted to cook just once or twice. Ronan was practically shoving the meat into his mouth.

“Ro-Ronan… Eat slowly. You might get sick.”

“I’m fine. Sister, you need to eat well too.”

This was also part of his training. His philosophy was that if you subjected the body to intense exercise and provided it with nutritious meals, even a skeleton could turn into an ogre.

After the hearty meal, Ronan entered his room and opened a book. The content itself wasn’t too difficult, but the scope of the syllabus was incredibly broad.

“For crying out loud. Why should I know about dining etiquette in the North?”

Studying something new was boring and made him drowsy. Nevertheless, Ronan continued to read the book. The traces of effort, whether from torn pages or dried coffee stains, unknown sources of dedication, kept him from tearing the book to pieces in frustration.

“Come to think of it…”

Suddenly, Ronan realized that he was putting in effort for the first time in his life.

It didn’t feel too bad. Investing time and effort to achieve something.

That night, Ronan replaced the candle on his table for the first time. Having finished his studies, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep as if he had been knocked out. As the day broke, he picked up his sword again and headed up the hill.

A month had passed like that.

“Oh, Aselle.”

“Ronan, long time no see.”

The ripe breeze carried the scent of acacia. Two boys who met at the outskirts of the village exchanged greetings. After a month of separation, as if they had rehearsed it, they both said the same thing simultaneously.

“Kid, you’ve changed a bit.”

“My body… has changed a lot.”

Aselle looked much better than before. It seemed that the daily exercises Ronan had urged him to do had paid off. His previously slouched back had straightened, and his thin arms and legs had gained some muscle.

The gloomy shadows that always lingered on his face had also disappeared considerably. Although he still had a feminine appearance.

“Have you studied a lot?”

“Well… sort of? Marya organized things well.”

“Tsk, you’re a lucky one.”

“By the way, Ronan… did you catch some weird disease or something?”

Aselle asked, worried. While Ronan had improved his health as well compared to before, it was more intense. Despite that, his boyishness had developed into a sturdy build that seemed more robust than most adults.

His shoulders had broadened to the extent that he could sleep on his side, and he seemed to have grown at least another hand’s span taller.

“Disease? Damn, I still have a long way to go before I grow up. Even at this point, I can’t match our General.”

“But you could stop growing now… General, huh?”

“That’s right. Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

Both boys had backpacks on their backs. Despite looking extremely heavy, they were surprisingly light, filled only with the necessary items for their journey to the capital.

“Then, I’ll be going, sister.”

“Yeah, come back safely!”

Ronan turned around. His sister, who had come to see them off, stood there with a bright smile. The white dress she wore was shining brilliantly in the spring sunlight.

“Oh, wait, Ronan. The collar of your clothes is torn.”

“It’s alright.”

“No way! You’re going to the capital, so make sure it’s done properly!”

She lifted her jackdaw foot to fix her brother’s collar. Ronan thought he should hurry up and get his sister out of Nimbuten. Seeing Iril wearing the new clothes she had made, he realized she looked so beautiful that she was almost inhuman.

“No matter who it is, I’ll just tear them apart if they touch my sister.”

Ronan eliminated every element that could be harmful to his diligent sister. The prime example was Hans Paggery. Ronan raided the delinquents who were recovering from their wounds and rallied them again before setting their hideout on fire.

The boys who had been grumbling while getting wet in the spring rain suddenly found themselves besieged by the approaching men. The mercenary group that Ronan had provided information to was behind this.

“Phew… damn it, there’s no one, no one around.”

“What’s going on? I think I might be able to help.”

“Huh? Who are you?”

By chance, Ronan met the captain of a mercenary group at a tavern who was struggling due to a shortage of personnel. He had recruited a bunch of misfits to serve as arrow fodder, but they had all run away.

Ronan told him that he knew boys who were always starving for blood. He added that even if the entire unit disappeared, there would be no noticeable difference since they were all orphans.

“Pl-please help!”

“Ugh, untie this! Ronan! Ronaaaan!”

The mercenary captain handed over coins he hadn’t intended to give. While listening to the wailing orphans gripping the iron bars of a carriage and crying, Ronan thought that the stew he had for breakfast tasted really good.

After finishing the arrangements, Iril turned her head towards Aselle.

“Aselle, do well on your exam too!”

“Yes! I will do my best!”

Aselle’s response sounded like that of a new recruit just transferred in. Aselle, who saw Iril up close for the first time, seemed to know why this rascal was becoming a gentleman just like his sister. There was a reason he felt resentful even towards Marya.

Iril said, “Take it easy! If things don’t go well, you can just live here with me for the rest of your life!”

“Well, that wouldn’t be too bad. I’ll be back.”

Ronan lightly kissed his sister’s cheek and left the house. Iril waved her hand until the two figures became dots and disappeared.

“To Marvas. Two people.”

“Seven silver coins.”

“You want to charge seven for two people?”

“Sorry. Five coins.”

They traveled by carriage to Marvas. The distance was too far to travel on foot with their nag, and there was nowhere to leave it once they arrived.

The travel carriage was quite comfortable. Ronan leaned his head out of the slightly opened window and smoked a cigarette. He realized that it had been almost a month since he had taken a complete rest. The refreshing spring breeze tickled his nose.

“Heh… it’s nice.”

As he enjoyed the sweet fragrance of flowers, he felt his fatigue melting away on its own. He turned his head and looked at the seat across from him. Aselle, who was wiping his staff with a cloth, came into view.

“Hey, how’s that staff? It’s definitely better to use, right?”

“Yeah. I think I made good use of it. The power has improved, and my focus is better too…”

“It’s good, huh… but is it so good that you’ve secretly tried sticking it up your butt or something? Huh?”

“Wh-what are you talking about now?”

“Well, well, now you even know how to protest loudly?”

Ronan chuckled as he snatched the staff. With the words, “For example, like this,” he started making crude gestures. Aselle let out a scream.

“S-stop it! Don’t stick it in there! Give it back!”

“Heh heh heh! Try screaming even louder!”

Ronan laughed. While it was a journey burdened with a heavy mission, it was still enjoyable. The guffawing laughter of the groom who looked back with a sidelong glance caused Ronan to almost have an accident.