The Hedgehog's Warning
Raon swallowed hard as he watched the little hedgehog waving its paw. Hedgehogs hibernate...
House Zieghart was winter in every season, but this was the coldest stretch of it. A wild hedgehog should have stuffed itself full and been sleeping underground by now. Waving with that grinning face made no sense at all.
"What are you thinking so hard about?!"
Wrath's jaw trembled as he stared at the hedgehog's goofy grin.
"It's obvious! That madwoman!"
Muttering that it was terrifying, he dove into the ice flower bracelet faster than he ever had in his life.
I know...
He already knew who was inside that hedgehog. He'd just been hoping, against all reason, that it might actually be a real one.
"Hah..."
Raon let out a long sigh and met the hedgehog's eyes.
"Merlin?"
"Yep!"
The hedgehog beamed and nodded. So much for hoping.
"How did you even get in here?"
"I watched your match yesterday. It was great."
Classic Merlin. She ignored the question entirely and said only what she wanted to say.
"Even when everything went sideways, you didn't panic. You and your comrades carved your way through it together. It was so cool!"
Merlin stuck up a tiny thumb in approval. The fact that a hedgehog could even hold that pose was impressive in its own right.
"You watched the whole thing?"
Raon's mouth fell open. The Patriarch was there.
Glenn had been at the Urban Combat Training Ground during yesterday's battle. Getting caught would have meant death, and she'd sat through the entire thing anyway. A hollow laugh escaped him at the sheer nerve of it.
"Watching you give orders and fight is worth burning years off my life for."
Merlin wriggled her little body and let out a sultry giggle.
"A madwoman in the truest sense of the word..."
She's insane...
Coming from anyone else it might have been a joke. Coming from Merlin, it wasn't. Cold sweat slid down Raon's back.
"Up we go."
Merlin climbed down from the tree and came creeping toward him. Using a hedgehog's body meant she was slow, but the distance was short, and before he knew it she was at his feet.
"I have something to tell you. Pick me up."
"You've got spines."
"It's fine if I don't raise them. Oh — don't touch my sides. It's embarrassing."
She flushed at the thought of anyone grabbing the extra flesh along her flanks.
"Hah..."
I can't with this.
She'd shown up as a hedgehog and was still squirming over something to be embarrassed about. He had no idea what there was to be shy about. Still, she'd clearly brought important information, and he couldn't turn her away.
Raon let out a deep breath and picked her up. Whether she was controlling it or not, the spines curled slightly inward.
"See? Doesn't hurt, right?"
Merlin waved a tiny paw as if to say she'd told him so. If it hadn't been the madwoman inside, the thing would have been cute enough to hug.
"What did you want to say?"
"The Black Tower has spotted you."
The voice that came out of that adorable face was ice-cold.
"Spotted me?"
Raon narrowed his eyes at her.
"They already know I killed the Black Water Master, don't they?"
"They knew. That's all it was before. From now on, they've designated you as a target for elimination."
A blue gleam seeped into Merlin's pitch-dark eyes.
"The Black Tower is secretive, and they never let go. Even if it was a lower floor, you brought down one of their Floor Lords. They'll study you, then send someone stronger. That's a certainty."
"I'd expect as much."
Raon nodded. Those people are vicious.
True to the dark energy they wielded, the Black Tower didn't care what methods they used. They would come for revenge one way or another.
"How did you even find that out?"
The Biyeon Assembly and the black market had both been investigating the Black Tower. He hadn't expected to hear it from Merlin first.
"I infiltrated them."
Merlin scratched her round little nose and giggled.
Infiltrated?
Had she just said infiltrated? An executive of Eden sneaking into the Black Tower was hard to believe.
"Don't tell me that was because of me."
"Of course it was."
"Why would you go as far as infiltrating..."
"Because I was worried about you."
Merlin tilted her head as if she couldn't understand why he was even asking. Ah...
Every time she spoke, his mouth went dry. He was grateful, and it made his skin crawl at the same time.
"Haaah..."
Wrath let out a groan of disbelief from inside the bracelet.
"Eden seems to be preparing something too, but I don't really know what."
Merlin frowned, saying Tatcheon had been moving around on his own lately.
"You don't know either?"
"I think he suspects me a little. Tatcheon's handling things himself and only handing me the small jobs."
"Suspects you?"
"You were my target, so he probably thinks there might be a connection. He's sharp, I'll give him that."
She added that she hadn't actually been found out yet, so he shouldn't worry too much.
"I need to clear the suspicion first, so I'll have to move carefully from here on."
Merlin waved a tiny paw.
"If I get anything important from the Black Tower or Eden, I'll come find you again. Until then, take care of yourself."
She said it was time to go and waved both little paws in the air.
"Thanks for telling me..."
"Give this little one twenty earthworms. That was the deal."
Merlin winked through the hedgehog's eyes and vanished.
"W-wait! How am I supposed to find earthworms out here?!"
Squeak?
The hedgehog standing on his palm dropped onto all fours and stared at him. The narrowed eyes said, very clearly, food, now.
"Ah..."
Raon stood there with the hedgehog in his hand, lips trembling.
"Where am I supposed to get earthworms right now..."
He'd never imagined he'd run into Merlin inside House Zieghart, so his subspace pouch was completely empty.
Squeeeak!
The hedgehog raised its cry and bristled its spines, demanding he hurry up.
"What are you doing?! If you made a promise, keep it! Dig already!"
I didn't make that promise...
Raon sighed and opened the Sense of Frost Flowers, searching the area for insects and worms. Honestly, he could barely feel anything.
"C-could we do ten instead of twenty...?"
Squeeeeeak!
"Fine. Fine."
He shook his head and started digging with his bare hands wherever he caught the faintest trace of life.
"This King finds that madwoman terrifying, but..."
Wrath sidled up and cackled.
"Watching you panic is unbearably delightful!"
Shut up and help me find worms before I feed you to it.
"Guehk..."
Only after Raon had scraped together twenty earthworms and even dug a hole the hedgehog could sleep in did he finally get free of the thing. It flashed him a satisfied thumbs-up and dropped into hibernation.
I'm exhausted.
"This King is hungry..."
Wrath, who'd helped hunt for worms, went limp across Raon's forearm.
"The moment we get home, we eat first."
"After we sleep."
"Eat, then wake up."
"That doesn't even make sense..."
"It means we eat first, that's what it means!"
"Everyone's asleep."
He was about to climb in through his window so he wouldn't wake anyone when the door to the Annex opened.
"Raon. Come here."
Sylvia stepped out and waved him over.
"Mother?"
Raon's eyes went round as he walked toward her.
"You weren't sleeping?"
"Once you get older, you don't sleep in as much."
Sylvia smiled, saying she'd only just gotten up.
"You could have stayed in a little longer..."
"Once my eyes open, I can't get back to sleep. But..."
She took his dust-caked hands and gave him a look.
"Why do you keep talking to me so formally?"
"I'm over twenty now."
He'd come of age. Formal speech had seemed like the right thing.
"No."
Sylvia shook her head hard as she looked at him.
"I don't like you becoming an adult yet."
She laughed, asking if he wasn't still at the age for acting spoiled.
"I outgrew that a long time ago."
"True. You never had any of that even when you were little."
"Mm..."
He had no argument for that. He'd had an adult's mind from infancy. Cute acts and childish clinging had never been possible.
"To me, you're still a child."
Sylvia cupped his cheeks.
"Out there they call you a hero, the Sword Dragon, a swordsman who's already standing tall. Plenty of people come looking for me just to get in your good graces."
"Is that so."
Raon smiled faintly. The groundwork he'd been laying to elevate Sylvia into the direct line seemed to be taking hold.
"I turn them all down. I don't even pay them any mind."
Sylvia met his eyes and smiled.
"Don't worry about getting your mother into the direct line. Focus on what you want to do. You haven't told me, but there's something you really have to do, isn't there?"
"How did you..."
Raon's eyes went wide. He'd never told Sylvia what he was after, and the surprise hit him first.
"I'm your mother."
"Ah..."
"Judiel's on duty today. I'll make sandwiches with her. Go wash up."
Sylvia waved and headed for the kitchen.
"Um..."
"Mother is the best!"
"..."
When Raon finished bathing and opened his door, Judiel bowed her head.
"Welcome back."
She gestured to the sandwiches and milk on the table and told him to eat.
"The sandwiches that one makes are decent, in their way."
Wrath wasn't wrong. Judiel's sandwiches were rich and clean, and they tasted good.
"Thanks. I'll eat well."
Raon sat down and took a bite. Judiel stepped up beside him.
"While you were away training, information on the Five Demons arrived from the black market. Would you like to read it yourself, or shall I report?"
"You tell me."
When it came to handling intelligence, Judiel's talent was second to no one. Hearing it from her was far easier.
"First, the Five Demons' movements have dropped off sharply. The only ones who were active at all were the South-North Alliance and the Black Tower, and even they didn't make any large moves."
"Because of the Six Kings summit, most likely."
"Yes. The Six Kings' alliance is still solid, and they know the Patriarch's martial strength is intact. It seems they've gone to ground for now."
Judiel nodded, her gaze cooling.
"But we can't let our guard down. They aren't simply running. They're almost certainly gathering strength."
"I'd expect as much."
Raon clicked his tongue. The Five Demons were lunatics who couldn't sit still for long. They were hiding with something else in mind — that much was certain.
"The Black Tower moved to gather information, and that information was..."
"Me, right?"
Raon looked at Judiel and let out a short laugh.
"You already knew?"
"It's obvious."
Thanks to Merlin, he could see exactly what the Black Tower was thinking.
"Anything on your younger sibling?"
"Not yet."
"If you're disappointed, you're allowed to look it."
"I'm fine."
Judiel shook her head, her face as even as if she felt nothing at all.
"You acted pretty well during that puppet show before. That 'Gyaaaaah!' was a very convincing scream..."
"Y-Young Master!"
Her face flushed red for the first time. That, at least, had been mortifying.
"I-I'll take my leave. And... thank you for your concern."
Judiel left the room with her earlobes burning crimson.
"Hmmm."
Wrath stared at the door she'd gone through and started scribbling on his round little bread-fist.
"Always act like you look after your subordinates..."
I'm not acting.
"Regardless, this isn't particularly difficult. There is no Demon King in the Demon Realm who cares for his subordinates as much as This King."
Could you not write that down?
"As I said yesterday, you're stealing This King's power, so This King is entitled to take something in return!"
He scowled, insisting nothing in this world was free — and that was when the messages rose.
You have achieved victory against an enemy of a higher realm.
All stats have increased by 8 points.
Mastery of the Orthodox Sword and the Deceptive Sword has increased.
The messages announced that defeating Trevin had raised his stats and his mastery of the Orthodox Sword and the Deceptive Sword.
I knew it.
After the spar, using the principles of the Orthodox Sword and the Deceptive Sword had felt smoother. Apparently that hadn't been his imagination.
"W-why are you giving him this AGAIN?!"
Wrath dropped the round little hand he'd been writing with.
You said it yourself. Nothing in this world is free.
Raon shrugged at Wrath, whose lips were trembling.
Today's lecture fee.
"Silence! This King has already paid a lifetime's worth of lecture fees! This is fraud!"
Then go file a complaint. Not that there's anywhere to file one.
"You accursed brat! This King will not stand for this today!"
Wrath exploded for the first time in a long while, and that day, Strength and Agility rose even further.
"Haaah..."
Julius stared up the cliff of Mount Bukmang and let out a hollow breath.
"W-we're supposed to climb that?"
Is he insane?
One wrong move and you'd roll straight off a sheer drop. The thought of climbing it made him feel like he'd lost his mind.
"Get up here!"
Raon's shout carried down from the top of the cliff.
"I'm actually going to kill him today."
"Raon's personality is the worst..."
"Let's go!"
Marta, Runaan, and Burren — the unit leaders of the Light Wind Squad — started up the cliff first, leading by example, and the rest of the Light Wind swordsmen followed.
Even with the Black Rings — those lumps of iron — clamped around their wrists and ankles, the Light Wind Squad scaled the cliff at a terrifying speed. It felt a little rude to say about his seniors, but they were as quick as cockroaches.
How are they that fast with those things on?
The Black Rings weren't just heavy. They also blocked aura. Climbing a cliff that fast with nothing but their bodies was hard to believe.
"Let's go too!"
Yua, who'd become a Light Wind Squad trainee alongside him, clenched her fists. This fearless little kid...
The cliff didn't seem to scare Yua at all. Her face was flushed with eagerness to get up it.
"You're not scared?"
"We've been training for this for three months."
"Not for this, we haven't."
Julius shook his head. They'd spent three months on fundamentals after the spar between the Light Wind Squad and the Iron Blood Sword Squad, but he didn't think this was going to be easy.
And for good reason...
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
Crain, who'd been climbing, took a throwing dagger hard as granite to the body and went tumbling down. He stripped the Black Rings off in a flash and wrapped himself in aura before he hit the ground.
BOOOOM!
Crain slammed into the earth hard enough to make the ground shudder as if it might collapse.
"Ghhk..."
His pupils trembled as he barely managed to open his mouth.
"Raon, you bastard. Why is it always me first— gahk!"
The moment he started cursing Raon, a rock came flying from somewhere and cracked him in the forehead.
"This looks fun!"
"Urgh..."
Yua bounced on her feet, delighted. Crain's face went deathly pale.
"Don't worry."
Dokoe walked up to the two children and shook his head.
"If you two fall, I'll catch you."
The others, he said, were used to it by now and didn't need catching. The words had barely left his mouth when Light Wind Squad members started raining down from the cliff.
"Gyaaaah!"
"Damn it!"
"Why does that maniac's dagger throwing keep getting better?!"
The Light Wind swordsmen hit the ground one after another, screaming or cursing Raon as they went.
"Let's go!"
Yua started up the cliff with a grin, as if she couldn't have been happier. She wasn't wearing Black Rings, so she climbed fast.
"Nngh..."
Julius clenched his teeth and put his hands on the rock after her. I can't lose to her.
He could live with losing at other things. What he could not live with was watching that little sunshine hog all of Raon's praise. He swallowed the fear and climbed with everything he had.
Raon smiled as he watched Yua and Julius scramble up the cliff. Not bad.
He'd thought they still lacked the training to climb without aura, but both of them were doing reasonably well. For Yua it's joy. For Julius, it's pride.
Yua was enjoying the training itself. Julius was grinding his teeth, refusing to lose to her. This is why having a rival is a good thing.
He gave a short laugh and flicked the throwing dagger from his finger. It dropped without so much as a whisper of torn air, angling for Dorian's forehead.
"Th-this is—!"
Dorian sensed the danger and tried to throw himself to the right, but the dagger spun as softly as a leaf on the wind and smashed into his side.
WHAAAM!
It was only steel meeting flesh, but the sound that rang out was like a sledgehammer.
"Gueeeehk!"
Dorian went down in tears.
"You devil!"
He couldn't quite bring himself to curse, so he settled for calling Raon a devil as he vanished from sight.
"Not a devil. A Demon King candidate!"
Wrath shook his head, insisting Raon had long since left the devil stage behind.
I'm not becoming a Demon King.
Raon snorted and drove the dagger in his hand downward. It shot like a thunderbolt and smashed into a Light Wind swordsman's shoulder. It wouldn't lose to a sword at this point.
The Flawless Dagger was growing even faster than the Light Wind Squad itself. He'd added a few killing techniques on top of that, so the squad was still a long way from conquering this cliff. I could mix that in too.
The Flawless Dagger was polished enough now that blending it with the Flying Spirit Dagger arts he'd once received from Derus seemed worth trying. I'll set a day for that soon...
He was turning over the formulas of the Flying Spirit Dagger when a presence stirred behind him. He looked back to find Roen standing there with a kindly smile. Still as ghostlike as ever.
True to the title of King of Slaughter, the man's ability to erase his presence was still far above Raon's own.
"Vice-leader of the Light Wind Squad. A pleasure."
Roen bowed his head with impeccable courtesy.
"It's been a while, Roen."
Raon bowed even more deeply in return.
"The Patriarch is asking for you."
Roen smiled gently and tipped his chin.
"The Patriarch wants me?"
"Yes. It seems the second examination has been decided."