A Temporary Return, and Putting Things in Order (7)

I'd caught an unfamiliar woman's scent on my sister and been a little thrown by it, but after wandering the Shinchon-dong Mansion Site — still under construction — long enough to get my heart to settle, I went back to the house where Franc was.

Giant Franc had Miho and Hiarid kneeling before her in the training ground laid out in the living room, talking them through one thing and another, and when I stepped inside she turned a bright smile on me in welcome.

"You have returned? You came quickly."

The instant Miho saw me, her fox ears and tails shot upright — only for her to catch Franc's eye. At once her ears wilted like a scolded puppy's, and all seven tails sagged limp against the floor.

Watching her look so much like a puppy fresh from a scolding, I noticed Hwayeon was nowhere in sight and asked.

"Yeah. Where'd Hwayeon go?"

"She said she would fetch Ispect, and went home. She mentioned she would stop by the company on the way to give some orders, and return around lunch."

"That so?"

I formed a seat like a rocking chair in midair, sprawled onto it, and was about to call Aunt Hyeryeong when Franc looked down at Miho and Hiarid once more and spoke.

"Do you understand? You have played more than enough until now, Miho, so from here on you will train in the martial arts with me. Yes?"

"Hiiing."

"Your answer?"

"Okay……."

Martial arts training — so she meant to drill them in combat? Hiarid looked faintly tense as well, as if Franc had already given her some word of it before I arrived.

"Ah, Aunt Hyeryeong. You busy right now?"

She was the aunt who always picked up before the second ring, and she still hadn't answered past the fourth, which was why I'd asked. A noisy clamor came through from the other end.

Sounds like a cargo truck's engine, and heavy machinery.

"Do you know anything about the subspace ability user ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in India?"

……Isn't that basically everything?

"I'd like to invite that ability user and meet her once. Could you look into it for me? Within four days, if possible."

I could hardly summon her by announcing I meant to steal Rawar's subspace ability with Spatial Perception and learn it that way. What was I supposed to say to get her here…… Right. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That would do.

"She's a rare subspace ability user, isn't she? If she's at odds with her raid team, I thought I'd meet her once, and if she seems decent, scout her for our raid team."

That ought to land. At the talk of wanting to scout her, Aunt Hyeryeong hummed along in agreement — a positive sign.

"Ah, and I heard Dr. Woo Mingu of the World Phase Ability User Association has vanished. Look into that as well, please."

"I'm counting on you."

Mentioning Dr. Woo Mingu seemed to stiffen her voice a little. Did she know something? Well…… she was Aunt Hyeryeong. If it was something I needed to know, she would tell me herself.

I handed her the work and shut off the Certifier, and Miho's pained sounds reached me.

"Uggggh~~!"

"Is that truly all? Put a little more strength into it."

"Kiiiing!"

I turned my head. Franc was there with her palm turned down, pressing on something, and the groaning was coming from beneath that hand. I swept under it with Spatial Perception. Miho was straining and whimpering, bracing herself as she tried to push Franc's hand up.

"Huuuik!"

One of the seven tails — the upper one on the left — began shedding a clear light. Miho's bent waist straightened, and Franc's hand rose, little by little.

So that's the tail that grants physical reinforcement.

Whenever Miho used an ability, each of her seven tails cast a radiance all its own, enough to make me think a separate power lay sealed in every one. A light so clear and white it nearly seemed transparent spilled from the tail, and she certainly looked stronger for it.

Looked stronger. But…….

"Even using your ability, this is all?"

The problem was that Miho was drawing on the physical reinforcement among her seven powers, while Franc was not even circulating Phase Power.

"Kwek."

Sure enough, Franc shifted her stance, loaded her weight into her hand, and pressed. Miho let out a squeal not unlike a pig's and was flattened.

"Even with physical reinforcement, I guess you can't do much about a basic gap in weight class."

"If basic agility is comparable, the larger frame holds an overwhelming advantage. In a case such as mine, I possess a giant's height and weight, so Miho — a mere 144 centimeters, her weight only just past 44 kilograms — would find it difficult to oppose me even with a physical reinforcement ability."

Whimpering, Miho crawled out from under Franc's palm, then immediately bristled her tail fur and shouted in a clear, ringing voice.

"Eek. Again! Again!"

As if she now judged a single index finger sufficient where a palm had been, Franc pressed down on her from above with the tip of one finger.

This time the tail in charge of physical reinforcement flashed at once, but the hands bracing that fingertip sank lower and lower.

"Ugyaaa~!!"

"But your bones and muscles aren't structured all that differently from a human's. Isn't Phase Power acting on your body without you even knowing it?"

"It may be so. Should scientists dissect my body, they might discover some point of difference from a human."

"If there were something like that, they'd have found it in the byproducts of one-eyed giants."

"Uuuuii~!! ……Ack?"

Franc, who had been watching Miho's thrashing for a moment, moved her Phase Power and pressed down harder with her finger. In the end Miho couldn't hold her off, and was pinned beneath it.

Franc prodded her in that state, pressing in again and again.

"Hhik?! Huhek! Ugek!"

Every time the finger came down, Miho spilled breathless screams, and the pressure drove blood into her face until she flushed red enough to burst.

Seeing that face redden as if it were about to pop, Franc let the strength out of her hand. Miho couldn't so much as groan. She went slack and only whimpered.

"There. I have confirmed Miho's strength and durability, so now let us measure her aptitude for combat. Come at me with all the strength you possess."

"……Ugh~!"

As if the taunt had stung her pride, Miho sharpened the expression on a face that still hadn't lost its red.

Her tails swished without rest, her pupils shrank tight, and she glared at Franc. Her claws grew a little longer and sharper, until she looked rather like a fierce cat.

It was my first time seeing Miho's close-combat form, and I was just wondering how much fight she would show —

"Ah. One moment."

Franc looked at those sharply risen claws, stole a glance at me, and stripped off her box tee and pants until she stood in her underwear.

"The clothes must not tear."

Offering something that sounded oddly like an excuse, she angled her body, set her feet shoulder-width apart, bent her knees slightly, and — declaring herself ready — crooked a finger in a taunt.

At the provocative gesture Miho yowled and charged.

"Kyaong!"

At the same instant Franc swung her palm down from above like a volleyball player driving a spike.

Smack. Thud.

"Kkiuk……."

Hit square and hard the moment it began, Miho flew far off, struck the Space Wall, and went tumbling across the floor.

Watching that, I thought back. Where had I read it — a science magazine's special on giants? The taller you grew, the more your weight scaled with the cube, and the increase in body weight was proportional to cross-sectional area, or something of the sort.

I wasn't sure I had it right. Anyway, if Franc's height was forty-eight times a person's, her weight would come to 120,000 times a human's. To bear a weight that grew like that, the bones couldn't be made of the same calcium phosphate as a person's. They would have to be some special substance capable of supporting it. That was what the magazine had said.

Plug an average body of 160 centimeters and 52 kilograms into Franc, and at 80 meters her current weight came out to roughly 6,500 tons. And once height reached 80 meters, the distance covered in a single motion grew past any comparison with 1.6 meters. Move like an ordinary person at that size, and you would look as slow as a turtle.

But Franc looked as snappy and quick as a normal person. Which meant the agility of her strength was also on the order of several dozen times a human's. If she had ordinary muscle and bone no different from a human's, then Phase Power for maintaining that body had to be circulating through her. That was my conclusion.

In which case, it was only natural Miho couldn't handle her even when she used her ability on purpose. When I'd tested the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Space Wall and mana rounds against Franc's body, anything short of serious force had slid off her skin — and that, too, would serve as evidence that Phase Power was acting on her at all times.

Even while I turned this over, Miho kept charging without a pause, and Franc was playing squash with her for the ball.

Miho, reduced on the spot to a rubber ball, was still weeping and throwing herself at Franc by the time my thoughts ran out, bruises mottling her from head to toe — and that, too, did not last. Before long she was slammed flat against the living room floor and burst into tears.

"Hic. Huk, ……Waaaaah!!"

Seeing her sit there and cry so bitterly, even I felt a pang. Blood was running from one nostril, and when I looked with Spatial Perception there were several places where the bone had cracked, hairline-thin, and bruises mottled her whole body. Her condition was…….

So I moved to lay a Healing Touch on her, and Franc stopped me with a look.

Why? You're not going to heal her?

Miho is an aberrant. Her wild nature must be awakened first.

I read that unyielding look, and the words died. Miho wasn't even a year old. No — strictly speaking, it hadn't even been a year since I'd met her, and there was no telling how old she truly was. Still. Wasn't this too much?

It felt all the more so because that gelded wildness was on me. Or was that the very reason……?

"You weep over merely this? When Seoha's life is in danger, will you only sit and cry because it hurts and it is hard?"

"Nooo!!"

"You will not? You were struck by a palm only a few times, and already you sit weeping as though begging to be killed. While you do so, Seoha may be treading the line between death and life — and you tell me you will not? Will not what?"

"Uuu!"

"Seoha must not be so precious to you, then. Not long ago he faced a truly dangerous situation, and yet you seem a high-rank subspecies only on the outside, and a Lowest-Rank Variant still within. Far from aiding Seoha, you would only be a hindrance."

"Uuuu!"

"How about becoming a little cat and living as a pet instead? You will be no help in battle, so a cat that knows nothing but acting cute might be preferable, no?"

"Eeeeee~!"

At Franc's continued needling, Miho trembled all over her small body, choked with indignation, then shot to her feet with a face full of anger and shouted with all her might.

"I'll be a help to Master too! I hate being a pet!! I hate anything that hurts Master!!!!"

Trembling, screaming as if possessed, Miho's pearl-like eyes turned scarlet. Unlike before, her claws grew out to a full meter, and her fangs lengthened a little as well.

"Grrrrrr."

Her waist hunched. Her tail fur stood up stiff as steel needles, and she rumbled low in her throat, spilling a savage growl.

"Whoa."

She looked like a nine-tailed fox straight out of an old ghost story.

"Kyaaa!"

The tail in charge of wind and the tail in charge of physical reinforcement flashed at the same time, and at a speed easily twice what it had been she circled Franc's body, raking with those sharp claws.

But Franc, too, began circulating Phase Power in earnest, temporarily reinforcing each spot the claws scraped and blocking the blows perfectly.

As if she had some other plan, she only received the attacks. And the sight of her — with truly the smallest of movements, hardening only the barest area those claws touched and turning them aside — was astonishing.

If a master of evasion had a way of moving, wasn't this it?

Miho spun round and round with Franc at the center like a driving whirlwind, dragging her claws, and Franc now reinforced only the skin of her hands, turning aside that frantic assault one blow at a time.

"Kaaaang!!"

As if it angered her all the more that none of it was landing, Miho cried out in a sound like weeping and raised her speed further. In contrast, the Phase Power inside her body was shaking more and more precariously.

Just then Hwayeon stepped into the house, cloth-wrapped Ispect in hand, and her lips parted slightly at the scene unfolding in the training ground along one side of the living room.

"What is going on here?"

"Looks like Franc means to temper Miho."

Hwayeon had been watching closely as Franc evaded those savagely swinging claws with the minimum of motion, and she could not hold back her wonder.

"I knew Franc's martial arts were no common thing, but this is beyond imagination."

Franc's skill with a weapon certainly stood above Hwayeon's or Yeongeun's, and even I, with physical reinforcement and thought acceleration both spread wide, had struggled to handle her back in her half-human, half-spirit days. Her level was no joke.

Maybe Franc, now that she has a body, is the strongest of us.

A body meant she could bring her abilities to bear in full, and she was a giant in the flesh of a Transcendental Variant besides. Her original martial skill ought to synergize with that. Even fighting on nothing but instinct, she had been able to grapple with the Rogue Imugi…….

Seeing Miho's anger overheat, and the Phase Power in her body shake unstably, Franc drew back a little and spoke.

"There. That is enough."

"Kiii!!"

But Miho, as if to demand what that was supposed to mean, swung both claws left and right quick as lightning, like a cat.

Franc caught the claws — slicing upward in the arc of a crescent — between her fingers, then gently closed both hands around the furious ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Miho.

"Uui! Eek! Auuu!!"

Thrashing to get free, Miho at last bit down hard on Franc's finger and gnawed. As if she meant to call on another ability, Phase Power began spreading from her body again, and that energy grew still more unstable.

Franc hadn't expected that either. Alarm spread across her face.

It looked dangerous to leave her like that, so I used Space Leaping to appear in front of Miho and carefully stroked the head caught between Franc's thumb and forefinger.

"Kiii!"

Pearl-colored eyes dyed red, sharp molars grown out, her face scrunched for all it was worth — Miho made a rather chilling sight.

Angry enough to have lost her reason, she didn't seem to recognize even me. I called up Healing Touch, stroked her face, and kept petting her fox ears without pause, and the twisted face loosened little by little, her eyes returning to their original pearl.

"Uh, uuu. Master?"

"Yeah. It's me. You okay?"

"Huu…… uuu."

"It's okay, it's okay. Franc gave you a hard time, didn't she?"

"……Uueng~! Huaaang~!"

I stroked her head and cupped her cheek, and Miho, tears already welling, broke down at last.

At the sight of her wailing, Franc startled and loosened her hands, and Miho sobbed her way into my arms.

She clung to me and buried her face in my chest, soaking my shirtfront with tears. As I patted her back and looked up, Franc wore a sheepish face, as if she too thought she might have gone a little far.

"I hate Franc!"

After sniffling for a good while, Miho glared at her with a sulky face and shouted.

Franc couldn't even find the words. With a troubled face she was apologizing to the thoroughly sulky Miho, but Miho would not let her anger go.

The intent had been to awaken instinct through mental pressure and stimulus, but Miho's mind was still young, and it seemed to have bred nothing but resentment. Left like this, Franc's intention to temper her would go a bit astray, so I decided to step in.

"Miho."

"Uuung."

A single tear hanging at the corner of her eye, she looked up at my call and sniffled.

"Franc did that on purpose. For you."

"Uuung…… for me?"

When Miho looked up at Franc — kneeling beside us — as if to ask whether it was true, Franc seized the opening, a faint smile on her lips, and nodded.

"To use the power you possess with skill, you must know your limits — how much of that power you can bring to bear, and how strong it is. Miho, you are strong. But you do not know how to use that power familiarly. Is that not so?"

"Yeah……."

"I will apologize for driving you so hard just now. But I did it deliberately, to learn your limits. In truth, I do not think such things."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Miho gazed in silence at Franc, who smiled and held out her hand, then quietly slipped from my arms and climbed onto that enormous palm.

"Then you did it 'cause you wanted to teach me how to use my strength?"

"Yes."

At that yes, Miho worked her lips, her face full of hard thought, and at last nodded hard with a resolute look.

"Then I'll work hard too! I'll be a help to Master!!"

"You will hardly be able to play, and it will be very hard, and painful. Will you be all right?"

"I'm okay!"

Hadn't she been glaring at Franc just a moment ago as if she'd never forgive her? ……It felt like it had ended a bit flat, but if the ending's good, then it's all good.

Hiarid, who had been watching the two of them all the while, came down onto Franc's palm as well and asked quietly.

"=Then what must I do to become strong?="

"Does Hiarid also wish to be a strength to Seoha?"

"=I, too, am a servant of the Heavenly Lord. For the Heavenly Lord's sake, I can endure any trial.="

"……In that case, as Hiarid is a long-range elemental type, it would be best to center your training on live sparring with Miho, who can fight at both close range and long. Miho, too, needs experience against elemental types. Shall we begin at once, then?"

And as Franc rose with Miho and Hiarid upon her palm, Hwayeon called her to a stop.

"Franc. Before that, might I have a moment of your time?"

"Yes?"

Franc, on her way to the training, turned toward Hwayeon, who was holding Ispect up for her to see. As Franc tilted her head as if to ask why, Hwayeon smiled faintly and spoke.

"Nuhodi says she knows an esoteric art that can regulate the size of the flesh. She told me that if we ask the method of her in detail, while informing her of your condition, you should be able to learn that art as well."