Raising the General's Affection (1)

I opened the territory management window and it says ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one of them has some kind of Blessing.

What's a Blessing? Is it good?

With Rien, the direct approach always worked best.

Scheming and hiding your true intentions were the things she hated most of all. Since my goal was to win her favor and bring her in as an ally, I simply told her the truth.

"The Abyss of the Army. Our Termin family destroyed it."

Rien, who commanded the wind, could sense when others were lying. That was exactly why, in Crack Kingdom, any empty flattery directed at her immediately tanked her affection. As a veteran player I already knew that, so I had treated her with nothing but honesty from the start.

"······It's not a lie?"

Once again, Rien found no falsehood in my words.

"H-how? That Great Rift crushed even the Hero's party without a single scratch and forced them into a total rout—how in the world did you destroy it?!"

The moment she confirmed my words were true, Rien shot out a hand and seized my arm in a crushing grip, her voice urgent. As one of the Ten Swords of the Kingdom charged with protecting the realm, discovering any possibility of destroying the Great Rifts that were driving humanity toward extinction naturally left her frantic.

"······Lady Rien, that hurts if you squeeze so hard."

Urgency or not, wringing the arm of a fragile ordinary person like a wet rag was not acceptable.

"Ah—s-sorry. I got carried away without realizing."

When I winced slightly, Rien snapped back to herself with a sharp intake of breath and released my arm at once.

That fucking hurt. That's definitely going to bruise.

"From now on, I'd appreciate it if you were a little more careful. I'm not a mana practitioner, after all."

"R-right. Of course. I'll be more careful next time."

I gave her a mild but firm warning. Under normal circumstances, a fledgling baron from a minor house scolding Rien—hero of the Benos Kingdom—would have been unthinkable. But I had spent nearly half the day pouring every ounce of effort into praising her and raising her affection. On top of that, I had just revealed that the Termin family had destroyed a Great Rift. In this moment, the one who needed to watch their step was not me—it was Rien.

The initiative was mine. And from this point forward, I had no intention of ever letting her seize it back.

"Then allow me to explain. How our Termin family destroyed the Abyss of the Army."

I drew my index finger through the empty air. Mana particles coalesced into a single point, then rapidly reshaped themselves into a familiar button form roughly the size of a fist.

The Red Button—the reason I had been able to obliterate the Abyss of the Army.

The moment I activated Red Button Mode, a blue notification window appeared before my eyes.

"······What are you doing? Why are you fiddling with empty air?"

Rien apparently could see neither the Red Button nor the blue window. Visible only to the mode's user, then. A stealth function—convenient in more ways than one.

I opened the catalog and turned to her.

"To show you how we destroyed the Abyss of the Army, I'll need General Rien's cooperation. Would you mind helping me for a moment?"

"Ah—of course! I'll help with anything! If you need something, don't hesitate—just say the word!"

Rien nodded vigorously. Once her affection was high, her willingness to cooperate was another of her defining traits.

"In that case, could you dismantle those beast-type and insect-type magic beast corpses I summoned earlier—fifteen of each?"

I smiled brightly and, just as she had invited, made the request without the slightest hesitation.

"······H-huh? M-me? You want me to butcher magic beast corpses?"

"Yes. If you don't, I won't be able to show you."

Ordering one of the Ten Swords of the Kingdom to do a butcher's work. Under normal circumstances it would have been grounds for drawing steel and delivering summary justice for insulting high nobility—and I wouldn't even have been able to complain. But Rien could do nothing to me. She had already confirmed that my claim—"the Termin family destroyed the Abyss of the Army"—was the absolute truth. When someone had destroyed one of the ten Great Rifts driving humanity to ruin, who would dare lay a hand on them lightly?

"Haaah, fine. If Baron Offen says it's necessary, I'll lend a hand."

Even so, the fact that one of the Ten Swords would actually butcher corpses at a baron's request was still extraordinary. If any other Ten Sword had been standing before me instead of Rien, they might not have killed me—but they would never have granted a request like this. That was precisely why I had to make Rien mine.

In the world of Crack Kingdom, powerhouses on Rien's level were almost all the type who lived for their own greatness—high-minded if you were being charitable, contemptuous of everyone beneath them if you weren't. Among warriors who wouldn't even tolerate being spoken to by someone they considered inferior, Rien was a true oasis in the desert.

"Fifteen beast-types, fifteen insect-types. Just carve them up as I see them, right?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Then—"

Rien lightly closed her open right hand. The shape of that empty fist, as if it already held a sword, looked strange. I felt no surprise. I already knew exactly what she was about to do.

"Beginning."

The instant Rien took a single step toward the magic beast corpses strewn before the walls, the surrounding air began to rush into her right hand.

Whoooosh—

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠current of air streaming toward her palm became wind. She had seized the wind itself. That was one of the powers of the unique Blessing that manifested in only a single person across an entire era—the SS-rank Gale Blessing.

The technique's name was Blade Wind: literally gripping the wind like a sword and swinging it. Simple, fast, and convenient. She only drew the Gale Sword Oberon at her hip when her life was on the line; for everyday chores, Rien handled everything with Blade Wind.

Just like now.

Shhhraaak—! Ssshk-ssshk-ssshk!

Rien swept the Blade Wind once horizontally. The boar-type magic beast corpse in front of her was instantly reduced to neat pieces. Every part was cleanly separated; the large bones were perfectly stripped of flesh and muscle; the organs were extracted without a single nick.

The five idiots who had "class-changed" into butchers today would have needed an entire day of frantic effort to dismantle a single beast. Rien finished the job perfectly with one motion.

This is what a Ten Sword of the Kingdom looks like······.

While I was still marveling at seeing Rien's prowess in the flesh—something I had only ever watched on a monitor—she wordlessly swung the Blade Wind several more times. That alone perfectly dismantled all fifteen beast-type corpses.

"Next, the insect-types, then."

Insect-type magic beasts, with their rock-hard carapaces, were called "hard targets" because even a knight's mana-coated blade struggled to cut them. It took at least three knights to bring down a single one; their defense was notoriously troublesome.

Shhhraaak—!!! Ssshk-ssshk-ssshk! Clang!

Yet those same carapaces parted before Rien's Blade Wind as easily as ripe fruit. The insect-type corpses were dismantled just as flawlessly as the beast-types.

"Done. Never thought I'd end up doing butcher's work after becoming one of the Ten Swords—life really does throw you the strangest things. Still, it felt surprisingly refreshing! Ahahaha!"

Rien dispersed the Blade Wind from her right hand, planted both fists on her hips, and laughed heartily. A laugh as bracing as a clean wind. I found myself smiling as I reached toward the dismantled corpses.

"Store."

Shuuuuk—

The corpses Rien had dismantled entered my inventory bearing the modifier "Perfect." Things that had been worth zero as intact carcasses had revealed their true value the moment they passed through her Blade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Wind.

With the dismantled parts in hand, I opened the Red Button Catalog and began scrolling for the item I had already decided on. Beside me, Rien—who had been watching with poorly concealed curiosity—finally asked the question she had been holding back.

"Um, Baron Offen. I've been wanting to ask since earlier······ are you converting objects into mana particles and storing them? How on earth can you use magic like that?"

She was asking about my inventory. I answered with a gentle smile.

"It's not magic. It's a Fragment of the Great Rift I obtained after destroying the Abyss of the Army. It lets me manipulate subspace and store anything I own."

"W-what kind of absurd ability is that······. What's the capacity limit?"

"There isn't one. It's infinite."

"Good heavens······."

"It's still too early to be surprised."

Leaving the speechless, stunned Rien for a moment, I purchased the item I had chosen. Buying just one of them cost three perfect boar magic beast sets and three perfect mantis magic beast sets.

Six perfect magic beast sets for a single item—seriously fucking expensive.

I was glad I had asked her to dismantle a generous fifteen of each. I pressed the Red Button.

Click.

Wooong—

A small dimensional gate opened in the ground, and a man-portable air-defense system—specifically a Stinger—rose into view. It was the only missile I could currently afford. Of all the missiles in the Red Button Catalog it had the weakest firepower, but it would be more than enough.

"Baron Offen, what in the world is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this?"

"An ability that manifests only in the direct bloodline of the Termin family. The Incarnation of Destruction."

I slung the Stinger over my shoulder and made another request.

"General, would you lift one of the magic beast corpses high into the air with your wind?"

"Ah—of course."

Whoooosh—!

At my request Rien stirred the wind, and a boar magic beast corpse rose into the sky. A mass that easily weighed several tons, floating as lightly as a feather. I renewed my resolve to make her my ally and recited the activation phrase for the MANPADS that I had memorized the night before.

"Lock on."

"Fire."

Click. Fwoooosh—!!!

I pulled the Stinger's trigger. The missile erupted in flame and streaked toward the target at Mach 2.2.

BOOOOM—!!

The boar magic beast corpse, only 123 meters away in a straight line, was struck dead-on a mere 0.2 seconds after launch and vanished without a trace.

"W-what······."

"This is my ability—the Incarnation of Destruction."

I spoke to Rien, who was staring open-mouthed at the empty sky where the corpse had floated.

"An ability that summons weapons of destruction in exchange for a price."

The power of Red Button Mode.

"······Wait. You pay a price to summon weapons of destruction? Then······ just how enormous a price did you consume to destroy the Abyss of the Army······?"

Rien froze for a moment, then finally asked the question I had been waiting for. I answered in a calm voice, wearing a bitter expression.

"I consumed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity······."

Yes. In order to summon the nuclear missile capable of destroying the Abyss of the Army, I had used up the one-time free sample service. Looking back, it had been money well spent. One button press had erased the Abyss of the Army, saved the territory from crisis, and even granted me the broken ability known as Inventory. My review of the free sample was complete satisfaction.

But to Rien, who knew none of that context, it clearly sounded like something else entirely.

"Baron Offen······ did you sacrifice what must have been a brilliantly shining talent for mana? For the sake of humanity······?"

Rien clutched her chest and said something completely off the mark.

Exactly as I had expected. Exactly as I had hoped.