Ch.345Chapter 345 – Delinquent Education? One Hammer Is Enough

Termaine Blache, Roman Resfolk, Gauss Mennerk.

These three had cultivated their friendship since childhood through interactions between their families.

Typically, as the eldest sons of noble families are often obligated to inherit their family’s legacy, they wouldn’t have time to meet each other. Fortunately, all three were third sons of their respective families.

Generally, the eldest child receives education to inherit the family, while the youngest tends to monopolize their mother’s affection.

As third sons, these three naturally had more opportunities to spend time together.

Moreover, the Blache, Resfolk, and Mennerk families, while not extremely famous, were influential enough to exert power over neighboring territories.

This meant that when these three gathered to do something, there was hardly anyone to stop them.

But strangely enough, while two or more people together typically tend to go overboard with mischief, these three, despite being a trio, never crossed certain boundaries.

That boundary was the extent of their mischievous behavior.

Truly degenerate nobles would commonly use their status to extort money from commoners or forcibly take pretty daughters from their families.

However, these three’s pranks were limited to pretending to steal valuable items only to return them later, or entering shops and dining without paying for a day—relatively minor mischief.

Such behavior was considered customary light pranking in the Gelebrio Empire, with its distinctly medieval mindset.

Frankly, compared to those who would take commoners’ lives for merely displeasing them, or destroy households and enslave families, their pranks were genuinely mild.

Of course, a noble with any sense would never engage in such behavior. Unlike serfs who were bound to their land for life, commoners with money could freely move to other territories.

Therefore, most nobles carefully managed their reputation to attract more commoners to settle in their territories.

So why did their families turn a blind eye to their mischievous behavior?

Simply because cleaning up after their pranks wasn’t particularly troublesome.

Compared to truly degenerate behavior, issues like dining without payment or temporarily taking others’ possessions could be resolved with money.

However, the reason they didn’t go too far was their ambiguous standing within their families.

The eldest would inherit the family, while the youngest would typically serve as family retainers.

This left those in the middle in a precarious position, and these three didn’t particularly excel at anything.

Still, as noble sons, they had talent for reading and writing, so they began to delve into administration, which could easily grant them influence within their families.

The minimum safety net for them was obtaining a certificate from Glesius Academy.

Graduation would have been ideal, but unfortunately, their minds were more specialized in tormenting others than studying, so they opted for completion rather than graduation.

With the goal of completing Glesius Academy set, the three temporarily stopped their pranks and studied for admission.

Setting aside their beloved mischief to focus on studies, they proudly gained admission to Glesius Academy and set foot in it as freshmen.

However, their mischievous nature hadn’t completely disappeared, and their suppressed tendencies resurfaced once more.

“Ah, where can we find a commoner to prank?”

“Hey, hey. Look at that guy over there. Doesn’t he look interesting?”

“Where? Where? Oh, he looks perfect to play with!”

The unfortunate commoner student who caught their eye was Artnouvo.

With the entrance ceremony over and having somewhat adjusted to academy life, these three had found their prey on their radar, and they immediately took action.

“Hey. What’s a commoner like you doing with something so precious?”

“Heheh, since it’s dangerous to carry such valuable items, we’ll keep it safe for you, okay?”

And they began to revive their past experiences.

From the beginning, they had no real intention of stealing Artnouvo’s belongings.

They were just harassing him because they thought his reactions would be amusing.

If they had chosen to play their prank in the evening, the day would have been remembered as a successful prank in their memories.

Yes.

If only it had been evening.

Unfortunately, they chose to play their prank just as the sun was warming the earth, which happened to be the time when Pathos took his walks.

Moreover, the alley where they cornered Artnouvo was not visible from most places but was perfectly visible from the bench where Pathos was sitting.

“Stop right there. Move your hand any further and you’re dead.”

For this reason, their actions came into Pathos’s view, and he was now staring at them with a menacing gaze, hammer in hand.

“Huh, huh!”

“Ah, ah, aaaaah, aaaaaaah, Grand Duke Aurelion?”

“G-G-G-Grand Duke, what brings you here?”

Termaine, Roman, and Gauss were at a loss under Pathos’s murderous glare.

“Sigh… I didn’t fight the demon lord just to witness scenes like this.”

Of all things, they were caught bullying someone as a group.

And in front of the empire’s great hero who had defeated the demon lord, no less.

The three racked their brains and recalled the excuse they had used most often.

“Haha, we were just playing a little joke among friends.”

“Yes, of course! We were just having a bit of fun!”

“That’s right! Right? We were just joking around!”

But they didn’t realize.

That wrinkles were forming between Pathos’s brows as he heard their excuses.

“A joke?”

“Yes, that’s right. Friends can play jokes on each other, can’t they?”

“I see. But from what I can see, you don’t look like friends at all.”

At Pathos’s words, the three realized this situation wouldn’t be easily dismissed.

“N-no, we really are friends…”

“Be quiet. From now on, I will no longer speak to you with respect.”

Pathos’s response was to raise the hammer in his hand.

The three gulped as they saw the massive hammer in Pathos’s hand.

If they were hit by that enormous hammer, their skulls would surely crack open.

Naturally, Pathos intended to thoroughly reform these three into new people.

With what?

“This is Mr. Iron Hammer, whose first name is Iron and last name is Hammer, who will make new people out of you.”

There wasn’t a hint of humor on Pathos’s face.

He was doing this to make an example of potential troublemakers who might disrupt the academy’s peace.

“Bow your heads, you bastards.”

As Pathos began to swing his hammer in earnest, the three tried to flee.

But somehow, as if glued, their feet were completely stuck to the ground, and their legs wouldn’t move at all.

It was as if some unknown force was binding their bodies.

This was Cheon Hyeryeong’s doing; she was emitting qi to restrain the three so that Pathos could reform them into new people.

With Cheon Hyeryeong’s help, Pathos raised his iron hammer.

“Usually, I try not to cause pain, but to reform your minds and make new people out of you, I won’t hold back so you can serve as an example to everyone.”

What followed was Pathos’s merciless hammering directed at the three.

“Argh!”

“Gak!”

“Keak!”

There was no mercy in Pathos’s hammering.

His hammer pounded each of their heads equally, and he had swung his hammer six times.

“Repeat after me. I will never bully others again.”

“I will never bully others again!”

The reason Pathos stopped at six blows.

It was simple.

With the last three blows, they would be reformed, but that alone wasn’t enough.

He needed to set an example for the students who might be watching.

“We will get along, cooperate, and compete fairly with each other.”

“We will get along! Cooperate! And compete fairly with each other!”

“I like your enthusiastic response. Just one more hit to go.”

Pathos was pleased with their spirited response and delivered one final blow to their heads with his hammer.

With the terrible pain to their heads, the three felt their minds clearing, and they began to regret all their past pranks, including what they had done to Artnouvo.

“What will you do from now on?”

“We will not bully others and will live helping each other.”

“We will find those who suffered from our pranks and offer sincere apologies.”

“We have become new people. Thank you so much!”

“…?”

The three’s sudden change in attitude.

Artnouvo’s face was filled with nothing but confusion as he watched.