Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Thousand Kills Star's Stormy Adolescence
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The Thousand Kills Star was going through its stormy adolescence.
Leone truly had no idea what Enoch was up to.
Just in case she unconsciously tried to sense his presence, she had even deliberately suppressed all her senses.
[Why go to such lengths?]
"Enoch's going to be truly independent soon.... This is practice...."
[Practice?]
He seemed like the type who would handle everything just fine without any such practice.
As Undine thought that, she noticed Leone's expression and realized.
Her face scrunched up tight, fidgeting restlessly like a puppy desperate to poop.
[Ah.]
It wasn't about practicing with him—it was her practicing.
Practicing to let Enoch go, practicing to worry less, things like that.
[I've seen it all now, I really have.]
Sigh. Undine let out a sigh.
*
Leone, who had been eagerly waiting, came rushing over the moment Enoch called.
But there were strange things scattered around.
"...Enoch?"
"I won them all."
Mercenaries lying in pitiful heaps.
In the midst of them, Enoch proudly puffed out his chest.
"Oh...."
Leone tapped her forehead.
"How did this happen?"
"Hm?"
Enoch tilted his head and explained everything that had happened so far.
Some guy picked a fight, he ran into guards, spotted a knight, fought Capri, and even tried out this thing called the Weight Control Technique.
"You used the Weight Control Technique? I haven't taught you that yet, have I?"
"Yeah. It just worked when I tried."
"Really!? I knew it!"
Leone beamed and ruffled Enoch's hair.
"See, sometimes you just have to try. But whenever I say that, no one gets it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Isn't that too much? They should at least give it a shot first."
"Right."
Pleased with his response, Leone scooped Enoch up in her arms.
Maybe because he'd grown a bit, the position felt a little awkward now.
"But what was that about picking a fight?"
"Oh. It was while getting the mercenary tag."
What was it they said again?
'That pretty boy gigolo-looking bastard. You look like you'd do well working at a brothel over there instead. Huh? Just stretch those ears out a bit and no one would doubt you're an elf. Those elf bitches are so hot they'd kill you just looking at them....'
Recalling the memory, Enoch repeated exactly what he'd heard.
Leone's expression hardened, though Enoch, held in her arms, couldn't see it.
Her eyes turned chillingly cold, radiating an aura no mere mortal could face.
"...So what did you do?"
"One arm..., and one leg?"
"Ah, next time just kill them."
"Is that okay?"
"Yeah. It's better that way—no loose ends."
And what else?
Said he looked suited for brothel work?
Daring to spout such nonsense at our Enoch? Death is too good for them.
"Got it."
Enoch nodded.
Insult an elf, and it's okay to kill them?
He carefully noted it down in his mental memo pad, then suddenly remembered one question.
"Oh, right."
It was about the mercenary tag and clans.
What kind of identity verification was a mercenary tag, and why did city lords leave clans alone?
Leone paused to recall as Enoch asked.
It was definitely...,
"Probably because the Emperor said so."
"The Emperor?"
"Yeah."
The territories of the nations currently on the continent matched the domains of the demigods.
That made sense, since a demigod could literally crush a country if the other side had no demigod of their own.
Such demigod domains were where the respective races gathered to live, giving birth to the concept of nations. The human empire was no different.
The Kaedes Empire was essentially the Emperor's domain.
Among humans, only the Emperor had reached demigod realm.
Naturally, the human domain on the continent was the entire Kaedes Empire, which was divided into several kingdoms within.
The Emperor had no interest in ruling, so he roughly divided the land.
He even left it to them to decide kings on their own.
As a result, thrones naturally fell into the hands of the strong.
A king of a nation had to be close to that nation's strongest.
In any case, the Emperor's word was absolute for the human race.
Truth be told, the Emperor could take on all of humanity alone and win handily, so it would be weirder if it wasn't absolute.
"So the Emperor just casually said it. Don't nitpick identities, don't persecute armed groups in your territories."
"Why?"
"Who knows? But to me, it just seems like a nasty hobby."
The Emperor was in a position close to absolute.
He probably had no equals on the continent if limited to one-on-one.
Daring to guess, such a seat must be lonely and boring.
Maybe he was even creating worthy opponents to use as stepping stones for his own realm advancement.
"So the mercenary tag is..."
"Yeah, it used to be more complicated before, but after the Emperor ascended to demigod, it became lax."
Fakes?
Of course there were.
But if you didn't get caught, no problem.
They didn't crack down hard, so you rarely got caught anyway.
As long as you didn't cause trouble in the city, they let it slide.
"Clans are the same. So-called nobles are just people who seized power by force or had backers strong enough to make them nobles."
Surprisingly, even high in the power hierarchy, some had pitiful strength.
The Empire's second-in-command, the Prime Minister of the Imperial Palace, was one such case.
The Emperor placed someone like the Prime Minister there to keep the nation running, so unless you were utterly mad, no one touched him.
"Anyway, the Emperor's stance is this: Armed groups? Form them. Steal a lord's seat if you can. I'll acknowledge you if you succeed."
It gave the lords headaches, but the Emperor didn't care.
Far from it—unexpected geniuses might emerge from the strife, which wasn't bad.
Loss of national power from constant battles?
Nations weren't sustained by soldiers in the first place.
Worst case, even if the Emperor slaughtered all humans, as long as this place was still called an empire, it would be the empire.
"Ah...."
So the Emperor was just a madman.
Enoch nodded in understanding.
[Kyu?]
Suddenly, Eri poked her head out from Enoch's chest.
Not from a chest pocket or anything.
Literally from inside his 'chest.'
"Wow! Eri's grown so much in just a few days!"
Eri, nestled in Enoch's Middle Dantian around his heart area, had sprouted up vigorously.
Feeding on Enoch's mana as nourishment.
"Yeah. But she doesn't seem all that useful."
[Kyuun!?]
As a spirit, she'd succeeded in settling into Enoch's Middle Dantian beyond the material state, but that didn't mean spirit fusion was complete.
Of course, while learning spirit arts, he'd picked up ways to utilize Eri in his Middle Dantian...,
'But really?'
He didn't feel any great utility.
Maybe if she got more powerful, but for now, it was pretty iffy.
"Enoch, you can't say that. She's your lifelong companion."
"Lifelong?"
"Of course!"
Enoch stared piercingly at Leone.
His gaze was much more intense than usual, enough for Leone to feel it.
"What's wrong?"
"The one I want to be with forever is you, Leone."
"......!"
Leone's eyes widened.
Did she get it?
Enoch's heart began pounding, thump thump.
"Oh, my goodness...!"
Leone grinned wide and scooped him up again.
"How can you be so precocious...!
She beamed as if her son had just passed some big exam.
"Aww, our Enoch...! Yes! Big sis wants to live with our Enoch forever too!"
"Yeah...."
Enoch sulked.
*
Back home, Enoch pondered deeply.
Was the age gap really the issue?
In Leone's eyes, he must look like nothing but a little kid.
Well, he was a little kid, technically.
He was still shorter than Leone, after all.
So then.
If one day he grew taller than Leone, and became much more mature than now....
Would she see him differently then?
Clenching his fist as he mulled it over, Enoch thought.
'Either way, there's only one thing I can do.'
Get stronger.
Even if in the distant future he still wasn't mature enough, if he was strong enough to amaze Leone, that might change things.
Or rather, there was the Shedding the Bones Rebirth that top powerhouses often underwent, instantly becoming an adult.
If possible, he could become one tomorrow.
If that happened,
'Nope.'
On second thought, he had to deal with the Thousand Kills Star first.
Leone worried about him so much.
Even if he entered her heart, she might reject him until that was handled.
In the end, it came down to realm.
The stronger he got, the higher his realm would rise naturally, and higher realm meant naturally stronger.
"Eri."
[Kyu?]
"No breaks starting tomorrow."
[Kyak...!?]
*
Two years passed.
Enoch turned fifteen.
Despite his astonishing growth since that vow, he still wasn't satisfied.
"Annoying."
Crack-!
The bear-like monster shattered under Enoch's swung hand.
Clicking his tongue, he shook off his hand and stomped the ground—boom-!
Rumble-!
Lightning exploded like fireworks as Enoch's form shot roughly into the sky.
Gazing down at the deep forest panorama from above, Enoch, wrapped in lightning, plummeted to the earth.
Kwaaaaaang────────!!!
Trees caught in the shockwave were uprooted and flung in all directions.
Brushing away the billowing dust cloud, Enoch spat—ptui-!
A clearing formed amid the utter devastation.
Standing still at its center, Enoch looked up at the sky.
"Ah.... Annoying."
Fifteen.
The stormy adolescence period.