It was the moment Rishe showed signs of leaving the inner world.
Clanar felt a constricting pressure in her chest.
It was a sensation she had never experienced before—unpleasant yet curiously poignant.
She was certain.
It was without a doubt that the creature was exerting control over her again.
Therefore, the act of submitting and speaking humbly to it had nothing to do with her own will.
There was no reason to hesitate or feel ashamed.
“Wait. I’ll give you what you want.”“…”“Disgusting creature. Aren’t you satisfied with making me do such a thing? Those eyes… how much shame do you intend to heap upon me?”
How much shame am I intending to give her?
Rishe paused to reflect on himself.
“…It’s not my intention?”Upon review, it seemed his control wasn’t affecting her at all.
Then what is this?
What accounts for her attitude now?
Rishe decided not to overthink things.
Good enough as it is, isn’t it?
While she was being cooperative, there was no need to stir up more trouble unnecessarily.
For now, the best course of action was to accommodate her worldview (?) and ensure she received what she desired.
Having come to this conclusion, Rishe produced a sly smile.
Isn’t this probably the image she imagines (hopes for) of me?
“How much shame are you destined to endure…? Well, hasn’t that depended entirely on your actions?”
With gritted teeth, Clanar felt the humiliation.
Yet, her eyes glimmered with a faint spark of something else.
Rishe’s actions had inadvertently absolved her.
So, Clanar thought. I knew this would happen. Look at him. My actions now have absolutely nothing to do with my own will. Hence, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Clanar, who had previously felt a faint sense of shame and hesitation, now vanished and acted decisively.
She executed the same movement she had shown Rishe before, confident that he hadn’t truly comprehended its intricacies.
“Yes. With your meager comprehension, you wouldn’t understand a thing. But it’s best you don’t ask for more from me. Teaching others is not my forte, and someone who can’t even grasp such a simple action will gain nothing from my sword.”
“I’ll bear it in mind. Will you show me the next move?”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
Clanar sighed and repeated the movement.
“No, never mind that. Show me the next movement.”
“?”
Wasn’t he asking for the same movement again?
Clanar felt a brief moment of perplexity.
“Damn. Already trying to trick me, huh? What do you expect to learn by looking at two moves when you barely understand the first?”
She mocked him with disdain.
And that was all.
She felt no disappointment.
Disappointment is born from expectations, after all.
Clanar had never believed Rishe could grasp her swordsmanship. Her role, she believed, was simply to humor this brash young man until he realized his own limits.
“Oh, while we’re at it, how about you take a look at my stance? I’ve done as much as I can on my part.”
Clanar let out a derisive snort and gave a dismissive nod.
In response, Rishe took up his stance.
At first glance, it appeared to be a conventional upper cut. However, his unique breathing…
Every aspect of it, from the inhale to the exhale, was seamlessly integrated into an eerie stillness.
Even the movement of his sword, the rustle of his clothing, the placement of his feet, and the rhythm of his breathing produced not a single sound.
It was akin to the motion of a shadow that follows the moonlight—quiet and effortless. Prey only realizes the cut on their body when they see their own reflection in the moonlight.
The movements of the Blue Lotus, the Killer Ghost, were reproduced.
“How is it?”“…Again.”
Without realizing it, Clanar murmured under her breath.
Once. Twice.
Her murmuring continued to repeat endlessly.
How much time had passed since the same motion was repeatedly executed? Rishe finally expressed his discontentment to Clanar for her monotonous request to “do it again” in a tone void of any emotion.
“Can you explain what the problem is?”
Clanar could not provide an answer to Rishe’s request.
Was it because she had no interest in the role of an accommodating teacher?
No.
It was because there was nothing to nitpick in Rishe’s movement.
The repeated “again” came for this reason. Clanar couldn’t easily accept the fact that Rishe had flawlessly reproduced her movements.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect—merely a difference in proficiency.
Yet, he had accurately uncovered the essence and meaning of the movements, making them his own.
It had only been after witnessing her single motion and after merely a few days’ practice.
“…!”
Suddenly,
Clanar’s breath caught in her throat.
The thought of her own sword being wielded by another…
The thought of her own sword being understood by someone else…
Clanar imagined.
Rishe cleaving through someone with that sword.
In that moment, the sword, the ‘Blue Lotus,’ held in his hand.
Thump!
Her heart raced violently.
It was neither the joy of slaughter nor the artificial happiness that creature gave her.
It was a new kind of emotion, one she had never felt before, filling her completely.
“Damn… My sword… in your likes…?”
Clanar forced an act of displeasure as she demonstrated the next movement, her upper cut.It was the connecting technique known as the forward footwork.
“…”
Rishe carefully observed the motion before shaking his head.
Then, without delay, he delved into his inner world to fully grasp the technique.
“Ah…!”
Clanar involuntarily sighed as she stared at the direction where Rishe had been standing.
[Affinity rate has increased]
[Affinity rate: 11%]
The familiar sensation of bliss struck her at that moment.
“Ah…”
She crouched down, trying to calm herself.
“Damn it, damn it…!”
Though cursing repeatedly, she was unaware of the expression on her face.
Eventually, when the wave of emotion had passed, only one thought remained in Clanar’s mind.
‘What’s happening…?’
The joy of slaughter.
The joy of dominion.
None of it mattered to her now.
She was simply curious about Rishe wielding his sword.
This was the moment when the saliungeui began to understand human emotions.
<You have too many unnecessary habits.>
“Hm?”
A voice reached Rishe while he was practicing a new move in front of the mirror in the garden.
Rishe looked down at the blue lotus he held in his hand.
Clanar, who had refused to leave the inner world no matter how many times he called, was now naturally residing in the sword.
“What sudden change of heart is this?”
<...You have too many unnecessary habits.>
“What sudden change of heart is this?”
<Shut up.>
Despite Clanar’s obstinate comments, Rishe ignored them.
<Why keep letting mana circulate aimlessly? Are you planning to surprise attack with magic at any moment?>
To Clanar, Rishe’s mana control was extremely unconventional for a swordsman.
Frankly, it was comparable to a mage awkwardly wielding a sword.
He was mocking it sarcastically.
“Ah, that’s actually a good idea.”
“?”
<Are you now sarcastically mocking me back?>
“Huh? Was that a mockery?”
“?”
<Impossible, are you genuinely saying such ridiculous things?>
“No… wasn’t that mockery something you said first? Anyway, I think it’s a good idea.”
<Nonsense. Stop that nonsense of trying to distract with the sword then launching a surprise attack with magic. Do you even consider yourself a mage?>
“?”
Rishe looked down at the blue lotus.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment.
“To be honest… I am trying to experience and improve magic…”
<My goodness. Were all those bad habits embedded in you caused by this?>
-Duinni!
At that moment, a third voice sounded from inside the room.
It was the gray crystal orb, Dhangaeon, who had been exclaiming enthusiastically phrases like “What a mighty strike!” and “No devil could endure Duinni’s footwork!” as he watched Rishe train.
-Magic is a superior force compared to swordsmanship! Do not let the ramblings of a man who can’t even guard his body linger in your heart!
“-?”
“?!”
The gazes of the two “worthless beings” clashed in midair.
Rishe watched with interest as the two inanimate objects engaged in their battle of stares.
Noticing this, Dhangaeon shouted.
-Duinni! Surely, you wouldn’t treat this flaming sword, the Sealstone of TanGaloleon, as mere metal?!
“No, well… if we have to categorize, I’d say they belong to the same category. Both are selves contained within inanimate objects.”
-…!
Dhangaeon was shocked.
Could the Sealstone containing a powerful devil truly be considered lower than that?
<Hey. Aren't I supposed to be your master?>
“To be honest, I regard you more as an extremely useful sword rather than a master.”
<...!>
Clanar was shocked.
Though he never cared about being called a master, this was…
Let’s skip the massacre drama enacted by the one who couldn’t contain his body.
-Anyway, Duinni! You needn’t abandon your will to master magic simply because you’re learning such a trivial thing as swordsmanship! If I may boldly suggest, walk the path of magic together with this TanGaloleon! A sublime realm that a mere metal could never show awaits you and me!
“I’m already walking the path of magic.”
-?
After a moment.
Clanar managed to suppress his confusion before saying.
<Still, it's fortunate. You found your true calling before getting too deeply immersed in magic.>
“Is that so?”
<Yes. If you reached even the 4th rank, your body's constitution would have fully hardened, making it incapable of ever accepting swordsmanship.>
“?”
“In fact, I did reach the 6th rank a while ago.”
-?
“Here-”
Rishe’s breathing changed.
From the technique of using mana with his body, called BlueBreath, to normal breathing.
Then sandstorms began swirling at his fingertips.
An exclusive magic technique with his own energy.
That was clear evidence that he had reached the 6th rank of magical proficiency.
Finally, Clanar, overcome with exasperation, muttered,
<How foolish.>
“Excuse me?”
<The one who taught you BlueBreath. Did that person really teach you properly? At your current level, learning the BlueBreath technique could lead to a fatal mana surge.>
“Ah, is that so? I learned it by myself, so I wasn’t aware…”“Hmm… Why?”
“Pardon?”
Embodiment of absurdity.
The Saliungeui, who always provoked questions from others, now voiced a pure question.
“The concurrent practice of swordsmanship and magic is the peak of inefficiency. You must feel it too.”
“Not really-”
“Hold your tongue and listen. Why, at this point, are you attempting to learn the sword?”
Deep inside, the Saliungeui coveted the other as a disciple.
Her question carried the weight of wanting to understand the essence of her interlocutor.
“Ah, well- the growth of my magical power has been far too rapid, so my body couldn’t keep up. So yes, I suppose you could say it’s for survival.”
…
…
The Saliungeui and the devil had seen countless swordsmen over the years.
This was the first.
The first they had encountered whose reason for learning swordsmanship was due to the rapid increase in magical power.
“Alright, then—shall we return to the main topic?”
“…What?”
“Earlier, wasn’t it about correcting my bad habits? Let’s continue that.”
“…Do as you wish.”
“Pardon?”
“Looking at it myself, it seems that’s the right approach, junior.”
The Saliungeui and the devil gazed at the human before them as if he were a mutant.
Councilman Gadam had been feeling increasingly uneasy lately.
The ‘master’ of the northern back alleys.
The ‘saint’ of the eastern back alleys.
Due to their sudden appearance and rapid rise in influence, Gadam’s name, once significant in Bondales’s underworld, was losing weight day by day.
Councilman Gadam’s power stemmed from vast amounts of money, and that money came from the illegal enterprises of the underworld.
Gadam was being pushed to his limits. If his territory were to shrink further, his position as councilman would surely become precarious.
“Lan…”
He recalled his recent discussion with Councilwoman Lan. She asserted her rights based on her success in driving out social elites who had infiltrated Bondales.
Councilwoman Lan’s demands were thus:
-“Withdraw your guards completely from my district. From now on, the Pellos family will take charge of the area’s security.”
If he acceded to Lan’s demands, the “business” he was currently conducting stealthily in her district’s back alleys would undoubtedly be disrupted. That was unacceptable.
Therefore, Gadam took action, and now stood before three heavyweights.
According to the intelligence Gadam had received from an insider, they were mercenaries hired from the outside by Lan to assist in expelling the social elites. If he could buy them off, he could steal Lan’s credit and nullify her legitimate demands.
“Are you thinking of bribing us with money?”
At this move by Gadam, Valrod, apprentice of the Red Magetower Lord, showed disdain.
Gadam was not unnerved. He was an expert in this area.
Gadam laid out the prepared conditions.
Friendly relations with Councilwoman Lan.
Reputation.
Conditions that could make the trivial values like honor seem meaningless.
“…”
The expressions of the three after hearing the conditions clearly showed signs of deliberation. It was inevitable.
The conditions Gadam proposed were not limited to the individuals present but would bring great benefit to the entire group they represented.
It was a condition they couldn’t easily refuse in their representative capacity—and one that Councilwoman Lan, who sacrificed much to uphold her honor, could never propose.
“Upon my name, Gadam, I assure you that your honor will not be besmeared through any mishandling of this situation.”
Many of Bondales’s nobles and citizens were already in Gadam’s pocket, and that included those loyal to Lan.
Gadam subtly hinted that a majority of Lan’s people were already bought by him.
Then, the devil-hunter Maldad interjected.
“Don’t tell me, you’ve already finished your talk with him?”
“Who are you speaking of?”
“I mean the Honorable Mage of the Gray Mage Tower.”
“Ah.”
Gadam suppressed a smile.
It was a common misconception outsiders often had.
The Gray Mage Tower.
Unlike the other Mage Towers, which were grounded in great noble houses and wielded absolute influence, the Gray Mage Tower was different in character.
Here in Bondales, their influence was extremely meager. A mere Honorary Mage, much less a Master, wouldn’t dare interfere in a Councilman’s affairs.
Gadam proudly laughed to flaunt his influence.His plump cheeks jiggled as he displayed his smugness.
“If an issue arises with him, rest assured, I’ll take care of it myself.”
“…Take care?”
What on earth was he imagining?The three dignitaries collectively shuddered.
After exchanging glances, they spoke.
“Let’s consider our discussion here as if it never happened.”
