I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 212

The summoned meeting ended, and as the heroes dispersed, Junior was about to leave the lord’s mansion for his hotel room when Reina blocked his path.

“Hey, Jupiter’s daughter.”

Leaning against the door, blocking the way like a third-rate thug, the elderly mage still exuded a strange dignity.

Junior frowned at the unpleasant sight, while Reina smiled.

“I’ve been waiting for you, but why haven’t you come? I’m disappointed. Don’t you want to extend your lifespan?”

“I know my illness well, Lady Reina.”

Junior replied curtly, brushing past Reina.

“Extending lifespan? I know that’s impossible. Do you think I haven’t visited a temple or two to cure this disease?”

“Hmm. Temples, you say.”

“I don’t know what your intentions are, but I’m not foolish enough to fall for such false advertising and get caught up in someone’s scheme.”

Reina quickly followed Junior, who was walking briskly. Junior retorted coldly.

“Why don’t you focus on preparing for the next defense? The World Serpent Jörmungandr [a giant serpent from Norse mythology]. It seems like even the great commander of the magic corps is facing an enemy for the first time.”

Just as he was trying to shake her off, Reina suddenly changed the subject.

“Did you know, Jupiter’s daughter? That most mages can only handle one attribute.”

“……?”

“But sometimes, rarely, mages appear who can handle multiple attributes. And those multi-attribute mages have something in common. Do you know what it is?”

Reina made a gun shape with her hand and made a bang sound.

“They have experienced a magical attack in their infancy.”

“……”

“The elemental essence of the magic they suffered in childhood settles in their heart, which is their mana core, and forcibly awakens their ability to sense that elemental essence.”

Junior frowned and glared at Reina. Reina smiled, wrinkles forming around her eyes.

“The magical attacks you were caught in as a child were Jupiter’s lightning and my wind. That’s why you can handle lightning and wind. Including the water attribute you were born with, you became a triple-attribute mage.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“Like Jupiter, I am one of the sources of your magic. Your magical parent… you could say?”

Junior fiercely growled, pointing his staff at Reina.

“If you utter such disgusting nonsense one more time, I will kill you.”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down and listen more.”

Reina continued calmly.

“The reason why you cough up blood and strain your body every time you use magic is because of the magical scars engraved in your heart. Specifically, it’s because of the ‘other’s magical elements’ remaining in your heart. This keeps scarring and burdening your mana core.”

“……”

“But I am the owner of the wind element left in your heart. Moreover, I am ‘Gale,’ the one with the most precise mana control on the continent. I can cleanly remove those remnants.”

Reina extended her index finger and pointed at Junior’s left chest.

“Then, naturally, the burden on your mana core will decrease, your heart will become stronger, and your lifespan will increase. How about it, are you convinced?”

“…I understand.”

Yes, he understood the principle. But.

“But why are you trying so hard to help me? Is it because you’re involved in magic, as you said? Or is it some pathetic guilt? Some shallow sense of superiority? What is it?”

He couldn’t understand why Reina was going this far.

So, what benefit does this woman get from this? Why is she trying to help?

Reina shrugged.

“Does that matter? You’re on your last legs. If you get this procedure from me, it will definitely be more helpful to your health than eating spinach and tomatoes.”

“……”

“Enough, just answer with a Yes or No. I’m not the kind of woman who clings to someone who doesn’t want it.”

Junior bit his lower lip and pondered.

Reina scoffed at Junior.

“Aren’t you just missing a good opportunity because of your shallow pride?”

“……!”

“I understand you don’t like me, but if you endure a little humiliation, you can extend your life. Isn’t it more foolish to throw away this opportunity for the sake of your pride?”

Reina tapped Junior’s forehead with her index finger.

“Act like a mage, you brat. Like a mage!”

“……”

“If you can live even one more day to improve your magical achievements, you should sell your soul to the devil to live. That’s what a mage is, isn’t it?”

Junior pursed his lips and glared at Reina with dissatisfaction.

And-

***

…Eventually, he ended up in Reina’s room.

In the officer’s quarters on the third floor of the barracks. Reina, who occupied two rooms by herself, took off her officer’s cap as soon as she entered the room and tossed it carelessly.

“No need to drag it out. Let’s start right away.”

Reina’s room, like Jupiter’s, lacked any sense of personal life. All that was in the room were a few clothes and a pack of cigarettes.

‘Are all wandering soldiers like this?’

Junior hesitated, feeling awkward and uncomfortable in someone else’s room. Reina smiled at Junior and gestured with her chin.

“Sit comfortably on that chair, sofa, or bed. Oh, and take off your top.”

“Excuse me?”

“From now on, I’m going to infiltrate my mana into your mana core, are you going to do it with your clothes on? They’ll all get ruined.”

“Tch…”

Even though they were the same gender, he was reluctant to show his bare body to someone else, but his life extension was at stake.

Junior reluctantly turned his back and took off his top.

Scattered burn marks remained on Junior’s left side.

These were the scars left from the day 15 years ago when he was caught in the bombardment of Jupiter and Reina.

“……”

Reina stared blankly at the scars on the young mage’s thin back.

Junior, who had also taken off his pointed hat, turned around and glared.

“So, what should I do while you perform this ‘procedure’?”

“Just do one thing.”

With a smile, Reina placed her hand on Junior’s left shoulder blade.

“Don’t pass out.”

Junior flinched at the cool touch, but soon, sharp, blade-like mana seeped into Junior’s body from Reina’s fingertips.

“Kuh…”

The pain was immense. Blood formed on Junior’s tightly clenched lower lip.

“Kuh… Aaaargh…!”

It felt like thousands of needles were piercing around his heart. Junior trembled and endured the pain.

Reina, with her eyes tightly closed, meticulously moved her mana to continue the procedure, sweating profusely.

“Hold on, Jupiter’s daughter. Just a little more…!”

***

The procedure ended in 15 minutes, but both Junior and Reina were exhausted, having used up all their strength, and collapsed on opposite ends of the sofa.

“I… I almost died…”

Junior’s mouth was red from the nosebleed and hemoptysis [coughing up blood] at the end of the procedure.

Reina, also suffering from a nosebleed due to the extreme precision of her mana manipulation, spoke with a cloth pressed against her nose.

“While I was at it, I also scraped out Jupiter’s lightning magic element that was left in your mana core. Of course, I couldn’t get it all… It seems like the procedure will be roughly finished after about three more times.”

“You want to do this three more times…? Are you serious?”

“Hmph. Once you feel the effect, you’ll be begging me to do it more.”

At Reina’s taunt, Junior lightly gathered mana at his fingertips.

‘Huh?’

The left side of his chest, which always felt stiff when using magic, felt light.

The foreign sensation that had been pressing on his chest was also much reduced. Junior moved the mana gathered at his fingertips and slightly opened his mouth.

‘Was mana manipulation this easy?’

The burden on his body was significantly reduced. Reina’s procedure really had an effect.

“Do you believe me now?”

Junior hesitated and lowered his head to Reina, who was smiling triumphantly.

“It really… has an effect. Thank you.”

“Now you have to repay the favor, right?”

“Huh?”

“Did you think you were going to get this difficult procedure for free? That’s too shameless, isn’t it?”

Reina’s brazen smile deepened. Junior’s stomach churned.

No, it was definitely effective and he was grateful, but one of the reasons his body was like this in the first place was because of Reina.

And yet, Reina had pushed him into getting the procedure as if it were a forced sale, and was immediately talking about the price. He didn’t like that.

However, the ‘price’ was lighter than he thought.

Chik-

Reina, with a cigarette in her mouth, lit it with a match and spat out.

“Just tell me some stories.”

“Yes? Stories?”

“How you’ve lived since then. How Jupiter ended up here.”

Whoosh-

The old mage’s profile, exhaling a long stream of smoke, was lost in deep regret.

“Tell me about the 15 years I don’t know about you and your mother.”

“……”

Junior, who had been speechless for a moment, asked cautiously.

“Is that really all you want?”

“That’s all I want.”

“…I can’t understand you.”

“You don’t have to understand.”

Reina crushed the end of her cigarette with her lips and smiled bitterly.

“I don’t know either. Why I’m doing this now… Maybe I’m just getting sentimental as I get older.”

“……”

“You can think of it as an old woman’s foolishness… How about it?”

Chik-

Junior took out a pipe, put it in his mouth, and lit it. The scent of herbs wafted from the end of the pipe.

“Okay. But, tell me too.”

“Tell you what?”

“About my mother’s younger days.”

Junior said, a little embarrassed.

“About the stories of the young and immature Jupiter that you experienced.”

“……”

Reina smiled and nodded.

“I’d be happy to. Jupiter Junior.”

***

At the same time. First floor of the barracks.

The quarters where the penal unit stayed.

“But do such giant snakes really exist?”

“Last time, we were swallowed by a huge slime! Remember that sticky stomach? If there are such big jellies, why wouldn’t there be snakes?”

“To fight on top of such a snake for three days… Can we really do it?”

“But if we can’t, our hometown will be in danger…”

Kuilran’s party of five were sitting around, talking about the upcoming defense.

Bang-!

Suddenly, with a loud noise, the door of the quarters was roughly opened.

Kuilran and his terrified bandits looked towards the door.

“Come out.”

Lukas stood there with a blank face.

Behind him, Evangeline was holding several wooden swords in her arms, looking this way with sparkling eyes, as if expecting something.

Kuilran, flustered, asked.

“Come out? Come out where, Sir Knight?”

“If you come this way, there’s a training ground. Come there.”

“No, why the training ground all of a sudden…”

Before Kuilran could say anything more,

Whoosh!

Lukas suddenly swung the wooden sword in his hand.

“Whoa?! What are you doing, Sir Knight?!”

Thwack!

Kuilran, terrified, barely managed to deflect the wooden sword with a punch.

Evangeline threw a wooden sword to each of the bewildered Kuilran party.

Lukas growled at the bandits, who were holding the wooden swords in confusion.

“If you’re not coming to the training ground, we’ll have to do it here.”

“Do what, what are you…”

Whoosh!

Without explanation, Lukas roughly swung his wooden sword, and the bandits screamed, barely dodging the attack.

“Ah! I get it!”

Kuilran, who quickly put on his gauntlets and blocked Lukas’s wooden sword, shouted.

“You’re trying to train us in preparation for the upcoming defense!”

“……”

“We’re weak against giant monsters, so you’re deliberately attacking us like beasts! Right?!”

“……”

“To think you’d be so considerate and take care of us! You’re a better person than you look, Sir Knight!”

Lukas replied immediately.

“No, I’m not?”

“Huh…?”

“I just don’t like you. I just want to beat you up a little.”

Lukas’s overly honest blue eyes flickered like lamps.

“You guys caused a lot of trouble in the last defense, didn’t you? Not this time. I’d rather break your arms and legs here so you can’t go to the front line at all. And, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The five members of the penal unit simultaneously swallowed hard.

Kuilran’s party had never faced a monster, but they had faced the Imperial Army enough to be intimidated. They sensed it.

The knight in front of them was serious.

He was really trying to beat them to death…!

“Get in formation, you ragtag bandits.”

Lukas growled fiercely, pointing his wooden sword forward.

“I’ll show you the magic that will turn you from bandits into soldiers.”