“Huh…”
Raon’s jaw dropped as he watched Balder rubbing his reddened forehead.
‘What’s even happening right now?’
Balder should’ve been second to none in Zieghart for his bad personality, but he couldn’t do anything in front of the Gambling Monster. It was like watching a mouse facing a cat.
Raon couldn’t think straight because he never expected it to happen even in his imagination.
“H-he hit the special inspector…”
“But why is the True Martial Palace master doing nothing about it?”
“A-am I dreaming right now?”
The Light Wind division and the inspectors were all confused, unable to take their eyes off the Gambling Monster.
Raon observed the way Balder seemed even more intimidated after getting hit and remembered what he’d said a moment ago.‘Instructor…’
Considering that Balder referred to the Gambling Monster as ‘Instructor’, he must’ve been his disciple in the past.
‘Since the Gambling Monster had both the power and position to even be a part of the council, it’s completely possible that it was the case.’
No one stopped the Gambling Monster even when he left the council of elders on his own.
It implied that he had a huge amount of accomplishments, might, and position. That was why it wouldn’t be strange if he had been Balder’s teacher during his childhood.
“H-how could you say that?! You just added ‘Sir’, but you were being rude nonetheless!”
Balder took a step back and lowered his gaze. It looked like he didn’t want to get hit again.
“The great special inspector is being so difficult. Why are you being a motherfucker when I did what you wanted, Sir?”
The Gambling Monster advanced as much as Balder had retreated, flicking him on the forehead.
Smack!
With a sound resembling a nut shattering, Balder’s forehead became even redder.
“Ugh…”
His hand trembled as he groaned. It must’ve been painful, even for him.
“Look! You were only pretending to be polite, but you were actually insulting me!”
“Special inspector, your stupid head became even harder. My finger hurts even more than you, Sir.”
The Gambling Monster furrowed his brow while blowing at the finger that he’d used to flick Balder’s forehead. He didn’t seem to care at all about whatever Balder was saying.
“I was completely polite this time. Are you satisfied?”
“Pl-please stop it!”
Balder shouted loudly, but he simply flicked his eyes from side to side, unable to do anything about the Gambling Monster.
“Wow!”
Raon gasped while watching Balder, who seemed to have shrunk to half his original size, when someone exclaimed loudly from behind them.
He turned his head around, and Rimmer was there before he knew it, drinking some beer.
“Division leader?”
“Isn’t it fun?”
Rimmer shook the beer glass while looking at Balder and the Gambling Monster one after the other.
“They are in a master-disciple relationship. Balder was taught by that geezer for a pretty long time.”
“I understood that part, but it’s surprising that the True Martial Palace master is having so much difficulty dealing with him.”
“It’s because he learned by getting beaten up by him ever since he was even younger than when you all came to me.”
“Ah…”
It was understandable in that case. Scary people during childhood were usually still scary and difficult to deal with even after a person became an adult.
“Of course, they wouldn’t have ended up like that if the beatings were all that happened. That geezer taught Balder to the best of his ability because he was about to retire. I’m pretty sure he even saved his life multiple times.”
“But I never saw them together if that’s the case…”
“He wouldn’t want his subordinates to see him like that when he’s a palace master now. Balder has obviously been avoiding the Gambling Monster.”
“I guess. After all, the Gambling Monster doesn’t participate in the conference.”
The Gambling Monster was a weirdo who left the council to run a gambling house and a pub.
There was no reason for them to encounter each other unless Balder looked for him.
“It feels so great to watch him like that.”
Rimmer laughed, saying that he hadn’t seen that happen for a while before he extended his hand towards Dorian.
“Hmm?”
Dorian tilted his head while looking at Rimmer’s hand.
“Give me some snacks.”
“I don’t always have snacks, even for me…”
Dorian complained, but still took out a corn snack from his belly pocket and gave it to him.
What are you waiting for?! You should eat it, too!
Wrath tapped on Raon’s shoulder, showing that he also wanted the corn snack.
He had started to move as soon as Dorian took out the snack even though he’d been fast asleep the whole time. Raon was seriously unable to understand why he was the Monarch of Wrath.
“P-palace master.”
“You have to pull yourself together!”
“You are currently in the middle of inspection duty, palace master!”
“You have to forget about the master-disciple relationship for now!”
The warriors from the inspection department tried to convince Balder to use his position as the special inspector.
“Ahem! I’m saying this again, but I’m the special inspector! You would be in trouble if you treat me like this, even for you, Sir Herrian!”
Balder frowned while meeting the Gambling Monster’s eyes. His subordinates seemed to have given him the courage to face him.
“Oh my god, you are even yelling at me now! My ears are going to bleed!”
The Gambling Monster picked his ear, pretending he didn’t hear what Balder said.
“Sir Herrian!”
“This is why people say that it’s pointless to raise children. I feel like it was just yesterday that I fought to the death to save the great special inspector when you were on the verge of death, but now you are yelling at me already and doing all kinds of shit.”
“Th-that’s…”
Balder carefully glanced at the subordinates behind him and covered his mouth with his finger, pleading for him not to speak about that. There seemed to be a secret behind it.
“Whatever, special inspector. You can say that again. What do you want me to do?”
The Gambling Monster spread his arms and raised his chin, telling him to say whatever he wanted.
“Ugh…”
Balder rolled himself up like a roly-poly and bit his lip.
‘Why is he even here?!’
He was well aware that the Gambling Monster had joined the Light Wind division.
However, he’d heard that he wasn’t really interested in the Light Wind division and rarely showed up. That was why he picked an early hour for the visit.
He was planning to destroy the fifth training ground early in the morning and head to the annex building around noon to cause a ruckus. However, it was going wrong from the very beginning.
The plan wasn’t simply ruined. It was thoroughly crushed.
‘Damn it…’
He was uncomfortable around the Gambling Monster because of his relationship with him, but that wasn’t the only reason why he couldn’t force his way through.
The Gambling Monster, Herrian, had a huge amount of achievements—so much that he could leave the council on his own without giving anything in return. He also had powerful connections while being a powerful warrior himself.
Since he was still on friendly terms with the head of the council, the council was going to act if he made a wrong move against the Gambling Monster. That was one thing that couldn’t be allowed to happen.
“I-I’m sorry…”
In the end, Balder averted his gaze and hung his head.
“Ahem!”
The Gambling Monster cleared his throat and nodded.
“I have nothing to say if you say so, special inspector. Continue the shit you were doing.”
He shook his hand to tell him to behave himself and withdrew from the scene.
“Haa…”
Balder sighed roughly and rolled his eyes.
‘I can’t just leave like this.’
He was humiliated to the point where he couldn’t be any worse, so he wanted to find a way to crush Raon Zieghart no matter what.
‘The inside should be managed by a different person.’
Balder quickly put his thoughts together and went into the indoor training ground.
* * *
Raon licked his lips as he watched Balder enter the indoor training ground.
‘Is he planning to provoke us inside?’
Balder and the inspectors must’ve been planning to find fault in the indoor training ground since it seemed unrelated to the Gambling Monster.
‘I can take advantage of this.’
Raon put his thoughts together and walked up to the Gambling Monster.
“General Administrator, can I make use of your name today?”
“Do as you wish.”
The Gambling Monster nodded kindly at him, unlike when he was dealing with Balder.
“Thank you.”
Raon thanked him, destroyed all the joints of the combat dummies that Balder had touched, and dug out the center of the training ground to ruin the floor.
“V-vice division leader, what are you doing right now?!”
Dorian’s eyes widened as he dropped the snack he was eating.
“I know, right? Why are you even ruining the training ground right now?”
Burren walked up to him and grabbed his arm, trying to stop him.
“Don’t worry and just wait. I’ll get all the equipment replaced for us.”
Raon shook his hand at the surprised Light Wind division and broke all of the equipment Balder had touched.
“He isn’t an average guy. Just let him do whatever he wants.”
Rimmer grinned while drinking the beer, anticipating what was going to happen after.
“Why is it so dirty here?!”
“It’s completely dusty!”
“Training in such a place is going to make you sick!”
Balder and the inspectors must’ve found something to nitpick in the indoor training ground because their shouts were echoing throughout the training ground.
Raon casually entered the indoor training ground.
“The training equipment is rusty, and the iron power is falling off!”
Balder furrowed his brow while pointing at the rust at the corner of the dumbbell and barbell.
It was an unreasonable criticism since it was a very small amount of rust in a corner that a person’s hand couldn’t even reach.
“Aren’t you aware that you can get tetanus if the rust accidentally touches an injury while you are training?!”
He fiercely picked a fight, convinced that someone other than the Gambling Monster must be in charge of the inside.
“There’s even more. The training ground is full of dust! You don’t even clean properly, and the equipment is poorly maintained. Where is your focus?”
He ground his teeth while going out of the way to wipe up some dust stuck at the edge of the window with his white glove.
“Light Wind vice division leader! Try to explain this!”
“Understood.”
Raon nodded and shouted towards the outside.
“General Administrator!”
As soon as he called that title, the Gambling Monster entered the indoor training ground.
“W-wait, why are you suddenly calling him…?”
“You told me to explain this to you. This place is also managed by the general administrator.”
Raon smiled cheerfully and pushed the Gambling Monster forward.
“I’m the one in charge, you bastard.”
The Gambling Monster walked up to Balder while shaking his finger.
“N-no, I was just worried that it might be dangerous for the swordsmen…”
Balder hid the glove with the small amount of dust behind him while avoiding the Gambling Monster’s gaze.
“Everyone would’ve died already if this much dust was going to endanger them! Do you really think some dust and rust are going to be a threat when they even survived the Demonic Monarch of the Azure Flame? Find something decent at least, if you are going to find fault!”
The Gambling Monster frowned, still treating Balder as his disciple rather than the special inspector.
“But it’s better to have none…”
“Then how about I head to the True Martial Palace right now? What are you going to do if I search the window frame and find any dust?”
“Ugh…”
Balder hung his head because he was unable to respond and looked at Raon instead.
“Wh-where is the office? The division leader’s office, not the general administrator!”
“This way.”
Raon pointed at Rimmer’s office, located on the right side of the indoor training ground.
“Let’s go!”
Balder and the inspectors headed to the office, surrounded by their last hope.
Crack!
Raon followed him after he destroyed the metallic parts of the barbell and dumbbell that Balder had touched.
Since they had cleared up early in the morning, the garbage that Rimmer lived with was nowhere to be found, but it was still dusty and completely disorganized, unlike the other places. Raon honestly had no excuse for that place.
“It’s so dirty! I can’t even tell when the last time you cleaned this place was. Since guests usually visit the division leader’s office before anywhere else, this place is pretty much the face of your division. Do you have trash as a face?”
Balder raised his voice, believing that the division leader’s office was completely unrelated to the Gambling Monster.
“Moreover, why is there so much paperwork piled up? A lot of it needs to be approved! What have you even been doing?!”
He violently slammed the desk, asking where Rimmer was and what he was doing.
“None of the documents are overdue yet. We can take care of all of them today.”
“This is so suspicious that I can’t overlook it. I’m going to summon all the executives of the Light Wind division, so you will be investigated according—”
“I’ll call the person in charge.”
Raon calmly nodded and turned his head towards the outside.
“The person in charge? W-wait a moment!”
“General Administrator!”
Raon shouted the word that Balder was trying to stop him from saying.
“What’s the matter?”
The Gambling Monster entered the office, even more nonchalantly than before.
“He’s looking for the one in charge once again.”
“S-Sir Herrian, are you also managing this place?”
“I’m also taking care of this because our division leader is as useless as a certain person.”
In fact, the Gambling Monster rarely entered the division leader’s office, but he was going along with the play.
“If you have something to tell me, please spit it, oh great special inspector.”
The Gambling Monster confidently straightened his back and jerked his chin at Balder.
“Ugh…”
Balder rapidly averted his gaze like a rabbit that had seen a lion and swallowed nervously.
“I-I don’t have anything special to say.”
“Then why do you keep ordering me around, you bastard!”
The Gambling Monster frowned and flicked his forehead once again.
Balder’s head was violently pushed back with a smacking sound.
“I-I didn’t call you, though…”
Balder shook his head while rubbing his forehead with his finger.
“Shut up and leave already if you have nothing else to say!”
He shook his hand, telling him to leave since the Light Wind division needed to train.
“Haa…”
In the end, Balder had to leave Rimmer’s office after only getting humiliated. Raon waved his hand towards him just as he was about to leave the indoor training ground.
“Wait a moment.”
Raon pointed at the dumbbell and barbell, noting that one side of the metal was crushed.
“The dumbbell and barbell are broken. What are you going to do about this?”
“Broken? What are you talking about?”
“The metal broke apart after you touched it earlier, special inspector. You need to compensate for this since you broke equipment that was perfectly fine.”
“Bullshit! I simply tried picking it up! I didn’t break it!”
“General Administrator!”
Raon immediately called the Gambling Monster, as if he saw no point in arguing about it.
“Argh! I get it! I get it. How much is it?”
Raon raised a finger.
“Ten gold.”
“T-ten gold? Bullshit! How could a lump of metal be worth ten gold?!”
“Actually, this dumbbell isn’t an ordinary dumbbell. It’s called the anion dumbbell, a special product that includes an ultraprecision artifact capable of changing the weight and exuding anions. It puts the user at ease, and gives the determination to continue difficult training with it…”
“Argh!”
Balder ground his teeth and glanced to the side.
An inspector, who was full of arrogance until a few minutes ago, took out gold coins from his pocket and handed them over. His trembling hand showed that he was reluctant to give them away.
“Thank you, I’ll make good use of it.”
“Let’s go!”
Balder immediately went outside, as if he didn’t want to be there for even a second longer.
Just as he was about to leave the training ground with the inspectors, Raon called out to Balder once again.
“Inspector!”
“What is it now?!”
“How could you just leave like that after destroying them?”
Raon sighed while pointing at the combat dummies this time.
“I really didn’t do it! I didn’t break them!”
“But you were the only person who touched that dummy, special inspector.”
“You are blaming it on me after destroying it yourself! Do you really believe you’ll be fine after doing this…”
“General Administrator!”
Raon shouted, and the Gambling Monster immediately appeared.
“Aaargh!”
Balder clutched his head and screamed.
“Please stop coming here!”
“You are even forbidding me from walking on my land. I’m going to the head of house right now…”
The Gambling Monster furrowed his brow and brushed off his hands, ready to take action right away.
“Whose side are you even on, instructor? You are being too mean to me!”
Balder frowned, unable to suppress his frustration any further.
“I would’ve obviously been on your side if you came to see me, even for just a cheap drink.”
“Ugh…”
“This guy over here buys the best drink from the area for me whenever he goes out. Whose side do you think I would take?”
The Gambling Monster smiled for the first time while patting Raon’s shoulder.
“Hmm…”
Balder quietly looked at Raon after hearing the Gambling Monster and eventually nodded.
“Haa, alright. How much is that?”
“It’s twenty gold.”
“Huh…?”
Balder’s eyes widened as soon as he heard the sum.
“How is a simple combat dummy even worth twenty gold…?”
“Actually, this isn’t an ordinary combat dummy. It’s the anion combat dummy, which emanates anions, and it includes an automated artifact that remembers the opponent’s flow of battle…”
“Argh, I get it! I get it!”
He shook his head and gave away twenty gold after counting them out one by one.
Raon gave the gold to Dorian and immediately pointed at the ruined training ground.
“The training ground over there is ruined, too…”
“You are driving me nuts! I didn’t do that!”
“You stomped the ground earlier while saying that there were pebbles inside the sand. You’re too strong, special inspector, and the ground collapsed afterward.”
“Are you seriously…”
“General Administrator?”
“Stop! I get it! I get it!”
As soon as Raon called the Gambling Monster, Balder rapidly shook his hand.
“W-wait! Is that also anion product?”
“You already guessed it. This is the anion sand, the highest quality sand imported from the south. It’s also called the gold of the southern sea.”
“Anion, anion again! Screw anion!!!”
Balder screamed, asking what the hell was wrong with anion.
“The price is one thing, but the biggest issue is that it’s extremely difficult to acquire…”
“Shut up and tell me the sum!”
“It’s thirty gold.”
“Argh…”
Despite how confidently he shouted to tell him the amount, he gasped upon hearing the sum.
However, he paid up since the Gambling Monster was watching.
“Wow…”
“Wh-what the…”
“How is that even possible?”
Since the Light Wind division had been watching all along as Raon personally destroyed the equipment, their jaws dropped as Balder compensated them for it.
“It’s over now, right?”
Balder raised his gaze. His face looked like he had gotten at least twenty years older.
“Yes. I am amazed by the special inspector’s wise and incorruptible inspection.”
Raon smiled cheerfully and waved his hand at him to come back later.
“Let’s see how long that smile is going to last on your face.”
“What?”
“Because I’m planning to go to the annex building now.”
Balder bit his lip with a frightening look in his eyes.
“Why are you so surprised? The annex building is at the farthest location from the main building. It’s the perfect place to plan something shady. I’m going to thoroughly search it so that not even a single ant can escape. You’d better brace yourself.”
“…That’s true.”
Raon nodded without removing the smile from his face.
“Are you still smiling? Everything you do will be pointless once we get there. If I notice anything strange at all, I’m going to summon them all and…”
“General Administrator! Let’s go!”
Raon ignored Balder and called for the Gambling Monster.
“No, that’s impossible!”
Balder twisted his lips and shook his hand towards the Gambling Monster.
“Doing it here is fine, but interfering with the matter in the annex building exceeds your authority, Sir Herrian…”
“It doesn’t, though.”
Raon walked up to Balder with a frightening smile on his face.
“Special inspector, you seemed to be gravely mistaken. Our general administrator is affiliated with the annex building, not the Light Wind division or the fifth training ground.”
“Huh…?”
Balder blinked blankly while looking at the Gambling Monster.
“He is right. I’m currently affiliated with the annex building.”
The Gambling Monster snorted while looking at his former disciple.
“Let’s go already.”
Raon grabbed Balder’s sleeve and started to shake it.
“Our annex building is rather old, and we have a lot we’d like to change.”
“N-no!”
Balder frantically shook his arm to escape from Raon’s grasp.
“I’m not going! Stop it, I’m not going there!”
“No, we need to go there! You need to investigate whether the annex building is doing anything suspicious.”
“Yes, you need to finish it properly since you started it.”
The Gambling Monster went to the right side to block Balder’s path.
“Huhu.”
“Kuhuhu.”
Raon and the Gambling Monster laughed frighteningly while surrounding the terrified Balder.
Hah…
Wrath’s lips trembled as he looked back and forth between Raon and the Gambling Monster.
Are they seriously human?
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