“Urk!”
“You're not practicing breakfalls right now.”
Henrik had counted until Lloyd's twenty-first fall, but he had given up counting after that and no longer knew how many times Lloyd had fallen.
'Before he even gets the stamina to run, he cannot run at all?'
His body had grown too weak. He had no energy, no muscles, and it seemed he had barely ever run in the first place.
Since a fellow like that was letting his enthusiasm get ahead of him and trying to run too fast, he kept falling.
It might have just been Henrik's imagination, but perhaps Lloyd did not want to look incapable before him.
Even as he followed that train of thought, Lloyd fell once more.
'How on earth did that man train him?'
Lloyd encountered many fortuitous opportunities in Part 1. Of them, his first teacher had been the most important figure.
Even in the novel, he was described as the most capable teacher.
He had at least made this fellow capable of wielding a sword, so he was certainly exceptional.
'…And even a great man like that died in a single carriage accident. Traffic accidents really are dangerous.'
When Lloyd fell once again, Henrik sprang to his feet.
“Huff… Huff….”
“This won't do. We're starting with squats.”
“Hah… I'm out of breath… What are we doing?”
“Squats.”
“Squ… What are those?”
Henrik immediately demonstrated the posture.
“…? If you need to relieve yourself, go to the toilet.”
“Stop talking back and copy me.”
“Copy what? I do it once a day too, but not now.”
“Not that.”
After a few exchanges, Lloyd faced Henrik and took the position.
Tremble—
“Ugh….”
“Endure it and do it. It's supposed to be hard.”
“…It feels like I'm being punished.”
“Did they punish you by making you do that in the beggars' den too?”
“No, my mother did.”
Lloyd's mother. Henrik did not know much about her either.
“Ugh… Whenever I was punished like this, urgh… Butler Rondal would stand beside me and worry about me… Ugh.”
“My father cared for you very much.”
“Ugh… But now his son is making me do this as punishment… Aah.”
“That's enough. Rest now.”
“Huaah!”
Lloyd collapsed as though he were crumbling.
“Hah… Does something like this really help?”
“You said you had heard rumors about me, right? That's only possible because I have a body made through training like this.”
“Hah… Hah… So was my mother punishing me to make me stronger?”
“Well, that's a difficult question. All right, start again.”
“What?”
“Start. Again.”
Though he felt he was being tricked somehow, Lloyd decided to listen to Henrik for the moment.
He had always been willing to do anything if it could make him stronger.
But the greater reason was that Henrik had promised to answer his question if he did this.
Who he needed to take revenge on.
“Ugh… If this doesn't have any effect, I won't let you off. Ugh….”
“It'll definitely have an effect. I can see it.”
“You can see my ass. Aah….”
No, Henrik really could see it.
He could not explain it to Lloyd, but he could see the fellow's Status Window.
[Lloyd]
[Level 1 : 12/100]
'The required experience is 100, and his current experience is 12….'
After discovering the Status Window when he first rescued Lloyd, Henrik had tested whether he could see it for other people as well.
But he could not see the Status Windows of extras, nor even of important supporting characters such as Saya.
Of course, he could not see his own Status Window either.
Perhaps the Status Window existed only for Lloyd in the first place.
“You're growing in real time right now.”
“Hah… You're sure?”
“It's a little slow, but I'm sure.”
“You told me to do it slowly, that squa-whatever it was… Aah!”
Training this way definitely had an effect. But it would be nice if he could train Lloyd more quickly.
'I need to teach him swordsmanship quickly and be done with him, so I can be comfortable at the hideout.'
Henrik knew who Lloyd's next fortuitous opportunity would be. He only needed to teach him enough swordsmanship and step away. He should teach him as quickly as possible.
To do that….
'It seems I will need Lucifer.'
Lloyd, who had been gritting his teeth and enduring, slumped over once again.
“Huaah…!”
“Good. Since it's the first day, let's not overdo it and stop here.”
“Hah… I have already overdone it….”
Following Henrik into the inn, Lloyd walked on trembling legs.
At a table by the window, three drunken men were singing in slurred voices.
Seeing them made Henrik think of certain idiots.
'Come to think of it, those Three Idiots must be dead by now.'
***
Inside a cave stained with blood in every direction.
Yet the Three Idiots' bodies were intact.
“Uh… Was that the last monster?”
“I think… so?”
Fragments of the monsters had splattered all the way onto the cave ceiling.
There had been quite a large number of monsters, but now not a single one was still alive.
And that was not all. They had even cut off the head of the treasure hunter who had arrived first.
The only intact thing before their eyes now was a single treasure chest gleaming lavishly.
“Did we do it…?”
“…Since we thought we were dead men anyway, we were able to fight without fear.”
The short bastard lightly tapped the tall bastard and continued.
“Hey… When a monster appeared behind me earlier, why did you throw yourself in front of it and save me?”
“The more of us there are still alive, the better my own chances of surviving, right?”
Seeing that, the fat bastard spoke to the other two.
“When I fell earlier, if you had not helped me up, I would have died then.”
“It was pretty close.”
The three looked back and forth at one another's faces.
“…You fought well.”
“So did you.”
“Heh.”
Their faces, soaked in sweat and blood, split into wide grins as they looked at one another.
After catching their breath for a while, they turned their eyes to the treasure chest.
“Is this what Lord Hess was talking about?”
“Let us at least have a look at what is inside.”
The chest contained various pieces of jewelry. But what stood out most was a single sword.
Though the jewel-encrusted sword did not look like a weapon meant for actual combat at a glance, its edge was certainly sharp.
“If we had gone on an operation properly and achieved something like this, we would have earned a proper achievement.”
“Exactly. Now that we have caused trouble, things work out like this.”
The bastards closed the chest again.
“We should take it to Lord Hess, right?”
“We should. If we ran off with this, we would suffer pain that would make us regret being born.”
“What kind of reaction will he have when we bring it to him?”
“Probably….”
When the short bastard hesitated to speak, the fat bastard answered in his place.
“Perhaps he will allow us to die without pain?”
“That must be it, right? That would be the greatest reward we could receive.”
Having already resigned themselves to death once, they were ready to accept their fate calmly.
When the tall bastard took the lead and lifted one side of the chest, the other two rushed over and helped.
“Having one fierce fight, then going off to die. It has a certain feeling to it.”
“Bastard….”
“Why?”
“Because that was what I wanted to say.”
The tall bastard and the short bastard extended their free hands and bumped fists.
Watching them, the fat bastard grinned broadly.
“Okay! Then shall we die?”
“Sounds good. Now that I have dependable comrades-in-arms, the final road will not be lonely.”
“It is quite a splendid ending, is it not?”
By the time they emerged from the cave again, the sun was already setting.
Like the Three Idiots, the sun burned most beautifully before it set.
***
“Margaret, two servings of dinner.”
“Yes~ Coming right up~”
Margaret had been offended when she had to bow her head to Lloyd, but she quickly recovered and was smiling brightly.
'Her pride must have been hurt, but she regained her business smile quickly.'
Henrik thought that was probably the secret to why this was the best inn in the area.
Lloyd, whose stomach was somewhat full, finally spoke.
“So who is that bastard? The one who attacked my House.”
Of course, even then, he did not stop working his fork.
Henrik thought it was finally time to satisfy Lloyd's curiosity.
“Have you ever heard of Nightmare?”
“…Nightmare, the leader of the Dark Order?”
At least he did know of him.
“You are not telling me to believe that now, are you? Nightmare really exist?”
“He exists.”
“That Nightmare killed my family?”
“Yes.”
CLACK!
Lloyd set down his fork roughly.
“I was stupid to expect anything.”
“What rumors have you heard now? You were the same when we talked about rumors of me, but I told you not to place too much faith in rumors.”
“It is more than a rumor. I heard it from a former Dark Order member. No one in the organization has ever met the bastard, so even its members do not believe he exists.”
“Then how would the organization function? It is ruled because it has a leader.”
Shaking his head, Lloyd picked up his fork again.
“You do not know much. There is a bastard called Hess in the Dark Order.”
“I know that much. He is the second-in-command right below the leader. Where do you hear things like that?”
“When you live in a beggars' den, you hear a lot.”
There was still a sausage in Lloyd's mouth, but he had already stabbed the next sausage with his fork and held it before his mouth as he continued.
“That bastard Hess is the leader of the Dark Order.”
“Hmm?”
“Hess gives every order himself. He has set up a fake called Nightmare and pretends there is a separate leader.”
It was not unreasonable to think that. It was a rumor that actually circulated.
That was because Hess was the only one who could meet Nightmare in person.
Come to think of it, I still have not heard from Nightmare.
“That is only a rumor. Why would he bother making a fake leader?”
“I do not know. Because he is a coward?”
“A coward?”
“It is easier to shift responsibility by saying he only followed orders, and he can avoid becoming a target by pretending there is a separate leader.”
That feels rather unpleasant.
There is a way to perfectly prove that Nightmare exists. But it is not time yet.
“Fine. Whether it is Nightmare, as I say, or Hess, as you say. In any case, the one you need to take revenge on is the leader of the Dark Order.”
“The leader of the Dark Order attacked my House. What is your evidence?”
“There would have been only one intruder that day. Alone, he would have faced not only everyone in the Baronial House, but the entire Personal Guard as well. Is that not right?”
Lloyd recalled the memories of that day.
They were not particularly painful. He had spent countless nights recalling those memories, thrashing in agony.
The duller the pain of that day became, the colder Lloyd's heart grew.
“That is right. It was one bastard. Even with everyone rushing at him, we were no match for him.”
Lloyd did not remember that day perfectly. It was natural; the event had been so shocking.
It was about time to restore his memory.
“Ongoreutareu.”
“…!”
Lloyd dropped the fork he had been holding.
“You have heard it before, have you? That spell.”
“That spell….”
“Whether you believe me or not, as far as I know, it is an exclusive spell that only Nightmare can use.”
That spell was a memory Lloyd had forgotten. It was inevitable, since it was a spell with an unknowable meaning.
“…I will go get some air for a moment.”
As Lloyd remembered the other memories of that day that he had forgotten, one after another, every one of them was horrific.
'The shock must have been great. But it cannot be helped. It is something he has to go through anyway.'
While waiting for Lloyd to return,
“Margaret, bring me a beer.”
Henrik began drinking a beer alone.
'I can train Lloyd's body, but not his mind.'
He had to overcome it himself. In the first place, he did not want comfort from anyone.
Fortunately, his mental strength was not weak.
Even after losing his family and House and becoming a beggar who was looked down upon, he had endured and endured. He had no choice but to, because there was a reason.
It was because of the countless sacrifices by the people of his House, including Butler Rondal, who had tried to save Lloyd alone.
'He will want revenge. If so, trust me.'
Henrik's hand tightened around the beer glass.