The Villainous Noble’s Father - Chapter 11

Honestly, I just can’t stand that guy.

One day, out of nowhere, he showed up in front of me, a weird bird-brained jerk with no manners. He’s so strange that titles like “commoner” or “noble” don’t even seem to apply. He’s just… weird.

The day my father summoned him, he ended up being taken in as a guest of the ducal family.

He lives in an orphanage on the outskirts of the capital, but every day he walks all the way to our townhouse in the royal city.

His schedule? Brutal.

Physical training from early morning, etiquette and academics after lunch, and then magic training after dinner. His day ends around 10 or 11 PM. He’s basically studying or training nonstop from 5 in the morning.

The morning and evening sessions are mostly self-training, he just works through his tasks on his own. During the day, he studies with my private tutors. So, by default, we end up studying together.

More than 16 hours of hard training every day and the guy actually seems happy about it.

He told me with a beaming face how grateful he is to finally have someone teach him things and even get paid for it. Said he’s nothing but thankful to the ducal family.

Well, it’s fine if he knows his place…

After about two weeks of spending time with him, I figured it out, he’s not useless. Actually, he’s insanely talented. Which makes him even more annoying.

For example, when I learned the military-grade body enhancement magic “Red Eye,” it took me half a day. He picked it up in just a few hours.

According to Father, “Red Eye” relies heavily on instinct, so someone like him, who’s more intuitive, would pick it up faster than someone like me who’s more theoretical.

As Father predicted, the guy struggles with the bookwork. He’s not dumb, but his sloppy personality holds him back. Still, he’s somehow managed to scrape by on etiquette. Barely. But he’s getting there, and it’s clearly thanks to his hard work.

I hate to admit it… but credit where it’s due.

Speaking of things that piss me off, we sometimes spar as part of our training, and we’re pretty evenly matched. At first, my strategies throw him off, but he adapts fast and starts breaking through them.

He’s got quick reflexes and explosive power. I hate to say it, but in those areas, he’s better than me. Seriously infuriating.

By early March, after about three weeks of training together, Father gave us a new assignment. Even with his busy schedule, Father takes time to check in on us.

“Looks like you two have gotten the hang of ‘Red Eye.’ The school entrance ceremony is coming up, time to move on to more practical training.”

It’s here! The Trial Rite!

Inside, I was thrilled. The Trial Rite is a traditional test passed down in our knight order.

It’s a survival training exercise where rookies are dropped into a monster-infested area, supposedly with threats they should be able to handle, and have to survive with nothing but the clothes on their back.

Being allowed to take this test means Father officially recognizes our skill level.

Alright! Bring it on!!!

The Forest of Eternal Darkness.

That’s what people call the forest near the capital, notorious for being packed with monsters. The difference between wild animals and monsters? It’s their aggression. Even wolves and bears are cautious by nature. They fight only when it’s about survival or feeding their family.

Monsters? They live to fight. Getting stronger is their only goal. They’re freakish creatures.

In this hellish place, our one-month survival training began.

BOOM! A thunderous crash echoed as trees flew into the air. A bear with six legs came charging through, knocking down trees thicker than a grown man’s waist.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me! What is that thing!?”

“It’s a Four-Arms Bear! I read about it! It’s a magic beast with four massive front legs!”

“I read that too, genius! But the book didn’t say it was this huge! That thing’s over five meters tall standing up!”

We were in “Red Eye” mode, sprinting from the monster bear like our lives depended on it. No plans. No strategies. Just run. But the thing chasing us was a six-legged beast over five meters tall. Sure, we had more magic power than it, but its size and anatomy gave it a huge advantage.

There was no way we were getting away.

“This isn’t working! We’ll never outrun it, we’ve got to fight!”

“Yeah! Let’s go!! We’ll blow it to hell!”

His right arm burst into flames, while my left crackled with electricity. We turned and launched a synchronized attack right at the monster bear’s face.

“GRRR… ROAR!!!”

We poured every ounce of our magic into those punches, one explosive shot with no thought for what came after. The beast let out a deafening roar and flew backwards. We froze. The bear lay flat on its back several meters away.

“Did… did we get it?”

“I… I think so?”

Relief started to wash over us.

“Yessss—!”

GRROOAAAA!!! GYAGYAGYA!!! KARORORO!!!

Just as we were about to celebrate, we felt it, waves of murderous intent closing in.

“Hey, Leo… they… they saw us, didn’t they?”

“Y-Yeah. I can feel them. Other monsters… they’re watching us…”

“Watching? You mean hunting, right?”

“Don’t say it! I don’t want to face that reality yet!”

“You talk big, Leo, but you’re weirdly sensitive, huh…?”

We quietly checked if the bear was dead, then slipped away. We wanted to butcher it for meat, but there was no way we were carving that thing up surrounded by hostile monsters.

The hardest part of survival training wasn’t the monsters. It was securing food, water, and shelter. Father said the forest was resource-rich, so we were dumped in there with the bare minimum gear.

He wasn’t wrong, there were resources.

But monsters were everywhere. And even if you could kill one, butchering it was a nightmare. They were massive. That bear was average size, somewhere over ten meters tall. We couldn’t properly drain blood or carve meat. We just burned the bloody meat until it was charred and hoped it wouldn’t kill us.

There were berries and herbs, sure, but who knew what was edible? He tried one “just to see” and spent the whole night throwing up. Actually, both of us had diarrhea for the entire month.

Our shelter was a joke, just sticks and grass lashed together.

Clothing? Gone after week one. Too many monster attacks turned our outfits into rags. We ended up wrapped in filthy scraps that barely covered us.

Without “Red Eye,” we’d be dead. Regular body-enhancement magic wouldn’t have cut it. Honestly, even the beggars in the slums live better than we did. But even in these conditions, that idiot never skipped training.

One night, before our watch changed, I woke up to find him doing sword swings with a stick he picked up.

His technique had improved.

He always had good physical ability, but used to swing with just his arms. Now, he moved like the sword was a part of his body, his whole frame in sync.

“Oops, sorry, Leo. Did I wake you?”

He didn’t even turn to look. His senses had sharpened again…

“…You’ve got some nerve. Still have energy to train like that in this mess?”

“No way. I’m still weak.”

He stopped swinging and looked at me. Even in the pitch-black darkness of the Forest of Eternal Darkness, for some reason, I could see his face clearly.

“I thought we were pretty evenly matched?”

“Yeah, but when you win, you’re in control. When I win, I’m half-dead. The difference in base ability is obvious.”

Even someone as dumb as me can see that, he snorted.

He’s not wrong.

When he beats me, it’s always after turning the tables, when it comes down to guts and endurance.

“I don’t know all the details, but aren’t we supposed to duel at the entrance ceremony? Like, a huge flashy battle that makes people forget about nobles or commoners or whatever?”

“Wait, is that all you understood after all our explanations?”

He’s not exactly wrong, but his understanding is always so shallow. He really is just…

He grinned, like always.

“A dumb guy like me doesn’t need to overthink. I just charge straight ahead.”

“…Sigh. That kind of attitude’s gonna get you tricked someday.”

“Hey, I do choose who I trust! And you’re a good guy, Leo!”

He’s always like this. Naively pure and recklessly straightforward. He charges ahead with nothing but raw honesty and momentum. And for the past month… no, probably since we first met, I’ve been dragged along by that ridiculous energy.

And annoyingly enough… I don’t hate it.

“…If only you were more of a jerk, this would be so much easier.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean!?”

I just walked back to bed without answering.

“Oh yeah. Al, don’t throw away that stick. I’ll use it later.”

“Haha, got it. You’re such a sore loser, Leo—wait, what’d you just say!?”

“You’ve been casually shortening my name this whole time. You don’t get to complain now.”

“Wait, wait, did you just call me by name for the first time!?”

I ignored Al’s loud squawking and slipped under the covers.

Tch. He’s so noisy.

But I couldn’t stop the slight smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

Damn it. He really is frustrating.