Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Elf's Bad Friend
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“E-Enoch…!!”
Rionne cried out in anguish.
The moment Enoch tried to smash the glass orb, Undine had lashed out in a reflexive attack.
Rionne bolted to her feet, nearly rushing out…, but barely held herself back.
The situation was over now. Charging in would only make things worse for Enoch.
If he started thinking she was always there to protect him, that’d be a disaster.
“Ugh….”
Meanwhile, Enoch—sent flying—finally dragged himself upright.
He’d barely clung to consciousness.
“You….”
[Why the hell are you smashing it? You lunatic!]
Undine yelled, ignoring Enoch’s murderous glare.
[Do you even know what this is!?]
“…An egg.”
[What kind of egg!]
“A spirit?”
[What!? How did you know!?]
Undine recoiled in shock.
[And you were gonna smash it!? Are you actually insane!?]
Enoch irritably scratched at his ear.
So damn loud.
“But I swear I heard Rionne’s voice….”
Was it his imagination?
As Enoch glanced around, Undine’s eyes twitched.
Crack—
There it was again.
The egg showed signs of hatching, and Undine smacked Enoch’s back repeatedly.
[Quick! Go look!]
“…….”
Should he just punch her?
After a moment’s hesitation, Enoch sighed deeply and trudged forward with heavy steps.
He could already picture her counterattacking whatever he tried.
“Hmm.”
The egg cracked open.
Translucent shards like glass fell away, and the twitching egg fell still again.
Should he just break it?
Enoch raised his hand,
Smack—!
And got hit in the back.
[Wait a second!]
Calming his boiling frustration, he waited.
Crack! The egg shook violently once more.
Something poked out.
“A nose?”
It was an animal’s nose.
Slightly translucent now.
Enoch blinked and waited patiently. The life inside fully shattered the shell and emerged.
[Kyung?]
A fox with its eggshell flipped over its head like a hat.
The fox shook its head vigorously, flinging the shell away, then barked happily at Enoch.
[Kyung!]
[O-oh…!]
Undine bounced excitedly in place.
[A spirit being born! In the middle realm, no less! Do you have any idea how blessed this is!?]
Enoch ignored her as usual and grabbed the fox by the scruff.
[Hey…!!! Carry it properly…!!]
Undine fussed, but she only complained—probably worried about hurting the new spirit.
So he could ignore her.
Enoch stared at the fox. The fox stared back.
Eyes like embedded blue gems, fur white and mysteriously translucent.
Its semi-transparent body let the background faintly show through. Anyone with eyes could tell it was a spirit.
[Kyung?]
As Enoch kept staring, the fox tilted its head and whimpered.
Enoch indifferently let go.
[Kyak…!?]
Undine darted in and caught the falling fox.
[You little…!!]
At least he didn’t get smacked this time.
*
Enoch just wanted to go home—spirits and foxes be damned—so he trudged out of the dungeon.
What kind of fox was that thing anyway?
Would it even help him raise his realm?
[Of course it will!]
Enoch carefully placed the fox on his head.
He walked through the forest alongside Undine, who sighed in disbelief, and asked,
“This thing helps?”
[It’ll see you as its parent now. Unfortunate for it.]
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Undine grumbled but explained anyway.
She didn’t want the psycho elf-obsessed killer to chuck the poor spirit into the dirt.
[You know about spirit contracts, right?]
A contract creates a channel between contractor and spirit.
Through it, they exchange mana and spirit power, share thoughts, and more—whatever their abilities allow.
[This one’s an upgraded version.]
Not a contract, but something far closer.
Normally, you’d build that through endless interactions, but this arrogant elf-loving mass murderer had snagged it for free.
“That helps my realm how—?”
[Shut up and listen.]
“…….”
[Spirits like this are called familiars. At that level, spirit fusion’s possible.]
Literally becoming one with the spirit to wield its power.
[Your strength grows, obviously. And the fusion process itself can spark realm breakthroughs.]
Anyway, it was all good, so take care of it.
Enoch nodded vaguely, thinking,
‘Spirit fusion…. Rionne could do it too, right?’
Rionne fused with a spirit.
He wanted to see that.
*
Enoch barely made it home, scraping together every last ounce of strength.
Truth be told, Undine had sneakily healed him along the way, or he’d have collapsed midway.
“Enoch…!”
Rionne came running and hugged him tight.
Even that soft sensation made his body scream in pain, but he didn’t care.
Enoch lifted his heavy eyelids as his body went limp.
“Rionne.”
“Yeah.”
“B breakthrough done.”
Enoch’s small hand flashed a V-sign.
Rionne stared at it for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“Yeah, good job.”
She scooped him up effortlessly and headed to the bathroom.
“You hurting bad?”
“Hmm…. A bit?”
“No injuries?”
“Nope. Didn’t get hit once.”
“Aww, such a big boy.”
Rionne stripped off Enoch’s clothes, then her own haphazardly.
The bath was already filled with warm water.
Splash— She eased them both in, cradling him.
“Fuu…. Now rest up. We can do nothing for days.”
“Hmm….”
“Don’t want to?”
Enoch hesitated.
Sticking close to Rionne for days sounded great. But squeezing in extra training to raise his realm even a day sooner also sounded great….
“Enoch?”
Squeeze— Rionne pinched his cheeks from both sides.
With his lips puffed out, Enoch couldn’t resist the temptation.
“…Yeah, let’s rest.”
On second thought, passing up this reward would be stupid.
*
Labelion Royal Castle, in the heart of the audience chamber.
The king let out a groan as he heard the intelligence report.
“So the Sword Empress has taken a disciple….”
Anyone who mattered knew the Sword Empress was in seclusion.
And that it was in a forest near Labelion Kingdom.
Naturally, Labelion couldn’t ignore her.
After all, it was that Rionne Estor.
The elf swordswoman who wielded spirits and magic, slicing through anything in her path with a single exquisite blade.
Even Undine, who traveled with her, bore the moniker “Tyrant”—their prestige was immense.
And the mighty inevitably earned titles.
People whispered in awe of her feats and power.
Hers was the Thousand-Year Sword Empress.
It nodded to her long elven life, but more so to her undying fame for a millennium.
Calling her that to her face, though, wasn’t wise.
She didn’t seem to like it.
He’d heard she’d humbly said, ‘I’m not there yet.’ A powerhouse like that, yet so modest.
That’s what the king thought, anyway.
How was he to know even elves got sensitive about age eventually?
“What did the disciple seem like?”
At the king’s question, the agent spilled everything they’d gathered.
Magic, lightning that looked like divine power, combat skills, young but Expert realm, relationship with the Sword Empress, her statements, and more.
“Touch the disciple, and it’s war. They must be close.”
“What shall we do, sire?”
“What do you mean? If she says don’t touch, we don’t touch.”
The young ones didn’t get it—most kingdoms bowed their heads before the Sword Empress.
Not enough for the Emperor to care, but then, most continental figures were like that.
“Her disciple not using a sword is odd, but… that’s it. Report periodically on this.”
The kingdom’s stance was clear.
Never touch the disciple.
If the disciple seemed in danger, the kingdom had to protect them.
“Estor won’t like it much…, but no choice.”
Estor wouldn’t invade over protecting her disciple, but if anything happened to the kid, the Sword Empress herself would fly in to take the king’s head.
Haa…. One more headache. The king just sighed.
*
[Hey, you forgetting something?]
After dinner, with Enoch’s eyes half-lidded, Undine asked.
“…?”
Enoch just tilted his head.
Nothing came to mind.
The fox was snoozing on his head. What else?
Undine tsked at his blank look and pulled something out.
[Tada.]
A green-glowing ore.
From one of the golems in the labyrinth—the weirdly tough one.
The ore that made up its body.
“?”
“Oh.”
Enoch still looked clueless, but Rionne got it immediately.
She’d been so focused on him she’d overlooked it.
“Well, now….”
Should she go find that woman?
Normally, no way in hell. But for Enoch….
“Whew.”
Guess she’d have to visit her old bad friend after all.