Just in case, Osian asked Asmer if he'd like to try his hand at being a fixer.
He told him about all the benefits of working for Violet Fox, including a place to stay and money to spend but Asmer was still hesitant.
“Well, if the Heir says so, I'll give it a try, even if I hate it with all my heart.”
“It's ......done.”
When he closes his eyes and looks like he's about to swallow a poison, Osian feels bad for forcing him.
Still, he knows how to use the Starlight Sword, so he might be helpful, but if he doesn't want to, what can Osian do?
“I'm sorry, but I don't want to listen to anyone but the Heir!”
Asmer was not without reason.
He and his teachers had been waiting for the Heir to the Starlight for a very long time.
It was no exaggeration to say that they had lived for this moment alone.With all the wishes of his predecessors on his back, it seemed a sin for Asmer to do anything else.
“But I'm a fixer,” he said.
“You're even a fixer! That's great! I can't even do that!”
Isn't this kid actually eating this?
Osian couldn't help but think.
I thought it would be better if I was cursed at, but I felt strange because I was praised for everything I did.
The only good thing was that Diolan and Lorraine weren't at work today.
If they had seen this, they'd have been wondering what else was funny.
“Whatever.”
Osian led Asmer back out into the clearing.
He told Ronan that he would explain later. Ronan nodded, knowing Asmer was uncomfortable with him.
-Hoo hoo hoo, yeah, I can't help it, of course, I'm already heartbroken.
If Asmer saw it, he'd scream at him for lying again, but Osian, who knew the truth, couldn't even comfort Ronan.
“Anyway.”
Osian turned to Asmer in the clearing.
“What do we do now?”
“We're not going to do anything.”
“Doing nothing?”
“Oh, I'm serving the Heir, of course, but you don't have to do anything yet.”
“Not yet, I mean.”
“I'm not entirely sure either, but the reason I said you don't have to do anything is because even if you stand still, something will happen around you.”
Asmer wasn't wrong.
It was better to wait for the reaction to come, as Asmer had said, than to search around for something you don't know where it is right now.
“So what are you going to do now? Without a job as a fixer, it's impossible to eat and sleep here.”
“That's okay, I sleep on the street just fine, I did when I was trained by my grandfather!”
He said he was fine, but Osian was not.
After a moment of crossing his arms, he suddenly thought of something.
“In that case, do you think you can teach the juniors I showed you earlier?”
“When you say juniors, do you mean those little bastards?”
Asmer gave David, Jonathan, and the other aspiring knights a subtle look. It was a reaction that was neither good nor bad.
Although they were lacking in many ways, their determination to become knights by learning from Osian was admirable.
“Yes. I'm sure you'll be able to teach them the basics.”
Osian was more than happy to have Asmer teach them.
While he was naturally gifted with Starlight and other powers, Asmer was not.
He was a case of acquiring Starlight through thorough education, teaching, and training.
Naturally, he was the best person to teach the aspiring knights.
It's not surprising that Asmer would decline, as it would seem like he'd be passing the buck but Asmer nodded in approval.
“If you'd like, I'd be happy to teach them.”
“Would you mind?”
“It's better than being a fixer. Besides, I am also someone who does not want the knights to die out like this. If more people become knights, I will gladly help.”
“Very well.”
Osian called to the seven aspirants, who immediately left the room and introduced them to Asmer.
“As I said, this is Asmer, your senior. He is also your educator, who will teach you the ways of the knight.”
Everyone's eyes widened.
Asmer stood beside Osian and squared his shoulders to set the tone.
He didn't need to. Those gathered had seen Asmer use the Starlight Sword and fight Ossian.
Even though it ended in a crushing victory for Osian, he deserved to be honored for emitting the brilliant starlight of their dreams.
“From now on, I will leave the training to Asmer. I expect you all to listen to him. Don't worry, I'll still come by periodically whenever I have time.”
“You don't have to worry, Heir, you can count on me, I'll make sure they're all properly trained!”
Asmer's booming voice made Osian understand, and he walked away, while Asmer looked around slowly at the aspirants.
Asmer, who had been so quick and respectful with Osian, turned into a ghastly ghost at this moment.
“Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?”
His shout made the aspirants shudder.
It was so powerful that even the giant Jonathan's eyes widened in surprise.
“You are far from being knights and your bodies are as ragged as a sheet of paper, so how can you call yourselves knightly aspirants?”
“A body like a piece of paper?
He already had muscles from his work as a fixer, and his recent military-style training has made his body even more refined.
Honestly, this would have been enough to get him noticed anywhere, but it didn't even register in Asmer's eyes.
“As a knight, you should never be inferior to anyone in terms of physical ability! You may have reached an absolute level as a human, but you are far from being able to defeat something stronger than that!”
You must bend iron with your bare hands, lift boulders as light as air, and leap through the air on two legs.
“Well, is it possible?”
David asked, and Asmer replied emphatically.
“Yes, it is possible! I'll make it happen!”
He'll make it happen?
“If you say you'll make it, will it happen?”
“It will! Because I did!”
Someone frightened asked in a trembling voice.
He could hear the anxiety about the future in Asmer's voice.
“Well, what if I do and it doesn't work?”
“What if it doesn't work?”
“Yes, I'm giving you an example, because some people might not be able to.”
“You don't have to worry about that either.”
Asmer's words were shocking.
“We'll just do it until it works!”
At this point, the aspirants in the room had a realization.
They were about to enter the real hell of training.
*
Prometheus Consortium, it’s the name of an institute at the forefront of biotechnology in Tirna's sciences.
Here, drugs and experiments to enhance human life run around the clock, and the most famous of these are the enhanced humans.
Genetic modification to create the perfect, ultimate human.
The enhanced humans were the result.
They were Prometheus's assets, but they were also their future but Prometheus was in a bad mood today.
“Okay. Is that all of your report?”
The man in the white coat sitting at the desk in an office asked in a stern voice.
He was a pale-looking man in his mid-40s.
His cheeks were hollowed out and his eyes were bloodshot and tired, but they shone brightly but he was the man in charge of the Prometheus Consortium, the master of the researchers under his command.
At Viktun Malloch's words, the chief researcher bowed his head deeply.
“Yes, sir.”
“All ten of the enhanced humans we sent to explore the ancient ruins are dead.”
Viktun drummed his fingers on the report paper.
“Is that even possible?”
The chief researcher's lip quivered at Viktun's question.
“That's.......”
“I'd understand if they were killed by the guardians inside the ruins, or if they fell into a trap, in which case we could just write these idiots off as a failure, but that's not it.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Nine Gamma-classes along with one Beta-class were taken down by two humans, inside a ruin.”
Viktun knew all about how his enhanced humans had died in the ruins, and at whose hands.
“You think it's possible?”
“Well, it's.......”
“Don't pause. I hate it when you withhold answers like that, so I'll let it pass as a warning this time.”
“It's ......not entirely impossible, because in Tirna, there are many superhumans and powers we don't know about.”
“Then what is this?”
Viktun flicked a magic tool on the table.
A bluish light flowed from the small brass-colored orb, projecting a single image into thin air.
It showed Osian swinging his sword from someone else's perspective.
‘A magical tool that harvests the heads of the dead and uses their brains to embody their memories.’
That was another one of Prometheus's biotech-focused creations.
The lead researcher tore his attention away from the tool and stared at the image.
‘Damn. I've seen it before, but I can't believe it again. I don't know if it ever made sense in the first place.’
What kind of white beam of light was emanating from a sword, slicing through a group of enhanced humans?
The savage northerner nearby was strong, but not as overwhelming as Osian.
The chief researcher racked his brain for an excuse.
“It's beautiful.”
“Yes, yes?”
At the suddenness of Viktun's words, the lead researcher wondered for a moment if he had misheard but his ears were fine, and Viktun continued.
“Look at him. Stronger than an enhanced human, upright, and handling such immense power so effortlessly. How could it not be beautiful?”
“That's.......”
“Do you know what it's capable of?”
“I can't confirm. But our Prometheus analysts say it's a new form of mutant factor that hasn't been revealed to the world.”
“No. They're wrong.”
“What?”
“Don't you see? That's the ultimate we're after!”
Viktun’s voice rose higher than usual, unable to control his emotions.
His face lit up with delight, and his eyes sparkled like a child receiving a gift.
“This city is large, after all. I never thought that what I did so thoughtlessly to accumulate data on enhanced humans would lead me to such a treasure.”
“So you're going to get right to work?”
“As much as I'd love to, it's not quite time yet. I have too many projects in the works.”
Viktun’s appearance returned to its initial coldness.
The change was so dramatic that the chief researcher wondered if the joy he'd shown earlier was an act.
“We'll have to do the groundwork, though. Check out who he is, where he lives, who he has contacts with, everything.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
“Remember, we need to capture him alive.”
Viktun watched Osian swing the sword over and over again.
“That man is the key. The key to the ultimate door, the one we seek so much.”
*
The days that followed the visit to the ruins were surprisingly peaceful.
Osian's wallet grew richer by the day, as the Archaeological League share of the gold and gems was duly delivered.
‘Now that I have more money than I thought I would, I'll have to move and get some other things.’
Osian's gaze wandered beyond the window to the vacant lot at the back door.
The screams of agony still echoed from there today.
“You can do it! If you can’t do it, keep doing it until you can!”
Asmer's rumbling yell was accompanied by a series of intense, ultra-intense strength training exercises.
Asmer was a case of a knight made by teaching, and he taught others well.
‘Even so, tying people up with ropes and throwing them down a river with rocks, is that okay?’
I sometimes wondered if this was crossing the line, but Asmer said it was fine.
The fact that no one died immediately was proof of that.
'I've decided to leave the teaching to him, so I don't have to worry about it.’
But they can't keep them training on the ground like that forever.
Sometimes they visit the abandoned factory on their own, but the environment is important.
‘Besides, there might be more people who want to become knights in the future.’
Considering that, maybe he should start preparing a building now.
‘A building.’
Come to think of it, Osian had a dream in his previous life, being a building owner.