The Bastard Swordsman Of The Imperial Guard [EN]: Chapter 56

“…”

Ra-El finished his duty guarding the Demon King and exited the prison.

The Special Guard unit still thrummed with mana and demonic energy.

They emanated from the Demon King.

“Was it a problem that I touched the Demon King?”

Ra-El replayed the events in the prison from a little while ago.

The moment his hand touched the Demon King’s body, her mana and demonic energy surged into him.

It was a phenomenon that defied common sense.

Swish-

Ra-El clenched and unclenched his fist, generating mana.

A small bloom of mana appeared on his hand, responding to his will.

Fortunately, nothing seemed wrong with his body.

“Is it the influence of the Thousand Slaughter Sword? No, that doesn’t make sense.”

Although the Thousand Slaughter Sword utilized surrounding mana, absorbing it directly into the body was a different matter entirely.

That left two possibilities:

1. Touching the Demon King causes the person to absorb her demonic and mana energy.

2. Ra-El absorbs the mana of anyone he touches.

‘Both are pretty messed up, aren’t they?’

The first possibility seemed more likely, but the second couldn’t be ruled out.

He possessed a dragon’s body, recognized by Tia. It wouldn’t be surprising if a few more hidden secrets were lurking.

‘I didn’t feel anything when I killed the Lieutenant Demon… but the Thousand Slaughter Sword wasn’t present then.’

Ra-El pondered this as he headed toward the Special Guard unit building.

He intended to ask Ghent or Yuri about the Demon King.

“Ah! Ra-El, you were running away again! I finally found you!”

However, he was intercepted by the ever-zealous elf, Reina.

He’d been avoiding her ever since she suggested visiting Tia together, but his luck had run out. As soon as she spotted Ra-El, she seized his arm, determined not to let him escape this time.

“…I need to ask you something, Reina. Is it normal for demonic or mana energy to flow into you when you touch the Demon King’s body?”

“There’s no way I’d know that. If you’re curious, let’s go ask Tia-nim [Tia, referring to Tia, is being used as a title of respect, similar to ‘Lady’ or ‘Master’] together.”

Reina was resolute in her mission. She had to prove the power of nature she sensed within him to Tia-nim.

‘…It wouldn’t be bad to ask Tia.’

Ra-El smiled wryly as he looked at the elf clinging to his arm.

On reflection, Tia was probably better equipped to answer questions about the Demon King than Ghent or Yuri.

“Okay. I’ll go, so let go of my arm.”

“The day has finally come to prove the great nature dwelling in your hands…! I’ve already thought of a name, too. How about The Nature Hand?”

“…Stop talking nonsense and let’s go quickly.”

Ra-El, with Reina in tow, headed toward the lake on the opposite side of the Demon King’s prison.

The lake where Tia resided was beautiful, a giant sapphire embedded in the earth, a stark contrast to the utilitarian Special Guard unit.

She was swimming in the lake in her human form today.

“Reina, do long-lived species call that swimming when they do that?”

Ra-El stared at Tia, who was floating with her head submerged, a curious expression on his face. Only the bubbles rising behind her head indicated she was breathing.

“If you’re in the water, it’s all swimming.”

“…Okay. I’m the weird one.”

Ra-El didn’t dwell on it.

In a world without roots, such eccentricities were endearing.

“Puhah! Huh? Reina and Ra-El are here?”

After watching Tia swim for a while, she suddenly stood up.

She waded to the shallow part of the lake and swept her wet bangs back.

“Tia-nim, I finally brought him! It’s Ra-El!”

“Hello, Tia-nim.”

Ra-El bowed to Tia, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

It was their first meeting since he’d cast a spell on the Gaksital [Gaksital is a Korean mask or masked hero].

‘It seems she’s already forgotten that she cursed when I showed Perma the magic.’

Fortunately, she didn’t seem the type to hold grudges over trivial matters.

“I can finally prove that there is nature in Ra-El’s hands!”

“Reina, are you talking about that… The Natural Hand or whatever?”

Tia wore a sullen expression.

Reina had been going on about the nature within Ra-El’s body for some time, but Tia couldn’t grasp what she meant.

“It’s The Nature Hand. It could be a great help to the Elven race!”

“Haa. I understand. Come in.”

Tia sighed and headed toward the Dragon Lair.

She had no idea what a hand containing nature was, but Ra-El’s blood was often helpful for research.

Haa- Haa-

At that moment, a fox came running from the distance.

It was the spirit Vermeil III.

“Why did he come all the way here?”

“He must like me. Vermeil III, let’s go together.”

Haa- Haa-

Reina scooped up Vermeil III and walked toward the Dragon Lair.

*

“Aagh, aagh…”

A magic tool shaped like a chair siphoned Ra-El’s blood.

To get answers from the eccentric dragon, he had no choice but to offer a blood sample.

“So… you’re saying that the mana in your body felt healed when you held Ra-El’s hand?”

“That’s right! Like a world…”

“At that time, Ra-El’s hand was like a World Tree. So it’s clear that there is nature in Ra-El’s body. Do you know how many times I’ve heard that? Stop saying it now.”

“Yes…”

Reina’s shoulders slumped, her expression crestfallen.

‘There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with his blood…’

Tia shook her head as she analyzed Ra-El’s blood.

She couldn’t detect anything resembling nature within it.

Instead, she could sense the mana and demonic energy prevalent in the Special Guard unit.

‘Wait, there’s more mana than last time.’

Tia noticed something peculiar in Ra-El’s blood.

It wasn’t unusual to detect a small amount of mana in his body, given his proximity to the Special Guard unit.

However, the rate at which it was increasing was concerning.

“Ra-El, you didn’t make a contract with a demon or anything, did you? I can feel quite a bit of mana in your body.”

“What? You, you. Ra-El! What have you been doing!”

Haa- Haa-

Reina and Vermeil III eyed Ra-El warily.

“I wanted to tell you something anyway. I accidentally touched the Demon King earlier, and her mana flowed into my body.”

Ra-El ignored the reactions of the two and continued.

“It came into your body…? That’s a really interesting story. Hold out your hand.”

Tia immediately seized Ra-El’s hand.

Then, she closed her eyes and focused on her mana.

‘Little by little… it’s being sucked in.’

Tia opened her eyes in surprise.

His body was absorbing mana.

This was a phenomenon she had never witnessed before.

“Ah, Vermeil III!”

Haa- Haa-

At that moment, Vermeil III leaped from Reina’s arms and snuggled against Ra-El.

Vermeil III purred and curled up on Ra-El’s chest.

“Vermeil III snuggled up to a human? Ra-El, has this happened often?”

“Yes, it happens often.”

Ra-El stroked Vermeil III’s fur as if it were a common occurrence.

The fluffy, soft fur was quite pleasant.

‘A spirit that reads souls snuggling up to a human…’

Spirits were beings that perceived the inner self, not the outward appearance of a living being.

No matter how strong Ra-El was, he shouldn’t be able to do that.

‘The level of the soul itself is high…?’

The elf Reina absorbs the power of nature, and the dragon Tia absorbs the surrounding mana.

Similarly, if the level of the soul itself is high, it would make sense that Ra-El absorbs the surrounding power.

‘But can a human do that?’

Tia stared at Ra-El with a look of wonder.

As expected, there was much to learn about him.

“Tia-nim? Did you get the results?”

“…”

Tia hesitated for a moment at Reina’s question.

She couldn’t provide a definitive answer yet.

“There’s no such thing as the power of nature. However, it seems that Ra-El’s body is special.”

Tia had no intention of validating absurd notions like the Nature Hand.

“Maybe… it seems like he’s absorbing mana little by little. I don’t know the exact reason.”

“Is it my problem, not the Demon King’s?”

“Yes, Ra-El. Your body is special.”

“Heo…”

Ra-El looked at his hand and let out a hollow laugh.

A body that absorbs mana. What was the underlying principle?

“Then is the Demon King’s mana in my body? Then isn’t that a big problem?”

“That much will be okay. It’s still far from a dangerous level.”

Tia scanned the results of analyzing Ra-El’s blood.

Most of the mana in his body originated from the Demon King.

“Hmm…?”

At that moment, Tia detected a sense of incongruity within the Demon King’s mana.

Ra-El’s body contained not only the Demon King’s demonic energy but also the power of the seal that maintained the seal.

Tia immediately manipulated the magic tool to examine the Demon King’s seal.

“…The Demon King’s seal has weakened.”

“What? The Demon King’s seal is weakening?”

“It seems like you absorbed the power of the seal. But… fortunately, it’s not a big problem. There’s no problem with the seal.”

“…It sounds like a big problem.”

“It’s okay. A large seal like this can self-recover to this extent.”

Originally, the seals of monsters like the Demon King are bound to fluctuate slightly.

A temporarily weakened seal was not a cause for concern.

‘What is this?’

However, that wasn’t the core issue.

The seal had weakened, but the presence of the Demon King that Tia sensed had also diminished accordingly.

That decrease was far greater than the amount Ra-El had absorbed.

‘Why is this phenomenon happening? If the seal is containing the Demon King’s mana, the mana should grow stronger as the seal weakens.’

A seal is designed to suppress and confine the power of a specific being.

It was common knowledge that the power of the sealed being would intensify as the seal weakened.

However, in the Demon King’s seal, the demonic and mana energy within the Demon King weakened as the seal weakened.

That implied that the demonic and mana energy became stronger as the seal became stronger.

It was as if… the seal was holding the demonic energy within the Demon King’s body, and the act of ‘sealing’ itself was generating demonic and mana energy.

“Could it be… wait a minute. What the hell is the Empire hiding…?”

Tia frowned and scrutinized the Demon King’s seal.

A monster born from the evil of humans. The Demon King.

Perhaps, the very nature of the Demon King had to be re-evaluated.

*

“Why is that dragon suddenly acting like that?”

Ra-El scratched the back of his head as he left the Special Guard unit.

Tia had been muttering to herself about the Demon King’s seal, then abruptly declared she had research to conduct and ushered Ra-El and Reina out of the Dragon Lair.

Reina, disappointed that nature wasn’t contained in Ra-El’s hand, had collapsed onto the hammock, and Ra-El, with nothing to do at the Special Guard unit, decided to venture outside.

Ra-El, at loose ends, headed toward the orphanage.

He planned to engage in some sword sparring with Rain.

‘I hope the Demon King doesn’t go berserk if the seal weakens.’

Tia had said it was fine, but he couldn’t shake his unease.

The Demon King was undeniably a ticking time bomb.

Ra-El approached the orphanage, his mind preoccupied with worries.

He intended to clear his head of 잡념 [japnyum – idle thoughts, distractions] by swinging his sword with Rain.

“Sparring is not allowed for the time being.”

However, Rain shook his head firmly.

“Why?”

“Because we need to stabilize the atmosphere of the Empire before the party. Recently, the movements of the demons have been unusual.”

“The movements of the demons?”

“Yes. The soldiers guarding the north report that the truce may end soon. The 현장 [hyeonjang – the front lines, the situation on the ground] seems to be serious already. According to the informants… it seems like they are looking for something… I don’t know the exact reason.”

“…That’s strange.”

Ra-El tilted his head.

At least five years were supposed to remain before the truce with the demons expired.

It was too early for relations to sour so drastically.

‘When I think about it, there seem to be more demons invading the capital than in the original work.’

The original work focused solely on the academy, so it was odd that such external chaos wasn’t mentioned.

In other words, this was the butterfly effect in action.

‘Wait a minute. They’re looking for something?’

At that moment, Tia’s words echoed in his mind.

The Demon King’s seal weakened when he touched Ra-El.

And the demons were trying to get their hands on the Demon King.

Rain had said that, according to informants, the demons seemed to be searching for something.

Ra-El, piecing together the information, frowned involuntarily.

The demons were after the Demon King.

The reason being the weakened seal.

Then what was the cause of the weakened seal?

‘…In the end, I’m the problem.’

Ra-El sighed at the butterfly effect he had inadvertently created.

He felt compelled to drastically revise the plan he had been formulating.