Chapter 261
Chapter 261
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 261
Chapter Title: Her Provocation
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The place Karite and I headed to.
More precisely, the place Karite led me to was one I had visited before.
The Esildereun family's private training hall.
*Click.*
As she closed the training hall door behind us, a familiar interior came into view.
A quiet space, devoid of any outsiders, that reminded me of my training with her.
Moreover, the impression given by a private training hall was unique, making me realize anew the extent of a noble family's influence.
*Thump.*
When Karite, who was leading the way, stopped and her light blue hair fluttered, I watched her and waited in silence.
"Han Cheon-seong. Surprised?"
"No, not really."
"Rather than go anywhere else, I wanted to show you first."
"Show me what?"
"The truth is, even though you came to see me all this time, I kept turning you away. There was a reason for that. I brought you here to show you how hard I've worked."
A bright and cheerful voice.
I blinked, looking at Karite, who seemed even more confident than before.
"I don't know what it is, but if you want to show me... I'd be happy to see it."
It seemed she had achieved something significant personally, so I was able to face her with a bright smile of my own.
*Grasp.*
Then she took my hand again and started leading me, which made me hesitate repeatedly.
*'Really... she keeps surprising me.'*
I was the first person to reach out to her, and more directly, I had saved her life, so I suppose that's why she was acting so freely. But right now, it was making me a little hesitant.
My thoughts kept drifting in another direction without me realizing it.
*Step.*
"Here, stand here and watch me."
"...Alright."
I stopped in the center of the training hall, in what looked like the sparring area, and watched Karite as she moved to stand opposite me.
After putting some distance between us, Karite naturally turned her body toward me and slowly...
...began to take off her clothes.
For a moment, watching her, I didn't even know what I was seeing.
*Rustle, rustle.*
Karite, taking off her student uniform jacket.
And when she started to unbutton the top of her pure white blouse, I spoke up urgently.
"Wait. Karite, why are you suddenly taking off your clothes?"
The uniform jacket was one thing, but unbuttoning her blouse was something I couldn't accept.
"Ah, sorry. A bit sudden, isn't it?"
Karite smiled sheepishly and stopped unbuttoning her shirt, but even her casual tone felt alien.
"It's not just sudden... is there a reason you need to take off your clothes? Karite, I know you feel comfortable around me, but taking off your clothes is still strange..."
More than strange, it was something one generally shouldn't do.
Even if we could be called friends of the opposite sex, we had to maintain a certain physical distance. No matter how comfortable she was with me, she shouldn't be showing me her body.
"You're right. But Han Cheon-seong, this is the first time I've ever shown my body to anyone like this. Still, I have to show you."
"You have to show me?"
"Yes. That's the only way my bringing you here will have any meaning. Really... don't you go getting any lewd ideas."
Karite, saying such absurd things so casually.
When she added that last part playfully, I couldn't keep up with her train of thought.
*'Telling me not to get lewd ideas while taking off her clothes to show me her body.'*
*Pop, pop.*
Then, as the sound of her unbuttoning her blouse echoed,
"..."
I unconsciously lowered my head.
I didn't know what on earth Karite was trying to do, but her voice was filled with sincerity. Her words, that she absolutely had to show me, didn't seem to have any other intention.
The situation I had feared... it didn't feel at all like she was about to pounce on me in this closed room.
So I couldn't stop her.
But as her pale skin was revealed, I couldn't bring myself to look at her.
*'Why is this happening?'*
While inwardly agonizing, I could still hear it clearly.
*Pop, rustle.*
The suggestive sound of a button coming undone and fabric brushing against skin...
"Karite... Look, I don't know what you're trying to do. I don't know how I'm supposed to act right now."
I spoke blankly in my confusion, my gaze wavering.
Who wouldn't be flustered in this situation?
A young woman who had just reached adulthood was boldly undressing in front of me. I was at a loss as to how I should treat her.
"Han Cheon-seong. Will you raise your head now?"
But Karite's unwavering voice made my own resolve falter.
She was telling me now.
To look at her.
...She, who must have taken off her uniform to reveal her body, was asking me directly.
"..."
For a moment, I was deeply conflicted.
*'Should I just leave?'*
I was currently in relationships with women. More than one, at that.
And in the future, I would have to seduce Ariya of my own will.
I felt that I, of all people, shouldn't do that to Karite. Her emotional scars ran deep... for her to accept my situation...
"Han Cheon-seong. I'm not naked right now. So, it's okay to raise your head."
But that worry crumbled at her words. At her unexpected statement, I blankly raised my head.
*Swoosh.*
As my gaze slowly lifted from the training hall floor to where Karite stood, I unconsciously swallowed hard.
"..."
However, she had lied.
The first thing I saw were her pale legs. And as my eyes traveled up, her fair skin dominated my vision.
Her fair body, which should have been hidden by her uniform, was starkly revealed to my eyes. But there was something distinctly different.
"Well, what do you think?"
Karite asked with a small smile, looking strangely full of confidence.
I couldn't understand it even as I looked.
Why Karite could smile like that while showing me her entire pale body, save for her black underwear.
But more than that, the translucent waves enveloping her entire body were utterly alien.
"Karite... that form?"
"It's the new power I've obtained."
"New power... you say."
Even as I said it, I couldn't quite grasp it.
The sensation I was getting from Karite right now was certainly strange.
I could tell that Karite's presence, the power of her aura, had become distinctly clearer than before.
But it wasn't at a level that was overwhelmingly palpable.
My own standards for judging others had risen astronomically.
Having reached Trait Level 5 and completed my skills, my measure of power was bound to be higher.
"I told you before. I'd show you how much I've worked during the time I turned you away. This is the result. And I plan to show you everything I have."
At Karite's confident tone, I unconsciously focused my vision.
At first, I was too embarrassed to look at her fair skin.
I felt I shouldn't be looking at her body. But that gradually started to feel different.
Just as it had seemed so revealing because of my own thoughts... it was no exaggeration to say that Karite's body, now in my sight, was veiled by the translucent waves.
*Shwaaa—*
Raging waves enveloped her body like a strange tide. Even as I watched, it was a mystical sight, enough to make the feeling that she had taken off her uniform largely disappear, just as she'd said.
*'Should I see it as the waves surrounding Karite's body having grown stronger?'*
Just as I had that thought.
"...!"
Her presence, which I had thought wasn't that impressive, began to swell exponentially in just a few seconds.
Like a torrent flooding a dry riverbed, Karite's presence in my vision grew drastically.
Endless water. A sensation like facing something from the deep sea.
Moreover, the presence I felt from Karite now was, astonishingly...
...on par with Glacia when she had manifested a veritable storm at the end of our last duel.
So I couldn't help but speak.
"Karite, did you reach Trait Level 3, no... don't tell me you're at Level 4?"
Even as I said it, I couldn't believe it.
It was a result that was hard to imagine, no matter how I thought about it.
I had thought it was good growth when I helped Karite reach Trait Level 2 a short while ago. And that wasn't even that long ago.
In terms of time, it had only been a few weeks. Not even a full month had passed.
"Yes. You can tell just by looking at me, can't you?"
I was left speechless by Karite's confident reply to my question.
*'No way...'*
Just a month ago, she was at Level 2.
But now. Karite was saying she wasn't Level 3... but Level 4.
"Yeah. All I can say is that's truly amazing."
As I continued to watch Karite's body, my vision suddenly blurred.
It felt like I was facing something truly unreal.
...I had thought Karite's death in the original story was just an episode to instill a sense of caution.
But now. I felt that might not have been its meaning.
—Karite's talent.
Her growth, after she firmly set her will and devoted herself to training. I could only think of it as truly overwhelming.
Then, Karite suddenly took a step.
*Splash!*
A sudden spray of water kicked up as Karite slid toward me.
It was as if she were riding the water, moving smoothly, completely ignoring friction.
"...Karite?"
I was startled when she reached me, her entire body except for her beautiful face engulfed in waves.
At a distance where our breaths could mingle, her shining eyes, filled with clear confidence, captured mine.
"Hey. Want to touch it?"
"...Huh?"
"My hand, I mean."
Karite narrowed her eyes and smiled, and for a moment, I was swept up in a suggestive mood.
*'Was Karite always this provocative?'*
In my vision, she gently extended a hand shrouded in waves, and as I blankly reached out, it felt very strange.
Karite...
...didn't seem like the Karite I knew.