When the two returned, there was only one person in the training ground. He was Shale, the man responsible for the entire test.
As soon as he saw Noel and Anna, he felt relieved that nothing happened to both of them. Knowing their strength, they would venture deeper to the region, so he was quite worried.
But when he took a peek at their bag, he realized there was no need to worry about them. It was clear from the bulging in their bag that they’d got a lot of crystals.
Without hesitation, Anna took out a small pouch with ten Low Level Demon Crystals in it. “This is for the test.”
“Certainly.” He accepted the pouch with a smile. “Well, this will be given back to you after the official appointment from the commander himself.”
“So, the pair is going to continue?” Noel frowned.
“Yes. Normally, it will be a group of three, but the commander hasn’t decided whether to keep the current arrangement or go back to the usual procedure. It’ll be announced the day after tomorrow. You’ve got a whole day to rest.” Shale nodded.
“In that case, do you mind if I ask you something?” Noel raised his hand with a poker face.
“What is it? I’m telling you this, but if you want to learn about Spiritual Energy, you should wait for the appointment ceremony.”
“No. I’m sure that I won’t be able to learn everything after that. So, I want to read some books about it. Even if you don’t want to teach me, there shouldn’t be a problem if I read something, right?”
“Hmm…” Shale thought for a moment. “To be honest, because the lack of literacy among the commoners, there are no rules stating that you can’t go to the library to read things. There are, of course, a few records about it. And we’re planning to teach you the foundation of the Spiritual Energy.”
“Since there is no record, that means I can go in, right?” Noel kept pressuring him for an answer.
Shale was hesitating, but Noel’s expression ended up making him agree. “Yes There is no rule stating that you can’t read either. If you want to read some books, you should ask Evan in Infirmary. He has the control over it.”
“Understood.” Noel nodded, satisfied.
Anna was a bit skeptical about this matter, but there wasn’t anything interesting in the library. She also couldn’t really follow him to the library since it had gone beyond the boundary.
People might even think her as a pervert who loved to follow Noel everywhere. Ultimately, she decided to focus on her training.
“Since you’re done, bring all the items you’ve used there and go back.”
Noel and Anna nodded at the same time as they immediately put their luggage down and split the crystals. ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖
Due to them giving ten crystals to Shale, they ended up with only 99 Low Level Crystals and 2 Mid Level Crystals each.
Of course, Shale, who was watching the entire transaction, could only suck a cold breath as this was the first time there was a pair that could bring back more than two hundred Low Level Crystals. They even had Mid Level Crystals.
‘They surely got a lot.’ Shale thought before raising his head, sensing someone’s presence. He looked at the tower on the corner of the training ground and released his killing intent, warning this guy to not mess with him. They were the trainees under his protection, so eliminating the trainees would mean his failure in protecting them.
There was already a lot of pressure since the outbreak, so he couldn’t allow any more mishap. After Noel and Anna went separate ways, Shale immediately disappeared from the training ground.
The mysterious guy with a black suit that covered his entire body other than his eyes suddenly felt a cold, sharp blade on his neck. He sucked a cold breath because he couldn’t even feel Shale’s presence when he approached him.
“Who are you? Depending on your answer, I might need to kill you.” Shale’s expression was cold as he wouldn’t have any hesitation to kill him the moment he didn’t get a satisfactory explanation.
To his surprise, Anna managed to climb the tower as well, albeit far slower than Shale.
“He is with me, Instructor.”
“Mhm?” Shale glanced at Anna for a moment as if he was hesitating to believe it. There were too many things he needed to consider, but Anna was the genius of the kingdom. After a momentary contemplation, he lowered his sword and said, “As long as you don’t do anything dangerous, I’ll turn blind eyes on this. Even though you’re a noble, we still have rules here, Anna Stargaze. I’m sure that even Marquis Stargaze doesn’t want to fight our commander.”
“That is of course. Don’t worry. I’ll handle this properly.” Anna nodded calmly.
After getting the assurance, Shale let out a helpless sigh before disappearing again.
‘As expected, he is not an ordinary man. Shale, the Demon Exterminator… He is considered to be one of the top ten fighters in this fort. And above him is the commander of Demon Banner Army. With this line up, they’re considered to be one of the strongest force in the kingdom. If not for their role to maintain the safety of the kingdom, their influence will be spread far.’ Anna thought, assessing Shale’s strength.
“Young Miss.” The guy in the black suit hurriedly fell on one knee, apologizing for the blunder.
“That’s enough. I’m sure that you’re already aware of what kind of place this fort is, right?”
“Yes. But Master is worried about you.”
“I can protect myself.” Anna snorted.
“That’s… It’s because Young Miss has paired up with…” The guy looked away and stopped his sentence. However, his meaning was clear.
Anna smirked evilly as she said with killing intent. “Don’t you think it’s amusing? What if there is a person who plotted your entire family’s execution in front of you? And no matter what you do, you can’t surpass that person, let alone kill her? His heart will break apart slowly but surely. I’m going to play with him a bit and make him fall into despair… Yes, I’m going to break him apart completely.”
“…” The guy lowered his head. When he felt the killing intent, he felt Anna said the truth. He couldn’t help but think her action was vicious. However, it was clear that Anna wouldn’t have any relationship with their enemy, Noel Ardagan.
“If you understand, go back and tell my father not to send anyone else here. It’s annoying.”
“I understand. I shall convey Young Miss’ intention.” The guy nodded and disappeared.
After his presence disappeared, Anna’s cold expression turned to a poker face as she muttered inwardly, ‘That’s done. It should be enough to fool my father for the time being. Now, my task has increased… I can’t only mend my relationship with Noel, but I need to handle the relationship with my family as well. Such a troublesome task…’