"What on earth did Raon do to make you smile like that?"
Sheryl looked up at Glenn with a small smile.
"Indeed."
Rimmer nodded.
"Did Raon give you some water? Your face is blooming with a smile."
He grinned as if he had a rough idea of what happened.
"Ahem!"
Glenn cleared his throat once and forcibly stiffened his expression. But the corners of his mouth twitched as if trying to rise again against his will.
"It's nothing special."
"For something that's not special, it's an expression I've never seen before."
Roenn chuckled as he approached the podium.
"I said it's nothing."
Glenn shook his head and frowned.
'Was it all that visible....'
He thought he had covered his face with the report, but it seems he had unconsciously lowered his hand, too happy about Raon's achievements.
His face flushed with embarrassment, but he used his aura to calm it down.
"Alright then. Just tell us what Raon did. I'm itching with curiosity here."
Rimmer pointed at the report with his hand, which he had been tapping on his shoulder.
"Well, if you're that curious, I suppose I have no choice."
As Glenn nodded and picked up the report again, the door of the Lord's Manor burst open and Alice entered.
"Father!"
She raised her voice as she ran towards the center, somehow aware of the situation.
"I heard Raon's letter arrived!"
"How did you..."
Glenn furrowed his brows as if he couldn't understand.
"I made a contact in the Shadow Agents!"
Alice laughed, saying she had gained an informant while staying with the Shadow Agents.
"Ahem..."
Glenn turned his head towards Chad, flashing a sharp glare.
Hiccup!
Chad froze up, his shoulders trembling. He was so tense that he started hiccupping without realizing it.
"Don't pressure the Shadow Agents' Leader unnecessarily. Just read the letter quickly. That's it, right?"
Alice patted Chad's head and stepped forward.
"Sigh."
Glenn sighed as if he had no choice and turned his gaze to the report.
"This guy said he was going for training, but in reality..."
He told them everything Raon had done after going to the Siran Tribe.
"What is he, really?"
Alice burst into laughter as she looked at the report.
"He single-handedly stopped the war between the Siran Tribe and the assassins? Is this even possible?"
"That's what I'm saying."
Roenn blinked blankly.
"Not a single casualty in the Siran Tribe, it's no exaggeration to call it an achievement."
He nodded heavily as if proud of Raon.
"Even if he's familiar with fire, it couldn't have been an easy task. He really has a knack for surprising us."
Sheryl smiled, seeming most pleased that Raon had saved many people.
"It's not that great of a feat, but I can see he put in some effort."
Glenn shook his head with a calm look. However, the corners of his mouth were trembling slightly.
"Ah! I'm going out!"
Alice raised her hand and immediately stepped back.
"What? Where to?"
Glenn wrinkled his nose bridge as if anxious.
"If Raon saved the entire Siran Tribe, knowing the Beast King's personality, he'll surely hold a festival! I have to attend!"
Alice took a stance to run out immediately, saying she couldn't be late.
"Would you please just stay put!"
Glenn stopped Alice and looked at the letter again.
'Come to think of it....'
He looked at the last line of the report again.
[The Beast Alliance Leader won't let me go, so my return might be a bit delayed. I'm sending the report first.]
In the last line, Raon had written that he was being held by the Beast King Ogram, so he was sending this report first.
'Is it alcohol....'
He had only shared drinks with Raon twice, but imagining him drinking with the Beast King made his head throb with heat.
'Should I kill him?'
When Glenn was seriously considering it, Rimmer, who recognized his expression, widened his eyes.
"No! Head of House, please control yourself!"
* * *
In a nameless forest outside the Beast Union's territory.
Karoon slammed his trembling fist into the blackened, hardened ground.
Kwaaang!
The ground where his fist dug in cracked hugely as if an earthquake had occurred.
"Damn those bastards!"
Karoon, still not relieved, continued to smash his fists into the ground, releasing the anger he had held back in front of Ogram.
After venting his frustration for a while, he finally lowered his hand, black blood dripping from his mouth.
But the forest was already damaged beyond repair, transformed into ruins.
"Ugh..."
Karoon wiped the black blood from his mouth and sat down on the crushed ground.
'The pain won't subside.'
The pain in his abdomen where Ogram had hit him was getting worse.
It was worthy of the Beast King's technique, piercing through the defense of aura and body, pushing the impact directly into the interior.
'No choice, I guess.'
Karoon frowned and placed his hand on his abdomen. The moment a pure blue light rose from his grip, the blood dripping from his mouth began to turn red again.
"Huff."
After adjusting his breath for a long time, Karoon stood up. Returning to his original noble appearance, he lightly snapped his fingers.
"You called?"
Maxian, the First Secretary of the Central Martial Palace who had been hiding, came forward and prostrated himself.
"Who was the one giving orders to that wench?"
"It's Butler Berif."
"It would be best to silence him."
Karoon tilted his head as he looked at the night sky.
"Berif won't open his mouth no matter what torture is applied."
Since 'silencing' meant to kill and shut his mouth, Maxian bowed his head as if asking to trust Berif.
"I said to silence him."
Karoon's gaze turned chillingly cold enough to suffocate.
"...I'll take care of it."
Maxian's shoulders trembled slightly as he bowed his head. He was about to turn back but stopped.
"But if Raon Zieghart has already sent news to his family, it could become a bigger problem."
"No."
Karoon shook his head firmly.
"Even if he submitted a report, information about me would be omitted. Raon Zieghart isn't the type to move without solid evidence."
"But if the Head of House..."
"Father isn't someone who would act even if he knew the situation. It's likely that Raon will search personally after he returns, so cut off all connections with the spies as soon as you get back."
"Understood."
Maxian closed his lips and stepped back.
Karoon ground his teeth as he looked into the darkness of the forest.
'Raon Zieghart....'
Judging from Judiel's reaction, Raon must know that I was behind her.
Nevertheless, his involvement in this matter was tantamount to a declaration of war against me.
'If he wants to die, I'll have to oblige.'
Until now, I hadn't directly moved against Raon.
No, I hadn't even made any significant indirect moves. I thought he was someone not worth touching.
But Raon was the one who crossed the line first. In that case, I must show him how foolish that was.
Crunch.
Karoon clenched his fist so hard it made a sound.
'I'll make you regret today's events for the rest of your life.'
No, you won't even have time to regret.
* * *
Gulp.
Raon swallowed dryly as he looked at the pile of liquor jars in front of him.
'...Are we drinking again?'
Didn't we drink so much yesterday?
We emptied ten jars of liquor from last night to this afternoon, and now more jars are being delivered from somewhere.
His mouth couldn't close from the absurdity of it all.
'This is crazy.'
It's not that he couldn't drink, but seeing such a large amount made him sigh unconsciously.
'It's especially harder because of the cotton candy next to me.'
Raon looked at Wrath, who was sitting on his shoulder and snoring softly.
This cotton candy fellow, when he drinks...
-Bleagh! It tastes disgustingly bad! What do humans find good about drinking this stuff? Spit it out right now!
Then if he eats a side dish...
-Wohehehehe! It's delicious! Those barbarians sure know how to make good food! Especially the whole roast, it's superb!
And then if he drinks again...
-You drunkard! Stop drinking already! Just eat the side dishes!
If he hated the alcohol so much, he could have gone into the bracelet to sleep, but instead he stayed out for the side dishes and kept yelling, making Raon's ears hurt.
-Oh...
Even now, he was awake and licking his lips, clearly thinking about last night's side dishes.
"It's a good day, isn't it?"
Ogram smiled broadly at the Siran Tribe Chief.
"Of course! A good day, good people, and good alcohol!"
The Siran Tribe Chief laughed heartily too. He seemed to be in a good mood, probably because there were no fatalities in the Siran Tribe, even if there were injuries.
"Brother!"
As Raon was chuckling at the surreal sight of twenty liquor jars being filled, a familiar voice rang out from the right.
"Hm?"
When he turned his gaze, he saw a young man with an even bigger build than Ogram running towards them, holding liquor jars in both hands.
"Garona?"
The young man holding the liquor jars was Garona of the Black Beast Tribe, whom he had fought in the Six Kings' duel tournament. His build had grown even larger than before. It seemed like he was trying to become a dragon, not just a dragon warrior.
"Long time no see, brother!"
"Why am I your brother?"
"Didn't we have a duel where our souls clashed? That makes us brothers!"
Garona laughed as if asking why he was questioning something so obvious.
"Huh..."
Raon let out a dry laugh.
'He hasn't changed at all.'
Even when Garona lost to me in the duel tournament, he immediately acknowledged the result, declared my victory, and asked to become brothers. It seems that wasn't a joke, but his true feelings.
"Why are you here? I'm sure I gave you some work to do?"
Ogram furrowed his brows as he looked at Garona.
"When I heard my brother saved the Siran Tribe, how could I just sit still! You said you were looking for alcohol, so I brought it all!"
Garona straightened his back with a confident look in his eyes.
"That's... well done! Come and drink too!"
Raon thought Ogram would scold him for coming without finishing his work, but instead, he praised Garona and made him sit next to him.
The people of the Beast Union seemed to live by reflex rather than instinct.
"Bring out the side dishes too!"
At Garona's gesture, various ingredients were unloaded from the backs of beasts. The Beast Union's cooks immediately began preparing food, lighting fires here and there.
-Ooh! You are now this king's brother from today onwards!
Wrath nodded his head vigorously while looking at Garona.
'It's so easy to become brothers...'
Raon shook his head in disbelief. Whether accepting someone as a subordinate or a brother, all it took was offering food. He wondered if there was another demon king this easy to please.
"Another good fellow has joined us, so let's start again!"
Ogram raised his cup... no, his pot of alcohol.
"Excellent! Brother! You raise yours too!"
Garona filled an even larger pot with alcohol and handed it to Raon.
"For a brother with your capacity, this size cup is appropriate!"
"..."
Raon swallowed dryly as he looked at the alcohol sloshing like a sea in his cup.
'Won't someone come save me?'
He turned his gaze around, hoping for rescue.
Judiel and Jubel were busy talking about recent events, shoulder to shoulder, while Lisurn was happily conversing among the Siran tribe members.
"Ah, it was certainly dangerous! But dangerous as it was! When I thought about having to save people, I wasn't scared at all, and just felt the preciousness of life..."
He couldn't understand how someone who had lived as an assassin could be so talkative.
"Sigh..."
Giving up, Raon picked up the cup Garona had given him.
-Side dishes! Eat the side dishes first!
Wrath grinned, pointing at the food being placed in front of the alcohol.
"Drink up!"
"Drink!"
-Today is a festival!
"..."
Raon tightly closed his eyes as he listened to Ogram and Garona's roars and Wrath's excitement.
'I miss home...'
* * *
The drinking party continued for over two days.
Ogram and Garona drank alcohol like water... no, like air, and still didn't get drunk. It was like watching monsters in a different sense.
'Ugh...'
Raon lowered his empty cup, his shoulders shaking.
'This is getting a bit tough now.'
Thanks to the Ring of Fire, he didn't get drunk, but just drinking was making him feel drained.
-Hehe...
Wrath had already enjoyed the food to his heart's content and was now sleeping soundly inside the ice flower bracelet.
'I want to stop too.'
After sitting and just drinking, he felt like swinging his sword. His hands were itching.
"Grooowl."
Ogram let out a belch that seemed to shake the ground as he put down his cup.
"Whew..."
Garona also leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as if exhausted.
"Well then..."
Ogram stood up, rotating his shoulders.
'Is it finally over?'
Raon's lips curled up. Now that this drinking session was finally ending, a smile naturally appeared on his face.
Kuuung!
But Ogram brought out another huge liquor jar from behind. It was the largest jar so far.
"Shall we start round two now?"
"Ahahahaha! Sounds good!"
Garona grinned as if he had never been tired and came forward.
"You're in too, right brother?"
He gestured for Raon to come quickly. Raon wanted to slap his own forehead in frustration.
Raon's hand trembled, his face pale.
'We're drinking more here?'
These people were truly crazy about alcohol. They'd probably get along well with the Gambling Monster.
'Ugh...'
Raon groaned as he stood up. He had no strength left to stay at this drinking party.
"Excuse me, Alliance Leader."
"Just call me big brother comfortably!"
Ogram waved his hand, dismissing the formal title.
"I have a question, if I may ask?"
"By all means!"
He waved his hand broadly, as if to say ask anything.
"When you threw your third punch at the Central Martial Palace Lord, it seemed to completely ignore his defense. Did I see that correctly?"
To change the subject, he asked about the most interesting thing he had witnessed so far.
"You saw that?"
Ogram raised his eyebrows, as if impressed.
"It's a martial art called Fierce Wave, brother."
Garona nodded, having already emptied his cup.
"Fierce Wave?"
"As you said, it's a technique that ignores the opponent's defense and directly delivers your attack. I'm learning it these days too."
He shook his head, indicating it was an extremely difficult martial art.
"As expected of a martial artist."
Ogram stood up after emptying his cup.
"Both of you, follow me."
He put down his cup for the first time and headed towards a small clearing next to the village.
Ogram looked back and raised his chin. His confidence and pride seemed unmatched even among the Six Kings.
"Originally, the fight between martial artists is about exchanging offense and defense. Who can make a stronger attack, who can make a more perfect defense - that's what's important. However..."
Ogram clenched his fist. A colorless aura blazed around his large fist.
"If I can directly impart my strength to the opponent, I can win any fight."
He thrust his fist forward. It was a punch so slow it seemed like a turtle crawling, but just seeing it sent chills down Raon's spine.
Beoeoeoeoek!
Raon stretched out his hand, wrapped in aura, to catch Ogram's fist. But Ogram's fist ignored the defensive aura and delivered a tremendous impact to his palm.
Kwaaang!
Unable to control his body, Raon was thrown backward and slammed into the ground.
"Ugh..."
A pain like his palms were being torn apart erupted. It was an impact that pierced through his aura and seemed to strike directly at his soul, not just his flesh. It felt like his mind, not just his hands, was blown away.
"That's how the Fierce Wave Arts were created and developed."
Ogram opened his clenched fist and gave a refreshing smile.
"How about it? Want to learn?"