Chapter 73
“{This instructor is greatly disappointed in you all.}”
What is he saying…
Rachel, who had gathered the group from the carriage, wondered if that guardian had finally gone mad. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say something like that.
Among these thirty trainees, there were children from prestigious families besides Rachel.
He must have seen the list of successful candidates—aren’t there kids from prominent families besides me?
There was Mark from the Brown Ducal family, Morris from the Stone Marquis family, and Tepi from the Imperial Count family. Most of the children from prestigious families had passed.
What if they protest?
No, more than that…
‘Daphne Akion is here, isn’t she?’
Would that rascal tolerate such nonsense? It was obvious she’d flip everything upside down.
Knowing all that and still acting this way was incomprehensible unless he was truly insane.
‘Maybe the rascal will cause a scene on her own.’
Rachel stealthily shifted her gaze to find Daphne.
It didn’t take long to spot her, and Rachel inwardly cheered. She thought Daphne would soon raise hell!
But…
“{Repeat after me. I am nothing.}”
“I am nothing!”
…What? Why is she shouting it so naturally? Where’s your pride?
Rachel made a face as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have, but Daphne paid no attention. She just stared up at Nike with wide-open eyes. Nike’s firmly closed lips finally curved up slightly.
“{Trainee Daphne. Plus one point.}”
“Thank you!”
“{…Trainee Daphne. Minus one point.}”
“Ah, why?!”
Nike mentally slapped himself for smiling just moments ago and refocused.
“{In this academy, you respond with ‘Yes, sir.’ Understood?}”
“Yes, sir!”
“Yes!”
“{Trainee Daphne. Minus one point.}”
“Ah, why?!”
“{Respond with ‘Yes, sir.’}”
“…Why is that?”
“{…}”
Nike closed his eyes slightly and tilted his head back.
When I get back, I need to give Rache a piece of my mind. How did he manage his sibling to end up like this?
Nike took a deep breath and looked down at the kids again.
“{Trainee Daphne, drop and give me push-ups.}”
“Why, really?”
“{Drop and give me push-ups!}”
“Push-ups…”
Daphne grumbled but dropped down and stretched out as instructed. Obeying the instructor at the academy was only natural from Daphne’s perspective.
‘Should I say she’s obedient, or that she’s being defiant?’
Nike felt a bit confused, but for now, he decided that establishing discipline among the trainees was more important and steadied himself.
“{You all are talents who will become the pillars of the empire in the future. Am I wrong?}”
“You’re right!”
Now seeming to grasp the situation, the kids shouted loudly.
“{But the empire has no need for talents who don’t obey their superiors’ orders. Understood?}”
“Yes, sir!”
“{From the moment you arrived here, you are nothing but trainees. In this place, no identities other than trainee are allowed, and above you are only the instructors and assistants. Remember that.}”
“We’ll remember!”
Watching the trainees who were now somewhat squared away, Nike grinned. Then, Rache, who had been standing at a distance, came out carrying luggage.
“{This place is the training ground and dormitory for first-year guardians. After receiving your dormitory room keys and training uniforms from the assistant, return to your rooms, change, and come out. I’ll give you 10 minutes.}”
The kids murmured. Most reactions were excitement turning to disappointment upon seeing the training uniforms for the first time. But they didn’t show it openly. One wrong word, and they might have to drop for push-ups again.
“Ah… What is this?”
However, not everyone was cautious.
Tepi from the Imperial Count family frowned deeply and flung the training uniform Rache handed him away.
“Who do you think you’re telling to wear this filthy rag!”
Indeed, the training uniform was ragged beyond belief. It smelled like it had been washed with detergent, but the mottled stains remained, and there were tears here and there.
For Tepi, who had always lived impeccably clean and tidy, emulating his father the Imperial Count, this was an utterly unacceptable garment.
“We came here to train, not to roll around in the dirt? If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have applied to the academy in the first place! I can’t wear this!”
“…”
The surroundings fell silent in an instant.
Most of the kids were watching carefully, but noble children like Rachel wore expressions as if this was expected. They thought the rascal would throw a fit, but no? That was about the extent of their thoughts.
If Tepi hadn’t caused a scene, they would have vented their anger themselves. The instructors’ attitude was something that needed to be called out and corrected, no matter who did it.
“{Trainee Tepi.}”
“Ah, what!”
Having roughly read the other kid’s thoughts, Tepi acted boldly as if to show off. He figured that protesting openly like this would make them back down anyway.
But,
“{Leave.}”
Nike was unfazed. Far from backing down, his mana aura grew even stronger, intensifying the pressure.
“{As I said, you are talents who will become the empire’s pillars. But right now, you’re closer to seeds that haven’t even sprouted. It’s this academy’s role to make them sprout and bloom. If you refuse that, leave.}”
Seeing Nike speak so calmly, Tepi gaped in shock.
“Ah, no…! Are you crazy? Do you know who I am to say that?”
“{To this instructor, a trainee is just a trainee. I clearly said you must discard all external identities here, but you seem to have forgotten. Leave.}”
Tepi bit his lip hard. Then he looked around, but the kids who had been sending sympathetic glances all averted their eyes. Wow, those traitors…
“Huh, you’ll regret this?”
Tepi scraped together his last shreds of pride and said.
“Yeah! You’ll regret it! You think my dad will let you get away with this?! Just wait. I’ll go and tell him everything!”
“{If you won’t follow, I said to leave…}”
“Who’s your dad? Who? Who!”
Cutting off Nike’s words, which he had anticipated given the family talk, was Daphne, who came running over. Daphne smacked Tepi on the back of the head and shouted.
“Who’s your dad! What!”
“Aaack! Ack! It hurts!”
“Ha. I came here determined to train properly, and you’re pissing me off like this. Take another hit.”
“Ack!”
Tepi clutched his stinging head, tears welling up, and Daphne exhaled deeply while looking around.
“From now on, anyone who defies the instructor will get it from me first. Drop out? Drop out? Don’t even joke. Before you drop out, I’ll beat the crap out of you. Got it?”
Among them, no one’s family outranked the Akon Grand Ducal family. So Daphne spoke even more boldly.
“There’s no way anyone gets out before me.”
Watching Daphne shake her clenched fist in the air, the kids thought.
‘That crazy rascal…’
‘I was about to bail, but now it’s over.’
‘Ah, annoying.’
And Nike,
“{Trainee Daphne.}”
Looked down at Daphne with a beaming smile. Daphne thought Nike was going to praise her. After all, she’d scolded the guy who was defiantly mouthing off in his place.
But Daphne’s assumption was completely wrong.
“{Drop and give me push-ups. How dare you interrupt the instructor.}”
“…”
Ah, shit.
Daphne obediently dropped and stretched out, and Nike, leaving her behind, scanned the kids.
“{If you all wish, you can leave anytime. But I assure you, the stigma of dropping out midway from this academy will never fade for the rest of your lives.}”
This was an academy where they’d beaten out hundreds of kids to enter. What would their families say if they couldn’t last even a day?
The noble children would face far greater pressure than the commoner kids, that was certain.
“{Trainee Tepi. Will you leave?}”
“…”
Tepi, who had been teary-eyed while clutching his sore head, ground his teeth.
What would Father say if I left now? He told me to take first place no matter what—if I couldn’t even last a day…!
Tepi squeezed his eyes shut.
“Fuck. I’m not leaving. Not leaving!”
“{Drop and give me push-ups. How dare you swear in front of the instructor.}”
“Ah, shit…”
Tepi dropped and stretched out right there, and Daphne, who was doing push-ups alongside, giggled at the sight of him.
“{All of you, change into uniforms as ordered. 10 minutes.}”
“Yes, sir!”
From Daphne and Tepi’s perspective, it was a pointless rebellion, but for instructors like Nike, it was actually a very positive one.
Thanks to it, the kids were moving briskly, weren’t they?
They’d gone through a similar process during guardian training. But back then, it took a full day to establish discipline before things quieted down. Yet now, it was wrapped up in less than an hour.
‘Thanks to Daphne.’
Nike thought as he watched Daphne’s back hurrying to the dormitory.
I’ll just give Rache one hit, he decided.
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