Kang sat at the stone table, enjoying his cold beer. Ever since the king had proclaimed the end, he had clung to one final ritual: cold beer and the hope for one last good fight. Only these two things still brought him joy.
But since that proclamation, fighting had lost its meaning.
He was going to die anyway ‒ if not in battle, then by the catastrophe. He couldn’t stop it either way, so why keep fighting? His only hope of feeling the thrill of battle once more was to train the heroes so they could save the world. Only then could he once again take pleasure in a fight for life and death.
As Kang stared into his beer, lost in thought, another man sat down beside him. He was lanky and shorter than Kang, with medium-length dark hair, and his body was covered in scars.
"Three fewer. And it was quite the spectacle." The man was in good spirits, waving over one of the maids as he spoke to Kang. He ordered a chicken leg and a mug of beer before turning his attention back to him.
"One fought, the others begged. Guess who died faster." He was uncomfortably calm as he played with the knife on the table.
"I figured they should gain real combat experience as early as possible." The maid arrived with his order. Without a word of thanks, he took it, biting off a large chunk before washing it down with a deep gulp of beer.
Kang didn’t like it. This man didn’t savor the beer ‒ he only used it to choke down the dry meat.
"And then I simply set one of the guard dogs on them." he continued, unfazed, as he ate.
Kang’s eyes widened, and he turned to face him.
"What the hell were you thinking, Kuroji?" Kang seemed genuinely angry at the man named Kuroji.
Without waiting for an answer, he sighed and turned back to his beer.
"What’s your problem?" Kuroji asked, unfazed. "We have to prepare them for what’s coming. And if they can’t even handle a dog..." He covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "... then they'll drop dead just from the sight of it."
"We did too." Kang’s voice was serious. His gaze drifted into emptiness, yet he saw something vividly before his eyes. "Or have you forgotten how we fled the battlefield in terror back then?"
Kuroji didn’t look amused. He straightened up, staring down at Kang."Any normal person would have done the same! But they aren’t people. You’ve seen it yourself. Haven’t some of them already awakened their magic? Can you even call that human? They are neither warriors nor mages. They are freaks meant to save our world ‒ nothing more, nothing less." He sat back down, his appetite fading.
"And these very freaks, the ones who are supposed to save us, you’re butchering them. Have you really forgotten who our enemy is? Have you ever seen anything like it before?"
That was enough to make Kuroji snap. He ground his teeth, slammed against Kang’s beer mug, and glared at Kang. The beer spilled onto the floor.
Kang slowly rose to his feet. Without blinking, he pulled the knife from the table and pressed it against Kuroji’s throat.
"Do that again" he said quietly, "and you won’t need beer anymore."But Kuroji didn’t back down. He stood up as well. Despite his smaller stature, he knew his own strength.
Tension filled the dining hall, and the staff watched intently.
"You think I’ll ever forget that day?" He spat on the floor. "I saw them touch a man, and his blood poured from every opening, Kang. His skin was all that remained. We could never have defeated them, no matter how long or hard we trained. But them! The power they’ve been given!"
He grabbed the knife and drove it into the table.
"Even if just one of the hundred succeeds ‒ it will be enough." His eyes said everything. He was willing to sacrifice nearly all of them to stop the apocalypse.
"But more of them increase the odds. Think of the king’s words."
"Yeah, yeah, and once again, you’re the one who gets the last word." Kuroji grew aggressive.
"Do you have something to say to me?" Kang’s hand rested on the hilt of his sword.
"If you two butcher each other here and now, all the work will fall on me. And do you think I have time for that?"
Across from them, an older mage sat down at the table. Both men turned to look at her. Her gaze met theirs directly, and they sat back down.
"They can hear you all the way outside. Stop spreading even more chaos. People are already under enough pressure."
"Chiyo, you’re done already?" Kang looked surprised. "How did the forced awakening go?"
She had just been about to call over one of the maids but let her hand fall and buried her face in her hands instead.
"What do you think? Most don’t awaken anything. Not even the smallest spark. And the ones who seem to… the magic overwhelms them completely, and they dissolve into nothing."
She took a shaky breath. "You know what the worst part is? Not the stench. Not the screaming. It’s the moment they realize they won’t survive."
With a brief gesture, she caught the attention of a maid, who brought her a jug of wine. She took a deep gulp.
"But!" She straightened up, suddenly filled with pride. "One of them awakened their magic!" Her posture sank again. "Though… if you look at the ratio, 1 in 22 isn’t exactly a great result…"
"I’ve said from the start that this is pointless. Just throw them against monsters ‒ that’s the fastest way."
"Oh sure, let’s do it your way, and they’ll just die without awakening a damn spark. How many awakened anything under you? Oh right ‒ none!" Chiyo grinned wickedly at Kuroji.
"But tell me" she turned her gaze directly to Kang, "how is it that four of yours have already awakened their magic? And not a single one is dead?" She leaned over the table, eyeing him suspiciously. "How are you doing it? And don’t tell me it’s just luck."
Kang set his beer down. "Honestly? It’s because of them."
"What do you mean?" Kuroji looked at him, confused.
"My plan was to take them one by one and beat them to the brink of death. But during that, one of them awakened their magic. And when they stood before me again this morning… they weren’t the same."
He looked from Kuroji to Chiyo.
"They had hope in their eyes."
"You can’t be serious. What kind of normal person has hope in a situation like this? Maybe I went too far with the memory erasure and damaged their logical thinking?" Chiyo looked thoughtful.
"Screw it, it’s working." Kang took a deep swig from his mug, draining it in one go. He suddenly stood up, ready to leave. Then he stopped, turned back to Chiyo, and said ‒
"They'll be with you by midday. Don’t hold back. I have a feeling you’ll succeed." Kang turned and walked away.
Chiyo looked at Kuroji, confused. "Since when is he like this?" Kang had always been a hot-tempered, bloodthirsty man. This didn’t suit him.
"I’m just as confused as you. But! If you don’t have to hold back, does that mean you’ll use it?" Kuroji sounded like an excited child waiting for a gift.
Chiyo’s expression darkened. "I’ve waited a long time to use it. What do you think? If Kang is so sure that his group is tough, then let’s see just how tough they really are."
She leaned back, twirling a fork between her fingers. A slow smile crept onto her face.
"I wonder…" she murmured. "How many of them will be left?"
Kuroji snorted. "Hopefully not too many. Cleaning up is a pain."
Chiyo laughed ‒ a quiet, satisfied laugh.
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