Getting stabbed sucked. The more I tried to move, the more it hurt. Despite Sir Janus repeatedly explaining that Shadow Fencers had a high ranking in strength growth, I refused to let him carry me back to the orphanage. In any other situation I might have chosen the more pragmatic approach, but I had to appear strong for the kids. I did accept his offer to lean on his shoulder to relieve some weight off my wounded leg.

“What do you think those men wanted?” Firana asked as we headed back to the manor.

Zaon remained silent. After emptying his stomach next to the walls of an abandoned house, not even Firana had managed to get a word out of him.

Sir Janus locked my arm over his shoulders and helped me walk. “They were thieves, probably. There’s always someone who wants to take advantage of dire situations. During the last Monster Surge there was a record crime wave inside the city even with the monsters pounding on the walls.” He said. “Maybe a Bandit and a Soldier if I had to guess.”

Regardless of what class the criminals were, it seemed to me it was a targeted attack. They knew I was a Scholar. What I ignored was their intentions. Were they after me or my money? Both implications were equally dangerous.

“How do you know their classes?” Firana asked again.

Unlike Zaon, the girl showed her concern by wanting to know every detail of the events.

“You get a feel for it after you fight a lot of opponents. Besides, if they managed to follow Robert after losing sight of him, they must have some sort of personal detection skill. Bandits can ‘mark’ their targets and locate them as long as they remain within a certain radius.” Sir Janus explained.

Firana nodded, fully submerged in Janus' explanation.

It was widely accepted that different classes had different growth stats. Fencers had better Speed, Knights better Defense, and Warriors, superior strength. With very few exceptions, the better growth stats, the better the class was. Of course, there were outliers and classes that heavily depended on certain skills like me with [Mana Manipulation].

“I didn’t get to identify them, but they were a Thief and a Soldier below level twenty. Nothing to be worried about.” I pointed out, both to entertain Firana’s curiosity and to show Zaon I had the situation somewhat under control.

What I wanted the least was Zaon shutting on itself.

Sir Janus looked at me as if he was asking for an explanation.

“I fought against a Lv. 12 Fencer with Fencing Lv.3 once. Soldiers and Thieves are weaker than Fencers, however, as far as I remember, Thieves have comparable speed.” I shrugged my shoulders. “It fits the prowess of the attackers.”

It was painful.

Sir Janus laughed and his voice thundered over the sound of the rain. “Oh, yeah. The story about Raudhan Kiln having his nose broken by a Scholar was the talk of the court for a month or so.”

The conversation seemed to calm Zaon a little bit.

I had to thank the System for making the ‘stat’ gains progressively bigger as levels increased. Despite being a Lv. 12 Fencer, Raudhan Kiln didn’t have supernatural strength or speed. What the people of Farcrest called ‘low-level’ –from one to twenty– was pretty similar to what one could expect from trained people from Earth.

The speed and strength Sir Janus had shown, on the other hand, was hard to compare to anything I had seen before. I had underestimated Janus' strength. During the duel with Lord Tirno, they fought only without any System skills. Sure, they were inhumanly fast, but what Sir Janus had shown today was a great jump in strength.

Which opened an interesting line of thought.

If the Marquis really wanted me dead, he could’ve done it quickly and easily with a high-level combatant.

Perhaps Sir Janus was right, and it wasn’t a targeted attack but a simple robbery attempt. Perhaps the attackers didn’t even know I was loaded with gold cousins. One way or another, the stabbing sensations lingered.

We walked through the rain in silence until we reached the manor.

“Let’s go through the backyard, I don’t want to alert the younger ones.” I said.

The cloak was enough to cover my wounds, however, I didn’t trust myself to completely hide the pain from my voice. As predicted, the backyard was empty but before entering, I stopped the group.

“Zaon, Firana. Keep this a secret from the younger kids. They don’t need to know what happened. I need to discuss this with Mis Elincia first.” I said.

“Okay, not a word.” Firana said, dead serious.

Zaon just nodded in silence but avoided my eyes.

The elven boy had me concerned, it seemed all the progress he had made, all the confidence he had gained over the months, had suddenly evaporated. And it wasn’t just today. During the last training sessions, he had avoided fighting the illusions as much as he could.

I needed to have a talk with him.

We went inside the manor and made our way directly to the kitchen. It was evident lunchtime had finished recently, as there was a pile of dirty bowls still over the counter. Sir Janus helped me take a seat close to the stove and sat in front of me.

I grunted in pain when the weight of my body fell on my wounded leg.

“Go find the Governess. Tell her Robert needs a Health Potion.” Sir Janus instructed the kids as he helped me remove my new –now heavily damaged– cloak. I sighed. It was too soon to say goodbye to my Captain Alatriste cosplay, I still needed to find a proper hat.

Firana hurried out of the kitchen with Zaon trailing behind.

“Was it necessary?” I asked and Sir Janus gave me a puzzled look. “To cut their heads off I mean.”

My stomach churned at the memory of the decapitated bodies.

“Sadly, yes.” Sir Janus replied. “If they were high-level combatants, I’d rather finish the fight before they could use their skills on me. I'm at a fairly high level myself but I have no desire to face another [Shadow Step] user ever again.”

He pushed his unkempt beard to the side, revealing a scar that crossed his lower jaw to his right ear.

“Luck was on my side that day.” Sir Janus said.

“I’ve been fortunate too.” I replied, remembering all the encounters I had barely survived.

I wanted to absorb every piece of information Sir Janus could provide me with, but the pain was making it difficult to stay focused. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth. The pain kept intensifying and I began to feel lightheaded. I wondered if [First Aid] was an actual skill in this world.

“You are doing great, Robert. Just don’t fall asleep.” Sir Janus said.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Falling asleep in front of a guest would be rude.” I grunted.

Bad jokes weren’t going to ease the excruciating pain.

Suddenly, the door slammed open, but no footsteps followed. It had to be Elincia. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the woman carrying her whole alchemy set plus a handful of potions. Her face was turned into a mask of concern.

“What did you do this time?” Elincia scolded me.

Not that I could blame her, my history of getting in problems was quite extensive.

“Some dwarf supremacist was talking garbage about half-elves, so I had to put him in his place.” I replied.

Bad jokes didn’t alleviate excruciating pain, nor did they serve to calm Elincia down.

“Drink this.” She said as she pulled a translucent potion from her pouch. “We’ll also have to apply some directly to the wounds. A Minor Potion might be enough.”

I recognized it as one of the medium-quality potions we had set aside during the brewing sessions. I examined the liquid. It couldn’t be more painful than the wound itself, so I grabbed the potion and downed it in one go. Meanwhile, Elincia stretched open the hole in my pants and poured a few drops onto the wound. It stung.

I had been careful enough to not reveal the Corruption patch on my chest to the guardsmen. As a consequence, the whole sleeve of my shirt was gone. There was a lot of blood everywhere and it looked worse than what it really was. Elincia worked in silence, applying potions, and bandaging the wounds with a steady hand.

The Corruption tightened its tentacles under my skin as the mana from the potions entered my body. As uncomfortable as the sensation was, it paled compared to the pain of having been stabbed in the first place. By the end of the treatment, there was a pile of bloody rags and torn clothing next to my seat.

“So… what happened?” Elincia asked as she collapsed in the chair next to me.

I told her a summarized story of the events, starting from the moment I was surrounded by the thieves until Sir Janus had appeared with the guardsmen detachment. I skimmed through the details of the fight. There were things Sir Janus didn’t need to know. My corrupted arsenal of skills was one of them, the fact the thieves seemed to target me was the other.

Keeping things from the man who saved the kid’s lives made me feel guilty. After the events of the day, I was in a straight paranoid state of mind. Elincia grabbed my hand under the table and the pain decreased ever so slightly.

“It seems you are going to survive, Scholar.” Sir Janus broke his silence, making Elincia jump in place.

Maybe it was a [Shadow Fencer] skill that allowed him to blend with the background or maybe it was the fact he had remained perfectly still the whole time.

“Sir Janus?” Elincia said, half-asking half-greeting.

“The one and only.”

“Can I offer you lunch? Tea maybe?” Elincia offered.

“I could use something warm to eat, thanks.” Sir Janus replied.

Elincia served two bowls of steaming bean soup. It smelled delicious but I couldn’t get myself to eat even a bite. Sit Janus, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten about the severed heads. I had to remind myself Janus was a man with experience that had studied in the Imperial Academy. He had probably fought greater foes than I could even imagine.

“You are a cunning one, Robert.” Sir Janus smiled. His black, hirsute beard made it hard to tell if he was being humorous or malicious. “I think I know what you are planning.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, genuinely lost.

Suddenly, adrenaline started pumping through my veins and the pains of combat completely disappeared.

“You lied to me the last time. You don’t believe Firana ‘has potential’ to enter the Imperial Academy, you are actually training all of them to take part in the entrance exams.” Sir Janus said with a lupine smile.

Elincia froze by my side.

“Maybe I’m training them to survive the king’s army.” I replied with a neutral tone.

“No, you are not training them to fight against monsters. You are training them to become duelists, knights. I noticed when you two were in the Farlands.” Sir Janus pointed at me with his spoon. “Watching Firana and Zaon fighting the thieves today only made it more clear.”

If Sir Janus had ill intentions against the orphanage, there was nothing we could do against him. Between the wounds and the Corruption, my combat prowess was near zero. My mouth became dry. After seeing what Janus was capable of, I doubted even the whole guardsmen regiment could defeat him. He had reached the power level of a one-man army.

“Robert, you have to understand the Marquis isn’t a tyrant.”

Janus’ words caught me by surprise.

“Captain Kiln also mentioned that a while ago.” I cautiously said.

I wasn’t following the conversation at all.

“What I’m trying to say is that the Marquis does what’s more advantageous for Farcrest. If you didn’t know, getting lots of cadets into the Imperial Academy comes with a certain amount of renown among nobles. I think you should try to gain the Marquis' favor.” Sir Janus said.

I was speechless. From all the twisted and wretched scenarios my mind was feeding me, Sir Janus pushing for mending my relationship with the Marquis wasn’t one of them.

“Gain the Marquis' favor? After what Rob did?” Elincia asked.

“The Marquis is a pragmatic person.” Sir Janus replied. “And I think the kids have potential. I saw it with my own eyes. As much as I can’t speak about it, I can tell you, they are well on track to become cadets.”

I stopped my train of thought.

The idea wasn’t actually bad.

I chastised myself for being so paranoid. Sir Janus had looked over the kids during our trip into the Farlands, he had saved my life, and he was a commoner just like the rest of us. It wasn’t hard to understand the source of my paranoia. All the allies the orphanage had won over the months wanted something in return. Due to the mechanics of the System, only the truly powerful were in place to grant selfless boons while the low-levels were at the mercy of those above them.

Ginz, as a craftsman, was pressured by the marvels high-level craftsmen could create with little effort. Nasiah might be in a similar position, even with the Scry Ledger in her possession, there had to be guilds of merchants that could move large quantities of goods and affect small markets like Farcrest. Even my relationship with Captain Kiln was partially transactional.

Janus, on the other hand, was already on the top of the pyramid.

The reason I was suspicious of Janus was simply because he had nothing to gain from us. A stupid reason considering I wanted to believe people acted kindly as default. Maybe I was already starting to think like a native.

I wondered if Elincia felt the same when I voiced my intentions of working at the orphanage.

“What do you have in mind?” I finally asked.

Sir Janus lowered his voice.

“It isn’t official yet, but the Marquis wants to improve the morale of the city after the Monster Surge fiasco. Rumors say there will be an event soon, a tournament to show the skills of promising cadets. You know, to show the masses how powerful Farcrest is and all that mumbo jumbo.“ Sir Janus explained.

A plan was already brewing in my mind.

“Wouldn’t you be talking about the Stephannis Cup?” Elincia suddenly asked.

A wide smile was drawn on Sir Janus’ face.

“Exactly. The kids don’t necessarily have to win. They have to show the nobles what they are capable of. Catch their attention.” Sir Janus added.

Elincia looked at me.

I bit my tongue before I could say no.

So far, our whole strategy depended on keeping our movements a secret from the Marquis. However, I couldn’t ignore the fact that both Janus and Captain Kiln believed the Marquis wasn’t really a tyrant but an extremely pragmatic man. Going public was risky, but it also had its own benefits.

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain. Watching other pretenders to the Imperial Academy could shed light on what my teaching program lacked, and having the kids fight other potential recruits would be a great practical exercise. Even the old masters from Earth recommended sparring with all kinds of fencers before facing a real duel.

“We have to think about this.” I finally said.

Sir Janus nodded, his bowl of soup was already empty.

“Thanks for the food, it was great.” He said before pulling a small medallion from his inner pockets and leaving it on the table. “Show this to the guards and they’ll let you through the gate. When you have an answer, come meet me.”

Without saying more, Sir Janus stood and grabbed his cloak.

“I will leave two guardsmen watching over the orphanage tonight, just in case.” He said before leaving.

Elincia respectfully bowed her head.

Not a second had passed and I had already made up my mind. The ties with the nobility were a double-edged sword, however, in my current state I wasn’t able to protect Elincia and the kids if anyone –thieves or guardsmen– decided to attack the orphanage. We have to move forward and let Farcrest know that powerful players like Sir Janus and Captain Kiln supported us. That would grant us a much-needed layer of protection.

“Are you alright? You are sweating a lot.” Elincia cupped my face with her hands.

The stove wasn’t even burning strong.

“Usually, it hurts when you get stabbed.” I replied, placing my hand on hers.

My joke seemed to fly over her head.

Elincia unbuttoned my shirt and removed the bandage from my shoulder. Just as expected, the wound was still there. As far as the medical attention had gone, I hadn’t asked why we hadn’t resorted to stitches.

“The potion is not working.” Elincia muttered.