Chapter 23 - All Mine
All Mine
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 23. All Mine
Ashuhalt Castle Internal Dining Hall.
The one-sided killing intent emitted by a man was pressing down on the table.
Whispers from around flew in like daggers and stuck.
"Hey hey! A fight broke out! Lars over there, looks like his lid is completely blown off?"
"Lars? That pedo bastard?"
"Shh, lower your voice. That bastard has sharp ears."
"And he's not a pedo anymore. Kailey is also twenty."
"Once a pedo, always a pedo. What's the point of putting on airs as a knight? His insides are black."
Tremble―
At the conversations sticking in his back, a thick vein wriggled on Lars's forehead.
Lars Bahat.
The legitimate heir of the Bahat family, an elite knight of Ashuhalt, and a promising talent.
But he had a scarlet letter engraved clearer than his family crest.
The fact that he had unrequitedly loved Kailey for 7 years since he was an apprentice knight and she was 13.
Of course, Lars had excuses too.
'I was young back then too! I didn't even know Kailey was 13!!'
The day he first met Kailey.
19-year-old boy Lars, who spoke to her bewitched by her angelic appearance, received a shock he would never have again in his life.
'What are you staring at. Wanna die?'
That blue-blooded venom. Rough speech.
It approached Lars, who grew up like a flower in a greenhouse, as destiny of fate and irresistible charm.
'Ah, how can she be so charming!'
7 years since that day.
He sharpened his sword waiting solely for the day Kailey became an adult.
With the single determination to confess proudly after becoming a cool knight, he endured the years of perseverance, enduring even the stigma of 'lolicon.'
However.
A mercenary bastard like a dog bone rolling from somewhere is eating alone with his 'Sanctuary' Kailey?
Even with Kailey showing such a relaxed expression she would never show usually?
The sound of reason snapping was heard.
Lars glared at Danel with bloodshot eyes and smiled fishily.
"Why, are you scared? Mercenary bastard who's all talk? Legs trembling because the opponent is a knight?"
Danel leisurely popped the remaining piece of bread into his mouth and shrugged.
"No, waiting for spectators? Such fun things are best when there are many audiences."
Danel slowly rose from his seat.
All eyes in the dining hall focused on him.
He looked around as if he were an actor standing on stage, then nodded as if satisfied.
"Good, this should be enough."
"Arrogant bastard. Engrave today in your bones. Because it will be a momentous day you become a cripple."
"You too. If you don't want to cry unsightly in front of Kailey, you'll have to clench your sphincter tight and come at me."
Kwaaang―!
Dust clouds rose thickly in the training ground.
And at its center, there was Lars, spectacularly slammed onto the cold floor, spread-eagled.
'What…… what happened just now?'
Lars looked up at the clear sky with a dazed mind.
Clearly, he drew his sword first.
He pushed the guy with overwhelming momentum and was sure he seized victory.
But when he came to his senses, a flash sparkled before his eyes, and the next memory was only the sensation of the hard ground transmitted to his back.
"Kuh……!"
Lars staggered and forced his body up.
Joints all over his body screamed, but the whispers of spectators whipped him.
"What, was Lars that weak?"
"No, that mercenary guy is strong."
Danel's confident voice struck his eardrums.
"Oh, want to do more? You're quite sturdy?"
Lars adjusted his grip on the sword with trembling hands and spat blood-mixed saliva on the floor.
"Ptooey!! You, damn bastard…… were you an Aura User?"
Danel chuckled.
"You're an Aura User too, aren't you? Did you pick a fight thinking I couldn't even use Aura? Hey, that's too disappointing."
White Aura rose like heat haze over Danel's beloved sword 'Hayang'.
It was different from any Aura Lars had seen.
Extremely refined yet heterogeneous power.
The amount might be less than his, but the purity was powerful beyond comparison.
Lars's eyes rolled back.
'No way! My bloody efforts are inferior to merely such a drifter mercenary bastard……!'
But Danel was cool-headed unlike his appearance.
Already analyzing Lars's Aura and tapping the calculator in his head.
'Green Aura, and a heavy greatsword. As expected of the Bahat family guy. Upper-middle grade Aura cultivation method… very good. Hmm, but he should bring out something like a 'secret technique' soon.'
The real reason Danel deliberately provoked and escalated the situation.
To 'steal' the opponent's swordsmanship secret technique.
If he grasps the mechanism of how the family's secret technique based on the upper-middle grade cultivation method works, Danel was confident he could evolve his 'Acies Style' techniques one step further.
But Lars was still saving his capital.
Perhaps because he's a knight, his patience was above average.
'Shall I…… scratch him a little more?'
Danel turned his head slightly and approached Kailey, who was watching with arms crossed on one side of the training ground.
And whispered in her ear pretending to be secretive.
"Hey…… lend me your waist for a sec."
Kailey opened her eyes round and asked back.
"Waist…? What bullsh…! Kyaak—!"
It was before she finished speaking.
Grab―!
"!!!"
Danel snatched Kailey's waist and pulled her sharply towards him.
At the sudden skinship, Kailey's body stiffened rigidly.
Holding her in his arms, Danel showed the most despicable and triumphant smile in the world towards Lars.
"Think we don't need to do more? Now you are mine, Kailey."
Kailey's face turned beet red as if exploding.
Flustered, she screamed urgently into Danel's ear.
"Hey, are you crazy?! W, won't you let go? Wanna die?!"
"Cooperate a little. What are comrades for."
"W, what kind of cooperation is this, you crazy bastard!"
It was that moment.
Kuooooo―!
The entire training ground began to vibrate.
Green Aura spewing from Lars's body shimmered bizarrely and soared as if going berserk.
Danel pushed Kailey aside without delay.
And took out the 'Ahisha's Eye' powder prepared in advance from his pocket and applied it to his eyes.
"Done. Thanks, Kailey!"
"W, what? Thanks? You…!"
Kailey looked at Danel with a face turned red.
But Danel seemed not to care about her anymore.
That rather touched Kailey's pride.
Nevertheless, her heart beat madly.
Thump–
Thump–
Because it was the first time in her life being held defenselessly by a man like this.
'What on earth…! Really this guy is!!'
Danel felt burning pain in his eyes, but it was already the second time, so he was quite used to it.
Simultaneously with his vision turning red, the flow of mana began to be visible.
Lars had already lost his reason.
The fact that the vulgar mercenary bastard trampled to his heart's content on the sanctuary he hadn't touched even a fingertip for the past 7 years felt like tearing his soul apart.
"You, crossed the line."
Nevertheless, Lars was still enduring with superhuman patience.
Danel threw a heavy final blow.
"Line? What line? Ah, Kailey? For a prickly personality, her body was slender and slim? Quite nice to hold."
Snap—
Eventually, Lars's eyes rolled back.
"How dare you!!!! Pay the price for touching the sacred realm you shouldn't touch… with death!!!"
At that moment, Lars's Aura operation changed.
In Danel's reddened vision, the bastard's mana flow was caught clearly.
Path of mana flowing along blood vessels, and the process of condensation concentrating it into the blade.
'I see it! Ooh… so that's how he gathers power!'
Feast of Aura raging like a storm.
Danel engraved all those trajectories clearly in his two eyes.
And immediately began to replace that Aura operation method with his own by 'improving' it with Trace.
Vwooooom―!
"Price? What price? Do you have the capability for that?"
"Let's see if you can blabber such things after taking this!!"
"Confident, huh? Planning to bring out a finishing move?"
As Danel said, Lars was confident.
Bahat family's secret technique, 'Earth Slash (Dae-Ji-Cham)'.
A technique loading destructive Aura onto the weight of a greatsword heavier than any other sword and exploding it through the ground.
Its destructive power alone is unrivaled.
Even if the opponent is an Aura user of the same level, blocking this blow from the front was close to impossible.
"No matter how much you run your mouth, you can never block this sword! If you block this sword… I will admit my defeat and become your dog!"
"Huh? You promised?"
"A knight does not go back on his word! Take this!!!"
Lars's sword was raised high above his head.
'As expected, overflowing with points to improve.'
Danel felt his heart pounding.
If he improves this Aura operation method and grafts the destruction mechanism of axe skills learned from Captain Barkas in the past?
Just imagining it caused a thrilling shudder.
'Kuhahaha! This is really exciting!'
Vwooom—!
Instantly, Lars's figure rushed into the air.
And his sword struck down heavily toward the ground.
Boom―!
Crack-crack-crack—
The training ground floor split vertically, causing a tremendous wave.
Continuous Aura explosions rushed toward Danel riding the ground as if bombs were exploding.
Bang―! Bang―! Bang―! Bang―!
"This is it!"
Danel also drove 'Hayang' into the ground.
Technique stolen from Lars, improved more efficiently.
Total amount of Aura is insufficient.
Then do not disperse power, concentrate everything in a single giant explosion!
Born like that,
Acies Style 3rd Form 2nd Strike ― Volcano (Hwa-San).
Rumble-rumble-rumble―!
Vibration shaking the earth collided with Lars's wave.
And.
Bang―!
Kwaaaaang―!
Right in front of where Danel stuck his sword, a giant white flame soared like a volcano.
Mercenaries and knights watching from around screamed and retreated.
"O, Oh my god!"
"That's a mere mercenary's swordsmanship? Nonsense!"
The scene revealed after the dust cleared was disastrous.
Lars's 'Earth Slash' was completely devoured by Danel's explosive Aura and disappeared without a trace.
No, rather Danel's Aura wave flowed back and covered Lars.
"Keuhuk!!! T, This can't be……."
Lars knelt on one knee and looked at the scene in vain.
Even though he brought out the family's pride and strongest secret technique, he was miserably defeated.
Even the technique the guy showed was much more refined and destructive than his.
Complete defeat.
A sense of humiliating defeat crushed Lars.
Danel walked over leisurely, hanging Hayang on his shoulder.
"Hey, got any more?"
Lars bit his lip.
But he was a knight.
Although he heard sounds of lolicon, he was a young man who took responsibility for the words he spat out himself.
"……I lost."
"Pity. Could do a little more."
"……Damn it. Honestly learned a lot. I can't beat you."
Danel smirked seeing that appearance.
Personality is a bit weird, but he was a guy who knew how to accept results cleanly.
'Hmm, means he's not a bad guy.'
"Good, then you are my dog from now on."
Lars's eyes trembled violently as if an earthquake occurred.
"T, That is……."
"Why? Knight going back on his word? Speak well to Lady Rose yourself. Don't make me get scolded too by saying weird things. Say you proposed first, lost fairly, and are keeping the promise. Okay?"
"Kuh……!"
It was the biggest crisis that suddenly struck Lars's 7-year life in the Duke's family.
Danel threw a carrot watching that appearance.
"If you become my dog, you'll see Kailey more often, right? Right?"
"!!!"
Then Lars's eyes started rolling rapidly.
'See Kailey more often?'
Lars said as if bestowing great generosity.
"I, I'm just keeping the promise as a knight! H, however I can't guarantee anything! Because I'm a body already sworn loyalty to Lady Rose…!"
"Who asked for loyalty? You said it with your own mouth, a dog. A dog just needs to do well what it's told. Right?"
"Kuh……."
Danel raised one corner of his mouth despicably.
'Kuk kuk, already curious how Rose Ashuhalt will react hearing this news?'
Finishing the duel like that, Danel and Kailey visited Lady Lorraine's private training ground alone.
"Oh… this place is nice. A bit unmanaged, but we can train here now."
"……."
Kailey smiled a bitter smile.
Although she has a private training ground as an Ashuhalt direct line, a space nominal because she has no talent in swords.
But just for today, that empty training ground was noisy because of a single man.
"Now, you know my ability, right? So hand over the cultivation method quickly."
"…Didn't know you were that strong."
"Right? Now, so sit down quickly."
Danel sat cross-legged behind Kailey.
Now that 'Ahisha's Eye' duration remains, it was the optimal situation to check Kailey's cultivation method.
Inside the reddened vision, Kailey's body interior showed transparently.
"T, then I'm doing it?"
"Yeah, start."
Kailey closed her eyes and began to operate Aura.
Danel quietly placed his hand on her back and finished preparations to tear apart and fix those crude paths one by one.
Where mana stagnates, in which path it is wasted, drawn in clear lines.
Opportunity to make a comrade strong. And opportunity to make the stolen technique mine.
Danel's eyes were emitting bizarre yet brilliant light.
Danel raised the corners of his mouth.
Exciting things happen day after day since coming to the Duke's family.
'I'll make everything mine!'
Auditory hallucinations of mercenary brothers were heard.
'That bastard! Trying to steal techniques again!'