Chapter 76

Lately, the training grounds had been running out of scarecrows.

Even though they were constantly being replenished, there were never enough.

Swish— Shwik—! Slash—!

“Haa…”

Theo had always visited the training grounds frequently, but these days, he was practically living there and training every single day.

“Is something going on with him? He’s been holed up in the training grounds all day.”

“Yeah, I haven’t even seen him hanging around with the Saintess or Her Highness the Crown Princess lately.”

Theo’s behavior soon gave rise to new rumors.

Lately, he had been coming to the training grounds alone, swinging his sword as if he intended to cut down everything in his path and casting spells with relentless intensity. Naturally, people began to wonder if something had happened between the three of them.

“Could it be that the Crown Princess and the Saintess finally confessed… and got rejected?”

“What?! No way! What could they possibly lack to be rejected? Besides, they’re still first-years! Isn’t this the perfect time to date and have fun?”

“Then maybe Theo confessed to one of them and got rejected instead!”

“But honestly, those two seemed way more interested in him than the other way around.”

The rumors spread like wildfire and eventually reached Estelle and Iris.

“…Thanks to you, Estelle, I’ve been dragged into this ridiculous gossip. What are you going to do about it?”

“You say that, but aren’t you also too scared to go near Sir Theo right now? Why are you blaming me? If you don’t want to get caught up in rumors, go over there and act friendly with him again.”

Since Theo was unsettled, the two of them were also feeling unusually on edge.

“And whose fault do you think it is that I can’t approach him?!”

“It’s because you don’t have the guts to!”

“Isn’t it because you went and blurted out my feelings?!”

Moreover, the two of them argued without any regard for who was around, and as a result, every single one of their fights inevitably turned into gossip.

Normally, Theo would try to keep the rumors in check, making sure no one overheard them, and he would step in ahead of time to stop the two from fighting in public. But now that their restraints were gone, they were like a runaway truck with broken brakes.

“Enough. Don’t talk to me.”

“I could say the same to you, Iris.”

With a huff, both of them turned away sharply and headed toward their dormitory. But since they lived in the same place, running into each other again was unavoidable.

“Hah, seriously. Why don’t you take a different class or something?”

“Aren’t you the one who never studies, Estelle? You’re always holed up in the dormitory.”

“I do study in the dorm, thank you very much!”

“Yeah, yeah. Good for you.”

They mocked each other, then retreated to their respective rooms, only to end up hurting each other all over again.

It was an endless cycle, one that only Theo could break.

“Haa… I’m exhausted.”

But Theo showed no signs of leaving the training grounds. Every day, he buried himself in practice, relentlessly swinging his sword and magic staff.

“Ah, the scarecrows… they’re all gone.”

Only after swinging his weapons for what felt like an eternity, when the scarecrows had all been destroyed, would he finally stop to rest.

“…This isn’t the time for me to be resting.”

He would mutter the same words over and over, then start swinging his sword and magic staff into the empty air.

Lately, people had been too afraid to approach the training grounds when he was there.

It had practically become his personal training area.

The only one who used it was him.

And yet, the scarecrows were never enough.

“Should I head over to Uncle Duncan’s training ground?”

After swinging his weapons into the air for what felt like forever, he would eventually realize it was pointless and disappear somewhere.

“You again, you little brat?!”

And every time, he would end up at the training ground behind Duncan’s butcher shop. He would endlessly repeat the same cycle, swinging his sword and staff like a madman.

“Hey, you. We need to talk.”

Duncan had been watching this for a week now. He had known for a while that something had happened to Theo, but he figured the kid would sort it out on his own. Eventually, though, he couldn’t take it anymore and called out to him.

“I need to train.”

Theo looked completely exhausted. His face was haggard, as if he had forgotten to eat and sleep. Duncan clucked his tongue in disapproval and shook his head.

“You crazy bastard, what the hell are you training for? Huh? Planning to rip that Demon King from hell to shreds or something?”

Theo didn’t bother denying it. If he could eliminate every threat to the world right now, he would.

“You crazy little shit. Are you even eating properly? Sleeping at all?!”

“…I don’t have time for that.”

For Theo, every moment he spent resting was a moment wasted; he could be swinging his sword one more time, casting one more spell, boosting his stats just a little bit more. Compared to how he had been before, he was starting to look downright crazy, and it made Duncan’s skin crawl.

“I don’t know if I’m talking to a person or a zombie. Just come with me.”

“I need to train…”

“You not coming?!”

Theo usually ignored what others said, but when it came to Duncan, he always listened.

It was only natural. After all, Duncan was the very first person to teach him swordsmanship when he had no idea where to start. He was a master Theo deeply respected.

“Here, eat.”

Duncan who had dragged Theo along bought a large chunk of meat from the shop, grilled it, and piled it up in front of him, telling him to eat it all.

“…I can’t eat this much.”

“Then just eat what you can and leave the rest.”

Looking at Duncan, who had even prepared rice, fresh vegetables, dipping sauces, and ssamjang, Theo hesitated for a moment before finally picking up his utensils.

“Ah… this is good.”

It had been so long since he’d had a proper meal that the words slipped out without him realizing.

Before he knew it, he was shoveling food into his mouth, devouring the towering pile of meat he had initially thought he wouldn’t be able to finish.

“Alright, now that you’ve eaten, let’s have a talk—”

Duncan let out a small sigh as he tried to start a conversation, but instead of pressing further, he fetched a blanket from the room and draped it over Theo.

As soon as Theo finished eating, the accumulated fatigue hit him all at once. He dozed off in a sitting position, unable to fight it.

Duncan simply stayed by his side and waited silently for him to wake up.

***

“Alright, so tell me. What the hell were you thinking?”

After what felt like the best sleep I’d had in ages, I woke up to find myself still inside Duncan’s butcher shop.

“Ah, well… I just felt like I wasn’t training enough.”

I tried to brush it off with a vague excuse.

“Speak properly. You’re a terrible liar.”

Duncan wasn’t buying it. He scowled and made it clear he had no intention of letting this slide.

Jeez, scary. Did he not realize how scary he looked with that expression?

“…I just… I’ve had a lot on my mind. There’s something I need to do, but instead of facing it, I’ve been running away and doing nothing, really.”

Playing lovers with Estelle had made me realize something.

I had gotten complacent.

I had been standing closest to death, yet I kept turning away from it.

So, I trained like my life depended on it.

I wanted to become strong enough to kill the Demon King myself if that day ever came.

Of course, given the current situation, it was far more likely that the emperor would make a move before the Demon King ever appeared. But regardless, if it came to that, I wanted to be powerful enough to kill the emperor’s imperial guards with my own hands and even the emperor himself.

“If I become strong enough to take them all down myself, then maybe… maybe I’ll finally be able to feel at ease.”

“I don’t know why you’d think that way, but you’re still just a kid. A first-year academy student. Nothing more than a child.”

The academy was structured so that only adults could enroll in the first place.

“I’m not a kid. I’m an adult, you know?”

“Being an adult isn’t just about age. A student, no matter how grown, is still just a kid.”

His ridiculous reasoning made me frown, but Duncan didn’t seem to care. He simply continued speaking.

“You’ve got good comrades by your side, so why do you insist on carrying everything alone?”

By good comrades, was he talking about Estelle and Iris?

“You’ve got me. You’ve got Estelle, the Saintess. And lately, you’ve been getting close to the crown princess and even some other folks. You don’t have to bear everything on your own.”

Duncan’s words certainly weren’t wrong. But right now, everyone said that I was overwhelmingly stronger than the rest.

Of course, there was no telling how things would change as time went on, which was exactly why I had to keep training like a madman.

Regardless, in the midst of all this, I was the only one who knew how this world would end.

A truth I could never share with anyone.

So in the end, my mind was left in turmoil as I wondered…if I didn’t bear this burden alone, then who else could I possibly share it with?

“This is my responsibility. I don’t want to drag anyone else into it.”

I tried to wrap up the conversation like that.

Smack!

“Argh! That hurts, you old man…!”

His ridiculously strong smack on my head had me seriously worried that I’d end up with a huge lump.

“If I end up brain-damaged, are you gonna take responsibility?!”

“Why the hell would I take responsibility for you?!”

“Then why are you hitting me?!”

“Oh? Fine, next time, I’ll hit somewhere else instead!”

No, you lunatic, I meant don’t hit me at all…!