Night had settled over Yoslan by the time the hunting party returned, bringing with them enough meat to make the children’s earlier threats seem considerably more reasonable.
Several fires had been built outside the houses, their orange light reaching across the village square while Paladin recruits worked beside the children to prepare the evening meal.
Esme, Archie, and several other female recruits were gathered around one of the cooking fires, showing the younger girls how to clean, season, and roast the game without ruining it, while the children crowded close enough to watch every step.
Archie treated the lesson with patience, who genuinely believed cooking was an important life skill, whereas Esme mostly stood nearby with her arms folded and contributed occasional remarks that were less educational.
A few of the female recruits were around Esme’s age and had admitted that they knew very little about preparing game themselves, so they listened carefully and copied Archie’s instructions while the younger children tried to imitate them.
The whole scene had an oddly domestic quality after the chaos of the day, with laughter passing between the fires, children carrying bowls and utensils around, and the smell of roasted meat slowly spreading through the village.
Across the square, Lennox sat with Haswell and several other recruits while a group of children gathered around them.
Casual conversation had turned into teasing, and before long somebody suggested arm wrestling.
Lennox accepted immediately, apparently forgetting that he had spent much of the afternoon fighting bears and chasing children through the village.
One recruit sat opposite him and clasped his hand, only to have Lennox press his arm down with such ease that the children groaned in disappointment.
“No! How could you lose?! Someone come beat Lennox!”
Another tried, followed by another, and soon a line had formed containing male recruits, female recruits, and even several children who apparently believed enthusiasm counted as physical strength.
Lennox defeated every challenger, often while talking casually to Hallwin beside him, and the growing crowd began treating the whole thing as a vendetta against him.
Haswell laughed every time another person failed, while Lennox leaned back with an increasingly smug grin that made it obvious he was enjoying himself.
“Next!” Lennox smiled. “Who’s ready to get the shit kicked out of them? I can do this all day! You’re all weak!”
A nervous young recruit stepped forward after watching the others lose.
He had messy brown hair, freckles across his face, brown eyes behind a pair of glasses, and the uncertain posture of someone who was already wondering whether he had made a terrible decision.
He sat across from Lennox, adjusted his glasses, and placed his elbow on the table before clasping hands with him; Lennox expected another easy victory, but when the match began, the other boy’s arm barely moved.
Lennox pushed harder and felt the resistance beneath his hand, and for the first time that evening his smugness disappeared for a second.
‘He’s strong…! Stronger than everyone else I’ve faced!’
Lennox increased his effort, and the other recruit’s arm finally gave way, his hand meeting the table as everyone around them reacted with surprised laughter and cheers.
“HAHA! HAHA! I WON!” Lennox exclaimed with happiness and released him and leaned forward with renewed interest, studying the young man as though he had just discovered something worth remembering.
His nervous opponent said, “Haha, do you want to rematch?”
“No no no no no no no. No one else got rematches.”
Lennox thought with panic, ‘He was strong! Why the HELL would I rematch him? What if he beats me the second time and embarrasses me?! My overpowered status will be ruined! Screw that!’
“Sigh. What’s your name?” Lennox asked.
“Bear. Bear is my name. T-Thanks for the match. You really are as strong as they say.”
“I’m probably stronger than what they say.”
Bear chuckled, and Lennox raised an eyebrow at him.
‘Hm? He laughed at that? I was being super arrogant just then. Oh well. Gotta keep an eye out for him though, even if it was just for a moment, he was tougher than anyone else.’
Bear rose from his seat, only for Hallwin to come over and place an arm around his shoulders with the enthusiasm of a proud older brother.
Hallwin’s grin was impossible to miss as he gave the young recruit an approving squeeze, while Bear looked embarrassed by the attention and rubbed the back of his head.
“You gave Lennox a little scare! That is commendable!” Hallwin grinned.
“Oh, haha, I don’t think so, I lost pretty easily.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Tch! I let him startle me!” Lennox scoffed under his breath.
Everyone knew that was a lie. Lennox had won without any real danger of losing, and the other recruits had seen enough of him by now to recognize the act he had been putting on since the day they first met.
He had arrived at the Sanctuary pretending to be some grim, brooding warrior who wanted everyone to think he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, yet the mask became increasingly ridiculous whenever he was around children or Esme.
Hallwin shook his head, and several recruits exchanged amused looks while Lennox stubbornly refused to admit what everyone had already figured out.
From among the children came Tovin, who had been watching the arm wrestling matches with growing determination.
He stepped away from his friends and lifted his wooden sword toward the sky with exaggerated solemnity, drawing the attention of nearly every child nearby.
“I guess… it’s up to me. To defeat this beast!” Tovin said.
“Go, Tovin! Kill him!”
Tovin began walking toward Lennox at an absurdly slow pace, each step accompanied by the murmuring excitement of his friends.
The children parted around him as though a legendary warrior were approaching the battlefield, while several recruits covered their mouths to hide their laughter.
Lennox thought, ‘Is he serious…? Wait, I can’t talk. I was pretending to be something crazy first when I got here.’
Tovin eventually reached the table, climbed into the seat opposite Lennox, and placed his elbow down with all the dignity an eleven year old could possibly manufacture. “In these lands of war. There is nothing more that I hold dear to me than my honor. I shall defeat the beast and enemy of our stronghold, who wishes to challenge us.”
Lennox clasped his hand, already grinning.
‘Should I make this entertaining…?’
The match began, and Tovin immediately threw his entire body into the contest, his face scrunching up as he roared with every ounce of strength he possessed.
“RAGGHHH!”
Lennox allowed his arm to tremble beneath the boy’s effort, occasionally letting it descend a little before bringing it back, creating the illusion that Tovin was somehow pushing him toward defeat.
The crowd went wild; children shouted Tovin’s name, his friends screamed encouragement, and several recruits cheered along because Lennox had defeated everyone who challenged him and they finally wanted to see somebody knock him down a peg.
“Go, Tovin!”
Every Paladin recruit there knew what was happening, however. Lennox could have ended the contest whenever he wanted, and the tiny changes in his arm made his deception obvious to anyone who understood how strong he was.
“Slaughter that demon, Lennox!” Esme shouted from near the cooking fire, raising one fist toward him while Archie stood beside her.
Esme knew perfectly well that Tovin posed no threat to Lennox, but apparently that did not prevent her from enjoying the spectacle.
“Oh my…” Archie chuckled while covering her mouth out of habit like she did before.
Tovin suddenly looked toward his friends, his face becoming even more dramatic as he raised his free hand.
“Bring the blood! Bring the blood!” He yelled.
Several children immediately rushed away and returned with a container of obviously fake blood.
They smeared it across Tovin’s head while the boy sat there pretending to endure some legendary injury, and the surrounding children erupted into renewed cheering.
“I am a warrior…guide me, my knights!” Tovin roared.
Lennox stared at him for a moment before his grin widened.
“You crazy brat…”
‘I was the exact same as him as a kid…really. Which wasn’t too long ago, but still…I think I do find myself acting like this sometimes.’
The children surrounding Tovin suddenly crowded closer, with several grabbing Lennox’s arm and others pushing against his wrist as though sheer numbers could overcome the ridiculous difference in strength between them.
Lennox said, “Huh?! You fucking cheaters!”
Tovin roared again while his friends pulled at Lennox’s sleeve, and the entire group strained together in a spectacularly ineffective attempt to defeat him.
Lennox could have ended the contest instantly. He could have sent Tovin’s hand down before the boy had even begun shouting, but the children were having too much fun for him to ruin it, and after the hours spent fighting bears and dealing with the village’s little demons, he was beginning to feel ready for the evening to end.
‘Jeez. They still don’t stand a chance. I could end this easily. But…I guess I’ll let them have this win. I don’t usually get tired much, but after all that fighting and running from demon children all day, I’m ready to call it quits. But even then, I still don’t see how this was a real dangerous brutal trial like Nepherel said.’
Lennox gradually allowed his arm to descend while Tovin continued roaring as though he were conquering a kingdom.
The children pushed with everything they had, Tovin’s friends shouting so loudly that even the adults preparing dinner turned to see what was happening.
And at last, Lennox let his hand touch the table, and Tovin immediately threw himself backward in triumph, landing against several of his friends as they caught him.
“I did it…”
The village square filled with cheering. Children jumped around Tovin while the recruits laughed, and Lennox could not help laughing along with them as he shook his head at the ridiculous scene.
Tovin’s fake blood was running down his forehead, and his friends were already treating his victory as though they had witnessed the greatest battle in the history of the world.
A little while later, the excitement had settled, and everyone returned to their conversations while the food continued cooking over the fires.
Archie resumed teaching the younger girls, patiently explaining how to prepare the meat while several older female recruits listened as well.
The children had begun gathering around the cooking area again, though some were more interested in stealing pieces before dinner than learning anything useful; Archie noticed them and smiled calmly before addressing the group.
“Now then, it is important for when you all get husbands in the future when you’re older, that you learn how to make the best dish ever.”
“EWWW! Husbands! Gross!” The kids said and gagged off to the side.
Esme added, “Husbands are gross. Marriage is gross. Love is gross.”
Then, Esme looked over at Archie, and murmured, “Wait, what’s the point of cooking food for any man when you’re just gonna up and fucking eat them—”
Archie caught Esme around the neck and covered her mouth before she could finish, holding her there with astonishing calm while Esme struggled beneath the headlock.
“Haha, this brat sure does have a mouth on her, huh children?” Archie said with a tranquil grin.
The children stared at them with nervous little smiles, apparently unsure whether they were supposed to laugh.
Even the female recruits nearby looked slightly uneasy, especially the ones who had only recently started learning how to prepare game.
Esme’s reputation for saying whatever entered her head had already become common knowledge, but Archie seemed determined to prevent her from teaching the children anything that would make their parents regret leaving them with the Paladin recruits.
Esme eventually stopped fighting the headlock and gave Archie an annoyed look, while Archie continued smiling as peacefully as though nothing unusual had happened.
Minutes passed while the final preparations were made, and the smell of cooked meat finally became impossible to ignore.
Children began gathering around the tables, recruits carried bowls into place, and the entire village seemed to come alive with anticipation.
Then, finally, Esme climbed onto a nearby crate so everyone could hear her, placed one hand around her mouth, and shouted across the square.
“Foods ready!”