Chapter 23

The day after the festival.

I was behind my house and doing my daily training.

Last night’s test of strength had ended with me throwing everyone off of the stage.

As it was just a gathering of people who were proud of their strength, they all fought in a very simple style.

And so I could easily dodge them, grab them by the joints, and stop them as we glared at each other. And then I would throw them down one by one.

Every time this happened, the crowds cheered.

In spite of their numbers, they didn’t form teams or cooperate at all.

Everyone moved as individuals and did nothing but push.

Once I had dodged the first one, it was easy to deal with the others.

The crowd loved it. And I had somehow upheld my reputation.

(But it was thanks to my daily hard work.)

I was currently exercising to maintain flexibility.

There were times when the flexibility of your body could be the deciding factor between victory and defeat.

In other words, life and death. And so I could not be negligent.

Once that was finished, I went through all the basic martial arts, and then finished with meditation.

This meditation was how I increased the size of the vessel. While it was just a little, continuing to do this slowly increased the amount of mana I was able to store.

It was these small things that I did every day that pushed me to the heights.

“Otherwise, I would only disappoint those that I’m supposed to protect.”

Yesterday, I had felt something strange while doing a karate kick.

My leg had moved slower than usual. I thought it was due to my center of gravity going up.

And so I decided to practice until I was used to it again.

I must have kicked obsessively several hundred times.

“Hey, Golan. I see you’re doing your weird dance this morning as well.”

Saifo said as he approached.

This loser constantly challenged me with Gekokujyo.

As I had slammed him to the ground on the first day of my return, he shouldn’t be back to normal just yet. But perhaps I had let him off too easily?

As he would usually challenge me after he was completely healed, that meant I had to hurt him without leaving any lasting damage, while also keeping him away for as long as possible.

“You’ve healed already? Maybe becoming Commander and getting more powerful has messed up my control.”

I should have snapped one of his bones.

“No, my body still hurts. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to fight you just yet.”

It wasn’t unfortunate at all. So, why was he here?

He hadn’t come here to fight.

…Hmm, I could not think of a single reason for him to come if it wasn’t to fight.

“The Reapers visited my place first thing this morning.”

“Oh, I had forgotten all about that.”

“They’re still there. Do you want me to bring them here?”

“No, I’ll go. I’m sure that’s what they’re expecting.”

It was the day after the festival. And they had come in the early morning.

That meant that most people were exhausted and still asleep.

And they also wouldn’t be too surprised to see strangers here.

This was the one day that outsiders didn’t really stick out.

The loser siblings lived in a house that was on the outskirts of the village. And as they were a big family, they lived in a big house.

When I arrived, I saw a tall, old man who was standing outside of the house underneath the shadow of a tree.

He seemed very thin. Like a skeleton. In fact, his face was also like a skull. So, this was a Reaper.

I had never seen one before.

“My name is Ruma.”