Spear had to say that he hated Mali. It was too obvious that she came over to empty his silver coffers and eat her full under his expense. Honestly, doesn't that King of theirs feed them! Spear huffed and puffed as he passed through the hallways as he made his way to the kitchen.

He intended to go and tell the Cook that if Mali ever wanted a second or third serving, she should be pulling out enough money from her pouch for the snacks or food she wanted to eat. Or, better yet, chase away the glutinous Crafter and have a day's rest. Spear quickened his pace and as he did so, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. His new business was already in shambles, and now he had to entertain people like Mali.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he wasn't alone in the hallway. A familiar figure of a servant was making long strides in his direction. To Spear's slight surprise, the servant in question was the same one that had talked to Gin previously. He seemed to have come from the kitchen as indicated by the corner he had walked out of. Spear furrowed his eyebrows and decisively made his way to the servant. Noticing Spear, the servant had stopped, stepped to the side, and bowed. He seemed to have expected Spear to pass by since he guessed he was making his way to the kitchen, but, to his evident surprise, Spear stopped before him.

"Raise your head," Spear commanded.

The servant did so, and Spear looked at him expressionlessly. Becoming even more startled, the servant morphed an expression of confusion for a moment before resting his face to a calm look. Finding the events peculiar, he wanted to broach a topic by asking what he could assist the Sir with, but Spear beat him to the punch.

"I know that young Gin is someone to keep to himself most times, so the last time I saw you talk to him, you must have taken the initiative to speak with him."

A slight frown curved the servant's forehead, but Spear could clearly see the frown turn from uncomprehension to one of worry.

"Yes, he looked lost, and so I wanted to offer my assistance," the servant responded promptly with a bow.

"Offer unrequired assistance?" Spear asked with a raise of an eyebrow. Many things had happened as he dealt with his various affairs, so he had completely overlooked attending to this little matter, but...

Bowing even deeper, the servant pleaded, "I stepped out of bound, Sir, I ask for your pardon."

This time, Spear raised his other eyebrow, and with both eyebrows up, a glint flashed by his eyes, while staring intently at the servant's bowing figure.

"Ho, interesting. You do remember the teachings you received from the day of your employment, do you not?"

The servant shivered noticeably and began to apologize profusely. He knew his actions had been beyond out of bounds by the mention of his teachings, and if there was anything extensive he had learned, it was that Spear and the Cook went an extra mile to have their servants be the best of the best. From what he had learned during his training years, their teaching methods rivaled those of the Palace itself, and if any of them were to go out to look for another employer, they would be too highly regarded that the best location for their career would have to be the Noble Ward or the Palace.

Those two places weren't so easy to find employment, but the effort given for them in the Distant Jade would make the matter a step closer to easy. As it turned out, the Cook herself had been in the process of being hired as a Fifth Tier Chef in the Palace before Spear drew her to his Master's estate. Her praise for Spear's diligence was sky high, and in fact, besides their Master Il San and the high salary offered, Spear became the biggest reason for them sticking to their current employment.

"I will only say this once more; unless your superiors speak to you, do not go around uttering a word or snooping. Young Gin is now one of those superiors and from what I know of Master, he may be beyond a ‘superior’ in our books. So, keep your hands and whatever interests you have away from him. Is that clear?" Spear uttered the words with a lot of heat. He looked particularly irate.

In-as-much as he loved to spare his money, he made sure to give out the best for Master and the Distant Jade. This included the servants, and yes, he got them cheap, but he would make the effort of nurturing them himself as he knew by the time they were ready for their service, they would come out as the perfect employees for the Distant Jade. One factor he emphasized diligently above everything else was: mind your business. You can be seen, but never heard unless prompted to. And truly, what easier way was there to go about one's job if not by this? Above all else, however, he certainly didn't put in his time on this just to have slight ‘mistakes’ like the servant before him had made.

Only once would he tolerate such blunders, but his Divine Art wasn't for show or to only protect the Master, he used its existence and its best capabilities to keep the people in the Distant Jade in check. His surveillance may be kept away from Gin and his Master, but the servants weren't so lucky, and they all knew this. So the servant making such a ‘step out of his bounds’ just made his mood too bitter and sour. Spear's face was still deadpan, but his stare at the servant held enough viciousness of a glare.

With another deeper bow, the servant promised, "I will never repeat this error. It was just that young Lord Gin looked out of sorts, and we don't have many visitors so I wanted to offer a helping hand. It will never happen again."

Spear snorted. Feeling like he had already wasted too much of his time on the matter, he didn't want to point out the servant's addition of unnecessary excuses. It was in this particular servant's nature to be wordy, but he had always been saved by his diligence. "It better not.'' Turning away swiftly, Spear moved from the servant and cut the nearby corner, leaving the servant's view.

Seeing Spear's exit, the servant straightened up slowly with apprehension clear on his face. He sighed lightly in relief and patted his chest before looking back at the direction Spear had disappeared to. His eyes held a lot of questions, but most of it held relief. Sighing again, the servant could only shrug before leaving and putting the encounter with the lately easily angered superior behind.

Seemingly unbeknownst to the servant, Spear hadn't moved from the wall that he had decided to lean on after turning the corner. He stayed there silently and listened to the retreating steps of the servant. He stood there for a long time, not making any movements or sounds, it was as if he transformed into an inexpensive statue. Suddenly, he heard some shuffling of feet and raised his head. What he saw was Gin dragging his body past the corner he was in. The young boy looked miserable; tired and half dead. Spear smirked. It seemed that someone was having a slightly worse day than him. Spear left the wall and went straight to the young one.

"Young Gin," Spear called out merrily.

Gin turned his head, which was hanging on his slouching shoulders, and, "Ha."

With that as a response, Gin went on to drag his body towards the sleeping quarter's hallways. Cackling, Spear clamped his hands on the boy's upper arms while half hugging him so as to steer and drag him towards the exit of the hallway.

"Ha?" Gin asked.

"We are going to the gardens, miserable one," Spear answered.

Sighing, Gin asked, "Hay?"

"You need the refreshing air and some refreshments," Spear said with a cheery tone.

By sheer coincidence, another servant was exiting the kitchen. Beckoning to them, they paused as the short servant quickly made their way over. Spear didn't even let them speak as he ordered them to get them peppermint tea and serve it at the intersection of the gardens. The servant readily agreed and practically flew off to the kitchen. Spear shook his head but decided to place his attention on the sack beside him, and he saw Gin almost falling asleep in his arms.

Shaking his head again, Spear shuffled them to the gardens. When there, he sat Gin on to one of the various benches readily available. Sitting heavily on the stone bench, Gin exhaled deeply, the setting sun hitting his face made him feel rather refreshed.

"Thank you, Spear," Gin said with his head raised to the sky.

"Mm, you always hide in your room after leaving the Training Hall. That's not good for you. In-as-much as you're tired, do take some time and come out to see the outside more," Spear spoke as he looked at the scenery. His favorite work of art, if he should gloat a little. He wasn't entirely sincere about this but decided to ask anyway, it would do the boy good to know that there was someone that gave a horse's arse about his day. "So, how has the training been these last few days?"

°°

Gin threw Spear a rotten look. "You call that training? Master is trying to kill me, I tell you! If I die in that Training Hall you best be prepared to compensate my parents for losing their precious child, Spear!"

Spear threw Gin his own rotten look, one, he believed, to be of a higher plane. "If Master wanted you dead, you should have been dead five days ago, but you seem to have enough energy to speak matters of money, eh? Maybe I should advise Master to increase the difficulty of your training." Spear found the boy's words incredulous, to say the least. He had a feeling that everyone was just out for his money for whatever reason; reasons, he decided, were foolish at the end of it all. And currently, that was too touchy a topic!

On the other side of the bench, Spear's words tickled Gin the wrong way. Five days! Five brutal days! Gin could testify to have gone to the Underworld's hell and back. His Master had had him up before the crack of dawn and demanded him to run around an impressive yard. The yard was very inconspicuously located behind the stretch of gardens to what he believed to be the east of the estate. The large area was conveniently covered with long carved bamboo sticks as fences.

From what the old man had told him, he wanted to get more information about the condition of his body. So, for the past five days, he had been completing test after test to satisfy the old man's curiosity. With intense eyes glaring at him every second, he could barely slack off or complain. Barely. Besides running, he did weightlifting exercises, endless stretching, and meditation. To his horror, the weights were made from Ash Metal, they all came in different sizes and weight, but they seemed to weigh the same to him. This stigma against the metal could be blamed on the daggers from the first test, a shadow was already cast in his heart and the various sizes did nothing to give him a glimmer of hope in succeeding.

At the end of the day, his Master would retire to his study. Then the following day would start, and the same tests as the previous day would be the opening, but those exercises would be doubled. Meaning, he would do twice as much as the previous day, and the reason given for the torture was it being a test of his physical and mental endurance. By the end of the six days, his Master would have what he needed to compile his actual training regimen pertaining to the conditioning of his body. Then the real torture, no, lessons would, supposedly, begin. But then...

"Ha! As if! I want to see how that would go when Master is itching to kick you out of the Distant Jade. He can look away from your management of this place, but interfering with my training... tsk, tsk, you must have a death wish for yourself," Gin smirked and expanded his nostril in a puff of confidence.

Spear's entire face twitched, "Is it me or are those Kiri's words coming out of your mouth? Those sneaky rats must be boosting you with a lot of confidence, I see. Haven't you ever wondered how I managed to convince Master to keep me here and give me money from time to time? You really think me telling him that your training can be turned up a notch will be received all that badly?

"'Master, young Gin shows a lot of potential, far more than we did when we were younger. I think an increase in the training regimen he does could show faster improvement. He should be able to handle that much, especially with his previous livelihood as a farmer.'"

Gin's eyes widened at the swift change of Spear's image, from an annoying shrew to a subservient and diligent student. He had to admit, he was frightened! This beast could really have him killed! ‘A lot of potential’ could be interpreted only as making the exercises done four times longer by tomorrow to that stubborn old man! Way ahead of the schedule if the last training’s frequency was anything to go by! Before he could counter Spear, the servant from before made their appearance along with a tray filled with beautifully crafted teapot and teacups.

Swallowing his words, Gin could only glare at Spear. Spear had his lips hooked in a triumphant smile. He wanted to smear his victory all over Gin's face but was stopped from doing so because, at that moment, something scalding hot made contact with his skin. Spear looked down at the affected area and found that the peppermint tea that was being served to him had been splashed on his arm, thigh, and down his pale green robes.

Turning expressionless, Spear turned to the servant and saw the fear hanging over them. They were still holding the teacup, suspended in the act of handing it to Spear, only to have accidentally spilled the tea on the young master. Gin’s face was tight with worry. He had seen the servant serving the tea to Spear, but the slip happened before he could do or say anything.

"Servant," Spear's mood became cloudy in an instant. In the same breath, he stood and landed a slap across the servant's face.

Gin was frozen, and so was the servant. The escalation of the matter it seemed, had caught both of them completely unawares.

"I will not say much since you know what you did wrong, yes?" Spear asked.

"Yes, Sir. This servant begs for your pardon," The servant placed the cup they had been clutching back to the tray that was, miraculously, still intact on the palm of their other hand. Shifting the tray to hold it with both hands, they bowed and didn't say anything more.

Spear turned to look at the shell shocked Gin with an obvious calm facade on his face, "Sorry for the disgraceful display. I'll need to change my clothes, so I'll have to leave your company. You," Spear then turned to the servant, "come with me to the Cook. You need far more training than I anticipated; far more. You are clearly not ready."

With that, the two left, and Gin was alone in the gardens. He didn't know what to think or do. Exhaling slowly, he deflated his shock and worry, and decided to leave the situation as it was. The Distant Jade wasn't his home, and Spear was in charge of the estate and servants in tow, so he couldn't freely intervene. Confirming he had had enough of the outdoors, Gin got up and took slow steps heading back to the sleeping quarters. He needed the rest, he still had more training to complete his schedule for the day. The Master’s guest had been his saving grace, since after being left with a list of workouts to do, supervised by a servant, Gin had about an hour or two to replenish his energy reserves before heading back to duke it out with his muscles once more. My Gods! I hate this!