Chapter 100

Episode 100. The Talent of Knowing When to Give Up (3)

At Keter’s words of selling, Taragon’s mind raced.

‘How much would it cost to buy Cheongryeonghwan with money? Since it’s said to be a top-grade elixir, it should be worth at least 10,000 gold.’

10,000 gold.

That was the maximum amount Taragon thought he could afford.

“I’ll buy it! Is 8,000 gold enough?”

Taragon started with 8,000, fearing Keter might raise the price.

But Keter looked at him like he was an insect.

“8,000 won’t even cover the labor cost. 90,000 gold. And that’s only because it’s between you and me. If you were to buy Cheongryeonghwan from the Browning Duke House, you’d need 200,000 gold.”

Taragon’s shoulders slumped. Nine times the 10,000 gold he had considered his maximum.

Even 10,000 gold would take him ten years of relentless saving, and 90,000 gold would take a whopping 90 years.

“I don’t think I can afford it, Keter… You know I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Of course I know. But still, I personally support you more than Anis. So, I’ll give it to you on credit.”

“You support me more than Brother Anis? On credit?”

Taragon’s shoulders straightened. Of course, Keter didn’t offer to sell it to me for no reason.

What kind of relationship do we have?

Aren’t we rivals in a friendly competition over Amaranth?

“Even though Sephira has no influence now, once you start attracting attention at the Southern Sword Tournament, invitations will pour in from everywhere. Just by accepting untroubled bribes, you can easily make 10,000 gold. And if you’re lucky enough to get a marriage proposal, the other family might give you 100,000 gold as a dowry.”

“A dowry… 100,000 gold?!”

“I’m investing in your future, Taragon. You don’t have to pay the 90,000 gold right now. Just pay it back when you have the money.”

“Keter… You really think that much of me…!”

Taragon began to tear up. To him, Keter’s words sounded like he was giving Cheongryeonghwan almost for free.

He would wait until I have money. It sounded like I wouldn’t have to pay if I didn’t have the money.

Then, Keter handed over a contract and a pen.

“These things need to be documented to keep things clean. You know, the closer the family, the more precise the financial matters should be, right?”

“Huh? That’s true.”

Taragon skimmed through the contract Keter handed him.

-[IOU, Loan for Cheongryeonghwan]

Loan Amount: 90,000 gold

1. The debtor Taragon must repay 90,000 gold to the creditor Keter.

2. Including this year, an annual interest of 1% will be charged.

3. If the debtor Taragon fails to repay, his direct family members will become the debtors.

“Wait, Keter. An annual interest of 1%? And if I can’t repay, my family has to pay? What’s that about?”

“It’s a standard loan contract. I’m not digging the ground for business. The interest is only 1%. A prestigious family like yours can handle 900 gold. And if you can’t repay, it’s only natural for your family to pay. For example, if the debtor spends all the money and dies, wouldn’t the lender feel wronged?”

“That’s true. But is it right to burden my future family?”

“Debt is also an asset. If you die without making a family, I just lose 90,000 gold. I’m taking that risk, so why are you worried? Forget it. Just don’t buy it.”

“No. Now that I think about it, you’re right. I’m not at a loss.”

Scratch!

Taragon signed the IOU with the pen. He was worried Keter might change his mind.

“Ah, by the way, this isn’t a fake elixir, right? Or something actually cheaper than 90,000 gold…?”

Seeing Taragon ask belatedly after signing, Keter sighed.

“You have to fight Jairo later. Are you going to save the elixir to make soup? Eat it now. And if you ever go north, make sure to visit the Browning Duke House. Ask them how much Cheongryeonghwan costs. Definitely!”

Keter, who had taken the IOU, immediately put Cheongryeonghwan into Taragon’s mouth.

“Gasp!”

Cheongryeonghwan melted like liquid as soon as it touched his tongue. Taragon, who had never taken an elixir before, didn’t know what to do.

“Close your mouth. Your Aura is leaking.”

Keter closed Taragon’s jaw and stood up. Then he went to find his next target.

“Anis! You look troubled. Are you lacking Aura?”

Another Cheongryeonghwan came out of his pocket.

* * *

The reunited trio was strangely busy avoiding each other’s gazes.

‘Sorry for taking the elixir alone.’

All three had given Keter an IOU and taken the elixir. As a result, they were overflowing with confidence but also felt guilty.

They wondered if Keter had three elixirs all along, and they had just taken them all without realizing it.

“Brother. This time, I’ll take the center.”

Taragon tried to take Anis’s position, but Anis strongly refused.

“No. Like last time, you and Luke take the wings. I’ll be the body and block Jairo.”

“But you were badly injured. I’ll do it.”

“Didn’t you get hit right in the chest?”

“Both of you, stop. I haven’t been hit once, so I’ll take the center.”

As the three argued over who should take the center, Jairo raised his sword.

“All three of you, die together!”

Jairo’s Aura Flight engulfed the trio. This time, it was impossible to dodge left and right like before.

But the trio, having taken the elixir, moved boldly. They used their Aura, which they had been using timidly, with full force.

Luke activated his Aura Armor to block and then shot an arrow. Anis filled his bow with Aura and intercepted. Taragon flew into the air just like Keter had done.

“Uraaaa!”

Taragon, with broken ribs, shouted and shot an arrow.

The trio’s attacks were clumsy but filled with power and confidence. As Keter had said, they put all their strength into each shot.

“Is this all you’ve learned, you brats! I could dodge your arrows with my eyes closed!”

Jairo, who had actually closed his eyes, blocked the arrows using only his senses other than sight and even launched an attack.

The trio’s momentum was good, but they were far from being able to replicate Keter’s techniques from the start.

Moreover, their somewhat organized combat style had turned into a focus on individual abilities, leading to a quicker defeat.

“30-minute break!”

Keter gave the trio 30 minutes once their defeat was certain. It was time to recover their Aura.

Once the time was up, they would fight Jairo again. They repeated this all night.

There was no miracle. Even as night fell, there was no sign of improvement in the trio’s techniques. However, they had become somewhat numb to the pain, and their movements to dodge Jairo’s sword strikes had slightly improved.

“Enough. Good job, Jairo.”

“Hahaha! Juniors, that was fun. See you tomorrow!”

Jairo left without showing any signs of fatigue.

On the other hand, the trio left behind was exhausted and stared blankly at the night sky.

“Get up. We’re moving to the next location.”

“Yes. We should. Moving to the next location… Instructor? What do you mean by next location?”

Luke, who had been relieved at the thought of returning to the mansion, eating a delicious meal, bathing with Elixir, and sleeping soundly, widened his eyes.

Taragon and Anis also looked at Keter with pitiful expressions.

“We’re going to the 7th Training Ground.”

“At this hour?”

“It’s much darker there because it’s an artificial hill and forest.”

“I know. What, don’t you have the strength to move? Should we go in order of arrival?”

At the mention of ‘first come, first served,’ the trio jumped up and headed to the 7th Training Ground before Keter.

The 7th Training Ground, artificially created for mock mountain warfare, was as vast as the 2nd Training Ground.

“From now on, this is your home.”

“……?”

“You’ll eat, sleep, and train here.”

“…….”

“As I said this morning, the boring time of ending the day comfortably in a relaxed environment is over. From now on, we’re going to have real fun.”

The trio thought it was harsh, but Keter didn’t think so at all.

Even if Taragon was like that, Luke and Anis were below Keter’s expectations. He had almost taught them all the secrets of archery, but it was shocking that they couldn’t follow even a little.

It’s because they lack desperation! Without the desperation to become stronger, there’s no urgency. Without urgency, concentration falters.

Training is just training. Even if you do it like a real battle, you won’t get half the effect of a real battle, so even pushing to the limit won’t be enough.

“Instructor. What about the injuries we got today? Can’t you at least treat those?”

Except for Luke, Anis and Taragon were quite seriously injured.

Not showing it was partly due to being accustomed to pain, but also because they believed Keter would treat them.

“The forest is full of herbs. Crush any of them and apply them to your wounds, and there’s a 50% chance they’ll work.”

“Isn’t the other half poisonous herbs? What if the wound gets worse…?”

“Are you stupid? You can test it on small wounds first.”

“Instructor. What about food? We haven’t eaten a single meal today.”

“That’s also all- in the mountains.”

“This isn’t a hunting ground; there are no animals here.”

“Then starve to death.”

“…….”

The trio begged Keter for a little mercy, but it was no use.

“I’m disappointed in you trainees. Where did the desperation you showed on the first day go? You’ve become so lazy in the blink of an eye. Tsk tsk.”

Keter turned his back and announced indifferently.

“Grow up.”

Keter disappeared before their eyes.

The trio immediately exchanged glances.

“Brother, what do we do? I didn’t expect the atmosphere to change so suddenly.”

“What can we do? Keter always says, if you don’t like it or it’s too hard, you can quit anytime. I’m going to keep going.”

Anis, who had already started seeing his teammates as rivals, went into the forest to secure a good sleeping spot.

“Ugh, if I had known this would happen, I would have focused more on defending with Aura Armor.”

Taragon, clutching his chest, groaned.

Then Luke approached with a pitiful expression and handed him something.

“Young master. At least have this.”

“This is… candy?”

“Shh. I got it secretly from my father too. Please keep it a secret from Brother Anis and Keter.”

“Th-thank you. Haha, I’ll enjoy it.”

Taragon immediately put the candy, as big as his little finger, into his mouth. Seeing this, Luke looked around.

“Brother Anis went that way, so I’ll go this way. I’ve trained here before, and there are some edible berries.”

“There are berries? Can we fill our stomachs with that?”

“If we’re lucky, we might find edible mushrooms too. Let’s meet back here at dawn. It’s better to stick together for survival.”

“Brother Anis doesn’t seem to want to… Should we at least work together?”

“I think archers are stronger when they stick together. I believe we can beat Jairo even without Keter’s techniques if our teamwork is perfect.”

“…You’re only saying that because you haven’t been hit by Jairo yet.”

At Taragon’s sharp words, Luke’s body twitched.

It was already very uncomfortable. Jairo only didn’t hit Luke, making it seem like favoritism.

But Luke couldn’t bring himself to say it. That he had a special ability. That he could reflect the opponent’s attack, but while he and the attacker were fine, the damage would be transferred to the people around them.

In other words, the damage Luke took would go to the innocent Taragon and Anis.

So Keter instructed Jairo to only subdue Luke. The point of this training was to win the ‘Southern Sword Tournament,’ not to deal with special ability users.

Luke was glad to be part of Keter’s training, but at the same time, he felt sorry for Anis and Taragon. He felt like they were suffering more because of him.

In the midst of this, Taragon’s sharp words made guilt flood over him.

“…I’ll go ahead.”

Not knowing what to do in such a situation, Luke just left.

Left alone, Taragon chewed on the candy Luke had given him and muttered.

“Why did his expression suddenly change? Is he tired? That’s possible.”

Taragon didn’t mean to blame Luke. If anything, it was envy.

Of course, since Luke wasn’t participating in the Southern Sword Tournament, he thought Keter was giving him some leeway.

And Taragon could understand that. Luke was participating in this training because he was Keter’s partner.

“Ugh, let’s just lie down anywhere. I need to sleep even for a minute.”

Without any medical knowledge, Taragon didn’t disinfect his wounds and just found a suitable patch of grass to sleep on.

Soon, complete night fell over Sephira.

“…Brother.”

“Yo…ung master.”

Anis, who had skillfully made a makeshift bed between trees, frowned at the sound in his ear.

‘An insect? Damn it.’

Swish, Anis tossed and turned.

But the sound grew louder and clearer.

“Brother Anis. Wake up.”

It wasn’t an insect. It was a person.

Anis suddenly woke up, his whole body covered in goosebumps. He grabbed the arrow by his bedside, got up, and aimed it in the direction of the voice.

“Gasp, Brother Anis. It’s me.”

“I don’t know you.”

Because it was the middle of the night, Anis, who had just woken up, couldn’t recognize the person’s face even though it was right in front of him.

Then the person spoke in a trembling voice.

“Ah, sorry. I’m Private Charles from the 4th Division of the Constellation Knight Order.”

“Huh, sorry but I’ve never heard your name. So, why are you here? Why did you wake me up?”

“Brother Keter… ordered us. He told us to find Sir Luke, Brother Anis, and Brother Taragon hiding in this forest.”

“…What?”

Only then did Anis’s night vision kick in.

Then he saw it. The smiling face of the soldier who had found him.

Seeing the soldier grinning in the middle of the night, Anis got goosebumps.

“What time is it? You’re not in a position to be out in the middle of the night just because Keter told you to.”

“It’s 2 a.m., and you don’t need to worry about that. I’m on night patrol, and the 7th Training Ground is my area to check. I just checked more thoroughly because Brother Keter asked me to. Hehe. And sorry, Brother.”

“Sorry…?”

It didn’t feel like he was sorry for waking him up.

Anis got goosebumps again. It definitely wasn’t from the cold.

“Brother Keter said he’d give 100 gold to whoever finds the hidden ones. And he also said to tell the person who found them this: Run 10 laps around the 2nd Training Ground and then return. Really sorry, Brother.”

“…….”

Thud.

Anis dropped the arrow in his hand, shivering at Keter’s cruelty.

You can’t even sleep in peace.

You have to sleep while avoiding the soldiers’ eyes.

No wonder something felt off when he just told us to sleep. Did we really become complacent as Keter said? I should have been suspicious, but it was a mistake.

“He also said to add one lap for every minute you’re late.”

“Damn it!”

Anis, who had been sleeping peacefully, was now running in a furious sprint towards the training ground at 2 a.m.