Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: It's a Misunderstanding
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"Rishir~"
The adorable weight on my chest came with Beryl's voice, pulling me pleasantly from sleep.
It had been a terribly sweet slumber.
But I could only savor that feeling for a moment.
"Wake up~ It's morning~"
Beryl's next words made my eyes snap open.
What? Morning?
That meant I'd blown off dinner with Fienne?
That I'd gone and followed the one piece of advice my mentor left behind?
My upper body shot upright.
"Ah, sorry."
I patted Beryl's head after she tumbled backward from the motion, then turned my ire on the culprit behind this disaster.
"Klana! Why didn't you wake me sooner!"
-Why are you snapping at me?
"Didn't I specifically tell you to wake me up!"
-When did you ever say that?
"Argh, forget it! I hate you anyway!"
-...How did I end up with a guy like this?
As I headed to the window to draw the curtains, something felt off.
Wasn't it a bit dark for morning?
Pulling back the curtains only strengthened that suspicion.
"For morning, it's awfully..."
To call this serene scene—glowing faintly with sunset hues—morning would require some pretty avant-garde sense of time.
Was Beryl pranking me to mess with my head?
Good lord, puberty already?
I shot her a look demanding an explanation.
Beryl, still sprawled flat on her back, stretched out her tiny limbs energetically and shouted.
"The time Rishir wakes up is morning!!! The time Rishir goes to sleep is night!!!"
"What tyrannical logic is this."
The fierce energy bursting from that little body seemed to seep straight into me.
Well, whatever. It was a good thing.
Starting the day(?) full of vim and vigor.
With Beryl's encouragement lifting my spirits, I began preparing to greet the day in high spirits.
A short while later.
After a quick primp in the room's attached bathroom, I checked the time.
The dinner with Fienne she'd mentioned.
She'd seemed keen on timing her visit for when I woke up, so maybe seeing that pretty face would jolt me fully awake.
'Perfect.'
Until then, I could refine the unfinished 'Enhancement' technique.
I paced the room, warming up my mana and focus.
Then, I recalled the form of the Enhancement I'd outlined through the night.
Its mana flow.
Its mechanism.
Soon, I brought that mentally constructed sensation into reality.
-Thump
An overwhelming surge followed.
It wasn't even remotely pleasant, not by a long shot.
Like chugging a bowl of coffee concentrate.
Power boiled up inside me, but I could feel that surging power wreaking havoc on my body every second.
-Thump!
Instinct screamed a warning.
Stop now.
Get out of this abnormal state.
'Calm down.'
I soothed that instinctive cry and steadied my breathing.
"Hoo..."
For someone like me—a frail girl prone to nosebleeds and fainting spells at any moment—the Blue Breath felt like a panacea these days.
A mage's 'Resonance' pushed mana sensitivity beyond limits, while a knight's 'Blue Breath' managed the resulting physical backlash.
That was the foundation of this Enhancement ability.
For me, proficient in both, it was theoretically ideal and straightforward.
Of course, straightforward didn't mean easy, apparently.
"Hah...! Hah...!"
Not long after activating Enhancement, I hit my limit and immediately halted everything, gathering my breath.
-Rishir!!! How was it!!! 'Rishir's Blazing White Flame'!!!
"Is that seriously the name of this technique...? Hah—please, just hold on..."
Once I'd barely stabilized, I shared my impressions of using the Enhancement with Klana and Dangleon, who were watching the spectacle in my inner world with keen interest.
This Enhancement was a power designed for temporary, drastic leaps in realm.
Like how Moria, at the fifth realm, had tried to overwhelm me at the sixth.
But as it was—
"Right now, it's borderline impossible for real combat, and I doubt it'd yield enough effect. It'll need more refining."
-What do you think the problem is?
"The problem..."
How perfectly one could control power beyond their own capacity.
That was the crux of this Enhancement.
I actively employed the subtleties of 'Conceptualization' when exerting that control.
The insight I'd gained from my duel with Morie.
The attempt succeeded.
My take on wielding it was 'insufficient,' not 'wrong.'
Probably close to the right path.
Yet problems arose because—
"It's probably my own lack of raw capacity."
I realized it while wielding Conceptualization's subtleties.
The piece of it I'd gained from Moria was just a fragment of the whole.
In a way, it made sense.
She'd been disguising herself as fifth realm then, after all.
-Lack of capacity?
-Nonsense!!! Don't say such things, Rishir!!! Blame this inanimate wench instead!
In the end, this issue boiled down to one conclusion.
"I'll need to seize a chance sometime and properly experience the seventh realm."
In that sense, the unwelcome guest was a welcome surprise.
Opportunity arrived far more suddenly and swiftly than I'd imagined.
-Knock knock
Thinking it was Fienne, I rushed to open the door.
There stood the familiar glasses lady.
Drey's agent.
She spoke to me with her usual businesslike edge, sharp as ever.
"Would you come with me? Lord Drey and Duke Palagr are waiting."
The mansion's basement, following the glasses lady.
The atmosphere was heavier than I'd anticipated.
A grand noble and a grand mage.
The two stood side by side, greeting me in silence.
In one corner of the basement, a high priest bound in an ice prison watched me with a meaningful smile.
-Rishir! Whatever the reason, those scum are on guard against Master!
I'd felt it on my skin even before Dangleon spoke.
Shoulders crushed, lungs squeezed—a crushing pressure.
The wariness of monsters too much to handle one-on-one overwhelmed me.
-That cultist bitch must've pulled some trick.
I inwardly nodded at Klana's words.
Otherwise, there was no reason for a grand noble and grand mage to suddenly wary of me.
I calmed my unease and waited composedly for their words.
All I'd done lately was win a duel.
And help root out a cultist infiltrator while hiding my identity.
Their agents had even sent positive signals this morning before leaving.
No such wariness then.
So, while they were showing positive interest—
The high priest must've meddled.
The seeds of doubt sown by the high priest between them.
All I needed to do was uproot those seeds.
I knew the stance to take.
"May I ask why you've summoned me?"
Showing weakness here would drag me under.
I couldn't give that high priest even a sliver of an opening.
Instead, I spoke with bold confidence and leisure.
"..."
"..."
My reaction caught them off guard; faint confusion and intrigue crossed their faces.
The oppressive pressure even eased.
"Rishir."
Finally, Palagr spoke.
"Do you know what this is?"
Palagr held up an opaque crystal orb.
"..."
I pretended to scrutinize it closely—
'Help!!!'
—while calling for aid from my inner world allies.
-Rishir! That's the Mirror of the Underside! An item imbued with power to glimpse a target's inner image!
'Inner image? Related to why they called me?'
-I, Dangleon, swear it! No being in this world has a purer inner image than Rishir! Those scoundrels, though!!! Repaying the favor of you rooting out the vermin in their midst with enmity! Peeking into Rishir's inner image without permission!
'Without permission...'
I latched onto Dangleon's words there.
Peeking into someone's inner image casually was a clear breach of etiquette.
One more solid reason to stand tall.
"The Mirror of the Underside. Showing me that first after summoning me here... Now I get the picture."
I gave a wry smile, expressing my regret.
Thereby pointing out their breach.
Faint bewilderment rose on their faces.
But only briefly.
"You get the picture... Then conversation should be easier. Rishir. Take a look at this."
Palagr swept his hand through the air and placed it over the Mirror.
The once-clear orb unfolded an inner image.
Blood formed ponds, black pillars of flame reached the sky, and a raging sandstorm piled into mountains, devouring heaven, sun, and all.
With that image behind him, Palagr addressed the glasses lady, Drey's agent.
"Ponia."
"Y-yes, Duke Palagr."
"What do you make of this inner image?"
"I believe no ordinary human could possess it."
"And who do you suppose its owner might be?"
"Undoubtedly a mighty, wicked being who's lived eons, amassing countless sins."
"I think the same."
Palagr's gaze turned to me.
"Who would believe this the inner image of a young mage just turning twenty."
I could roughly grasp the situation now.
High Priest Moria.
With their wariness peaking from her presence, she'd casually planted the seed.
Probably something like, 'So, what the hell is that kid who beat me?' to stir suspicion.
Even I felt their doubt was justified.
How anomalous I was—I knew from others' reactions all along.
A prickling gaze drew my eyes; there, Moria smiled gleefully at me.
-Your turn now!
As if her expression shouted it, brimming with delight and malice.
"Rishir."
Palagr's stern voice pressed me.
I stared at the orb, deep in thought.
How to navigate this.
How to explain that horrific inner image.
It puzzled me from the start.
Why my inner image was such a chaotic mess.
Blood seas, flame pillars, sandstorms—total pandemonium—
"...Huh?"
Wait.
Those...
They felt familiar somehow?
Suddenly, Fienne's face flashed in my mind.
-You're having the spirits reside in your inner world?
Her stunned expression upon seeing my state.
'No way...?'
I gazed at the orb and addressed my inner world residents.
Palagr demanded an explanation but had already made up his mind.
This inner image couldn't be talked away.
As Moria—who'd handed him the Mirror—said, he was surely a horrific, wicked being rivaling or surpassing a high priest.
Even a devil-worshipping high priest's image wasn't this gruesome.
"Reveal your true nature."
Even as he pressed for an answer, his focus was on ears, eyes, and senses—not words.
To capture the exact moment he lashed out upon revealing himself and respond instantly.
"..."
Then, Rishir glanced at the Mirror.
As if to say, look there.
"..."
Palagr didn't fall for it.
This was a being who'd toyed with even a high priest.
Its nature.
Beyond reckoning.
Not for a single instant could he—
"You! Fluffy Sparkles!"
"?"
A naive voice shattered the tension, utterly out of place.
A girl-shaped sand spirit had appeared at some point, hands on hips beside Rishir, glaring at Palagr.
"You're bullying Rishir right now!?"
"..."
Palagr blinked.
He'd heightened his senses to catch every mana flow and preempt any action.
Yet a spirit 'summoned' without his notice?
"...Duke Palagr? The Mirror—"
Drey's confused voice rang out.
Reluctantly, Palagr checked the Mirror.
The sandstorm halted.
"?"
Poof.
A grayish-white fire spirit 'summoned' next (?).
No mana reaction this time either.
The flame pillar extinguished.
"?"
Poof.
A girl spirit 'summoned' (?).
No mana reaction again.
The blood pond dried up.
The orb emptied.
"???"
Spirits suddenly appearing.
The inner image world suddenly vacant.
Unable to connect the dots with their knowledge and common sense, they could only gape alternately at the orb and Rishir.