The Legendary Rune Knight Returns

Chapter 6

“Ah, of course.”

Ulric was a balding middle-aged man with half his hair already gone. The protruding lower lip, slanted eyes, hooked nose, and bulging belly made him look more like a thief than a rune master.

“I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

At Elara’s words, Ulric burst into laughter.

“Don’t worry. Trainer Elara herself bowed and begged me to do my best! Haha!”

He made sure to strongly emphasize the “begging” part. Elara neither bowed nor begged, but she nodded once because she did not want to waste time childishly arguing with him. Ulric headed to the training ground grinning ear to ear. In the first place, he did not really hate teaching classes. Rather, it was more of a preference.

Most of the fighters in the Low Quarter displayed trust and respect to their trainers. Even if they were displeased, few people showed it openly.

Ulric liked that. It was the reason he tried so hard to become a trainer in the Low Quarter. He struggled to the point of having nosebleeds, but the fruit was so sweet.

If he lacked the same trainer’s position, he would never be spoken to politely from elites such as Elara and Adelia. He would be lucky to not be ordered around, let alone be asked for a favor.

When Ulric opened the gate and entered, most of the fighters looked up without delay. The grades for each subject could only be determined by the trainer in charge. In other words, if a fighter displeased him in any way, they would receive poor grades regardless of their actual scores.

The quick-witted fighters knew what expression Ulric liked the most. When he saw the fighters’ bright eyes, Ulric laughed softly.

“I’m not sure if you were already aware, but due to unavoidable circumstances, I will be in charge of the lessons this morning. Then, everyone, open your textbooks.”

The fighters rushed to open their textbooks. Knowing Ulric’s fastidious personality, they had all taken out their books in advance.

Kaelen was lost for a moment because he did not know what subject Ulric was in charge of teaching. He looked around and saw the title of a book taken out by another fighter.

‘The History of Rune Carving.’

Fortunately, all of his textbooks were already on the desk. He began to sort them out one at a time. His figure stood out and caught Ulric’s attention.

At first, he did not recognize Kaelen. But upon seeing his signature grey hair, he immediately realized his identity.

‘Kaelen Thorne? That bastard’s back in my session?’

Kaelen Thorne. He was a notorious fighter in the Low Quarter, so Ulric obviously knew of him. He disliked Kaelen. He wanted to be respected by the children of distinguished families who were carefully selected from all over the city. He did not have a speck of interest in what a lesser-born orphan thought of him.

Rather, he thought that Kaelen was the one who lowered the quality of his sessions. After letting him know that his efforts would never get him anywhere, Ulric had driven him out very cruelly.

Kaelen Thorne ran out of the session with his face flushed and never attended since. Ulric thought he would never see him sitting there again.

‘What kind of wind’s blowing today for this to happen?’

Moreover, the air around Kaelen seemed to have changed slightly. Ulric naturally could not recall Kaelen’s appearance in detail, but his frightened eyes and his shriveled shoulders were unforgettable.

But the Kaelen now was imposing. There was strength behind his gaze, and his back was straight. If it weren’t for the color of his hair, Ulric would not believe he was Kaelen.

‘Hmm.’

It did not matter. Although he could not tell what was going on in Kaelen’s mind, kicking that spineless brat out again was no big deal. Grinning widely, Ulric said.

“Kaelen, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Was there any special reason for not attending my session?”

Kaelen found the textbook just in time, and replied while putting the rest back.

“I couldn’t find the right time.”

“Maybe there was something that you thought was more important than my session?”

Ulric said forcefully with his teeth clenched. Initially, it was the result of his harassment, but now Kaelen was speaking as if he had rejected Ulric’s class on his own.

The other fighters looked at Kaelen with half worry and half expectation. Most of them realized that Kaelen had changed a bit by witnessing how he had stood up to Bruk’s crowd.

However, this time his opponent was Ulric, the most disliked of all the trainers. He would not be able to rebel like before.

“I guess so.”

“…”

Kaelen responded lightly. Someone among the fighters gasped loudly. They were not alone, as most of the others had similar reactions. Then,

“Oh…?”

Ulric’s face hardened.