Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Councilor Gadam's Proxy
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"G-Get out of the way!"
The man who had stormed into the annex with his guards in tow, full of bluster—Gadam.
He now showcased a desperate countercharge, barreling straight through the guards blocking his path.
"..."
Dogal and the other guards were dumbfounded by their captain's indiscriminate valor. Their eyes desperately chased his massive retreating figure.
"...What do we do, Captain?"
A moment later, one of the guards asked Dogal, his face a picture of worldly confusion.
"Fuck if I know..."
Dogal, who had cultivated refined speech during his time as captain, spat out the raw words. A former wandering mercenary, he instinctively knew his guard captain days were over.
He turned his gaze to the young punk—no, the enigmatic young mage—before him.
A reckless thought crossed his mind in his anger.
'If I grab this punk and hand him over to Gadam...'
Gadam's guard captain position was far too sweet to abandon just like that.
More than that, he believed it was entirely feasible.
The guy was standing there all alone, defenseless, wasn't he?
Dogal didn't think this young honorary mage had the power to take on their entire force.
Nor did he believe whatever backing the kid had could turn the tables.
It was then, as Dogal's hand drifted toward the sword at his waist with a strange expression—
"...!"
Dogal recoiled in horror without realizing it.
"Hah...!"
"W-What the hell?!"
The other guards reacted the same way.
Rishir.
Blood suddenly gushed from every orifice on his face.
If Rishir had been writhing in agony while bleeding, they might not have panicked so much.
But Rishir was utterly nonchalant.
"Ha."
No. Nonchalant didn't even cover it.
The sight of him sneering while blood poured from every hole in his face evoked an eerie dread, especially piled atop the scene where Gadam had fled in preemptive terror.
'F-Fuck, he's not a black mage, is he?'
Dogal's hand still hovered near his sword at his waist, but the vibe it gave off was subtly different now.
Before, it had been 'Should I just go for it?' Now it was more like 'Fuck, what the hell is this? What's going on?'
"Excuse me for a moment."
At that point, Rishir asked politely and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the blood.
He then closed his eyes and focused his mind. His breathing gained intent, and a faint energy rippled around his body.
"Fuck, what the hell is this? A mage—"
One guard's mutter voiced Dogal's exact sentiment.
If Rishir had known Dogal was harboring ill intentions, he wouldn't have so casually demonstrated his blue breathing technique while defenseless.
To Dogal's eyes, Rishir looked full of openings, completely vulnerable.
Yet Dogal couldn't muster the nerve to charge.
A mage who suddenly bled from every orifice and then started performing a breathing technique? Dogal wasn't brave(?) enough to rush such a being blindly.
Besides, some bizarre phenomenon unfolding right now had completely seized Dogal's attention.
Rishir thought.
'Oh, what's this? My breathing feels smoother than usual. This sensation... If I play it right, I might break through to the next stage after Clana style?'
Dogal thought.
'What the fuck is this guy?'
Dogal took another step back.
Was it because Rishir's bloodied, suddenly satisfied smile sent chills down his spine?
Yes. That was reason one.
And reason two—
'Why the hell is he changing—'
To Dogal's eyes, trained to a certain level as a swordsman, it was clear as day.
Rishir.
His energy and physique were subtly shifting.
To put it simply, it was a transformation.
Or evolution.
The mage from moments ago had instantly become a swordsman.
Not just any swordsman, but one on a distinctly higher level.
The surge in mana emanating from him was just icing on the cake.
"..."
Dogal calmly sorted through the situation.
1. The mage suddenly started bleeding from every orifice on his face.
2. He suddenly started grinning creepily.
3. Then he became a swordsman.
4. Not content with that, he became an even superior swordsman.
"Ah, that's done."
"Ughack!"
Rishir's nonchalant voice snapped Dogal from his reverie.
After that absurd sequence of changes, his first words were "Ah, that's done."
'W-What the hell is done!? Is he telling us to come at him!?'
Dogal racked his brain trying to decipher the intent behind those words.
'Is that a warning...? Like, 'I can handle trash like you with just a sword—''
Even as he thought it, Dogal couldn't shake the feeling that it sounded ridiculous.
What kind of "being" issues a warning like that?
But there was no other way to explain the guy's actions.
And while the actions could at least be rationalized somewhat, that "real-time transformation" defied all explanation.
At last.
Guard Captain Dogal steeled himself as a swordsman and declared solemnly.
"I've only ever followed Gadam's orders up to now!"
"?"
Dogal, who had just been looking at Gadam like he was insane.
Now wore an expression eerily similar to Gadam's.
Dogal didn't bolt like Gadam had.
He didn't think fleeing from this "incomprehensible entity" would save him anyway.
"I permit your retreat!"
Rishir had no idea why Gadam had come with his guards.
Not knowing why they'd come, he couldn't fathom why they were leaving.
'Do I need to give permission for that? Hell, what's even going on here?'
Rishir's confusion showed on his face.
'Damn...'
Dogal felt a surge of despair at Rishir's reaction.
-Does he think I'd buy that crap?
To Dogal, the puzzlement from this incomprehensible being felt like that.
"I swear, I won't disappoint you!"
Rishir shrugged casually and played along.
Dogal beamed with relief and departed with his men.
Left alone, Rishir pondered to grasp the situation.
"Could it be... something with Verbandes...?"
And the follow-up thought.
"...Wait, did I do something?"
The moment the incomprehensible entity became aware of his own influence.
The city nobles clustered by the hall's windows.
From there, they watched the events unfolding in the annex's front garden.
Rishir.
Standing alone against Gadam and his guards, forcing their retreat.
Moments later, Rishir returned to the hall where they gathered.
"You're back."
Rishir sensed something off from Ran welcoming him and the other city nobles.
'Something... feels closer? Like the distance shrank?'
The subtle distance between Ran and the city nobles that he'd felt before leaving the hall had vanished without a trace.
More than that.
A strong bond, like solidarity, emanated from them.
"Rishir. How'd things go with Gadam?"
"He issued an expulsion order for us. Says we have to leave the mansion immediately."
Ooooh!
The city nobles exchanged glances and cheered.
Ran gazed at Rishir with shining eyes.
"As expected, you pulled it off. I believed in you."
"No..."
What did he pull off? What was she believing in?
Rishir suddenly felt left out.
Like everyone was throwing a birthday party for him—except him.
Clearly, something was happening centered on him—
Yet he, the center, had no clue what it was.
"Rishir. You've fulfilled your duty. More than fulfilled it—you've done so much for us. So please. Leave the rest to us."
Ran's hands gripped Rishir's firmly.
"Rishir. You may not know my name. Please remember it."
"I'm Bellas."
"I'm—"
The introductions ended only after every noble had bowed and given their names.
"Rishir. Once everything's settled, we'll contact you then."
Afterward, they all headed to Ran's mansion together.
"..."
My stuff's still here.
Overcome by an inexplicable awkwardness, Rishir turned back to Ran's mansion just in the nick of time.
'They said they'd contact me when everything's done, so I can just wait at the mage tower.'
Returning to Ran's mansion, Rishir immediately prepared to head back to the mage tower.
Preparations were simple enough.
Pack the stuff in his room, say goodbyes, done.
"Got everything?"
Stuff packed. Goodbyes left.
Rishir piled his belongings on the bed and headed straight for Valrod's room.
"He's not in?"
"Yes. He's attending a meeting in Lady Ran's office right now."
"Ah..."
"And Lord Valrod left a message in case you visited while he was away."
"What did he say?"
"I'll relay it verbatim. 'I offer my respects for your hard work. We'll handle the rest, so rest easy and await the results.'"
"..."
What.
This polite, respectful brush-off.
Not knowing what decisive action of his had earned their courtesy and respect only deepened Rishir's confusion.
Soon enough, he encountered the same at Shakan and Maldad's rooms, so Rishir returned to his own.
'Timing's awkward, nowhere good to crash tonight. Might as well stay here one more night, set a proper time tomorrow for goodbyes before leaving. They won't mind an extra day.'
In the end, Rishir picked up the blue lotus flower he'd placed on the bed and headed to the garden outside.
'Perfect timing actually. I was meaning to sort out that sensation from before.'
Hoo.
Rishir regulated his breathing.
Having just terrified a guard captain with his stance shift, he was about to dive into proper sword training—
"Hm?"
His gaze shifted to the garden wall.
A white pigeon perched there, watching him.
Rishir felt an inexplicable familiarity from the pigeon.
"Coo, coo cooroo...?"
Rishir tried talking to the pigeon!
-What are you doing?
A friendly voice emanated from the pigeon's beak.
"Coo, cooroo... coo!?"
-Please, speak in human language?
"Fienne...! How'd you end up a pigeon?!"
-Ah...
The pigeon opened its beak in a sigh.
The headache its owner felt transmitted perfectly.
-Anyway, come back to the mage tower right now. We need to talk.
"Getting to sit down face-to-face with Fienne right away for some quality time? Music to my ears... Sorry, can't right now. Work's not done yet."
-What work? Swinging a sword alone in the garden? For that matter, why are you even holding a sword?
"Oh, I'm learning swordsmanship."
-?
"?"
-What the... What did you do while I wasn't looking... Huh? What's that.
"Fienne?"
No reply came.
-Coo?
The pigeon glanced around once, then spread its wings and flew off somewhere.
"...?"
The magic must've been disrupted mid-transmission, garbling the pigeon's "pronunciation."
Thanks to that, Rishir missed the tail end: "I can't see what I'm saying right now—no, what? Gadam..." He just tilted his head.
'Once this is wrapped up, straight to Fienne. Wonder what she's been up to lately? Rona too.'
Rishir's sword training resumed only long after.
"Hm?"
Knock knock knock!
A urgent knock late at night.
Rishir, who had finished training and was lying in bed resting, got up and headed to the door.
A maid—not his assigned one, another—waited outside.
"Sorry for the late hour, Lord Rishir. She requests a meeting."
"She?"
"Lady Dogal."
"..."
Dogal?
Guard Captain Dogal?
Why's he calling for me?
'Should be fine? If he meant trouble, he'd have done it at Gadam's place.'
Flustered but compliant, Rishir followed the maid.
They took a carriage to some building.
"Mmph, mmph!!!"
A portly man, hooded and bound.
'That silhouette looks familiar...'
Then Dogal approached Rishir.
"Lord Rishir, Proxy Councilor! We've captured 'him' preparing a secret escape from the city!"
"..."
Rishir doubted his ears.
'Proxy Councilor Rishir what?'