Chapter 44
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: The Training Center
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‘Ngh—.’
Galahad desperately suppressed the groan that threatened to escape.
He had answered the Grand Duke lightly before departing, but in truth, his condition was far from good.
The blood of a high-ranking demon was on a completely different level from anything he had ever consumed.
If drinking the blood of other demons was like swallowing water…
This was—.
‘Like swallowing lava.’
It felt as if everything was melting away.
From his lips that touched the cup, to his mouth and esophagus—.
This was a potent poison. The kind of poison that would kill ninety-nine out of a hundred ignorant fools who drank it.
If it was that deadly to an ignorant fool, how much worse would it be for a mage sensitive to mana?
All his mana was boiling over.
The mana had escaped Galahad’s control. It welcomed the demon’s blood as if in reverence.
The pressure felt like his heart was about to burst.
Just then, the Egg of Pain moved. It approached the high-ranking demon’s blood, drooling, as if it was its rightful due.
In response, Galahad—.
‘Wait.’
He blocked the Egg of Pain from lunging at the demon’s blood.
The Egg of Pain vibrated faintly. A searing pain, as if his insides were not just boiling but melting, surged through him. The Egg of Pain insisted vehemently.
*If you don’t deal with that right now, your insides will melt.*
It was right.
Mana of such concentration would undoubtedly melt Galahad from the inside out.
In fact, even the mana Galahad already possessed was running rampant, beyond his control.
At this rate, destruction was inevitable.
However—.
‘This won’t be enough to kill me.’
It was a deadly poison only to the ignorant; to one who handled poisons, it was a treasure.
Likewise, this high-ranking demon’s blood was a treasure to Galahad.
A treasure that could never be easily obtained—.
How could he hand such a treasure over to that thing right away?
It was certainly dangerous. Dangerous, but not so much that he would die instantly.
He had time to take a little lick.
Just a little…
The Egg of Pain shuddered violently. It seemed to be asking why he would undertake such a dangerous task.
*If you feed it to me, it’ll come out anyway—.*
It was right. If he handed it over to the Egg of Pain without needing to compress it, the egg would provide him with dense, pure mana.
However—.
‘That wouldn’t be as tasty.’
It was the first time he had encountered mana of such a high concentration.
As a mage, he could not bear to pass on mana of such sublime density without touching it himself.
The Egg of Pain rumbled. It seemed to be seething.
All of Galahad’s focus was on the demon’s blood.
He prodded at the vicious poison that was not just burning, but melting his insides.
He gently scraped its surface, as if savoring a fine delicacy.
A small amount leaked out, and the taste was truly ecstatic.
So good he could die eating it alone and not even notice—.
‘How should I eat this?’
Ah—, Galahad narrowed his eyes slowly.
‘Compression.’
The art of manipulating mana culminated in compression.
To be able to compress mana was to have mastered it completely.
‘I think I can do it.’
The Egg of Pain trembled violently. It screamed of the danger. It seemed worried, as if saying that if he died, it would be the end for it too.
‘Shut up.’
The Egg of Pain went still. Having silenced it, Galahad licked his lips.
The mana’s concentration was extremely high, but it was purely dense mana, uncompressed.
Theoretically, it could be compressed.
The calculation was brief.
Galahad forced himself to press down on the unyielding mana.
The mana was so dense it felt as solid as a mountain.
It felt like pressing down on a mountaintop with the palm of his hand.
It didn’t budge.
‘How dare you—.’
This was mana that had entered Galahad’s body.
Theoretically, Galahad held the reins.
No matter how dense, how could a mage be dragged around by mana?
Therefore—.
‘Bow down.’
At that firm conviction—.
The mana, which had been resisting as if it would never move, stirred.
Of course, it was only a slight movement, but—.
What mattered was that it had moved.
‘Ah—’
It was the result of his calculations, but there was a difference between speculation and confirmation.
And the experience of having pressed down a mountain was not trivial.
Galahad felt the pressing force grow even stronger.
The compressed mana, unable to be contained, warped. The mana that should have dispersed into the atmosphere suddenly vanished.
As if it had been absorbed—.
Witnessing this phenomenon for the first time, Galahad narrowed his eyes.
Just then, the pain surged again.
The uncompressed mana began to rage once more.
‘Eat.’
The Egg of Pain, which had been writhing and holding back, lunged at the demon’s blood. This one seemed to be a handful even for it; it wrestled with the demon’s blood inside him.
The Egg of Pain began to devour the demon’s blood. Its mass pulsed and gradually grew larger. He could feel the weight of it in his heart.
Galahad let out a low groan and pressed a hand to his chest.
The Egg of Pain vibrated as if in celebration. Galahad, already in poor condition, swayed violently.
Having consumed something so delicious, the thing seemed to have lost its reason. It pulsed and squirmed, its presence continuously shaking Galahad.
Come to think of it, wasn't it an egg?
‘Is it about to hatch?’
It was right next to his heart.
If it hatched in that location, it would be quite troublesome.
He called out to it several times in alarm, but the creature, seemingly devoid of reason, just kept shaking.
It seemed too excited to hear him.
Looking at it now, it seemed to be a dance of its own.
It didn't seem like it was going to hatch immediately.
However, Galahad’s condition was not good.
Even that bizarre dance was fatal to him in his current state. And it was too excited to listen to him.
Galahad urgently turned his head.
In times like these—.
‘My wife!’
It had to be Adrianna.
****
‘He received the Grand Duke’s acknowledgment—.’
The 7th Battalion Captain, Bellogrim, swallowed dryly.
The Grand Duke was the ruler of the North.
He wasn't called the ruler simply because he was a duke.
The Grand Duke was a man who had forged his path to that position with the blood of his kin, his enemies, and the demons.
[Anyone who can cut off my head may have this seat.]
Those were the first words he spoke after becoming the Grand Duke.
It was like throwing a torch on the already hot-blooded people of the North.
Countless challengers rose—.
And all knelt before the Grand Duke.
Among them, the Grand Duke would very occasionally offer his cup.
It was an occurrence of about one in a thousand challengers.
Most who received the cup avoided drinking from it.
Just receiving the Grand Duke’s cup was an immense honor in itself.
But this man didn’t stop at just receiving the cup.
He downed it in one go. And as if that wasn't enough, he asked for more.
It was the first time such a thing had ever happened.
And it would likely never happen again.
‘You really do see everything if you live long enough.’
Bellogrim looked at Galahad with a sense of renewed wonder.
His hair was slicked back without a single strand out of place, his body felt solid yet was long and lean, and his attire was impeccable—. He was a man who didn't fit in with the North at all.
He was even a mage.
A man who was the polar opposite of the North.
For such a man to receive the Grand Duke’s acknowledgment.
‘Truly, you see everything if you live long enough.’
Just then, the man opened his eyes.
A dense aura emanated from him.
It was an aura Bellogrim could never forget.
‘…A high-ranking demon?’
Bellogrim instinctively gripped his staff. The hair on his body stood on end. His hand tightened with immense force.
Then, the man blinked. The ominous aura he had just felt vanished.
No, it was the same man as before.
Those calm yet somehow crazed eyes.
‘…Did I see wrong?’
Bellogrim narrowed his eyes and observed, but it was still the same man.
‘I’m getting old.’
Muttering to himself, Bellogrim realized his palm was slick with sweat.
To think he had been tense.
The man approached the Grand Duke and Adrianna, who were in conversation. His legs were trembling so much he looked like he was sick.
‘So it was too much for him.’
It was surely because he had drunk the demon’s blood.
He had heard that demon blood was even more fatal to mages, and Bellogrim knew a great deal, as much as he had wrinkles.
Most of it was trivia, but trivia was still knowledge.
“Impossible.”
“Restoring the 7th Battalion comes first.”
“The place is already open.”
“Even so, we cannot just leave the Miasmic Realm as it is.”
The Grand Duke’s eyes were subtly gentle. Others might not see it, but Bellogrim, who had served him on the battlefield, could tell.
The Grand Duke's love for his daughter was famous. As was his love for his late wife.
As Galahad approached, the gazes of the Grand Duke and Adrianna turned to him simultaneously.
At that moment—.
‘…?’
The man abruptly extended his hand to Adrianna. There were no words. He just held out his hand.
Adrianna let out a small sigh, removed her gauntlet, and took his hand.
The whole sequence of events was incredibly natural. They even intertwined their fingers as if they had done it many times before.
‘They suit each other quite well.’
As Bellogrim muttered this, he felt a sudden murderous aura and turned his head.
The Grand Duke’s brow was slightly furrowed.
His thick, scarred back muscles twitched violently, as if screaming.
“Haha, my hands were a bit cold.”
As Galahad said this to the Grand Duke with a smile—.
‘He’s a real madman.’
Bellogrim was genuinely impressed.
He had seen his fair share of strange men, but this one was the best of them all.
****
‘I could actually die.’
Seeing the Grand Duke’s furrowed brow, Galahad hastily moved behind Adrianna.
He had no choice, as the Egg of Pain had been acting up too much.
The moment he held Adrianna’s hand, the Egg of Pain became quiet as a ghost. It seemed to have calmed down a bit. The Egg of Pain bit at his heart, as if in disappointment.
‘Power you can’t control is useless.’
At Galahad’s rebuke, the Egg of Pain fell silent with a sulk.
Just then, Adrianna looked at Galahad and spoke.
“We were talking about the Miasmic Realm.”
“You mean this.”
Galahad waved his hand. The ash scattered around them swirled with the motion.
“Yes, if left as it is, it will affect the demons and monsters. It has a high potential to become a problem, so we were discussing how to set up a guard.”
Adrianna nodded.
The Miasmic Realm was an environment that was beyond beneficial for demons, monsters, and mages, but conversely, it was the worst possible environment for knights.
From the vision being obscured just a step ahead, to the psychological terror—.
If it was that bad for knights, it was needless to say how it would be for soldiers. They would surely fall into a panic just by entering.
“Is there a way?”
The Grand Duke asked in his characteristic low voice.
‘He sounds like a beast deep in a cave. One that smoked a lot during puberty—.’
Galahad muttered under his breath.
It might have sounded like he was picking a fight, but the fact that the Grand Duke had asked directly was significant. It meant he was willing to hear his opinion.
‘So this is acknowledgment.’
Acknowledgment aside, the Grand Duke's gaze was so intense it felt like his eyes would burn just from meeting it.
“Yes.”
Of course, there was a solution.
“…Really?”
Adrianna’s eyebrows shot up. She glanced at the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke’s eyebrows lowered.
“I dislike jests.”
“I enjoy them, but I know the time and place.”
“……Is that so?”
At the Grand Duke’s low question, Galahad laughed, “Haha—.” No one laughed with him.
‘A father and daughter with no sense of humor.’
Galahad clicked his tongue and nodded.
He had seen them earlier. The magic stone fragments and the broken magic circle. It was easy to deduce the connection between the two.
“Yes, they must have gathered a large number of magic stones and used a demon as a catalyst to detonate them all at once, creating compressed mana. The once-compressed mana then attracted the surrounding mana, leading to this state. Of course, once it exceeds a certain area, it won't gather any more due to the mana threshold—.”
Galahad, who was about to explain further, trailed off at the sight of their lowered eyebrows.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I am a brilliant mage.”
Galahad replied, tapping his head, which made the Grand Duke frown.
“Then is there a way to get rid of it?”
Adrianna asked, turning to Galahad. Galahad nodded.
“We have you, don’t we?”
“……Pardon?”
“A Miasmic Realm, as it’s called, is ultimately just a place where the mana concentration is unusually high. And this isn’t even a real Miasmic Realm.”
“Speak simply.”
Ahem—. Galahad forced down the words, ‘I was speaking simply enough,’ that had risen to the tip of his tongue. These were people of the North.
“I will block the mana continuously flowing in from the outside, and you can erase it from the inside.”
“Erase it?”
“Yes.”
“With what?”
At the Grand Duke’s question, Galahad looked at Adrianna. Adrianna’s eyes widened.
“Me? I don’t know magic.”
“That’s fine, I know it well enough. I’ll block the mana coming in from outside, so you just need to raise your aura to its peak and run around.”
“……Pardon?”
Galahad briefly wondered how he could explain it any more simply.
“Ah, I understand. However, is it a problem that can be solved so easily?”
“Because it’s not a real Miasmic Realm. Its range is only about the size of a castle, and it requires a high-ranking or stronger demon as a catalyst. However—.”
“However?”
The Grand Duke repeated in a low voice. His massive trapezius muscles twitched, creating an atmosphere as if he were about to pounce.
Galahad met the Grand Duke’s fierce eyes and opened his mouth.
“Do we really have to get rid of this?”
The Grand Duke’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. Adrianna’s eyebrows lowered.
‘The father and daughter do have one thing in common.’
They both expressed their emotions with their eyebrows.
“What do you mean?”
The Grand Duke asked. Adrianna remained silent.
“Of course, having something like this will attract nearby monsters and demons. But is it a problem if they are attracted?”
The Grand Duke’s brow furrowed even more. He looked like a beast with its jaws wide open. Galahad’s throat felt itchy and sweat trickled down his back for no reason.
Galahad subtly moved closer behind Adrianna.
“What do you mean by that?”
“From what I saw then, even the knights of the 1st Battalion didn’t seem accustomed to the Miasmic Realm.”
“Yes.”
“An incident like this is just the beginning. It will happen again in the future. It’s not a problem that can be solved by being careful.”
Galahad said, looking at the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke stared back silently, without a reply.
“So, we train them.”
“……Train, you say?”
Adrianna’s mouth hung open, as if the words were quite shocking.
“Do you have any idea what kind of place a Miasmic Realm is?”
This time, it was the 7th Battalion Captain who asked. There was astonishment in his eyes.
‘Such a fuss over a Miasmic Realm.’
Was it that big of a deal? Galahad flicked his fingers lightly.
“Yes, I stopped by before coming here.”
“Stopped by? You say it as if you dropped by a tavern.”
Just then, the Grand Duke spoke.
“Training in the Miasmic Realm— interesting.”
“Yes, if managed well, it can be operated as a Miasmic Realm training facility.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Danger, when overcome, becomes an opportunity.”
Galahad stared silently at the Grand Duke.
“Good.”
It was the answer he had expected.
“In that case, we’ll need a manager for the training center.”
As the Grand Duke asked this, the corners of his mouth curled up fiercely.
‘Hmm, I didn’t expect this.’
Galahad met the Grand Duke’s eyes, his mind racing.
Manage the Miasmic Realm training center—.
‘Not bad.’
Having finished his calculations, Galahad nodded.
The corners of the Grand Duke’s mouth lifted a little higher.
At the sound of ‘Miasmic Realm,’ the Egg of Pain, which had been sulking, began to jump for joy.
‘Like a dog that heard the word walk.’
Galahad clicked his tongue softly.
****
‘There’s quite a bit of resistance.’
Theodore frowned as he looked at the reports that had come in.
They weren’t showing it openly, but the captains were subtly expressing their opposition.
It was because of His Grace the Grand Duke’s order: if they didn’t plug the holes perfectly, he would plug them with their spines.
He could understand the captains’ hardships. How could they possibly seal such a vast front line so meticulously?
Furthermore, the fact that His Grace had issued an order after a long time also played a part.
The biggest reason among them was that most of the key figures from the time when His Grace was actively on the battlefield had been replaced.
‘They don’t know how fearsome His Grace the Grand Duke is.’
Theodore clicked his tongue softly.
The letter saying he would pull out their spines to plug the holes was a rather kind one.
He didn't say he would chew on their spines, and he even gave them a deadline.
The old Grand Duke would have just pulled their heads off first and thought later.
This was him being quite kind.
Just then, the door burst open and a man rushed in. The red letter in his hand was the symbol of His Grace the Grand Duke.
The news was finally here—.
Theodore hastily knelt and received it. As he carefully unfolded it, bold script, like the claw marks of a beast, was etched upon it.
‘…Miasmic Realm Training Center? Special Task Force Captain?’
The sentences were concise, yet he couldn't understand them.
Theodore reread it several times before he fully understood.
‘Ah, a Miasmic Realm opened in the 7th Battalion’s area, so they’re making a training ground out of it. And the Special Task Force Captain will manage that training ground. And soldiers from other battalions will train in the Miasmic Realm—.’
Hmm…….
What the hell is this nonsense?