Chapter 91

Chapter 90

"To be honest, I can understand everything else. But, you see..."

He slowly put on his horn-rimmed glasses, which accentuated his characteristic gentle expression, and smiled calmly.

"To be honest, the Invisible Blade is something I simply can't believe even if I see it. Moreover... Sir Dave, I can barely sense any mana, similar to or even less than an ordinary person."

Because the Invisible Blade is theoretically impossible. That was what he was most curious about.

Fortunately, it seems they don't think I created the hundreds of lightning bolts that fell in the forest.

To be honest, that's a level of power that operates on a different plane.

"Hmm..."

I let out a short groan, gazing at the red wine swaying in the glass, and gave a brief, wry smile.

"I worked hard."

At my answer, the three of them looked flabbergasted.

"Really?"

"I worked my hardest. In that short time."

They looked at me with expressions of disbelief, but I wasn't lying to them.

It was short.

In fact, even a thousand years wasn't enough for me to fully understand and master everything.

From morning till night.

I trained without rest, and even when I woke up from sleep, I thought about the progress of my training.

It's ironic that I, who had once despised the efforts of heroes, ended up working so hard that even a passing goblin would laugh.

However, these three seemed to interpret my words differently.

"Ah... Haha! No matter what, achieving that in less than a year..."

They seemed to think I had built up all this effort since I woke up from my coma.

"There are still many things in the world that haven't been proven, Baris."

"Brother..."

"And I never said I achieved it in a year."

At my words, Baris fell silent, realizing I was giving a serious answer.

That's why quick-witted kids are so annoying!

-But that quick-witted kid is one of the few younger brothers you truly believe in.

'Quiet.'

I can't talk about the corridor.

Even if others scream that they can't believe it, for now, all I can tell them is that I worked hard.

Even if it's my spouse.

The only one who knows my truth...

-Haa...

...is this cute senior (師姐) who uses my knee as a pillow and yawns.

"Actually, from your perspective, you can only sense the level of mana similar to or even less than an ordinary person."

"Yes."

"But how can you draw a high-density Aura Blade?"

"That's..."

"Maybe I'll tell you everything when it becomes possible."

"If you say so, Brother."

Finally, Baris seemed to sort out the confusion in his mind and laughed heartily.

"Haha. I'm sorry to Sir Yulius 5th, but if you say so, Brother, I believe you."

"Well, I don't have any reason to pry into something Sir Dave finds hard to talk about. I don't have the right to do so."

"Thank you for your consideration."

"But can you tell me one thing?"

Yulius's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

At the same time, Winry, who realized what he was about to say, put down her glass and looked at me.

"Can I... use the Invisible Blade?"

For a mage, the Invisible Blade is a dream-like realm. But if a mage of the same level as a high-level archmage can use it...

Asking about something someone else has built and achieved is always impolite.

But Yulius seemed to want a hint so badly that he was willing to be impolite.

Since he owes me, telling him a little wouldn't be bad.

At least it's not related to the corridor.

"Only if you're willing to give up all the mana circles you currently have."

"..."

"The probability is about 10%. If you fail, there will be a backlash."

"Backlash?"

"Your brain will burn. Completely black."

There are no direct examples, but this is the conclusion drawn by the four women who created it, so I just believe it.

"Such..."

"I'll give you a homework assignment. Try to use a buff spell you can cast immediately. Overcast Strength five times simultaneously."

At my words, his face turned pale.

"That's... quite difficult."

"If you can do that, it's 10%."

At least you need to know how to overcast eight times to even consider trying.

-What madman overcasts a spell eight times, you're abnormal.

He smiled at my words.

It won't be easy. When I first created a mana circle, I thought the current mana circle in my body was more difficult to create than a 9th circle mana ring.

"Indeed, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

No matter what, life is precious.

* * *

One problem solved, another one arises.

"Hmph!"

The sulking voice made me smile wryly.

"Is Hongdan still sulking?"

"Puu!!"

This red-haired, adorable kid, Hongdan, was puffing her cheeks and making it clear she was angry.

She's so cute, and with her puffed cheeks, I just wanted to...

"Hongdan, tickle tickle, peekaboo?"

"Kya!... Hmph, hmpf!"

I couldn't actually do it for image management.

When I held the new sword Caldras, I felt a significant sense of fatigue as the mana rapidly drained. Caldras, who had grown and strengthened over a long time, might not have felt it, but for Hongdan, who had only been born for a month, the mana consumption was a significant strain.

"Uu..."

Qingdan, who was hugging Hongdan from behind and rubbing her head, groaned as if telling her to stop, but Hongdan's stubbornness remained unchanged.

"It's so delicious, aren't you going to eat it?"

When I quietly waved the cookie in front of her, she closed her eyes and turned her head, then opened one eye to glance at the cookie and turned her head away again.

And then she slowly opened one eye, looked at the cookie, and turned her head away again.

It was a childish way to express her sulking.

She wants to eat the cookie, but she's angry, so she won't eat it.

The hidden, fatal cuteness in her conflicted state made me dazed.

The problem is that I don't know how to comfort a child.

I held the cookie in my hand and smiled brightly.

"If you don't eat it, I'll eat it all?"

"U... Uu."

As expected, the intense desire for the cookie started to show in Hongdan's eyes, who was pretending to ignore it.

But Hongdan's stubbornness was not ordinary.

"U... Uu..."

Not knowing what to do, Hongdan finally, perhaps because she was angry and sad, ...

"Uaaaaaaah!!!"

... burst into tears.

-You idiot, what are you doing to a child?

"Such..."

Finally, Perseus, who couldn't bear it anymore, hugged and comforted Hongdan. After a while, Hongdan, who had been trembling, cried even more pitifully.

She gave me a gentle look.

"You..."

When I showed a dumbfounded expression, she narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

"Could you grow your body?"

That was my question.

The size of Perseus, who was hugging Hongdan, was not the small form that could sit on my head or shoulder.

She was short and had a very petite build, but she was clearly a normal girl.

-What's so difficult about growing a body made of mana?

Is it possible for energy bodies to interfere with each other?

Thanks to Hongdan, who is essentially a body of energy, she seemed to be able to understand Perseus's form.

-Isn't she good?

Hongdan, who was sobbing, looked up at Perseus, who was gently stroking her back and comforting her.

"Mommy..."

-Wha... Mommy?!

Hongdan, who seemed to be hugging Perseus tightly, as if she wouldn't let her go, started to emit a faint light.

"Uaaaaah!! Mommy! Mommy! I love you!"

Perhaps because of the contagious nature of crying, Qingdan also burst into tears and clung to Perseus.

"Uaaaaah!!"

"Uaaaaah!"

"They're crying."

At my playful words, she gave me a gentle look.

-It's... It's fine! Mommy is here, so don't worry!

Perseus, the clever former Demon King... She has a good sense of things.

In the current continent, the existence of demons is only known in ancient texts as a great evil.

Honestly, anyone with emotions isn't necessarily evil or necessarily good.

"Haha... I have more cookies."

"Hmph!"

-Dave, sometimes if you just shut that mouth of yours that calls for destruction, you'd be really cool.

Demul...

With nothing left to say, the sweet smell of the cookie in my mouth felt bitter.

37. In the Unseen Place

A grand palace.

So magnificent that even a decent kingdom couldn't compare, the palace is known as the Dragon's Palace.

It is none other than the capital of the largest nation in the eastern continent, the Lindis Empire, and the palace where the emperor resides.

In the continent of Tionis, there exist three great empires and one holy kingdom.

The largest continent in the western part of the continent, the Contas Empire, which uses a scorpion with three tails as its emblem.

The greatest power on the continent, the Phalan Empire, with a long history established by the descendants of the Sword God.

Lastly, the holy kingdom of Balshas, which worships the main deity Priya in the eastern continent, and the Lindis Empire, which uses a double-headed dragon as its emblem.

It's no exaggeration to say that the current political situation of the continent is controlled by these four nations. Moreover, the Lindis Empire is essentially a massive alliance that unites the nations in the eastern continent.

The current emperor of the Lindis Empire, Deort of Lindis, was silently shooting arrows in the inner palace garden, a place only the royal family could enter.

Swoosh! Thud!

The target was several hundred meters away, but he silently drew the bowstring, and every time he released it, the arrow pierced the thick wooden target as if it were cutting through the wind.

"Your Majesty, you might hurt yourself. Perhaps you should stop here."

Deort, the Emperor of Lindis, put down the bow for a moment at the voice from the side and gave a cold smile to the man approaching him.

"Would you like to have a match?"

"Haha, if I were to have a match with Your Majesty, I would be so discouraged that I couldn't recover."

"You, who will lead the Lindis Empire as the next emperor, are being too dramatic."

Deort's face, as he spoke calmly, was filled with intense weariness and fatigue.

He looked like a man in his seventies, yet his physique was as solid and large as someone who had trained for a long time.