Junior Brother, You're Far Too Naive

“Vanishing Snow!”

With a low roar, a cold gleam flashed, and ice and snow manifested. The white-clad figure danced with his sword, and Frostwind Blades churned up from the ground. In an instant, the shimmering sword light merged with Francis, shooting forth.

The student charging at the forefront reacted with extreme acuity. With one heavy stomp, he stabilized himself, then stomped again, shaking the earth. With a thundering boom, soil between him and Francis surged and rolled, instantly forming an Earth Wall.

The moment he moved, Francis recognized it: the Earth Wall Defense Art from the Academy’s Four-Star curriculum. In that case, these black-clad figures were all students from Battle God Isle!?

He chuckled aloud, “Student, I presume you’ve skipped a few too many Defense classes, haven’t you!?”

Francis, airborne, shifted his shoulder. The phantom ice and snow sword light immediately began to spin, and upon impact with the Earth Wall, it tore through the Earth-element Four-Star Defensive Secret Technique like a drill, revealing a pair of terrified eyes hiding behind the wall!

“Skipping class isn’t the mark of a good student, you know!”

Francis’s sword tip tapped the student’s shoulder. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted the sword, turning its edge into its flat, and delivered a heavy thwack imbued with Four-Star battle qi, then followed with an upward flick. With a cry of “Aiyoh!”, the student collapsed, his mask slipping to reveal a youthful, green face.

Indeed, it was a student!

“Heavens, what did I just witness!? He defeated the sixth-ranked student of the Fourth Year in a single move!” The remaining students were inexplicably terrified. How was this possible!? Francis was clearly only a Fourth-Year student himself! And he had only just advanced to Fourth Year this very year!

Yet, ice and snow danced across the sky, completely obscuring their vision. When their sight cleared, all that remained was the chillingly sharp Vanishing Snow Sword tip...

The strongest among these students had already been felled by Francis’s single move. The rest were merely junior students, and Francis couldn’t be bothered to waste more energy on them. His feet never touched the ground; his sword tip merely scraped the earth. His body soared like a rising dragon, leaping high into the air. With one hand holding his sword behind his back, he flipped his other wrist, and as his palm turned skyward, a sphere of swirling water had already condensed within it.

“Junior brothers, skipping class is bad, truly bad! Otherwise, you’d surely know that right now, you should be bowing low and fleeing for your lives!”

Francis’s earnest and well-intentioned lecture was a beat too slow. Faster than his voice, the sphere of water unfurled from his palm, as if a thousand-pound boulder had been dropped into stagnant water. The ripples spread out in layers, splashing wildly, then burst with a “Boom!” right above the students’ heads.

After his ‘helpers’ charged out, Cassian excitedly clenched his fists. But before the grin stretching across his face could even break into a laugh, all those charging students were already knocked flat.

“Th-this... this...” He stared, dumbfounded.

How could Francis possibly be just the legendary Four-Star Fighter? His strength was clearly enough to challenge The Master at the peak of the Fifth-Star, far beyond his own rank!

Indeed, even a Fifth-Star isn’t truly ‘The Master,’ but Francis was completely overpowering foes *above his rank*! Above his rank! Heavens, to display strength beyond his level... Could he be a genius just like me!?

A chill ran down the back of Cassian’s neck. He suddenly realized Francis had vanished from his sight, and a hand had seized him from behind!

After dealing with the students, Francis flickered into the Clear Stream Woods and captured the mastermind behind the ambush. He was about to deliver a heavy blow to teach him a lesson, but seeing the boy’s young, naive, yet incredibly arrogant face, he withdrew eighty percent of his force, merely pinning him to the ground.

“My dear junior brother,” Francis said with a beaming smile, “do you understand now what you overlooked? You utterly failed to inquire about your Senior Brother’s true strength!”

He was just a child, after all, likely led astray by others. There was no need for serious harm!

Moreover, Francis could sense that while the boy did possess a trace of battle qi, it was incredibly weak. He genuinely feared he might accidentally kill him with too much force! No wonder Mina said this little rascal couldn’t even defeat a wild boar!

“Junior brother, your strength truly is quite pathetic!” Francis remarked, a playful smile dancing on his lips. Back then, his third Senior Brother, whose ferocity was as consistent as his face, had reprimanded him in precisely this manner after teaching him a lesson!

Cassian might have lacked strength, but his temper was anything but small, and his tone even more audacious! He struggled to turn his head, glaring sideways at Francis, and roared, “You bloody dare hit me!? Do you even know who the hell I am!?”

Francis’s brow furrowed. “An uneducated, unruly little scoundrel! *I* was never such a brat back in my day!” He backhanded, grabbing Cassian’s collar and lifting him. With a sharp “Smack!”, he delivered a slap. “Little fellow, if you dare call yourself ‘Old Master’ to me again, *I* will ensure you ‘look good,’ alright…”

“Good-looking my ass!” The boy cursed incessantly, his body locked by Francis’s battle qi and unable to move. His young face contorted into a furious snarl as he hurled abuses, “Let me go right now, or I’ll tell my Imperial Father to send a hundred thousand, no, a million soldiers to hack your entire family to death!”

Though Cassian was tyrannical at this moment, he truly looked like a child. A million soldiers? Humph! Were they so easily mobilized by a mere word!? Was he childish? Naive? Or simply an idiot?

Thanks to Francis’s leniency, the students who were lucky enough to still stand gathered around, their faces uniformly pale with fear. They urged, “Senior Brother Francis, it was *us* who attacked you; it has nothing to do with His Highness Cassian! Please release him, speak with us if you have anything to say!”

“Heh! You lot are quite loyal, aren’t you!”

Francis’s anger flared from Cassian’s incessant cursing. He intensified his battle qi, sealing the boy’s mouth, then declared, “You people, following Cassian all this time, I doubt you’ve done few unconscionable acts, have you? Humph, tonight’s incident alone is enough to expel all of you! Have you forgotten my identity!?”

The students exchanged anxious glances, their expressions filled with dread. To be expelled from Battle God Academy meant their entire future would be ruined! Yet... under Cassian’s furious glare, they hesitated to speak further!

The female student who had initially lured Francis ran out from deeper in the woods. “Please, Senior Brother Francis, we are all commoners from the Namir Empire! We dare not, and cannot, defy the Crown Prince’s orders!”

She lowered her head under the indignant stares of her classmates, seemingly remorseful for ‘betraying’ Cassian, yet she whispered, “If we didn’t obey Crown Prince Cassian, he said... he said... he wouldn’t let our families in the Namir nation off the hook!”

“Hmph!” Francis turned his head, scrutinizing Cassian, who was still sneering coldly in his grasp. A cold glint flashed in his eyes! “Remarkable! At such a tender age, you already know how to threaten classmates with their families! My *good* junior brother!”

Cassian’s mouth was sealed by Francis, leaving him speechless. He could only glare furiously at Francis, fire seeming to spark from his eyes.

The female student pleaded, “Senior Brother Francis, we truly haven’t committed any unconscionable acts. Today, today Cassian, you found us commoner students from Namir and told us to... to do something. If we didn’t listen to him, he would write a letter and have the Namir national army deal with our parents and relatives!”

“What a *fine* junior brother indeed!” Francis waved his hand. “You may leave. Since you were coerced, I will not pursue tonight’s matter with you.” Seeing the students hesitate to depart, he added, “I will personally hand Cassian over to Dean Zigurd. The Dean will ensure he dares not seek revenge on you all! I give you my word on this matter!”

The students bowed deeply to Francis and departed one by one.

Francis gazed at Cassian in his hand, then withdrew some of his battle qi.

Cassian opened his mouth and immediately began cursing, “You bloody...”

“Smack!” Francis delivered another slap. “Slapping a nation’s Crown Prince, hmm, feels quite satisfying! Boy, speak honestly, or your Senior Brother will make your face bloom like a spring garden!”

Saying this, Francis chuckled again. His third Senior Brother had disciplined him in precisely this manner back in the day...

Cassian, pampered since childhood, had never suffered such indignity. He shrieked, “Just you wait! I’ll go back and write a letter to my Imperial Father, telling him to send troops to kill you! And I, I’ll tell Zigurd that you dared to assault a Crown Prince!”

Francis curled his lip into a smile. “Forget it, I’ll just go directly to the teacher. You kid, you can’t even speak proper human language! You truly lack discipline, damn it!”

“You’re the one who bloody lacks...”

Smack! Another slap.

“Little fellow, this routine of yours is what *I* played with and discarded years ago! However...”

Francis suddenly gazed up at the starry sky. Various memories from his previous life unconsciously surfaced in his mind. Although his master from that life had passed away, and his sworn brothers had become enemies, leaving him with no cherished friends or family, it was still the place where he had lived for over twenty years. This boy, Cassian, truly resembled his past self! Though his mind wasn’t very agile; he didn’t even understand the wisdom of a wise man knowing when to back down.

“Very well then, I shall now show you how your Senior Brother ‘played’ back in the day!”

With that, Francis tossed Cassian onto the ground, then reached into his sleeve and, astonishingly, pulled out a rope seemingly from thin air, leaving Cassian utterly dumbfounded.

With practiced ease, he tied Cassian up and hung him from a tree. Francis once again reached into his sleeve, pulling out two thick scrolls which he placed on Cassian’s chest. Then, he smiled sinisterly. “Boy, yesterday you called me a kind person. But today, your Senior Brother tells you plainly: you were wrong, truly wrong, ridiculously wrong...”

Cassian was still staring at Francis’s sleeve, startled by his words. Amidst the rustling of wind through the leaves, Francis’s voice sounded eerie and terrifying, like a summons from the Netherworld’s purgatory... The night was dark and windy.

“Francis, if you dare, take me to Zigurd! I’ll tell Teacher Zigurd that you abused me!!”

...Approximately an hour later, Francis truly carried Cassian to Zigurd’s office.

The old Dean was tidying up books and documents. Turning to see the two enter, he had a vague inkling of what had transpired.

Francis wore a contrite expression. “Teacher, Cassian...”

“Teacher, Senior Brother isn’t a good person at all! He’s not kind or virtuous!” Cassian looked utterly wronged. He wriggled free from Francis’s grasp, then *plop*, knelt on one knee before Zigurd, clutching Zigurd’s leg and wailing, “Teacher, Senior Brother beat me! He dared to assault the Namir Crown Prince! He’s trying to instigate a war between two nations!”

Francis maintained his contrite expression, gazing at Zigurd, shrugging his shoulders as if on the verge of speaking, then let out a long sigh!

Cassian’s tears flowed freely as he spoke; for his age, his acting was already classic. “Teacher, tonight my friends and I were camping in Clear Stream Woods. Senior Brother suddenly arrived. He, he took a liking to one of our female classmates and demanded she accompany him. When we refused, he, he then...”

Zigurd sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Cassian, do you even believe what you’re saying?!”

Francis, feigning solemnity, snorted, “Teacher, you should let him finish! Perhaps you *will* believe him!”

“Francis, do you dare deny what you’ve done!?” Cassian indignantly shouted, as if suffering immense injustice. “All my friends can testify! And, and after Francis drove away my friends, he even hung me from a tree and beat me! He, he also...”

“Is there anything else you haven’t finished saying!?” Zigurd forced a wry smile. “You say Francis beat you? Why do I see no injuries?”

Cassian froze, then saw Francis smiling broadly at him from behind Zigurd. He quickly tore open his clothes. “Teacher, look, just... Ah!? That’s not right, he clearly beat me, and I’m still hurting now!”

“Junior brother,” Francis said calmly, “even if you’re going to lie, at least make it sound believable, right? You should at least have forged a few wounds first, shouldn’t you!? Of course, forging wounds would be even more wrong!” He then turned to Zigurd, “Teacher, I took the liberty of promising, on your behalf, to protect the families of those students coerced by my junior brother. You don’t mind, do you!?”

Zigurd nodded approvingly, “You’ve done very well, Francis. To have a student like you, I am genuinely proud! Cassian, you are inherently mischievous and act recklessly! Did you truly think I wouldn’t know!? You actually claim Francis beat you? Fine then, didn’t you say all your friends could testify? Call them all here, right in front of me. They will surely tell the truth, won’t they?!”

Cassian was somewhat dumbfounded; those students would absolutely not dare to perjure themselves in front of Zigurd. However, his mind worked quickly: “They don’t dare come! They were all beaten so badly by Francis that they’re terrified! Francis threatened them not to speak of it...”

Zigurd was so exasperated he nearly laughed. “Cassian, I’ll ask you one more time: do *you* even believe what you’re saying?”

Cassian became even more flustered, but now, having mounted the tiger, he couldn’t dismount. He mumbled, “Why shouldn’t I believe it? This, this is the truth!”

Zigurd became even more exasperated and amused. “Do you even know who Francis is? Go ask anyone among the three hundred thousand people on Battle God Isle; who would believe that ‘the Virtue of Saint John City’ would causelessly beat *you*, ‘the Calamity of Pierre City’!? And then go on to coerce your friends!?”

Francis suddenly realized that sometimes, stubbornly principled Old Coots could be quite endearing. He secretly smirked mischievously at Cassian.

“Cassian, do you truly think I’m unaware of your two-faced behavior, acting one way in front of people and another behind their backs!?” Zigurd’s goatee bristled with anger.

“I... I’m not a good person, but bloody Francis isn’t either! He also acts one way in front of people and another behind their backs!” Cassian cursed, stamping his feet! “After my friends left, he immediately changed his face; he was practically an unforgivable demon! He beat me for a full half-hour!”

Francis sighed, took a step back, and continued sighing.

Zigurd couldn’t bear it anymore. “He beat you for half an hour? Why do I see no injuries!? Francis is two-faced!? Cassian, your antics must have a limit! Do you know that six hundred thousand commoners in Saint John City, three hundred thousand residents along the Newin River, and over a hundred thousand commoner laborers on Battle God Isle’s docks... a total of over a million people, all praise Francis unanimously! Do you really think an unforgivable villain could deceive over a million people!?”

Zigurd was furious to the extreme, raising his hand to strike Cassian. But after a few deep breaths, he withdrew his hand and said to Francis, “Francis, this Cassian was entrusted to my care by an old friend. I currently have other important duties, so I can only entrust him to you, his Senior Brother. I know you’ve been wronged, this...”

“Teacher, please say no more. A teacher for a day is a father for life; it is my duty as your student to alleviate your worries! Moreover, although Cassian’s conduct is atrocious, he is still young, and I, as his Senior Brother, bear responsibility for failing to guide him properly!”

Zigurd sighed deeply and nodded, “If Cassian possessed even one percent of your character, I would consider my duty to my old friend fulfilled. But he...”

“You, Francis, you bloody bastard! I’ll fight you to the death!” Cassian was practically in tears from fury. He recklessly charged at Francis, only to be trapped by Zigurd’s Binding Water Ring!

Just now in Clear Stream Woods, Francis had placed a thick stack of books on his chest, then hammered him fiercely with a thick wooden club! And he even used some... some ‘Tendon-Severing, Bone-Dislocating Technique’ that made him wish he were dead! How could this senile old Zigurd not believe him!?

Francis glanced at the tidied books on Zigurd’s desk and quickly said, “Teacher bears great responsibilities; your student dares not disturb you further. In that case, I will take Cassian back with me!”

“You’re still willing to continue teaching him?” Zigurd’s triangular eyes widened. He sighed inwardly, *To have such a disciple, what more could one ask for!?*

Francis respectfully took his leave. Once he was roughly out of Zigurd’s earshot, he, carrying the furious, red-eyed Cassian who had nowhere to vent and no one to appeal to, suddenly blinked. He lowered his voice and chuckled, “Junior brother, do you understand now? You’re truly too green, so adorable...”

Cassian’s lips trembled uncontrollably, clearly boiling with rage and stifled emotion, but what more could he do?

“Ah...”

Suddenly, Francis heard a moan. At first, he thought it came from Cassian, but glancing down, he saw Cassian was also dumbfounded.

Listening carefully, this moan... seemed to be a woman’s voice! The sound carried a hint of relief and even happiness amidst the pain...

Francis froze. This was the teaching building on Battle God Isle’s Hot Spring Mountain! The corridors on both sides were lined with teachers’ offices, and Dean Zigurd’s office was not far away! How could someone be here... to put it politely, “keeping a golden house of hidden beauty”?