Chapter 53
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Taming of the Thunder Spirit
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It was nearly half a day later when we returned to the barracks. The reason a trip that should have taken three to four hours ended up taking half a day was… well, it was obviously because of me.
Trian, apparently bothered by how I'd collapsed in exhaustion the moment I reached the barracks last time, guided me along the flattest, easiest path possible this time, even if it took longer.
Trian had wandered this area so much that he'd reached a point where he knew every detail, down to the number of old trees and acacia trees.
So, he would occasionally pick fruit for me or fetch potable water.
It took a long time, but thanks to him, the journey this time was quite smooth, and I was able to avoid the disgrace of collapsing the moment I returned to the barracks like before.
“Haa, shit… seriously…”
Well, of course, I only just managed to stay conscious… It was still a damn hard and difficult ordeal.
“Ah, you’ve returned. The sun had set, and you still weren't back. I was just beginning to wonder if I should send out a search party.”
From between the nearly completed barracks, Bellua of the Black Hammer appeared. In her hands were a small hammer and several nails.
“…Are you working on this yourself?”
I asked, looking quizzically at the sight of the squad leader holding tools herself.
“Sitting around just giving orders makes me antsy. Since I can’t drink, I’ve got to relieve stress by swinging a hammer!”
…Dwarves certainly have a unique way of relieving stress.
The more I talked with her, the stranger Bellua seemed to become.
“Oh, dwarves. Always so cute, no matter when I see them.”
As I was silently nodding at Bellua, a haughty voice suddenly and unexpectedly spoke from my right hand.
“…”
I furrowed my brow, staring at my right hand which had abruptly started talking. Beneath the skin of my right hand, from where the arrogant voice emerged, a faint, warm electricity—the same kind Dajin had emitted before—was trickling out.
“Excuse me?”
Currently, the staff-shaped artifact Dajin gave me is molecularized and absorbed beneath the skin of my right hand. And that staff has the function to summon Dajin and communicate with him.
Not my right hand itself.
“…Why are you talking?”
I hadn’t taken out the staff. I hadn’t even made a move to.
I hadn't focused on the new foreign sensation in my fingertips, nor had I uttered a word like ‘Manifest’ to bring out the staff.
So why is this guy suddenly raising his voice from under the skin of my hand?
“Are we not connected? Why ask something so obvious…”
“No, no. This isn't right. What's so obvious about… Are you insane?”
Our minds are connected so we can communicate *through the staff's effect*.
“Why are you talking when I haven't even taken out the staff?”
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even laugh.
Since when has this bastard been insidiously observing me and the people around me?
“…Well, can’t you cut me some slack? I just got a little excited seeing some cute dwarves for the first time in a while. You’re being too harsh.”
“That’s not the issue. Since when have you had our minds connected?”
“From the very beginning.”
“…Are you out of your mind?”
“Come on, I just wanted to see the outside world for the first time in a while.”
“You’ve been creepily watching like some kind of voyeur all this time, so what gives you the right to be so confident?”
This crazy pervert deer bastard had probably been observing me 24/7, and would have continued if I hadn't pointed it out.
The thought that this insane deer might have been watching my every move—how many times I go to the bathroom, who I meet and what we talk about, what foods I like and dislike—sent a chill down my spine so cold it felt like frost was forming.
“Voyeurism? I don’t even know what that is.”
This damn medieval era.
When the hell are they going to invent mental hospitals?
Then at least this lunatic might realize he’s insane.
“Look, if you wanted to see the outside world, you could have just said so beforehand! This is seriously creeping me out.”
“Alright. I wish to see the outside world for the first time in a while. I shall connect my mind to the staff.”
Dajin spoke the moment I finished my sentence.
…
It was far too late to be saying that now.
“I’ll snap off your antlers and grind them to…!”
“Aaaah! Your mouth! Your mouth! He’s the Spirit of Thunder, for crying out loud! Show some basic respect…!”
Just as I was about to hurl curses at the crackling lightning in my right hand, Rireu’s hand clamped over my mouth.
The elven race’s superior reflexes really didn’t need to shine in such a useless situation.
“It’s my first outing in a long time. Try to understand how I feel.”
“…”
Since my mouth was covered, I glared daggers at the lightning emerging from my hand, cursing it with my eyes instead.
“Well, if you really hate it, then so be it. Just don’t think about borrowing my power when you run into danger later. I don’t lend my strength to those who don’t entertain me.”
“…”
You’re telling me there’s no demerit to a staff that lets you wield a spirit’s power at will?
No, there is one.
And it’s a damn huge one.
This insane deer bastard himself is the demerit.
What kind of wealth and glory was the previous owner of this staff hoping to achieve, creating a staff to communicate with and summon a transcendent weirdo like Dajin?
The greatest achievement of the ancient who created this staff was trapping a lunatic like Dajin inside a stone. Their worst mistake was creating this damned staff that allows the well-contained Dajin to wander around and see the world.
“Bin-nim! Bin-nim, calm down and listen, okay? No matter what, Lord Dajin is the Spirit of Thunder, a transcendent being. He’s the one known as the origin of all the lightning magic we use! It won’t do you any good to get on his bad side. You know that, right?”
“Indeed, Rireu speaks quite eloquently. A time will come when you, too, need my power, will it not? I see no reason for you to deliberately displease me.”
It's not like I'm in some dating sim game. Do I really have to rack my brain trying to please this guy?
“Bin-nim, right? You won’t say anything bad to Lord Dajin, will you?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded a few times to signal that it was okay.
Rireu patted me once more as if soothing a child, then slowly removed her hand from my mouth.
“I’m going to shatter every last one of this deer bastard’s antlers…”
Sorry, Rireu. That was a lie.
“Aaaaaah!”
Rireu now shrieked as she tried to cover my mouth with both hands.
“I have a right to privacy, you know! Acting like this makes you nothing but a pervert…!”
I dodged her hands left and right, spitting out my words through the gaps between her fingers.
“Please, Bin-nim, please!”
Rireu pleaded in a desperate voice.
Of course, her desperate pleas weren't about to make me stop.
I had to say what needed to be said.
“Ha! So you refuse to bow your head! It’s been a while since I’ve met someone so stiff-necked.”
Dajin, as if deciding to tease me outright, began to pour warm lightning from my hand. The lightning gathered into a single point and instantly took the form of a deer.
“My judgment was not mistaken!”
Dajin grinned, shoving his face close to mine.
…What a truly shitty artifact.
***
The barracks were all but complete. Three mages, staves slung over their backs, walked slowly down the road flanked by long rows of weapon depots and warehouses.
A crescent moon already hung high overhead, and their clothes were caked with a mixture of dirt, dust, and sweat from the past few weeks of going unwashed.
“Good, another day with no incidents.”
“Damn it, I want to wash up already. I haven’t even been able to wash my face properly in days.”
“Didn’t they say they built a bathhouse in the barracks? Can’t we use it?”
“The drainage was finished yesterday, but I guess they haven’t brought in clean water yet.”
“This is driving me crazy. Can’t wash, can’t do laundry, seriously… Hey, wanna smell my robe?”
“Don’t say such disgusting things. My own robe smells like rotten cheese. I have no desire to smell someone else’s stench on top of that.”
The three mages, all part of Squad Leader Bellua’s unit, seemed to be quite close. The male mage in the blue robe, positioned in the middle, grimaced at the smells wafting from his companions’ clothes and muttered a quiet curse.
The mage on the left, as if curious about how bad his own stench was, actually pulled his robe up to his nose. The female mage on the right walked on, staring blankly at the now-completed barracks.
“Oh, is it that time already?”
“Hey! The mages are back. Let’s start wrapping up for the day!”
The dwarves, who had lost track of time while hammering away under the light of lanterns, saw the three mages walking back to their tents and began to wind down.
“Finish up and come back! I want to get the evening roll call over with and rest.”
The blue-robed mage, who was heading back to the tent with his companions, scowled and hurried the dwarven infantry who were still working late.
“Hey, just a minute! We’re not done with the roof yet!”
“This is going to take a while again.”
“We’ll go on ahead. Make sure you’re back before roll call!”
Hearing the dwarf’s shout from the alley, the mages let out a familiar, light sigh and continued along the path toward their tents.
As they followed the path, the warm glow of light and the large tent they had been staying in finally came into view.
“…No, Bin-nim! Please, please watch what you’re…!”
Just as the three mages, eager to rest, quickened their pace and reached the tent, Rireu’s desperate scream faintly reached their ears.
“…What’s that? Did Bin-nim collapse again?”
“If he did, the squad leader would have just carried him back. It wouldn’t be this noisy.”
“You don’t think something happened, do you?”
The three mages paused, listening to the unusually loud noises coming from the forest.
“I’m telling you…!”
That voice belonged to the boy, Bin, and it sounded full of anger.
Hearing it, the male mage in the blue robe glanced uneasily at his companions.
The only side of the boy named Bin that these three mages had seen was him lying weakly in a carriage, or bowing his head first and greeting his subordinates in a half-hoarse voice.
The sound of the boy expressing his anger so violently felt utterly alien to them.
“Wh-whoa?! Wait a second…”
Next, they heard the startled voice of their superior, Bellua.
“…Ha! How amusing…!”
After Bellua’s surprised voice came a haughty, self-satisfied, laughter-filled voice.
It was a voice they had never heard before.
“Hey, let’s go see.”
The female mage, as if sensing something ominous, pulled her half-entered foot out of the tent and turned toward the commotion.
The three mages dragged their bodies, weary from long days of guard duty, and ran toward the source of the noise.
And what they found there… was a sight that even they, who had dedicated their lives to studying magic, had never seen before.
A majestic deer made of lightning stood there. Upon seeing it, the mages all felt a sensation as if a colossal bolt of lightning had pierced through their entire bodies.
No one had to explain it to them, but they recognized it at once.
This was the Spirit of Thunder, known only through ancient texts.
They were not students of the lightning school of magic. The mage in the blue robe was a practitioner of earth and fire magic, and the other two mated in water and wind, respectively.
Nevertheless, they couldn't help but instantly recognize the deer made of lightning, the thunder spirit Dajin.
The mana Dajin unconsciously emitted felt so pure and beautiful.
“That’s…”
Without prompting, the three mages were instantly captivated by the sight of Dajin’s overwhelming presence. Had they been mages of the lightning school, they would have gladly approached Dajin and bowed their heads. A strange sense of wonder emanated from the deer.
“Yes, the Spirit of Thunder…”
“Incredible. I hope I can one day meet the Spirit of Wind…”
“This insane deer bastard…!”
In this moment that should have brought a student of magic to tears, an angry voice pierced their ears, and a slender arm shot into their field of vision.
White hair followed the pale, thin wrist, blurring their sight.
The savior who would rescue the people of the continent, the rising star of the hero’s party, the most promising mage in history.
The fist of the boy Bin—
Was flying toward Dajin’s face.
“Huh.”
A single sound escaped. The brains of the three mages simultaneously shut down.
They couldn’t properly process the scene unfolding before them, and their minds overloaded.
Bin was throwing an angry punch at Dajin.
In other words.
The lightning mage called a prodigy of the century was throwing a punch at the Spirit of Thunder!
“Bin-nim! Please… I’m sorry! Lord Dajin, I’m so sorry!”
Alter Haindel’s top disciple, the elf Rireu, rushed forward, grabbing Bin’s arm and bowing her head to Dajin.
“Calm down, calm down, General! You can’t act like that toward a transcendent being! If you do something to offend him and he tells us to leave the forest…!”
Their squad leader, Bellua of the Black Hammer, was just as panicked by Bin’s actions. She seemed worried that Bin would incur the wrath of the thunder spirit and throw a wrench into a mission that was in its final stages.
“Ha! How cute. Go on, dance for me. Should I put on some music for you?”
…The being known as the Spirit of Thunder merely scoffed, mocking the young prodigy whose clumsy punch had been blocked by the two.
“…”
The three mages could only stare blankly at the situation unfolding before them.
“…What in the world is happening?”
They couldn't make any sense of the situation.
…No, probably no one could have made sense of it.
So they just stared blankly for a while before quietly slipping away from the scene of the commotion and returning to their tent.
It didn't seem like they could accomplish anything by getting involved in that mess, and they might just get caught in the crossfire if they stuck around.
They contented themselves with gossiping about the bizarre spectacle they had witnessed after the evening roll call, sitting around a campfire with their squad mates for dinner.
“Haha! That’s insane, isn’t the Spirit of Thunder a transcendent being? To throw a punch at a transcendent being… there are plenty of eccentrics among mages, but this is beyond common sense!”
“The General’s got quite a beast hidden inside him, despite his delicate appearance!”
The story that began with the mages spread through the dwarves to the entire squad, and…
“What?! The General fought the Spirit of Thunder for several hours?!”
…with the dwarves’ characteristic exaggeration.
“Why would the General and the Spirit of Thunder even fight?! Aren’t mages and spirits friends?”
“It must have been to tame it. The General covets even the power of a spirit.”
“…He always smiled so politely, but to think he was hiding such a beastly side.”
“No matter what anyone says, he is the one who carries the future of the continent’s people on his shoulders. He must have felt the need to further increase his own strength to lead the war to victory.”
“Fighting a spirit… is that how mages get stronger?”
“…I suppose so?”
When a touch of ignorance about magic was added to the mix…
“They say the General finally managed to tame the Spirit of Thunder.”
“Incredible… He truly deserves the title of the mage who will save the world.”
And so, yet another bizarre rumor was born.