Chapter 143
As the moment of selection arrived, five trainees stood before Yan faster than anyone else. They were the top five in the training center’s rankings: Cruel, Lorena, Roman, Kasa, and Charl.
With Yan’s recent acquisition of a noble title and land, their ranks had risen by one. Yan looked at the trainees before him with a hint of surprise.
“Are you all okay?” he asked.
Cruel and Roman were the ones he had intended to take with him without question. However, now the others had clung to him as well. Lorena, Kasa, Charl—they had all headed straight for Yan during the time of choice, just like Cruel and Roman, without a moment’s hesitation.
“If you make us strong,” Roman said, nodding solemnly in response to Yan’s question.
He had felt himself grow stronger each day as he mastered the technique ‘Diamond’ that Yan had taught him. He believed that with Yan, who knew him better than he knew himself, he could become even stronger.
And after living with Yan for several years, the thought of serving under some other noble or a bureau chief wounded his pride.
“I can handle being a subordinate, but treat me like a slave, and I’ll bite off the leash,” Cruel said, echoing Roman’s sentiment.
Their first meeting had been disastrous, but Yan had saved his life multiple times since then. And Cruel could never forget how Yan had stood up for him at the palace banquet.
“Clean up quickly. I can’t stand the smell when I sleep,” Yan ordered.
“I apologize! Even though I knew it was rude, I couldn’t control my emotions when I saw my comrade being harmed,” one trainee replied.
“I will accept punishment after I duel the one who harmed my comrade,” another declared.
Cruel’s lips twitched slightly.
Then, he turned to Lorena and Kasa, who stood before him, and began to tease them. “Didn’t you two have places you wanted to go?”
Lorena had aspired to join the Royal Knights, and Kasa had wanted to enter the Inspection Bureau. Yet, for some reason, they had run to Yan’s side before anyone else.
Lorena ignored Cruel’s question. Indeed, she had hoped to join the empire’s strongest knight order, the Royal Knights, as Cruel had mentioned. But unfortunately, no representative from the Royal Knights had come for this recruitment.
Her gaze settled on Yan, heavy with thought. ‘What has happened all this time?’ She could no longer sense the gap between her and Yan, which she had faintly felt until recently.
Having lived among the powerful Beowulf Dukedom, she was well aware of such phenomena. Lorena bit her lip slightly, realizing the vast chasm that lay between her and Yan.
When she first entered the training center, no trainee could compare to her, except for Cruel. But now, Yan, who had been ranked in the 900s, was soaring high, and three more trainees were now her equals.
This meant she hadn’t grown as much as the others—a stagnation.
That’s why she had come to Yan. If she could observe his every move, she too could continue to progress without stagnation.
Thus, the allure of other elixirs had little impact on Lorena’s choice.
Cruel snorted at Lorena’s disregard and turned away. “Weren’t you going to the Inspection Bureau?”
Kasa Ifrain scratched his cheek with an awkward smile. “I was planning to… but somehow it turned out this way.”
He glanced at Yan. ‘He’s become stronger again.’
He hadn’t forgotten the shock he felt in the east and had trained his technique every day without rest. Yet, the gap between him and Yan hadn’t narrowed—in fact, it seemed to have widened.
His original goal had been to enter the Inspection Bureau to investigate the downfall of his family. But after hearing the conditions Yan offered, he changed his mind.
He could consume as much synthetic elixir as he wanted, provided he worked for just three years.
Three years wasn’t such a long time. So, he planned to grow as much as possible during that time before knocking on the doors of the Inspection Bureau.
Cruel clicked his tongue, displeased with Kasa’s attitude, and then looked at Charl, who stood next to Lorena.
“Why?” Charl asked, his eyes wide.
“Never mind… it’s not worth talking about,” Cruel shook his head.
More words would only bring more pain. That strange girl would just follow wherever Lorena went.
Roman looked up at Yan and asked, “But if it’s first-come, first-served, how many can there be?”
The trainees lined up behind him began to sweat. Yan had offered to distribute synthetic elixir on a first-come, first-served basis.
But there were eighty trainees who had chosen Yan. Even if he generously gave to forty, the remaining forty would receive nothing.
‘I should have chosen a different faction if I knew this would happen.’
‘Please let it be me, please let it be me, please let it be me!’
‘Just give to ten, no more, no less.’
Tension filled the air among the trainees. The time to choose factions had ended, and they couldn’t suddenly change their minds.
Yan stroked his chin, looking at the anxious faces of the trainees.
“Hmm, what to do…”
The trainees swallowed hard, looking up at Yan with desperate eyes.
Then Cruel shrugged his shoulders, glancing back at the trainees behind him.
“Why bother with everyone? Just take care of me.”
“You… you mad dog!” one trainee exclaimed.
“Who do you think you are?” another challenged.
“What? You opportunists!” a third accused.
Cruel had intended to be with Yan from the start, but the others were all blinded by the elixir.
As Cruel was about to raise his fist in anger, Yan spoke.
“Since you’ve come to our side, I’ll take care of everyone.”
The trainees’ eyes widened at his words. Especially those who had hesitated until the last moment and joined the line late, they heaved a sigh of relief.
But at that moment, Yan continued.
“However, there’s a condition.”
The trainees’ gazes snapped back to him.
A condition? What could it be?
Yan looked at them and smiled slyly.
“Did you think I was a volunteer, just giving it away? But fair is fair, I’ll give as much as you work for, so don’t worry too much.”
It was a vague statement.
No one knew how much effort it took to make a single elixir.
Nor what he meant by giving ‘fairly.’
One of the trainees asked, “What… kind of effort are you talking about?”
The other trainees looked at Yan, echoing the question.
Yan smiled like a villain.
“You’ll find out when you get there.”
* * *
Yan’s Successful Recruitment
After successfully completing the recruitment, Yan instructed the trainees to wait momentarily in the common area. He then proceeded alone to the lodging where he had stayed.
Upon arrival, he saw a girl sitting on the bed, tapping her feet rhythmically, visible through the window. As Yan opened the door and entered, the girl turned her head in surprise.
“You’ve grown a lot, haven’t you?”
“Master!”
It had only been three months since they had parted.
“Why did you come now?”
But Lia, perhaps missing Yan during that time, already had tears welling up in her eyes.
Yan’s shoulders twitched at the sight.
“Why, why are you crying?”
“…Do you know how scared I was because no one came? That scary man didn’t tell me anything, and the other dark figures just left after placing the meals. I really thought something had happened to you, Master.”
The ‘scary man’ seemed to refer to the chief instructor, and the ‘dark figures’ to the other instructors.
It appeared that Damian and the instructors had taken care of Lia in his absence, though she might not think so.
Yan ruffled Lia’s hair with a smile.
“I’m sorry for not being there for you. I’ve been too busy with work.”
Lia looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
“Does that mean you’re done with your tasks now?”
“Yes. But now, it’s time to leave this place.”
“…!”
Tears welled up in Lia’s eyes again, thinking she was being abandoned.
Yan hastily gestured with his hands.
“No, you’re coming with me, so don’t worry.”
“Is that so?”
The tearful face was gone, replaced by Lia’s beaming smile.
Yan sighed deeply.
He had always prided himself on not being swayed by others, but he felt foolish for being influenced by Lia.
Yan chuckled and shook his head.
‘Is it because she’s like a sister?’
If he had a sister, would she be around Lia’s age?
Thus, Yan and Lia spent about an hour catching up on trivial matters.
And then.
“I’ll go see that scary man for a moment, so wait here. I’ll come back to pick you up.”
“Okay! Should I pack my things?”
“That would be great.”
Yan stroked the brightly smiling Lia’s head and left the lodging.
He then began walking towards the chief instructor’s office.
Thud, thud.
He encountered instructors along the way.
In the past, they would have glared and picked fights or treated him oppressively.
But now, perhaps due to a sense of camaraderie from fighting together at the recent hearing, the instructors greeted him warmly or sent friendly glances.
He then ran into one of Damian’s closest senior instructors.
It was the person he had met when he first brought Lia.
“Going to see the chief instructor… or should I say, the special task force leader?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me. This might be the last time we see each other, so let me guide you.”
The senior instructor hesitated for a moment.
“No, now that you’re a noble, I should speak respectfully.”
“Forget it. It makes me cringe.”
“Good. It was a bit of a struggle for me to speak formally to a trainee I used to command.”
The senior instructor chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
Yan smiled faintly.
The instructor’s tone, once oppressive, now seemed warm and welcoming.
‘Is this what they call the changing of times?’
In such a short period, the way people looked at him had changed.
Yan nodded and followed the senior instructor to the chief instructor’s office.
“Then, I’ll be off. Let’s meet again if we can.”
“Yes, thank you.”
The senior instructor left.
Yan gazed at the office door with a distant look.
Until not long after his return, he had felt tense every time he saw this door.
The Damian he knew was a traitor, cruel and cunning.
Even though Yan had served as the leader of the special task force before his return, Damian was not someone to be taken lightly.
“Who would have thought such a man would be related to my father.”
To think that the man he had intended to oust at all costs was now his uncle, his nephew.
Life was indeed unpredictable.
Yan chuckled and pulled open the office door.
Creak.
Inside, Damian was waiting with his arms crossed.
“What brings you here? You want to ask me for a favor?”
It seemed he had misunderstood Yan’s earlier request for a moment of his time.
‘Or maybe not.’
In a way, it was a favor worth asking for.
Yan nodded.
“Yes, I have a favor to ask of you, Uncle.”
Damian smirked and teased Yan.
“After sweeping up all the trainees, you still have favors to ask?”
“Yes.”
There was no playfulness in Yan’s eyes.
Damian sighed deeply.
“Considering all you’ve done for me, I should grant you a favor…”
Damian scratched his cheek, looking troubled.
“With so many eyes watching and wary of me, it’s a bit premature to use the special task force for favors.”
Yan shook his head.
“It’s not about the special task force.”
“Huh? You have a personal favor to ask? I can grant you that much.”
Damian’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
He was curious about what personal favor Yan would ask for.
Yan’s gaze grew cold.
It was time to find his father.
Despite searching every corner of Armenia for the past few months, he had found no trace of him.
There was only one option left.
“Please recommend me to the revolutionary army. Whether as your successor or your closest aide.”
Yan had no choice but to enter the revolutionary army himself to find his father.