Hitting a Rock with an Egg
Watching that sinister energy rap against the walls of his upper dantian, Raon felt as though he were seeing an old proverb play out before his eyes.
He let out a dry laugh.
It's too weak.
Did she botch the concentration of the Soul-Confusing Water?
The sinister energy that had slipped into his body the instant it entered — moving as stealthily as if it had melted into shadow, then striking at his upper dantian — could only be Soul-Confusing Water. And yet the power laced into the elixir was so feeble it felt as though Merlin had made some kind of mistake.
Just as striking an iron shield a thousand times with a twig would accomplish nothing, his mental fortitude would never be breached by something this paltry.
This is even weaker than when I first met Wrath.
It was a mental assault so inferior to the one Wrath had launched the moment they met — when the Demon Lord had tried to seize his body on sight — that Raon could only find it absurd.
"That is only natural."
Wrath crawled up onto the ice-flower bracelet, a round fluff of frost inching into view.
"If a snot-nosed brat who has endured This King's wrath and frost since childhood were to fall to that pathetic energy, This King would have bitten his own tongue and died."
He snorted, perched on Raon's forearm.
He's not wrong.
Raon nodded, looking at Wrath.
It isn't a problem with the Soul-Confusing Water…
My mental strength has simply grown too powerful.
The fortitude honed by his previous life had been amplified through the Ring of Fire, then grown sharper still through every clash with Wrath. There might not be a single drug left in this world capable of breaking his mind now.
I could probably just go to sleep like this.
Even if he didn't circulate the Ring of Fire — even if he simply drifted off — the Soul-Confusing Water's energy would likely exhaust itself without ever piercing his mind, then fade away.
No need to waste something this valuable.
Raon pointed at the door, toward Merlin, who was still pressed up against his shoulder.
"I need to cultivate. Leave me alone."
"As much as you like. I'm a woman who knows how to wait."
Merlin swept a hand down her shoulder, a peculiar heat lingering in her eyes, then stepped outside.
She'll be waiting right outside the door.
The space was so bizarre he couldn't properly sense her presence, but given everything he'd seen of Merlin's personality, she would be standing just beyond that door. Not as a guardian, of course — as a watcher.
"Hoo."
Raon closed his eyes and resonated the Ring of Fire. As the rings' magnificent pulse spread through his entire body, the Soul-Confusing Water's energy flinched and froze in place.
The instant that energy tried to slither away like a loach, he ignited the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and sealed off every mana circuit it might use to escape.
Let's have a look.
He examined the trembling energy of the Soul-Confusing Water, which seemed to cower in fear. The shell itself was sinister, but the purity of the mana within was outstanding beyond measure.
If I just purify it, I can absorb it without any trouble.
If he resonated the Ring of Fire — now at the seventh star — he could wipe away the Soul-Confusing Water's sinister energy as easily as dust from a table. Most of the elixir's energy was frost, so converting the Soul-Confusing Water's high-purity mana into the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames would even out the balance nicely.
Raon smiled and drove the Ring of Fire to its utmost. A clear, crystalline energy rose from the seven rings and began purifying the Soul-Confusing Water's malevolent aura.
Each time the rings erupted with a greater resonance, the murky shell peeled away, revealing the pure mana nested within.
Even better than I expected.
The mana nestled inside that dank energy was of a purity far beyond what he'd anticipated. He could take it in as-is without the slightest problem.
Raon nodded and guided the stripped mana along the flow of the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. The energy that had been overflowing with malice only moments ago now seeped into his dantian, carrying an auspicious heat.
Hoo.
Raon exhaled a warm breath. He'd converted the Soul-Confusing Water's energy into the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames. Now it was time to transform the frost that had filled the elixir into Glacia's energy.
No need to take it all in.
Even after harmonizing only the elixir's strengths, a fair amount of impurities still clung to the frost. Absorbing all of it would do more harm than good.
He circulated the Ring of Fire once more. He pared down the frost — larger than a fist — carving and carving again, melting away every last scrap of filthy energy. What remained was frost of a raw, unmatched purity.
The mass that had been the size of a fist had shrunk to the size of a fingernail, but this was more than enough. This tiny force held far greater power than the bulky frost ever had.
Raon smiled in satisfaction, circulated the refined frost according to Glacia's formula, settled it into his dantian, and opened his eyes.
"Hoo…"
He lifted his head toward the window. The sun had vanished, and moonlight was pouring in. It had felt brief, but more than half a day had clearly passed.
"Slow. So slow."
Wrath shoved his face in close and clicked his tongue.
"Had it been This King, that paltry elixir would have been digested in a single minute. Every last scrap of filth nested within it, besides."
He shook his head as if Raon were a hopeless case.
"This King will grant you your schemes, but your martial power still has a long way to go."
I know.
Raon gave a short laugh and nodded. Wrath was right — in terms of raw power, he still fell far short. Hadn't he been squeezed between the truly powerful this time as well, unable to do a thing? To achieve his goals, he would have to keep honing his skill without a moment's pause.
Thank you.
Thanks to Wrath, he'd been able to endure Merlin's mental assault, and he was grateful for the blunt advice as well. He conveyed that honest feeling.
"W-what?!"
Wrath's shoulders trembled as he scrambled backward.
"That thing you just said! What did you mean by it?!"
What?
"Why did you place a curse upon This King?!"
A curse? I was genuinely grateful…
There was no curse. He'd simply said thank you because he was truly thankful.
"Take it back! A fiend like you would never say something like 'thank you'!"
Wrath ground his teeth as if he would lunge if Raon didn't recant.
"Now!"
Ha… fine. I take it back.
"Hoo!"
Wrath let out a long sigh and nodded.
"This King is not always at play. This King has learned much from you, so a curse of that sort will not work."
Raon looked at Wrath with a pained expression. He couldn't help but wonder how, exactly, he was depicted inside that Demon Lord's head.
I really…
He was about to tell Wrath it was a misunderstanding when—
Achievement of Ring of Fire has increased.
Achievement of Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames has increased.
Achievement of Glacia has increased.
Absorbing the elixir Merlin had given him had raised the achievement of his cultivation arts, and the system had rewarded him with a surge in every stat.
"A c-curse! You never lifted the curse you placed on This King!"
……
"Stealing stats even from your own student… you vicious…"
Wrath had already decided that every last bit of this was Raon's doing. There was no getting through to him. Raon was shaking his head in disbelief when the door opened.
"Finished?"
Merlin stepped in with her sleeves slightly rolled, a smile on her lips.
She was watching after all.
Raon bit the inside of his cheek as he met her bright, eager eyes. The fact that she'd come in the instant his cultivation ended made it obvious — just as he'd expected, she'd been standing right outside the door.
"Giving me an elixir like that. What's your angle?"
Raon narrowed his eyes, keeping his true thoughts buried.
"I told you. I always think of you. I only ever want what's best for you."
Merlin's voice spilled out low and sultry as she pressed in close beside him. She toyed with a thread poking from Raon's sleeve and let a laugh slip free.
"I cultivated for so long my head's a little foggy. Let me rest."
Raon frowned and rubbed his temple. A foggy head was the hallmark of someone hit by Soul-Confusing Water. He played the part of a man whose upper dantian walls had cracked, leaving him perfectly exposed to mental assault.
"A little foggy?"
"Yeah."
"I packed the elixir with plenty of frost energy. That can happen."
Merlin edged even closer and locked eyes with him. Watching her gaze narrow, Raon loosened the strength in his pupils the way Runaan always did.
"Hmm."
Merlin brushed a finger lightly across the lips of her mask.
"It'd be better if you took one more tomorrow."
"What? Another one?"
Raon crushed down the leap in his heartbeat and raised his voice.
It's going exactly as I planned?
He'd said his head was a little foggy on the off chance she might give him another, and he'd only slightly loosened the strength in his eyes — and it had worked exactly as intended.
"That's right. Just one more. I'll adjust the amount this time."
Merlin leaned her face in close, trailing some unidentifiable floral scent.
"They're giving him another one?"
Wrath's eyes flew wide in disbelief.
"Why in the world would they give him another?! Why keep feeding elixirs to a hostage?!"
He shouted that he didn't understand and demanded a lecture on the subject.
"You don't want to?"
"Haa… fine."
Obedience to requests and commands was another hallmark of Soul-Confusing Water, so he frowned as if he'd been overruled and nodded.
"You listen so well. What a good boy."
"I just know my situation."
Raon knocked Merlin's hand away as she tried to stroke his hair, and turned his head.
She's a sucker too, isn't she…?
A windowless rectangular workshop. Beneath the soft light spilling from the ceiling, some twenty people sat at desks, crafting accessories — rings, bracelets, necklaces. All of them were so intensely focused that not even the sound of breathing could be heard, until the white-haired old man at the very front rose from his chair.
"It's finished."
He carried the crimson ring he had forged himself to Denning Rose, who waited at the center of the workshop.
"Mm!"
Denning Rose examined the ring through her monocle and nodded in satisfaction.
"Master Artisan Carol's skill hasn't faded at all. Didn't you retire a little too early?"
"Hmph. Of course my skill is the same as ever. I only retired because I figured I'd die before I ever got to spend the money I'd made."
"Thanks, old man."
"Don't say that. The help you've given me can't be repaid with something like this."
Carol shook his head slowly.
"So this is an extremely urgent matter, then? Enough to call all of them in."
He gestured toward the people working behind him. Every last one was a famous artifact craftsman — the kind whose name leapt to the tongue at a glance of their face.
"Yes. There's someone I have to find, no matter what."
Denning Rose nodded heavily.
By any means necessary.
Raon was not merely the man who had saved Denning Rose's own life. He was the hero who had saved every soul in Gransavil. To rescue the man who had stood his ground against monsters like the 10th Apostle and Merlin — who had tried, to the very end, to sacrifice himself alone — she would have given up even her place as the Black Market's fourth successor.
I have to save him. No matter what.
In her years as a Black Market branch manager she had seen and met countless heroes, but she had never encountered anyone like Raon. She could not stand by and let a man die who would leave a better mark on the world than even his formidable martial power suggested.
We can find him. We will.
House Zieghart was said to possess a necklace that could pinpoint Raon's location. Combined with this tracking artifact, they would be able to reach him no matter where he was.
"Hmm. Then it isn't time for me to leave yet."
Carol saw Denning Rose's trembling hands and returned to his original seat.
"I'll make you another of the same. Don't you worry."
"Thank you. I'll make sure the compensation is more than enough."
"What, you thought I was going to work for free?"
He offered a faint smile and began his second piece.
Denning Rose rose from her seat with Carol's ring in hand.
I should tell them first.
She left the workshop to meet the people waiting for news of Raon more desperately than anyone. But as she started up the stairs, her secretary came rushing toward her, face tight with urgency.
"A guest has arrived."
"A guest?"
The Light Wind Squad had gathered in the lobby of the lodging Denning Rose had arranged in a village near Gransavil.
"How much longer is this going to take?"
Marta, her shoulder wrapped in thick layers of bandage, crushed the sofa's armrest in her grip.
"This is taking way too long, isn't it?"
She chewed her lip, restless with anxiety.
"Lady Denning Rose is doing everything she can to prepare. Stay calm and wait."
Burren shook his head, hands folded together. Even he, though, was tense enough that his leg was bouncing — a rare sight.
"……"
Runaan sat wedged in a corner, staring silently into empty air. Unlike the other swordsmen, she had refused treatment, and her hands and nails were still stained with blood.
"Haa…"
"Has it been two days already…"
"Damn it!"
"It's killing me that there's nothing we can do."
The Light Wind Squad's swordsmen clutched their heads, bandages wound around them here and there. They wanted to do something — anything — and the fact that they had no method and no strength left them drowning in despair.
As the squad's voices gradually died down, the lodging door opened and Denning Rose came in.
"The tracking artifact is finished!"
She ran to the Light Wind Squad and held out the ring in her hand.
"It took a little time to amplify the Continental Tracking Scent, but it'll spread quickly from here!"
The strain of the past days showed on her face, which was as pale as the squad's own.
"We'll begin the search immediately…"
"Me too."
Runaan raised her hand. The bloodstained nails caught the eye at once.
"I'm going too."
She put force into her gaze, as if declaring she would join the pursuit. A fierce will burned in those violet eyes.
"I'm going."
Marta stepped in front of Denning Rose, clutching her punctured shoulder.
"Even if I croak, I'll croak there."
The heat in her voice was too fierce to be broken.
"You don't need to push yourselves. I've already hired the finest specialists on the continent. I'll send them out at once, so please don't worry too much…"
"Please!"
"Let us go too!"
"We can't just leave Raon and Dorian out there. Even if we can't fight, let us help find them!"
"Yes. Please, let us help!"
It wasn't only Runaan and Marta. Every swordsman of the Light Wind Squad rose and bowed their heads before Denning Rose.
"Mm…"
Denning Rose bit her lip and stepped back.
I understand how they feel, but…
These people were cursing themselves for having done nothing when Raon and Dorian were taken. They were people who had been disappointed in their own powerlessness, and the words of refusal would not come.
"Don't put the branch manager in a difficult position."
Burren let out a sigh and stepped in front of the swordsmen.
"There are tracking specialists. If we tag along, we'll only get in the way."
"We don't even know what kind of state Raon and Dorian are in. We can't just sit here and do nothing!"
"I'm going."
"We're dead weight right now! Heavy dead weight!"
"He's right about that."
A sudden, light voice turned every head.
"Uh…?"
"That voice…"
"S-Squad Leader!"
"Long time no see."
Rimer. Red hair bound tightly back, he leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and waved.
"You lot got pretty banged up."
He clicked his tongue briefly and stepped in front of the Light Wind Squad.
"S-Squad Leader, how are you here…"
"You're here, so of course I came. I took a dimensional gate for the first time in a while and got a bit of motion sickness, but seeing your faces makes it worth it."
Rimer studied their faces in turn, starting with the three squad leaders, then nodded.
"Burren's right. Tracking should be left to the masters of tracking. You wouldn't be any help. It'd be a waste of time."
His sharp voice made the Light Wind Squad bow their heads. The words you wouldn't be any help drove deep into their chests.
"But it's also true that you can't just sit here like this."
Rimer's mouth curled up. It was the same warm smile he always showed them on the training grounds.
"What you need to do isn't track anyone. It's pick up your swords. Get combat-ready."
"G-get ready to fight?"
"We couldn't do a thing against the 10th Apostle."
"When Merlin and the 10th Apostle were fighting, we couldn't even step in. All we could do was watch…"
"We dumped every last burden on Raon!"
"We tried. We really tried hard enough to die, and there was still nothing we could do…"
The Light Wind Squad poured out the feelings they had been storing in their chests all this time, and bit down hard on their lips.
"You prepare for your own fight. A monster will take down a monster."
Rimer's eyes sank into a darkness as if they held an abyss.