The training quarters at Linegrime's main estate in Banapen were equipped with facilities far superior to those of most luxury hotels.
There were shower rooms, changing rooms, lounges, dining halls, and more.
Buildings designed to allow one to focus solely on honing swordsmanship and training, while maintaining peak condition.
Shwaaa.
'The water's nice and warm.'
After pushing his body to its physical limits for the first time in a while and finishing with a hot shower, Ruin felt a pleasant weariness wash over him, along with a refreshing cleanliness throughout his entire body.
Soon, he slowly dried off and changed into the freshly prepared Linegrime training uniform.
It was a comfortable outfit in all black, with a red longsword emblem on the chest signifying the swordsmanship candidates.
Additionally, a deep yellow epaulet was attached to his left shoulder.
'Is this instead of tying tassels later?'
Linegrime's swordsmen had different numbers of tassels on their shoulders depending on their rank.
From the lowest first knot to the tenth knot's hall master.
All swordsmen, except for the Northern Sword Duke Daemon, who was the ruler and sovereign over everyone, could have their positions identified by the number of those tassels.
And swordsmanship candidates or trainees proved their status with epaulets instead of tassels.
Creak.
Stepping out of the changing room, Ruin gazed at the now dimly lit sky and surveyed his surroundings.
The palace-like massive quarters behind him exuded an imposing presence, seemingly capable of accommodating at least several hundred people at once.
'It's way too much for just thirty-two people.'
Nodding to himself, convinced his guess was right, Ruin heard Geomhon, who had been silently observing, suddenly ask.
[Hey, Ruin. I've been wondering about this since earlier—what did you mean by competing with the ones who got eliminated?]
'What do you mean, what did I mean?'
[Back at the training ground, that head instructor guy said they'd select only the elite, including you, for training, right? But then you suddenly mentioned making them compete... I've been racking my brain, but I just can't figure out what you meant, so I'm asking.]
Ruin couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head at Geomhon's genuinely curious tone.
'Come on, Master, why are you taking it so seriously?'
[No, I'm curious!]
At Geomhon's indignant yell, Ruin nodded and continued his explanation.
'It's just a simple deduction. The number of instructors is abnormally high compared to the trainees, and they said they'd select dropouts and additional passers based on future test results. What do you think that implies?'
[...One-on-one instruction?]
'No. It means the other kids who've already lost their trainee status will get another chance later.'
[Is that it?]
Geomhon replied in a tone that suggested he still didn't fully get it, so Ruin didn't bother explaining further.
Then, at that moment.
Eeeeeeng!
A sudden blaring alarm echoed through the air.
Crash!
"Hm?"
Instantly, all the lights in the quarters building went out, plunging everything into utter darkness.
[What the hell is this all of a sudden?]
'Beats me.'
[An enemy attack? A night raid? No, this is Linegrime. There can't be enemies... Ah, could it be an initiation ritual?!]
"...."
Geomhon was still spouting nonsense, making a racket.
Ruin ignored him as best he could and scanned the surroundings with a deeply serious gaze.
"What, what's going on? All of a sudden!"
"Kyaaaah!"
"Damn it, why are you screaming like that?!"
The chaotic shouts, commotion, and screams coming from all around indicated that this was an unexpected event for most.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out from somewhere.
「This is a real situation, real situation. Night training commences now. Today's training is 'Target Elimination.'」
The voice belonged to the devil instructor Harken, the one in charge of this training camp.
And then.
「As of this moment, all 964th class trainees are now targets. In ten minutes, instructors will be deployed to eliminate you.」
The trainees, who had been relaxing in comfort, reacted as if they'd been smacked in the back of the head.
"W-what? Training out of nowhere? What the hell is this bullshit?!"
"Target elimination? What does that even mean?"
"Why'd they turn off the lights?!"
"Damn it, I just finished showering—what's with this random crap!"
But ignoring their reactions entirely, Harken's announcements continued.
「The yellow epaulet on your training uniform's shoulder is your life. For the next hour, instructors will move to eliminate the targets. The moment your epaulet is taken, you're considered dead. Good luck.」
His voice retained the devil instructor's demeanor right to the end.
"D-damn it. Targets? Lives?"
"Hide the yellow epaulet first. That's your life, he said."
"I can't see. It's too dark."
"Shit. Where's my uniform?!"
Clatter!
Thud!
The quarters where the trainees were staying quickly descended into chaotic pandemonium.
On the other hand.
"....Interesting."
Ruin smirked, reacting to Harken's method of heightening the tension in the training camp.
Whoosh.
A cool night breeze brushed across his face, providing a rather refreshing sensation.
"If this gets taken, you're dead, huh?"
With a smile, he lightly glanced at the yellow epaulet on his shoulder and nodded.
"Looks like top spot is mine again this time."
A training session dubbed 'Target Elimination.'
The trainees had to evade the instructors' pursuit and survive for one hour, no matter what.
And for Ruin, who retained all the memories and experiences of Number 1872, this kind of training was.
"Like eating soup while lying down."
Swish.
At the same time, Ruin's body melted into the dark shadows and vanished.
.
.
.
How much time had passed?
「Bate eliminated.」
「Aileta eliminated.」
Harken's voice echoed throughout the quarters, calling out the names of trainees being eliminated one by one.
「Kaellos eliminated.」
「Andrew eliminated.」
In no time, a slew of names were announced, turning the quarters—where the 964th class had been resting—into a veritable hellscape.
Patter patter!
"Damn it, run!"
"Aaaah."
Screams and shouts echoed through the building, shrouded in thick darkness with no lights on.
But such actions only served to provoke the hunter instructors further.
"Running won't help, you're just fleas."
"Found you."
The instructors, masked in black, chasing down the trainees, evoked the image of grim reapers coming to claim lives.
"N-nooo!"
「Pawel eliminated.」
「Gern eliminated.」
「Uric eliminated.」
Soon, news of eliminations began for those who had ranked fairly high in the previous training.
And just now, in the darkness of the spot where a bunch of kids had been eliminated en masse, two glowing eyes shone.
"...."
[Heh heh heh, this is quite the entertaining training.]
Ruin nodded lightly at Geomhon's amused laughter.
'It's definitely not low-intensity.'
They'd drained all their stamina with insane running in the afternoon, and now, just when everyone was relaxed at night, a surprise training kicks off?
'The training itself is very much in the style of the devil Harken Benway...'
As Ruin recalled the devil in charge of this training camp once more.
「Maylin eliminated.」
"What?"
An utterly unexpected name rang out, causing Ruin to react without thinking.
[Hm? Isn't that the blonde girl's name?]
'Yeah, it is.'
Shocked by the sudden news of Maylin's elimination, Ruin tilted his head for a moment.
"Aaaah, why are we doing this training all of a sudden?! I was washing my hair! Look, I didn't even rinse out the suds properly before running!"
A grievance-filled cry echoed from afar.
Without needing to check closely, Ruin could tell it was Maylin, and he smirked as he muttered.
"Figures."
Knowing Maylin's skills and potential, Ruin figured there had to be a clear reason for her dropping out so easily.
"I'll have to tease her about it later... Hm?"
The moment he turned his head toward a strange presence he sensed nearby.
Patter patter.
Three unfamiliar figures burst out from the opposite corridor.
They quickly scanned the area and muttered.
"Where the hell did he go?"
"He wasn't in his room either. Is he hiding somewhere?"
"Tch, he's slippery like a damn rat."
The three, each holding clubs in both hands, were not instructors assigned to track and eliminate trainees.
'Those guys...'
They were the ones who'd openly threatened to rough up Ruin at the training ground earlier.
'So those presences I've been feeling were from these bastards.'
The sturdy clubs in their hands suggested they weren't looking for him with good intentions.
"Focus. This is our only chance tonight."
"I'm so disappointed in Andrei today. Even with the bad rumors lately, I had expectations. Didn't think he'd be such a coward..."
"Hey, but thanks to Andrei tipping us off, we could prepare in advance like this. He even scoped out the instructors' routes. Heh heh. He's still useful."
"Tonight, we smash that annoying bastard Ruin first, then Andrei next."
"Whoa, look at the big assassin over here."
"No, seriously, in the middle of the night like this, if something happens, how would anyone know if it was the instructors or someone else? Let's properly educate Andrei while we're at it. Thinking about how he's been strutting around, I just wanna bash his head in!"
"Ooh, brutal."
Ruin's eyes narrowed at their giggling chatter.
[So these fools are after you.]
'Yeah, wherever you go, being popular is tough.'
[Heh heh heh. I wouldn't want that kind of popularity even for a fortune. You idiot!]
Geomhon burst into laughter at the lame joke, but Ruin didn't react.
Instead, he was piecing together the current situation in his mind based on the names and info from their conversation.
'Andrei tipped them off?'
Recalling how he'd thoroughly schooled the guy during the sword inspection earlier, Ruin's lips twitched slightly.
'Was that lesson not enough back then?'
But that wasn't the important part right now.
What he needed to focus on more was.
'The fact that he knew about tonight's surprise training and even the instructors' routes.'
That meant the guy had a lot of secrets.
As Ruin's interest in this Andrei character suddenly spiked.
[So, what are you planning to do?]
'About what?'
[Are you just gonna let these reckless punks go?]
'Ah, well, of course...'
Crack.
Ruin lightly cracked his neck and then leaped forward, emerging from the shadows.
Swish, thud!
"Huh, what?!"
"That's Ruin. It's him!"
At their immediate recognition and reaction, Ruin grinned and muttered.
"Looks like the education needs to be a bit harsher."
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T/N:
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