Seo-hyun Just Wants to Rest

Seo-hyun just wanted to rest!

It was definitely difficult.

Rather than something made for children to look at, it felt like it had been written for adults to read.

Julia, too, had started reading the analysis sheet for a little while, but when she couldn’t make sense of it she eventually gave up and began playing instead, spinning a miniature tornado out of wind.

“Shall I interpret it for you?”

“No. I’m fine.”

The staff member stood there as if to say it would be hard to understand and that he might as well watch how much she could manage to read—yet in truth she had already finished the entire thing.

It was packed with technical terms and proper nouns that made full comprehension a challenge, but to summarize, the contents were as follows.

I discarded the expert opinion and anything else that seemed unnecessary or meaningless, and focused only on the detailed description of the unique ability.

Julia could apply physical changes to gaseous matter within the range of her perception.

In other words, separating nitrogen and oxygen from the air and combining them with hydrogen to create nitric acid was impossible.

“Um, you can take the analysis sheet back now.”

“Haha, hard to read, isn’t it? I’ll bring you a summary later, so…”

“No. I’ve already finished reading it. I don’t need it anymore.”

Doubt flickered across the man’s face.

It was absolutely not something a young child’s vocabulary could grasp, so claiming to have understood it would naturally look like empty bravado.

I was not the sort of person who had the guts—or the reason—to put on that kind of act.

I walked over to Julia, who had drifted away from the servants and was happily spinning a whirlwind by herself. The moment I approached she threw both arms wide and hugged me.

“Is it over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now?”

“Yes. More importantly, would you like to try a little game with me?”

At my words Julia beamed and nodded.

“Okay!”

“Then, if I explain something, could you try manifesting your ability exactly the way I describe?”

Every ability ranked in the upper tier, yet low destructive power was holding her back?

I could guess why the so-called expert had reached that conclusion.

Wind certainly carried an image far removed from slaughter or destruction.

But from my perspective, wind was not an attribute lacking in destructive power at all when compared to flame or lightning.

“Of course!”

“Then please do this. First, raise the wind the way you usually do—except instead of making it spin, send it straight in one direction.”

“Got it!”

Julia fixed her eyes on empty air and waved her fingers.

At once a gust rose toward the wall. The moment I confirmed it I moved to the next step.

“Could you narrow the range a little?”

“Hmm… I’ll try!”

As the wind that had been raging from every direction contracted, the force of the blast within that smaller space grew stronger.

If her usual wind speed was twenty meters per second, then with the surface area reduced to one-twentieth the speed should have reached four hundred meters per second—yet various factors intervened and the wind settled at roughly fifty meters per second.

Even that was stronger than most typhoons, but the localized range made it far from truly useful.

Simply shrinking the area would not be enough to raise the destructive power any further.

“Julia. Please grab hold of the movement of the air that’s advancing forward.”

“Huh? Grab the air? What does that even mean?”

“Well, I mean…”

I paused, searching for the right words, then a good idea struck me.

Come to think of it, I remember there was dry ice in the kitchen.

The thought barely formed before I left the training hall and ran to the dining area.

A few maids were still there washing dishes; I asked them and managed to obtain several leftover chunks of dry ice.

When I returned to the training hall Julia stared at me with a look that clearly asked where on earth I had just gone.

“Why did you suddenly leave?”

“I needed to fetch something.”

While explaining I opened the ice box I had brought and took out the dry ice.

“This is…”

“It will make it easier for Julia to control her ability.”

I set the dry ice upright in front of her eyes and asked if she could do the same thing once more.

She activated her power the instant she heard me, and the water vapor liquefied by the dry ice clearly revealed the flow of the wind.

“Wow! Th-this…!”

“That’s the movement of the wind you’re using, young lady. Amazing, isn’t it?”

She had used her unique ability many times, but seeing the power she herself wielded with her own eyes was a fresh shock.

Naturally her understanding of the ability she controlled could only rise.

“Now, gather that wind into one place. Make a ball so none of it leaks out. The more wind you collect, the higher your score.”

“Okay! I’ll show you what I can do!”

Huuup—

Julia drew a deep breath and focused her mind on the wind.

At the same time the air that had been scattered in every direction began to converge on a single point.

Watching it, I grew certain my idea had been correct.

Since the activation condition of her unique ability is clearly perceiving gas, the control score that was already maxed out on the analysis sheet must have expanded even further. The proof is right in front of my eyes.

The water vapor cooled by the dry ice was gathering into a circle so distinctly that I could see it; the air was steadily increasing its pressure with remarkable stability, and there was hardly a single place where it leaked.

The atmospheric pressure at the center of that sphere of gathering vapor must already have soared to dozens of times the normal level.

As evidence, the vapor that flowed into the sphere collided with other particles and swirled wildly in every direction.

If she could keep compressing the air like this she would be able to boast nearly perfect destructive power—but Julia was reaching her limit and beginning to sweat.

Is it getting too much?

Unique abilities were close to the superpowers people normally imagined, yet they were clearly consumable.

The more they were used the greater the physical and mental burden became, so after a certain output one absolutely needed rest.

“Julia, now you’re going to release the air you’ve been holding. The key at this moment is to make the wind blow in only one direction.”

Julia answered with a nod.

Proof that she was concentrating so hard on her unique ability she didn’t even have the mental space to speak.

“And at the same time, keep generating wind by following the dispersing smoke. Think you can do it?”

“I’ll… try once!”

There were two results I hoped to obtain from this experiment.

The first was to produce destructive power far superior to normal by using compressed air.

The second was to generate sound energy capable of incapacitating ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a full-grown adult by using air as the medium.

The gas she controlled was ordinarily the medium that carried most sound; being able to manipulate it meant she could handle not only wind but the energy known as sound.

Honestly, some people would scoff and ask how sound could ever become a useful weapon.

Yet sound was a far finer weapon than the world generally believed, and because it could subdue pure humans without destroying terrain its applications were endless.

Even the German army had once produced a sonic weapon with a fifty-meter effective kill range that could stun every enemy within two hundred thirty meters.

Flashbangs alone could render enemies combat-ineffective with their blast of noise.

Of course the power was not great relative to the energy expended, so they never saw proper commercial use—but this was a place where modern science hardly mattered.

There was no need to produce sound through explosions; simply shaking the air directly could draw out more than enough noise.

“I’ll count down from three. Three, two, one! Ready—fire!”

Even though she had been pretending otherwise, she must have been at her limit; the moment she received the signal she released the compression, and the accumulated pressurized air, assisted by her ability, exploded straight ahead.

Extremely compressed air blasted in one direction, and in response the gases in the atmosphere vibrated, wave stacking upon wave.

The air waves that had piled up in a single space generated a shockwave of enormous energy, which instantly became a terrible roar that slammed into our eardrums.

KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GANG—!

“Kyaaak!”

“What was that sound…!”

Our eardrums did not burst, yet the shockwave must have reached even the semicircular canals, because keeping our balance while standing became difficult.

If only a brilliant flash had accompanied it, how would this have been any different from a flashbang?

No— the blast of a flashbang was a mere one hundred seventy decibels. Having succeeded in realizing a temporary shockwave beyond mere sound, the strike just now was something greater than a flashbang.

“Uuuugh, what happened to the surroundings…”

After about thirty seconds my body gradually recovered. When I looked around, half-shattered reinforced glass filled my vision.

“Young lady! Don’t move—stay right where you are!”

Watching the servant who, despite having been hit by the shockwave closer than we were, recovered almost at once and began gathering people, I thought quietly to myself.

I caused an accident. What do I do now?

“So… what did the people in charge do?”

“Yes. The person who designed the training hall had committed no major fault, so the matter was settled with a settlement payment. As for the craftsmen who handled the glasswork, we are currently proceeding with a lawsuit on charges of shoddy construction.”

“To dare commit corruption against our Wittelsbach family… Approach this with the mindset of stamping out the root completely while we have the chance.”

“I shall keep that in mind.”

Ludwig closed the documents concerning the personnel who had worked on the training hall and leaned back in his office chair.

“By the way, is it true that Julia left the training hall in that state?”

“Yes. According to what the servants said, the destructive power was achieved with pure unique ability alone.”

“Ha… a result achieved with pure unique ability alone…”

Ludwig let out a hollow laugh and rested a hand on the desk.

“Didn’t the examiner say that while her overall potential was good, little could be expected of her destructive power? I don’t remember the exact figure, but I recall she received a score below average. Am I wrong?”

“You are not.”

“Temporarily incapacitating servants who are, in their own way, elites, and—even granting there was shoddy construction—shattering reinforced glass from five meters away… is that something an ordinary unique ability can do? I simply cannot believe she is the sort of talent that would receive such a low score.”

The butler fell silent for a moment, lost in thought at Ludwig’s words.

Unique abilities blossomed within a year of birth and then grew gradually.

Among those of the young lady’s age, the number who could display that level of power could be counted on one hand.

“I apologize.”

“No, I am not trying to reproach you. On the contrary, I am in an excellent mood right now. I had been saddened that my only daughter’s talent seemed to be denied, yet now I can only be grateful to hear such good news.”

Having said that, Ludwig drummed his fingers on the arm of his office chair.

“Still, it is a little strange. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠If only one person had examined Julia’s unique ability it would be one thing, but at least five specialists came and conducted a precise inspection. Could they all have measured the results incorrectly? From the beginning we had her train in swordsmanship precisely to make up for the lack of offensive power in her unique ability, did we not?”

“That is correct. Which is why I also asked the servants what on earth had happened, but…”

The butler trailed off there.

“What is it? I will neither reproach nor scold you, so speak freely.”

“Well… from this point on even I find it a little hard to believe… The truth is, I heard the cause was the young girl we brought into the mansion not long ago.”

“What?”

The appearance of a person he had never once considered threw his heart into confusion.

“Explain in more detail. That girl is the cause?”

“Yes. According to the servants, she persuaded the young lady to try using her unique ability, and in fact I myself gave permission for it.”

“That much is understandable. But how does that connect to the recent incident?”

“Furthermore, after they moved to the training hall the servants lent her the unique-ability analysis report concerning the young lady.”

“They lent her the unique-ability analysis report? Knowing how great the damage to our family would be if it carelessly leaked outside the household?”

“They judged it would be fine since she is a slave and only five years old. They said they would leave any disciplinary measures regarding this to the head of the house.”

“…I understand for now. Continue.”

“To continue the explanation: she finished reading the analysis report in a short time of roughly five minutes and used it to teach the young lady a new method of employing her unique ability. When that method was put into practice, it produced, as you have heard, a shockwave capable of incapacitating dozens of full-grown adults and physical force sufficient to shatter reinforced glass.”

Only when the butler finished speaking did Ludwig stroke his face with an expression that said he had no idea how to respond.

“I knew she was a clever child, but she also has insight into unique abilities? No—no matter how intelligent she may be, she is an unawakened person without a unique ability of her own. It would be only natural for her knowledge of unique abilities to be lacking…”

In this world there existed a profession called Assist.

They were a kind of manager who took charge of the training, support, and tactical design of heroes who fought monsters or villains.

Though they were often overshadowed by the heroes’ exploits and hard to notice, the highest-ranking Assists were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠recognized as equal in value to upper-tier heroes and in practice often performed even greater roles.

Surely the servants are not spouting nonsense. Then does that mean she already possesses skill on par with the highest-ranking Assists at such a young age?

Ludwig let out a hollow laugh even at his own thought.

It must be a coincidence. If she truly possesses that level of skill, we will find out soon enough. There is plenty of time, after all.

“Still, one never knows…”

Ludwig ordered the butler to keep a closer watch on Seo-hyun.