Do I Owe Tuition?

"..so big."

Erin was shocked by what he saw.

Not just one, but Darwin actually had two of them!

'Is he really that rich?'

Erin thought to himself as he basked in this sight.

When Darwin ripped off his pants, Erin immediately saw that both of Darwin's legs were bionic!

Bionic body parts were normally expensive pieces of equipment. Especially because they had to be custom-fitted to withstand and support the user's level.

The cost was proportional to both size and quality. It just so happened that Darwin's bionic legs looked thick and appeared to be made of very high-end parts. Even the underwear he was wearing appeared to be made of high-quality bionic cloth!

Bionic parts that could support the body of a human that's broken the fourth barrier must have been extremely expensive!

"Heh. I can see it on your face that you think these bionic legs can support my level. Unfortunately, I am nowhere near wealthy enough to afford goods at that level. If I could, then I would still be in service and commanding my former Division right now." Darwin gave a smile that looked a little somber.

"Truly regrettable. As flashy as these two things look, they're actually second-hand goods. I had the exteriors cleaned up but I can't afford to repair the most important internal parts. Otherwise they could support me all the way to the sixth barrier!" Darwin had a sense of yearning in his aura.

"Then what level can those bionic legs support?" Erin was quite curious.

"Second level at best. In an emergency, I can push it past the third barrier, but I'm afraid they won't last long." Darwin didn't even try to hide the truth. He was so honest that Erin felt a little touched.

"Fortunately, my little Snow is already a beast that's broken the sixth barrier."

Darwin had an innocent yet dangerous smile on his face.

Erin no longer felt touched.

"..Sixth barrier by human standards or by beast standards?"

Out of shock, Erin couldn't help himself from asking a rhetorical question.

"As a Grand Beastmaster, of course I only use beast standards when describing my own beasts." Darwin had his eyebrows raised as he looked at Erin.

"Wouldn't you know this as a Tamer yourself?" Darwin purposely probed Erin.

'Tamer? ..Oh!' Erin recalled this profession.

Other than Knight and Mage, Tamer's were fairly commonplace in his old empire. Alien beasts were commonplace to the point where humans tried to gain control of them in the fargone past. Historically, their success led to the creation of the Tamer profession.

"I'm not a Tamer. In fact, I was studying to be a Knight." Erin responded casually.

Erin thought back to the Profession part of the Darwin's holographic display earlier. He recalled seeing 'Grand Beastmaster' in that slot.

"Is beastmaster the new official term for Tamer? I mean it has been several thousand years.." He thought to himself.

At the same time Erin was pondering this, Darwin was also having a mental battle of his own.

'Studying to be a Knight? What kind of person studies to be a Knight when they already have an aura of approval from a holy beast!?" Darwin was actually stunned this time. There was no mistake, the lightning aura that he felt earlier was definitely genuine.

Erin's words sounded like a professional soldier who threw away his gun so that he could pick up a knife instead.

The fact that Erin didn't seem to be lying left Darwin dumbfounded.

"You're really not a Tamer?" Darwin asked seriously.

"Yes, I'm not." Erin answered with a straight face.

'Are you actually stupid?' Darwin really wanted to say these words out loud. He stared at Erin like he was looking at an extinct animal.

'Why does his facial expression look familiar.' Erin thought back to the scene earlier with the two younglings.

It was the same look the younglings gave him after he said he descended from the Dawn Empire. 'Are these expressions a family thing?' Erin thought to himself.

"Oh, I see. Looks like I misunderstood you. My apologies." Darwin adapted quickly. "The Imperial Academy is quite famous for their knighthood too. I've also seen my fair share of Grandmaster Knights on the battlefield as well."

"How about we go down to my mansion's practice field? You can demonstrate your stances and I can offer some advice." Darwin sounded like an elder who wanted to guide his junior.

"Oh! That sounds nice." Erin was really tempted. "Unfortunately, I don't know any Knight stances."

"..."

Darwin was speechless.

"You're studying to be a Knight.. but you don't know a single Knight stance?"

Darwin squinted his eyes and started re-assessing Erin. It really didn't feel like he was lying at all which bothered Darwin a lot.

Either Erin was really good at lying or he was the most brainless Knight that Darwin has ever met in his entire life.

'I didn't get a chance to study any stances because I didn't even get a chance to take the entrance exams; let alone enter the academy.' Erin thought about this and felt a little frustrated. He noticed that Darwin might be misunderstanding his background; but Erin wasn't willing to risk his safety just to clear up this misunderstanding.

While Erin was thinking, his silence just made the atmosphere feel awkward.

"..Okay then." Darwin sounded like he wanted to sit back down and take a drink.

*Ting, ting, ting*

The sound of chimes came from an alarm on Darwin's desk. It interrupted the awkward conversation between Erin and Darwin and woke up the Snow Fang beast that was sleeping on the desk.

"Oh! It's lunch time! How about you join my family for lunch today? We can continue talking after we finish eating." Darwin said as he turned around and faced his desk.

Just as he finished talking, the Snow fang beast jumped from the desk and landed in Darwin's arms.

"Ah, okay!" Erin's train of thought was interrupted. All he heard was 'join' and 'lunch'. It's been awhile since he woke up and he was feeling hungry. Free food would also be ideal since his rations were limited.

When Erin and Darwin walked out the room, Erin noticed that the two soldiers were gone.

"Weren't there two guards here earlier?" Erin casually muttered.

"Heh. I don't need soldiers to be my guards." Darwin said confidently as he looked down at Snow. "If there were soldiers here earlier, it was probably Ron who stationed them here. Probably to test you for reasons I don't know."

Erin had a dazed look as he listened to Darwin's explanation.

Darwin took the lead and Erin followed. As they walked down the halls they noticed a few soldiers patrolling the area. The soldiers promptly saluted Darwin before continuing their duties.

"I thought you didn't need guards?" Erin asked after the patrolling soldiers left.

"While I don't need them, this is still a residence. Precautions are necessary for the protection of my family." Darwin stated it like it was a matter of fact.

"Which reminds me, I must thank you for bringing my two children back. This was the first time they've ever snuck outside the city boundaries." Darwin sounded more sincere this time.

'It won't happen a second time.' He thought to himself.

After a few more minutes, they finally reached the dining hall.

When the both of them entered, Erin could see Olivia and Edward already sitting at a fairly long dining table.

At the corner of the hall, there was a large pile of meat and a small pile of Energy Stones. Bobo had joyful eyes as it sat on top of the Energy Stones. It looked like it was waiting for everyone to start eating before it began absorbing the stones.

Snow jumped off from Darwin's chest and landed in front of the large pile of meat. It didn't start eating immediately and also looked like it was going to patiently wait.

Erin was surprised to see that even their beasts had table-manners.

Before Erin could greet the two younglings, Olivia suddenly looked at her father and spoke up.

"Father.. why don't you have any pants on?" She couldn't help herself from asking.

"And why does your underwear have a bunch of flashing lights?" Edward looked like he was thinking about something seriously. "But it looks pretty cool! Can I get a pair for myself?!" He asked enthusiastically.

Both of them glanced at the bionic legs like they were a normal pair of legs.

Darwin looked surprised before he tilted his head down and realized he forgot to put on a new set of pants. He also denied Edward's request with a single motion.

Erin noticed this a long time ago. He didn't say anything because he didn't know if this was normal or not. When the patrolling soldiers saluted him earlier and didn't say anything, Erin believed that it was actually normal.

'I guess I was wrong.' Erin thought as he looked between Darwin's glittering underwear and Edward's glittering eyes. 'This youngling has some weird aesthetics.'

Just as Darwin was about to pull out a communication device, Ron suddenly entered the dining hall while carrying a pair of pants.

"Master, I've brought you a fresh set of pants. I anticipated that you'd need them after the young man entered your room." Ron said with his head slightly bowed.

'You anticipated this?!' Erin looked at Ron like he was a psychic that could predict the future.

Darwin looked at Ron thankfully before quickly putting on the fresh pair.

While he was walking down the halls with Erin earlier, Darwin was thinking so deeply about Erin that he actually forgot about his pants.

Now that the fiasco was over, Darwin and Erin promptly sat down at the long dining table.

Ron walked into another door connected to the dining hall and motioned the servants inside to start. He then stood at the entrance of the dining hall and said nothing more.

Trays on trays of food came out of that room as the servants carefully placed them throughout the occupied portion of the table.

Erin was stunned by the sight of so much deliciously looking food. Even in his former empire, he's never eaten so extravagantly before. Olivia and Edward looked at it like it was a normal lunch. That just shows how different their childhood environments were.

Once the servants finished placing down the food and pouring out the drinks, Olivia and Edward looked in Darwin's direction before starting. With a single nod from Darwin, Edward started ravaging down the plates while Olivia looked far more refined and picked out her favorite dishes carefully.

Erin looked back and saw that Snow and Bobo also started. The sight of Snow devouring that giant pile of meat made Erin shudder.

Lunch took about 25 minutes and went by smoothly.

Aside from Edward gulfing down an insane amount of food, there wasn't much sound at all. It seems this family took their meal etiquette seriously. While they were eating, Ron was still standing next to the dining hall entrance motionlessly.

As the servants started clearing out the dining table, Darwin looked at Erin with a smile and clapped.

"Alright! I've decided." His tone got very enthusiastic. Olivia and Edward kept looking between their father and Erin with faces full of curiosity.

"Erin, how about I teach you the skills of a Tamer?" Darwin threw out this offer unexpectedly.

He realized that beating around the bush wouldn't work with a young man that made no sense.

So he was going to save himself from all the stress and be as straightforward as possible.

"I understand that you're studying to be a Knight, but there's no harm in learning Tamer techniques either. If you like it, you could possibly take it as a secondary profession." Darwin tried to bait Erin as much as he could.

"..This" Erin was pretty surprised. When he heard the first question, he was very hesitant.

Yet as Darwin continued, it sounded so reasonable and enticing that Erin couldn't help himself from seriously considering Darwin's offer.

'Isn't there a catch to this?' This was the only thought that prevented Erin from immediately agreeing.

"Erm, if I say yes, would I have to pay you?" Erin looked rather embarrassed. "Unfortunately, I don't have much money for tuition."