Chapter 52 - 2nd Young Master’s Dilemma

Looking back, Rolan received two orders from the Grand Duke

The first was to repay some debts to a few brave, reckless comrades

and the second was to oversee Alexander’s training along the way and expose him to real battles before crossing the border, so that he would not be completely taken by surprise in his first real confrontation in front of his soldiers—especially given Alexander’s pride, which would only compound his confusion, potentially causing him to make catastrophic mistakes, followed by a wave of shame, loss of confidence and anger that will bring disaster, followed by shame, followed by blunder...

In fact, one of Alexander’s strengths is that he is not someone who is taken aback by danger; rather, he has a peculiar disposition regarding the matter. However, the problem is that he is a shy person who cannot bear shame, even when he behaves shamefully at times—such as when bullying his servants or knights...

The simple fact is that he doesn’t believe he is doing anything wrong, especially in front of his servants, because he literally treats them as tools.

But if he were to suffer a setback—such as being seen by a stranger, or by knights and soldiers whilst wandering about in his pyjamas, or committing a shameful blunder in battle—he would quite simply die of shame

It is therefore best to leave him alone in a dangerous environment so that he can experience the heat of real battle for himself, on his own, and learn to regulate his emotions and control his outbursts.

After all, although Alexander is not usually afraid in the face of danger, he displays all the wrong traits when he is outside his comfort zone or in an unfamiliar situation –

indifference, underestimating danger, excessive indulgence in violence and emotions, disregard for allies... and the list goes on

So, the following morning after returning from the south on his mission, on his father’s orders, he immediately joined Alexander, and all the way there he thought about how to carry out his mission

Even he did not really know what he was supposed to do, to the extent that he thought he should simply stay by Alexander’s side and send his armies of monsters to eliminate the threat facing Alexander, leaving him to fight only the weaker monsters.

Although his father had ordered him to return as soon as his missions were complete, he had not specified a timeframe; therefore, accompanying Alexander until his return home could be considered an extension of his mission.

He was not a man who, from the outset, bothered to use his brain; he had always been accustomed to solving his problems with his fists. If his fists were not enough, he would summon a monster from his realm, use it alongside his fists, and stick to the principle that 1 + 1 = 2.

So he faced a dilemma that required him to use his head for the first time in a long while; this hadn’t happened since he had abdicated the throne of Korvekar and begun to live his life in peace and happiness... but what a strange world it is to imagine that the nightmare of thinking and analysing would follow him even after he had abdicated the throne!

After fruitless pondering and deep contemplation, and when he realised that all his lazy brother did was... nothing.

Literally nothing.

He suddenly felt enlightened.

Wait a moment – why should he torment himself with that illogical act called ’thinking’ when he could simply use his fist to teach that lazy little brother a lesson?

After all, Alexander’s problem from start to finish is that literally everyone treats him like fragile, breakable glass; so he is completely inexperienced and his life has never been in any real danger at all—from what happened ten years ago right up to the present day. Alexander doesn’t even remember those days, so there are no lessons to be learnt, just unconscious psychological trauma he suffers from.

From childhood until now, which of the siblings has never suffered a fracture? Even Roxana was once seriously injured by a sword during training – and subsequently withdrew from the world of combat.

In any case, the point is simply that he must beat this younger brother until the younger brother finds his inspiration, discovers his own fighting style, and becomes capable of thinking rationally in the face of a predator.

And so he decided: he would train Alexander every day using a different monster

In his realm, there was no shortage of monsters under his command to order to play with Alexander

But he was shocked when Alexander suddenly placed his hand on his beloved dragon and activated his ability, ’Collapse of the Stars’;

Right before his eyes, the dragon began to curl up and was about to explode like a firecracker, so he hastily issued a reverse recall command to the dragon, causing it to return to the realm,

then used his ’Black Dragon’s Wing’ skill—which he’d acquired when he’d tamed the dragon—to stabilise himself in the air after his mount had vanished

And he certainly didn’t forget: in a fit of rage, he kicked Alexander into a nearby forest, then immediately summoned dozens of flying monsters of Rare rank and below, sending them after Alexander—firstly to prevent him from falling to his death from that height, and secondly to harass and fight him.

So at that moment, Rolan realised something.

Oh, he didn’t need to be there to teach Alexander; all he had to do was set a horde of monsters on his trail and make him fight for his life. That way, he would gain real experience without any real danger, and without being disgraced in front of his soldiers

Very good...

At last he can take his revenge on this little imp for all the trouble he’s been through over the last few weeks

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. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

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Well, that is the harsh reality that Alexander has somewhat forgotten

Although Rolan was not yet twenty years old, he was a man who had been hardened by battle since he was twelve; he began leading armies himself at sixteen and became deputy commander-in-chief at eighteen, and had been preparing to inherit the position ever since.

So, in the presence of such a man, Alexander seemed like a naive child; indeed, even most adults would seem like naive children to Rolan on the battlefield, because although he was not the most brilliant of men when it came to using his mind, he possessed a savage instinct when it came to battles and wars.

Alexander clung to the wing of the wyvern, which manoeuvred and tried to shake him off, whilst the other wyverns swooped down to hunt him down; his hand slipped, and the wyvern flew away, joining the swarm of hunters.

He drew his sword, ’Tear of the Falling’, cursing as he tried in vain to fight in mid-air.

In truth, had he been on the ground, he would not have suffered such a shameful humiliation; but because he was in the air, he could not even use his abilities properly without harming himself, so he had refrained until now.

One of the wyverns screeched and let out an echoing roar that sent him plummeting downwards with even greater force... He was stunned for a moment, and a ringing in his ears caused him to lose his concentration for a second