Deadly Impact
The next morning.
After finishing his meal, Kaisent headed for the training grounds where he had been learning techniques from Akina, only to find the atmosphere far more buoyant than usual.
What? Why is everyone glancing around like that?
They were all training with passionate intensity, as if eager to put on a show for someone, yet their attention kept drifting elsewhere.
Following the knights’ sidelong glances, Kaisent spotted a woman with silver-white hair and catlike eyes full of playful allure. She wore a faintly bored expression.
Huh? She saw me?
The moment the woman noticed Kaisent, surprise flickered across her face before melting into a mischievous, eye-smiling grin.
Does she have some purpose with me?
She looked bored with everyone else, yet smiled at him? It was as good as declaring she had set her sights on him from the start.
Just as my sister said. He’s an incredibly small and cute kid. I want to take him back to my room and dress him up in all sorts of things.
Patisha felt both fondness and dissatisfaction at once. Kaisent’s beauty was such that if you simply put him in women’s clothes, everyone would believe he was a girl.
But he’s far too young, and he looks so fragile.
She respected her mother, who possessed the strong, unyielding character of a true warrior, yet the first thing that rose in her was complaint that this boy was simply too young.
She’s going to take a son-in-law who’s that small, not the least bit manly, and looks weak? What on earth is Mom thinking?
Outwardly he looked neither reliable nor sturdy—only timid and delicate.
Maybe she brought someone who looks clever, like Father?
Her father had been a lower-ranking noble with a sharp mind. Normally a noble territory was managed by leading various retainers, but Akina had judged that administrative skill was essential to make the domain prosper, and so she had married a man of intellect.
Among nobles it was common sense to seek a marriage partner of matching rank, yet Akina’s own “defect” had been so great that she had been forced into this kind of marriage. Therefore it seemed a reasonable suspicion that she had deliberately brought in a clever person like Father, intending to train his body while teaching him about the territory.
“Patisha? What brings you all the way to the training grounds? You usually say you hate sweaty places like this.”
Akina, who had just arrived, spotted her second daughter and approached.
“Obviously I came to see who the future son-in-law Mom brought is.”
“Looking is free, but don’t interfere with the other knights.”
“I know. But Mom—”
“And in front of others you’re supposed to address me properly as Mother.”
“Aww, what’s the big deal? It’s just us anyway.”
“Haa. Fine. What is it?”
“Are you really going to take that little brat who looks like he barely eats as your son-in-law? I feel like I’d win if we fought with raw strength.”
Patisha was the sole mage born into the Karayden family, a house whose bloodline produced ideal physiques for combat regardless of gender. She possessed talent as a warrior as well, yet she had always avoided the sweaty, ungraceful image of fighting and had naturally become a mage instead. Fortunately she also had magical aptitude; though not of the highest caliber, with the family’s support she had reached a level where she could pull her own weight.
As a mage who had never engaged in crude contests of strength, she still confidently declared she could lightly overpower Kaisent.
“Heh.”
“What’s that laugh for?”
“Then watch carefully. You’ll understand at a single glance why I desire this child.”
With that, Akina ended the conversation and walked toward Kaisent.
“Did you enjoy your breakfast?”
“Yes~”
“I originally planned to review what we learned yesterday, but that seems like a waste of time. The technique you’ll learn today is called Deadly Impact.”
“!!”
At the words “Deadly Impact,” the knights training nearby and even Patisha herself wore expressions of pure shock.
There were two reasons. First, it was a technique of the Karayden family. Second, among the family’s arts it ranked among the highest in difficulty.
In particular, teaching a family technique could only be interpreted as accepting Kaisent as a member of the house; the other knights’ faces grew complicated.
Deadly Impact is a technique that even my sister—who has talent equal to Mom’s—took half a year to learn. And she still can’t use it properly in real combat and keeps fretting over it.
As a direct descendant, Patisha of course knew exactly what the technique was. She simply could not understand her mother demanding that a child who had only just learned to walk should now fly.
Any moment now he’ll start whining that he can’t do it. Showing a kid sniveling in front of the knights… I really don’t know what Mom is thinking.
Yet the moment Kaisent’s training began, every one of her predictions was completely overturned.
Deadly Impact was a technique that concentrated mana inside a weapon and then detonated it at the moment of attack, producing the effect of two strikes in a single swing.
With it, one could clash with an enemy’s weapon and then deliver a double impact, or, while locked in a contest of strength, suddenly unleash it to shatter the opponent’s stance. One could also wound the enemy’s body and, with the mana explosion, render them combat-incapable in a single blow. The applications were many.
Hearing the description alone, anyone would think, “So you just explode mana while attacking?” and in truth that sort of attack could be practiced by anyone. The reason it remained a secret art of the Karayden family—and why it was so difficult to master—lay elsewhere.
Every powerful fighter coated their weapon in mana. Sword qi, Sword Gang, mana blade, aura blade—the names differed, yet the principle was the same.
While fighting with mana already layered over the blade, one also had to manage a separate store of mana inside the weapon, ready to detonate at any instant. In a life-or-death clash where a single lapse meant death by the enemy’s sword, one still had to pour additional mana into the weapon and control it. The slightest drop in concentration meant either failing to release the explosion properly or having it detonate inside the weapon itself, destroying the blade.
Two different kinds of mana had to be handled at once; if one’s thoughts tangled and the technique failed, one’s own weapon exploded. Once fully mastered its power was absolute, yet the time required to learn it completely was enormous.
No matter how extraordinary Kaisent’s genius might be, this was not a problem solved merely by learning a technique quickly.
KRAAAANG!
“Ugh!?”
Akina let out a cry of astonishment at the explosive force of mana that shoved her own weapon back.
“Like this, right?”
“…….”
“…….”
After copying her demonstration only a few times, Kaisent immediately sparred with her and, using Deadly Impact, lightly parried her attack.
“This is amazing. Even by simple calculation the attack power doubles, and as long as the weapon holds you can explode the mana even harder for all sorts of applications… Countess?”
At first delighted at having learned a new technique, Kaisent gradually sensed the strange atmosphere and began reading the room.
“Uh… did I make some kind of mistake…? I thought I did it exactly as taught….”
Still unable to endure the excessive gazes of so many strangers, he lowered his head, trying not to meet anyone’s eyes.
“…Kaisent.”
“Y-yes…….”
“How did you do this?”
“Huh?”
“To use this technique properly you must simultaneously manage the mana coating the weapon and the mana flowing inside it. Combat is a high-level contest of concentration in which you predict the enemy’s movements while, in real time, calculating how they will respond the moment you attack.”
Several knights nodded unconsciously at her words.
Predicting the enemy’s movements, then rapidly forecasting how they would dodge one’s own attack—dozens of possibilities at minimum. Performing that calculation every second while also handling two manas of completely different natures was nearly impossible. Without training Prana to the point that even the brain’s processing speed increased, Deadly Impact was a technique that simply could not be used.
“Uh… I just split my consciousness into two…….”
“What?”
“As the Countess said, I have to fight while calculating the enemy’s movements… so I divided my consciousness into two and managed them separately…….”
“You split your consciousness? Did you learn some special technique that allows that?”
“Everyone in our family can do it casually?”
Split consciousness? That’s a skill even I can only barely manage.
She had heard that Murim martial artists split their consciousness through special arts, yet that was ultimately the power of the technique itself; without such an art, splitting was impossible. Even those who had reached the Origin realm required either a special method or tremendous effort. And yet in Kaisent’s family it was something anyone could do?
Until now Kaisent had possessed the ability to split his consciousness, but he had never needed it and so had never used it. In his original world he had been a timid boy who avoided fights; the only times he had ever employed the ability were when he wanted to run multiple games at once. Moreover, since his parents and older sisters all did it, he had never considered it a special talent.
“…….”
The trump card she had prepared so that he would train for a long time had become Kaisent’s power far too easily.
Faced with a talent that learned anything simply by watching, plus the ability to split consciousness and casually reproduce even difficult, complex techniques, Akina felt something close to fear.
Am I… creating a monster that should never exist?
She had expected Kaisent to learn Deadly Impact, yet she had never imagined he would perfectly reproduce it after seeing it only once.
“Um… did I do something wrong……?”
Seeing the strange light in Akina’s eyes, Kaisent’s face crumpled into a teary, abandoned-puppy expression as he looked up at her.
What am I thinking! I’ve confirmed over and over that this child is not the sort whose heart changes just because he grows stronger! The stronger he becomes, the greater the benefit to me and the family!
That sight snapped her back to her senses. She berated herself for having been wary of him and smiled.
“No, you did nothing wrong. Shall we train under a bit more complex conditions this time?”
“Yes!”
“First five! Anyone who thinks they can handle it, come forward!”
“Yes!”
At Akina’s call, knights flocked from every direction regardless of distance. Selecting five of them, she put Kaisent through training that forced him to use Deadly Impact skillfully even while completely surrounded.
Despite his small frame he was not pushed back by the massive knights. With Deadly Impact he parried their weapons and created openings one after another.
And that sight delivered a profound shock to Patisha, who watched from a distance.
Deadly Impact in a single day? No—not even a day. He learned it on the spot, instantly.
Genius talent that mastered a difficult technique in a single breath, plus the fact that even while surrounded and attacked by multiple knights he neither whined nor faltered, but trained with earnest focus.
Now I understand why Mom called him a wild genius.
Insane talent paired with a fragile personality and delicate appearance.
A shiver ran through her—once, then again.
For the first time a certain thought rose in Patisha’s mind, and her entire body prickled with goosebumps.
How fun would it be if a child like that became my toy?
If she tormented him, how cutely would that delicate face crumple into tears?
For the first time Patisha felt true possessiveness—the desire to own something—and she watched as Kaisent, far from being overwhelmed, began to dominate the five knights instead.
Jingle!
“Take it and get lost.”
Kang Myeong-cheol, having completed a request to eliminate a large monster near the territory, twisted his face at the sight of a mounted knight deliberately tossing a money pouch onto the ground.
“What’s with that expression? Dissatisfied?”
The knight’s tone grew even more high-handed.
“Th-thank you, Sir Knight! This fellow is a foreigner, so he’s not used to our world yet!”
Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, Jerico hurriedly snatched up the pouch and bowed low.
“Next time manage those eyes of yours properly, foreigner. Let’s go.”
The knight wheeled about with his cavalry and returned toward the territory.
“Hooo… we survived…….”
“Thank goodness…….”
The members of Jerico’s mercenary band exhaled in relief that the knight had left without further incident.
“You must never pick a fight with knights. If a foreigner knocks a knight down, who knows what will happen.”
“Ha, fuck. Because of these worthless bastards…….”
Kang Myeong-cheol felt his patience steadily eroding.
He had saved an entire world and even founded a kingdom—yet he was forced to endure this kind of treatment? In pure strength he was a powerhouse who would make the emperor of the Eastern Continent come running barefoot.
Forcing down the boiling rage, he snatched the money pouch from Jerico as if seizing it. Better to handle the money himself than leave it with uneducated mercenaries.
The other mercenaries’ faces twisted slightly, yet fear of his power kept their mouths shut.
“Hm?”
Checking the contents, he sensed something wrong and upended the pouch. Freezing the falling coins in midair with magic, he counted the types and numbers, then frowned.
“Hey.”
“Y-yes.”
“Wasn’t our completion fee eighty silver coins?”
“That’s correct, but—”
“Then why are there only forty?”
At the question Jerico checked the coins himself and confirmed there really were only forty silvers.
“Thankfully they gave half.”
“More conscience than most nobles.”
The other mercenaries laughed and chattered that being shortchanged only this much was actually fortunate.
“What kind of situation is this?”
Kang, however, could not understand how they could call it fortunate when their fee had been stolen.
“Well…….”
Jerico explained.
Nobles who regarded commoners as worthless rarely paid completion fees in full. In extreme cases they paid nothing at all and simply drove the mercenaries off, though that was rare; most settled the matter by handing over only a portion. The real problem was that one could not protest. Claiming one had been underpaid was grounds for immediate execution on the charge of insulting a noble.
The mercenary guild? Protesting to a noble brought charges of noble insult and high treason, followed by execution. In other fantasy worlds the mercenary guild served as a breakwater preventing mercenaries from being openly consumed, but in this world the democratic ideology spread by foreigners meant that if commoners—mercenaries or otherwise—tried to build any power of their own, every noble would flock together and butcher them.
Grit—
“Dare… me……!”
The moment Kang fully understood the treatment he had received, the last thread of his patience snapped.
“Huh? W-wait! Where are you—!”
Jerico instinctively tried to stop him as he suddenly moved in the direction the knights had gone, but—
“Uwaaaaaaa!!”
Kang charged after the knights with a roar of pure rage.
“What the—kuh!”
“Krk!”
Startled by the sudden killing intent, the knights drew their weapons and tried to counter, yet he swung his sword at a speed they could not even perceive and sliced their necks halfway through.
“A-aah! Wh-wh-what have you done……!”
Jerico, one of the few in the band who rode a horse, screamed at the sight of the knights gurgling and dying with their throats half-severed.
Kang, however, simply plundered a decent-looking sword from among the knights’ weapons and set off in the direction they had been heading.
“Wh-where are you going!?”
“To clean up the aftermath.”
“Huh?”
Around the time Kang had crossed into another world, the basic trend among protagonists of genre novels had become “cider-pass” actions—refreshing, cathartic payback.
“Now I understand why joint responsibility exists. Touch one guy and the rest might cause trouble? Then just pull them all out by the roots, right?”
The knights had died while delivering a reward to them. Anyone with half a brain would put the mercenaries at the top of the suspect list. But if an entire noble house vanished without a trace? No one would ever imagine that a mere mercenary band had done it.
I am justice. You who dared to anger justice are the ones at fault!
He had begun following the path of those cider-pass protagonists, yet he overlooked one crucial point. Those protagonists either performed such deeds in complete secrecy or acted together with comrades they could trust. Kang, caring only for the emotional satisfaction of his own cathartic rampage and treating other people’s feelings as irrelevant, never even imagined what emotions the Jerico mercenary band truly harbored toward him.