Chapter 338: Unexpected Chance

[Holy shit, our people are so strong! I saw the previous episode. Those guys from Granda were completely obliterated by this running!]

[Our students are the strongest. Hooray!]

[Esfrata! Esfrata! Esfrata!]

Obviously, Esfrata’s citizens had been observing their training. The broadcast was supposed to show how strong their people were, so the fact that Esfrata’s students could do it meant a lot for the people.

Obviously, Head Instructor Ryan couldn’t help but slam the table. "What the hell? Isn’t the training supposed to be hard? We have changed this training to a level where students shouldn’t be able to handle it. And we have to change it for other countries as well."

Head Instructor Ryan gritted his teeth. This was a huge problem for him. If he changed the training again, the people would notice something.

It might be Head Instructor Ryan simply trying to give special treatment to the students from Dermania.

At the same time, it could be interpreted that Dermania was afraid of pain. Even the students from Esfrata could handle the training, so changing the training would mean he was trying to attack Esfrata but failed.

However, if he didn’t do anything, the students from Dermania might end up failing this kind of training.

If Esfrata’s students also had a hard time like the students from Granda, it would have been fine. He could simply say that the training had been made harder to test everyone’s determination.

Looking at the situation, Esfrata would end up becoming famous for being able to finish this training brilliantly. He would end up making Esfrata look more capable.

Head Instructor Ryan gritted his teeth. He wondered what was going on. He couldn’t figure out why Esfrata’s students could actually finish this training.

He gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do. Originally, by making this training harder, people would think about the conflict between him and Auric. They would then place their anger on Auric.

However, with the students from Esfrata finishing this challenge, other countries would think it was possible. If they failed and ended up looking bad, they would blame him instead of Auric.

He couldn’t help but grit his teeth, wondering what he should do next. If he didn’t do anything, he wouldn’t have been able to escape from their anger.

’What am I supposed to do?’

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. The reason he changed the rule was simply that he knew that the students and other instructors couldn’t do anything about it.

This plan had backfired hard, and it was all because of Auric.

His hatred of Auric kept increasing. Everything was Auric’s fault in his mind.

On the other hand, Auric remained nonchalant. In the end, he met with different instructors this time, training with their basics again.

Everyone was working hard, using Auric’s advice to push forward. For some reason, because of that simple advice, they trained harder, and they thought carefully, trying to find ways to deal with situations using their abilities.

In the end, Auric’s plan even increased their morale and motivation. They managed to study everything faster, gaining momentum.

On the other hand, the third country that received training from Dermania ended up suffering the same fate. They were screaming and cursing because they couldn’t hold on.

It actually didn’t happen to just them. Even Dermania’s students, as well as the UK’s students, failed miserably. Only a few people could finish, while the others couldn’t continue, unlike Esfrata, which managed to bring everyone back home.

The moment the people saw the result, there was an uproar.

...

Esfrata.

[It’s official. My Esfrata is the best. My country is the best. Our students are going to become amazing experts in the future.]

[I know, right? Just look at those prodigies from other countries. Yeah, sure. They have their own prodigies who could succeed, but we have a hundred of them. We’re not losing to them.]

[I think I saw Auric giving some advice to the boys. After that, their atmosphere changed.]

[My prince is the best. He was truly the leader of his generation. Without him, many of our people might have dropped out as well!]

[Auric! Auric! Auric!]

People were cheering for Auric as they had never expected that Auric would manage to pull off something that was close to impossible.

They would have been shocked if they knew that Auric didn’t give important advice. He was just taking advantage of the fact that boys would always be boys.

In the end, everyone pulled it off.

Of course, they had to interview Auric, considering he was the ace of Esfrata. His action had also shown his qualities as a leader.

"Mr. Auric, how do you feel after leading all your people to the finish line when other countries failed to do the same?"

"I feel amazing, of course. However, I believe everyone has that ability. I asked them to show their potential, and they did spectacularly. It was everyone’s effort. Besides, I do like the saying that is usually used in the military. No one is left behind, right?"

Auric gave a cheeky wink.

...

Dermania.

The situation had become chaotic.

[What the hell are they doing? Are our students not that good compared to the students from Esfrata? Or the leader is bad? Who is actually the leader?]

[It must be that woman, Gloria Schaff. She is a major in the military.]

[We can’t trust a woman to be the leader. She needs to be punished.]

[I know, right?! Change the leader!]

[Change the leader!]

When they saw their incompetence, people tended to blame others. And who would be the perfect target other than a military orphan like Gloria?

In addition, there was actually ’someone’ who created even more trouble. That someone didn’t come from Dermania. That someone was none other than Katarina. No one knew they came from her, but suddenly, some pictures that showed Gloria and Auric meeting each other surfaced on the internet.

Before, their defeat was a problem, but now the situation was a crisis.

"What?!" Gloria was astounded when she heard the announcement. "But, sir..."

"There is no but! That’s been decided!"

"Major General. I—"

The middle-aged man continued to cut her off. "Gloria Schaff, you are now demoted to the rank of first lieutenant. It has been decided!"

Gloria was dumbfounded. She was definitely the strongest and could be said to be their ace, but the military had sidelined her even before the ETP began. Yet, for some reason, this defeat was somehow linked to her, even though the actual cause was Head Instructor Ryan.

If all of them had passed because he made it a bit easier while still making it look hard, everyone would be pleased.

In other words, she became a scapegoat for Head Instructor Ryan.

"What..." Gloria fell to the ground with a horrified face. She wanted to become a general so that she could rebuild her own family. This way, she would regain her past honor or even surpass it.

Yet it felt like everyone kept beating her as if it was easy to throw her away.

The possibility of rebuilding her family had become even slimmer to the point where she couldn’t help but wonder if she even had that chance in the first place.

...

The other three countries were experiencing some backlash, but their people were much more supportive. After all, they didn’t exactly have anything against Auric or Esfrata.

Only Dermania was shamed by Auric before.

Just the fact that Dermania couldn’t do it either made them quite happy. So, they kept supporting their own people, trying to tell them not to lose to Esfrata next time.

That night, Katarina received a message. "Hmm?"

Katarina narrowed her eyes before smiling. "Hey, guys. I’m going out for a moment."

"Need us to accompany you?" Auric asked.

"No need. You guys can just sleep first. Tomorrow we have to continue with the joint training, you know?"

"You’re right. It’s not Monday through Sunday, but Thursday through Wednesday." Auric sighed. "Well, just get back soon."

"Yep!" Katarina waved her hand.

She walked outside and found a small bar not far from the hotel.

When she entered, she saw Gloria already drinking. Katarina casually sat down next to her. "I’d like to have the same thing as her, please."

"Katarina..." Gloria looked at her with a tired expression and messy hair. "What are you doing?"

"I was strolling around the hotel to get some air before going to sleep. Tomorrow is the joint event after all. Then, I saw you looking so messy as you were heading to this place, so I’m slightly worried."

Gloria sighed. "Those jerks who couldn’t do anything but use me as a scapegoat..."

"What’s wrong?" Katarina asked softly. "If you don’t mind, I can stay here. I won’t drink much, in case you want to drink a lot. At least, I won’t let your drunk self go on a rampage and cause even more trouble for yourself."

"..." Gloria felt a bit moved. "Thanks..."

"Mhmm..." Katarina smiled, reassuring her.

Gloria sighed. "I got demoted to first lieutenant."

"What? Aren’t you supposed to be a major? Why were you demoted?"

"As I said, I became a scapegoat."

"Oh! Sorry..."

"Auric? It’s fine. He didn’t do anything wrong. He merely led his team. Besides, that incident... it wasn’t exactly his fault."

"It sucks to be a scapegoat."

"I know. I originally intended to become strong enough to rise through the ranks. I thought I could get four stars on my shoulder and rebuild my family, but looking at this... it feels like they’re trying to bring me down."

"That’s bad. Do you have any plans?"

"I don’t know. At this point, I don’t know what I can do. I even heard a rumor that someone was trying to force me to marry that person, so his family used the connection in the military to replace me with someone else... you know, getting closer to Auric."

"Ah! I heard about Auric getting annoyed because they didn’t appreciate your work and replaced you so easily."

"So, that’s how it is..." Gloria let out a long sigh. "I don’t know what I should do at this point."

"How about leaving entirely? If you are going to rebuild your family, can’t you just leave everything behind and start from the beginning?"

"How can I do that? I have been living with the soldiers as far as I remember. I know nothing about all this." Gloria shook her head.

"If you want, I can help you. Maybe I can convince Auric to take care of you. If he’s going to use his name, I bet they will process your problem."

"Does it really matter? I don’t plan to just become someone’s decoration." Gloria shook her head. "If Auric took care of me, it would create that idea."

"Not really. I’m talking about becoming Auric’s bodyguard. You should know Auric’s situation. Even I’m so confident in Auric that I have decided to serve him as his subordinate. That’s how confident I am. If you become his bodyguard, he will take care of your future. At that time, you can just thank him and rebuild your family as you please."

"What is your actual relationship with Auric? Are you planning to serve him forever?"

"Yes. I’ve gotten enough benefits that I can say I’m extremely happy to get the first chance to do that. This way, I don’t have any competition." She smiled.

"That much?"

"Yep." Katarina nodded. "In fact, Auric has given me an opportunity to gain the favor of two Rank 6 humans. My family might be quite powerful, but two Rank 6 humans are stronger than my entire family. In a way, I can make my family as big as those giants in Esfrata as long as I stay with him. You should know that he takes good care of his people well."

Gloria paused for a moment. "Is he even willing to do that for me? I am nobody. I might have some potential, but that’s it. I don’t have a useful family like yours."

"That’s why I have to convince him first. You can think about it for now. I will try to convince him on my end."

"Why do you even want to help me?"

Katarina smiled. "I might be quite useful to him, but I won’t be there to help him all the time. Someone needs to stay by his side, and you are a perfect candidate for that."

"I..." Gloria looked at her, slightly drunk. "...will think about it."