Chapter 210
Chapter 210: I’m a True Pacifist (3)
Despite Ascon’s pleas, Ghislaine’s fists did not stop. Ascon’s consciousness began to fade.
‘Why am I getting hit here?’
The line between dream and reality started to blur, and the pain was becoming more distant.
He accepted this phenomenon with joy.
‘Ah, great. I’m not in pain anymore. That’s it, right? No matter how well you hit, a person should faint after this much. Hehe, in the end, I’ve won. I’ve won!’
Before Ascon, who was losing consciousness, a magnificent middle-aged elf appeared.
‘Grandfather!’
It was his grandfather, whom he had only seen in a childhood portrait. He had passed away about a century ago, right?
‘I take after my grandfather; that’s why I’m handsome. Hehe.’
The elf who appeared before him waved his hand with a kind smile, beckoning him to come closer.
‘Ah, I’m coming, Grandfather.’
Ascon’s consciousness slowly began to stir. Holding his grandfather’s hand seemed like it would bring him comfort.
At one moment, behind his grandfather, a massive and towering blue tree appeared as if it might engulf the world.
‘Finally, it’s time to become one with the World Tree.’
Ascon approached his grandfather joyfully. Now, his soul would find peace embraced in the bosom of the World Tree, which the elves revered.
Suddenly, the world turned a deep red, and everything began to tear apart.
Someone whispered in Ascon’s ear, startling him.
“Wake up! Where do you think you’re going?”
Bright light!
“Waaaaah! Grandfather!”
Ascon’s eyes flew open as he felt as if his soul was being yanked out. Both his grandfather and the World Tree had vanished.
The harsh reality of being beaten like a dog remained.
He thought he would faint, yet he was completely aware!
This truly was hopeless. Even if he wished to die or lose consciousness, he couldn’t.
At this rate, living quietly seemed preferable.
Suddenly bursting with the will to survive, Ascon exclaimed, “Please let me live…… you crazy Lord…….”
Yet, Ghislaine continued to strike without pause.
As Ascon’s endless screams began to subside and the stars twinkled, Ghislaine’s fists finally came to a halt.
“Wow, has it really been this long? I got so into it because the feel was so good! Truly an elf……. No, a human!”
Ascon slumped down on the ground, sobbing. He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t fainted.
Not dying, not fainting, just enduring endless pain? This was indeed the worst punishment for long-lived elves.
“Can’t I just represent, act as a soldier, and cooperate? Why do you have to hit me…… Sniff.”
“Hmm, I got a bit focused on testing a new treatment method and forgot to stop. My bad.”
At that, the elves looked on in shock. He casually admitted to experimenting on a person after all that.
Other elves had a few experiences getting a bit feisty with nobility, which is why the nobles could no longer handle them and sold them off.
Initially, he thought he might be able to live comfortably here as well, but now his thoughts had shifted slightly.
‘I definitely shouldn’t anger that guy. He’s truly insane.’
With the elves’ morale restored, Ghislaine turned to Ascon and asked,
“Starting today, you’re going to be human, right? It’s true you’re being reborn?”
Ascon hesitated a bit but then tightly shut his eyes and answered.
“Yes, I’m a human with pointy ears. I want to get rid of my ears too.”
He let go of his racial identity. It was necessary for survival. If the human before him demanded a change of species, he must comply.
“Has your anger management problem been treated? That’s a serious issue that needs fixing.”
In response to that question, Ascon answered firmly.
“Yes, from today I’m an anger management expert. No further treatment is needed.”
Under Ghislaine’s guidance, Ascon was reborn, healing his ailments and even changing his race.
Furthermore, he acquired the ability to manage his anger freely.
*
Having restored the elves’ morale, Ghislaine fell into deep thought.
Creating a new type of illness that didn’t exist in the territory would take time. They were too weak for the intense training he wanted to implement.
He needed to build their minimum stamina to move as he envisioned.
“Hmm, who should I task with stamina training? Everyone is busy, so there’s no suitable candidate.”
Gillian was already managing the training of the knights. Kaor would slack off if he was given the task.
He needed someone who could sincerely push them to train quickly. Ghislaine, deep in thought, was gently nudged by Gillian.
“How about letting Gordon handle it?”
“Gordon?”
“Yes, to his credit, he’s the one who works hardest at building muscle. He should be able to teach them the basics.”
“Hm, that’s not a bad idea.”
When it came to working out, Gordon was certainly dedicated. While other mercenaries drank and played, he never strayed from his exercises.
He believed that ‘muscle loss’ was the greatest sin of a lifetime.
Even if they couldn’t build practical muscles, he could probably teach them basic exercises easily.
“Though he might not be able to build combat-ready muscles, he can definitely instruct them on basic workouts. Alright, let’s leave it to Gordon.”
With that decision made, Ghislaine immediately went to find Gordon.
At the fortress, even the knights were fervently participating in training. They had to, or else they didn’t want to die.
During breaks, they didn’t drink but were busy resting and sleeping.
Still, Gordon pushed himself, cutting back on his break time to focus on exercising. Mana training and swordsmanship alone wouldn’t build significant muscles.
He was so diligent that the muscles he lost while learning martial arts quickly returned.
For him, large muscles were not only a life goal but also a source of immense pride.
“Eh? Where’s Gordon?”
He searched the training ground where Gordon always worked out but found him absent. Wondering if he was actually resting, Ghislaine made her way to the knights’ quarters.
“Eh? What brings you here, my Lord?”
Gordon greeted Ghislaine with a slightly fatigued expression. He seemed a bit smaller than usual.
Ghislaine glanced at him momentarily and asked.
“What’s this? You said you’d never skip a single day of working out due to muscle loss, yet today you’re taking a break? You look a little thinner too. Are you feeling worn out?”
Gordon chuckled lightly in response.
“I don’t work out as much anymore. I’ve been busy.”
“Why? Not afraid of muscle loss? What’s keeping you so busy?”
“Learning to write has changed my perspective on the world. So now I’m writing some stuff. If I skip even a day, I might experience ‘literary loss’.”
“Ha, you’re writing? What do you write?”
“A literary novel. I’m crafting something based on classical themes, giving people inspiration and lessons and enlightening them on the truths of life. Hehe.”
As he slicked back his hair, he wore a haughty expression. At a glance, it looked as if a great literary master had descended.
“Wow…”
Looking at Gordon like this, Ghislaine wore a dumbfounded expression. Is this guy really writing?
With all this talk about literature and classic works, he seemed to have studied quite a bit.
‘I only taught him to write, yet it’s truly changed a person’s life!’
Even Gillian, whose expressions rarely changed, looked a bit surprised while watching Gordon.
Feeling their gaze, Gordon once again donned a smug look and said,
“It’s not finished yet, but would you like to take a look? I’m curious about your literary insight. You can give your opinions if you have any.”
His tone seemed to have also become slightly arrogant. Ghislaine nodded, though with a dubious expression.
Then, Gordon plunged his hand into his crotch and fished out a small book.
‘Why does he always pull something out from there? No, how does it all fit in there? Did he attach a spatial pocket or something?’
Ghislaine took the book with a disconcerted look on her face.
And the moment she saw the title on the cover, her body tensed momentarily.
[The Transparent Swordmaster]
“……The title is quite impressive.”
“Hehe, the content is even more remarkable. Hurry up and read it.”
“No…… I’m a bit busy now, so I’ll read it later. But it seems you don’t quite understand what a master is. Being transparent doesn’t mean much.”
“What do you mean? If it’s transparent, you can’t see it, right? Then it must be super strong!”
“Even if it’s transparent, you can still sense its presence, so it’s useless. At that level, not being visible isn’t really a problem. The plausibility seems a bit lacking…”
Before she could finish, Gordon shot back angrily, “This transparent master doesn’t even give off a presence! The presence becomes transparent! So you absolutely can’t sense it! It’s set that way! Plausibility and whatnot!”
“……Okay.”
If that’s what the creator says, there’s nothing more to be said. Ghislaine briefly fell into another line of thought.
‘Not visible and no presence? If that’s the case, I could create a domain of mana to capture it and detect any abnormality… It would certainly require an immense amount of mana… Wait, there might be another way…’
If such a being truly existed, it would be terrifying. How would she even fight such an entity?
New methods and realizations danced on the edge of Ghislaine’s mind.
She loved to fight as much as anyone and had a competitive spirit, so it would be extremely frustrating if she couldn’t touch it just because it was transparent. She absolutely couldn’t tolerate such a thing.
While creating an imaginary enemy and preparing for a battle in her mind, she soon shook her head. A wave of self-loathing washed over her.
‘No, what kind of pathetic thing am I doing right now? What transparent swordmaster? Where actually would something like that exist?’
She thought it would be better to give up, yet she couldn’t shake the lingering curiosity.
One corner of her mind felt itchy. It felt as though she could gain some insight if she just dug a little deeper.
Finally, Ghislaine decided to be honest with herself.
‘Hmm, when I have free time, I should read this novel and try some virtual training. If I play my cards right, I might discover a new mana manipulation method. It could be fun.’
Having found something entertaining, Ghislaine gathered the book and continued speaking.
“For now, I’m assigning you a new mission.”
“Eh? What mission? I’m busy training and writing… If I miss even a day, I might suffer ‘literary loss’…”
“You’re now the stamina training instructor for the elves. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll find someone else.”
“Eh? I’ll do it! I’ll take it!”
Gordon immediately beamed, rubbing his hands together.
He’d become a knight, but he didn’t have any assigned position within the territory.
Receiving something like this would let him walk taller while showing off. And given the Lord’s personality, getting assigned more work would mean more rewards.
Honestly, he had often envied Gillian for the way he controlled the knights.
‘If it were me, I’d manage them better than that old man!’
With such ambition, Gordon couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.
“But, elves usually conjure spirits and such, right? Is it okay to put them through tough stamina training?”
“Spirits? They can’t do anything, so I’ll work them hard and for sure.”
Anyone could boast of great spirit affinity among elves. As soon as Gordon heard that they were elves, it was only natural for him to think of spirits.
However, the elves that had come this time were so bogged down with drinking and smoking that they hadn’t even seen nature, so they had long lost that ability.
Ghislaine raised her fist to warn him.
“Don’t be swayed by their beauty and mess up, got it? You might find yourself in special training if you don’t.”
“Understood! Don’t worry!”
Gordon declared confidently, even snorting.
Soon, the elves began to gather at the training ground. As someone who was going to teach for the first time, Gordon couldn’t hide his excitement.
“I am Gordon, your training instructor from now on! I’m the second-strongest man in this territory after the Lord, so just believe and follow me!”
The elves looked distressed. Having always lived a life of leisure, they really weren’t keen on stamina training.
As for the representative, Ascon, he was already in a daze, his soul seemingly left him.
Clueless, Gordon was completely oblivious to the atmosphere and jumped straight into training.
“Just follow what I do from now on! Understood? No reply?”
“Yes…”
“What kind of answer is that? Say it louder! I said loud! Yell! Yell! Like this! Yell!”
“Yell!”
“Good! That’s how you put spirit into it!”
Gordon was beyond thrilled. Following him brought an immense sense of satisfaction.
“Alright! Since it’s the first day, let’s start off easy with 100 push-ups! Just follow my form really well! One! Two! Three! Four! What are you doing? Hurry up and follow along!”
Like a brute, he focused solely on showing off, giving no consideration to his opponents.
The elves awkwardly began to follow Gordon.
“One…”
“Two…”
“Three… I can’t do it!”
Most of the elves threw in the towel before even reaching ten. For them, push-ups were an extremely strenuous exercise.
Gordon was feeling incredibly frustrated.
“What the heck! Why can’t you even do 100? Damn it! You useless lot! Get up! We’re doing a running drill first! Let’s do 100 laps!”
He forced them up and started running with them. Yet, right from the second lap, elves began to collapse.
“Hey! You worthless fools! Gillian’s old man pushes us harder! Just rest a bit and then we’ll do it again!”
Gordon, anxious at the thought of finally being tasked with something, grew worried about getting dismissed if he didn’t do well.
The elves felt the same. The thought of continuing something like this was driving them nuts. Furthermore, it seemed like this guy only knew how to count to 100.
This wouldn’t work. They needed to find a solution.
The exhausted elves exchanged glances and then began to subtly tempt Gordon.
