Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 478

Chapter 478

Ain Idriss looked at me. “I’ll see you later.” When I said that, he looked disappointed and glum.

“Then when can I see you?”

“Decide later. Don’t bother me.”

Ifrit was quicker to respond than I was. Ain Idriss looked dumbfounded, but Ifrit just waved his hand dismissively. In the end, he had no choice but to leave without a decent promise. I watched his retreating figure with drooping shoulders and turned to Ifrit.

“I thought you were supposed to be nicer to Spiritists?”

“He’s an exception. He betrayed Minerva.”

I flinched at the blunt answer.

“He hasn’t betrayed her yet…?”

“It’s as good as done. Trowell doesn’t see the future of the same Spirit King very well. But the fact that he saw it means it’s a clear prediction. Minerva is the only one among us who doesn’t believe in that prediction.”

“…Well, I’m planning to stop it for now.”

“I know, I heard. But it’ll be difficult. Besides, even if it changes, it’s the same. The future Trowell sees is also entangled in causality. It’s not just something that happens out of the blue, but a result that appeared because there was a possibility from the beginning. In other words, that guy is originally capable of doing that.”

Ah, so that’s why Trowell hates him just for seeing that future. I thought he was being too hostile knowing that he could change, but now I understand a little better. It’s not that the situation made him that way, but that he’s the kind of person who creates that kind of situation. I nodded to myself, and Ifrit, who was grumbling nonchalantly, turned to me.

“So don’t feel any unnecessary guilt.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, it’s not your fault if you fail to stop that future.”

I felt a pang as if he had read my mind. I opened my mouth to say something, but then closed it. Maybe I wanted to hear this from someone. I felt grateful for no reason, but it felt so cowardly that my heart sank.

* * *

Ellyuen and Trowell returned three days later. I had not only explored all the famous restaurants in the capital, but also ventured into nearby cities. As usual, I finished my work and returned to the accommodation, and there was light in the room that should have been dark. I hurriedly opened the door, and the two Spirit Kings inside turned around.

“Oh, you’re back? Welcome back!”

“You’re back.”

Ifrit’s reluctant voice followed behind my welcoming words. Unlike Trowell, who smiled at me, Ellyuen was expressionless. He stared at us standing in the doorway for a moment, then fixed his gaze on me. It was a strangely skewed look.

“Why, why?”

“You’ve gained weight.”

“Huh? Really?”

Have I been eating too much lately? I’ve been exploring restaurants all day, so I’ve been eating a lot lately. Shouldn’t I avoid gaining weight since I’m learning swordsmanship? I looked in the mirror in surprise, but Ellyuen just turned his head away without answering. I looked at Trowell, and he had a slightly strange expression.

“Your complexion has improved. You seem more energetic.”

“Really? Then it’s not a bad thing?”

“If I had to say, it’s an improvement.”

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like a situation to worry about. Well, I haven’t felt sluggish. On the contrary, I’ve been feeling light lately.

“Good grief, that’s obvious. You train so hard every day, it would be weirder if your body changed just from eating a little. Rather, it seems like your diet hasn’t been keeping up with your exercise. You look just right, so why is he picking on the kid as soon as he gets here?”

Ifrit grumbled next to me as I was relieved. He immediately shut his mouth at Ellyuen’s cold gaze. But this time, Trowell frowned.

“Your diet hasn’t been keeping up? I haven’t particularly restricted you from eating.”

“But you always let her take care of it herself, right? Watching her, she seems to eat moderately on her own.”

The faces that turned to me had expressions that said, ‘Was that eating moderately?’ I was embarrassed even thinking about it, so I tried to laugh awkwardly, but Trowell sighed lightly.

“So you want me to at least pretend to eat with her?”

“Why can’t you? If you’re going to raise her healthy, what’s so difficult about joining her for meals? Make sure she eats meat and vegetables evenly! And take care of her with desserts like fruit after meals! And occasionally go out for delicious snacks!”

“…Ifrit. Did you get so immersed in your role as a guardian, or is this just your natural disposition?”

“You guys are just too indifferent, you know?”

While the two Spirit Kings were chatting, my attention was still focused on Ellyuen. He was sitting silently on the sofa with his arms crossed.

‘He doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.’

He doesn’t usually show much reaction, but today he seemed particularly down. He must be tired from restoring the territory. Come to think of it, Ifrit originally expected it to take a week. It was earlier than I thought. He could have rested a little longer. I felt heavy-hearted because my existence seemed to be a burden to him.

“Hey, Ellyuen. You don’t have to come down if it’s a bother.”

But I must have touched something wrong. His already cold gaze became even more fierce.

“Are you telling me to get lost because you don’t need me?”

“Ah, no? When did I ever say that…?”

“The guy who insisted on having me around is now saying it’s okay if I don’t come down?”

“I just thought Ellyuen might be tired….”

Ellyuen’s eyebrows twitched again. He looked very displeased but was holding back his anger.

“You.”

“…Yes.”

“You seem to be mistaken, but I decide where I will be. Don’t presumptuously lecture me.”

I don’t know what point of anger I touched. I quickly nodded, and he glared at me intently before closing his eyes. I looked back at Trowell with a sense of injustice and bewilderment, and he smiled with a strange expression as before.

“I think you were wrong on this one.”

“…I was wrong?”

I just said it because I wanted him to rest comfortably. What did I do wrong? Was the message not conveyed well, or does it mean that it’s presumptuous for a human to worry about a Spirit King? I couldn’t understand it at all.

“Young master, don’t worry about it. He must be pissed because his contractor seems to be getting closer to me. He should have treated you better.”

Ifrit clicked his tongue and comforted me with kind words. However, an ice spear flew towards him faster than any expectation could arise.

“Ah, you crazy bastard! Why don’t you just say it with words? Why are you throwing such a vicious thing in such a narrow space!”

Ifrit, who barely dodged the spear, shouted angrily. It was the same as usual, yet it was a subtly unstable time.

* * *

In the afternoon, I sparred with Trowell after a long time. It was the first time I sparred without wearing weight-adding devices. It was easier than before, but a lingering feeling of unease persisted. In fact, this was something I had been feeling during personal training recently. To be precise, it was since escaping from the slave merchant group. Trowell seemed to sense it too, as he stopped the sparring for a moment and asked.

“What’s wrong? You don’t look comfortable.”

“Well, that feeling from back then isn’t coming out.”

“What feeling?”

I tried to explain as much detail as possible to him, who was asking with a puzzled face. About when I was chased by numerous soldiers in the slave merchant group, and when I faced the magician. About being trapped in the defensive magic they cast. And how I eventually broke through after several attempts.

“But then, suddenly, the sword broke.”

“Hmm.”

“After that, I grabbed another sword. And I had another chance to attack the barrier. But it didn’t work the second time. I definitely put in the same amount of power as the first time.”

Maybe it wasn’t because I didn’t try enough times. It might have been a coincidence, but the moment I broke the barrier, the feeling was a little different. Usually, I would force a path and pull it along, but that time, it felt like something burst open in a refreshing way. Since then, I’ve been trying to find the same feeling, but no matter how hard I try, it doesn’t work.

Then Trowell laughed in disbelief.

“I see. I thought you weren’t using it because you were clumsy, but you haven’t even realized it yet.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I know what that situation you mentioned is. I was watching roughly back then.”

Huh, he was watching. I thought he might have been, but I felt embarrassed thinking that he had watched the chaotic scene. I was about to scratch my cheek in embarrassment when he looked at me with intrigued eyes.

“I was a little surprised because you fought better than I thought. I thought, ‘You do do it when you have to.’ I felt like my teaching was worth it. I didn’t like the ending very much, though.”

“Ahaha….”

“That’s more like you. It’s a good thing, but I also feel like I don’t like it….”

The fading end of his words felt chilling, and it wasn’t just my imagination. I was caught too easily back then. If I had been stronger, I wouldn’t have surrendered, but rather gone to an ending where I saved everyone. “I’ll try harder next time.” As I said firmly, he frowned slightly and then chuckled.

“There shouldn’t be another time like that.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“Your incompetent guild members should also be aware of that.”

I quickly nodded without even having time to think about the meaning, as his voice seemed to have lowered for some reason. Only then did the warmth return to his eyes, which had been filled with an eerie aura.

“First, take your sword.”

I immediately took my sword at his words. The next instruction followed as I took a clumsy stance.

“Focus on the tip of the sword, and think of it as resonating with the sword.”

“Resonating?”

“Think of the sword as your arm. It’ll be easier if you think of the energy flowing through your whole body.”

Think of the sword as my arm. I did as I was told. I focused my mind firmly and deeply rotated the energy with the feeling that it was connected to the sword. Fortunately, Trowell, who had been watching for a while to see if I was doing it right, nodded.

“Then let’s go again.”

Although the following words were unexpected.

“Huh? W-wait a minute…!”

“Focus properly. You’re distracted again.”

Trowell’s face frowned as I panicked and defended against the sudden attack. I quickly pulled myself together and focused my consciousness again.

After that, the same sparring as usual continued. It wasn’t easy to avoid and block the rushing attacks while maintaining the concentration as if I had become one with the sword. But at some point, I couldn’t even feel the sensation of holding the sword. I couldn’t tell if the sword was stuck in my hand or if my hand was attached to the sword. Once I got used to that feeling, I felt like I could see Trowell’s movements more clearly.

Was that why? As time passed, I felt like the sparring was getting easier and easier. If I had been barely keeping up with Trowell’s movements until now, I now had the leeway to figure out his movements. After trying to follow the trajectory several times, I felt like I knew where to reach out. But I also knew that I wouldn’t reach it like this. To reach it, I had to predict the movements faster or have a wider range of attack. Just a little more. If I could widen the trajectory just a little more. As I became impatient, I put more strength into it. At that moment, I felt something rush out of my body. I saw the widening golden eyes that I briefly met.

‘No!’

My body was stopped when I became aware of the situation. I was holding the sword that had forcibly changed its path and gasping for breath. A cold silence fell in the space filled with heat. Trowell looked at me with a strange face and lightly brushed his left cheek with his thumb. Blood was flowing from the wounded skin. Only then did I realize what I had done.

“T-Trowell! Are you okay?”

“…What are you doing right now.”

I stopped trying to approach at the cold voice. The face I met clearly showed anger, and my body flinched.

“S-sorry. I think I got too immersed.”

“That’s not what I mean. Why did you forcibly change the path at that moment? Were you trying to get hurt?”

“But if I had continued, you would have….”

“Are you worried about me now? How dare you, a human, worry about a Spirit King? I’m not human. I won’t get hurt or die even if I’m stabbed by a sword. If you’re lucky enough to reverse summon me, you can just be happy about your growth.”

“But… it hurts.”

“Are you saying that now? I might just be in pain, but you could have died if you had made a mistake. Even Ellyuen can’t do anything about instant death.”

“….”

“Don’t ever do this again.”

Honestly, I couldn’t promise that. I couldn’t help it if my body stopped on its own. Trowell looked at me with a complicated gaze as I couldn’t bring myself to nod. “I guess I don’t like that side of you.” After muttering something incomprehensible, he sighed deeply and opened his mouth with a much gentler face.

“But it seems like you’ve definitely adapted. Do you understand now?”

“W-what?”

“Look at your sword.”

I was embarrassed by the words and lowered my gaze, but I was even more embarrassed. I wondered if something was wrong with my eyes. A bluish light was flowing on the blade of the sword.

“Huh?”

“That’s called magic power. Or aura.”

“Huh…?”

“The stage where you can put magic power into a sword is called ‘entering the sword’ in swordsmanship. When this stage is complete, you can even create shapes with magic power alone, and such a person is called a Sword Saint.”

I finally came to my senses at the familiar words. Sword Saint was the local term for Sword Master. No, before that, I roughly knew what aura was. The Champagne mercenaries were all beings who could handle aura. Thanks to seeing them fight monsters countless times, I knew more than enough about how powerful it was. But I’ve already reached the same level as those people? It’s only been half a year since I started learning swordsmanship? I thought that the reason I could easily run wild in the slave merchant group was because the soldiers’ skills were low, but was that not the case?

“Maybe you unconsciously triggered it before. That’s why the barrier broke. The sword broke because it was a cheap sword that couldn’t withstand the magic power.”

I couldn’t even think of closing my gaping mouth and stared blankly at Trowell. He smiled as he met my gaze.

“Try harder, genius swordsman. I have high expectations for your future.”

“Ugh, don’t praise me so much. I don’t even know what’s going on yet.”

“You don’t realize how great you are? Then shall I make you realize it a little more?”

“W-what are you going to do?”

He narrowed his eyes languidly as I hesitated and became wary. The pouring sunlight sparkled like stardust at the end of his eyelashes. It was difficult to distinguish whether it was his brilliantly shining golden eyes or the reflected sunlight.

“As it happens, there will be a suitable opportunity.”