Chapter 33

Rio and Baldur came to the field with shovels in hand.

They were there to replace the soil that had been ravaged by the battle with the monkeys.

"Should we start from the bottom?"

"No, we'll completely discard the soil. It's also bad luck."

"It's going to be hard work, huh."

Even before they started, Rio was already feeling disheartened, but the soil replacement work had to be done for all the village fields. It wasn't just their own hard work.

They inserted the shovels into the soil and loaded it onto wheelbarrows. The task of removing soil up to Rio's waist would take more than a day, even with the use of body enhancement.

"By the way, did the autopsy of the monkeys finish?"

"It's done."

Baldur answered Rio's question with a sleepy voice, having stayed up all night accompanying Rasmor and others in the autopsy of the monkeys.

"About 20% were females. However, there were no young ones. There might be another group."

"Could they have just split from the main group?"

"There's a possibility. If the main group is deep in the border, we can ignore them, but if this happens again, we can't be complacent."

Looking around at the men and women of all ages digging up the fields, Baldur sighed in exasperation.

"Rasmor is going to check if other villages have been affected."

"Are the knights going too? I'm a bit worried."

They knew the knights wouldn't always defend the village, but with the current village's fighting strength, another attack by the monkeys would be a fierce battle.

The defensive log wall on the main road was already reduced to charcoal and ash.

Rio grabbed the handles of the wheelbarrow, now piled high with excavated soil.

"Should I take it to the front?"

"Yeah. We're building an earth wall. Rakudo is enthusiastic, so follow his instructions and stack it in the designated place."

"Got it."

Pushing the wheelbarrow, Rio made his way to the main road, circling around the village.

The members of Rakudo's dojo, who had been broken through by the monkeys, had their evaluations restored, especially those who fought until the end, including Remi's brother, thanks to Rasmor's praise.

In a battlefield where reinforcements were impossible and they were outnumbered by the physically superior monkeys, they had fought to the end. Remi's brother and his group were even more praised than those who had successfully defended the rear, like Kari and Rio.

However, some had their evaluations drastically lowered.

Yud and others, who had fled in fear without much of a fight, causing the formation to collapse.

Yud and his group, who had been treated as elites due to their direct training by Rakudo, saw their evaluations reverse. The credibility of the complaints about slackers that Remi's brother and his group had often made increased, and they were now treated as cowards.

Naturally, questions arose about Rakudo's training methods, and attention was focused on Rio, who had given up on the dojo on the first day.

Pushing the wheelbarrow, Rio felt gazes from all around as he arrived at the main road and called out to Rakudo.

A slight tension spread around, but Rio didn't seem to care.

"Where should I take the soil?"

"Rio, over here."

Rakudo motioned for him to follow and started walking.

As Rio obediently followed, Rakudo slowed his pace slightly and began to speak.

"Do you think the training methods were wrong, Rio?"

"About Yud?"

"Yeah."

Nodding, Rakudo, Rio shrugged.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested. I just said I wouldn't go to the dojo because Rakudo's methods didn't suit me. Whether they were right or wrong doesn't matter to me."

"What didn't suit you?"

"Endorsing slackers. Rakudo used to say things like 'those who just do what they're told and those who judge and act on their own,' but he didn't distinguish between those who didn't do what they were told and did as they pleased. I thought they would just become skillful cowards. I didn't want to be one of them, so I decided not to go to the dojo."

It was a harsh statement, but Yud and his group had indeed fled first in the battle and had only become skillful cowards.

Rakudo looked pained.

"That hurts. You're absolutely right."

"Why did you adopt such a training method in the first place?"

"Whether one can see what needs to be done is a matter of talent."

Rakudo glanced at Rio and continued.

"Identifying one's weaknesses and shortcomings and finding ways to overcome them. Expanding and utilizing one's strengths. These are things that can't be done without talent, but thinking is also necessary."

"Well, I understand what you're saying. But I feel like there's a missing perspective."

To prevent the conversation from veering off, Rio didn't point it out and encouraged him to continue.

Rakudo seemed to be interested in the missing perspective that Rio mentioned but realized he was being prompted and continued.

"I don't have talent. I completed the training as instructed, but I've always been shown the clear difference between myself and those with talent. I can see the difference, but I have no idea how to bridge the gap. That's the wall of talent."

"I see. If you could see the path to the next level, you wouldn't have wanted to interfere, right?"

"That's right. I thought Yud and his group could see it, but it seems they couldn't."

Rio recalled the match with Yud during the spring festival.

Yud had not internalized the Ox-style techniques but had only mimicked the forms.

Rakudo smiled wryly at Rio.

"I'm just mimicking the forms. Of course, I've become better at connecting them through practice. I've also gained experience in fighting beasts. But I can't adapt the techniques to myself. That's what it means to lack talent."

Rakudo stopped and pointed to the place where the soil should be piled.

Rio dumped the soil from the wheelbarrow, shaped it with a shovel, and compacted it.

"About the missing perspective you mentioned earlier."

"Yes?"

"If there were instructors who could show the way to the next level even if one couldn't see it, some people would succeed. I think that's part of Rakudo's job, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, I lack the talent to be such an instructor. Therefore, from now on, I will focus on solidifying the basics and raising the level of all my students. Beyond that, I will leave it to them. If there is someone with the talent to be an instructor, I would like to pass the dojo to them."

It sounded like a clean break, but to Rio, it seemed like a half-hearted abandonment of duty. Still, no one else in the village could raise the level of the students as well as Rakudo.

After compacting the soil, Rio grabbed the empty wheelbarrow to return to the field.

Rakudo called out to him.

"Rio, will you come back to the dojo?"

"No. I'm having fun exploring and improving my own sword techniques and watching the knights' techniques up close—Are you trying to make me the successor of the dojo?"

Having built his own sword techniques from scratch and started to shape them, Rio indeed had the ability to seek the next level. Whether he could apply this ability to others was unknown, but he had shown some aptitude as an instructor by identifying Yud's issues.

Except, Rio had no interest in instructing others.

"Isn't Kari more suitable?"

"He refused."

"… 'I don't want to deal with those brats,' or something?"

"Exactly."

Rio smiled wryly, knowing what Kari would say.

"Then, why don't you have Kari develop his skills as an instructor?"

"Hmm, that's a good idea."

As Rakudo seriously considered this, a horse galloping towards the village was seen on the main road.

An old man was seated on the horse.

The old man stopped the horse next to Rio as soon as he spotted him.

"Are you the boy from before? Do you remember me?"

"You're Oggan, the mage under the lord, right?"

Remembering the time he learned the body enhancement spell, Rio answered, and Oggan smiled.

"Indeed. I need you to guide me to where the monkey corpses are gathered."