Ch.263263. Wouldn’t this truly be the dream workplace?

“Everyone’s looking better while I was away, huh?”

The prospective guardians had come wearing various colorful robes that I had asked Federicks to prepare in advance. Among them, Lillian and Bianca stood in the front row.

I nodded with satisfaction, but Clara sighed, apparently thinking the opposite of what I was thinking.

“You’re going to establish a guardian corps with these people?”

“Why not?”

“Are you in your right mind?”

“They’re all mages, aren’t they?”

When I smiled innocently, Clara staggered once as if she was about to faint, then pulled herself together.

“I had a conversation with them before you arrived, young master.”

“And?”

“The most experienced person graduated from the academy only three years ago.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“And they haven’t trained even once since graduating. Surely you’re not thinking of establishing a guardian corps just to have them do fireworks at night?”

“They’re academy graduates. Won’t they regain their skills quickly with some training?”

Clara let out a short sigh at my question.

“It’s not just about training. At the academy, they teach how to eliminate magical beasts with safety as the top priority. That means they’ve never actually experienced hunting magical beasts.”

“They can start doing that now. Nobody’s good at something from the beginning.”

“That’s education. Who pays a salary while someone gains experience? I’d rather go back to Pandera territory and bring some competent mages.”

“I acknowledge that Pandera has a good number of mages. But if you bring as many as we have here, who will hunt the magical beasts in Pandera?”

“W-well, that’s…”

As Clara hesitated, Lillian, who had been listening quietly, stepped forward.

“Lady Clara, I understand. You need to be able to trust your comrades to watch your back, and you don’t trust us. Please give us just six months. We will definitely succeed.”

The determined look wasn’t just in Lillian’s eyes. Led by her, all the prospective guardians wore resolute expressions, determined to succeed.

I tilted my head at Lillian.

“Why have your attitudes changed so drastically? It doesn’t suit you.”

“Because we realized after arriving at Lake territory. Everything you told us was true.”

They’re only believing me now, even though I explained the same thing when they came to my room in the middle of the night? This is why I’m sparing with my words. No matter what I say, seeing is believing.

I smiled bitterly.

“Well, I’m glad you believe in my sincerity now.”

“No, we should be the ones apologizing for misunderstanding you all this time. We’re realizing more and more each day what a wonderful person you are, young master. So please watch over us. We won’t disappoint you.”

I thought I understood their feelings somewhat. After graduating from the academy with difficulty, they returned home to massive debt. They worked with the hope of pursuing their dreams, but the mounting debt must have been suffocating.

And then.

They would settle for what life offered. After all, a place where they could at least eat three meals a day was better than becoming fugitives for life.

That’s why.

This must feel like a dream to them. In terms of salary, they could save and pay off their debts in about two years. But that thought was just the beginning. Even after they paid off their debts, I planned to give them generous bonuses for completing missions, just like the knights and mercenaries, to keep them from leaving. Wouldn’t that be the true dream job?

With my arms crossed firmly, I nodded toward Clara.

“Well, isn’t that level of determination enough?”

“Sigh… I don’t know.”

“The Forest of Death hasn’t been completely transformed into the Forest of Miracles yet, so it’s a good place to gain practical experience.”

“That’s true, but I’m already sighing at the thought of having to train all these people.”

“Oh, is that what you’re worried about?”

“To gain practical experience, they need to find their feel through training first. Of course I feel burdened.”

“Because they might die in actual combat? And you’d feel responsible?”

Clara kept her mouth shut, as if I’d hit the nail on the head. Understanding her concerns, I spoke calmly.

“Clara.”

“Yes, young master?”

“Don’t worry about the training.”

“…Pardon?”

As Clara tilted her head in confusion, I turned my gaze to the prospective guardians and grinned.

“From now on, I’ll be the one training you.”

*

BOOM-!!

Another tremendous sound echoed through the underground training hall. One of the women who had been slammed into the wall gritted her teeth.

“Who was it… that said the young master was handsome?”

Another woman ground her teeth in response.

“I know, right? I want to kill him right now.”

Selden Alphonse loosened his neck from side to side and smiled broadly. In his hand was the iron practice sword that had always been with him.

“This isn’t even a warm-up, is it? You were boasting earlier about needing just six months, but it seems like six years wouldn’t be enough.”

At Selden Alphonse’s mockery, Lillian couldn’t hold back and raised her voice.

“W-we are mages! Even at the academy, we didn’t receive this level of physical training!”

“So what? Are you going to make excuses about academy lessons when you’re dying at the hands of magical beasts?”

“That’s not what I meant! Why are you starting with physical training when we haven’t even found our magical feel yet?”

Selden Alphonse tilted his head sideways, still holding the practice sword.

“Magic originally comes from a healthy body. And do you know how amazing the elixir I just fed you is? I gave it to you despite having very little left.”

“You forced us to drink it!”

“That was all to make you stronger. Instead of complaining, shouldn’t you face this pathetic situation? How can eleven of you fail to subdue me?”

Lillian was at a loss for words. Even if mages neglected physical training at the academy, it was absurd that eleven mages couldn’t subdue one knight.

When mages run out of magical power, they inevitably have to engage in physical combat. That’s why basic physical training was mandatory even at the academy. Of course, mages didn’t train desperately, but they could easily defeat a single knight.

But.

Selden Alphonse, showing his white teeth before them. They had somewhat anticipated his abilities from his aura and movements at the inn, but they never imagined it would be this extreme. This was the common thought among all the prospective guardians, including Lillian and Bianca. So they had nothing to say, even if they had ten mouths.

Lillian, who had kept her mouth shut, opened her eyes wide.

“I understand why you’re making us do physical training. But isn’t this too harsh?”

“Why do you think it’s too harsh?”

“The practice sword you’re holding isn’t even an ordinary one.”

“So what?”

“This should be done systematically. Such intense training suddenly could be harmful to us.”

Despite being covered in bruises, Lillian articulated her thoughts on behalf of her comrades. However, Selden Alphonse sighed as if annoyed, picking his ear.

“People weaker than you endured this training.”

“…What?”

“They complained a lot at first too. Some even grabbed my pant legs begging for mercy, and one who I appointed as vice-captain cried and pleaded to give up the position.”

“…”

“But in the end, after completing the training, do you know what happened?”

“I don’t know…”

“They became comrades I could trust with my back. Isn’t that what you want?”

They knew the truth. There are no shortcuts in physical training. One becomes stronger only by honing skills and enduring hardship.

Lillian slowly turned to look at the prospective guardians. They were clearly exhausted, covered in bruises and blood stains on their clothes, despite being hit with practice swords. She felt the need to reduce the intensity of this training for her comrades.

“…But weren’t those people from the knights or mercenaries?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“As I said earlier, we are mages. It’s too much for us to keep up with training that even knights and mercenaries found difficult.”

“I told you they were weaker than you!”

Sensing that a little more dialogue might help, Lillian continued with a hopeful expression.

“I understand that you don’t know how mages feel. But you should also listen to what we have to say.”

“Ah! So because I swing a sword, I can’t understand how mages feel? That’s what you’re saying, right?”

“I’m sorry if I offended you. But I had to be direct so you might reconsider. Mages have their own system…”

Selden Alphonse smirked and, without any further explanation, opened his palm toward the air.

“Fireball!”

Selden Alphonse produced a fireball using only his palm, without a staff. And that wasn’t all. Though it was a small fireball about the size of a face, it burned intensely, seemingly concentrated with magical power.

Whoosh-!

The fireball traced a path like a dragon cutting through the sky as it flew toward the wall. And then.

BOOM!

A tremendous sound and vibration echoed through the underground training hall as it collided strongly with the stone wall. Despite being a small fireball, the heat that could be felt throughout the body was immense. Then Selden Alphonse casually dusted off his palms as if nothing had happened and smiled brightly at Lillian.

“Now then, shall we resume proper training between fellow mages?”