Chapter 106: Let Them Underestimate You

"Yes!" Sophie nodded repeatedly. "That’s what we all told him, Sir! The treasure is still with him, and that’s not all!"

"There’s more?" Chris looked at her.

"Y-Yes, Sir! Earlier, when we were fighting the beasts, he grabbed Ben and tossed him in front of them to save his own skin!"

"And who’s Ben?" He tilted his head.

"This guy is Ben." Sophie pointed at a timid-looking young man standing beside her.

"Is that true?" Chris looked at Donald.

"Yes, Sir. It’s true." Donald immediately nodded.

"Interesting." Chris turned around and waved his hand, causing Marc’s body to float toward him. A faint crimson energy could be seen around the young man’s body.

Chris removed the energy covering Marc’s mouth, allowing him to speak. "Where is the treasure you took?"

"I-I command you to release me immediately!" Marc roared. "Don’t you know who I am? My father will hear of this!"

"Sigh..." Chris sighed loudly, already tired of hearing this idiot speak.

"Boy, I’m advising you to choose your words carefully. Sir Ashen Rain is asking you a question." Donald warned him from the side in a sharp voice.

Marc widened his eyes for a moment before his body started trembling violently. "Y-y-you! Impossible! You can’t be Ashen Rain!"

"I’m not going to ask you again." Chris’s eyes sharpened as he tightened his Dark Gwenor around Marc’s body.

Marc trembled again, his face turning pale as if all the blood had drained from it. "N-NO! PLEASE! I WILL TALK! THE TREASURE IS IN MY STORAGE RING!"

Chris nodded before looking at Donald. "What’s the punishment for killing your own allies in the dungeon?"

"Normally, after exiting the dungeon, a trial would be held." He paused for a moment before continuing. "If it’s proven that he did it, the punishment would be death, Sir."

Chris nodded again before looking back at Marc.

"N-n-no! You can’t kill me! I’m from the noble Dollen family! My father would never allow this!"

Chris chuckled. "Dollen? If I remember correctly, I killed someone in that family just a few days ago. What makes you think I can’t kill you?"

Marc trembled again. "T-this..." He frantically looked around, as if searching for a way out.

"That guy!" He suddenly pointed at Ben. "He’s just a poor nobody! He’s just a useless beast tamer! And he’s still alive! Why should I be held responsible for such a useless nobody?!"

Chris raised his eyebrows before looking at Ben. "You’re a beast tamer?"

Ben gulped. "Y-y-yes, Sir!"

’Well, who would have thought...’ Chris chuckled to himself before looking back at Marc.

"A useless beast tamer, you say?" He crossed his arms in amusement. "And what if I told you that I’m a beast tamer myself?"

Marc widened his eyes in realization. "N-no! I didn’t mean it like that, Sir! I just—"

Chris simply shook his head and snapped his fingers. Before Marc could utter another word, his neck twisted under the force of Dark Gwenor, killing him instantly. In the next moment, his body caught fire and burned away, leaving only ashes that fell to the ground.

"A trial is not needed." He said indifferently.

"Y-yes, Sir!" Donald immediately nodded.

Chris waved his finger, and the storage ring that had previously been on Marc’s hand flew into his palm. He examined it before a strange golden key appeared in his other hand.

He then tossed the ring to Ben, and the young man barely managed to catch it in time.

"There, take that as compensation. The guy had at least some money with him."

Ben was momentarily stunned before bowing deeply. "T-thank you, Sir!"

He carefully looked at Chris, seemingly wanting to say something.

"What is it? Just spit it out." Chris raised an eyebrow.

"A-are you really a beast tamer, Sir?" Ben gathered the courage to ask.

Chris chuckled. "I am." He then pointed at Azreon. "That’s my beast."

He smiled. "Azreon, say hi."

*ROOOOOOAR!*

Azreon’s roar sent the trees around them swaying, and Ben even stumbled and fell to the ground.

"So... beast tamers aren’t useless..." he muttered to himself as he sat on the ground, a new light appearing in his eyes.

"Useless?" Chris looked at him in amusement. "What makes you think that?"

"I-I-I’m terribly sorry, Sir! I didn’t mean to say that about you!"

"Just tell me, why do you think beast tamers are useless?" Chris pressed. "Just because we’re rare doesn’t mean anything."

"It’s just..." Ben gathered his thoughts. "It’s just that everyone has been calling me useless for as long as I can remember." He shook his head. "Even Marc only allowed me to be in his party because I could use birds to scout for beasts."

Chris shook his head with a smile. "Listen carefully, boy. The only person who can decide whether we’re useless or not is ourselves."

He crouched down, looking Ben in the eyes. "Others may underestimate you... they may even insult you..." A wide smile appeared on his face. "Let them."

"L-Let them?" Ben looked at him in bewilderment.

Chris nodded. "Let them underestimate you. Let them push, let them test. Allow them to believe you’re nothing. Meanwhile, you build, you sharpen. Every insult becomes fuel. Every bad memory strengthens your resolve. And the moment they realize the truth..." A strange light crossed his eyes as his teeth sharpened, resembling a beast’s. "It will already be too late."

Everyone’s eyes widened. They looked at Chris again, and he appeared completely normal. They weren’t sure if what they had just seen was an illusion, but for a moment, everyone trembled.

Chris slowly stood up. "But be warned." His gaze became serious. "You must have the right mindset. You must believe in yourself. If you wake up every morning thinking that you will never be powerful... never be great..." He shook his head. "Then you never will be."

He slowly turned around and calmly walked toward Azreon.

Ben remained on the ground for a moment, thinking about his words. Light flashed in his eyes as a determined look appeared on his face.

"Sir Ashen Rain!" He yelled out, standing up.

"Hm?" Chris looked over his shoulder.

"Thank you for your teachings!" Ben bowed deeply.

Chris raised an eyebrow before chuckling. "Would you like to be taught more?"

Ben’s eyes widened. "Yes! Of course, Sir!"

"Then be sure to get into the Royal Academy." Chris waved his hand. "I’ll be teaching there for a while after it opens."

He then looked at Sophie and Minerva. "You two as well. I expect to see all of you at the academy."

Their eyes lit up instantly. "Yes, Sir! We promise to get into the academy!"

He nodded with a smile before jumping onto Azreon’s back. Aelia, Amara, and the twins joined him as they flew into the sky.

On the ground, Sophie suddenly grabbed her cheeks and crouched down. "He patted my head! He patted my head! Ashen Rain patted my head! Kyaaaaa!"

Minerva looked at her with a jealous expression. "Don’t think so highly of yourself! Humph... He definitely didn’t have any interest in you."

"Hehe, you’re just jealous, Minerva!" Sophie looked at her teasingly. "You’re just jealous that he patted my head and not yours!"

"Humph!" Minerva simply turned away with an annoyed expression.

Ben, on the other hand, was going through a completely different train of thought.

He clenched his fist with a serious expression as he watched their distant silhouettes. ’I will become stronger. I can do it! One day, I will be like Sir Ashen Rain!’ He repeated the words to himself, trying to etch them into his mind.

...

"I hate to admit it, but that was a fairly good speech." Amara nodded, trying not to look at Chris. "You would really make a good teacher."

Chris looked at her in amusement. The damn woman was so proud that she couldn’t even look at him while giving him a compliment.

He just chuckled without saying anything.

"What!?" Amara turned to him sharply. She could tell that he was thinking something bad about her.

"Nothing." He shook his head with a smile, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

A vein bulged on Amara’s forehead as she turned her head to the side. "Humph... Annoying man..."

"Your attempts to cozy up to me are terrible." He chuckled before finally speaking.

"What do you mean? Who wants to cozy up to you?" She looked at him in annoyance.

He waved his hand, causing a golden key to appear in his palm. "You want this, don’t you?"

Amara looked at the key but didn’t say anything.

"I saw your reaction earlier, as soon as it was brought up." His smile widened. "I saw that look in your eyes. You were interested..."

She kept looking at the key without saying anything.

"You know... It’s not impossible for me to give it to you." He teased. "But I have a condition..."

She looked at him in annoyance. "Just spit it out. What do you want?"

"You will answer two of my questions honestly."

"What questions?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I’ll ask the questions only after you agree." He shook his head. "It’s not so hard, right? Just two questions. It’s not like you’ll lose anything."

She thought for a moment before finally nodding. "Fine, I agree. But I won’t give you any answers about my powers."

"Oh, don’t worry about that." He smiled evilly. "I won’t ask about that..."

Amara had a strong feeling that he was plotting something, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

"Sigh... Fine. Ask your two questions. I will answer truthfully."

He nodded, satisfied. "Excellent. Now, my first question is: What is the purpose of this key?"

"Why do you think I know that?" She tilted her head.

"Don’t play games with me now." He looked at her seriously. "If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t have reacted that way. Now... what is this key used for?"

Amara looked at him in annoyance before sighing. "The key unlocks a tomb somewhere in this dungeon."

He nodded, his smile returning to his face. "That wasn’t so hard, right?" He spun the key in his hand, examining it. "Now, my second question."

He looked at her, and his smile widened. "You will explain, in detail, how you know about this."

Amara widened her eyes. She finally understood why he had been acting like that. The sneaky man had already found a workaround.

But... "No." Her gaze sharpened. "I refuse to answer that. You can keep the key."

However, the annoyed look she expected to see on his face never appeared. Instead, he smiled happily as he tossed the key toward her.

She caught it, stunned, before looking at him in disbelief. ’Did he just give it to me just like that? That man? Chris!?’ She couldn’t believe it.

He chuckled. "Why the shocked face? I’ve already gotten my answer."

"What do you mean?" She was confused.

"The fact that you don’t want to answer tells me everything I needed to know." He chuckled. "I can confidently confirm that you know about this because you indeed have some power to see the future... or something similar to that."

Her eyes widened as she realized what he meant. He hadn’t been trying to get an explanation about her power at all. He had simply wanted to confirm his suspicions.

"Y-you!" She stared at him for a full minute, looking at his annoying smile, before turning her head to the side. "Humph!"

He shook his head as he looked at the passing forest. "I just wonder why you’re guarding that secret so carefully when even your officials seem to be talking about you knowing the future."

"That’s just a rumor I allowed to spread! Nobody would actually believe such a thing! They talk about it to show how smart I am!" She yelled at him in annoyance.

"But I believed it?" He tilted his head.

"You..." She bit her lip. "You are just an annoying man..."

"You can call me whatever you want." He smiled. "Now... where is this tomb?"

"Sigh..." Amara sighed, knowing that she couldn’t escape from this, before pointing in a direction.

Chris’s smile widened. "Azreon."

*ROAR!*