184
Holy Day
“What a fool you are.”
The swordsman Daiso clicked his tongue as he looked at me.
It was an unspoken rule that they were beaten in silence to keep their distance from each other, but the old man spoke first.
“Tch, I graduated from that university too.”
The deceased spat and forced the corners of his lips to rise.
It was a habit to avoid being caught being lazy, but it didn’t seem to be very effective for the old man.
‘What a monstrous old man.’
The brutal training using violence had been going on for over a week, but there was still no answer in sight.
Originally, if he kept nagging at me to this extent, I would have a feeling how he would kill me, but since the old man would quickly raise the level as soon as he got close, it was difficult to get a handle on him.
‘It’s difficult at the moment.’
He muttered while holding his eroded left arm. He wanted to punch the annoying old man, but the erosion on his left arm wasn’t enough.
– Do you need strength?
The tenant was complaining.
Perhaps because of the repeated erosion, the tenant became more vocal. It didn’t feel good to see the barrier between us slowly breaking down.
“after.”
My body screamed, but I could bear it. Thanks to the erosion, my body had hardened and I could still move.
However, I kept feeling dizzy. I felt like I was thirsty. Even after sipping wine from the water bottle, the thirst did not go away. It seemed to be a side effect of the erosion.
‘It’s good that it’s not premature, though.’
I hit my head and woke up, pulling myself together.
I shook off the heat from my body and lowered my posture.
The old man still stood proudly, but his posture was subtly different from before.
In addition, the swordsmanship that the old man used also changed. Unlike before, it was a simple and destructive swordsmanship that consisted of straight lines.
However, it didn’t really suit the old man. It seemed like a swordsmanship for those with auras.
‘It looks like the sword of the master of the sword.’
Something dangled in my mouth, so I forcefully spit it out. My yellow teeth rolled on the floor. It seemed wrong to eat bread for dinner tonight.
“Why do you insist on the sword?”
The old man opened his mouth. His expression hardly changed, so it was difficult to know what he was thinking.
“When I was young, my dream was to become a prosecutor. But after taking the CSAT, I gave up on becoming a prosecutor because I realized that it was a liberal arts subject.”
It was a witty joke, but he didn’t seem to understand. The old man’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
If he wasn’t going to learn swordsmanship, why did he come to the swordsmanship shop? He was also becoming more and more accustomed to swordsmanship with his eroded hands.
I don’t know about the old man, but it was a positive direction for me.
“It can’t be done with a sword. Those are the bastard’s claws.”
The old man clicked his tongue and took a stance. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I nodded as if I understood.
There was no need to understand all the grumblings of a dementia patient.
‘Is this enough?’
I quickly reviewed it. This time I had a feeling it might work.
‘If I fail, I don’t think it will work the second time.’
Although the erosion looked a bit strange, its effect was better than that of the aura. In addition, its duration was incomparable to that of the aura.
However, if the aura was maintained for too long and turned off on its own, the erosion would eat away at my spirit.
It literally ate away at me. It was like bugs were laying eggs in my head, so it wasn’t very pleasant.
‘You can do it.’
After finishing the short calculation, I let out a small breath. My body, which had accumulated fatigue, screamed and regained energy.
I jumped forward. The snowstorm that fell behind me was long and my body was shot away in an instant.
The old man, holding the sword with both hands, swung it in a straight line. He had originally given the lead, but after he used that sword technique, he did not give it to anyone.
It was a dangerous swordsmanship, but it was a swordsmanship that strangely did not suit the old man.
‘Even so, it’s still a threat.’
I tried to flush it out with my left hand. The old man’s sword scratched my left hand and peeled off the skin. Papapak-. The skin that popped with a rough sound was incredibly refreshing.
He tried to flush it out almost perfectly, but the old man warded it off with a light flick of his sword.
The old man’s sword was stuck in the seam where I had just broken it. I felt quite a sharp pain and came to my senses.
Hoo-. I let out a deep breath and rolled my shoulders. The uneroded muscle was torn, and black blood spurted out. It hurt, but I could bear it.
‘Not yet.’
It was a split second. The old man would quickly retrieve his sword using the Loach Sword Technique.
However, as always, in urgent situations, a split second was a very long time.
I thrust my sword without hesitation. The old man bent down and lifted the hilt.
The old man turned the sword around by breaking the handle and stabbing. It was a sword technique he knew. The old man had been hit by that method many times, so it was within the expected range.
It was a path that had continued until now. The old man knew that I would learn it after seeing it three times, so he responded in the same way. When he got stuck, he moved on to the next part, got hit three times, and moved on to the next stage.
It looked like a mother bird chewing and feeding her baby.
It was a crude method, but it was also the most effective.
In the hundreds of rounds that took place over the course of a week, the old man never deviated from his course. He would naturally move on to the next step.
It was an unspoken promise.
In my experience, it was impossible to beat an old man without increasing the erosion. It was ridiculous to endure the erosion just to beat one old man.
Feeling for him from the first day, I made a small plan.
The number of times the same attack and defense were repeated was enough to be engraved in the subconscious.
If you twist him, you might not win, but you might be able to punch him in the face once.
It was a very small possibility, but it was the only case where I would hit the old man in the face without being overly aggressive.
At that moment, the old man thrust his sword into my neck. Normally, the correct response would have been to drop the sword. Then, the old man would lay the sword horizontally and the next attack would continue.
That’s the original flow, though-.
I have a hypothesis.
There must be a reason why Kenshu Daiso is training me. Besides, Kenshu Daiso doesn’t use his swords against non-knights.
A faint sense of impatience appeared in the old man’s cold eyes, but if you’re weak, you have to gamble.
It was the same logic that in order to win a dice game, you first have to roll the dice.
I gritted my teeth and swung my sword. The old man’s sword was faster, so if I continued like this, my head would be blown off.
‘I’m important, right? Aren’t I?’
Crack. The old man’s face crumpled for the first time. There was a bone-crunching sound, and the old man’s sword drew a strange trajectory. It was a sword technique I had never seen before.
The old man tried to block my sword, but no matter how skilled he was at swordsmanship, he couldn’t teleport the sword.
I struck the old man in the face with my sword with all my might. Boom. The old man’s face shook slightly with a heavy sound.
I put in quite a bit of effort, but the response was disappointing.
An old man with a clear sword mark on his face looked down at me.
“success.”
I smiled, satisfied with the taste.
The old man’s sword cut through my chest.
It was a trade-off, but it wasn’t a bad deal.
***
‘I’m alive.’
I woke up to a cold sensation and was covered in snow.
The old man was sitting a little way away, fiddling with his sword. I chuckled as I looked at the bruises on his face. Whoever had carved them, they were really cool.
“You damn bastard. Are you awake?”
The old man asked without taking his eyes off the sword.
“Yes, I slept well.”
“You are dull.”
The old man immediately got to the point. Judging from the somewhat agitated tone in his voice, it seemed like he was quite shocked by what I had done.
“I know.”
It wasn’t a bad talent, but it was a stretch to call him a genius.
Rather, Captain Udrana excelled in swordsmanship. I just pushed forward ignorantly using modern memorization techniques. Added to that was my monstrous body.
But swordsmanship doesn’t necessarily mean strength.
Swordsmanship was a part of strength.
‘But I guess he’s not stupid.’
It didn’t feel good to hear such words from an ignorant old man with dementia. However, I nodded because it was the words of the winner. It was the winner’s right.
“But besides that guy, he’s the only one who’s ever reached me.”
The old man spoke in an emotionless voice.
‘Is that… a compliment?’
It was subtle, but I laughed anyway. It was the loser’s duty.
The old man looked down at me. His indifferent eyes seemed to pierce through me, and I didn’t like them. However, I couldn’t lose in a staring contest, so I focused my eyes and held on.
Just as tears were about to well up in his eyes, the old man turned his gaze away.
“I see.”
The old man spoke briefly and stood up. The snowflakes that had been piled up on his shoulders fell.
The old man was truly huge. It wasn’t just his size, but his air of presence that made him seem huge.
The old man, who had been looking up at the sky for a moment, looked down at me. The old man’s expression was subtle.
“Strength comes from knowledge. What do you call······.”
Beep- The old man’s words were momentarily interrupted by a tinnitus. He had lost a lot of blood, but he would be fine when he woke up.
This tinnitus is-.
‘···What are you doing?’
– It’s no fun hearing it from other people.
It was the tenant’s trick. As the distance narrowed due to repeated erosion, the guy kept nagging.
As I saw the quiet old man speak with a sense of weight, it seemed like it was something quite important, so I called out to the old man who was walking away.
“Hey! Did I hear that correctly?”
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The old man who had been away from him looked back at me.
I couldn’t see her face in the snowstorm, but it felt like she was smiling.
The old man disappeared into the snowstorm without answering.
‘Strength comes from knowledge···.’
I woke up with a start.
– So who do you think you’ll choose? I personally think the stupid kid is…
The tenant was making loud noises.
It was an unexpected side effect.
It seemed like erosion would have to be restrained a bit.
***
“···It’s astonishing.”
Swallows nodded to Keirnhardt’s muttering.
Swallows’ gaze was fixed on Vivian and Kanna at the center of the tower.
Vivian sat still with a pale face, and Canna was at the output of the mana refining tool next to Vivian.
‘Even though a lot of refining was done, this is the efficiency…’
Swallows flicked his hand. The quill moved, filling the paper with words.
“I guess the pain is severe because the purity has increased during refining.”
Keirnhardt spoke in a cold voice to Kanna’s distorted face. Swallows nodded.
“But it’s amazing how much patience a kid can muster. Is it because of the symbol? He’s quite obsessed.”
As Keirnhart said, the difference between Kanna with and without her symbol, Aaron, was stark.
It was originally believed that wizards had to break symbols to advance to the next level.
“The fear of abandonment is so deeply ingrained that it seems to be more effective when there is a symbol.”
The original symbol evokes the most dramatic emotions. Various kinds of intense emotions such as admiration, love, and jealousy were the driving force of the magician.
However, any emotion had a period of time. Breaking the symbol before that period ended was the way to the next stage, but in Kanna’s case, it was a little different.
Kanna, who had a fear of abandonment, thought that whenever her surroundings improved, she might go back to the way she was before, and that was the fuel.
It was a very good attitude for a wizard.
“After all, the driving force of a wizard is desire and lack.”
Square. The pen floating in the air filled with ink on its own. The pen moving again. Swallows frowned slightly.
“If this research is successful, the way to use other people’s mana will open.”
“Kiernhardt muttered in a voice full of desire.
Swallows had a strangely rough taste in their mouths. The wizard’s mana was fixed from the beginning. The wizards could not be satisfied with that limit.
For that reason, research on using other people’s mana continued. This mana refining technology was also a result of that.
But right now, Swallows was the perfect situation for him.
Vivian, who possessed a constantly surging mana, and Kanna, who possessed the sophistication to manipulate the mana of others. The two were the perfect examples for the above research.
‘He was right.’
Swallows thought back to when he was going to give Vivian’s heart to Kanna. If he had gone ahead with it, he would never have been able to accomplish this research.
I hated to admit it, but that ignorant bastard was right.
‘It was buried.’
Swallows muttered, glancing at the delighted Keilhard.
It was a common occurrence for wizards. They all had such strong desires that they often found it difficult to look around.
The density of mana increased. Fire rose around Kanna.
Then a small breeze blew. The size and heat of the fire gradually changed. Sweat flowed down Kanna’s round forehead.
Swallows let out a sigh of admiration without realizing it.
“······Is what I’m seeing right now real?”
Keernhardt muttered in the aforementioned voice.
Swallows nodded and looked at Kanna.
Kanna used wind to shape the form of fire, and mixed in ice to control the temperature.
I was using three elements at the same time.
“At that age, using three elements at the same time… Even our genius Matapju had to be over twenty-eight years old to do this.”
Keirnhardt’s eyes widened. Using three elements at the same time was a sign that he had reached the level of a wizard.
Currently, Swallows are limited to using three elements at the same time.
But that little Kanna uses three elements at the same time – it was a talent I had never heard of.
‘Kanna is Kanna-.’
Swallows muttered softly and quickly shook his head.
At that moment, a fireball took shape above Kanna’s head. It had a lively, intimidating feel, as if it were alive.
Although it was still small in size, it was an impressive amount of mana manipulation.
Of course, the form was obviously that of a bastard.
“It seems a bit strange to use all three at the same time… How did you realize the three elements like that?”
Keernhardt muttered in a trembling voice.
The Swallows shook their heads at him.
As long as the result was good, the process didn’t matter.
Kanna, who had composed the magic completely, scattered the magic.
Kanna, who had finished her work perfectly, fell to the side. Vivian hurriedly hugged Kanna as she fell.
“As expected of Kanna! She’s totally cool! She’s amazing!”
The pain of having her mana stolen must have been immense, but Vivian smiled brightly and took care of Kanna. As expected, she was a foolish young lady.
“Did it hurt? Sorry, I should have been more careful······.”
“No, no! It barely hurts anymore! It just tickles a little. Seriously!”
Vivian desperately tried to comfort Kanna, who had become gloomy.
Vivian’s signature goofy smile quickly became contagious. The two laughed and celebrated their success.
‘Does intimacy affect the conductivity of mana?’
Looking at those two, Swallows added a new hypothesis.
At that moment, Keirnhardt’s bracelet sparkled. It was a call from the White Tower. If he was making a call through the bracelet, it must have been quite urgent.
“Information about Vivian has been released. I sent a replacement, but it will take some time for it to arrive······.”
Keilhardt, whose face had turned pale, spoke quickly. He was somehow blocking the fact that Vivian was loved by Mana by using his hands on the white tower.
But now that the information has been released, it was clear that it was quite serious, to the point that they had to put in separate contact information from the White Tower.
‘I guess it’s been released to the black magician.’
Things seemed like they were going to get annoying.
“What should I do? Even if I brought the troops with me···.”
Keirnhardt groped and grabbed Swallows’ clothes.
Swallows clicked his tongue as he looked at those stupid eyes. He was called an elder, but he wasn’t much different from the white tower.
“I can handle it.”
Swallows’ eyes sank in a strange sense of discomfort.
‘iced coffee···.’
Keernhardt looked at the confident Swallows and recalled his days at the White Tower.
Swallows was like this even back then. A guy who didn’t need anyone else and only believed in magic and himself. A guy with an unlucky personality and no friends.
But the guy who actually did it.
but-.
‘You’ve got a blood vessel!’
Keirnhardt held back a scream as he watched the Swallows holding the weight.
***
‘What kind of guy is that···.’
The five elders were looking down from a high castle wall that seemed out of place in the outskirts.
‘Those scumbags.’
The eyebrows of the five elders furrowed as they saw the men huddled together away from the city wall.
There were a lot of filthy warlocks and their minions gathered there.
They were clearly like worms who didn’t know the place and were simply lured by the word ‘seed’.
They were even raising their voices and arguing among themselves as if they had already succeeded.
I felt disgusted by the words of those who treated seeds like mere gold.
‘That’s why these people without foundation···.’
The five elders muttered and waved their hands lightly.
Even a light gesture could be considered a disaster to an insect.
A long trail of claw marks was carved into the ground, accompanied by the sound of a small, sharp wind.
The insects that had been fighting together until just a moment ago were torn and split, but there was not even the slightest scream.
I don’t know who he is, but he knows that since he’s in Cassidy, he can’t handle these rascals.
But the reason why he did something like that-.
‘Is this your intention to attract attention? I guess you thought I was funny.’
The corners of the five eldest sons’ lips went up ominously.
[You can do it alone?]
Suddenly, the third one’s grumbling came to mind, and blood vessels appeared in my eyes.
He was the fifth eldest son.
I didn’t need any help from others.
Just then, from afar, the bugs crawled out again.
The five elders took a step forward, sticking out their claws.
***
Talk.
I woke up to a small noise and grabbed my sword.
He habitually drew his sword and aimed it.
“······What is it?”
The five eldest sons were in a mess, having rolled around somewhere.
“···.”
In response to my question, the guy just took off his clothes without saying a word.
The thick smell of blood made me realize something had happened.
I quickly pieced together the clues.
Five messy eldest sons, the smell of blood, the invasion of warlocks, and the guy’s boast that he would handle it alone and that I shouldn’t do anything. As I pieced together the clues, a rough outline began to form.
‘It was too much to handle alone.’
The exposed lower body was completely stiff.
It seems like my prediction was correct.
“What’s going on?”
The bastard’s mouth twitched for a moment. I wanted to tease him more because his reaction was funny, but-.
‘Is the situation serious enough for that proud guy to come?’
I clicked my tongue and got up from my seat. I relaxed my body slightly and started doing military exercises. Warm-up exercises were essential in any situation.
“One- two-.”
The bastard’s distorted face was quite pleasing to the eye. However, he did not urge me.
No, it seemed like his mouth wouldn’t move because of his pride.
‘It’s a holy day···.’
I remembered the story I had heard from the abbot.
The holy day was the day when God defeated all the other evil gods.
I clicked my tongue as I watched the five elders sweeping their heads. The guy didn’t open his mouth until the very end.
However, I had no intention of listening to it.
“Let’s go.”
A cold wind came in through the open window and hit my cheek.
“Merry holy day.”
Although he made a joke, the five elders kept their mouths shut.
To think that I have to spend my holy day with such a boring guy.
I clicked my tongue and jumped down.
***
“It’s morning!”
Hannah opened her eyes to Kanna’s scream.
Kanna was very excited and was rubbing her face in her arms. Hannah couldn’t open her eyes because she was sleeping in a lot in the morning.
At that moment, Kanna immediately put ice into Hannah’s clothes. The coldness brought her to her senses.
“Kannaya!”
Hannah was startled, shook herself off, and took out the ice.
The ice was painted with Aaron, Kanna, and Hannah, all smiling brightly. There was no way I could be mad at them for doing such cute things.
Hannah relaxed her expression and tidied up Kanna’s outstretched hair.
“Today is a holy day.”
Kanna nodded her head and hummed. Hana smiled softly at the childlike appearance.
“That’s right. This is the holy day that Kanna has been waiting for.”
Kanna looked at Hannah and smiled. It was a gloomy smile that did not suit a child.
“I have to come with Aaron later.”
Hannah nodded, coughing.
Hannah recently learned a special secret from Rosa. She failed last year, but this year will be different.
Plus, I already had an appointment. I made an excuse about Kanna, but I still promised to go see it with Aaron.
At that moment, a soft conversation was heard beyond the door.
It would be the Abbot of Brighton who wakes Aaron up every morning and Delmuto who opens the door every time.
“Shall we wake you up today?”
Kanna laughed brightly at Hannah’s question. Mini Kanna jumped up and ran towards Hannah. Hannah followed her with a smile.
“Ah, since it’s a holy day, the church is selling potions at a discount… I see. That’s good timing. There are supplies in the dorms….”
Delmuto and the Abbot of Brighton were having a lively conversation.
It was a very cold day, and the Abbot of Brighton was dressed in his usual monk’s garb.
Kanna hid behind Hannah after seeing the Abbot of Brighton. Since the last Bible lesson, Kanna has been avoiding the Abbot of Brighton.
“Kannaguna, are you reading the Bible properly? If you read the Bible a lot when you are young, you will have many uses for it later on.”
The Brighton abbot kept nagging at Kanna whether she hid or not. In response, Kanna poked Hannah’s thigh. It was a signal to save her.
“Hello, Abbot of Brighton.”
“It’s a good morning for worship, Mrs. Aaron.”
Her face heated up at the title, but Hannah didn’t deny it and smiled gently.
At that moment, Kanna, who saw her chance, ran up the stairs first. The rest followed her with small smiles.
“Holy Day-!”
Kanna opened the door and shouted in a brighter voice than usual.
However, the room was filled with only the cold morning air coming in through the window.
Aaron was not there.
“I never thought it would be possible… Aaron, the Honorary Vice-Abbot, has finally run away. Should I have been guarding him since the day before?”
The Abbot of Brighton clicked his tongue.
Maybe it was because of the cold wind, but I felt strangely uncomfortable.
“I guess I’ll have to guard the room from now on.”
The abbot, speaking softly, stepped back.
Hannah tidied up the messy bed.
A cold wind came in, but the window was not closed.
***
‘···It’s okay. Even if they’re rebels, this is the easternmost part of the country, so there’s no way they’ll get caught. Yeah, it’s okay. It’s still okay.’
Pulpouts forced himself to calm down, muttering to himself.
What can we do? The rebels are already close by, and it is too late to respond.
And if you think about it calmly, it wasn’t that dangerous.
Even if they were rebels, they were still Frederick Guild.
There was no way that the Frederick Guild, which had been a large guild for many years, would suddenly be discovered.
If you don’t cause any trouble until the guild leader returns, you can handle it. You’ve only established one branch, so you should be able to cover it up somehow.
Plus Nova said Aaron wasn’t a rebel. If nothing else happened, they could sort things out.
“It tastes really good. The chef must be very skilled.”
Fullputs nodded at the guild leader across from him.
Even though we were having breakfast together, it was just a light breakfast. It had no meaning.
It was simply an extension of the official relationship, and it was not possible to refuse a request for a meal from a guest staying there.
‘As long as there are no problems until I leave…’
Just then, the door opened wide.
The door opened with a loud noise, as if it had been kicked open, and Pulpouts’ heart pounded.
Knock, knock. Anxiety suddenly reared its head.
‘No. What could be more problematic? It would be something like a couple getting excited and having sex outside on a holy day. Hmm.’
Fullfoot thought hard about it.
The one who came in was a sheriff. The sheriff’s face was pale and expressionless. Anxiety filled my body. My head started to pound as if I had been hit on the head.
The constable who discovered the full foot shouted. The constable, who was usually loud, made the room shake.
“Marshal Balhar Khan of the Imperial Knights has arrived leading twelve Imperial Knights! They are coming this way now······.”
Fullfoot screamed louder than when he was blown away by the explosion.
