Chapter 104
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Sword Ki Enchantment
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The classroom for Ancient Enchantment Studies.
Lee Se-hun and Lea sat side by side at one desk, staring tensely across at the other side.
"……."
Rebecca, monocle over one eye, silently examined the blueprint. After a long moment, her lips finally parted slowly.
"This really... produces sword ki... an enchant..."
Even as she suppressed her emotions, her voice trembled faintly.
The blueprint clutched in her hand—an enchant that generated sword ki—left Rebecca not just admiring, but utterly stunned.
'They said they were messing around in the shared workshop... but to think they created something like this...'
An enchant completed by dividing spell formulas into ten segments each and stacking them in three layers.
Impressive in form alone, but what shocked Rebecca most was the organic linkage structure across all thirty segments.
'The connections between segments shift to match the properties of the enchanted object, compressing mana at peak efficiency.'
An enchant that altered the spell formula's structure to guarantee sword ki upon sufficient mana input.
Its production process was so intricate that versatility suffered, but the mere fact that such complexity worked was phenomenal.
'Just expand the connection patterns a bit more, and compatibility rises enough for mass-production recognition. In other words...'
Her granddaughter would achieve mass-producing sword ki—a monumental feat no one else had managed.
Confirming this, Rebecca steadied her quaking heart and turned to Lea.
"Did you really create this enchant spell formula?"
"……Who else but me would make something like this?"
Lea spoke with confidence despite her tension.
Normally, Rebecca would have scolded her for bragging, but this time, she could only nod.
"That's true."
Setting aside skill, the perspective itself was different.
An enchant she herself could never have devised. Feeling Lea's talent anew, Rebecca handed back the blueprint.
"So, what is it you wanted to say?"
"Conceptualizing this was brutal... and I think it proves I've beaten my slump. So... about that bet on the special student selection..."
Lea glanced warily at Rebecca before venturing cautiously.
"Let's just say it never happened..."
"No."
Rebecca cut her off without hesitation. Lea's brow twitched before she forced a smile.
"Don't say it so bluntly. Just think it over a little..."
"You think I said that without thinking?"
"Not that—just consider it more carefully."
"More carefully..."
Rebecca closed her eyes for three seconds, then opened them.
"No."
"……What do you mean, no!!"
Bam!
Lea shot to her feet, slamming both palms on the desk as she yelled.
"It's sword ki, not some trinket! With a little help from my junior, we could mass-produce it—one of the great achievements of the armament industry! And you're comparing that to some special student contest?"
"……."
"It was meant to test if my talent hit its limit! I broke through, so just say 'good job, keep it up' and let it go! Why not?!"
Thud thud!
Lea pounded the desk in frustration. Rebecca watched quietly before nodding.
"That's a fair point."
"Then...!"
"But a promise is a promise."
Rebecca gazed steadily at Lea, then channeled mana into the sub-space ring on her left ring finger, retrieving an item.
Whirr.
A neatly coated sheet of paper. It screamed importance. Lee Se-hun, sitting silently, glanced over the contents.
[Oath]
I, Lea Clodel, swear that if I am not selected as a third-year special student in this Ivory Tower special selection contest, I will make no excuses, withdraw from Babel, and return to my family home.
'An oath document... what a pain.'
A curse-infused item that imposed constraints for breaking promises.
Not strong enough to force actions, but it disrupted precise mana control—hardly ignorable.
"You wrote this yourself. If not selected as special student, no excuses, return home."
"I wrote that, but the context wasn't...!"
"Context..."
Rebecca asked flatly.
"Then the promise you made entering Babel can be altered by context too?"
"Th-that's..."
Lea's fierce rebuttal stalled for the first time. Her pounding fists clenched, trembling.
After mumbling at her lips for a while, she scowled and bellowed.
"I don't know!!"
Bam!
Unable to bear it, Lea stormed out of the classroom. Rebecca watched her go and sighed.
"Haa..."
How had a moment she'd normally celebrate turned into this? Rubbing her throbbing temples, Rebecca looked ahead.
"Not chasing her?"
"No point. She won't leave Babel."
Fleeing outside would play into Rebecca's hands anyway.
Rebecca looked mildly perplexed at his apathetic reply.
'Felt it before, but... he's an odd one.'
Helping prepare sword ki mass-production, pulling Lea from her slump to craft this enchant—he was anything but ordinary.
Grateful yet resentful, Rebecca eyed him complexly when...
"One thing I'd like to ask."
Lee Se-hun asked with evident curiosity.
"Are you sending her home because her talent's too outstanding?"
"……."
Caught off-guard, Rebecca's eyes widened. After a moment's hesitation, she sighed.
"That obvious?"
"Lately realized too much talent makes life exhausting."
Global attention meant Myriad Demons' Mire scrutiny—anyone with hero family ties would worry.
'And there's more to it here.'
Previously, reviewing Ice Dog's files via the illusory circuit, he'd spotted Lea-related intel.
[Galaxy Company's President Lea Clodel. Grudge relation to Puppeteer among the Ten Evils. Verify details.]
Pre-regression, Lea vanished abruptly one day.
Assumed Myriad Demons' Mire assassination then, but if this intel held...
'If Lea's enchant obsession was for revenge on the Puppeteer...'
It explained her anxiety and Rebecca's insistence on sending her home.
As Lee grew certain, Rebecca—after deliberation—asked gravely.
"Cadet Lee Se-hun. Can't you persuade Lea?"
"Hmm..."
"Not to block sword ki mass-production or anything. Just... protect her from exposure until she can stand on her own."
Her voice carried deep fear alongside worry.
Seeing Rebecca's unease, Lee pondered before shaking his head.
"I want to respect Lea's will."
"……I see."
Rebecca muttered bitterly, as if half-expecting it, then met his eyes calmly.
"I won't stop you there. But if you help her break her promise... I won't stand idle."
"I'll respect that too. Then..."
Lee Se-hun gathered the left-behind blueprint, bowed slightly, and left. Alone, Rebecca leaned back, closing her eyes.
Then, in a tiny voice laced with fear and longing, she whispered.
"Leina..."
"Dragging up stories from forever ago? Grandma straight-up said send me back 'cause no talent, but I never said that!!"
Thump thump!
Lea flailed her fists at the mattress, sprawled face-down in frustration.
Lee Se-hun, seated, watched with exasperation.
"Should've said so then."
"……Don't know!!"
Thump thump!
Lea battered the innocent mattress. Lee Se-hun shook his head and scanned the room.
'Expected a forge to be filthy... cleaner than thought.'
A small house near Borsippa's shopping district.
A converted home workshop—messier than average, but navigable.
Desk buried in blueprint stacks and books, floor littered but passable.
'Chaotic... but not dirty.'
Surprised by the state, his eyes caught a frame on the table.
'That...'
A photo of a young man and child Lea—clearly family, but he'd noticed the father's shoulder.
'Looks like a mother's hand was cropped... why hide it?'
Only photo? Or didn't want to see? As he studied it...
"……What."
Lea turned, narrowing her eyes.
"Gawking at someone's room... manners much?"
"The inviter saying that feels cheap."
"Called you to cheer me up, not snoop. Didn't even chase right away—zero tact."
"Cut the drama."
Lea buried her face again at his deadpan reply, then spoke quietly after a pause.
"Someone I want revenge on."
"……."
"Grandma's scared of him, wants to hide me home... but I don't wanna hide."
Clutching the sheet, Lea vented bitterly.
"Wanna make a name... earn cash... gain fame, let him know I'm chasing you down."
"Hmm..."
Lee Se-hun's mind connected dots.
Revenge target. Cropped mom photo. Puppeteer grudge. Unknown father—pre- or post-regression.
'So that's it...'
Speculation, but if true, Rebecca's opposition made sense.
Dad killed, mom gone—pursuing Puppeteer was tragic, perilous.
'Failed pre-regression, then.'
Lea vanished; Puppeteer felled by heroes.
Couldn't confirm details, but unfulfilled revenge was her nightmare end.
'Now what...'
What could he do? Pondering, he spoke slowly.
"Then you gotta get selected as special student."
Pre-regression, he'd heard Lea tales—no Babel mentions.
High odds: slump persisted, flunked selection, dropped out.
'Can't let that happen now.'
For revenge, for a new path—she had to stay.
Lea shuddered, then slumped, mumbling weakly.
"But... no motivation..."
Sword ki enchant sparked brilliantly; now, total block.
Self-loathing laced her lament. Lee Se-hun asked flatly.
"That special selection—any signup period or quals?"
"Nah. Babel students submit a magic item or mana-based formula within the deadline."
"Good. I'm entering too."
"……Huh?"
Lea bolted up, staring. He replied calmly.
"Me too. Give you some motivation, right?"
"How's that motivate me?"
"You bragged you'd make me leap up applauding."
Bonds formed relations. Seemed just self-other link, but one element more.
"Means surpassing me... so score higher than me, done."
Positive or negative, the 'drive' to stir hearts.
That's the relation the Blacksmith of Bonds revealed.
"……Jeez."
Lea snorted, sitting up.
"Think word games spark motivation? I'm not three... wait, no way... that's... impossible..."
Stammering in bewilderment, her eyes quivered.
"You maniac...!!"
Crash!
She leaped off, flipped a blueprint, scribbled furiously standing.
No thought to sit—wildly capturing inspiration. Lee Se-hun rose.
"Simple..."
Shaking his head, he slipped quietly out.