Chapter 24

After leisurely looking around the village, I went to a bookstore to look for some reference books, and after buying a lot of snacks, I returned to the Academy, and the sun was already setting.

“Time flies.”

Is it because it’s the weekend? What did I do that Saturday is already ending?

Holding a lot of snacks I bought in my hands, I headed for the training ground.

In the training ground, several people were gathered in groups, crossing swords, but among them, two people stood out.

It was Lucian and Zephyros.

“Wow.”

They were clashing with each other at a speed that was difficult to follow with the eyes. I didn’t know that a weak body could also affect one’s eyesight.

“Will it take long?”

Then should I eat first?

I was about to rummage through the snack bag and take out a skewer when Lucian spotted me and approached with Zephyros.

I raised my hand and waved it lightly, greeting them.

“How’s training going?”

“You know─ Theo.”

Lucian started to speak as if he wanted to argue about something, but ended up closing his mouth.

It seems Zephyros told him about my meeting with the master of Golden.

This bastard… since he didn’t tell my father, I’ll let it slide.

“Yeah, just so-so.”

“So-so?”

Zephyros, covered in dust and sweat, put his arm on Lucian’s shoulder and asked in disbelief.

“Hey, if you’re so-so, who here has trained properly?”

“It’s not that much.”

Lucian, who had scratched his cheek as if embarrassed by the compliment, found the snacks placed on a chair.

“What’s this?”

“I bought it from the village. Let’s eat together.”

At my suggestion, the two of them quickly sat down.

Right, there’s nothing in the world as delicious as snacks eaten after a workout.

I chuckled and took a bite of a chicken skewer.

“You were training without even eating dinner?”

“Ah, it was dinner time.”

He didn’t even notice the sun setting? I know he wants to get stronger quickly, and as a possessor who wants to ride the protagonist bus, it’s a welcome thing, but you have to eat your meals.

I handed Lucian a chicken skewer with bright red sauce dripping from it.

“Here, eat a lot.”

Lucian, who took the skewer, carefully took a bite.

“It’s delicious, right?”

I couldn’t resist and tried it in the street earlier, and the spiciness was surprisingly delicious.

It wasn’t the spiciness of gochujang, but the spiciness from a moderate use of cheap wine and pepper hit the tongue just right.

“Cough! Cough! Theo, this is too spi… cough!”

“Hey, are you okay?”

But that was just my thought, as Lucian’s complexion slowly turned red and he quickly looked for water.

The sight of him coughing and rinsing his mouth with cold water was unexpected.

Why is a guy with a physical resistance close to 99 suffering so much from something just spicy?

I wondered if Lucian’s was particularly spicy and took a bite, but it was the same as the one I had eaten on my way back to the Academy.

“Is it that spicy?”

“What??”

Just how spicy is it that the kid can’t get a grip on himself.

“Want to try some too?”

When I handed Zephyros a skewer with the same sauce, he looked at me in surprise.

Lucian, who had finally stopped after coughing painfully for a long time, also asked with his eyes if I was serious.

“Am I a test subject?”

“You can see it that way.”

Zephyros’s magic resistance was high, but his physical resistance was also on the high side.

Which means, this was a kind of test.

It’s now common knowledge that spiciness is a pain, not a ‘taste’.

But, if spiciness works regardless of stats, I could definitely make good use of it later.

“You have to share delicious things!”

That’s a blatant lie. I just want to experiment with the body of the high-resistance young master of Nevera.

“Even so, this is a bit….”

As Lucian tried to stop me from the side, Zephyros nodded his head like crazy.

It was a desperate struggle to live, but that was not important to me.

“Lucian, by any chance, do you not consider Zephyros a friend?”

“Uh, uh…?”

“If you’re friends, you have to share the pain, no, the experience!”

At my sorrowful cry, the naive Lucian began to be swayed. Is that really so? He looked back and forth between me and Zephyros with a conflicted expression.

Zephyros’s eyes also trembled finely, and he asked carefully with a seriously troubled expression.

“Do I have to eat it?”

“Yep!”

As they say, a burden shared is a burden halved.

“Ah….”

Laughter naturally came out as Zephyros groaned, clutching his head as if it were throbbing.

I threw the bait, and you took it.

“We all ate, but it’s a bit like we’re ostracizing you if you’re the only one not eating. Isn’t that right?”

Lucian, who was completely won over, nodded as if to say yes.

It seemed like Zephyros was saying with his eyes that he wanted to hit Lucian just once.

“Alright, let’s see how spicy it is.”

Operation successful.

Heh, heh, swallowing a sinister laugh, I watched Zephyros.

Zephyros, who had willingly taken the skewer, took one bite and immediately threw the skewer onto the paper.

“Where on earth do they sell this crap?”

“Just a normal street stall in the market.”

Albedo seemed to like it.

It was quite annoying as it wagged its tail all the way back to the Academy, asking for more several times.

“It tasted good to me.”

Zephyros, who had lost his composure and was rinsing his mouth with cold water several times, looked a little disheveled, which even made him feel friendly.

“Sss… so, nothing happened with the master of Golden, right?”

At that question, I showed him my wrist without a special answer.

The mark like a coiled snake still remained, but it was quite faint now and seemed like it would disappear completely by tomorrow morning.

“You really… made a contract.”

I could feel him cursing me with his eyes, calling me a madman.

“What? What?”

“Did you not think it was dangerous?”

I decided not to answer that question.

Of course I thought it was dangerous.

If a fool who didn’t know that and contacted the master of Golden, wouldn’t he have been swallowed whole like a mouse in front of a snake and be in the process of being digested in its stomach already?

“I know well.”

In fact, I knew too well.

A mad woman who could kill her own parents if they stood in her way.

In this world, there were few people who knew her past as well as I did. At most, it would be the future Lerwon.

“If you can twist the deal, she’s the best opponent, right?”

“The minor problem would be that she’s a mad person who can stick hundreds of knives in her opponent’s back if things go wrong.”

Zephyros’s words weren’t wrong either.

“I’ll be fine.”

But, my words won’t be wrong either.

Even if she’s the master of Golden who uses people as assets without a shred of guilt and uses anything as her own card, she won’t be able to use me like that.

If only I can put the elixir in her hands.

Though Zephyros, who heard my words, made a dumbfounded expression.

“If Theo is fine, then he’ll be fine.”

What followed was Lucian’s confident voice.

“Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.”

Zephyros let out a sigh that could have made the ground sink.

“Ah, damn it. I feel like I got involved for no reason.”

“Hey, you approached me first?”

I was so dumbfounded that I quickly chided Zephyros.

Who was it that approached the one who didn’t want to get involved.

‘Damn it, you crazy bastard,’ Zephyros muttered a curse at his past self.

A chuckle escaped at the clearly audible mumble.

Zephyros, however, delivered a warning with a rather serious face.

“Just keep one thing in mind. The master of Golden is a person that even the Duke of Nevera, who holds the power next to the emperor, finds difficult.”

“I see.”

“This isn’t the time to be speaking so calmly.”

I don’t want to hear nagging from a friend that I don’t even hear from my father.

I covered my ears and made an ‘aaaaah’ sound, and Zephyros’s sigh fell heavily.

“Hey, can I call you Zephi comfortably from now on?”

Since we’ve started speaking informally, I wanted to call him comfortably.

It seems Zephyros and Lucian also call each other comfortably.

“…If you’re thinking of becoming my vassal, I’ll allow it.”

“Gah.”

He suddenly hits me with that.

He doesn’t even seem serious, to say something he doesn’t mean just to tease me.

The way he played dumb was so detestable.

“Vassal, my foot!”

As I deadpanned, Lucian chuckled.

At the unexpected laughter, Zephyros and I turned our gazes to Lucian, and a sincere apology came out.

“Ahem. I wasn’t laughing at you. It was just a little funny.”

“No, you can laugh. What’s there to be sorry about? Hey, Zephi. Are you going to say something about him laughing, you petty guy?”

“Who gave you permission to call me Zephi?”

Zephyros, who asked back coyly, put his hand on Lucian’s shoulder and gave a warm smile.

“It’s okay to laugh, Cian. If you don’t laugh when Theo is volunteering to be a clown, he’ll be disappointed.”

“It’s a good thing Zephi isn’t petty. No, but who are you calling a clown?!”

Did you think I’d just let it slide because you’re a duke’s son?

“If you’re going to make me a clown, at least give me some money.”

I confidently spread my hand and demanded money from Zephyros.

There was no way he would have brought a gold coin to training, so now I can just enjoy Zephyros’s flustered appearance.

“Here.”

A sudden wind blew, and thud! something sparkling golden fell onto Zephyros’s palm.

It was a gold coin.

…The wind bringing a gold coin is cheating!

I stared at the instantly appeared gold coin with a blank expression.

“Didn’t you need it?”

This is character breaking…!

The Zephyros Nevera I saw was not this kind of childish guy!

Could it be that he was originally like this? Anyway, even in the game, they only give fragmented information.

“If you don’t need it, then fine.”

“Ah, where’s the rule about giving and then taking back.”

I’ll buy Lucian something delicious with this money later. Of course, Zephyros won’t get a single drop.

“Just try to take it back.”

As I growled like a beast, Zephyros looked at me with a pathetic gaze, but I was proud without a shred of shame.

Lucian, who had been silently watching the whole situation, burst out laughing.

“Hey, Cian. If you laugh again, what does that make me?”

“A clown.”

“He is kind of like that.”

Zephi seemed to be quite shocked by Lucian agreeing with my words.

“Let’s just get hit once, Zephi.”

My hand would hurt more, but anyway, I have to hit him just once.

Lucian intervened and stopped me as I was about to rush at him.

“Theo, I can’t watch your hand get broken twice. Should I hit him for you?”

Lucian asked, a little playfully.

Damn it. The sorrow of the weakest!

* * *

I returned to the room, grumbling to Lucian about Zephyros.

“Still, it’s a relief that you two seem to have gotten much closer.”

Is just bickering with each other usually called being close?

At Lucian’s words, I looked at him in disgust.

Well, for now… I think I’m more comfortable than before. But I was secretly anxious because it seemed like he had some other ulterior motive.

“Cian, you need to learn to be a little more suspicious of people─”

The moment I was about to chide him, my body froze at the face I saw.

“You’re late?”

“Lerwon… senior?”

Why are you coming out from here, senior?

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