Flying Sword (6)
I clicked my tongue. ‘Tsk. Did I overdo it?’
Receiving such an overwhelmingly burdensome evaluation, I trudged back toward my wives. I’d only sprinkled on a bit of MSG because I wanted the knight commander to see me perform swordsmanship firsthand, but it seemed things had blown up a little too much. To be honest, I was worried, but that was a problem for later.
Since we’d been invited to dinner, it was only right to clean myself up properly—whether with a Clean spell or an actual shower—so I wouldn’t smell like sweat. Getting worked up and using potatoes and sweet potatoes as punching bags right now wouldn’t change a damn thing. Of course, the real reason I’d made everyone do strength training after the spar was just an excuse to teach them how to get stronger.
“Ah, Senior♡! You worked hard again today~.”
As soon as I returned to the room, Larilura sprang to her feet and planted a kiss on my cheek. Ever since I stopped rejecting her, my junior had grown increasingly bold with physical affection.
“Nord, welcome back. You must be tired?”
“Tired? It’s just the usual training.”
Franc, as always, was neatly organizing my clothes and shoes like a proper wife. I knew she did it because she genuinely wanted to, so I’d given up trying to stop her. Meanwhile, Dana and Veronica were hovering awkwardly, clearly unsure what to do. It was the tragedy of my scholarly wives, who had zero connection to cute, flirty behavior.
Honestly, I couldn’t even picture those two acting coquettish. Especially Dana.
“……Ahem.”
“Hm, hm……”
They could’ve just run over and hugged me like Larilura, but instead they were exchanging glances, convinced such behavior wasn’t like them. These women were intellectual elites on par with me, yet here they were, completely helpless when it came to being cute. The fact that these gorgeous women—who could talk archaeology nonstop for three days and nights—were struggling so hard with a single act of aegyo was insanely adorable.
‘Is this what they call nerdy charm? It’s kinda hot.’
I was about to approach the nerdy beauty combo first and give them a kiss when Veronica beat me to it.
“Th-the maid said we should arrive by seven. We still have over two hours, so take your time preparing.”
“Got it.”
Well, it wasn’t like today was the only day. I’d just have to look forward to the day these high-achieving nerdy wives would writhe in embarrassment while trying to act cute. I wrapped an arm around Larilura’s waist and returned her kiss on the cheek.
The worry I’d felt about a half-baked druid who’d only been wielding weapons for half a year having to discuss martial arts with a Mithril Class knight commander melted away completely with one dose of Larilura’s aegyo. When a beauty like my junior clung to me and acted adorable, the soft touch of her skin against my arm made all my worries vanish and filled me with energy.
Guess no matter how much I tried to deny it, men really were creatures ruled by their dicks.
“Sen~ior~? That tickles~♡?”
Larilura giggled and scrunched her neck at my kiss. Every time our eyes met, her gaze—overflowing with love—hit me right in the dick. Fuck. Maybe I should’ve just stayed in bed with Larilura today. Why was there still two whole hours until dinner? This was basically addiction. Her aegyo definitely contained addictive substances.
“You really are too damn cute. Are you testing my patience?”
“Ahaha♡? I already know exactly how much temptation it takes to make you fall for it~?”
“I feel like I’m already 90% gone right now?”
“Too bad~. Not this week~.”
Larilura smiled sweetly and crossed her index fingers into an X. Ah, it was one of those magical days. Hearing the cold hard truth snapped me back to reality. I gave her one more regretful kiss on the neck before pulling away. In the corner, Veronica was fidgeting in a strangely memorable way.
The dinner turned out to be far less burdensome than I’d expected.
〈If it were for political reasons, that would be one thing, but having an old man at the dinner table would make it hard to eat comfortably, wouldn’t it?〉
〈Hehehehe. Why would you say such a thing? Being able to receive life advice from someone like you, sir, is an incredibly valuable opportunity.〉
I laid on the lip service, but the battle-hardened old politician Cornelius simply chuckled.
〈I heard that both my daughter-in-law and grandchild are in good health. They couldn’t join us for dinner, so please understand. I’ve given strict orders that they must focus on their recovery from now on.〉
〈That’s wonderful news. Congratulations.〉
〈Thank you.〉
It seemed Primor’s child was, as I’d expected, the biological offspring of the old man’s son.
〈And as for your friend, Lady Tirsi.〉
Cornelius looked at Tirsi, who had also been invited to dinner, and spoke while leaning on his cane.
〈She is also in good health. However, she seems to have lost some vitality, as if she had just woken from a coma. So please make sure she eats well. Duck or abalone would be good.〉
〈Thank you for going out of your way to tell me.〉
Was the reason he’d briefly called me over behind this lavish feast to share the diagnosis results? These people from noble houses seemed surprisingly light on their feet for aristocrats. From a commoner’s perspective like mine, that was actually a plus.
〈I’ve heard from the knight commander. Think of this as your own home and make yourself comfortable.〉
After giving me one last bit of pressure, the old man left with the head butler. Well, he probably hadn’t meant to pressure me, but from my point of view, I already felt like I had indigestion before even touching the food. Goddamn it.
“……Let’s eat.”
When I returned from speaking with the old man and said that, our group of six—my family plus Tirsi—began our extravagant dinner at the ten-meter-long table.
—Chomp.
The dishes, which looked like they belonged in a Michelin-starred restaurant, tasted every bit as incredible as they appeared. Since there were no maids or butlers hovering nearby, my wives ate comfortably without feeling self-conscious this time. Maybe Primor had passed on some advice after recalling her meal with the bishop last time.
“Whoa, what is this? These are premium ingredients I’ve only seen at the Thousand Wings Award ceremony.”
“Mmm! It feels like my tongue is melting☆!”
“Larilura, you’re eating dessert first with your very first spoonful……?”
Aside from the maids who occasionally brought in new dishes, it was just our party. We could chat and enjoy the meal in peace. I sliced into some round organ dish I couldn’t identify with a knife and asked,
“Tirsi. Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
“Mmph?! Ah, mmph! Y-yes, yes!”
Tirsi, who had been eating a duck leg, jumped in surprise at my question and quickly swallowed the food in her mouth. Geez, there was no need to rush that much. No one was going to call her rude for talking while eating.
“Thanks to all of you. For now, they say there are no common symptoms.”
By the time she drank some water, Tirsi had mostly regained the dignity befitting a former noble. The exact side effects of the Descensus ritual would probably be difficult to discuss until we could properly research them. I confirmed no one else was listening and spoke up.
“We’ll need to do some research once we return to Sargadis.”
“That’s true. But we can’t store the research materials in my dorm room or the Mage Guild. If they leak, it would be a disaster.”
“We’ll do it at our house. We’ll need to reinforce security a bit, though. Tirsi, would you come help us?”
It seemed more reliable to install magic items than to simply strengthen the walls. At my words, Tirsi’s face lit up and she nodded vigorously, practically headbanging.
“Yes, yes! Of course! It’s research about my own body! I’ll definitely come help! No, if there’s anything I can help with, call me anytime! I’ll come running right away!”
“Hehe. That’s reassuring.”
I answered and, since the topic had come up, continued.
“In that case, Tirsi. Could you possibly teach me some wind-based magic?”
“Wind-based magic? What kind?”
“Um…… something easy to apply would be good. If the difficulty is on the lower side, that would be even better.”
Unfortunately, I had terrible aptitude for wind magic. At this point, I was starting to wonder if—excluding my eye cheat and a few other broken elements—I simply had no talent for magic itself. My level was about the same as Rock Lee from another world.
‘What the fuck? The moment it goes beyond low-tier, the learning difficulty skyrockets.’
I was pretty confident in mana manipulation. I could create phoenixes with the Blood Demon Arts, so that wasn’t just me being arrogant. But when it came to elemental aptitude, I struggled horribly with anything beyond low-tier spells like Burning Hand.
Hey Odin, you bitch, can’t you at least tell me where my magic talent lies? Of course not. Goddamn useless woman.
“Why wind magic all of a sudden?”
When Franc asked curiously, I quickly answered while internally cursing the already-dead God of Magic.
“There’s something I need it for. It’ll help in fights too.”
First, a strong wind would be useful for activating the Absolute Celestial Domain. There was also a limit to how much I could boost the output of Cloud Generation. On top of that, while analyzing the Armaals family’s swordsmanship, I’d noticed a few things. If the knight commander asked about it, I could mention those points and pretend I knew what I was talking about.
In that sense, I needed a spell that could convert my mana into wind mana. More precisely, I needed the spell formula itself.
“If possible, something I could learn in a day or two would be perfect.”
If it was too powerful, I wouldn’t be able to learn it. And if its versatility was low, even reprogramming it with Odin’s Eye would make it difficult to modify into something with enough output for the Absolute Celestial Domain.
“Hmm…… an easy-to-apply wind spell……”
Tirsi set down her fork and crossed her arms, looking deep in thought. As an ice mage by nature, she probably didn’t know many wind spells. It made sense that she’d have to think about it. The Clean spell she’d taught me was technically classified as wind magic but had little actual connection to wind, and the combat spells she used were clearly mid-tier or higher at a glance.
After pondering for a while, Tirsi spoke apologetically.
“……I’m sorry. Rather than learning something strange from me, it would be better to visit the Mage Guild. I do have a few spells in mind, so later I can give you some candidates——.”
She must have known them as knowledge even if she couldn’t use them. Tirsi suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Her face seemed slightly flushed.
“Um, well. If it’s alright with you…… would you like to go together? I could go with you and help pick out which spell would be good……”
“Hmm? Hehe. No, it’s fine. Just tell me the candidates. I’ll go with my wife.”
When I refused with a kind smile, Tirsi closed her mouth, her face turning even redder. It was the reaction of a girl who had shyly shown interest only to be rejected. But I no longer acted like a jealous idiot. There had been many chances for affection to build between us, but affection didn’t always mean romantic feelings! Besides, last time when Tirsi asked to join the party, I’d completely misread the situation and nearly made a total fool of myself.
“Veronica. Are you free the day after tomorrow?”
I gently comforted the embarrassed-looking Tirsi before turning to Veronica. Our maid, who had been savoring the delicacies, swallowed her food and smiled brightly.
“It doesn’t matter. If my master makes time, I must make time even if I have none. Why do you ask?”
She was playing dumb even though she must have heard everything. I chuckled. Or maybe she really had been so focused on the food that she hadn’t properly heard the surrounding conversation. Tonight’s dinner was that delicious.
Normally Veronica was an intellectual and seductive beauty, but when she enjoyed a truly delicious meal, she sometimes looked like a carefree child. Watching her stuff her cheeks full of tteokbokki and fried food reminded me of a middle schooler, and it was genuinely delightful. It made me feel like a generous uncle who wanted to buy her ice cream.
I smiled at my cute wife, who tilted her head curiously.
“Let’s go on a date the day after tomorrow.”