The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations – 210



Chapter 210: I’m Really a Pacifist. (3)

Despite Ascon’s pleas Ghislaine’s fist did not stop. Ascon slowly felt his mind drifting away.

‘Why am I getting beaten here?’

The line between dream and reality was fading and the pain was becoming more and more distant.

He happily embraced this phenomenon.

‘Ah this is great. I’m not hurting anymore. Well of course. No matter how hard you hit if a person takes this much they should faint. Hehe in the end I won. I won!’

Before Ascon who was losing consciousness appeared a magnificent middle-aged male elf.

‘Grandfather!’

It was his grandfather whom he had only seen in a portrait as a child. Supposedly he had passed away about 100 years ago?

‘I told you I’m handsome because I take after you. Hehehe.’

The elf in front of him with a kind smile beckoned him over.

‘Ah I’m coming Grandfather.’

Ascon’s consciousness began to move slowly. Once he held his grandfather’s hand everything would feel comfortable.

At that moment behind his grandfather a gigantic blue tree appeared as if it would cover the world.

‘Finally the time has come to become one with the World Tree.’

Ascon approached his grandfather with a joyful heart. Now his soul would rest in the embrace of the World Tree that the elves served.

Then suddenly the world turned crimson and everything began to tear apart.

In Ascon’s flustered ears someone whispered.

“Better snap back to reality huh? Where do you think you’re going?”

Bam!

“Whoa! Grandfather!”

Ascon’s eyes widened in pain as if his soul was being ripped out. His grandfather and the World Tree were gone.

The harsh reality of getting beaten up like a dog still remained.

He thought he might faint yet here he was more conscious than ever!

This situation was truly hopeless. Even if he wanted to die or lose consciousness he couldn’t do either.

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At this rate it might be better to just live quietly.

Suddenly struck by a strong desire for survival Ascon exclaimed in surprise.

“Please save me… crazy Lord…”

Still Ghislaine did not stop his punches.

As Ascon’s screams which had echoed endlessly began to die down and the stars twinkled Ghislaine’s fist finally paused.

“Wow has it already been this long? I got so into it the feel of it was just too good! Truly elves… No humans!”

Ascon slumped to the ground sobbing. He couldn’t understand why he hadn’t fainted.

Not dying not fainting just enduring endless pain? This was truly the worst punishment for long-lived elves.

“Can’t you just be the representative soldier and cooperate instead… Why hit… ugh.”

“Hmm I got a little too caught up in testing a new treatment method and forgot to stop. Sorry about that.”

At that the elves showed looks of disbelief. To think their daylong fun was just forgotten. Plus he admitted to experimenting on a human body!

Other elves had also experienced throwing a few punches at the nobles and enjoying life a bit. That was why the nobles couldn’t handle them and sold them off.

The Elves had a few experiences where they resisted the Nobles and lived comfortably. Because of this the Nobles couldn’t handle them and ended up selling them off.

At first I thought I could live like that here too but now my thoughts have changed a bit.

‘I shouldn’t poke that guy’s temper. He’s really insane.’

Tension began to creep into the previously relaxed minds of the Elves.

As order seemed to be restored Ghislaine looked at Ascon and asked “Are you going to be human from today? That’s a fresh start right?”

Ascon hesitated for a moment then squeezed his eyes shut and answered “Yes I’m a human with pointy ears. I even want to get rid of my ears.”

He discarded his racial identity. You have to let go to survive. If the human in front of him says to change his race he must change.

“Has your anger management disorder been treated? You really should deal with that you know.”

To this question Ascon firmly replied “Yes from today I’m an anger management master. I don’t need any more treatment.”

Under Ghislaine’s guidance Ascon was reborn curing his illness and changing his race.

He even gained the ability to control his anger at will.

*

Having restored order among the Elves Ghislaine fell into a moment of contemplation.

Creating a new type of illness that wasn’t present in the Territory would take time. The Elves were too weak for demanding training right now.

At least minimal stamina needed to be developed for them to move as he envisioned.

“Hmm who should I assign to stamina training? Everyone’s busy and there’s no suitable candidate.”

Gillian was already in charge of training and managing the Knights. Kaor would just slack off even if assigned.

He needed someone who could genuinely push them to exercise as quickly as possible. While he was deep in thought Gillian cautiously suggested “How about giving Gordon a try?”

“Gordon?”

“Yes he’s the one who works the hardest to build muscle. He can definitely teach them the basics.”

“Hmm that’s not a bad idea.”

Gordon had indeed worked hard only on exercise. While other mercenaries were drinking and having fun he never took a break from training.

He believed that ‘muscle loss’ was the greatest sin of his life.

Just working out alongside him would significantly improve stamina.

“I might not be able to build real battle muscles with him but he can surely teach basic exercises. Good let’s trust Gordon with this.”

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Having made up his mind Ghislaine went straight to find Gordon.

At the fortress the Knights were enthusiastically participating in training. They had to or they wouldn’t survive.

So during breaks everyone was busy sleeping and resting not even drinking.

But Gordon consumed his break time for exercise. Regular Mana training or swordsmanship wouldn’t significantly build muscles.

He was working so hard that he quickly regained any lost muscle from when he learned mana cultivation.

For him big muscles were life’s goal and source of pride.

“Oh? Gordon’s not here?”

He wasn’t in the training ground where he always did muscle workouts. Surprised at this rare moment of relaxation Ghislaine went to the Knights’ quarters.

“Oh? What brings you here my Lord?”

Gordon greeted Ghislaine with a slightly tired face. He seemed a bit smaller than usual.

After taking a quick glance at him Ghislaine asked “What’s this? You said you’d never skip a day of exercise due to muscle loss but today you’re resting? Looks like you’ve lost a bit of muscle too? Are you feeling tired lately?”

Gordon chuckled and replied “I’m not working out much now. I’m busy.”

“Why? Aren’t you afraid of muscle loss? What’s keeping you so busy?”

“It’s because learning to read has changed how I see the world. So now I’m writing a bit. If I skip a day of writing I suffer from ‘writing loss.’”

“There’s a risk of ‘loss of writing’ if I skip even a day of writing.”

“Huh you write? What do you write?”

“I’m working on a literary novel. It’s inspired by classical works designed to move people and impart lessons about life’s truths. Heh heh.”

Gordon tossed his smooth hair back sporting a cocky look. If you only looked at his expression you’d think a grand literary master had descended upon them.

“Wow…”

Ghislaine looked at Gordon with a dumbfounded expression. Is that guy really writing?

Seeing him prattle on about literature and classics it seemed he had put in quite a bit of study.

‘All I taught him was writing and he’s really changed someone’s life!’

Gillian who rarely changed his expression looked at Gordon with a hint of surprise.

Noticing their gazes Gordon put on another smug grin.

“Although it’s not finished would you like to read it? I’m curious about your literary insight Lord. Feel free to give me your opinion.”

His tone seemed to have gotten even cockier. Ghislaine nodded reluctantly.

Then Gordon reached into his crotch area and fiddled around a bit before pulling out a small book.

‘Why does that guy always pull something out from there? How does he fit everything in there? Does he have some kind of pocket dimension sewn in?’

Ghislaine took the book with a grim look.

Once she saw the title on the cover her body froze momentarily.

[Transparent Swordmaster]

“……The title is quite something.”

“Heh heh the content is even more amazing. Read it quickly.”

“No… I’m a bit busy right now; I’ll read it later. But it seems you don’t know much about Masters. Being transparent doesn’t mean much.”

“What? What are you talking about? If it’s transparent you can’t see it! That makes it super strong!”

“Even if it’s transparent you can still sense its presence; that’s not an issue at that kind of realm. It lacks a bit of plausibility…”

Before she could finish Gordon retorted angrily.

“This transparent master doesn’t give off any presence! It becomes transparent in every aspect! So you can’t feel it at all! That’s the setting! What plausibility?”

“……Okay.”

If the creator says so she had nothing more to say. Ghislaine got lost in her thoughts for a moment.

‘Not visible and no presence? Then it’s better to create a realm of mana and trap it using a sense of incongruity… But that would require an enormous amount of mana… Wait there could be another method!’

If such a being truly existed it would be terrifying. How would one fight against such an opponent?

Ghislaine felt herself on the verge of a new method or realization.

She was like everyone else craving a good fight and overflowing with competitive spirit. It would be incredibly frustrating to be unable to even touch a transparent opponent. That was something she absolutely couldn’t stand.

As she imagined a hypothetical enemy and prepared to fight she quickly shook her head. A wave of self-doubt washed over her.

‘What the heck am I doing? What transparent Swordmaster? Where on earth could that exist?’

As much as she thought it would be better to abandon it she found herself lingering on the idea.

The corner of her mind felt like it was tickling her. It seemed like a realization was just a bit more probing away.

Ultimately Ghislaine decided to be honest with herself.

‘Hmm I should read this novel when I have time and try some virtual training. If it goes well I might find a new way to use mana. That sounds fun.’

Having found herself a hobby Ghislaine gathered the book and continued.

“First I want to assign you a new mission.”

“Huh? What mission? I’m busy training and writing… If I skip a day there’ll be ‘loss of writing’…”

“Be the training instructor for the elves. If you don’t want to find someone else.”

“Instructor. If you don’t want to do it then let someone else handle it.”

“Huh? I’ll do it! I’ll take it on!”

Gordon instantly broke into a big grin and rubbed his palms together.

He had become a knight but he hadn’t really held a position within the territory.

He needed something like this to puff his chest out and show off. Plus knowing the lord’s personality if he took on more work he’d likely get more pay.

Honestly he had been envious of Gillian for a while watching him run the other knights.

‘If I were in charge I could handle them way better than that old man!’

There was no way Gordon would let this opportunity slip by.

“But aren’t elves supposed to use spirits or something? Is it okay to make them go through tough stamina training?”

“Spirits? What are you talking about… Those guys don’t know how to do anything so make sure to push them hard.”

It’s natural for anyone who hears the word elf to think of spirits because they boast high spirit affinity.

However the elves that had come this time were so far gone into booze and smoke that they probably hadn’t seen nature in years having lost that ability long ago.

Ghislaine raised his fist as a warning to Gordon.

“Don’t get mesmerized by their looks and mess this up okay? You might end up in special training yourself.”

“Understood! Don’t worry!”

Gordon declared confidently even snorting.

Soon the elves began to gather at the training ground. Gordon excited to be teaching someone for the first time shouted without hiding his enthusiasm.

“I am Gordon your training instructor from now on! I’m the strongest man after the lord in this territory so just trust me and follow my lead!”

The elves’ faces fell. They were professionals at slacking off and really had no interest in stamina training.

The representative who should have been opposing him Ascon looked like his soul had left his body staring blankly.

Clueless Gordon unaware of the atmosphere jumped straight into training.

“From now on just do what I do! Got it! No answer?”

“Y-Yes….”

“What’s with that voice! Say it louder! I said LOUDER! Ah! Ah! Like this louder!”

“Ah!”

“That’s it! Put some spirit into it!”

Gordon was overly excited. Having someone follow his orders gave him an intense thrill.

“Alright! Since today is the first day let’s start with 100 push-ups nice and easy! Just watch and follow what I do! One! Two! Three! Four! What are you doing? Hurry up and follow me!”

Being as clueless as he was he focused solely on demonstrating completely ignoring the others.

The elves began awkwardly following Gordon.

“One….”

“Two….”

“Three… I can’t do it!”

Most of the elves couldn’t even finish ten before collapsing. For their delicate frames even push-ups were far too strenuous.

Gordon felt a deep frustration.

“What the hell! Why can’t you even do 100! Damn it! You useless bunch! Get up! First we’ll run! Let’s do 100 laps!”

He forced them to get back up and run alongside him. However by the second lap elves began falling like flies.

“Hey! You worthless bunch! Gillian makes us train even harder! Rest for a second then we’ll do it again!”

Gordon was overwhelmed with impatience yelling non-stop.

He had finally been given a task. He thought he was finally being recognized but now he was worried about getting fired for not doing it properly.

The elves felt the same way. The thought of continuing like this drove them mad. Plus that guy only seemed to know the number 100.

This couldn’t go on. He needed to find a way.

The collapsed elves exchanged glances and began to subtly tempt Gordon.