Chapter 49: The Otaku Starts Training (And Rem's "Quiet Place" Is Extremely Suspicious)
The morning had stretched into early afternoon by the time Edrin finally set down his quill.
The stack of paper beside him was thicker now. Dozens of pages covered in tight, precise handwriting. Names. Dates. Locations. Ritual sites. Compromised officials. Dead drop locations. Everything he remembered.
Meliodas picked up the first page and scanned it.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Edrin watched him like a man awaiting sentencing.
Kaelen had stopped meditating and now stood near the window, alternating between watching the street and watching Meliodas's face for any reaction.
Rem had claimed the only chair and was pretending to nap, but her ears twitched whenever anyone spoke.
Bud remained on the windowsill, basking in the afternoon sun, glow steady and calm.
Meliodas read for ten minutes.
Then he set the pages down.
"This is thorough."
Edrin's shoulders dropped a fraction. "I told you everything. Every site I visited. Every name I heard. Every symbol they used."
"The Warden."
Edrin nodded tightly. "That's the only name I don't have. She never gave a real one. Just the title."
Meliodas filed that away.
A Magic Knight operating under a title meant she was either very careful or very confident. Either way, dangerous.
Kaelen spoke quietly. "Master... if there's a Magic Knight involved, shouldn't we tell the Archmage?"
"She already knows."
Kaelen blinked. "She does?"
"She didn't react when Edrin mentioned it. She already had that information."
Rem opened one eye. "So she's letting us walk around knowing there's a traitor Knight somewhere?"
"Either that or she's watching to see what we do with the information."
Rem considered that, then closed her eye again. "Fun."
Meliodas looked at the pages again.
Cult remnants. Compromised nobles. A Magic Knight called the Warden. A bloodline target named Kaelen.
And somewhere in the forest, pressure that hadn't faded.
He turned to Kaelen.
"Training starts now."
Kaelen straightened immediately. "Yes, Master."
Rem's eye opened again. "Here?"
"No. Somewhere private."
She sat up, suddenly very alert. "I know a place."
Meliodas looked at her.
She smiled sweetly.
"You said that already."
"And I meant it. Follow me."
---
Rem led them through streets Meliodas hadn't explored before.
Southval's clean center gave way to older districts. Buildings leaned slightly, like they'd given up on perfect geometry centuries ago. The crowds thinned. The sounds of the market faded.
Kaelen walked close to Meliodas, one hand near his sword, eyes scanning every shadow.
Edrin had stayed behind at the inn, under strict orders not to leave. Bud had decided to come this time, rousing from his nap and climbing onto Meliodas's shoulder with a sleepy pulse.
'Better than being alone with the guilty one.'
'He's useful.'
'He's guilty.'
'Both can be true.'
Rem led them down an alley, then another, then through a gap between buildings that definitely wasn't a sanctioned path.
Finally, she stopped in front of a heavy wooden door set into a stone wall.
"This is it."
Meliodas looked at the door.
Then at the wall around it.
Then at Rem.
"This looks like a secret entrance."
"It is."
"To what?"
She pushed the door open.
Beyond it lay a courtyard. Overgrown, but not abandoned. Stone walls on all sides. A fountain in the center, dry and cracked. Training dummies lined one wall, their straw stuffing visible through tears in the canvas.
Meliodas stepped inside.
{Observation Haki} stretched.
No one else present.
No traps.
Just... a hidden training ground.
He looked at Rem.
She shrugged. "Old family property. No one uses it anymore."
Kaelen stared. "Your family owns a secret training ground?"
"We're complicated."
Meliodas didn't ask.
He was already assessing the space.
Good sightlines. High walls. Enough room for movement.
"Works."
Rem beamed.
---
Kaelen stood in the center of the courtyard, hands loose at his sides, trying to look ready.
Meliodas circled him slowly.
{Observation Haki} read tension in his shoulders. Fear in his pulse. Determination in his jaw.
Normal.
Good.
"Remember the Archmage's lesson," Meliodas said.
Kaelen nodded. "Breath. Rhythm. Load."
"Yes."
Meliodas stopped in front of him.
"I'm not going to teach you how to fight. You already know that."
Kaelen blinked. "Then what are you teaching me?"
"How not to break."
He lifted one hand.
A small {Energy Construct} formed—a thin loop of gold light, no larger than a bracelet.
"Put this on your wrist."
Kaelen extended his arm.
The loop settled around his skin, warm but not burning.
"What does it do?"
"Measures your pulse. Your breathing. Your mana flow." Meliodas stepped back. "Right now, it's white. Calm. When you panic, it'll turn red. When your bloodline tries to surface, it'll flicker."
Kaelen stared at the loop. "This is... incredibly advanced magic."
"It's a trick. Not important."
Rem, perched on a low wall nearby, snorted. "He's modest when he's not showing off."
Meliodas ignored her.
"First exercise," he said. "Stand still. Don't move. Don't react."
Kaelen nodded.
Meliodas moved behind him.
Then he activated {Rush}.
Time slowed.
He circled Kaelen twice, close enough to touch, then stopped back where he started.
{Rush ended}.
Kaelen hadn't moved.
The loop on his wrist flickered pale pink, then settled back to white.
Meliodas nodded. "Good. You felt it?"
"I felt... something. Like you were everywhere at once."
"That's the point. Stay calm when you can't track the threat."
Kaelen exhaled slowly.
The loop stayed white.
"Again."
---
They trained for three hours.
Meliodas varied the exercises. {Rush} passes. Sudden movements from different angles. Brief flares of {Sun Fruit} warmth near Kaelen's skin without warning.
The loop flickered pink several times. Once it flashed orange.
But never red.
Never broke.
Kaelen was learning.
Rem watched from the wall, occasionally offering commentary that ranged from genuinely helpful to absolutely useless.
"You should shout before you move. It's scarier."
"That defeats the purpose."
"Purpose is overrated."
Bud, now perched on the fountain's edge, sent occasional pulses of amusement.
By the time the sun began to lower, Kaelen was exhausted but steady.
The loop on his wrist glowed white.
Meliodas nodded. "Enough for today."
Kaelen's shoulders sagged with relief. "Master... that was..."
"Hard. It's supposed to be."
"I didn't break."
"No. You didn't."
Kaelen's expression shifted. Something proud, but quiet.
Rem hopped off the wall and stretched. "Good job, little prince. You lasted longer than I expected."
Kaelen flushed slightly. "Thank you?"
"It was a compliment. Take it."
Meliodas looked at the sky.
Late afternoon.
They should head back before dark.
But something made him pause.
{Observation Haki} brushed the edges of the courtyard.
Nothing.
Just the city settling into evening.
But the pressure he'd felt in the forest... it wasn't here.
That was good.
That was also suspicious.
He filed it away.
"Let's go."
---
They returned to the inn as the first lanterns were being lit.
Edrin was exactly where they'd left him, sitting at the desk, staring at the pages he'd written.
He looked up as they entered.
"Any problems?"
Meliodas shook his head. "Training went fine."
Edrin's eyes flicked to Kaelen, then away.
Kaelen didn't react.
Progress.
Rem flopped onto the bed—the terrible inn bed—and sighed dramatically.
"I'm starving."
Meliodas looked at the window.
Southval gleamed in the fading light.
Clean.
Quiet.
Lying.
But tonight, at least, they had a mattress that didn't feel like straw.
He'd put it in the room while they were out. No one would notice until they lay down.
Small victories.
He reached into his coat and touched the pouch with Rem's gold.
Fifty-eight gold.
Enough to start something real.
But first, they needed to survive the cult.
The Warden.
The forest.
The Fair Court.
One step at a time.
Bud's pulse came through, warm and steady.
'Food?'
Meliodas almost smiled.
'Food.'
---
END OF CHAPTER 49
---
Chapter 50 Preview:
The Warden makes her first move.
A message arrives at the inn.
And Kaelen's bloodline awakens—whether he's ready or not.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 49]