<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Episode 84>
Alpha Gear.
The original machine that became the foundation for all existing mechanical summoned creatures. It is recorded as a machine possessing a soul, having a self-awareness beyond that of a human, capable of thought, judgment, decision-making, and even emotions, and has been passed down as a legend.
However, for unknown reasons, the original Alpha Gear was damaged, and the term “Alpha Gear” came to be used in another context.
“Self-aware machines.”
Any machine capable of independent thought, judgment, and decision-making, similar to the original, is now collectively referred to as “Alpha Gear.”
Artisans regarded this Alpha Gear as the “truth” of magitech, a fusion of advanced technology and magic. They saw it as the path humanity should follow, akin to the ultimate evolution of magic.
This is why Rosaria mistook “inherent magic” for Alpha Gear. In her thought processes, “truth” equated to Alpha Gear.
Additionally, another reason for Rosaria’s misunderstanding was that one of Alpha Gear’s characteristics is that it only serves a single master for life.
Similar to how only the user can interfere with inherent magic, the Alpha Gear cannot be controlled by anyone other than its master.
“So that magic circle was Alpha Gear, huh. It makes sense that I couldn’t ‘disassemble’ it. I’ve understood.”
Of course, this is a misunderstanding.
As mentioned earlier, ‘Inherent Magic’ and ‘Alpha Gear’ merely share some common points but fundamentally belong to entirely different realms.
Nevertheless, Park Ki-hyuk merely nodded calmly.
If he’s already content with the explanation, why bother correcting it further? It would just be troublesome.
Still, being thorough is important.
If there’s something due to him, he shouldn’t miss out on it.
“Give me that. The thing you promised before.”
“As agreed.”
Leaving behind the words “we’ll meet again sometime,” Rosaria stood up.
And the seat where she sat had a single piece of paper left behind.
Looking at the paper.
A complex set of equations and geometric designs.
Clearly, this wasn’t the blank check I had hoped for.
“If I asked for a different one…would it look useless?”
From my words, Jin Yu-ri who was busy grilling meat, Spring who was eagerly waiting with a fork, and even Berrie, their partner, all turned their gazes toward me simultaneously.
“What do you mean? Should we change the menu?”
“Dad, what do you want to change?”
“Nothing, never mind.”
Sizzle. Sizzle.
The meat is roasting. Today’s main dish is pork.
You don’t need any special skills to cook it, and it cooks quickly, making it perfectly savory and delicious.
Pork has great cost-effectiveness and sells like a bestseller.
I might as well call it the king of pork belly slices.
So, after a long absence, I handed the tongs to Jin Yu-ri. She might not be capable of grilling even pork belly slices, right?
However…
It turned out exactly as I thought. She only knew how to cook monsters, but when it came to grilling meat, she was utterly hopeless.
Getting frustrated, I decided to take over.
“Give me the tongs. I’ll grill it.”
“No, just a moment! I can do it! I really can!”
“That’s enough. Give it here.”
“Hiiing.”
Taking the tongs back, I grilled the pork belly. I spread the slices neatly on the grill, creating a channel for the oil to drip, and cooked Korean pickled radish and bean sprouts along the edge.
If Brother Su-hyuk were here, this spot for pickled radish would be entirely filled with garlic. That’s how much of a garlic lover my brother was.
In no time, the pork was perfectly cooked.
“Alright, let’s eat!”
“Wow!”
Spring eagerly licked her lips and began singing the “Meat! Meat!” song. How could she be this cute?
“Sis! Strawberry sis! Wrap it for me!”
“Just a moment. This size should be… fine, right?”
Jin Yu-ri wrapped some pork in a lettuce leaf and bit into it with a satisfied “Ah” expression, exclaiming how delicious it was. Watching her eat gave me a renewed sense of fulfillment.
“Eat, Ki-hyuk.”
“I’m eating.”
“You’re grilling, so you’re not eating. Here, open up.”
“No, you eat.”
“Ah, come on! Just open up.”
Unable to resist, Jin Yu-ri forcefully fed me the wrapped pork.
The person eating should be me, yet she is the one laughing.
Strange.
Despite this, it’s admirable that Jin Yu-ri takes care of Spring. I placed a handful of pork on her plate.
“It’s precious. Eat a lot.”
“Hehe, thank you. I’ll eat well.”
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
One bite after another, devouring the pork as if it were being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner.
By the time we had grilled ten portions, Spring was already out, and Berrie and I, accompanied by the “demons” we summoned, retreated to a corner. As we ordered our 20th portion, Jin Yu-ri quietly put down her chopsticks.
“I’m done! I can’t eat any more. My stomach feels like it’s going to burst.”
“Just?”
“That’s a lot, you know. Give me the tongs, I’ll grill now. You’re going to keep eating, right?”
“That’s enough. Just stay.”
“What?! I’m sure I can grill well. Believe me a little!”
Reluctantly, I handed over the tongs.
“But, I had something I wanted to ask.”
“What is it? Just ask.”
“What did you receive from that thief…oh, I mean, Rosaria? I think I saw it earlier.”
“Oh…that thing.”
I casually replied.
“Some sort of blueprint, they mentioned it was called Victor.”
“Ah, Victor…”
Jin Yu-ri, who was flipping the meat with the tongs, suddenly muttered “Victor?” to herself.
“What, V-Victor??!!”
She yelped in disbelief.
Her voice was so loud it seemed like it could pierce through walls.
After reassuring the server who came inquiring about the noise that everything was fine, I sent them back.
“You’re joking, right? Seriously, did you say Victor blueprints?”
She was extremely excited. Her voice rose significantly.
Engaging her in conversation now would only make her more excited. Instead of answering, I handed her the blueprint Rosaria had given me.
“Really, really it is. Victor… it’s the real deal.”
“What is this, is it Victor or Vector?”
“Don’t you know? After the explanation about Alpha Gear you just heard.”
“I don’t.”
“Wow.”
As I took a big bite of meat, I felt someone’s gaze.
Looking up, I saw Jin Yu-ri looking at me like she was observing a Homo sapiens from the Paleolithic era.
It was an extremely impure look.
“Alright, explain.”
“Victor is… ”
“By the way, as briefly as possible.”
“Alpha Gear. The Alpha Gear of Rosaria we saw today.”
Rosaria’s Alpha Gear, Victor.
The third War Armor created by the guardian spirit Gigant.
With Gigant’s power embedded within it, Victor immediately reached the top ranks in the worldwide summoned creatures power rankings upon its debut.
Unknown in form, size, and mobility, Victor remained a mysterious Alpha Gear.
Until a few years ago, Victor finally revealed itself.
In the famous American hero show, “Secret Raid”.
There, Rosaria faced the Level 5 Gate Boss, Cyclops, in a one-on-one battle.
“Victor, destroy.”
At Rosaria’s call, a silver giant emerged through space.
Its large, rough hand descended upon Cyclops, crushing it completely, reducing it to dust.
“After that, people came to know about Victor, and naturally, about Victor’s master, Rosaria, too. The disciple of the Mechanic Master, the human chosen by the guardian spirit Gigant. It went down like that, you know.”
“Heh.”
I chuckled.
“This thing is funnier than I thought.”
To casually pull out her strongest weapon like this? Is this the famed American style?
“Hold on, isn’t it? Thinking about it, something doesn’t add up. Hey, Jin Yu-ri, did you say this Victor is Alpha Gear?”
“Hm.”
“Didn’t you say Alpha Gear can only be controlled by its master? That’s why it was mistaken for inherent magic.”
“That’s right.”
“Then, doesn’t this blueprint have no meaning?”
“…?! You’re right?”
Just as knowing the formula of inherent magic doesn’t mean you can use it, knowing the design blueprint doesn’t mean you can build Alpha Gear, does it?
I hardly looked in detail, but it probably is this way.
Did Rosaria anticipate this and give it to me?
“d*mn, I fell for it.”
That arrogant brat.
I should’ve felt uneasy when she handed me the blank check so easily. She was just playing around with me, right?
I’m furious.
It makes me incredibly angry to admit being toyed with by someone who knows nothing about magic.
“Lost my appetite.”
I put down my chopsticks.
Jin Yu-ri quietly mocked me, suggesting that eating 40 servings wasn’t enough, but I ignored her. That wasn’t the main issue right now.
“Let me see that blueprint.”
It’s Alpha Gear, right?
Though unspoken, I was genuinely displeased.
How dare this kind of technology exist? Similar to inherent magic?
Daring to equate itself with the pinnacle of magic, inherent magic, is completely wrong.
“That arrogant brat must have believed I’d gain nothing from this.”
“Hey, what are you saying?”
“Made by a guardian spirit? So what? I, too, was once….”
“Once? What about once?”
Anyway.
Rosaria, you’ve picked the wrong person to toy with.
Daring to plot something so cute against me?
I’ll make you regret giving this to me.
“Ugh, what’s he doing again? Spring, your dad is weird today. Let’s go home.”
“Okay!”
At the same time.
Inside the Korean main hall of Celutis…
“Did you fail again today?”
“…I apologize.”
“Hmm, tell me the identity of the attacker.”
“Truly… I apologize, High Priest.”
“Haa.”
Apologies, apologies. This endless apology!
As she read the report, Lim Mi-ryung removed her glasses.
Despite trying to suppress her rising anger, her furrowed brows betrayed her agitation.
“Just tell me what you know, Brother. You didn’t come here empty-handed, did you?”
“…The group attacking our ‘Salvation’ appears to be either one person or a small group of no more than five individuals.”
“And?”
“Judging from the lack of survivors and the absence of any trace, they seem to be at least at ‘Special Rank’ or higher.”
“And?”
“Given the fact that they are taking ‘Salvation’, it is likely they know its true nature.”
And then, and then, and then.
Lim Mi-ryung relentlessly peppered the priest with “And?” until he once again uttered the word “I apologize.”
“So, let me summarize. The attacker is either one or five people. Their skills are at least Special Rank or higher, and based on circumstances, they seem to be targeting ‘Salvation’. You’ve investigated major agents and identified the disappearance of five special-grade operatives. You’ve excluded Optimum for some reason?”
“As I said, accessing Optimum is…”
“Brother, I am speaking.”
“…I apologize.”
“Where was I? Optimum, right. Let me tell you something; the Optimum organization is, to my knowledge, the agency with the highest number of top-tier superheroes in the country.”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“M-mistress is correct! There are a total of seventeen.”
“So, seventeen. While other agencies have 2-3 top-tier supers, Optimum alone nurtures as many as seventeen. And yet, you’ve overlooked them? Especially at this crucial moment when ‘Salvation’ is being conducted.”
A moment of silence.
In that brief moment, Lim Mi-ryung determined the fate of the priest.
“Brother, I’ve begun to doubt your capabilities.”
“H-High Priest!”
“There’s no need to panic. It’s not entirely your fault, right? This time, why don’t you go to the ‘Prayer House’ for some rest? Sister, I’ll leave Brother in your care.”
“G-go?! High Priest! Please!!”
The “Prayer House”…!!
As his desperate plea faded, the door closed behind him.
“Wasn’t it noisy? I apologize to all. Everyone, continue working.”
In what seemed like an attempt to ease the tension, Lim Mi-ryung broke into a beaming smile.
The warm smile she always wore.
Yet, why? Every single priest in the room who witnessed that smile involuntarily held their breath.
The fervent believer.
Because she had fully dedicated herself to Him, Lim Mi-ryung was revered by all.
No one was more devout, and no one was more cruel.
This is why the priests respected her and feared her simultaneously.
Lim Mi-ryung returned to her seat and reviewed the report again.
“What we need is the right person.”
Instead of followers who only give insufficient information, a true and deeply faithful believer is what we need.
“It won’t work. Please contact Priest Emil.”
— End —
