Growth (1)
Chapter 80
To Didier, Ray was a reliable older brother and an excellent teacher.
Even in everyday life, Didier regarded Ray as the pillar and leader of the orphanage.
However, it wasn’t until Ray left with Alesya for the Royal Magic Tower that he truly realized how immense his influence had been.
In the orphanage, children with different personalities and scars naturally lived together, inevitably leading to various conflicts.
Adults couldn’t always step in to mediate every single issue.
Whenever such moments arose, they relied on Ray.
Instead of suppressing conflicts with force, Ray worked hard to find smooth solutions.
Even if a child had a flawed character, if they showed a willingness to resolve their issues themselves, Ray would patiently observe them from the sidelines.
Though there were times when Ray would grab someone by the collar and beat them mercilessly when they crossed the line, these instances were surprisingly rare.
Ray always strived to be perfect in front of the children, and most of the time, he was.
If anything, he was too perfect, making Didier occasionally feel that Ray was unemotional.
And Ray was also the strongest force within the orphanage.
Even adults treaded carefully around Ray, and because of this, the children, including Didier, felt both awe and great stability in his presence.
But then, Ray disappeared from the orphanage.
The children felt like they were abandoned by the side of a stream.
For a day or two, they enjoyed their newfound freedom, splashing water about, but soon they grew anxious upon realizing their guardian was gone.
Karen especially fell into a deep depression, but Johanna’s condition was no better.
Johanna’s eyes looked perpetually dead during the time Ray was away.
As if trying to shake off her wandering thoughts, Johanna obsessively repeated her sword training after Ray left.
Her expression only brightened when it seemed Ray might return soon, but when she learned his return would be delayed, she locked herself in her room for a whole day.
Time passed, and the day Ray was supposed to return finally approached again.
Didier knew.
He had seen Johanna fiddling with the small perfume bottle she received from the maid at the Manor all morning.
She hesitated for a long time about whether to spray some perfume but ultimately put it down due to her pride.
Didier watched all of this with his own eyes.
When Johanna came out to greet Ray, she didn’t wave once but instead tapped her foot impatiently.
Didier found it exasperating how Johanna seemed to only do things that would make her disliked.
Yet, Ray did not scold her for being rude. Instead, he gifted her an elegant and beautiful sword.
Seeing Johanna’s overjoyed reaction, Didier smiled warmly but also felt a twinge of bitterness.
Disappointment that he wouldn’t receive a sword as good as hers.
Jealousy toward Ray who seemed to monopolize the attention of popular girls.
These mixed emotions stirred in his chest.
Sure, it left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, but Didier still admired and respected Ray deeply.
At that moment, Ray called Karen.
Most people watching, including Didier, expected Ray to gift Karen a fairly high-class sword.
But the new box Ray pulled out was only the size of a palm.
Ray faced Karen and opened the box.
A necklace adorned with a gold-shining gemstone sparkled alone in the black box.
“Uh…?”
Karen let out an odd exclamation.
It seemed her mind had completely frozen, unable to process the unexpected gift.
This kind of beautiful necklace was something rarely seen in this rural area.
Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the golden gemstone embedded in the necklace.
Only Didier noticed Johanna’s sudden change in expression.
Her previously smiling lips had hardened like ice.
Tssst!
Ray carefully took out the necklace from the box and unfolded it.
Under the sunlight, the necklace shone beautifully, causing Karen’s eyes to tremble.
Ray stepped closer to Karen.
Didier muttered unconsciously.
“Is he seriously going to…?”
His ominous prediction turned out to be correct.
Ray tidied up Karen’s disheveled hair, then reached behind her white neck with both hands to place the necklace around it.
Click!
The sound of the necklace lock clicking shut was unusually loud.
Karen felt the awkward chill of the metal sliding down her neck.
Her skin heated up more than ever before.
“Aaah…”
Karen, whose ears turned red, couldn’t bring herself to look at Ray and lowered her eyes.
Ray glanced at Karen, who looked like she was melting, and smiled contentedly.
Karen’s sunset-colored hair and the golden gemstone suited each other perfectly.
“Cute.”
With just those words from Ray, Karen couldn’t hold back anymore and covered her face with both hands.
Her body was so overheated that it seemed smoke was rising from her head.
Didier inwardly shouted.
‘You crazy bastard, stop it already!’
It was undoubtedly a heartwarming scene.
However, most of the people present were glancing around nervously.
Even though winter was still far away, the air felt cold.
Snap!
The sound of a belt breaking could be heard.
The sword strapped to Johanna’s waist, along with its sheath, was forcibly torn off.
Ray turned his head unconsciously.
Johanna, her face flushed red for entirely different reasons than Karen’s, approached him in large strides.
Not understanding the situation, Ray blinked as Johanna swung the sword with its sheath at him.
Whack!!
“Aaaah!!”
Ray screamed as he blocked Johanna’s blow with his forearm.
It was a very powerful downward strike. Her skills had improved significantly since the last time he saw her.
For a brief moment, Ray felt satisfied, but he couldn’t keep smiling as Johanna’s consecutive attacks came flying at him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Aaaah! Waaah!! Ooooh!!”
Ray continued to block Johanna’s attacks with his body without understanding what was happening.
Grinding her teeth, Johanna struck Ray dozens of times and her eyes welled up with tears.
“This kind of thing…!! I don’t need it…!!”
Crash!!
Johanna threw the sword she was holding at Ray.
Then, turning her back, she ran off, wiping her eyes as she went.
Her sleeve quickly became wet as she ran away.
Meanwhile, Karen remained oblivious to the commotion outside, still covering her face with both hands.
Sitting on the ground, Ray massaged his aching wrist.
“Why is she suddenly acting like this toward me…?”
Ray looked around.
Everyone who had come to greet him was glaring at him with reproachful eyes.
Especially Didier’s glare was intense—it was almost as if he was cursing at Ray with his eyes.
“?!”
Confused, Ray closed his mouth momentarily.
While pondering what he might have done wrong, someone nudged his side.
It was Luna.
Luna stretched out her hands and stared intently at Ray.
“…Give me a present too.”
“…”
Of course, you should get one.
Ray started rummaging through his belongings again.
As he searched, Ray felt a strong sense of unease rising in his throat.
His hand touched the magic book he had received from the Royal Magic Tower.
When they were attacked in the gorge, the book had rolled on the ground, leaving it quite dirty.
Taking out the magic book, Ray brushed off the dirt while mumbling awkwardly.
“Oh dear, why is there dirt here…”
“…”
Luna accepted the dirty magic book silently and stared at Ray.
After exchanging glances, Ray raised his arms in a defensive stance.
Luna hit him with the magic book.
Thud! Thud!
There was no strength behind Luna’s swings.
Although Ray’s guard arm didn’t hurt at all, his heart ached deeply.
Who had provoked such a strong reaction from our sweet Luna?
None other than Ray himself.
After venting sufficiently, Luna put down the book and picked up the sword Johanna had discarded.
“…I’ll take this to Johanna.”
“Huh, yeah… thanks.”
Luna grumbled as she picked up the sword and left.
Karen was still covering her face with both hands, her entire body flushed red.
Sitting helplessly, Ray met the eyes of the other orphanage children who had come to greet him.
“…Your presents will come later.”
“Yeah, whatever…”
Everyone looked at Ray with disdain and turned away.
Watching the entire scene from the side, Jimmy spoke.
“Are you stupid?”
“…I’m reflecting.”
Ray had to admit his mistake.
When buying these gifts, he must have chosen them based on some misguided logic—like giving something romantic to his love interest and equipment to his performance-oriented friend.
Since Johanna was passionate about sword training and Luna loved books so much, he thought there wouldn’t be any problems, but it seemed his score had dropped significantly.
“Grrr…”
Standing up after grabbing Jimmy’s hand and dusting himself off, Ray noticed Didier standing solemnly in the courtyard, indicating that he needed to return to Count Philips soon.
“Jimmy, please take care of Karen for me.”
“Alright.”
Jimmy glanced at Karen.
She still seemed lost in her own world.
“Well… don’t worry about it.”
Truthfully, Jimmy wasn’t thrilled that Ray had given such an expensive piece of jewelry to Karen.
It would be a headache if she lost it.
Still, knowing Karen’s dedication to the orphanage, Jimmy refrained from voicing any complaints.
*
Ray entered the Manor study with Didier.
The Count looked slightly surprised at Ray’s appearance.
He noticed the bruise forming on Ray’s face.
“Ray…? Did you fight someone?”
“Ah, nothing serious. The welcome greeting was a bit too enthusiastic…”
The Count nodded briefly and moved on to the main topic.
Frankly, whether Ray had bruises or not wasn’t the important matter at the moment.
“What exactly happened in the gorge?”
“Hmm…”
After organizing his thoughts, Ray informed the Count of most of the information he knew, excluding the battle with the Royal Guard.
After hearing Ray’s story, the Count pressed his forehead with one hand.
Given the Count’s refined demeanor, his reaction indicated that the situation was quite shocking.
“Bad luck…”
The Count paused after mentioning bad luck.
As a noble of the Empire, it was difficult to criticize the royal family outright, and from a power dynamics perspective, the royal family’s judgment wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
Ray added cautiously.
“The connection between the Crown Prince and this attack is merely speculative.”
“We’ll have to wait and see for the exact answer.”
The Count sighed.
“We should retreat and focus on the territory for now. It’s best for border nobles to stay out of central affairs altogether. But still… how did you manage to survive?”
Two individuals at the level of the Royal Guard—or even higher—were involved in the ambush, as Jenkins also confirmed.
The Royal Guard is almost the strongest category within knights, except for Masters.
Ray scratched his head sheepishly.
“While I held one of them off, my aunt dealt with the other. It was pretty close, but we managed somehow.”
“…”
The Count stared silently at the thirteen-year-old boy.
It was hard to deny the outrageous claim that he had faced off directly against the Royal Guard.
Eventually, the Count chuckled dryly.
“I’ve told you many times, if you need anything, just ask. I’ll support you as much as possible.”
“Understood.”
“We need to lie low until the central situation stabilizes. What are your plans? Any business elsewhere?”
“No. Since I’ve brought back the Mage…”
Glancing at Ropheiren beside him, Ray shrugged.
“I need to focus on teaching the kids for a while. Though first, I need to reconcile…”
The places where he got hit by Johanna throbbed painfully.
Wiping his dry cheeks, Ray requested the Count.
“I have a favor to ask of Miss Alesya… Would that be alright?”
“Do as you wish.”
The Count granted permission readily.
