Rest (3)

Saturday morning. My lovers had all passed out cold, so I had no choice but to come down to the thirty-ninth floor and eat the breakfast Mom was making.

I brought Miho and Hiarid along, and Mom welcomed us with a wide, bright smile.

"Oh my? Son~ What brings you down this morning?"

"Came to eat. We stayed up late last night talking about work, and I guess everyone's worn out—they're still asleep."

All of it was true. I'd only left one thing out in the middle!

Whatever the details, Mom looked simply glad that I'd come down for breakfast. I watched her hum her way into the kitchen, then stepped into the living room—and my sister came walking out of the bathroom attached to her room, fresh from a wash, still damp. Since the Phase World, her breasts had grown so much that even through her T-shirt they were proudly announcing themselves.

"Huh? Why'd you come down?"

"Everyone's sleeping in, so I came to eat. And what are you wearing? You look pretty slutty."

"What?!"

Startled, my sister looked down at her outfit: a thin T-shirt and shorts. The shirt was so oversized the shorts vanished under it, a classic case of missing bottoms. She clutched the hem, flustered. "I look slutty?"

Mom, who'd been watching from the kitchen while she stirred the soup with a ladle, clicked her tongue.

"And why is she walking around dressed like that when she hasn't even got a man to show it off to."

"......Is my outfit really that strange?"

"You! Your nipples are showing right through!!"

My sister flinched at the scolding, covered her chest with both hands, and bolted into her room.

When she'd been flat, going without a bra hadn't mattered. Now that she'd grown a valley, I wished she'd notice.

Miho wandered into the kitchen and hovered around Mom, only to be told, "If fur gets in the food, that won't do—go stay with your dad," and scurried off to him. Dad looked pleased to have her climb onto his knee and poke her head out between his arms.

"Master's dad. Whatcha looking at?"

"It is a written treatise entitled Gyeongmong Yogyeol, authored by Yulgok Yi I, a civil official of the Joseon period."

"??"

Where had he gotten another facsimile of an old book? Miho, understanding none of it, kept twitching her snow-white fox ears, then started fiddling with the pages. Dad wasn't the least bit bothered. He even reached out and stroked her white hair.

I remember doing that at her age and catching a knuckle on the head from an annoyed Dad......

My sister, changed into an ordinary short-sleeved shirt and skirt, came over and asked me.

"What are you doing over summer break?"

"Why?"

"There are a few ruin zones where the conquest stalled because powerful aberrants showed up. The expected take runs into the trillions of won, and we want to clear them. We need your strength."

"Ah, Hwayeon and I talked about that yesterday while we were together. I'm planning to join the raid that heads out next Monday."

"Yeah? Then I'll have to talk to Hwayeon later."

"Once you go in, how many days do you stay?"

Time River stayed seven days in the Phase World per entry, didn't they?

"Runs for survey or excavation depend on the size of the ruin or dungeon...... On a baseline of about thirty square kilometers, they take three or four days. A raid ends the instant the objective is eliminated. Exploration varies by the situation. Subjugation battles usually run out the full number of days we set. Why do you ask?"

I glanced at Dad, still stroking Miho's head.

"I want to go with Dad when he attends that academic conference in England."

"......To look for Miss Sophia?"

"That too."

My sister's face fell a little. Then she shook her head, said she'd find a job they could finish before August 15, and went into the kitchen to help Mom.

That damned woman, shaking up so many people's hearts.

I watched my sister tie up her swaying hair, then sat on the living-room sofa, picked up the remote, and turned on the TV. I flipped to the news. The daughter of the late Japanese prime minister, Miyabi Yasuhiko, was on screen, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief and declaring that she would carry on her mother's legacy.

They say hereditary politics is a problem in Japan, but looking at this, it didn't seem to matter much. Inherit it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or don't—just don't ever touch me again.

I was watching the report on Japan's election and quietly manufacturing some anger at Sophia when Dad, still petting Miho, asked:

"You've made up your mind to go to England."

"Yeah. If I want to see the footage I'm after, they told me to find it myself. While I'm there, I'll take care of a few other things on the side."

"That so."

"I won't be in the way if I tag along, right?"

"Hm."

All the while, delicious smells kept drifting from the kitchen. Miho couldn't stand it and charged in, only to be subdued by my sister's hands and driven back out. We ate breakfast and came back up, but the young ladies were still dead to the world, deep in dreamland.

I was wondering whether to go out and practice riding the Space Wall a little more when a plain, slightly antique longsword standing in a corner of the living room caught my eye. The Ame-no-Murakumo, received as compensation.

Ame-no-Murakumo is the name for the sword among Japan's Three Sacred Treasures—the sword, the mirror, and the curved jewel. In Korea, they say, it's treated as the equal of that mythic treasure, the Cheonbu-in.

The genuine Ame-no-Murakumo is supposedly in Japan's keeping, and they say even their so-called king, the emperor, doesn't get to see it when he inherits the throne. So whether it really exists, who knows...... It probably doesn't, right? That's why they won't show it, and why no one can see it.

Anyway, I took the counterfeit Ame-no-Murakumo out onto the terrace and drew it from the scabbard. The first thing that met my eye was a blade with a blue cast. Strangely, it had no sheen at all. At a glance it looked like a toy. Its shape was a straight, eccentric sword—no crossguard, nothing but blade and hilt, a single rigid line.

To keep the hand from slipping, the grip was grooved in the shape of a human hand and wrapped in some unidentified leather. Grip it tight and it wouldn't fly out of my hand on a swing, but thrusting looked like a bad idea. Blade and hilt together came to about a meter, and it weighed around two and a half kilograms—five and a half pounds. Whether that was proper, light, or heavy, I couldn't say. Thanks to physical reinforcement, I barely felt the weight anyway.

Looking over the Ame-no-Murakumo, matte overall with a faint blue tint, I felt my chest stir oddly. I switched it to my left hand, pointed the blade down, and raised a Space Wall. TP consumption had definitely dropped. But hadn't they said twenty percent? It felt more like seventeen.

Reduced TP consumption reminded me of the staves my sister and Hiarid carry. The so-called Staff of Heaven.

According to Hiarid, that staff is a Staff of Heaven worked from a branch of Axperius, the Wisdom Tree, of which only a few grow on the Floating Sky Islands. Hold it, and it strengthens light-attribute traits specifically and reduces TP consumption. Whenever she had the time, my sister tested it. TP consumption fell by five percent, the power of light attributes rose by ten, and firing speed, casting speed, projectile size, and the rest climbed by about five percent overall.

Once the existence of humanoid high-tier aberrants became known and drew attention, interest naturally gathered on the staves my sister and Hiarid carried. When the staff's options got out, countries that possessed light-attribute ability users quietly sounded them out about whether they might sell even a single one. So she sent back an official answer—"The Staff of Heaven is the personal property of the Grand Blue Master. I'm only borrowing it."—and they kept calling to buy it anyway, until I smashed Japan. After that, the calls all stopped at once.

Aunt Hyeryeong told me an atmosphere was forming in which a great many countries were growing quite daunted by me, and I was satisfied. The more they found me difficult and frightening, the fewer people would try to touch me, and the threats against the people around me would vanish along with them. I'd staged that demonstration on purpose, aiming at exactly this.

For all that fame, my face is pretty ordinary, and because of the way I wear my hair it isn't well known either. Walk around outside and people don't realize I'm the Grand Blue Master. Not being constrained in what I do on my own time is even better. Some people ask whether it doesn't annoy me that I went to the trouble of making a name and still don't get recognized. What's there to be annoyed about? Getting hounded at school is plenty.

Ah. I was looking into the Ame-no-Murakumo, and my mind flew off somewhere else again.

Anyway, the Ability User Association classified the Staff of Heaven as a unique-grade weapon, but this Ame-no-Murakumo sits beyond unique, at legendary. Most gear that amplifies an ability or reduces TP consumption is severely restricted by attribute or ability type. This Ame-no-Murakumo cuts all TP consumption by a full twenty percent, with no restrictions at all.

For reference, the Paul Dict tights armor Hwayeon favors is Magic grade. The Extrema Ratio is Uncommon, and the black force-leather armor I wear was originally Uncommon because it dumped everything into defense, then became Magic grade thanks to that defense. Item grades usually run Common, Uncommon, Magic, Rare, Unique, and anything above that is classified as an artifact. Artifacts, they say, are subdivided into Epic, Legendary, and Hero.

Anyway, when I flicked the face of the Ame-no-Murakumo—some unknowable material—a thin sound rang out. Eeeeeeing. Like a frail woman's coy little whine. Or a nasal hum. I slipped a bit of TP into the blade, and a sword-cry like a woman's sobbing began to spread.

"Whoa. What is this."

A faint, trembling sob kept flowing from the blade, so I swept the sword from end to end with Spatial Perception. Nothing looked particularly strange, concerning, or irritating.

"......?"

Puzzled, I swung it this way and that. All it drew along its path was blue sword-light. The moment I stopped injecting TP, the sword-cry stopped, and the blue light faded.

"In games and such, this kind of thing is always an ego sword."

Maybe my ability wasn't up to it, so I only heard sobbing and couldn't hear a voice? ......Probably not. And even if it was an ego sword, it didn't seem like it would help much. I'm no good at swordsmanship, or at using my body!

I switched on my Certifier and searched ego weapon, but all that came up were piles of useless novels by self-proclaimed authors, and my interest cooled. Use you directly in a fight and you won't last long, so you'll just have to be my catalyst.

I came back into the living room, set the Ame-no-Murakumo on the walnut stand Hwayeon had bought, and went into the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠master bedroom. On a bed big enough for five to lie down with room to spare, three lovely young women were sleeping naked and defenseless—a sight to stir a man's lust. I toyed with Hwayeon's taut, springy backside for a moment, then fired Healing Wave at stage one. Leave them like this and they would absolutely sleep straight through to lunch.

"Kyahahaha~!"

Miho, peeking into the master bedroom through the open door beyond the threshold, was caught in the Healing Wave's blue swell. She burst into a scream of a laugh and ran off to Hiarid. The moment the wave hit them, my lovers writhed, then rose, groggy, from the bed.

"How long are you planning to sleep? The sun's already at high noon."

I was patting Franc's still-dazed backside when Hwayeon and Yeongeun—physical reinforcement users, after all—staggered into my arms, then slowly made their way into the bathroom attached to the master bedroom. I admired two snow-white rears that looked identical in shape, form, and weight, then caught the shoulder of Franc, who was trying to sink back into sleep with only her hips raised, like a cat stretching.

"Franc. Franc? You all right?"

"Ah, uugh. I'm fiiine...... hic."

Franc had been bracing both hands on the bed, trying to stand in the sunlight, her body bare and white. She hiccuped a few times, shook her head, and muttered.

"Electrical stimulation was a double-edged sword......"

"Yeah? I felt pretty good. Watching you groan got me excited, too."

"......Truly? Ehehe."

Franc smiled shyly. She seemed to have finally shaken the sleep off. She lifted herself into the air, floated into the bathroom, and started washing alongside the two who were already in there.

While my lovers, freshly washed, ate a light breakfast of salad, bread, bacon, and scrambled eggs, I told them what I'd discussed with my sister. Hwayeon nodded.

"If you mean to be finished by the fourteenth, the submerged ruins should do."

"Is that all right? Didn't you say that place is tricky because of the water?"

"With Seoha and Franc, we can build the team around water-attribute users. I'll draft the plan with Siha."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Hwayeon finished eating quickly and went into the dressing room to change for work. Would the submerged ruins mean fighting underwater? I was fiddling with the socket that held the pearl the First Mermaid had given me, and using Spatial Perception to steal a look at Hwayeon changing, when Yeongeun thrust her face in front of mine.

"What are you doing this afternoon, Seoha?"

"I'm going to check whether Choi Soohan's training is going well, and spend whatever time is left training at the practice hall. Did you have something in mind?"

"N-no. Juhan just said Choi Soohan's butler training is finished. I was about to suggest we go see, so this works out."

At Yeongeun's words, Franc set down her teacup, eyes round.

"It has not even been a month since Miss Choi Soohan began learning a butler's work, has it? And she has already finished? A butler is not something one becomes in a day or two."

Franc knows these things well, being from an English noble house. At her surprise, Yeongeun shrugged, lifted her porcelain teacup, and took another sip of green tea.

"I hear she studied as if the butler's work were her entire life, and never once set a task down. She bought every book that might help, and learned while sleeping less than two hours a day."

......I ought to give her a reward later. If a grandfatherly butler who seemed extremely meticulous said that much, she really might have learned the whole of the work. I was clicking my tongue inwardly when Hwayeon walked out in a black women's suit, came up in front of me, took my chin, lifted it slightly, and kissed me.

"I'll be off, then."

She laughed softly at my blank face. She looked so confident, and so sexy, that I swallowed without meaning to. Yeongeun, dressed like a bright, lively girl in her twenties, went down to the underground parking garage first in high spirits. About ten minutes later I quietly left the house with the Ame-no-Murakumo in hand.

Franc, Miho, Hiarid, and I rode the elevator down to the garage. Franc, glancing at my expression, took my hand and asked carefully.

"You do not look well."

I hadn't felt easy sending Yeongeun off alone, and it must have shown. Feeling Miho, clinging to Hiarid's back, and Hiarid herself glancing at me, I answered.

"Yeongeun's my lover too. I don't like that we have to move separately like this, dodging other people's eyes."

Franc is known as my spirit, so natural closeness with her is taken for granted. Publicly, though, Hwayeon and Yeongeun are mother and daughter, so I have to hold back anything that makes me look like Yeongeun's lover—and that bothers me more and more.

"Yeongeun understood even that, and accepted it. Please do not trouble yourself so."

And on the way to the Bangbae-dong mansion, riding in the Ferrari Enzo Yeongeun was driving, Yeongeun said the same thing.

"I'm your third, aren't I?"

"Yeah."

"Ufufu. That's more than enough for me. And you fuss over me in secret so I never feel like I'm being treated as less, don't you? If I can stay right by my darling's side, just like this, until I grow old and die, I have nothing more to wish for."

The moment we stopped for a light, Yeongeun took her hands off the wheel, leaned her upper body toward me in the passenger seat, and stole my lips. Having shown me her true heart on a level to match the whole Sincerity series, she looked happy enough to hum.

We arrived at the Bangbae-dong mansion and entered the garden, which somehow looked even better than before. At the front door, Choi Soohan in a butler's uniform and the old butler stood at proper attention, waiting for us.

Wow—but Choi Soohan, aside from having nothing dangling between her legs, a slightly larger rear, and a waist a bit slimmer than a man's, had looked no different from a man...... Now, with the faintest makeup, the kind that looked as if she both had and hadn't put any on, and hair she'd trimmed and tended diligently for a month, the hair falling to her back boasted a smooth sheen. Tied tight at the nape with a blue ribbon, she looked like a modest young woman—whose chest was, regrettably, rather tragic—wearing a butler's uniform. Her full lips had a slight gloss, and deep in her clear eyes was a yearning aimed at me.

When we came within a certain distance, Choi Soohan and the old butler bowed at the same time and spoke.

"Welcome, Master."

The words the two of them spoke were identical, but the vigor of youth and the seasoned depth of age, a man's low tone and a woman's high one, blended into harmony. Yeongeun raised her brows in admiration, and I was startled by how completely Choi Soohan had changed.

"Impressive~? That disciplined bearing reminds me of Juhan when he was young."

"Heh heh. I did not know young Soohan would absorb the whole of my knowledge in so short a time as a month."

Satisfaction was written all over the old butler's face.

"......You worked hard."

For a moment I was at a loss for words before Choi Soohan's eyes, which held no one but me and watched me in silence. When I managed that single line, she bent her upper body in a splendid courtesy, rose, and spoke.

"It is entirely thanks to Grandfather's guidance."

Grandfather? I looked at the old butler in puzzlement, and the old gentleman smiled. We told the two pets to play outside, moved to the first-floor reception room, and drank the tea Choi Soohan had brewed while we listened to him.

He spoke of Choi Soohan, who for a month and three days had absorbed his knowledge the way a sponge takes in water, and his expression was truly content. Teaching the butler's work to Choi Soohan, who had no family, he seemed to have come to think of her truly as a granddaughter.

The old butler had married early, but his wife died in childbirth with her first child, and the baby, born of a difficult labor, did not last a year before following its mother to heaven. After that he never remarried, and lived alone his whole life. Choi Soohan, an orphan, said she had felt a kinship with him—a man who had lost his wife and child and lived alone. Because of that, he gave her his affection and passed on all the knowledge he possessed, and she, too, came to follow the gentle, grandfatherly butler with her heart. Five days after the training began, Choi Soohan started treating him like her own grandfather, and he, for his part, began gladly regarding her as a granddaughter.

Yeongeun, who had been listening quietly, looked at the old butler seated before her and spoke.

"Our Seoha hopes you'll take charge of the management and oversight of the nonprofit foundation for charity that he'll be establishing soon."

"Then am I dismissed from my post as butler?"

"Fresh blood has been brought in now, so an old man ought to rest easy, no?"

At the old butler's joke, offered with a gentle smile, Yeongeun giggled and nodded.

"I heard from Madam about your years of work as butler. If you manage and oversee the foundation I'm establishing, I think I can raid with an easy mind."

"Even without that, I was wondering what I would do with myself once I retired. And I could hardly decline a direct invitation from the renowned Grand Blue Master."

I grinned at his ready answer. If Yeongeun recommended him, I could entrust the whole foundation to him, couldn't I?

"Yes, yes. Then we'll consider it settled. Pack your things and go to the address written here."

With that, she took a slip of paper from her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bosom and handed it to him.

"This is......"

"Severance. The house is in your name, so help with the foundation's work and spend your later years there."

"......I am always grateful for the young lady's consideration."

"That gives me hives, so don't."

At the old butler's words, spoken as he quietly smiled and bowed his head, Yeongeun smiled bitterly and shook her head. To a casual eye it looked like a long-serving attendant receiving a heartfelt gift, but that last reaction suggested it wasn't the whole of it. Was there something between Yeongeun and the old butler? I'd have to ask later.

I stood and gave Choi Soohan, standing quietly, her final instructions.

"I'll tell Hwayeon, so once things are settled here, come back to Grand Blue and work as an ability user. You can stay until the mansion being built in Shinchon-dong is finished."

"I shall carry it out as you command."

And...... now that I'd decided to take responsibility, feeding her TP and raising her at least to the very peak of C-Class would help a great deal, wouldn't it? I'd have to discuss that with my lovers tonight.