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Awakening (6)

“It wasn’t repaired!” Douglas Payne couldn’t stand the fury rising inside of him. It was because all of the Wyvern Knights watched Meloy throw him to the floor when he was climbing onto the saddle on his back.

-Kurooooooh!

Meloy was excited, screeching at Douglas Payne. It started at him with glowing yellow eyes that seemed ready to peck at his head the next time he got close. It was a lucky thing that his stamina was S-rank.

“There’s no way I can’t be recognized as the strongest of the Wyvern Knights. You! You lied to me!”

“Douglas Payne!” Emil Bolton shouted the moment Douglas Payne tried to stare down Kang Shin-hyuk. No matter how great his stats were, he couldn’t handle the look Emil Bolton shot at him. He stiffened in place.

“When did the Wyvern Knights become a kindergarten? Do you think this behavior is worth the captain badge I passed on?”

“No, sir! But, senior, I was recognized by all the members and became the captain. The reason I can’t handle the saddle properly is because of him!”

“Did you not hear Lee Manwoo? Those are the standards of humans, the standards of an artifact are different.”

“What is different between them?!” Douglas Payne really didn’t seem to know. Emil looked at Lee Manwoo and Kang Shin-hyuk in turn, asking if they would allow him to explain. The two nodded, knowing they couldn’t convince him without Emil.

“There are other factors involved in human standards other than coercion such as perspective, networking and loyalty.”

“Senior!” Douglas raised his voice.

“I wasn’t appointed captain because of my family!”

“I know, Douglas, I wasn’t referring to them.”

“Yes…?”

-Gruaaaah!

The wyvern was still temperamental, responding angrily to Douglas’s voice, so Kang Shin-hyuk sneakily approached him to calm him down. Curiously, he began to calm as soon as Kang Shin-hyuk placed a hand on him. The wyvern licked his hand and let out a small cry.

“As expected. Shin-hyuk, we will have no choice but to take care of you.”

“Funny.” He stepped back, laughing at Karen’s unstoppable drive to recruit him. He already knew his job was done.

“If it’s not my family, whose…?” Douglas Payne turned to Eleanor, who was standing anxiously nearby.

“…Vice-captain?”

“No.” Douglas looked at her blankly, repeating the same word she said to himself.

“No.” Eleanor calmed down a bit, but Douglas Payne was looking straight at her.

“Are you trying to hide your skills, vice-captain?”

“No…”

“Ride that wyvern, vice-captain.”

“Captain.”

“This is your captain’s instructions. Or can’t you follow the words of someone weaker than yourself?” Eleanor bit into her lip quietly, but now that it came to it, it was impossible to refuse. Eventually, she had no choice but to move.

-Gururu

But she wasn’t rejected. Meloy cried out in a low voice and accepted her as if it had been waiting all along. It slowly lowered itself to allow her up.

“…” Even the saddle began to glow dimly as if to prove it was activated, but Douglas didn’t react at all.

“…I see.” Douglas turned to stare at Kang Shin-hyuk. Shin-hyuk had an inkling of what he was thinking. That he made it react to Eleanor, as the one who repaired it, but soon his gaze fell away from Kang Shin-hyuk, looking back at Eleanor, who was descending from the wyvern.

“Did you know she was stronger than me? Did you insist on not joining us because of this?”

“No one says I’m stronger than you.”

“Okay, then let’s fight.” Douglas Payne touched his bracelet, summoning forth a massive greatsword. He grabbed it with one hand, swinging it lightly, and pointed it at the vice-captain. At first glance, its mass was no joke, but he was holding it with ease.

“Captain.”

“We’re fighting to confirm it. I can’t understand right now. If you lose, I have no choice but to decide that this guy tricked me.”

“…” The tip turned toward Shin-hyuk. Eleanor let out a deep sigh.

“Okay. We’ll fight.”

“Don’t hide your abilities.”

“I will not hide.”

“If you win, I will withdraw from my position. You’ll become the captain.”

“That’s…” Eleanor hesitated.

“I’ve been humiliated enough today. You won’t continue to shame me, right?” Kang Shin-hyuk remained silent, unsure if he could win against Douglas himself. But both of them were special, even by Shinyoung’s standards. Shin-hyuk had grown miraculously, but he still lacked confidence in himself. He believed Eleanor could win, though.

“…I will accept all conditions.” Eleanor gently closed her eyes for a second, steeling her resolve, and then stared at him. The shine in her purple eyes was overwhelming. Thus, this year’s first managerial match would take place. The training center had facilities for this, and the appropriate members to referee were already gathered, so they could start right away. Emil Bolton and Lee Manwoo followed the group. Tensions were high as the two executive groups were anxious about the outcome.

“I hate Shin-hyuk.” Karen approached him with a dead expression and jabbed him in the side. However, with his A-rank stamina, it didn’t even scratch him.

“Actually, this isn’t what I intended, but I think it’s fair for you to do some heavy lifting too.”

“Let’s hope it works out.” Kang Shin-hyuk didn’t respond as he looked around. Everyone’s attention was now on the duel that would take place.

“Hey, I’m ready to listen now. You’ve been itching to tell me about a bunch of stuff, so what is it?” Even if it was temporary, he was still a member of the Wyvern Knights. He wondered if he should know what he had been putting off. Karen thankfully began to explain.

“Eleanor is a direct descendant of Red Lake, the current British royal family.”

“You didn’t even blink when you said that. What is Red Lake?”

“It’s the name of the British royal family since the age of superhumans began. Didn’t you know this?” Well, from the start, they were famous for changing names. However, he wasn’t aware Eleanor was royalty. No, rather, why would a member of the royal family go to school in Korea?”

“We were kicked out. Now the British royal family is having quite a bit of an internal conflict. Guardians…oh, that’s the British name for superhumans, but the royal family has control over the guardians.”

“That’s enough. I don’t know what to do next. The vice-captain isn’t strong, but she’s talented. So, you came here after she fled here. Were you guys trying to stay undercover here?”

“Well, more or less.”

“Are you both stupid? That person is one of the most noticeable people in the school right now.”

“I know!” Karen looked like she might cry.

“I mean, originally she wanted to meet and defeat the captain in the finals. However, a guy like Baek got in the way.”

“Are you mad at Baek again?” Kang Shin-hyuk’s eyes narrowed as he began to understand the situation a bit better.

“She didn’t want to compete in the first place.”

“If her majesty, the vice-captain, didn’t participate, it would be strange, right?”

“She didn’t need to be the vice-captain.”

“But it was natural after joining the Wyvern Knights. Specifically, because of Douglas Payne.”

“But I didn’t need to join in.”

“It was a good excuse to join the Royal Class. You wouldn’t be able to convince the other students that you deserve to be there.”

“It’s really arbitrary.”

“Yeah…” But if they hadn’t shown off their skills and kept their heads down, this wouldn’t have happened. They were like some strong protagonists in a book complaining about the power they had worked so hard to achieve. If that would be the case in the end, why bother trying to become strong in the first place?

“In fact, isn’t it okay to receive some attention?”

“…What sort of answer are you looking for? My answer as a noble? Or as someone who admires the vice-captain?”

Only

“That’s more than enough of an answer.” In the end, the hero would get attacked by various people because they were strong. But, in the end, they solved it with their strength. Eleanor had been unintentionally revealing her abilities because she was so strong. Moreover, it probably didn’t help that she was in the middle of a struggle for power in the British royal family. She had been struggling to hold back all this time because of it.

“…I won.” Today, she was forced to face a choice between hiding or being strong.

“Fuck…” Douglas Payne kneeled on the floor with a hole in the middle of his sword. She was looking straight at Kang Shin-hyuk, beyond Douglas Payne.

“Thanks to this, I was able to make up my mind.”

“…”

“I will take the position of captain. Thank you for helping me decide for myself…thank you.” Douglas Payne nodded vaguely with an indescribable expression.

And Kang Shin-hyuk turned away and pretended not to hear anything.

‘Do the rest for yourself.’