Birth Festival (1)
Birth Festival (1)
- Whoa, the mana streaming up was seriously pretty.
- Right, now I get why everyone pushes in from the first day.
- Especially the Special Admission Cadet's—wasn't that insane? The mana sparkled like crazy; I thought it was a shooting star going backward.
The opening ceremony wrapped up without a hitch. No disruptions or incidents along the way, and the guests exiting under the ushers' guidance looked satisfied.
- It's finally starting... Hey, weren't you running a stall? Where?
- Three of us are selling takoyaki... but don't come. You're a walking business disruption.
- Business disruption my ass. Look at the mouth on you to a customer who's gonna boost your sales.
The cadets waited until all spectators had cleared out.
Overhearing the chatter here and there, everyone was clearly buzzing about enjoying the festival.
'Until the third-day Tower Entry, there's no real schedule, so they're all planning to have fun before then... Still, just how much mana did they take...?'
I rubbed my numb right arm after roughly surveying the surroundings.
Maybe because so much mana had been drained, my insides felt hollow. It was refilling steadily in real time, but the hollow ache stung like hunger pangs.
I'd known they'd take a lot of mana beforehand, but I hadn't expected them to take this much.
Plus, the mana's destination was the Tower of Growth. Since a brief Tower Entry was coming up soon, I couldn't help but wonder what they intended to do with it.
'Didn't they say something about what they'd do with my mana... What on earth are they doing that needs this much?'
I mean, was my usual vast mana supply really so insufficient that they had to pull in ambient mana?
At the end of the opening ceremony, it nearly turned into a disaster with a cadet on the verge of collapsing from mana exhaustion, but I compensated by drawing in ambient mana.
Not to toot my own horn, but if it had been any other cadet, they'd have had their mana sucked dry and passed out long ago.
Normally, pulling in ambient mana to top yourself off like I just did is completely impossible under common sense.
To make a comparison, it's like randomly shoving unrefined crude oil into a car. Under normal circumstances, it's the kind of stunt that would instantly wreck your circuits and core.
But I have Mana Affinity, so I can. I can grab raw natural mana, untouched by any special innate talent, in bulk and make it my own.
- ...Hey, didn't all the ambient mana just flow that way?
- You felt it too? Thought I imagined it for a second. But that direction is...
- More precisely, it all seemed to go into that cadet...?
A fair few people had noticed the shift.
Scanning the ones stealing glances my way and whispering, I saw a lot of mages, sensitive to shifts in ambient mana.
'Hmm...'
Listening to the murmurs, I thought for a moment.
Being able to pull in and use ambient mana is a huge advantage.
I hadn't wanted to go shouting about it, so I'd avoided exposing it outside whenever possible, but now a fair number of cadets had picked up on it.
Word travels fast, they say. No secret stays perfect forever, and now there was a real chance one of my capabilities would leak to the outside world.
'Honestly, I don't mind it being known now.'
I wasn't taking it seriously. If anything, I was idly rubbing my right hand with a rather indifferent expression.
The reason I don't go out of my way to reveal several secrets is because I don't know what schemes might come from outside.
Especially after I realized Homogenization in Sipnaha, I'd gotten even more cautious.
Homogenization is an eccentric ability that openly flips the world's common sense on its head.
Even Myriad Transformations, which I've only partially revealed—if I went around explaining its exact functions, it would cause as much of a stir in the world as Homogenization.
I'd been afraid that the schemes and threats that had come at me during the 7th Iteration might replay themselves in reality.
I'd also worried that running my mouth for no reason would let people exploit multiple weaknesses.
'It's fine now.'
But I wasn't purely worried anymore.
I'm no longer at the level where I'd just get pushed around. Even just considering raw force, I've reached a point where I can tear apart most underhanded schemes in return.
To begin with, my abilities have few parts for an enemy to target as weaknesses. I can keep switching and using abilities, so how could an opponent find every weak point?
Mine is an ability that does the piercing, with little worry of being pierced myself.
On top of that, I'm also fairly set in terms of political power.
Didn't I just get command authority over the Association from Maxwell? With the Association Presidents now in seclusion, my standing as someone holding command authority is above the Association Council.
I also have the staff given by Ariel, founder of the Magic Council, and if I reveal my Authorities, the Observation Platform, as well as the Association, will naturally take my side.
Siyoram is already on my side... I'm pretty sure... probably...
Anyway, even if Homogenization gets exposed now, it won't be a big problem.
I'm hiding it because I dislike my full power being exposed, not because being discovered would mean people coming after me.
I've grown strong. Not yet to the level where I can confidently say I'll stop the invasion, but I'm no longer so weak that I'd be buried helplessly.
Even if some faction deliberately tries to bury me, I can bury them in return.
So, there's not a single reason for me to be intimidated before I even meet any being.
"Ha-yul, do you have a moment? Grandfather said he wanted to meet you and me together."
[Gasp...]
[Worry]
[Fear]
But that person was fearsome in a different sense.
My shoulders, which had just started to straighten, shrank right back down...
"Oh, don't be scared."
At my faintly visible unease, Yeon-hwa smiled softly and pulled me into a firm hug, not caring about the eyes around us.
"If Grandfather tries anything weird, I'll stop it all, so don't worry..."
[Happiness]
[Warmth]
[Scent of Milk]
[Worry...]
The embrace left my mind rather hazy, but the worry didn't just vanish entirely...
.
.
.
The place I arrived at with Yeon-hwa was a teahouse.
A building in a hanok-like style built of deep-toned wood. A staff member was already waiting at the entrance to guide us.
Escorted by the staff, we entered a room deeper inside the building.
- Rumble!
The staff opened the door and stepped aside. Yeon-hwa entered the room first, and I followed behind her.
Inside, a long low table was set with floor cushions instead of chairs.
"You've come."
There was already a guest seated in the spot facing the door. An elder sitting on a cushion across from the door was sipping tea.
"Yeah, knowing your temper, I came quick. Did well, right?"
"Indeed you did. As expected, a granddaughter's the only one for me. Don't just stand there getting sore legs, come sit."
The elder and Yeon-hwa exchanged words with casual ease.
I nodded in response to the gentle pat on my back and settled onto a cushion next to Yeon-hwa.
'So this is Yeon-hwa's grandfather...'
Sitting alongside Yeon-hwa, I swallowed dryly.
I carefully studied the elder sitting cross-legged and composedly drinking his tea.
His hair was streaked with gray but didn't droop lifelessly, and the wrinkles on his face were relatively few for his advanced age.
Also, the body hidden by his clothes was anything but frail. I could clearly sense the giant strength that could collapse a building with a single swing of his hand.
'Calamity Flame.'
When I heightened my Observation, my mana detection level, I sensed the flame slumbering inside his body.
For now, it lay quietly like docile embers, but it was a Calamity Flame that would surge with the force to scorch the world the moment its manifester wished it.
Yeon-hwa's grandfather, Hong Seong-jin, was the former head of the Calamity Flame family.
Simultaneously, he's a rare case in the Calamity Flame family of having stepped down from the family head position while still alive.
Those who reach the level of a Calamity Flame family head are all fully-realized superhumans with long lifespans, yet many don't live out their full years before departing.
In the first place, few superhumans in this line of work enjoy a full natural lifespan before they go.
But the rare exception, Hong Seong-jin, retired safe and sound, stepped down from the head seat, and became a member of the Calamity Flame Council of Elders.
'But I wasn't able to meet him last time.'
When I visited the Calamity Flame family last vacation, I'd met a few elders residing in the clan, but I hadn't met Hong Seong-jin.
'They said at the time he'd gone to the Demon Realm with the current family head.'
I'd wondered what a retired person was doing heading to the Demon Realm, but apparently his skills are still robust.
For that reason, he'd participated in that last Demon Realm expedition as well and been immensely active, they said.
The former Calamity Flame family head. Though he's withdrawn from active duty, his prowess is still top-tier hero level. A giant most people wouldn't dare meet the gaze of.
'I'm nervous...'
To me, far more than such flashy titles, that single label 'Yeon-hwa's grandfather' weighed much more heavily...
"So, you are the child called Lee Ha-yul?"
Clink— The elder set his teacup down on the table. Simultaneously, the gaze that had been contemplating the tea shifted toward me.
Though the light was a little muted, my reflection was captured in his distinctively fire-tempered, blazing-red eyes.
[Yes, I am Lee Ha-yul.]
At the flat voice resounding from the necklace, the elder's gaze dropped to the Confession Necklace hanging around my neck.
"Hmm, I'd heard your eyes and throat gave you trouble, and it seems you manage your voice via an artifact."
[That's correct.]
"I heard you'd replaced your sight with a detection ability, but lately there's talk you've been going about with your eyes open as well."
[Yes, the issue is showing improvement, so it's gradually getting better.]
"I see, that's welcome news. You must have suffered much hardship at a young age."
How should I answer that? That there wasn't really a problem? That honestly, even with a detection ability, it was incredibly hard?
While I hesitated briefly, the elder nodded to himself, took another sip of tea, and continued.
"Apologies for calling you out while the young ones are playing. I was absent last time and couldn't meet you, so I thought I ought to at least see your face this time."
[No, you needn't apologize. Well, if you hadn't come, Grandfather, I had been considering coming to see you myself.]
This time without delay, I shook my head, and the elder gave a warm smile.
"Unlike some people, a polite child, aren't you."
"You talking about me now?"
"Well, would I go out of my way to insult just anyone?"
"Unbelievable."
At Yeon-hwa's grumbling, the elder shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeon-hwa, you're also at an age now where you can fend for yourself somewhat. You wouldn't want this side interfering and telling you do this or that, would you?"
"Of course, I can handle my own business now."
"I thought as much. At your age, I too could look after myself just fine alone, and I wanted to as well."
The elder's gaze turned back to me.
"That is all. I simply wanted to meet and see your face; I didn't call you here to conduct some arbitrary evaluation."
"Still, you can't help but form a first impression, right? So, how is it?"
[?]
Yeon-hwa shrugged back, pulling the corners of her lips up, and then abruptly yanked me by the shoulder.
I, who had been sitting still, was dragged helplessly into leaning fully against Yeon-hwa's embrace. My eyes reflexively went round.
"Pretty, isn't he?"
"Hmm, for your temperament, you've caught yourself a very fine young lad."
The elder nodded his head more emphatically than any point since the meeting began.
[??]
At a flow completely different from what I'd imagined, question marks bobbed above my head.
* * *
