Rudine and Adina were conversing in front of the training grounds.
“So, you also don’t know anything about his true identity?”
“Yup. Nothing at all.”
Rudine slowly nodded her head. In truth, she knew very little about Luke Richter as well.
A subtle note of mystery was growing between them.
Both Rudine and Adina were extraordinarily powerful in their own rights; hence, they were fully aware of just how abnormal the bizarre events they’d witnessed alongside him truly were. Still, thus far, they hadn’t given much thought to his identity. His strength, though unusual and comparable to that of a Grand Lord, had always seemed to them as something still within the human domain.
But now, that belief was beginning to falter.
Rudine had long realized Luke Richter wasn’t an ordinary human, but this revelation came as a significant shock to Adina. Last time, she had fainted almost immediately upon encountering one of the annihilation-class Demon Beasts, so she hadn’t observed much. But this time, she’d seen it all clearly with her own eyes.
A monstrous creature, so vast that it could rival even mythical Outer Gods, hadn’t even managed a single fight before being cleanly bisected in one strike.
Actually, calling it a simple “bisect” didn’t do justice to how shocking it was. The tear in space that his single blow had created seemed akin to looking into the underside of the world itself. It was a force of power that completely defied logic, reason, and sanity—truly beyond the pale of what could be understood.
Was it possible that someone with such an identity had lived such a life that their overwhelming strength remained hidden from the world?
Perhaps it was a trivial curiosity, but Adina could not erase the question from her mind.
Frankly, the one thing that she managed to understand was his strange and unpredictable temperament. Whether it was his sudden movements to uncharted realms or his risky actions in the face of the White-Haired Tribe, his behavior was hard to predict and even harder to comprehend.
“He’s just… an enigma.”
Adina, with her luxuriant silver tail swishing softly, asked,
“You don’t know anything either, do you? You were the first to join his party after all.”
“Hm… There was a girl named Selena who visited the office last time. She referred to Luke as ‘Dragon Fang.'”
“…Dragon Fang? Could it be possible that he’s talking about dragons?”
“Yup, that’s right.”
“…Are you sure? Dragons are supposed to be extinct, right?”
“Did you not see Luke use his abilities? Isn’t that a language of incantations? And besides… he finds everything unbearably bothersome.”
“That’s true… His extensive knowledge about the White-Haired Tribe also seems suspicious…”
“Speaking of which, he knew about my light sickness beforehand.”
“Light sickness? What kind of light sickness do you mean?”
“When I see humans, I have an uncontrollable urge to kill them.”
“…”
Of course, this was merely hypothetical. It was presumptuous to classify him as a dragon when there were still so many unexplained aspects. But the presence Luke exuded was so overwhelming that dissecting every minor detail would almost seem trivial. Whether it was Rudine who accompanied him or the vast knowledge he possessed, everything about him was anything but ordinary.
“Hmph…”
A low sigh escaped Adina as that scene came to mind – the moment when he stood with his back towards them, cleaving through space itself as if dividing the world in two.
A wave of embarrassment swept over her. Initially, she had mistaken him for a weak human, which was, in the end, a clear display of her ignorance. She, who had been paralyzed with fear in front of Outer Gods, watched as he walked calmly and punished the creature with ease.
She was still standing still. In the past and now, she froze at the sight of unknown fears, never managing to leap over the fence. She couldn’t even take a single step forward. Once again, she found herself relying on someone’s protection.
After saying her goodbyes to Rudine and heading back to her personal room, Adina reiterated to herself,
“I want to grow stronger.”
Adina’s talents were undoubtedly prominent, and she was well-aware of it. Though her control over the white wheel was unstable due to her racial heritage called ‘Karma’, she was, in return, endowed with one of the highest mana capacities within her race. Furthermore, even her ‘Karma’ could be managed when they returned to the office, thanks to the help of Elfried, who acknowledged her as a Saint.
But she still constantly doubted herself. No matter how talented or how much she improved with time, she found it impossible even to imagine surpassing the overwhelming power Luke Richter had displayed against the Outer God.
“…I’ll get stronger.”
Adina clenched her fists tightly, suppressing her trembling emotions and banishing her doubts, replacing them with newfound certainty. Inside her heart, she set a new goal. Preparing to clear the fog of fear, she was finally ready to take that one step forward.
For the first time, a clear objective was born within her.
She wanted to escape the shame of being the fearful member of her race and gain immense power so that, one day, her name would be known across the world.
Taking the overwhelming strength of a man named Luke Richter as her benchmark.
And drawing her motivation from the pride of being a member of his party.
She was now ready to move forward.
Thus, after coming to a firm decision, the first thing she did was…
“…”
Adina glanced around.
After ensuring with all her senses that no one was nearby, she raised her right hand, mimicking Luke Richter’s posture right before he used his abilities.
After a while,
She gathered her mana, mumbling carefully,
“…Acceleration.”
—Chirp.
Only the sound of birds cutting through the silence answered her. Embarrassed by the silence, she gathered mana again.
Creating a light spark at her fingertips, she tried again.
“Realm.”
…Needless to say, nothing particularly significant happened. It was merely the spark of mana dissipating into the void. However, for an unexplained reason, reciting Luke’s incantation made her feel as if her magic became slightly stronger. Although it was just an illusion, she was captivated by the sensation, even feeling a slight intoxication as she recited the incantation aloud.
“Reverse, Absolute, Time, Space.”
After practicing for a while, swishing her triangular tail with satisfaction, Adina…
“…Hehe.”
Her fluffy triangular ears twitched, showing contentment with herself.
About a month passed.
After completing all the ability checks at the headquarters and regaining normal condition, I was heading to Arkhan.
There wasn’t enough time to return to the office by carriage, so we decided to use her teleportation scroll to return. Both Rudine and Adina seemed to have taken enough rest, and their faces were full of vitality.
Everything was just as usual, except…
“…What is this?”
“Don’t you see? They’re trying to follow.”
“I know that much, but that’s not the point. Why is the Grand Lord leaving the main hall unattended?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Who would come to this forsaken building hidden in the corner of the Magic Realm?”
Our party now included an addition—a stalker, the Grand Lord herself, who had become increasingly obsessive. Though she had frequently shown interest in me before, it seemed now she had decided to chase after me outright. While I wanted to send her away immediately, knowing she wouldn’t retreat, I decided to ignore her.
So, placing our hands on the scroll together,
We teleported to the office as usual—but…
“???”
Something was off. It wasn’t just a sense of unease; indeed, looking around, I realized that the office had changed dramatically from what I remembered.
The first major change—
“Attention-! We greet the new master of Blackmore!”
The Lord’s Committee delegation, who previously exchanged only brief inclinations of heads for greetings, now bent their waists 90 degrees upon seeing us, saluting in a tense, sharp voice.
Dozens of them in unison, perfectly aligned, were paying respects, leaving us utterly bewildered.
The second change—
“…What place is this?”
The office was gone. No, it was more like it had been replaced.
The old, cramped office had transformed, as if it had experienced some kind of dark evolution, into something that resembled a fortress. Everything from the materials to its exterior screamed something unusual. Even now, many craftsmen belonging to the royal house were hard at work continuing the construction.
From afar, Balkhan rushed towards me happily.
“What’s going on here?”
“Lord, we’ve been waiting to see you and introduce you to the Sixth Lord’s Domain upon your return.”
“…Sixth Lord’s Domain?”
“Yes, the Emperor himself decreed an order dispatching a large workforce here.”
Ah, so that was it. Emperor had finally decided to use me as a lifelong slave it seems.
Strange men from Balkhan’s back introduced themselves in turn.
“My name is Delkin from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I’ve been dispatched as an administrator to the Sixth Lord’s Domain by royal decree.”
“My name is Siron, the new Chief Butler.”
“My name is Iason, responsible for accounting duties.”
“…”
I was rendered speechless. Every one of them was well-known faces from the Ministry of Internal Affairs—top-notch talents who had all been dispatched here by the royal palace, each one for the purpose of supporting me in some way.
“…I need a moment.”
I stepped out of the office. Even at the entrance of Blackmore, the whole situation was just absurd. However, an even more astonishing sight awaited me outside.
“Ah, Saint! Please save my wife who has fallen ill with sickness!”
“I have a mother hovering on the brink of death! Please, I’ll do anything…! Give her salvation!”
“The newly appointed Lord, I offer my body and soul! Please, reattach my severed arm!”
At the border between the Principality and the Empire, especially at the entrance to the Blackmore territory, the Shylock territory. A fairly expansive territory, yet unusually, a large crowd had gathered at the Blackmore entrance. Strangely, so many commoners were gathered, all of them shouting for salvation.
When someone cried out for salvation, a burst of golden light flashed. Then, they would burst into tears, bow down in prostration, and repeatedly chant the names of Kabila and the Sixth Lord in prayer.
This scene repeated itself continuously.
And the individual at the center of all this hullabaloo was—
“…Elfried Trivia?”
It was Elfried Trivia, the Seeds of Doom that I had personally retrieved from beyond the boundaries.
