"It feels like it's already been more than a year has passed, so have you been doing well? Instructor."
The person who was dispatched to readjust his Rank was none other than this man who was the Appraiser of the Royal Family. During the time when Sunhyuk and the Strangers had summoned into the world and was unaware of what was happening, it was precisely this Instructor that had supervised their training, who happened to be the Appraiser of the Royal Family.
"Ahem."
The Appraiser dryly coughed with a somewhat embarrassed face.
"Thanks to Instructor, I had a great time."
Again, the Appraiser stayed quiet and replied with a dry cough. Though Sunhyuk did not receive a reply despite the greeting, Sunhyuk did not necessarily feel bad. Rather, he was pleased.
'I congratulate you on your Awakening. What is your Class, soldier?'
'Drr, Dragon Rider!'
'Dragon Rider? What's that?'
'It literally means that it is a Rider that rides a Dragon.'
'Dragon? Riding a dragon?'
He could never forget the conversation he had exchanged with him in the past.
'Groan. I had thought another Advanced soldier had appeared after such a long time…'
If he had not had such an expression full of anticipation in the first place, then he would have had less disappointment, but after he had inquired about his class, the attitude of the Instructor changed quickly into that of an indifferent one.
'Is it not good?'
The Instructor clicked his tongue and ridiculed him in the end, unable to fully forsake the expectations which he had for Sunhyuk.
'It would probably be good. If, we had dragons in this world that is. Occasionally there are these kinds of grand names that don't hold any substance. Unfortunately, that would be in your case.'
Though he spoke in a manner that it was unfortunate, he held no sympathy for him, instead the Instructor rather felt that he was even more annoyed in that indifferent attitude of his.
'Dragon Rider, Dragon Rider. I must distribute you accordingly as a regular Rider. If you had rather been a Knight, you would be an Intermediate. Tch.'
'S, so?'
'Basic!'
It was the precise moment when his dream of escaping the fortress and becoming an Advanced Rank had collapsed all at once in this hellish world.
"I kept hearing news of you from the rear."
As time passed, he was able to converse with the Instructor once more. However, unlike before, the circumstances were completely different as the Instructor was cautious and somewhat polite.
"I congratulate you on your feats firstly, and also your safety afterwards."
Now, Sunhyuk was no longer a person who the Instructor could beckon away with merely at being annoyed. He was the one that had accumulated the greatest military achievements, and was a soldier who was promised a title of nobility.
"In case you might not know, it was all a misunderstanding. I was just being faithful to the mission which the Royal Family had bestowed me. I hope you will believe me that I was loyally doing my job."
The Instructor was obviously trying to make amends in case their relationship was somewhat complicated of their previous encounter.
It was similar to when a significant other has ended the relationship only to then come back and greet each other once again when the ditched party has succeeded substantially, which was what this reaction felt like. Immature enough, but he held a refreshed and pleased feeling.
However, it was only until there.
It was also clear that although the Instructor had enjoyed his given authority a lot, this was the truth. It was certain that he did not break the rules that were assigned to him, and did not go out to specifically annoy or discriminate against the Strangers individually. Knowing this, he decided to end this minor revenge at this point.
"Well, it's not a lie that I've been doing well thanks to the Instructor. If it weren't for you assigning me to a Basic Rank, I would have no reason to come to the 24th Regiment, nor be able to meet such good comrades."
"You do not know how thankful I am for you in saying that."
The Instructor, no the Appraiser of the Royal Family, thanked him a few times with a humble look.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Royal Appraiser. I'll be in your care."
It was a statement that meant that he would let the past remain in the past, causing the Royal Appraiser's hardened face to be restored.
With this, Sunhyuk resolved another matter from his past as he planned on moving forward. Now, it was only the beginning of his legacy as a Dragon Rider being properly evaluated.
"Oh wow. So this is the rumored Drake that had reached the Royal Family!"
He did not show any inconvenience or awkwardness at all from the Royal Appraiser's exclamation and excited state.
"I had to go through such painful lengths to catch this guy."
With Sunhyuk also replying without any complaints, it implied that he did not hold any remorse or regret from the past anymore.
"Yes. Yes. You would have a hard time with such a guy. How impressive!"
With the Appraiser agitatedly exclaiming and Sunhyuk chuckling from that, the scene was quite friendly, which was not totally wrong exactly. While he conversed about his past experiences with the Appraiser, they had become quite close at some point.
"Since it's not fully tame, it'll be a bit difficult to use him in a real battle, but with this condition, he's quite an impressive fella."
Its speed might be a bit slower than a horse, but the power and rage of the Drake was enough to intimidate others with a moment's glance.
"Yes. Even a well-trained horse would be stricken in fear after facing such a monster like this. You've obtained quite a good weapon."
Once he displayed his Dragon Rider's ability of Wind Piercing, the evaluation was pretty much over. The Appraiser had returned to his past self of being strict in his instructions, and for the entire day, he continued to appraise his skills before finally coming up with a readjustment.
Therefore, the appraisal of Sunhuk's new Rank was an Advanced. It was the result of him utilizing Wind Piercing within a mounted charge.
"Congratulations. Though it's a bit strange for me to report this, but now your class will be properly treated for with this evaluation. That is quite a relief."
He showed a bit of remorse that there was no higher Rank than an Advanced. If possible, the Instructor wanted to assign him a rank higher than Advanced, Expert, and even showed an expression that it was shame that he couldn't give a Rank even higher than that.
"Well, Advanced is enough. If I can manage this annoying guy, this hot-tempered horse, and my body, then there's nothing more I can hope for."
Sunhyuk confidently revealed his inner feelings, and after briefly staring at him, the Appraiser laughed and replied.
"Even if you are the same Advanced, there is still a gap, and I even think that you will stand on top of the battlefield."
Then he spoke about that Wind Elementalist Ahn Yoojung who had the most rapid growth, Magician Lee Eunse who flaunted various magical spells, and Jang Gilsuk whose strength rivalled amongst the top as so far as Magic Swordsman were to be considered the best. But, he confirmed that none of them could be able to overcome or even stand up to a Dragon Rider in a mass battle.
"Is that so?"
Sunhyuk chuckled. He had not even shown him Atiya, or even spoke to him about the existence of the Dragon. He wondered what kind of expression the Appraiser would show if he revealed all of his secrets.
Though he was itching to say it, he ended up replying with a laugh.
"The next time I meet you, you will probably be a much higher-ranking person than I am. Not even a viscount, but a viscount with land, it seems you will truly become the lord of an estate."
[TL: fief, territory. All means the same]
Once finishing his job, he spoke to him how he was going to re-appraise the other Strangers to check and confirm if he had made another misevaluation before leaving.
"And though I had followed according to the manual, I would like to personally apologize to you for not allowing you to grow quickly under the abundant resources of the Royal Family, but even send you out to the dangerous front lines."
He had not expected an apology for him as the Appraiser relayed an extra piece of information in his gratitude and apology.
"Be wary of your sponsors. The Royal Family wishes to fully suppress the Strangers under their control, and does not want them to be too close with the nobles. In the outskirts of the nation, the people here are faithful supporters of the Royal Family, but the nobles of the capital are different."
"I will engrave this information in my heart."
"As soon as you ascend to the capital, there will be countless nobles that will be courting you. The nobles are more clever and cunning than you think, so never show any signs of weakness. If you were to be won over by them, then the Royal Family will show you a different side."
Then, the Appraiser warned him several times to keep his word in mind.
"And the next time we see each other, don't call me Appraiser, but Gibson."
The Appraiser of the Royal Family, Gibson, gave one final farewell with an apologetic look before leaving the outpost.
"Courting of the nobles…"
The words muttered out of Sunhyuk before turning away his body from Gibson's direction.
Though he was officially recognized as an Advanced Class, his lifestyle did not change. No, there was some change. Once treated as the youngest, now he was being greeted honorably by all of the others including the new transfers.
Due to his strong first impression (more in fact, it was due to the uproar from the drinking escapade), the new transfers found him more difficult than anyone else. Whenever he passed by one of them, they would halt in their tracks and give salute with a bow.
"Are you going hunting, Hyungnim?"
"Huh? Yeah."
[TL: Hyungnim: Honorable term. Usually used to refer to bosses of gangs, etc. LOL]
Even under the command of Jonathan and Hansen in the training grounds, they stopped training and saluted with a bow once seeing him.
"Return safely! Hyungnim!"
But seeing them act no differently from his other world, Sunhyuk was somewhat embarrassed. He never would have imagined how burdensome it was to be called Hyungnim everytime.
"Hey, hey. Don't be like that. You're in the middle of training. And what's with the Hyungnim. Am I a gangster?"
"But Hyungnim said that we should serve you as Hyungnim during that drinking…"
It wasn't like he had no memories. He hurriedly raised his hand and told them to forget what he said that day.
"Then what shall we call you?"
"Sunbae is good, so call me whatever you like."
"Yes sir! Sunbae! Please return safely!"
[TL: Sunbae = Senior, Senpai]
Hearing some tongues click, I looked back and saw Jonathan and Hansen come out with the impression of an instructor with fierce faces.
"I'll be going!"
"Alright. Have a good time."
Fortunately, their anger wasn't directed at him, but the new transfers.
"These bastards. Hyungnim? What are we, gangsters? And for you to stop in the middle of training?"
"Do you take us that lightly? He's scary and we're some scarecrows?!"
"No sir!"
Listening to the powerful answer before soon turning into screams, Sunhyuk rushed off as if he was escaping from a crime scene.
While the peaceful routines repeated daily, the squad which was deployed from Mengsk Fortress had finally reached the outpost of the 24th Regiment.
"Then we shall go!"
Frederik and the Heavy Cavalry who were all lying in wait to set off for the capital. Though the Drake did cause an uproar along the journey, but it didn't last too long as they were able to settle it down.
If there was a problem, the horses except for those which have endured through the wars with the original cavalrymen all were running away wildly whenever they saw the Drake, causing him to end up following from the back.
Though his comrades came back alternately to occasionally speak to him, he had even more time in this relaxed march. Thankfully, he was the one that spent his free time somewhat efficiently.
"Atiya."
In that span, he engaged in developing his own Dragon Rider abilities once more.
TL Afterword:
Calvis: Kinda excited for the capital, but can't wait to see him arise from the Royal Family and become independent fully.
PR Afterword:
T0ngan: LOL! The effectiveness of the drunken master style is very formidable… vote for us in NU!!!
Borderline Masochist: N/A
Translator: Calvis
Editor: T0ngan/Borderline Masochist