Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 450

450.

“Hey, you. Still not thinking about breaking your contract with Elquines and re-contracting with me?”

“Ahaha…”

Fortunately, the awkward moment didn’t last long. Trowell sighed briefly and lightly swept back his bangs.

“Do you really need to learn swordsmanship? You’re quick for a human, and your natural strength and stamina are outstanding. Isn’t that enough as it is? You seem scared because of the demon beasts, but this incident was due to a combination of complex circumstances. It would have been fine if you could just summon spirits.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I might experience something like that again. I want to prepare for when my spirit magic is sealed.”

“Ah, well, I can’t guarantee that something like that won’t happen again. I was really taken aback when the bracelet was put on you. You were defeated so easily it was absurd. Your personality is the real problem. What good are spirit magic or swordsmanship if you don’t guard against your opponent?”

Yeah, I figured he saw all that too. I was resigned at this point, so I just quietly remained silent. Honestly, he was right, so I didn’t have any excuses. Trowell stared at me as if I were pathetic, then seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding.

“Alright, I’ll teach you.”

“…Really?”

I knew he would accept, but I was a little surprised that he agreed so readily. I was prepared to beg him for days, even perform the Three Visits of Zhuge Liang [a Chinese idiom referring to repeated requests for help from someone important], but it seems I didn’t need to go that far. I guess his kind nature never goes away. I must have smiled without realizing it, because Trowell sighed again.

“Since we’ve agreed to be together for three years, as you said, it’s better for you to have a little more means to protect yourself. I thought it would be rare for you to die before the term was up, but seeing you lately, I think my thinking was short-sighted. Congratulations, you’re the first human to make me say these words.”

He was clearly smiling, but it wasn’t a real smile. I subtly avoided his blatantly accusatory gaze.

“But it will be very difficult. You must follow all my instructions unconditionally. No slacking off, no quitting halfway. Will you still learn?”

…Hmm, now that I think about it, he did say it was going to be a very harsh training.

He said I’d become a Sword Master later, so it definitely wouldn’t be an easy method. An ominous feeling crept up, but there was only one answer I could give anyway. If I had to go through it anyway, it would be better to accept it willingly.

“Teach me anything! I’ll work hard!”

As I nodded and answered with all my might, his eyes lit up brightly. Was it just my imagination that he looked like he’d found an interesting toy? I reflexively tensed up, and the next moment he raised his finger. Then, with a feeling of something sticking to me, I was suddenly pulled downwards. When I came to my senses, I was sitting on the floor. I tried to get up in a panic, but my body wouldn’t move. On closer inspection, there were stone-like things wrapped around my arms and ankles.

“T, Trowell?”

“Basic strength and endurance training. You’ll wear those every day from now on.”

“…Are you kidding me?”

“Serious training will begin when you get used to the weight. But I can’t wait long. I’ll give you two days. Adapt within that time.”

No, is that something you can adapt to just because you want to? I can’t even stand up right now? Is that even possible in two days? I was dumbfounded and just gaped, and then I heard Ellyuen muttering to himself.

“You’re volunteering for a new path of suffering every day.”

It wasn’t comforting at all; it was a signal that the gates of hell were opening.

* * *

The reason why the demon beast appeared in the middle of the city was never revealed. It was clear that it was caused by a rift, but it wasn’t a Quanzel [a period when rifts to the demon realm open], yet, and it wasn’t originally an area where demon beasts appeared. The Imperial Family, which had begun to investigate the situation, requested the Demon God Temple to investigate the truth, but the Demon God Temple responded with silence. The reason was that they could not respond to the investigation immediately because it was a period of seclusion. However, since there were no casualties other than some property damage, the situation seemed to subside without much commotion. Rather, the benefits from the dead demon beast’s corpse were greater, so there was an atmosphere of considering it a windfall.

However, less than a week later, the capital became noisy again. Another demon beast had appeared. This time, it was an intermediate demon beast, but it was in the middle of a residential area, so there were many casualties. Even though the nearest Hunter Guild quickly dealt with the situation, there were still more than twenty casualties.

The atmosphere in the capital naturally became very grim. Wherever people gathered, the topic was all about it.

“Even though the situation has reached this point, the Demon God Temple still hasn’t sent an investigation team. It seems they’re just repeating the answer like a parrot that the rift isn’t related to Quanzel.”

“Seriously, I don’t understand. Whether it’s related to Quanzel or not, matters related to rifts and the Demon Realm are under the jurisdiction of the Demon God Temple, right? Then they should at least pretend to come out and investigate. How can they just pretend it’s none of their business?”

“It’s a period of seclusion. It’s a period when they don’t accept outsiders, so how could they come out?”

“Seclusion or whatever! People are dying because of demon beasts, so they should at least show their faces!”

“Calm down, calm down. What’s going to happen if we do this? But it is a bit strange. Why is this happening during the Demon God Temple’s period of seclusion?”

“Could it be that they’re releasing the demon beasts?”

“Hey, that’s not possible.”

However, anxiety tends to lead to suspicion. Things that were initially considered hasty speculation became more and more certain as the days went by. However, because of the prestige they had built up until now, they didn’t openly confront the Demon God Temple. The fact that Quanzel would begin soon also had an impact. It was a long-standing tradition and mission for the Demon God Temple to dispatch priests during that period. The expectation was that they would naturally lift the seclusion around that time and bring an explanation with them.

“Surely the Demon God Temple won’t maintain its seclusion until then?”

But that was exactly what happened. The headquarters meeting for the subjugation strategy was just around the corner, but the Demon God Temple’s doors were never opened. Instead, only a perfunctory official document was announced.

「Because a divine revelation has been given, there will be no rifts in Quanzel this year.」

Therefore, there was no need to proceed with the subjugation, and they would not dispatch a Demon God Priest. The citizens, who had already been attacked by demon beasts twice, naturally protested, but the Demon God Temple’s attitude was firm. In the end, the Imperial Family and the Hunter Association judged that they could not trust the Demon God Temple’s announcement and decided to proceed with the subjugation as planned. It was a flow that made it clear to anyone that the two sides were at odds.

In the meantime, hunters were divided into those who should follow the Demon God Temple’s announcement and those who should follow the Association’s decision. I canceled my participation in the subjugation, following the former’s opinion. It was because I had a feeling that this Demon God Temple wouldn’t issue a false divine revelation, even if it wasn’t Duke Yukarte. And in the first week since Quanzel began, as expected, not a single demon beast showed its face. As a result, the Demon God Temple had issued the correct announcement, but the atmosphere in the capital worsened. Now, there were many people who openly expressed hostility towards the Demon God Temple.

‘I don’t know what’s going on.’

If it’s a divine revelation, it must have been given by Kanos. At times like this, I realize that he’s alive. I was tempted to meet him and ask about the situation, but I tried to hold back. If he was involved, there must be a good reason. Since he doesn’t even know me now, there was no need to take unnecessary risks. Besides, there was something else I was worried about right now.

‘Chris hasn’t been in touch for too long.’

Chris, who said he would be away from home for a while, hadn’t contacted me for over two weeks. I wondered if he was in a situation where he couldn’t contact me, so I went to his house a few times, but I couldn’t feel any sign of life inside the tightly closed door. I wondered if something had happened to him. It was clear that it was related to classified documents, so I couldn’t help but worry.

“What does Trowell think?”

“I don’t know. Do you even have time to think about anything else? It seems like the training has gotten a little easier.”

“No, that’s really not true.”

I quickly shook my head and focused on the push-ups I was doing. My teeth were clenched involuntarily as my arms trembled. Beads of sweat were falling like rain from my already soaked face.

“Ugh, I’ve done all five hundred.”

“Good, take a short break.”

As I collapsed and panted, Trowell called Naias (using my mana in the meantime) to wash me. It was a moment that conveyed his firm will that he didn’t want to see me covered in sweat and dirt, even if I was training.

“But your completion time has gotten a little faster. You really seemed hopeless at first. You couldn’t even adapt to the weight properly.”

I didn’t have the energy to respond to the words that I didn’t know whether they were praise or criticism. But this was closer to praise. The atmosphere was so cold on the first day that I couldn’t even talk to him. It was because I hadn’t followed his instructions.

Two days was an absurdly short time to adapt to the weight of the stones. No matter how hard I tried, my hands and feet moved awkwardly beyond my control. Trowell punished me very simply and ruthlessly for that. By simply starting the training without paying attention.

The daily routine that started like that was mana training and physical training in the morning, and learning swordsmanship in the afternoon. It was just called training, but it was a hellish training where I ran more than ten kilometers every day and repeated strength exercises hundreds of times, alternating between upper and lower body. The swordsmanship training also involved repeating the same movements hundreds of times with a wooden sword. He increased the number of repetitions little by little every day, and he was so good at adjusting that it was so hard that I had never fainted even once.

‘I think it would be better to faint.’

While being vigorously rolled around, I had completely adapted to the weight of the stones. It was still difficult when training, but it didn’t cause much trouble in my daily life.

At that moment, I felt an eerie energy and immediately rolled to the side. At the same time, a sword plunged into the spot where I had been standing a moment ago. Trowell, who was holding the sword, smiled brightly at me, who was dazed.

“It’s sensory training. You dodged well.”

“I thought it was a break…”

“Where’s the break in a surprise attack?”

He’s a devil. This Spirit King is a devil.

I looked at the spot where the sword had plunged a moment ago. Just looking at the deeply gouged mark, I could see that he had put all his strength into it without holding back. If I had been hit by that just now, I would have died, right? No matter how hard I tried to think positively, it was difficult to avoid reasonable suspicion. Then, as if he knew what I was thinking, Trowell replied casually.

“You won’t die. I aimed to avoid the vitals.”

“…Still, it would be a serious injury.”

“What does it matter when you have Elquines?”

Right, there was the Water Spirit King who could instantly heal even a dying person. Thanks to that, I’m still enduring the training well without getting sick. I looked up at the sky for a moment and sighed. I wondered if my abilities were so cruel.

“Two o’clock in the morning today.”

It was then that I heard an unexpected voice. I turned around, wondering what he meant, and Trowell smiled.

“It’s a reward for avoiding the surprise attack. If you stay awake until that time, you’ll be able to hear the news you’ve been waiting for.”

“You mean news about Chris?”

“Now, let’s do the next set of thigh exercises, a hundred times each, three times.”

“…….”

I was dumbfounded and looked at him, and Trowell took out a locket. The locket I had seen before was a magic tool that showed the time by changing color. In other words, it was a sign that the break time was over. I silently took a horse stance. It seemed like I wouldn’t be able to get an explanation.

* * *

By the time I finished the given task, it was late at night. After a hard training session, my exhausted body would go straight to sleep. But today, I couldn’t just throw myself on the bed as usual. I had to wait for the news at two o’clock in the morning that Trowell had told me about.

Judging from the fact that he said I could find out if I stayed awake, he wouldn’t wake me up even if I fell asleep. I sat in a chair and yawned repeatedly to resist the pouring sleep. Then, at some point, I think I must have dozed off without realizing it.

Tick

Tick

Since when? I faintly heard a faint sound in my ear. It was the sound of something small hitting the window.

“……!”

The moment I became aware of the situation, the sleepiness that had been consuming my whole body disappeared at once. Since when have I been dozing off? My head was all fuzzy and my senses were dull. It was even difficult to distinguish between what was real and what was a dream. It was even unclear whether I was sure I had heard the sound. First, I opened my eyes and quickly got up. When I opened the window and looked outside, I saw a dark mass below. I could feel a distinct presence from the shadow that seemed to be crouching in the corner. Someone was down there. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be a delusion of a dream. However, the fact that there was no response even after I opened the window didn’t give me a good feeling. I jumped down as it was and went closer to examine it. The crouching shadow was someone I knew well.

“…Chris?”

When I lightly touched his shoulder, the figure flinched in surprise. The man who raised his head glared at me and turned around.

“El… ?”

The hoarse voice was definitely Chris. To think that the news I could find out meant meeting him in person. While admiring the foresight that couldn’t be more accurate, I frowned because I didn’t understand the situation.

“Yes, it’s me. What happened? Where have you been all this time? What are you doing here at this hour…?”

“Thank goodness. You were awake.”

He took a deep breath and smiled faintly. The next moment, his figure was about to collapse forward, so I quickly grabbed him.

“Are you okay, Chris? What is this…”

When I supported him, I felt a damp sensation. I smelled blood from the body that was close to me. It was a much more serious injury than when I first met him. I quickly picked him up and quickly entered the accommodation. I laid him on the bed and tried to turn on the light, but before that, I heard a calm voice.

“It’s better not to turn it on.”

I was startled and raised my head, and I saw Trowell standing nearby. Ellyuen was sitting in the chair next to him. The two Spirit Kings who didn’t sleep usually returned to the Spirit Realm when I fell asleep. It was rare for them to appear at this time. It was even rarer for them to get involved in what I was doing. Trowell, who was looking out the window, turned around with a smile, as if he knew my confused mind.

“It’s okay if you want to attract those who are tracking him.”