Queen's Classroom

Sirius ran until he collapsed from exhaustion several times in a row. King was truly a man of his word—he said he'd make Sirius regret having such strong recovery, and he did.

Tired. So, so tired.

Sirius truly possessed a nearly invincible recovery ability as long as he had something to eat. Even if his stamina was completely drained, he could replenish it in the blink of an eye after consuming enough food.

But what recovered was only stamina. The pain he endured while his stamina was being exhausted was real and undeniable.

This kind of mental torment was no joke.

After several more rounds of sit-ups and running, Sirius's body was still full of energy, but his spirit was already quite fatigued. His eyes had turned into dead fish eyes, completely devoid of luster.

Still, this brutal training wasn't without results. At least at the start of the day, Sirius could barely manage a little over one lap around Onigashima before collapsing. Now, he had improved to the point where he could run about two laps before falling.

Although part of it was due to adapting to the weight and finding a rhythm, his stamina had indeed improved compared to before.

King nodded repeatedly, and the look he gave Sirius sent a chill down his spine.

This guy was definitely thinking about whether to increase the training intensity, wasn't he? He was surely still scheming up more inhumane training methods.

But by now, Sirius couldn't be bothered to try changing King's mind. It was impossible—that bastard's sadistic blood had already boiled over completely.

A real man just silently endures his suffering.

Sirius collapsed face-first onto the ground, completely exhausted once again. As usual, King flew over to feed him.

Sirius mechanically opened his mouth, swallowed the food, then flipped over and prepared to keep running.

But then, King suddenly said, "You can stop now, kid."

Sirius didn't even react at first. He ran a few more steps before turning back in bewilderment, shooting King a questioning look, wondering if he had misheard.

"Morning self-study is over."

King's voice remained calm as he turned and walked away. "Get ready for the next lesson."

"Sirius!"

A cheerful voice rang out. Sirius turned his head and saw Yamato and the other two jogging over. There was even a bit of sauce still smeared at the corner of Yamato's mouth.

Looked like she had just finished eating.

"Is training over already?"

Yamato walked up to Sirius, looking at King's retreating figure with some regret. "What a shame. I wanted to train with Sirius."

Only then did Sirius finally confirm that the morning's hellish session was over. His tense nerves instantly relaxed. He plopped down on the ground, slowly took off his weights, then lay flat on his back, staring blankly at the sky, completely ignoring Yamato's nonsense.

"Ah, he's completely spent." Black Maria shook her head with a hint of sympathy. "Even if stamina can recover infinitely, the mind still takes a toll."

"Poor thing, Sirius."

Little Girl's face showed a motherly sadness, as if she were watching her own child collapse from exhaustion. She crouched down, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from Sirius's face.

Sirius stared blankly at Maria's face. The sunlight came from behind her, casting a halo around her entire figure. He murmured, "Is that an angel?"

"It's Maria." Maria said with a smile.

"Sirius! Get up already!"

Yamato's face also leaned in. "We still have class."

Sirius's eyes slowly shifted, focusing on Yamato's face. "Oh, so after the angel comes the demon?"

"It's Yamato!"

Yamato grabbed Sirius's hand and yanked him up. "Uncle Queen is waiting."

"That's right, Sirius! Cheer up!"

Jack also straightened his face and gave Sirius some encouragement. "Brother Queen's lessons are very important too!"

In the end, Sirius was dragged up by Yamato. Without using his abilities, he couldn't resist her monstrous strength.

Whatever. Morning classes were cultural lessons anyway. He could just treat it as rest time.

"Let's go, then."

Sirius said.

"Then get down and walk on your own!" Jack snapped angrily.

"Huh? When did that happen?" Sirius was startled. Somehow, he had already jumped onto Jack's shoulder.

Sirius sighed helplessly and pinched the bridge of his nose, then sat down firmly on Jack's shoulder. "Damn, am I that exhausted I'm getting confused? Looks like I'll have to trouble you to carry me over, Jack."

"You're totally doing that on purpose!"

Jack shouted. Before he could finish, he felt something land on his other shoulder. He turned his head and saw Yamato standing there too.

"You too?!"

"Hahaha, let's go!" Yamato waved her right hand, looking as spirited as a pirate captain ordering a ship to set sail.

"Alright, Jack, stop fussing. Hurry up and go. Uncle Queen will get angry." Black Maria said with a smile.

Jack grunted and trudged into Onigashima. Black Maria followed with a grin.

Queen's classroom was inside Onigashima. As the Beasts Pirates' top scientist, Queen had a large exclusive experimental area, and that was where the classroom for Sirius and the others was set up.

The four of them soon arrived outside a room.

Before the door was even pushed open, Sirius caught a cloyingly sweet scent wafting from inside.

"Brother Queen, we're here!"

Jack raised his hand to open the door.

Sirius jumped down from his shoulder, and Yamato followed suit.

The door swung open, and the sweet aroma hit them almost head-on.

"What are you brats up to, munch munch? Do you know how long I've been waiting here, munch munch?"

Queen's cheeks were stuffed full. He sat cross-legged on the floor, cradling a huge iron bucket in his arms, scooping out its contents with a ladle and shoving them into his mouth.

The sweet smell came from that bucket.

So what exactly was so hard about waiting? Weren't you having a great time eating?

Sirius twitched his nose. It smelled good.

He shuffled over hesitantly. He wasn't hungry right now, but having some dessert after a meal wouldn't be bad, would it?

"Uncle Queen, what are you eating? It smells really good."

"Huh?"

Queen's eyes flicked to Sirius approaching from the corner of his vision. He frowned, then abruptly lifted the entire iron bucket, opened his mouth wide, and poured the contents straight down his throat.

Realizing his intentions had been completely seen through, Sirius said helplessly, "Come on, Uncle Queen, do you have to be that stingy?"

"Don't joke around with me, you brat!"

Queen set the iron bucket down on the floor, wiped his mouth, and said smugly, "All the Oshiruko is mine! I won't let a single drop go!"

Do you know that it's exactly this attitude of yours that gets you beaten to a pulp by Charlotte Linlin later?

Queen stood up, let out a burp, and said, "Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's start the lesson!"

Sirius was a little curious too. What would Queen's Classroom teach?