Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 3 (Part 2)

Ten days had passed. In that time, new children occasionally joined them.

The first day was the only time 11 children were brought in at once. Usually, 2 or 3 children were brought by adults.

“52.”

Rodin counted and sighed softly, including himself.

He had thought the room could easily accommodate 100 people, but he was mistaken. With over 30, the room was crowded.

They ran around so much. He had been stepped on more than ten times while lying down. Often, they would bump into each other and fall over towards him.

At night, it was so noisy.

Even after the sun had completely set, many kids openly chatted.

Still, the past ten days weren’t all bad. The food was good, and the showers were fantastic.

Until now, his mother had bathed him, wiping him down with her hands. Washing himself was something he experienced here for the first time.

It was amazing. Comparable to the joy of eating meat. It was a shame he couldn’t reach his back.

“Why don’t they do this?”

Even with the showers, the kids didn’t bathe. They either didn’t understand or pretended not to when he hinted that they smelled.

In the past ten days, only about ten kids had bathed even once.

Because of this, he always had the shower room to himself. Sometimes he took two showers a day.

Rattle!

The door opened with a loud noise. Rodin quickly turned his head to look at the door.

Children never opened the door so roughly. Even the assistant who appeared at every meal was careful when opening the door.

“Attention, everyone!”

As expected, the person who appeared was not the assistant. He was a man in his mid-to-late forties with exceptionally broad shoulders.

Rodin stood up slowly as soon as he heard the word ‘attention.’ He had a feeling they would be moving somewhere.

As Rodin stood, Hedler also quickly stood up.

“We’re moving. Follow me.”

They followed the instructor down to the first floor. Rodin and Hedler quickened their pace to follow the children outside.

The children’s eyes all turned to the right as they poured out onto the playground. Rodin and Hedler also turned their heads to the right.

“Huh? Who are they?”

The murmuring grew louder. Some children even waved playfully, but the instructor didn’t stop them.

All 52 children gathered on the playground. Many still glanced to the side. There was another group of children.

“Four rows horizontally. 22, 34.”

The group on the far left wore unified navy blue clothes. There were 34 of them, slightly taller and broader than Rodin’s group of 52.

Next to them stood children in gray uniforms in neat rows. There were 22 of them, taller than the navy-clad kids, indicating they were the oldest.

“They must be seniors.”

“Seniors?”

At Hedler’s words, Rodin glanced sideways again.

It was a plausible explanation. If Hedler was right, the gray-uniformed kids were the oldest, followed by the navy-uniformed kids.

“Attention, everyone.”

“Um… Instructor.”

“What?”

“Are those guys over there seniors?”

The boy named Drok asked the question as if he were representing the 52 kids. He seemed to have had the same thought as Hedler.

The instructor looked over the children and nodded slightly.

“That’s right. They are your seniors. Here, they are your superiors, so you must treat them with respect.”

“Oh!”

“Seniors?”

The murmur grew louder. The word ‘superior’ didn’t resonate well with the children.

“Since the topic has come up, I’ll explain this place. This location is the prestigious Riaz Kingdom’s special forces training center. You will undergo long-term training as special forces trainees.”

“Special forces?”

“The army? Is it the army?”

The murmur among the children turned to fear.

Rodin also frowned at the term ‘special forces.’ Next to him, Hedler’s face stiffened.

“A war organization.”

To Rodin and the children, the concept of war was not unfamiliar. Only 25 years ago, they had fought the Ingram Empire, and the scars of war lingered even in rural villages.

Rodin’s village was no different. Uncle Ranko had lost his forearm in the war, and Uncle Begian wore an eyepatch, having lost an eye.

“Everyone quiet. Quiet!”

The instructor’s voice grew louder. The murmuring children gradually regained their composure and focused on the instructor.

“You just need to do what we tell you. If you do that, you’ll be able to defeat those wicked imperial scum. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Your voices are too quiet! Understood?”

“Yes! We understand.”

The children’s loud response made the instructor nod slightly.

Though the volume was still not to his satisfaction, there was little sign of discipline in the children’s behavior.

But he wasn’t worried. Just like the first and second groups, discipline would come naturally with enough training.

“The tallest child to the left, the shortest to the right. Line up in order of height. Now!”

“Height?”

“I’m tall.”

“I should be here.”

The children moved noisily. Many compared their heights to find their spots.

But Hedler and Rodin didn’t need to do that.

Hedler was clearly the tallest, and Rodin, being young, was the shortest.

Without hesitation, they moved to the left and right, respectively.

“See you later.”

“Yeah.”

After acknowledging Hedler’s farewell, Rodin walked to the far right. He stopped just three steps from the navy-uniformed seniors.

“Sigh.”

Standing like an old man, Rodin was approached by another child. This one was half a hand taller than him but clearly smaller than the others.

“Hi. I’m Cory from Mushif Village.”

“Hmm? Oh, okay.”

Rodin’s response was brief. He was too preoccupied with the term ‘special forces’ to be polite.

“Oh… I’m Cory from Mushif Village…”

“Oh! Introduction? I’m Rodin.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Cory smiled brightly. He had cute brown hair and brown eyes.

“It’ll be okay.”

He tried to shake off the fear of the word ‘army.’ He looked around, trying to forget about the military.

The children were still in chaos, busy sorting out their heights. Even those who had already found their spots were giving tips, adding to the confusion.

“It would be better to finish quickly.”

A small voice from beside him. It was a navy-uniformed senior.

“Is there a reason?”

“Shh!”

The child who had spoken looked straight ahead, acting as if he had never glanced sideways.

The navy-uniformed children were all stiff. The gray-uniformed seniors were even more rigid, almost as if all 22 were breathing in unison.

“The atmosphere here is no joke.”

Rodin observed the seniors closely.

They would eventually become like that. It was easy to guess they had undergone intense training.

It took almost 30 minutes for the commotion to subside. Some children were still grumbling about their heights.

“Is everyone lined up?”

“Yes.”

“It took exactly 33 minutes. All of you, run 33 laps around the playground. Now!”

Hyung_Otaku2

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