Chapter 207 — O Home, I Have Returned!! (1)

The burst of light when you leave the Phase World might as well be the ultimate offensive ability, don't you think? I'd poured Mana Sieve through my entire body and shielded my eyes with Mana Mode - Acceleration, and the damned glare still refused to be stopped!

The instant Spatial Perception registered the changed surroundings, a murmur of voices poured into my ears. At the same time a warm, soft woman's body folded into my arms, and the apple-scented fragrance I had missed so badly sank deep into my nose.

I released the Mana Sieve, shut down Acceleration Mode, and drew into my embrace the woman I had spent fifteen days aching to see and to touch.

Haaah~ Now this is healing.

"Seoha..."

"You waited a long time, didn't you?"

"Hic... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...!"

Franc clung to me and kept apologizing through her tears, and the reaction threw me. Why was she apologizing? If anyone owed an apology, it was me — the one who had vanished without a word.

"What are you sorry for? I'm the one who should be sorry, bolting off without saying anything. Don't cry. Okay?"

I patted the sobbing Franc's back, rubbed the glare out of my eyes, and opened them to find bodyguards and security personnel ringed around the two of us. They must have been standing watch over the place I was due to return.

The feel of Franc's breasts against my chest stirred the lust that had piled up over fifteen days, and it began, slowly, to stretch awake. Not yet. Not yet. Wait.

I held the sniffling Franc, stroking the back of her head and patting her back, and I had only just started settling her when Hwayeon burst out of the elevator and came running straight for me.

"Seoha!"

"Y-yeah. I'm back."

Red-eyed, Hwayeon flew toward us with her jet-black hair streaming like ebony, and threw her arms around both me and Franc at once.

"Thank god you came back safe."

"Coming back safe is a given. Where would I go alone, leaving my women here?"

"R-right."

Honestly. Weren't they worrying far too much? I hadn't expected this from Franc, who knew my abilities better than anyone — let alone from Hwayeon.

So I teased them, asking if the worry wasn't a bit much, and an angry Franc shouted back.

"Of course it was! A Calamity-rank Variant might have been nearby, there were three High-Tier Variants besides, and even a whale the size of the Great Island whose nature no one could guess — and you remained there alone...!"

Watching Franc cry and snap at me like that, a cold sweat threatened to break out. Sis had told them even that? I'd asked her to put it nicely, and all she'd done was pile on more worry!

Hwayeon didn't say a word, but she was glaring too, so I rolled my eyes and simply pulled them both in hard.

I was patting my lovers' backs where they clung to me when another elevator arrived, and out poured Aunt Hyeryeong, Boss Park Jiwoong, Department Head Kim Pyochung, Department Head Ha Yucheol, Sophia, Cha Soyoung, and familiar ability users besides — a crowd of several dozen tumbling down in a rush.

"Master! You've become B-Class...!?"

"Hk—?"

"Wh-whaaat?"

But every one of them looked past me, flinched, and started backing up.

Oh, right. I should introduce this.

Only then did Franc and Hwayeon notice Hiarid standing behind me, and they froze stiff. I wiped the tears still clinging at the corners of their eyes and let them go.

"All right, all right. I've got something to say to everyone, so that's enough for now. The rest we can do at home."

"Yes. Seoha? This."

Franc, who had been clinging to me and running her hands over me to confirm I was unharmed, finally let the anger leave her face. She wiped her tears, slipped the Soul Stone pendant from her own neck, and hung it around mine.

"Ah. I feel steady again. I was unbearably empty without this."

I smiled and gave Franc's cheek a light pinch. She smiled back, eyes still wet, and Hwayeon returned to her usual self, breathing out a sigh of relief with a faint smile.

Even so, Hiarid clearly nagged at her. She kept stealing glances behind me.

Under the eyes of everyone watching, I climbed onto a platform set up in one corner of the underground parking garage. Hiarid followed slowly behind me, and behind her Franc and Hwayeon could not hide their bewilderment as their gazes fixed on Hiarid's wings.

From the platform I looked down at the people who could fairly be called Grand Blue's core, and faces tangled with curiosity, shock, and sheer disbelief began urging me, with their eyes alone, to explain — and quickly.

"Hm... First of all, the primary goal in this Phase World was my sister's growth. Thanks to that, she reached C-Class, and we were able to secure a number of secondary gains as well."

I had started explaining, but somehow everyone's attention seemed fixed less on me than on Hiarid standing behind me...

In her left hand Hiarid held a staff identical to the one my sister had obtained, and aside from that her only clothing was a thin white tunic. There wasn't a scrap of underwear beneath it, and a cord cinched the cloth above the hips before the fabric fell to just below the knees — an outfit that looked extremely provocative. The underground garage was dim enough to spare her. In proper light the cloth would have been sheer enough to show nipples and sex alike.

And on top of that, four wings of pure white.

I had stared like a man bewitched the first time I saw her, so I understood why they were reacting this way.

"Hm... Rather than me talking at you, it might be better if I take questions and fill in the rest as we go. Yes, Director Lee Hyeryeong, go ahead."

Aunt Hyeryeong, at the head of the shock, had shot her hand up, so I told her to ask — and the look on her face said, This isn't what I'm thinking, is it? It isn't, right?

"Th-that... woman behind you. Who is she, Master?"

"First, I'll have to correct the pronoun. She isn't human. She's a High-Tier Variant — an enemy of humanity, a monster — so please be careful with the words you use for her."

The underground garage, which had been murmuring, fell silent in an instant. A few people's eyes went so wide they looked ready to fall out, and Franc and Hwayeon's expressions shifted from unease to bewilderment.

"I sent a winged humanoid's corpse through my sister. Didn't you see it?"

"Ah, that... we did see it, but..."

"Don't overthink it. She resembles a human on the outside, but from her internal organs on down she is an entirely different being. And I've trained her into a pet, so please take note of that as well."

Silence turned to shock, and people stared at me with their mouths hanging open.

They didn't seem able to accept the word pet, so for the sake of those who didn't believe me, I gave Hiarid an order.

"Hiarid. Fly."

Hiarid gripped the staff tight, spread all four wings wide, and began to rise slowly above the platform. The platform itself was about a meter high, and Hiarid stood a little over two meters, so she was soon floating with her head nearly brushing the ceiling — and the crowd could only stare up, dazed.

Every time those four white wings beat with elegant grace, glittering motes of light drifted down, staging a scene that matched, almost exactly, the beautiful angel of human delusion.

"Come down. Sit. Lie down. Down. Paw. Bark."

At my command she folded her wings and stepped back down onto the platform, then sat, then lay down, then dropped to hands and knees like a dog — and set her chin on my hand and barked, woof.

"You saw that? This is my aberrant pet, so please be careful not to treat her like a person."

I told Hiarid — still casting a fantastical air with the faint light-dust spilling from her wings — to stay down, and the moment I sat astride her back a sharp gasp ran through the crowd, followed by a shout.

"Master was a depraved beast who even trains angels!"

Who was that at the end?!

I glared at the female ability user who had blurted out that bizarre line. She clapped both hands over her mouth and quietly hid behind the man beside her.

I pointed to Boss Park Jiwoong, who was cautiously raising his hand.

"Yes. Boss Park Jiwoong."

"A pet... you mean you've tamed a High-Tier Variant?"

"Of course. Until a rearing permit is issued I'll leash her myself, take her around, and train her — but after that I'll be putting her into raids and posting her as security for the Grand Blue building as well."

"...!"

At the mention of a rearing permit and a leash, Boss Park Jiwoong's eyes bulged as if they might pop out. Beside him, Department Head Kim Pyochung wore the look of a man dying of thirst, bending and straightening his hand over and over as he stared at me with desperate eyes.

"...Yes. Department Head Kim Pyochung."

"According to the Integrated Management Director, who returned nine hours ago, you ascended to B-Class and saw a terrifying rise in ability. I would like to know exactly how far that goes."

"Hm. Good question. Better to see it with your own eyes than hear it from me, wouldn't you say?"

With that I worked the Authenticator, brought up a hologram, expanded it large enough for everyone to see, and started playing the footage I had recorded. I'd only just confirmed it, but there was fast-forward, rewind, and skip too... Anyway, I flicked past every part where my sister appeared, and showed them the Wall of Space being raised into the sky, me running across it, the vista of the Great Island, and the like — though I deliberately hid Album Cetus and Purus Balaena.

Then I showed the fight with the second winged woman, Alhimbra, and finished with the practice footage of the mana cannon.

Krrrrrrumble...

When the Wall of Space went up they wore puzzled looks — huh? — then their mouths fell open at the panorama of that colossal sky island. Next, watching the fight with Alhimbra, the light began to leave their eyes, and by the time the mana cannon hung a second sun in the sky they were standing stock-still like mannequins.

"Hm. You barely blinked at the important parts, and then you all lose it over something minor."

With that, without concentrating the Mana Sieve, I laid down Walls of Space a little at a time, walked up through the underground garage, and looked down over them as I spoke.

"While I was helping my sister in her Phase World, I fought a High-Tier Variant, and thanks to that I ascended to B-Class myself, with an overall improvement in ability. My physical reinforcement is at B-Class level now, and the Mana Bullets have been strengthened quite a bit as well. Spatial Perception exceeds four kilometers, and I've gained a recovery ability too."

Having heard the rough outline of my specs, they looked too stunned to be surprised anymore — hollowed out.

So I fired a Stage 1 Healing Wave and laid a baptism of blue light over the forty-odd people gathered there. Every one of them broke into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a sharp moan and started groping at their own bodies, then the chatter started.

"The fatigue just vanished!?"

"My vitality... it's surging..."

"My chronic rheumatism...!"

"That is all. Anyone else with questions?"

"Th-that! Darling— ah, no, Boss— not Boss, Master, what is that thing you're standing on...?!"

Sophia looked like someone who had been startled one time too many, but she clung to her wits and asked in a trembling voice, eyes on the Wall of Space I was standing on, floating in midair.

"An ability born when Spatial Manipulation evolved one step further — the Wall of Space. The finest ability I have. It can twist and melt even a High-Tier Variant in a single stroke."

...I looked down at the people, who gave no reaction at all, and nodded.

"Seems there are no more questions. Then everyone else is dismissed. Department heads, and the two bosses, come with me."

It wasn't so much that they had no questions as that their minds had seized up, but they didn't look likely to ask anything else, so I ended the little question-and-answer there.

"What happened with the Integrated Management Director?"

Up in the office, I took the clothes Franc had brought, stripped off my filthy pants, and changed while I asked Aunt Hyeryeong.

"Director Jung Siha of Integrated Management, immediately upon returning to reality, visited the Ability User Alliance building under escort by Grand Blue personnel and underwent identification and examination. She is currently being examined at the Ability User General Hospital. Master's parents are remaining at the Integrated Management Director's side as well. We received word a short while ago that the examination is nearly finished, so I expect she will contact you soon."

When it was me, the examination ran me in circles for two days. Was Sis finishing so quickly because she was perfectly fine?

It had been so long since Franc attended me that the feeling left me restless with anticipation. Tonight I wasn't letting Franc, Hwayeon, or Yeongeun sleep.

"Above all, word is spreading quickly that she is a triple elementalist of water, light, and darkness."

"She is an unprecedented dual rare-attribute ability user, so of course."

At Aunt Hyeryeong's remark, Department Head Kim Pyochung nodded with a serious face. The others were no different.

"Even the Integrated Management Director possesses two hidden elements. Truly Master's sister — the two of you must be the strongest siblings in the world. Hahaha."

At Boss Park Jiwoong's flattery everyone swallowed a laugh, smirked, and nodded. I grinned back at him, sat down in the top-grade executive chair, and asked.

"The Integrated Management Director should have come back with a high-grade Phase Stone and the corpse of a High-Tier Variant as well. What happened to those?"

Department Head Kim Pyochung stepped forward to explain.

"To my knowledge, this is the first time a humanoid corpse of a High-Tier Variant has ever been brought out. The Ability User Alliance strongly sounded us out about purchasing it, but through an executive meeting led by Director Jung Siha of Integrated Management, we decided to provide it as a joint research sample to the government, the Ability User Alliance, and the IWO. Of course we are to receive appropriate payment and benefits in return, and we believe that once the composition of the four wings is analyzed, they can be made into... can be crafted into top-grade defensive equipment."

Mid-sentence, Department Head Kim Pyochung glanced at Hiarid, standing silent and unresponsive against one wall, and swallowed hard.

Aunt Hyeryeong picked up the thread.

"The high-grade Phase Stone is quite the item as well, and several countries around the world have been sounding us out about buying it. The government is showing considerable interest too. What would you like to do?"

"Handle it as you see fit. High-grade Phase Stones will keep coming as long as we find the aberrants, so there's no need to hoard them. Sell them for maximum profit, and in a way that helps the country too."

"Yes!"

At my casual tone, Aunt Hyeryeong's face brightened considerably, wearing the look of someone whose heart was racing.

It wasn't just Aunt. The department heads and my women wore faces that said they found me dependable.

Because I'd reached B-Class?

"When the Integrated Management Director was forcibly summoned and I intervened — the Alliance didn't try to put a hand on that, did they?"

"Well, it was unprecedented, so the Alliance was flustered too, but in the end they judged it an extension of voluntary entry. They are curious how you were able to go in together, though, and we aren't sure how to explain it."

Hearing Aunt Hyeryeong out, I nodded and told them what I had already decided.

"On that point, I'd like you to let it be known that it was thanks to my Spatial Perception. That's actually the truthful version, too."

Mana Sieve and Spatial Perception were inseparable, after all. But Department Head Ha Yucheol, his gaunt face shadowed with worry, opened his mouth.

"I... cannot hide my joy at Master's growth. At the same time, a concern has arisen."

"A concern?"

Department Head Ha Yucheol, who had kept his mouth shut until now, looked with a grave expression at Hiarid, standing motionless against one wall of my office like an ornament.

"Taking a High-Tier Variant as a pet... From a military standpoint, it amounts to a private individual possessing corps-level military power. There is no telling what attitude the IWO and the Ability User Alliance will take."

At his words, the others looked toward the two-meter blonde angel standing still against the wall, a thread of tension in their eyes.

Hiarid blinked once at the gazes gathering on her, and otherwise showed no reaction at all, both hands still clasped around the staff.

"On that subject. What if we offered Hiarid up as research material, within reason?"

"Research... material, you say."

"A research sample. Of course she's my property, so unethical experiments are off the table."

I'd brainwashed her with unethical experiments myself, but there's a fine word for double standards, so I was in the clear!

"Well... even if the Ability User Society or the IWO says no, what can they do? She is a High-Tier Variant. Flight-type, humanoid, rare-attribute. If an aberrant of that type ran wild, how many countries could stop her? Especially..."

With that, Boss Park Jiwoong looked at me, the corners of his mouth twitching as if a laugh were creeping up.

"Is there anyone left with the nerve to lay a hand on Master? One wrong move, and an attribute shell with a blast radius of dozens of kilometers might come flying."

Oh. Boss Park Jiwoong. I like this one.

It was clearly a joke, but no one was taking it as one. Franc, who had been listening quietly, nodded, and Hwayeon slid into a chilling smile.

"Honestly, I think the same. My abilities aren't complicated enough to hide or keep secret from other people, and knowing about them doesn't put them within anyone's power to stop. I'd rather disclose them accurately, to a point, and head off any useless scheming. What do all of you think?"

"I agree."

"I agree as well."

Aunt Hyeryeong stepped in, looked around at everyone, and spoke with a bright smile.

"If anyone objects, please speak up?"

When no one came forward, she rubbed her hands together and spoke with a face that said she was truly looking forward to this.

"I can't even guess what will happen once Master's abilities become known. One thing is certain, though — no one will ever take Master, or Grand Blue, lightly again! This is the Master who, a mere five months after awakening as an ability user, fought a High-Tier Variant, and didn't merely win — he made her his spoils. Isn't that right?"

At Aunt Hyeryeong's thrilled expression and the force in her voice, everyone nodded. I was chuckling myself when Hwayeon wiped the smile from her face and spoke in a slightly heavier tone.

"According to information gathered by our intelligence division, several raid teams, led by Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge, are banding together and showing signs of a boycott."

Perhaps because every senior executive was present, she addressed even me as Master, attaching the honorific with careful respect.

"Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge... Korea's number one and number four raid teams? Why are they boycotting?"

"Because of Master. With the second and the fifth merging, and the preferential treatment toward Master piling up, they seem to have felt a relative sense of deprivation — and decided their own positions were under threat."

Hwayeon frowned faintly and nodded, her expression saying she didn't think much of them either.

"Ridiculous people. So what do they plan to do with this boycott?"

"They intend to refuse to sell, domestically, the Phase Stones and byproducts they obtain through raids, and to declare that they will not respond to aberrant appearances within the country. The only large raid teams are Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge, but about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ten other mid-sized and large teams are included, and all of them are believed to lie under Azure Palace's and Muhwa Ridge's direct or indirect influence."

"So what are their demands?"

"Their demands are twofold. Halt the merger of Time River and Hwarang. Fully revoke the preferential treatment given to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Master. That includes a reinvestigation of Master's entry into the Phase World on the second cycle, and harsher legal punishment, among other things."

"Are they picking a fight with me right now...? What does the government say?"

"The government has judged the boycott an illegal anti-state act, and its position is that it will take hardline measures if the boycott is forced through."

Haa. Deal with the home front before I smash Japan... No. Maybe it's better to smash Japan first and turn my attention domestic afterward?

"Is there a response plan?"

I had asked Hwayeon, but the answer came from Aunt Hyeryeong.

"What matters is Master's will. May we know what you intend to do?"

"First, warn Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge. Tell them not to grab at my ankles for no reason. Otherwise I'll take it to mean they want to fight."

"...Yes?"

Perhaps it was harder-line than she had expected. Aunt Hyeryeong's eyes widened.

"No — the Ability User Alliance already recognized the facts, so who are they to look at me and run their mouths now? And when Time River and Hwarang merge, did they contribute a single thing? There's no reason I have to endure it, and no reason I have to watch their moods, so pass it along like that."

I was frowning at the blatant provocation, irritation rising, when Franc flew in behind me and gently wrapped her arms around me. The warmth of it settled my temper, and I spoke.

"The government said they're taking a hard line too, didn't they? Is there anything about me, or about our Grand Blue, that falls short of them? Frankly, if we just dug up one high-grade Phase Stone a month, I think we could cover everything those people earn. Am I wrong?"

Even just gathering the empty high-grade and High Grade Phase Stones that would otherwise be scrapped, recharging them, and putting them back to use would be enough to leave Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge unable to make a peep.

Aunt Hyeryeong looked flustered, as if she had expected me to take some moderate detour or a line of conciliation. She took out a handkerchief and dabbed her forehead, but Boss Park Jiwoong and Department Head Kim Pyochung nodded, their eyes gleaming sharp.

Department Head Ha Yucheol frowned slightly and spoke.

"But Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge have close ties, in the background, with two of the largest conglomerates in the country. If they collude, the social repercussions..."

"Then don't sell Phase Stones or byproducts to those bastards, or to anywhere connected to them. We'll enter the related industries ourselves, and between us and the government, let's earn some foreign currency."

Department Head Ha Yucheol looked startled, as if to say, Huh? Is that even allowed?

"The way we generate profit doesn't require a domestic distribution network or a production line. We can sell abroad whenever we want, so why bow our heads to the conglomerates? We don't fall short in force, and we don't fall short in money."

"...Th-that's... true?"

"Hold a press conference soon and announce my abilities and my pet on a grand scale. Attach the nuance that one shouldn't pluck the whiskers of a sleeping lion. Before that, I think a demonstration would do us good. What do you all think?"

At the opinions pouring out of me without hesitation, the department heads and the two bosses broke into a sweat, looking flustered, and glanced at one another.

Department Head Kim Pyochung came to his senses first.

"A demonstration! Excellent. If you fire a few of those mana cannons in Master's training ground, under the pretext of practice, I suspect they'll tuck their tails and whimper."

Department Head Kim Pyochung let out a wicked heh-heh-heh, and Boss Park Jiwoong joined him with a big, burly guffaw. The two looked at each other and nodded again and again.

Watching the others fail to keep up with them, I put forward another proposal.

"If Azure Palace and Muhwa Ridge take the civilian economy hostage and threaten us, I think it would be fine for us to acquire the people thrown out of work and the firms driven bankrupt because of it, and expand. Wouldn't selling this high-grade Phase Stone be enough for the starting capital?"

"More than enough! A truly excellent idea! Since it's come to this, shall we expand on a grand ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scale ourselves?"

Watching Department Head Kim Pyochung get excited, Aunt Hyeryeong let out a small sigh and spoke.

"In that case, rather than delaying the announcement of Grand Blue's merger until January of next year, I think we should settle on announcing it in early August. What do the two bosses and the department heads think?"

"I agree."

"There's no way it could be bad. Heh heh heh."

"While Master was in the Phase World, the First through Fourth Divisions all carried out full subjugation operations, and the integration paperwork is progressing faster than expected. I believe it is possible."

"Business Support Building 1 is also capable of normal operations. I agree."

"Business Support Building 2 is likewise capable of normal operations. I agree."

As they all cast their votes in favor, I nodded and rose from my seat.

"Everyone's in favor, then. In that case, we'll cancel the one-eyed giant raid I had planned to run once break started, and hold Grand Blue's founding ceremony instead."

"Heh heh. Things are about to get a little busy, aren't they?"

Aunt Hyeryeong smiled faintly and clenched both fists tight, as if she were looking forward to it.