I slapped Charon on the back of the head.
He toppled forward with a yelp, then muttered, "Why are you hitting me all of a sudden?"
"Just because," I spat.
"Just because? N-no. This must have some hidden meaning in this too. Let me think about it," he muttered.
I shook my head.
Had I pushed him too hard over the past two days? It seemed like he'd gone a little mad.
Ignoring the bewildered stares of the hero disciples, I replayed the events of the last couple of days. There wasn't much to recall—teaching, offering advice, and beating him up.
Honestly, I didn't enjoy teaching others and never thought I had a knack for it, either. My face reddened at the thought of me lecturing or advising someone.
I knew teaching wasn't anything grand, but words held weight. When I comforted Mir, only for her to die in the end, I realized that even well-meaning words couldn't always guarantee a good outcome.
However, did this mean it was wrong to encourage and cheer for others?
If I feared my words would have an impact, I'd be mute for the rest of my life.
I was selfish and lacked the confidence to live like that. So, I decided to approach everything with the right mindset.
I also treated Charon with a balanced approach, teaching and advising him in moderation, beat— No, I went a little overboard with the beatings.
Still, it seemed to have sparked something in him.
No, wait a minute.
Back then, I ended up acknowledging Bai Luguang as my master after he beat me up. Maybe it wasn't so strange that Charon started calling me Brother Luan after I spent all day doing the same.
As expected of Master.
Once again, I felt like I'd uncovered a new truth in the teachings of the great Bai Luguang.
***
Just as the empire didn't have an official name, its institutions were similarly nameless. After all, the only city that could truly be called a capital was the capital itself, and so, people simply referred to it as such.
The hero disciples traveling to the capital had filled the ten available spots at the academy.
The members were the following. First of all, there were Charon, Hector, and me, the top three. Next were Evan, Charles, and Mir, who had been in the same group as me before my regression. Pam and Charis, both of whom had constantly expressed a desire to go to the capital, made the list as well.
Among the remaining, there was Seren, who seemed to have her own hidden agenda, and lastly, Charon's friend, Zeros Silver, the heir to a powerful merchant family.
It struck me as odd how many of them I had crossed paths with before. But looking at it now, it wasn't all that surprising.
After my regression, I hadn't had any deep conversations with Charles or Mir, and the same went for Hector and Seren. This left me mostly connected to Evan, Charis, Pam, and even Charon.
In fact, these were the people who spoke the most in the carriage.
***
Two days passed since our journey had started.
"Won't bandits show up soon?" As usual, Charis blurted something absurd.
"Bandits? What bandits?"
"Don't you read novels? We're strong enough now. We've trained like dogs—it's time to put our skills to the test against the right kind of enemy." Charis spoke with unwavering confidence. "Bandits are perfect for that. It's always like that in the stories."
"What kind of stories are you even reading?"
" The Knight Who Returned After Ten Years. "
Pam sneered. "Sounds like a real page-turner."
Evan jumped in, scoffing like the whole idea was beneath him. "Yeah, because any bandit would be dumb enough to attack after seeing the Badnikers' emblem."
He had a point. We hadn't left the Badnikers' territory yet.
Not that it mattered much.
"Are there even any bandits around here?"
"There are always bandits," someone replied.
It was Zeros who answered my mumbled question.
Perhaps it was because Charon had started following me around that Zeros had been talking to me more in the past two days.
I was also looking for a way to spend my 5,000 gold, so it made sense to get to know the heir of such a powerful family.
Zeros added, "But the empire's pretty stable these days. We won't be attacked."
"Ah, I see."
His explanation made sense to me, but Mir tilted her head in confusion. "What does the empire's condition have to do with bandits?"
Unexpectedly, Zeros calmly explained, "Normally when a country is in turmoil and people go hungry, even regular folks turn to looting. People like that stop thinking rationally and will attack anyone, indiscriminately."
" Mm... I see."
"On the other hand, the ones who steal during stable periods are professionals. And pros don't mess with people who look like trouble. If they were that reckless, they'd have been wiped out long ago."
"Got it," Mir said, nodding with a blank look that said she understood nothing.
Anyway, during the carriage ride, I realized that the ten who'd stayed behind at the main house had grown closer in their own way. Each person still had their own circle, but even those outside those groups had gotten comfortable enough to call each other by name and strike up casual conversations.
I suspected it was thanks to the quiet improvement in the relationship between Hector and Charon. Now that the two leaders no longer disliked each other, everyone else naturally relaxed and followed suit.
Guess the only one still on the fringes is Seren, I thought.
There was a small window between the carriage partitions, and I caught a glimpse of Seren's silhouette through it.
She lounged against the backrest, staring out the window.
She was a strange one. She barely spoke, maybe a few words a day, yet never seemed lonely. Every so often, she'd mutter something under her breath.
Could it be that forgotten god? I wondered.
If nothing had changed, she should have already made contact with that forgotten god at the altar by now. The one who had granted the power of the howling storm—the force that had wiped out the demons and driven away the demon king.
At that moment, the carriage jolted to a sudden stop.
The large carriage spread out the force of the stop, but Mir, who had been drinking water, ended up splashing her own face instead.
" Ugh! "
"W-what the heck?"
Charis sprang to his feet among the flustered hero disciples, muttering frantically, "B-bandits...!"
"What?"
"At last, the moment of this hero's grand debut—"
"Sit down, you maniac." I shoved him back into his seat and tried to calm him down.
Was it really bandits?
"What is going on out there?" I asked.
The coachman responded in a troubled voice, "That..."
Instead of looking ahead, he kept glancing nervously behind him, clearly focused on someone in the group.
Then it clicked. He was staring at Seren.
I turned forward and understood the meaning of the coachman's gaze and why the carriage had stopped.
A large white carriage blocked a sizable slope. It stood in stark contrast to the Badnikers' black one. All its horses were white, and the carriage bore the emblem of a daisy.
Even someone like me, who couldn't care less about the world, recognized it. It was the emblem of the Goodsprings.
I glanced back. Seren's expression had stiffened.
The massive carriage's doors swung open swung open, and people started to file out. The one thing they all had in common was their age—roughly the same as ours.
Before I knew it, Pam had crept up beside me, poking her head out. "Ah, perhaps..."
"Do you know what is going on?" I asked.
" Hmm... I think they're the hero disciples who just finished the certification ceremony," she speculated.
"What is the certification ceremony?"
"That's the Goodsprings' version of the Badnikers' training camp," she explained.
"They have something like that?"
"They do."
That last answer didn't come from Pam.
Seren had crossed through the partition and brushed past me. Her usual composure was gone, replaced by an icy coldness, and her voice was frigid.
"Why are they suddenly blocking the road?" I asked.
"Beats me. Maybe just because they're Goodsprings," Seren answered, her tone strange.
Then her eyes flickered, and I realized why. The person who stepped out of the carriage had caught her attention.
" Wow... " Pam gasped involuntarily.
The man was undeniably handsome, exuding an air of elegance and formality. He seemed a few years older than Hector—grown, in other words.
He looks annoying.
That eye-searing, dazzling blond hair was one of the things I disliked most. It reminded me of the common prejudice that those who looked like this were always greasy as if their hair had been slicked with butter.
"Apologies, hero disciples of the Badnikers. I am Barter Goodspring."
" Wow , his name really is Butter," I murmured.
"It's Barter, not Butter." Seren shot me a dead-eyed glare and let out a long sigh. "That's my eldest brother, Barter Goodspring."
"Got it."
In other words, he was the Goodspring family's firstborn.
I gave Barter a curious look.
"Forgive my interruption. May I ask who the leader of your party is?" Barter asked with a smile that somehow reminded me of Juan.
"L-leader...?" Pam stammered, understandably flustered.
We didn't have a leader. This time, the group heading to the academy included just ten hero disciples, a coachman, a guide, and a few people to handle meals. It wasn't an intentional slight; it was simply a recognition that, after the training camp, we were all capable of standing on our own, anywhere.
And really, after surviving a week in the Butterfly Forest, none of us were likely to struggle with a little travel.
"W-who's gonna step up?"
"What about you, Charis? You look the oldest."
"If it is in order of rankings, shouldn't it be Charon?"
I glanced at Charon as I said this, but he shook his head. "Brother Luan, you're here. I can't be the leader."
Bullshit.
I sighed and turned to Hector, my youngest sibling look in full force.
Hector stood up with a look of disgust.
I encouraged him. "As expected of my older brother. I believe in you."
"Yeah." Hector walked past me with a weary expression and stood before Barter. "It's been a while, Sir Barter."
"Ah, Young Master Hector. It has indeed."
From the way they spoke, it was clear they knew each other.
This wasn't strange. Hector had always focused on training, but he also put effort into building connections. It was unusual for a Badniker, but with the power of our family, it wasn't hard for him to form relationships.
Come to think of it, he has ties with the imperial family as well.
He was a versatile older brother in many ways.
"By the way, what's with the Sir ? Is your older brother a knight?" I asked Seren.
"He is the leader of the Chrysanthemum Knights of the Goodsprings," she replied.
"He looks pretty strong."
"You really don't know? He fought Heero Badniker to a draw in a martial arts competition two years ago," she said.
" Oh. " That did surprise me.
Heero was an active hero and a prodigy. From what I'd seen, Heero and Nero were on a completely different level from Hector. That meant Barter had to be at least a few levels above Hector in terms of skill.
"So, what's going on?" Hector asked, his expression slightly uncomfortable.
"Not much. It looks like you're headed for Cartel Academy too. It's a long journey, so I thought it might be more entertaining to travel together," Barter replied.
"Also?" I muttered.
"From what I've heard, the Goodsprings will also head to the academy after their certification ceremony," Pam said.
"I see." I asked, "Was that always the case?"
"No. This is the first I've heard of it." Pam glanced at Seren, her face tightening with anger for some reason.
"If either side has shortcomings, the other can help make up for them," Barter said with a smile. "What do you think?"
"We appreciate the offer, but we'll have to decline," Hector replied.
" Hmm. Is that so?" Barter chuckled. "By the way, the troublemaker of my family is in there, right?"
"That's right."
"Seren may have gone through the Badnikers' training camp, but she's from our family. We'll be taking her back now," Barter stated.
"Feel free." Then Hector added, "However, we will have to check if Hero Disciple Seren consents."
Barter chuckled again and called out, "Butterfly."
Was that someone's name? It was unusual. Still, I felt like I'd heard it before.
At that moment, a boy about my age stepped out from among the hero disciples of the Goodsprings. His expression was faint and unreadable, his eyes unfocused.
However, was I sensing that right?
Seren, who hadn't seemed particularly affected by Barter's presence, looked a bit surprised at the sight of Butterfly.
"This is the youngest child of our family," she muttered.
A small commotion rippled behind us.
"The Goodsprings' genius...!"
"If it is Butterfly Goodspring, he is a prodigy who can be called the Goodsprings' future."
"It's said he swept through all martial arts competitions without a blessing."
"I heard rumors that he is the next family head."
At the mention of prodigy , I recalled the name.
Butterfly Goodspring would become a hero in his own right, even more renowned than Seren in time.
Still, Butterfly?
Barter Goodspring, Butterfly Goodspring—their family head's naming sense was questionable. Honestly, it was a miracle Seren had a normal name. Then again, what if her real name was something ridiculously funny?
While I was lost in thought, Barter spoke again. "Young Master Hector, it's fate that we met today. If you don't mind, could you offer some guidance to our family's youngest, who is still lacking?"
"Here? Are you serious?" Hector's voice was sharp, causing Barter to laugh lightly.
"Don't take it so seriously," he said. "Think of it as a light sparring match."
Was it really that simple?
Hector wasn't naive. He'd already guessed the real purpose of the match.
The outcome of this sparring match would determine which family's system was superior: the training camp or the certification ceremony.
At that moment, Butterfly spoke up. "The genius of the Badnikers, Hector Badniker."
His voice was unexpectedly soft and weak.
"You're not enough on your own," Butterfly added.
Hector frowned while Butterfly's unfocused eyes scanned over us.
"You can send your three strongest hero disciples," he said. "They can come at me all at once or one at a time. If even one of them wins, I'll consider it your victory."
The atmosphere grew eerily quiet in an instant.