Rogue Villain-Chapter 193: Swear

Ackster woke up in the exact same place and position he had collapsed on the beach.

"Did I tell you to stop running?"

Bo spoke from his lounge chair not far away while resting in the sun.

Ackster held back a groan. There was no need to be more rude than necessary.

"You never said I couldn’t take a break."

"I never said you could."

"I guess that’s true. My bad."

Ackster sat up, feeling skinnier than when he started his marathon. He looked at Bo, waiting for the bald man to say something. He couldn’t tell if Bo was looking at him or not due to the sunglasses.

But before either of the two men could say anything further, Ackster’s stomach grumbled.

Bo turned his head in Ackster’s direction with a raised eyebrow. He looked at Ackster for a moment before getting up and walking into the jungle without saying a word.

Ackster wasn’t sure what to do, so he remained in place, wondering why monsters or beasts hadn’t attacked him since Last Stand had stopped shearing his leaking vitality. He hoped it wasn’t because of the island since he needed something to eat.

"Are you coming?"

Bo’s words reached Ackster before the latter could decide to go for a swim in search of something edible.

"Yeah. You didn’t say you wanted me to move, so I didn’t dare make any assumptions."

"Being cocky won’t increase the number of brain cells inside your cranium, slug face."

"Right."

’Slug face?’

Ackster wondered if there was something behind Bo’s nicknames as he got up and followed him back to the house, where a meal awaited them. Only two plates of food sat on the table, one for Ackster and one for Bo.

Ackster was doubtful. There was no way a single plate would be enough to sate his hunger when he could eat entire monsters or beasts when he was hungry. But the food looked delicious, and he didn’t want to lose out on it by upsetting Bo. So, when Bo gestured for Ackster to take a seat across the table, he sat down and dove in.

It only took a single bite for Ackster to realize that the food was packed with energy and nutrients. It was beyond anything he had eaten before. It was like several piles of food had been concentrated into a fraction of the original size. Still, all of it disappeared down Ackster’s mouth like water.

Ackster let out a deep breath after clearing the plate.

"That was delicious!"

Compared to Ackster’s diet recently, every cooked item of food would be delicious, but the meal Bo had served was better than anything he had eaten. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"There’s more in the kitchen."

"Thanks."

The first plate, as surprisingly packed with nutrients as it had been, had put a good dent in Ackster’s hunger. But Ackster could still eat more. And since it might be the first and last opportunity to eat this kind of food since Bo might toss him off the island at any moment, Ackster didn’t want to miss out.

Eventually, Ackster couldn’t eat anymore, and he and Bo sat in silence at the table with empty plates. Ackster ate to the point of bursting and wouldn’t mind taking a nap. But it obviously wasn’t the occasion for that.

However, Ackster didn’t feel like he was in a position to ask Bo anything, especially since he had called him impatient the first thing he said to Ackster.

"So..."

"So...?"

Ackster repeated Bo’s words.

It earned him a disgruntled look.

"I’ll be honest. I’m not entirely opposed to teaching you a thing or two."

"..."

"I could help you reach the S-rank in a couple of months."

"..."

"But I have a feeling that’s not what you came here for."

"No. I’m relatively confident I could get there on my own."

"Yeah. I could help you with that without you needing to risk your life, but that’s not the point."

"Then, what is your point?"

"I give you some pointers, or I nurture you with all my might. There’s no in-between."

"This might be presumptuous—"

"Yes. Don’t interrupt me."

"..."

"The point is: I’m not sure whether I want to nurture you."

"...Why not?"

"I don’t like you."

"I see."

Ackster wasn’t sure what to respond to that since he didn’t want to risk worsening Bo’s impression of him even further. But he couldn’t give up just like that.

"Is there anything I can do to convince you?"

Ackster was careful as he spoke.

Bo remained silent for several tense moments that seemed to drag out forever. Ackster started getting worried. But eventually, Bo opened his mouth and answered.

"You need to listen to everything I say, and once we start, there’s no stopping, there’s no pausing, there’s no regretting, and there’s no aborting. If I train you, we will go all the way. And I need to know everything about you. Those are my conditions. If you accept that, I can be convinced."

"..."

Ackster wasn’t sure what to think. He hadn’t planned to give up halfway, either way. But the way Bo put it made it seem extra ominous. However, that wasn’t his main concern. The fact that Bo needed to know everything about him made Ackster hesitate. He carred a couple of secrets. He also wanted to keep his identity concealed.

Bo hadn’t appeared in the original story. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have any connections or didn’t influence it another way. Bo could leak Ackster’s identity. He didn’t need to do that to get rid of Ackster, considering his strength, but accidents did happen as rumors spread through the grapevine.

"Speak."

Bo noticed Ackster’s doubts. Like most things, those were best voiced.

"I..."

Ackster paused as he wasn’t sure how to phrase it.

"I have my secrets, and I don’t want anyone else to know them."

"That’s a given. That’s why they are called secrets."

Ackster just stared at Bo.

"If you’re worried about me leaking them, don’t be. I’ve trained a lot of people during my years, and not once has something that shouldn’t be revelad gotten past my lips. But if you want, I can swear an Oath on my mana."

Ackster nodded.

"Yes, please."