Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Translator: Penny
Episode 18: The Sword Demon, Lee Cheonma
Episode 18: Sword Demon Lee Cheon-ma
A strange ceiling...
I always thought this kind of plot twist only happened in novels, but here I am, experiencing it firsthand.
My body... well, as expected.
Every part of me is paralyzed.
The backlash, huh?
No wonder. I pushed myself so hard, I thought I'd been using my powers for well over twenty seconds. It's a miracle I'm still alive.
Like a puppet with severed strings, my body refuses to obey my will. When have I felt like this before...?
Ah, it was the day after skiing for twelve hours straight at the resort.
Back then, when my body wouldn't move as I willed, I was so grateful my friend—a gym rat among gym rats—had insisted on driving. Otherwise, we would have missed the train.
The familiar memories of the past were almost unbearable.
"Why didn't you show up when I contacted you?!"
"Huh? What happened to the gratitude for rushing here the moment I saw your message? I dropped everything in Gangneung and used the fastest Void Step of my life to get here—"
"Gratitude my ass! How many times did I save your ass back when you and Kang Jin-myeong were running wild as trainees?"
"Th-that was in the past. Didn't we settle that with the Jeju Island Gate incident?"
"Bullshit! If you hadn't brought a healer, you'd have been roasted alive and hung from the Guild's rooftop long ago."
"Ugh... Oh, wait. The girl's Mana Core... no, her Mana Core has activated."
"..........!!"
Whoosh!
In an instant, Eve's gaze snapped toward me.
So, this is the Guild Master's office of the Golden Guild.
Shouldn't they have moved me to a hospital room or some kind of healing chamber if they were going to move me at all?
"Se-a, are you alright?!"
"Ah, just a bit of stiffness in my fingers, that's all."
Is it because my Mana hasn't fully recovered yet? My fingers feel really stiff.
I felt a twinge of regret for pushing myself too hard to execute the Constellation Magic so spectacularly, but this minor injury should heal completely within a day.
Well, if I'm lucky, it might even be gone in an hour.
My whole body creaked from lying down for too long, so I figured it was probably just that. I thought it would loosen up in about ten minutes...
But Eve's expression suddenly turned very serious.
"...Damn it, it's my fault..."
Huh?
Why are you suddenly blaming yourself?
If Eve hadn't been there, I would have been completely manipulated and killed by Shena.
"Um... Chairwoman? I'm fine, so..."
"I'm sorry. I was too late... your fingers..."
Could she be thinking about when Shena cut off my fingers?
Does she think the numbness in my fingers is because of that?
This is a major emergency.
Someone as important as Eve shouldn't be paying attention to someone like me...
"N-not that my fingers are stiff in that way! My whole body is stiff, so my fingers are probably just the same! If there were something wrong with my fingers, I would have noticed it back when I... when I went inside the Gate!"
"...Young lady, such lies are unbecoming."
"......?"
But it's the truth.
It really is just because I've been stuck in bed for so long that my hands are stiff!
If I wanted to, I could demonstrate perfect control over my psychokinesis right here and now to prove I'm fine.
Zzzzzzz...!
Oh, for fuck's sake.
No, if these aftereffects last this long, what am I supposed to do?
Cough!
As I instinctively brought my hand to my mouth, something black—not crimson blood—began to pour out.
"....!"
Eve and Lee Cheon-ma, witnessing the scene, went into a frenzy, desperately trying to heal me. But alas, neither their elixirs nor the A-Rank Healer's purification magic showed any sign of improving my condition.
No, it's just because I'm throwing up...
It felt like my body was expelling internal waste. The truth was, my body was actually growing healthier, but unfortunately, I couldn't tell Eve that.
"Ugh, ugh...!"
After all, there was quite a lot of waste inside me...
No, it's really nothing...
"Se-a, snap out of it!"
"Damn it, what's the Healer doing?!"
In an instant, High-Grade Potions and healing spells from an A-Rank Healer began pouring into my mouth.
Wait, my body is already at full health...
"No matter how much healing I apply, there's no trace of healing magic being absorbed! The healing magic keeps registering her as fully healed..."
"How can she be fine when she's vomiting up those black masses?!"
Seriously, it's really nothing!
I need to clear up this misunderstanding quickly...
Gag
"Ugh... blurgh..."
Who could have imagined it would take a full fifteen minutes to sort out this chaotic situation and explain the truth behind the incident?
Thanks to the Sword Demon Lee Cheon-ma, who realized the situation midway through, I was able to set the bowl brimming with black masses under the bed. I then glanced at the two of them with a relaxed expression.
I never imagined explaining things could be so exhausting.
When I assured Shena that her severed finger was fine, wiggling my fingers to demonstrate, Eve's face was etched with guilt for failing to protect me. Lee Cheon-ma, on the other hand, stared at me with an indescribable expression, bewildered by my stoic demeanor despite having endured such an ordeal.
Oh, and they already knew I had transplanted a portion of Mephisto into one of my eyes.
According to the Sword Demon, the moment he caught me collapsing after dealing with Shena, one of my eyes had turned completely black, like a Demon's eye.
Thankfully, when I checked the mirror, my violet eyes were shining brightly, looking perfectly normal.
My next thought was, as expected, about explaining myself.
Would they buy the excuse that the situation was too urgent and I had no choice? I wondered. Surprisingly, neither of them questioned me at all.
Instead, they seemed to be blaming themselves for putting me in a position where I had to make such a choice.
They should be cursing the sudden appearance of the Gate and Shena's sudden arrival. Even if I told them I survived thanks to them... it probably wouldn't offer much comfort.
If this incident traumatized them and caused problems in the future storyline, it would be quite troublesome...
"If it weren't for the two of you, I wouldn't be here right now. So please don't blame yourselves too much."
First, I assured them that everything seemed fine, hoping to ease their visible tension.
Next came the interrogation for the investigation of the incident site.
Hero Association staff, who had been waiting outside the hospital room, slowly entered with inspection devices. After being instructed to simply tell the truth about what I had witnessed, the interrogation began.
As a victim caught in the Gates, I was treated with considerable courtesy during the interrogation. Knowing the loopholes in lie detectors—which only detect the truth or falsehood of the outcome, not the intent behind the answers—I skillfully evaded direct questions by changing the subject and steering the conversation, allowing me to conclude the interrogation smoothly.
"Thank you for your cooperation," the staff said.
"No, that's not it. But since something did happen... we're sorry for pushing you so hard."
Hmm... who would have thought that telling them about what Shena did to me would make the interrogation questions so much simpler afterward?
I vaguely described how Shena had sliced my fingers, stabbed a hole in my stomach, choked me, drained my blood, and then dropped me into an unknown Gate brimming with Demonic Energy. Apparently, these details were enough for the Association staff to conclude I was the victim.
"Thank goodness they didn't ask about what happened after that."
"Right? I mean, who would believe Se-a took down that humanoid monster when you and I were there?"
If they had asked about what happened after we left the Gate... things might have gotten a little complicated.
If it were revealed that I was the one who defeated Shena, things would become incredibly complicated. First, my name would be known worldwide. Worse, I could become the Seven Demons' primary target, leaving me unable to intervene in the story and potentially leading to my death.
"By the way, Ms. Eve, could you explain the magic you used to defeat such a formidable enemy? The one that even you seemed to struggle against?"
...So she saw it after all.
Wait, if she was close enough to witness me casting Constellation Magic, wouldn't it have been a better choice to attack Shena herself?
"As for why I didn't handle it myself, it was obviously to get you out of the range of that mysterious attack, Ms. Eve."
"...That makes sense."
I really went too far this time.
Maybe I should have just deployed the Big Dipper to empower my attacks with stellar energy instead of summoning Sagittarius.
"Do you happen to have a Mana Potion?"
"Yes, the one next to you is a Supreme Mana Potion. I was planning to give it to her as soon as she woke up..."
A Supreme Mana Potion? That's perfect.
An appropriate constellation to deploy immediately came to mind—one that could exponentially increase the Sword Demon's favorability toward me.
Pop! Pop!
I immediately opened the Supreme Mana Potion and looked at Eve.
"Chairwoman, could I borrow some of your Mana?"
"...Fine, that much is no problem."
"Shining star, etch your form across the heavens!"
As soon as I chanted, a black sky unfolded around me.
Using the white lines radiating from me as my guide, I meticulously connected the dots of the constellation, one by one.
If my Mana had returned to A+ Rank, I would have had to improvise from here. But thanks to Eve's support, I can manage.
It's true—sharing Mana with someone who possesses genuine S+ Rank Mana, rather than temporarily boosted S+ Rank Mana, makes things so much easier.
While the Sagittarius constellation had been purple before, this time, navy stars began to flicker.
"Aquarius, celestial water-bearer who blesses the parched and cracked earth with life's bounty, grant us a fragment of your immortality here."
The constellation swiftly transformed into the shape of a massive water jar. I quickly grabbed a tumbler from nearby and caught the liquid pouring from the jar.
Nectar.
A legendary elixir said to grant immortality.
In Academy Swordmaster, it's treated as a potion with similar properties to the "Elixir," a legendary potion from folklore.
Unfortunately, while Elixirs have diverse applications—weapon enhancement, healing, and awakening abilities—Nectar can only be used for healing. This is a significant drawback.
Still, Lee Cheon-ma's daughter needs neither awakening nor weapon enhancement. She needs the curse lifted, so it shouldn't matter.
If I give her too much, there's a risk of misuse.
Knowing that the Sword Demon and Eve are heroic characters in the story, I'm willing to demonstrate Constellation Magic before them. However, if others were to discover the true value of the Nectar I'm creating, the world would be thrown into chaos. I'll only prepare enough for Lee Cheon-ma's daughter.
"I heard you have a disciple you cherish like your own daughter. This nectar should significantly improve her condition."
Aquarius.
Its effect was to generate Nectar capable of completely healing all disabilities, illnesses, status ailments, and curses.
Aquarius takes a lot of time but consumes relatively little Mana... Still, it requires Eve's assistance due to the sheer amount of energy it drains.
As the tenth-largest constellation, Aquarius demanded an obscene amount of time and Mana to manifest. Imagining the effort required to deploy even more powerful constellations like Hydra, Virgo, Ursa Major, or Hercules...
Ugh. I might just die trying.
The image of myself collapsing from Mana exhaustion, dying on the spot, flashed vividly through my mind.
I really need to get to Europe soon and properly learn Constellation Magic.
".........."
Thud!
"Hey! Where are you going—"
Crash!
The moment Sword Demon Lee Cheon-ma took the thermos I handed him, he smashed through the window and soared away using Void Step.
At this point, I've definitely maxed out his favorability event, right?
"Seriously?! This is the 63rd floor!"
"...Suddenly used a lot of Mana. Feeling sleepy."
"Wait! We haven't even talked about that magic yet—"
"...zzz"
For now, I could drift off to a pleasant sleep, lulled by the sight of Eve fussing over the broken window.
The future me who wakes up can handle whatever comes next.