Chapter 148
Academy’s Gumiho is a Magic Genius – Chapter 148
The clear voice of the woman held no emotion.
It wasn't because our faces weren't turned toward each other.
It was inherently emotionless, like the tone of a machine.
[Do you have no intention of speaking directly?]
[Well. Ahem, even I don't know if I have a voice or not.]
"Then nine times out of ten, you do have one."
[Pardon? Why do you conclude that?]
"Well, why?"
I returned the question with a question of my own.
Actually, I had some basis for it.
If it truly lacked a voice and was borrowing this mechanical tone, it wouldn't sound this awkward and sloppysomething even I could imitate.
'Above all, there's no need to clear your throat midway. If I had to guess, it's probably closer to voice modulation than synthesis.'
And perhaps.
All of this could be a deception.
Never assume your opponent is inferior or equal to you.
Right now, I'm beneath the system.
Treat it as a constant.
Doubt everything, and doubt it again, just as I always have.
[I see no need to continue this lukewarm conversation. Hurry up and get to the point.]
"Why? I want to talk more."
[Don't you lack time?]
"No, I have plenty."
[Can't you see the people dying around you?]
"Anyway, I'm not the type to cling to lives that are already as good as dead."
Through our back-and-forth, we each glimpsed the other's attitude toward this conversation. No swords in hand, but blades on our tongues.
This marked the beginning of a battle of words.
"I have a lot of questions for you. Your gender, age, preferences, hobbies, abilities, weaknesses, and so on."
[You don't hide it, do you?]
"Hiding it would be pointless anyway. Might as well lay it all outthat's more my style."
[A peculiar taste. But not a bad one for taking control of the board.]
"What's yours?"
[I have no personal preferences worth calling tastes.]
No personal preferences.
That implied a great deal.
"Untethered from worldly attachments, pursuing liberation from constraints as your virtueyet calling them 'no preferences' feels contrary to decorum."
[I have never lied.]
"Then let's make a contract. That'll clear things up."
[......So that was your goal from the start.]
"Oh? I have no idea what you're talking about."
I put on a nonchalant face, curving my lips into a faint smile, and a voice laced with exasperation stabbed into my mind.
Even then, it carried no real emotion.
It felt like exquisitely modulated pitch mimicking emotional inflection.
A normal person might have been fooled, but not me.
And the opponent probably knew that with high certainty.
[......Very well. Let's proceed with the contract. Will you be the one forming it?]
"No, couldn't you do it?"
[......You, so full of suspicion, want to borrow my hand?]
"Yeah, I'm no good with this kind of sorceryit's like poison ivy for me."
As I answered, I felt suspicious eyes from somewhere.
This system must have been watching my every move. A lie-detection contract was just a lesser version of the one I'd made with Tamamo.
Which meant I could form one anytime I wanted.
But the opponent needed to remain ignorant of that.
Ignorance was the natural state.
'Looks like I got tangled up with a voyeuristic stalker.'
I'd suspected as much, but I hadn't expected someone actually watching.
[Lie detection alone will do, right? There, it's done.]
"......"
[Why no response?]
"Ah...... It happened faster than I expected."
Even a simple contract required over a minute with the sorcery I'd learned. Apparently, this system's contracts were far quicker.
Good call asking it to handle it.
'I'll have to reverse-engineer it.'
Contracts with fast activation could become powerful shackles simply by existing, regardless of content.
Applied cleverly, I might even craft some interesting magic from it.
[Is that all? Then let's get down to business.]
"Right, the unfair contract."
[Unfair contract?]
Part of me wanted to savor this sorcery slowly.
But the opponent was pressing for conversation.
No helping it.
Here, it was the boss, so I'd have to play along.
"You shoved a trait at me, then snatched it back because it was dangerous. Don't we call that an unfair contract?"
[What nonsense. I merely replaced Conditional Sword Saint with something else as payment for your atrocities.]
"Yeah? It wasn't even your trait to give in the first place. Taking back what's yours is one thing, but arbitrarily swapping it out? That reeks of misunderstanding."
[!!!!!]
Trait, Conditional Sword Saint.
The system had never once claimed to have granted it. If it wanted it returned, emphasizing that point would have been smart.
The fact that it hadn't mentioned it implied...
"Why, jealous that Eve gave it to me? Or do you just hate watching me get stronger?"
[Ah, no. I just......!]
"Or are you feeling uneasy?"
The reaction was amusing.
Then the mechanical tone began to glitch faintly, and the presence gazing down from the sky above started to fade.
The connection was weakening bit by bit.
What impeccable timing.
I wanted to keep talking a bit longer, but it seemed the opponent no longer wished to converse. No choice but to cut to the chase.
[......]
"If there's giving in this world, there should be taking too, right?"
Trait Heart Sword Path was undoubtedly a fine trait.
But when compared to Conditional Sword Saint, that was another story.
"Conditional Sword Saint is the ultimate trump cardone you can choose to ignite your life force for in dire straits. I'm using it moderately now, but if I burned it to its limits, I could slay a 2nd Hierarchy monster and repel a 1st."
An absurd leap.
Among monsters from 1st to 10th Hierarchy, the gap widened enormously toward the higher ranks.
A 4th Hierarchy had the power to shatter a city's administration.
A 3rd could destroy a city and deal catastrophic damage to a nation.
A 2nd could topple a nation and bring near-annihilation to neighboring countries.
A 1st threatened the survival of humanity itself.
Yet here was this puny human acting as if his power could rival all of humanity undiminished.
"So if someone steals that kind of power from me, what exactly should I receive in return?"
[......So.]
For the first time, the tone was light and refreshing.
Emotion seeped through.
The emotion was displeasure.
[What do you want?]
Obvious, wasn't it?
"Compensation at an equivalent ratio."
And as for whether it truly was equivalent...
"Of course, I decide what counts as equivalent value."
I grinned wickedly at the empty air.
Even that smile, adorning Seung-woo's lips, was mere decadent allure.
But how would "it"watching from beyond the skiesperceive it?
[......Understood.]
"......Even I'm amused saying it, but isn't this a bit hasty? You don't even know how I'll define 'equivalent value.'"
['Equivalent' is all that mattersvalue itself is irrelevant. Handle the rest as you see fit.]
With those words, the mechanical tone cut off in my ears with pops and sputters, and the immense presence overlooking me faded away.
"What the hell is it trying to pull?"
I'd barely managed to hold a conversation, and now my head throbbed even more.
There was no end to the things demanding thought.
'Confirmed the system has self-awareness through the talk. High chance Eve granted me Conditional Sword Saint. And it prioritizes 'equivalence' over actual value.'
Damn it.
Why so complicated?
And what did "handle it as you see fit" even mean?
As vague words clouded my mind...
"Hm, what's this now?"
Why did nothing but enigmas keep piling up?
As I swept a hand over my face in exasperation, I noticed my left hand sparkling inside the glove.
I slid the glove off.
Mana engraved on the back of my hand made itself keenly felt.
'Remnant of the contract.'
The fragment of the lie-detection contract the system had imposed lingered in this form.
"Expecting me to state the conditions right here?"
What an oddball.
Why solve something that could be said aloud in words like this?
It almost looked like someone on the run from something.
"Before finalizing the contract, there's still a grace period left. I can handle it after that."
I decided to shelve my system deliberations for later.
No point agonizing over it now anyway.
For the moment, it was time to keep dancing with my blade.
* * *
The northern Empire's lands, famed for their rugged mountains.
At the heart of blizzard-swept terrain lay a flat expanse, capped by a dome of lilac barrier like a lid.
The barrier was a grand spell fixing the weather over the city built on that plain to springlike conditions.
Adjacent to the flatland rose a broad hill a touch higher up.
And atop it stood the baron's mansion.
A structure the locals even called a castle.
The tallest and grandest building in the North, it drew admiration from every citizen.
Thus, the knights guarding it naturally took pride in the fact.
Today excepted.
"Run!!! The baron's guest has gone mad...... Argh!"
"The front gate guards are all dead! All knights fit to fight, block the path now!! Do not let him reach the lord!!"
"Vice-captain! I've brought eight out of every ten knights we can muster."
"Good! You join the line too. We'll hold here!!"
The North's pride lay wounded.
Blood fountained in all directions, and at its center gripped a cursed demon blade.
"......If you'd fled, you wouldn't have died right away."
"We're knights of the North. We never run!!"
"Those who 'never run' sure turn a blind eye to the citizens' peril. Who knew such foolish rabble existed in the world."
"Th-that's......"
"Shut it!! We are the baron's blades. Loyalty to him ties directly to the North's future!!!"
"Zealot bastard. No wonder idiots like Termiya pop up."
Finding no value in further words, the man swung his demon blade savagely. Nothing special about it.
Reap
A most basic.
Utterly simple sword motion.
Yet among the knights guarding the mansion, none could respond to it.
Swoosh!
A plain sword pathno cleaving winds, no cloak of potent sword aura.
What it claimed at its end: countless headless torsos.
Perhaps a hundred slain.
Fewer than expectedI was mildly surprised.
The knights seemed shocked for other reasons.
"Children weaker than scarecrows. Surrender now and retreat to the civilian zones, and I'll spare your lives."
"!!!!"
"R-really......?"
"Don't fall for it! This is the demon who butchered hundreds of our comrades getting here!! The one who brought spring to this frozen land won't tolerate his entry. Draw your swords and swing!!! "
Rooooaaar!!!
The grown men's roars echoed.
As if driving out fear and filling themselves with courage atop it.
But the armored knights bellowing war cries only looked like weaklings admitting their terror.
"A pity."
Pierce
Those who held back, I would let pass.
But to those charging in, I offered no mercyI skewered the guts of the ones dashing forward swords raised to defend the mansion's interior.
No fancy techniques or enlightenments.
The blade bore only death.
The gulf between them and me yawned wider than the ruin of my own body, so the cursed demon sword pierced shields and armor alike.
And onward through ribs and lungs, even boring through the mansion wall behind its wielder.
Ultimate penetration.
That was the sword form Pierce.
'And depending on how it's wielded.'
Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!
The thin, long blade stabbed through the mansion walls again and again.
Oak wood steeped in northern chill.
Boulders rooted atop snowcapped peaks for centuries.
No matter what they were built from, once it pierced every central support pillar holding the mansion firm...
The structure tilted.
And began to crumble.
Thus, the corpses were naturally interred.
'First time trying, but it worked out well.'
Young master! For a first try, you looked awfully practiced.
'Ah, I've pierced human spines and lumbar vertebrae a few times before. Similar sensation, so it went smoothly.'
......I'll make sure to heed your words from now on, young master.
'Yeah? Suit yourself.'