Recently, I had a lot of complaints.
It wasn’t directed towards anyone else, but a pure rage towards myself, so I tried my best not to show it to others.
Feeling the thrill that comes now, I realized how much anger I had directed towards myself, much more than I thought.
Dulled Sherpa.
The sharp senses honed in the Forest of the Demon Realm had faded away. Just seeing Sen come to me at dawn and climb on top of me made it obvious how dulled I had become.
In the early days of my Academy life, although my body grew younger, my senses were still alive. If there was a boundary between students and Sherpas, I could naturally cross it.
But not now.
Just like a magical beast growling to warn its opponent, there were many times I had suppressed my foes with the pressure I honed as a Sherpa.
“I’m just a student now.”
I need to go back.
I can’t become a magical beast missing its teeth.
I must relearn my original senses.
While I thought that, I knew it wasn’t something I could easily acquire through simple training, so I felt frustrated.
“Alright, alright. Come on. Don’t stop!”
Facing the pirates rushing from all directions, I felt excitement unwittingly. It felt like my original senses were slowly awakening.
To fill the hunger of my senses, I pushed my body to its limits. Thanks to that, my body was definitely stronger than before the regression.
Yet, I finally felt something fill the emptiness that had been unfulfilled.
“W-What the hell?”
“Are you a student?”
“Shit! D-Don’t back down!”
The pirates all spoke boldly, yet their legs refused to move, fear evident in their eyes.
I can’t.
I can’t stop here.
I felt my momentum draining from my body. I couldn’t let the opportunity I had long desired slip away like this.
Just like a thirsty person ends up digging their own well, I too charged forward without waiting for the pirates to come, swinging my sword.
“Gah!”
The pirate in front stumbled back and fell after getting pushed by his comrades. I clicked my tongue and stabbed my sword into his shoulder before quickly moving on to the next.
“I’ll take him on!”
In the end, Jesant stepped up. With a cutlass in one hand and a pistol in the other, he had been called Golden Tooth Jesant for his dazzling gold teeth seen when he smiled, but now he wore a tense expression, which hid those prized teeth.
Bam!
I deflected his descending cutlass. I could’ve easily brushed it aside, but I wanted to expand my senses through this clash of strength.
“Can you take this?”
In fact, Jesant looked more like his spirit was faltering. I couldn’t afford to let him think about running away. So I pressed harder against him.
“Don’t think about anything but parrying my sword!”
“Guh!”
Jesant was rattled by the continuous strikes. He shot his pistol a few times with his left hand, but as long as I kept an eye on the gun’s direction, it was easy to dodge.
“Y-You’re dodging at that distance?”
“Crazy bastard.”
“What are you all doing!? Stop gawking and help!”
At Jesant’s frantic shout, the pirates rushed in like their ship had sprung a leak. This was the situation I wanted. While I kept pressuring Jesant, I cleaned up the surrounding pirates.
‘Good, keep going. Just like this.’
It was still far from enough, but I started to get a feel for it. Once I started to seize it, memories flooded back instantly.
Unfortunately, that meant this situation was about to end.
“W-What… are you?”
Now, Jesant, having barely retreated while holding his sword, asked with trembling lips. The bodies of the fallen pirates surrounded him, seemingly calling for what was left of him.
“That’s it? What a letdown.”
I felt as if my Sherpa senses were coming back, but that inadvertently extinguished Jesant’s fighting spirit.
It was to be expected, as my senses awakened by burning Jesant’s emotions.
“Is it really true you’re a student? You?”
“Zavalanco said the same thing.”
The pirate officer who sold drug-laced cigarettes and had kidnapped May. Sen almost fell victim to that guy too.
“…Zavalanco? A senior told you that?”
They must have known each other.
He tore at his hair with a look of disbelief. As a result, his messy hair fell apart.
“I heard that old bastard got caught and died, but… is it true you caught him?”
I could hear him racking his brain.
The Aios Academy was located in the city of Elgrid. Zavalanco’s former activities were also in Elgrid.
Perhaps sensing something, Jesant started to back away more and more.
“Shit!”
Turning on his heel, Jesant fled. What is it with pirate officers all having the same ending?
“Zavalanco also got caught while trying to run away from me.”
It was hilarious.
I picked up the pistol he dropped and aimed it at the huge guy’s back.
“Is this how you used it?”
As I pulled the trigger, I felt my mana drain away. Just one shot would leave me empty of mana.
“Ugh!”
But it was effective.
Jesant collapsed after the mana bullet lodged itself in his thigh instead of his back. I could only lament while looking at the pistol.
“It consumes too much mana. Still, it’s more useful than I thought.”
To survive in the Forest of the Demon Realm, getting used to new things was crucial. Gaining another weapon this way was one of my accomplishments.
I approached the crumpled Jesant and raised my sword.
“It’s not strange for a pirate to die at any time. You must have left a will somewhere on the ship.”
“W-Wait…!”
What a disappointing last words for a Pirate Lord leading ten officers. Just “wait” sounds too cliché.
Jesant’s head rolled off, landing beside the corpses of the other pirates. At least he was loyal enough to stay with them even in death.
“Being a pirate means you must cross a river to die, huh.”
I smacked my lips in regret and stretched as I headed towards the pile of money stacked at the tavern. I would support Elise with the money, Bertia placed the bets, and I would collect.
Isn’t this perfect?
The money I got from Zavalanco last time had finally run out, and I was worried, but with this, I could live comfortably for decades.
“Exactly. A person should have their pockets full, right?”
As I spoke to the window, someone jumped out from the shadows. Not only that, but figures appeared from the rooftops, alleys, and bushes.
I wondered if they enjoyed watching me fight.
They were members of the intelligence unit Lavender, led by Elise. They approached me and bowed as politely as possible, saying,
“W-We’ll take care of this.”
“Sure, please do.”
They seemed a bit scared, so I smiled as much as I could and collected the money.
*
“Hey, look at this! This guy is holding a money bag!”
On the sixth floor of the hotel where Pales Academy stayed, there was quite a commotion. May Plov, who had knocked Hendrick out, raised the money bag high.
The entrance exam students, who knew what it was, could only be flabbergasted.
They thought they were paying by beating up Anton Signir, but the money didn’t get paid, and he tried to pocket it all himself?
“Wasn’t he supposed to pay after stepping on Anton?”
“Hendrick! Did you steal the money for yourself?”
“You trashy commoner!”
Fuming, the entrance exam students rushed toward May to reclaim their money.
“Ugh, you sweaty beasts. Get lost!”
With a smile, May flicked the money bag to the end of the corridor. The entrance exam students rushed towards it like ants drawn to fallen candy.
Unfortunately, a heavy foot landed on top of the bag. They naturally raised their gaze from the money bag to the legs, then higher.
There stood Anton Signir, his hand in his pocket, glaring at the entrance exam students as if he would explode with rage at any moment.
“Yeah, you bastards. You gathered money just to step on me, huh?”
Oh boy, this is bad.
The entrance exam students immediately tried to deny it or escape, but Anton’s fist was already swinging.
A wave of indiscriminate violence was about to begin.
If not for the black-haired girl standing in front of the entrance exam students with her fists raised.
“Y-You…”
Seeing Rin, Anton instantly lost his fury and became frozen in surprise. He felt a slight flutter at the fact that their hands touched.
Slap!
Rin’s palm struck Anton’s cheek hard.
“Ugh!”
Literally, the impact was so intense that the sound popped out. Anton stumbled at the moment from the force that nearly knocked him out.
“How much did you have to torment the kids for them to gather money to ask someone to hit you?”
“N-No, that’s…”
Grabbing his cheeks with both hands, Anton tried to make some excuses, but Rin’s hand flew out again.
Slap!
With a slap, Anton dropped to the floor.
It hurt so much that tears almost came out.
“This is punishment for trying to do something bad to me. I’m only hitting you because I didn’t hit Daniel.”
“T-That was what I was trying to do…”
Anton tried to explain something, but Rin, ignoring him completely, turned to the entrance exam students staring at her blankly.
“You’re gathering money to hit someone? You’re just the same as them.”
They couldn’t say a word.
Rin sighed and spoke to them.
“I’ll return the amount you put in, so line up in front.”
“Ugh, I wanted to see you pig-like idiots get your noses stuck in the money.”
May, folding her arms and clicking her tongue beside her, wore a smile, clearly amused.
Since Daniel McLean told me to take care of this, it didn’t really matter how I handled it.
“Bring Hendrick here. Tell him to bring the ledger of how much everyone contributed.”
“Tch, they should’ve brought the kids with them.”
Grumbling, May headed towards the room. She grabbed Hendrick by the collar and brought him to sit beside Rin.
This was in case someone lied to take more than what they’d contributed; he knelt, sweating profusely, watching the students nervously.
“Why am I doing this? You should come help.”
“W-Why should I…”
With a stunned expression, Anton tried to refuse, but upon seeing Rin’s raised palm once more, he clamped his mouth shut and began to help.
The scene unfolded in the hotel corridor where Hendrick, who initially tried to pocket money, called out the amounts from the ledger, while Anton pulled out money from the bag to return it.
