Chapter 69: As the Old Saying Goes, One Can Neither Kill Nor Truly Raise a Disciple (4)
Chapter 69: As the Old Saying Goes, One Can Neither Kill Nor Truly Raise a Disciple (4)
Rushing winds and salty water bombs mercilessly battered the boat.
The disciples were caught in the middle of it, screaming their lungs out.
To me, however, it was merely a cool breeze that tempered the heat of my flames, so I continued to drive the boat with a calm expression.
Splash!
The boat bounced off The Sea once and soared into the air again.
The energy I was putting out wasn't just meant to skim the surface; it was enough to launch us into the sky.
The boat, flying through the air, would gradually descend, strike the water, and then bounce back up again.
This movement was intentional, created by my careful adjustment of The Hammer’s power.
Travel time is a waste, after all, so shouldn't one train even during moments like this?
"Save m—!"
"Kyaaaaaah!"
The disciples gripped the handles tightly, clearly unwilling to die.
To be precise, they were merely holding on; in reality, they were dancing to the rhythm of the Rubber Boat's violent thrashing.
At this rate, if their hands even slipped from the handles, they’d be headed straight for The Afterlife.
Prohibition and I were essentially one with the boat, so it wasn't an issue for us.
In fact, it was almost comfortable.
"Slowly connect your mana to the Rubber Boat. Mana has the power to do that. Mana released externally is..."
"How are we supposed to do th—?!"
Thump!
Perhaps because she had opened her mouth, Han A-bin lost her grip on the handle and floated into the air.
I caught sight of her suspended in the sky, her face a mask of pure terror.
Normally, I would have caught her, but I simply slowed down slightly and watched with a detached gaze.
"Child. It's dangerous, so you must hold on tight."
"Urgh."
Just as Han A-bin was about to fly away, her clothes were snagged by the rifle Prohibition extended, pulling her back to her original spot.
"Grab the handle. You'll fly off again."
Seeing her grab the handle again with a pale face, it seemed she still had enough sanity left to realize what her lifeline was.
"Now, let's continue the lecture. A weapon touches your hand. In that case, can it be considered a part of your body? Will mana or Qi flow through it?"
Thump!
The boat struck The Sea again, and both disciples were launched into the air.
"Kyaaaaah...!"
"What about the weap—?!"
Splash!
The voices of the two were drowned out by the waves, but I ignored them and continued the lecture.
"The answer is that mana or Qi does flow through it. Pushing this to the extreme is what martial artists call Weaponry Skills. They view the weapon as part of their own body and wrap it in internal energy."
Was it Sword Qi or an Aura Sword? What did they call it again? Well, it doesn't matter.
The theory is what's important.
"Master! What does that have to do with this chaos right now—?!"
Baek Si-hyun seemed to be listening, as she started shouting noisily. On the other hand, Han A-bin was staring into space with a pale face, her mouth shut tight.
This content is more important for Han A-bin, so I hope she's listening...
If she says she doesn't remember, I'll just have to explain it again later.
Though I won't be as merciful then as I am now.
"Look at this. Doesn't something seem strange? Even at this speed, the Rubber Boat is maintaining its shape. And Prohibition isn't even holding a handle; she's just sitting there on her butt, perfectly fi—"
Slap!
Suddenly, Prohibition slapped my cheek.
"What was that for, you brat?!"
"One should not use such a vulgar word as 'butt' when referring to a lady... Hammer Kid."
Is she crazy?
Well, she was always crazy.
There's no point in trying to use common sense with a madwoman, so I gave her a glare and returned to the lecture.
"The conversation got sidetracked, but the point is that the power Heroes possess can connect even to objects that aren't their own equipment. Through that, you can reinforce the object. It doesn't happen normally; you have to be conscious of it."
Just as Prohibition connected her body to the Rubber Boat.
And just as I wrapped the entire boat in mana through my hammer.
If it were an ordinary Rubber Boat, it would have been torn apart long ago, but in reality, isn't it maintaining its shape perfectly like this?
"Han A-bin, Baek Si-hyun. You two probably use this all the time. Reinforcing the weapon or arrow in your hand. This is a technique to make you use that consciously, rather than leaving it in the realm of the unconscious."
Saying so, I looked at Prohibition again.
She, who stood at the pinnacle of bestowal techniques.
I previously explained her as a representative Hero of the martial arts type, but in reality, specialists in such power are users of modern firearms, like guns.
In the case of guns, they can be reinforced with bullets, but there's a limit, so they must transcend those limits with such bestowal techniques.
In Prohibition's case, combined with her schizophrenia, she had reached a level where she could even transform the very shape of the gun according to her belief.
But Prohibition is a special case.
"So, like this..."
"I'll tr—"
Thump!
The two disciples were bounced away.
Oh dear. A rejection reaction.
Well, I suppose it's hard to think of a slippery Rubber Boat like this as part of one's own body.
Whish. Whish.
Once again, her rifle swung out, safely rescuing the disciples who were flying through the sky.
"Hammer. Drive a bit more gently."
"It's their fault."
Since it's an extreme situation, they'll learn on their own.
It's roughly 1,000km from the East Coast to Hokkaido.
Even if they don't master it, they can endure for two or three hours.
"Well, you won't die, so try to learn it."
Splash!
Seawater swept over the Rubber Boat as it settled down again, and when the water cleared, no one was to be seen.
"Where did they both go?"
"They were swept away by the waves, dear. This auntie is tired."
"..."
I dove into The Sea.
Those damn disciples.
* * *
Ssssssssss.
As land began to appear, I turned off The Hammer’s afterburner and dipped it into The Sea to cool it down.
Leaving a trail of rising steam behind, the Rubber Boat, which had been racing across The Sea with its remaining momentum, slowly decelerated and ran up onto the sandy beach.
"Alright. We've arrived."
"Land! Mother Earth!"
"I'm alive! I made it back alive! Si-hyun!"
Shouting strange things, the two disciples scrambled out of the boat.
Perhaps they were checking if it was truly solid ground, as they knelt on the earth and began scooping up sand with their hands and throwing it at each other—they didn't look sane.
They looked even worse than when they were flying through the air in my grip yesterday.
Even Baek Si-hyun, who had been fine yesterday, was pouring sand over Han A-bin with a bizarre expression.
...Nature truly is a terrifying thing.
"You're a better teacher than I thought."
"Not bad, right? Those kids will probably get strong quickly."
"As long as their minds don't break, that is."
Break their minds? What a horrible thing to say.
Even in this situation, didn't they manage to overcome it and learn a new technique?
There's no way kids like that would break.
They're acting weird right now, but in the end, both of them had begun to perceive the Rubber Boat as their own body, however weakly.
In particular, Han A-bin’s skill suddenly spiked after she fell into The Sea; she reached a level where she essentially fused her hands to the boat's handles.
While Baek Si-hyun was tumbling and flying all over the place, Han A-bin showed an impressive display of surrendering her entire being to the boat's movements, muttering strange things like, "I won't eat the Black Candy... I won't eat it..."
To realize the subtle principle of flowing water—relaxing the entire body and entrusting oneself to an external force—in a moment of crisis.
As expected, Han A-bin has excellent instincts.
I don't know what that Black Candy is, though.
Does she have some trauma related to Salmiakki?
"This is Hokkaido... right?"
"Yeah. I'm thinking of heading past the Great Barrier."
"You're softer than I thought, Hammer. I misjudged you. My apologies."
"Misjudged? Then where did you think we were going when you followed us?"
"I thought a man like Hammer would charge straight for the Atlantic... saying that their skills would improve if they experienced an overwhelming battle."
Why would I go there on a Rubber Boat unless I'd lost my mind?
Do I want to wake up an O-Rank Monster that failed to be subjugated?
"Then let's go to the branch to apply for a transit permit first."
"Let's do that..."
She staggered past the two disciples, ignoring them as she crossed the sandy beach.
The disciples stared at her blankly for a moment, but then continued to throw sand at each other, as if they wanted to fully savor the joy of the earth.
"Let's go, you two."
I grabbed both of their hands and pulled.
"Senior, just a little longer! Let us feel the joy of being alive...!"
"Master! Let me relish the sensation of having feeling below my legs...!"
Are they idiots?
"Quiet. Feel the joy of the earth while you walk."
I gripped their hands and began a forced march.
I have to find Thunder God; I don't have time to leave you two hanging.
The disciples sprawled out with their arms and legs wide, trying to stay attached to the earth somehow, but unable to withstand being dragged by my strength, they eventually began to walk on their own.
Their legs were trembling and they were wailing at the top of their lungs, looking exactly like newborn fawns, but that wasn't my concern.
After about ten minutes of leading the fawns behind Prohibition, the destination—a massive tower—finally came into view.
"See that?"
I tilted my head and gestured toward the tower with my chin.
"I don't see anything."
"Me neither, Master!"
That's because you two have your heads buried in the dirt, making eye contact with the ground.
I let go of the two fawns' hands and grabbed their chins with both hands, forcibly shifting their gaze toward the tower.
"That's the Hokkaido Branch that manages the Great Barrier."
Only then did the disciples seem to take an interest, beginning to scan the Black Tower.
"It's a smaller branch than the Korean Branch, which has jurisdiction over all of East Asia, but it's quite large since it manages the Great Barrier."
If the US Branch is a 9 and the Korean Branch is an 8, this would be about a 3 or a 2.
The only difference is that, being in front of the Great Barrier, most of its strength is military.
"We might be indebted to them for quite a while, so remember the location."
Since I don't know if we'll be able to stay at Thunder God’s house or not.
In the worst-case scenario, we'll have to stay at the Management Bureau’s dormitory.
I felt the sensation of the disciples nodding through my hands.
Perhaps because they had seen the towering structure, their trembling legs seemed to have calmed down; it felt like I could let go now.
At the very least, they had graduated from newborn fawns to noisy adult ones.
As I was leading the fawns toward the tower...
Zap.
A brief pain flared in my mind.
A mental attack, fired toward my head by someone with a clear will.
I hardened my expression so the disciples wouldn't suspect anything and relaxed my mind slightly.
—Have you arrived?
Telepathy, then.
Well, a phone call would have carried the risk of being intercepted, so this was likely the best option.
I looked at the faces of the two disciples.
Unaware that I was receiving a telepathic message, the two were chatting noisily.
About what I might make them do, and what might exist beyond the barrier.
—Is it The Society?
—Yes. Lady Linshua is also out here.
Even Linshua, the leader, had come out.
That meant The Society was also going to follow my lead.
—Have you confirmed Linshua’s dominance? Did it work?
—It worked. If you just destroy the barrier, we can push forward.
The plan I had previously laid out was beginning to unfold.
The next move to shake the Management Bureau and society.
The act of destroying a portion of the Great Barrier.
Japan would lose part of Eastern Japan because of this, but since most of the population had already migrated to Western Japan, it wouldn't be a major loss.
—Have you prepared an escape route for Linshua?
—Isn't that obvious? If we lose Lady Linshua, it's over for us as well.
—I suppose so. But I'm asking if you can somehow get Linshua out alive even if all of you die.
—Yes. Even if the entire force deployed here dies, we will see Lady Linshua safely away. In the worst-case scenario, we have made arrangements so she can move to Lee Ha-ram’s location.
Good. That's enough.
Now for the next question.
—You know, right? Any action that causes harm to civilians is forbidden.
—In the first place, it is a principle in The Society's rules that civilian casualties must be avoided as much as possible.
—Then, contact Yumil as well. Tell her to pause her activities for a while once the Great Barrier falls.
—Understood. Since we are helping you like this, you must destroy one Management Bureau branch for us.
One branch.
The Hokkaido Branch. How much blood was spilled to build that?
And they want to tear it down.
I've truly gone quite mad.
—Don't worry. According to my plan, at least one place here needs to fall for the Management Bureau to be significantly shaken.
—Yes.
Well then, that part of the conversation is settled.
—Did you find Thunder God?
—That... I'm not sure if I should say we found her... or not...
Why is this guy, who was so confident just a moment ago, acting like this?
—Just give me one answer. Did you find her? Or did you not? Is it that hard?
—We did find her, but... well... didn't you say she was a retired Hero?
—I did.
—...It's just that she still possesses her power perfectly...
What kind of nonsense is this?
Why would a retired Thunder God still have her power? That's impossible.
No matter how I think about it, they must have mistaken her for another Hero.
—A retired lightning-type Hero. An Asian woman. Blind. Living alone, away from people. Is that all correct?
—Yes. Everything is accurate. The only slight difference is that her power is too great for someone who is supposedly retired.
I'm sure they've made a mistake.
I've never heard of a retired Hero recovering their power.
Still, should I ask for the location first?
—Where is she?
—...Well, that is...
What now? It's not like he's going to say he just made it all up, right?
—Are you aware of an organization called the Purification Volunteer Corps beyond the Great Barrier?
—I am. It's one of your front organizations.
—She is working there as a volunteer... for quite a long time now.
....
A headache began to form.
The words have to make sense for me to listen.
—Are you certain?
—Yes.
A sigh threatened to escape, but I barely held it back.
I couldn't show any suspicious behavior in front of my disciples.
—The location?
—Rather than me explaining it in words, it would look better if you asked while you're at the Management Bureau.
—Understood.
—Then. Until next time.
Zap.
Enduring the headache that flared in my mind once more, I lifted my head.
The telepathy was cut off.
At the same time, leading the fawns, I opened the doors to the Management Bureau’s tower.
Now then. I wonder how Hero-like the Heroes here will be.
I'll have to save at least one branch to maintain my image as a righteous villain.
Well then. Let's begin.
The first move to shake society.