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Chapter 21
“D-Did we… survive?”
Ralph wiped away the tears he had shed in secret.
What a pathetic fool. Still, the fact that he’d stepped up, saying he’d protect someone—it was laughable, but also something.
“Yes. We survived.”
“A… a trial like this…”
Ralph let out a sigh of relief, then drew a deep breath and planted his hands on his hips.
“Did you see that? This is who I am!”
Oh, really?
And who was it that had been bawling and wailing just a moment ago?
Now he was strutting around like a rooster.
“Sure, sure.”
I ignored Ralph and glanced toward the red robe.
Those cherry-red lips of his were trembling. So even he had been afraid.
Well, who wouldn’t be shaken in a place like this?
But… Andrew and Einstein, those two weren’t normal either.
Andrew remained calm as ever, while Einstein prayed to his gold as if it were a god.
Those two were something else.
Andrew aside, Einstein in particular—he was doing exactly what he always did.
Consistent, if nothing else.
But… it seemed there were some who couldn’t accept this trial.
“I-I can’t accept this!”
A voice, shrill with resentment.
I turned my head—it was the boy who had held out until the end but then rang the gray bell.
His face burned red like a tomato with indignation.
The boy shouted:
“This is a scam, isn’t it? How can this be? How is this courage?! This isn’t courage at all! Don’t you all agree?”
When he turned to the other dropouts, they hesitated, almost ready to nod in agreement.
And then—
Thud…!
“Eeek…!”
Something slammed into the ground in front of the boy like a falling boulder.
It was Janitz. He bent his head slightly, lowering himself to the boy’s eye level.
The corners of his mouth twitched upward, and then mana rippled from his body, surging like a tide.
“Those who live in fear are always the same—they do nothing but make excuses. And the more they do, the higher the worth of the courageous becomes. How do you not understand this?”
“Uh… u-uh…”
The man who had seemed so benevolent just moments before had transformed in an instant. The boy’s lower half grew wet with fear.
Pathetic.
Seeing that, Ian quietly slipped off his cloak and draped it over the boy’s shoulders.
Considerate, wasn’t he…
If it had been me, I would’ve humiliated him publicly.
Janitz raised his voice, addressing all the participants.
“The Valley of Trials is not the whole of your lives. But…! That doesn’t mean you can disgrace this test. No—you should be applauding it!”
As Janitz spoke, the eliminated children sniffled and nodded. Once they all agreed, Janitz gave the complaining boy a pat on the shoulder.
“There will be another chance. Even this, right now, is a kind of courage. We’ll see you again.”
Had the boy realized his own folly?
Blushing, he bowed his head in shame and apologized.
“F-Forgive me…”
And with that, the eliminated children—those who hadn’t even managed to step foot into the Valley of Trials—departed.
Like a sieve filtering out the dregs, only the true participants now remained.
Children who had already proven their hearts.
Fewer than fifteen. From more than a hundred at the start, only this many were left after the very first trial.
Once all was settled, Ian Pador wore a gentle smile.
“Congratulations to those who passed the first trial. With this alone, you’ve proven your courage. If you wish, you may receive Pador’s support and grow into knights.”
Some of the boys clenched their fists tight.
Of course—they saw this as a chance to rise from obscurity, a chance for a dragon to emerge from the shallows.
And for Pador, such children with those kinds of hearts were certainly worth cultivating.
Those boys had already achieved their immediate goal.
But the human heart always seeks more, and now they were all looking to the next.
Just two more.
If they could overcome just two more trials, they would clear the Valley of Trials.
We followed Ian to the next site. It was the very wall that had blocked the flood moments earlier. A curious sight—there was a ladder leading all the way up to its peak.
Ian stopped at the base of the ladder and spoke to us.
“Once you climb this ladder, it will no longer be as simple as the first trial. From that moment, neither the knights of Pador here, nor even I, will be able to intervene. Think carefully before you proceed.”
He gave the warning again, but—
“How fascinating, truly fascinating…!”
Einstein was the first to charge forward.
Andrew and Ralph followed close behind. At this point, not a single child thought of quitting.
I too… slowly began climbing the ladder at the rear.
And in that moment, my eyes met Ian’s.
He smiled. I smiled.
I wasn’t the only one hiding fangs, Ian Pador.
.
.
.
A trick of the mind?
Ian Pador felt a chill run down his spine when his gaze met Deyan’s.
Impossible.
He must simply be tired.
Still… it was unexpected, Deyan.
To think he’d clear the first trial so easily.
He hadn’t stood out, but he hadn’t embarrassed himself either.
That Deyan…?
Of course, it wasn’t a trial decided by skill alone, but he looked so different from the boy who had once lacked all confidence.
Especially when their eyes had met earlier—it had almost felt like staring at a viper hiding its fangs.
Could Deyan…?
No. Impossible.
It was absurd paranoia. Deyan was a boy he had watched for over a decade, a boy he had kept a close eye on.
The plan couldn’t possibly go awry. That boy was nothing more than a child poisoned by his own frailty.
He would be weeded out at the second trial anyway.
He had to be.
Because Ian had already set his scheme for the third.
This was nothing more than a prewritten script.
Did they know?
That they were walking willingly into the jaws of a great beast.
It begins now…
Ian Pador looked to the sky. The sun was setting.
Like that sun, Pador shone brilliantly.
But now the sun was fading, and night was about to begin.
***
In front of the participants lay a small ferryboat.
Seeing it brought back memories. Wasn’t this the place where I had failed back then…?
Thinking about it, it was a trial that was impossible to clear back in those days. No, in truth, hardly anyone could pass it. How could anyone?
The second trial’s question was simple.
Courage is proven. Now show your skill.
And once again, Pador intended to thrust the boys into an extreme situation.
Unaware of this… Einstein grumbled lazily.
“We’re supposed to ride this thing?! It’s so narrow you can’t even lie down!”
Wasn’t he sick of himself yet?
Even though he’d come here to take a trial, he never stopped complaining.
One of Pador’s knights pointed calmly at the gray bell, without a flicker of emotion.
“If you dislike it, you may return. No one will stop you.”
“As if I’d quit…!”
Still grumbling, Einstein stepped aboard. The others also climbed in without hesitation.
I deliberately took the seat beside the red-robbed figure.
Once we were all on board, the knight pointed to the burlap sacks set before us.
“Now, each of you open the sack.”
Ah… I remembered.
I had been shocked the first time too. This part left an impression.
Inside the sacks—
“Handcuffs?”
“What the…?”
Yes. Handcuffs. Thick, heavy, solid ones, like those used to bind criminals.
The knight, his voice more command than explanation, ordered the bewildered participants:
“Put them on.”
And so everyone obeyed without protest. Even the red robe snapped them onto his wrists.
Watching him fasten the cuffs, I casually tried starting a conversation.
“Your wrists are pretty thin.”
But the reply that came back was anything but friendly.
“Not your business. Stay out of it.”
A voice edged with thorns.
Cold. Sharp.
Ralph saw this and burst out laughing outright.
“Yeah, it’s none of your business, so why butt in?”
“Shut up, Ralph.”
“You bastard, why do you keep butting in everywhere?!”
Thump…!
The knight stomped once. With just that single motion, all the noisy chatter instantly died down.
“This is a sacred testing ground. Such chatter is not tolerated.”
Ralph glanced nervously at the knight, then lowered his head.
“…Yes, sir.”
At times like this, he really did act like a child.
Once silence fell, the knight addressed us again.
“The second trial is to cross this river. If you wish to quit, press the white piece protruding from your shackles.”
With that, the knight pushed the boat.
Perhaps because it was imbued with mana, the small ferry glided smoothly, even with all of us aboard.
But Einstein, noticing something strange, craned his neck and looked around.
“Wait a second, where’s the ferryman?”
Yet the knight who should have answered gave only silence.
The ferry simply drifted farther and farther away from the wall.
“So this is part of the trial, huh…?”
Having cleared the first gate, the children were quick to accept it, recovering from their surprise without panic.
They sat quietly, gazing out at the valley. Mist was beginning to rise.
Then Andrew, seated at the front, suddenly pointed at me and shouted.
“Wait, you’re that guy from before…?”
He just figured it out now?
Sharp as ever.
With a baffled look, I answered Andrew.
“Yeah. We meet again here.”
“Ha! So you were aiming for the same path as me after all?”
Andrew moved closer to me, acting familiar, and Ralph—clearly jealous—squeezed his way between us.
“Hey, you! You’re from Tral, right? Then forget him, greet me instead! Show some respect!”
“…And you are?”
“I’m Ralph Pador. Ralph Pador!”
Andrew tilted his head, then slapped his knee.
“Oh? I’ve heard of you. You’re the one who got humiliated by Ed, right?”
“T-That was a mistake, just a mistake…!”
Einstein chuckled too and opened his mouth.
“I’ve heard of you too. They said there was a Pador heir who got utterly humiliated… turns out that was you.”
“You money-grubbing bastard—how dare you insult Pador?!”
“Speak properly. I wasn’t insulting Pador—I was insulting you.”
Ralph stood up, shackles and all.
“If you’re so confident, why don’t we settle this right now?!”
The boat rocked. Rocked hard.
How could anyone be so hot-headed? Incredible. That Ian Pador’s son turned out to be Ralph…
Like father, like son. The phrase suited him far too well.
Go on, fight. I won’t stop you.
Einstein looked disgusted at Ralph’s behavior.
“No class whatsoever. How could Pador produce trash like you? And you’re Ian’s son on top of that…”
“What’s wrong with that?! Better than you, who’s got nothing but money!”
“Listen to yourself.”
Shackled or not, they fought on, their scuffle shaking the boat even more. The other children looked like they wanted to break it up, but… why bother?
What if they ended up hurting each other badly?
It didn’t matter.
This boat was going to sink anyway.
“Bring it on, bastard!”
“You think I won’t?!”
As the two nearly came to blows, Andrew scratched his head in the corner.
“Hold on. You two… maybe stop that.”
“And who the hell are you now?!”
“Shut up, you damned Tral brat! Nobody asked you!”
Ignoring their curses, Andrew pointed beneath his feet.
“No, seriously… looks like this boat is leaking.”
“…Huh?”
Everyone’s gaze followed his finger.
The wooden boards beneath us were rotting away, water seeping in fast.
That was it.
The children’s eyes widened.
“Wh-What the—patch it! Patch it up…!”
“With what?! We’ve got nothing!”
“Sit on it, use your ass or something!”
“Wait, wait…!”
As the children flailed in panic, the red robe’s eyes darted around.
We were stranded in the middle of the river—no place to go.
The red robe muttered under his breath.
“That’s why they shackled us…”
“What?”
Ralph turned to him, and the red robe’s sharp voice cut back:
“They planned to drown us from the start.”
The children didn’t even have time to process his words when—
Craaaack!
The boat split apart.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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