Only...

At this moment, Sang had no choice but to put his talent to use. Don’t get the wrong idea—his target wasn’t the Blood Clan. Even if he took them down, the moment any blood went missing, Central would send people again. They’d investigate the incident thoroughly and draw blood all over again. Nothing would change.

His only target was the blood.

Well, to be precise, he only meant to taint the blood of Luna, Adolf, and himself a little—to add a few unpleasant impurities and make Central’s people turn up their noses at it, lowering or even eliminating the chance of being selected.

After leaving the orphanage, Sang headed for the outskirts of Kahn Town as fast as he could. At last, he caught up with the Blood Clan knights on their way back to Central. There were eleven of them in total, and the two at the rear were carrying a box together.

Sang followed them very cautiously until nightfall, when they reached a riverside wood far from Kahn Town. The Blood Clan knights made camp there for the night.

Once the Blood Clan knights seemed more or less ready to fall asleep, Sang draped a tattered black cloth over himself and put on a black mask. The outfit was more or less like the knights’ own. In the darkness, from a little distance away, they shouldn’t realize right off the bat that he was an outsider.

Don’t assume Sang’s extraordinary cheat ability made him invincible. Even he had no idea how strong the Blood Clan really was, or how much stronger or weaker he was than them. He’d lived this long, but this was the first time he’d ever seen Blood Clan knights from Central.

So...

To be safe, young Sang stayed hidden and used a flute to blow rosemary-laced smoke toward the Blood Clan members not far away.

Only after they were all unconscious did young Sang dare to quietly step out.

As he walked, he muttered, “Well... this was easier than I expected. Guess I overestimated these Blood Clan knights... Or maybe Kahn Town’s just so remote that even the knights Central sent here are a bunch of bottom-tier nobodies.”

There was no time to waste.

As night wore on, young Sang didn’t waste a moment. First, he found the Blood Clan member who had the key to the box and took it from him. Then he ran to the box, opened it, and found the vials containing the blood of Luna, Adolf, and himself.

But then another problem came up.

What could he use to contaminate the blood? He couldn’t just grab a handful of dirt and stuff it in—that would be way too obvious. Diluting it with water wouldn’t put Sang completely at ease, either.

“Oh, I’ve got it!”

After a moment’s thought, young Sang finally came up with something awful. He tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and dropped it on the ground. Then he took off his pants and peed on it.

“Have a taste of this Watermelon’s virgin pee!”

After that, Sang picked up the cloth soaked in urine and dripped a tiny bit into Luna’s and Adolf’s blood vials.

Just a little was enough. A faint smell would do the trick. If it reeked too much of pee and someone found out, the consequences would be unthinkable.

“I almost forgot my own vial...”

Other people mattered, but he couldn’t afford to take his own life lightly, either.

Just as young Sang was about to do it, two of the eleven Blood Clan knights on the ground began to stir. Damn it—he’d underestimated their physical abilities. They’d inhaled so much rosemary smoke, yet they were waking up in just fifteen minutes. That was ridiculous.

With the Blood Clan knights about to wake, young Sang gritted his teeth and gave up on his own vial. First, he put all three vials back in the box. Then he quickly returned the key to the knight’s waist. Finally, he took the urine-soaked cloth with him.

Everything was back where it belonged.

...

Though he hadn’t managed to drip urine into his own vial, young Sang was, after all, someone who’d “died once.” He’d learned to take things as they came and was something of an optimist.

Well... whatever. Better to focus on getting through each day as it came.

Besides, being chosen by Favor was unlikely. There was no way it’d pick me.

In the days that followed, Sang’s life in Kahn Town returned to its usual rhythm.

He did handicrafts at the orphanage in the morning, worked in the fields in the afternoon—or did rough labor at the Loren family estate—and spent the evenings in his room reading books from this other world.

What was a life like this supposed to be called?

When Sang had first transmigrated to this world, he’d found it incredibly hard to accept a life without any modern electronic devices. But now he’d been living in another world for fourteen years. He’d gotten used to everything, and had even come to love this slow-paced life of “rising with the sun and resting at sundown.”

Of course...

If he could, he’d have liked life to be a little more comfortable.

...

A few more days passed, and Sang and Luna’s birthdays were almost here.

Whether in his old world or this one, people attached great importance to the day a life began. And a fourteenth birthday marked adulthood, too. The celebrations varied from person to person, but usually involved a party, presents, and things like that.

However...

The orphanage was so poor that even a fourteenth-birthday coming-of-age celebration got nothing special. No presents—at most, a birthday wish and an egg.

Headmistress Lillian surely wanted all the children to grow up healthy and happy. She also wanted to meet everyone’s material and emotional needs.

But that hope was nothing more than a dream.

On their birthday...

For both Sang and Luna, life went on as usual. They either stayed at the orphanage doing handicrafts or went out to work in the fields.

Only...

After lunch...

Just as everyone else hurried back to their rooms for an afternoon nap, young Sang returned to his room and found his roommate, Adolf, missing. He turned and headed for their secret base.

Their secret base was beneath a large tree in the countryside near Lord Ben Loren’s estate.

Adolf dreamed of becoming a knight who protected humanity. For years, he’d been training his body and teaching himself swordsmanship. Over time, he’d built not only a strong physique but an even stronger will.

Adolf was widely regarded as the toughest kid at the orphanage. At fourteen, he stood 175 centimeters tall. He wasn’t especially bulky, but he could take down five adults in a row. He was pretty well-known in the nearby towns, and people all said the same thing: if Adolf could make it through the three years of Favor, the Knight Academy would surely make an exception and accept him.

Back to the present.

Young Sang still couldn’t find Adolf at their secret base.

He searched nearby for a while, then finally spotted Adolf at the entrance to the forest beside Kahn Town. Adolf was filthy and drenched in sweat, carrying a rust-covered old sword over his shoulder. In his other hand, he held a wild chicken and two hares.

Before young Sang could ask anything, Adolf spoke first. “Watermelon, what are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I was looking for you! You didn’t come back to the orphanage for your nap, and you left without saying a word. I thought something had happened to you.”

“Heh... ‘You left without saying a word’... You’ve got some nerve saying that.”

At that, young Sang was immediately embarrassed. It was true—he was the biggest wanderer in the entire orphanage. He was always disappearing, roaming around everywhere, and slacking off.

The next second...

Young Sang’s dark eyes rolled as he slyly changed the subject. “Oh, right. Why did you suddenly go into the forest?”

Adolf saw right through him. He let out a sigh, decided not to press the point, then lifted the still-kicking wild chicken and hare in his hands. “Today’s your and Luna’s birthday. I can’t afford to give you any presents, so I went hunting in the forest. At least you two can have some meat on your birthday.”

As Adolf spoke, young Sang quietly looked him over. He was covered in dirt, and his body was dotted with scrapes and bruises.

Mm.

That’s right.

Hunting wasn’t easy. It could even be dangerous... In this world, besides humans and the Blood Clan, there were also monsters known as Titans.

Young Sang suddenly felt a little moved.

At that moment, he couldn’t help thinking of the friend he’d left behind in his old world. That person had really screwed him over—first by pushing him to confess to the girl he’d liked for three years, then by getting him onto a sketchy bus and indirectly causing him to transmigrate to another world. But An Xiguang had always been a good friend.

Just as Sang and Adolf were talking, a voice that sounded like Headmistress Lillian suddenly came from behind them. She scolded them, “Sang! Adolf! You two again! Why aren’t you resting in your rooms? What are you doing out here, fooling around?”