LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 94
The next morning.
Suddenly, the orders from the rulers stirred up the entire walled city.
A single notice pinned on the bulletin board this morning.
It stated that all taxes would be exempted for the time being.
“…What’s this?”
“Is someone playing a prank? No, even the Village Idiot wouldn’t do something like this…”
“They say the captain posted it.”
“Then… is it real?”
At first, it seemed like someone’s joke, but it wasn’t.
The fact that the normally lazy captain of the guards took direct action meant it was a decree from the rulers themselves.
“Speaking of which, I filled my quota earlier, and they said they wouldn’t take it.”
“Huh? Same here.”
And there were several testimonies from others.
It was hard to believe, but it seemed the contents of the notice were true.
“…Whatever it is, isn’t it good news?”
“Yeah! If they’re not collecting taxes, there’s no downside to that!”
Despite the citizens’ excitement, they couldn’t shake off their unease.
“What if they just change their minds later?”
“If they loosen things up and then raise the quotas…”
Having experienced the rulers before, they knew very well that they wouldn’t do anything without a hidden agenda.
“So what do we do now…?”
“Guess we just wait.”
While the citizens were in a state of confusion, someone was watching them from the shadows.
‘…No way?’
Hobbs, the architect responsible for building the rulers’ castle.
He vaguely witnessed what had transpired in the castle last night.
From a distance, he couldn’t see the exact situation, but one thing was clear.
Ruler Luke had engaged in a fierce battle with someone.
He didn’t know who, but it had been an intense fight.
He ran away, thinking it was a fight among the rulers to avoid getting caught up in it.
‘And then…’
As he stepped outside the castle, he saw the battered guards return and, shortly after, a wounded male traveler exiting the castle.
The very next day came the tax exemption order.
He couldn’t find a direct connection, but he felt oddly that everything was linked.
“Something happened in the western forest yesterday, right?”
“I’m not sure. I was too scared to get close.”
The rumors circulating weren’t looking good either.
He had a few suspicions in mind.
‘Nah, that can’t be it.’
He shook it off.
No matter how many circumstances lined up, there were things he just couldn’t accept with his common sense.
Yet still, a sliver of doubt remained. Not just with him, but with many others too.
*
“I’m heading out! Keep the house safe!”
“Good luck today! See you at dinner.”
“Everyone, be careful out there.”
Early in the morning, Hanarin and Hazuki finished their preparations and left the house.
They would take on their assigned roles and return by evening.
“Let’s head out too.”
“Yes…!”
Remaining at home, Kim Il-shin and the Village Idiot soon followed.
Their destination was the forest, a bit away from home.
A place where sunlight barely filtered through the dense trees.
Upon arriving, Kim Il-shin announced without warning.
“From today, we start training.”
“…Training?”
The Village Idiot cautiously responded.
He had been told that he had a role fitting for him, but he didn’t know what it was yet.
Of course, whatever it was, he planned to work hard at it.
But training? That was unexpected.
“To escape from the rulers, the citizens need to get stronger. And you’ll be the starting point for that.”
It was obvious. The Village Idiot understood that.
The reason for his hesitation lay elsewhere.
“Can I really get stronger? I mean… can I fight against the monsters?”
If time passed and he didn’t get stronger, he would disappoint Kim Il-shin.
Plus, he was weaker than others his age.
“You don’t need to worry about that. The training method I’m going to teach you is something anyone can become strong at if they just put in the effort.”
“…Is there really such a thing?”
If there were, there would have been no reason for them to be pushed around by the rulers until now.
“Yeah. So for now, let’s start by clearing the surroundings.”
Kim Il-shin said, looking around.
It seemed there were too many trees that needed clearing.
“I’ll handle the cleaning, so you go get some other trainees.”
“Other trainees?”
“It’s going to be tough fighting alone. You’ll need people to fight alongside you.”
“That’s true. But I wonder if anyone would come…”
While the Village Idiot could make a quick decision because he had seen the fight against the rulers alongside Hanarin and Hazuki yesterday, the others would be different.
“I’ll look for them!”
The Village Idiot declared energetically, as if to say he could be trusted.
“Alright. I’ll leave it to you.”
“I’ll be right back!”
Thus, the Village Idiot ran off. Kim Il-shin knew he would return soon.
On his way out last night, he had spotted a few children hiding around.
The kids who peered down at Kim Il-shin from the castle walls beside the Village Idiot.
They would be suitable to recruit as first trainees.
“Hey! You! Who are you bringing home?”
“Are you okay? We saw everything yesterday…!”
Just then, as the Village Idiot stepped onto the outskirts of the town, he was rushed by a group of friends.
*
Caught by his friends, the Village Idiot had to spill the beans about what happened overnight.
Of course, he didn’t mention anything important.
“Really…?”
“Does that even make sense?”
“No, it makes sense. We saw everything this morning.”
Half-belief, half-doubt. That tax exemption order from this morning held a lot of weight.
If not for that, no one would have believed him.
This was enough to consider proposing something.
“…Should we train together?”
Roam, the leader of the group. He was a boy who had quietly taken good care of the Village Idiot.
Unlike the others who had no thoughts beyond their own, the Village Idiot shone in a different light.
However, this proposal wasn’t easily accepted.
“How can we trust that person? And where in the world is there a training method that makes anyone strong just through hard work?”
“You said you saw the travelers fighting…!”
“That’s one thing, but this is another. What about that person makes us believe we can learn anything?”
“Um…”
The Village Idiot struggled to answer. Instead, he grabbed Roam’s wrist.
“Let’s just go and learn first! If it doesn’t feel right, we won’t learn any further!”
“Hey, hey…!”
“You all have nothing to do, right? I’m just asking you to train with us. Why are you going on about it so much?”
In the first place, it was hard to explain with words.
He believed that if they went to meet Kim Il-shin, their friends’ opinions would change.
“Alright, alright! Just let me go! Huh. If it doesn’t seem right, I’ll bail immediately. Got it?”
“Sure!”
“Geez…”
Successfully persuading Roam, the Village Idiot headed towards the western forest with him.
The other friends were following along somewhat hesitantly.
“This was the way…”
“Can we really train in a place like this?”
“Yep. He said he’d be prepared.”
“Prepared? Prepared for what…?”
Roam, who had been grumbling, fell silent.
His eyes caught an unbelievable sight.
With a thundering crash! Boom!
Dozens of logs floated in mid-air, splitting and stacking in perfect order.
“Whoa…”
“Are you freaking kidding me…?”
As a gentle breeze blew, huge trees soared into the air, their branches hurriedly chopped off and sorted according to size.
After several repetitions of this process, a wide open space had appeared before them.
And at the center stood Kim Il-shin.
“That’s insane…”
The Village Idiot realized the difference in power between Kim Il-shin and the rulers.
Watching his movements, he grasped that the rulers had merely exerted their force without technique.
“See? Now-”
The Village Idiot confidently turned to Roam but froze.
The spot where Roam should have been was empty.
“Master, please accept me.”
Roam, who had dashed ahead, was bowing to Kim Il-shin.
*
“Good job.”
Kim Il-shin said this as he looked around at the first trainees lined up before him.
It wasn’t quite right to say it was due to forced labor, but everyone appeared to have good stamina.
Moreover, they all had solid builds.
It was because they had grown up in this high-density mana environment.
‘They’ll grow quickly.’
Once they began training and paved a path, their growth would be faster than that of people from the original dimension.
Of course, individual talent varied.
Roam, who had been the first to rush in and bow, possessed remarkable innate talent compared to others.
But that wasn’t the most important factor.
‘Determination is what counts.’
Kim Il-shin hadn’t lied to the Village Idiot.
The training technique he had prepared, the Surakong (修羅功), was indeed a martial art that anyone could grow strong with if they worked hard.
However, the definition of “hard work” was subjective, and Kim Il-shin had set that bar quite high.
“Shall we get started?”
Kim Il-shin smiled warmly. The trainees responded with smiles of their own.
But it took less than a minute for all those smiles to vanish.