“Ugh.”
“Are you okay?”
“Do you think I’m okay?”
“Hah, you look okay if you can yell like that.”
Two men yelled at each other angrily. One was the jealous Hallis, who had been talking ill of Joonbum and the other was Kei, who was watching Hallis getting beaten up.
“You have more, Hallis? Want to go again?”
“Nngh…”
Hallis got up and glared at Joonbum and his boxing gloves for a moment before he looked away.
“Hmph! I’m in bad shape because of the long journey here. If not for that, you wouldn’t be my match.”
The other knights watching shook their heads. Joonbum grinned.
‘What a kid.’
The man was huge and well-built, but he acted like a little child. The sight of him reminded Joonbum of a person in his memory.
‘Why does it remind me of him?’
Hallis did not look anything like him, but Joonbum couldn’t shake the fact that he reminded him of Jinpok.
‘But that was fun.’
Joonbum enjoyed sparring with him, although Hallis didn’t seem to enjoy it as much.
“Hey, why don’t we try it also? It doesn’t look too dangerous.”
“Yeah, I heard it’s called boxing. The Ainos love this sport it seems.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. You can only use your hands. No headbutts or biting and such.”
“Huh? Why bite?”
“I heard there was once someone who bit off another man’s ear.”
“That’s nasty.”
“Hey, don’t underestimate those gloves. It still hurts. Look at Hallis, his face is swollen!”
“Let’s try it!”
“James, fight me!”
The other knights, who were bored, became fired up as they watched Hallis and Joonbum’s match. These young knights needed something to keep their boredom at bay.
“Hah, the little boys are all worked up.” Hectos commented at the sight.
“You shouldn’t join them, alright?”
Hectos flinched at Jackson’s words.
‘He thought of joining them?’
The other knights were shocked at the idea of Hectos joining in, but soon realized it was only natural for him to want to do that.
“Why? It looks fun.”
“You’ll just beat those kids up like ragdolls! Don’t discourage the upcoming young knights.”
The older knights around them nodded in approval. Hectos scratched his nose and smiled.
“Haha, you don’t know the ways of a knight, do you, my brother-in-law? These knights need to be trained in the harshest manner!”
“Huh?”
Jackson and the other knights looked at him in disbelief.
“I heard that barley needs to be stepped on for it to grow stronger! It was a touching story.”
Jackson scoffed.
‘That doesn’t mean you should beat up those boys!’
Jackson sighed and asked Hectos, “Sir Joonbum will join as well if you go in there. Are you sure you can take that?”
“Huh? What? You think I can’t put up with him?” Hectos asked, full of pride, but it reminded him of the past. Jackson continued in a calm voice, “Don’t get beaten up when the kids are looking. Sir Joonbum is going lightly on them right now. He’s enjoying his time, so let’s not disturb him.”
That’s when everyone around began to realize what Joonbum was doing. He was just playing around with people his age. All the people around him were usually older, and he didn’t have much time with women either. If it wasn’t for the war, there must be countless parties full of noble girls desperate to meet him.
‘When the war ends… he’s gonna get swarmed.’
Jackson looked out to the horizon. He was excited for what was to come.
‘We should prepare for after the war. We will take a part of Galia and settle there. That will connect Khalodian land and the Ainos village to…’
Jackson began thinking of a plan. A large force would be required to connect the dots between the lands. It wasn’t easy, but it didn’t seem impossible. It might work if they used food as a weapon during this time of poverty and hunger.
‘Food will be our weapon. If we have the means to protect it, we will be the strongest in the world.’
Jackson’s eyes gleamed.
‘I will just need to be prepared.’
Jackson thought calmly and left boxing ring where the knights were still fighting.
Ainos beer had been delivered as per Jackson’s order and more people had gathered to watch the match. No one seemed to be bothered by the upcoming war as they enjoyed the fight and shouted about. The merchants, who were desperate to see the result of the war, were shocked to see such a sight.
“Let us join in!”
As the time passed, a new challenger joined the group.
“The Magnos!”
“Are they…?”
“There are too small! But-”
“Really big!”
“His arm is like the size of my thigh!”
“We will join in too!”
“The Ainos!”
“There are women too!”
The Magnos and the Ainos came to join the boxing match and people began talking to one another at the bizarre sight of so many different races. In addition, the Ainos warrior women fascinated everyone. Then came the refugees. Everyone who knew how to fight joined in.
-There will be beer and meat provided as per Sir Joonbum’s order! Only two cups of beer are allowed per person! Don’t get drunk as anyone who causes wreckage due to being drunk will be executed! Do not test his grace!-
The crowd began to get more lively as free food and beer were provided.
