Chapter 4
Chapter 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Episode 001 (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The trainees' dormitory was located inside a building not far from the well.
A squarely built structure with a total of five floors.
It was originally a residence for servants or maids that had been renovated and was now being used as the trainees' dormitory.
As such, the facilities themselves were far from good, even as empty flattery.
Dust piled up everywhere, cobwebs hung down, and bugs and rats scurried about frequently.
It was to the point where one might suspect it had been deliberately made even worse for training purposes.
That might not matter for other kids.
But for children from noble or prestigious families, it was quite a harsh environment.
"Ah, those damn rats again!"
"These pesky bugs!"
True to form, irritated shouts poured out from all over the building.
Even though a month had already passed since the Lion’s Den began, the complaints showed no sign of dying down and were only growing louder with each passing day.
Ignoring the complaints nonchalantly, Kuhn extended his arm as if it were routine.
Then—swish swish—he swung his hand, clearing away the cobwebs dangling in front of him, and continued walking.
'This much is nothing.'
With every step he took, the worn stairs and railings let out continuous screams.
...Creak, creak.
The end of his steps brought Kuhn to the front of a room in the farthest corner of the third floor.
Creeeak—.
A private room about three pyeong in size, containing only a desk and a bed.
This shabby, cramped single room was Kuhn's abode.
Surprisingly—for individual training purposes—the Lion’s Den provided every trainee with a small private room.
Kuhn entered familiarly and closed the door behind him.
"Sip—."
As he calmly regulated his breathing, sat on the bed, and assumed a meditative posture, memories related to Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits began surfacing in his mind one by one.
More precisely, they were akin to information rather than true memories. Recalling the etymology of Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits, Kuhn murmured inwardly.
'Monstrous strength
[怪力]
and chaotic spirits
[亂神].'
This breathing method, with its somewhat unique name, allowed one to accumulate mana by devouring the souls of the dead.
'More specifically, it builds up mana closer to that of the dead—or yokai—rather than the living.'
It was perfect for his current body, which struggled to accept ordinary mana.
He even suspected that fate had deliberately reincarnated him into this body.
Accordingly, the mana accumulated through Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits possessed two distinct properties that completely set it apart from ordinary mana.
'The first of which... is that, being akin to yokai mana, it's hard for others to perceive.'
Just like how ordinary people can't properly see ghosts, spirits, or the dead.
'And the second.'
The second was that the mana from Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits held the power to evoke fear in anyone it touched.
'A power that conceals one's prowess while also provoking and inducing fear.'
If used well, both were advantageous traits in outnumbered fights.
And the souls of the dead mentioned here literally referred to wraiths.
'A breathing method that devours wraiths to use as a source of mana.'
From his perspective, raised in another world, it was a breathing method with features and methods he'd never even heard of.
But precisely because of that, it suited the monster who had introduced himself as the king of the vile and depraved to perfection.
'The pinnacle of evil demons and heretics, who spies on external forces and twists fate.'
How long had he been mulling over those words?
A eerie sound drifted into Kuhn's ears.
...Eeeeee.
A chilling, ominous sound that raised goosebumps across his entire body just from hearing it.
It was wailing.
Wraiths drawn by the auras of Dream of the Dead and Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits were wailing as they gathered around Kuhn.
Creatures incapable of communication, drifting aimlessly through the air without any will of their own.
Ones that occasionally startled people they unintentionally encountered.
Simply lost wraiths.
Whoooong—.
With that, mana surged from his mana heart and spread throughout his body in an instant.
Fwoosh—.
The mana devoured the gathered wraiths and circulated through his body several times.
...Eeeeee.
A small sound echoed from near Kuhn's heart.
Whooooong—.
It had been exactly twenty days since he began training in Monstrous Strength and Chaotic Spirits.
5.
Around that time.
Veil was leaning back in his office chair, reviewing the contents of the report in his hand.
Rustle—.
Training over a thousand trainees in one place was no easy feat, so the Lion’s Den instructors had divided the children into four groups for training.
The report currently in Veil's hand was from the third den, denoting the third group.
Pausing as he read the report, Veil quietly spoke.
"Not only did he launch a surprise attack with a bucket, but he closed in and battered the opponent's entire body with a broom—huh."
As he subtly set aside the cheroot he had been smoking.
"And not content with that, he finished it off decisively by targeting the lower body."
The movement used was presumed to be an adaptation of Rotating Consecutive Strikes, one of the techniques from Astal Style Basic Swordsmanship.
'The bucket surprise was probably to overcome the size difference. Then he unleashed a barrage without giving the opponent even a moment's gap...'
Movements far too practical to believe they came from the rumored youngest young master.
He even wondered if the report had come up wrong... but that thought was fleeting.
Veil soon shook his head and muttered.
'No way.'
After all, this report had been written and submitted by none other than the Lion’s Den instructors.
Though they didn't measure up to him or the senior instructors, they were still all first-rate aura users recognized outside.
People of that caliber wouldn't misjudge the scene.
Especially not overlooking or misreading a single trainee's movements—when it wasn't even a clash between fellow first-rates.
'Maybe if it were toward the end of the Lion’s Den.'
No matter how he pondered it, it was incomprehensible.
Nor was the report fabricated.
Only he as Chief Administrator, the deputy administrator, and the senior instructors of each den knew Kuhn's true identity.
'In contrast, these reports were written by the regular instructors.'
They had no reason to falsify them.
No, even if they knew Kuhn's identity, no fool would fake a report for a youngest young master with no backing—a deception that would unravel in minutes.
"Then the only hypothesis left... is that everything in this report is true."
The senior instructor standing nearby nodded slightly at Veil's complicated gaze.
'Can't blame him.'
It was the very instructor who had burst into the office earlier with a startled expression.
When he'd first received that report, even he had been shocked.
'To the point where I summoned the reporting instructors for questioning again.'
If it had been another direct blood relative, perhaps.
But Kuhn Jordic displaying such prowess defied common sense.
'Of course, other direct relatives wouldn't have been exiled to the Lion’s Den in the first place...'
Above all, the most puzzling aspect was that Kuhn Jordic had used Astal Style Basic Swordsmanship.
「Astal Style Basic Swordsmanship, Rotating Consecutive Strikes」
Astal Style was a basic swordsmanship more commonly employed on the southern continent than in the north, where the Jordics resided.
Of course, being basic swordsmanship, it wouldn't be strange for Jordic blood to know it.
However, given the practitioner was Kuhn Jordic, question marks inevitably lingered.
As the senior instructor showed his puzzlement,
"Perhaps—..."
The deputy administrator, wearing a similar expression, cautiously spoke up.
"Perhaps before entering the Lion’s Den, that person taught him something?"
"That person?"
Just the mention was enough to sink the atmosphere heavily.
Even without precise identification, discerning who the deputy meant by "that person" wasn't difficult.
One of the continent's strongest swordsmen, transcending the grand master realm—said to rival demigods—and perhaps even peeking into transcendence.
Great Sword Hero
大劍豪
.
Sword Emperor
劍皇
. Ernst Jordic.
The absolute ruler of the northern continent and the rightful lord of their Black Lion Knights.
Indeed, such a being who far transcended humanity might know a way to escape the 「Dream of the Dead」.
From that perspective, the senior instructor's speculation was currently the most plausible.
'But—.'
Exhaling all the smoke from his lungs, Veil lightly furrowed his brow.
"...The problem is the lingering questions."
"Questions, sir?"
"Yes."
Veil nodded.
The Sword Emperor, Ernst Jordic, hadn't batted an eye even when his youngest son and daughter-in-law died in an accident.
Kindly put, he was an iron-blooded overlord; harshly, a cold-blooded man without blood or tears.
It was only natural that it didn't make sense for such a family head to now take interest in his youngest grandson.
'Especially since that grandson was born with Dream of the Dead and has only shown frailty until now—.'
Of course, this incident made it impossible to outright dismiss the rumors as false.
However, where there's no fire, no smoke rises.
"Perhaps he had a change of heart?"
Veil lightly wagged his finger at the deputy's words.
"A change of heart—..."
Having started as a regular knight, earned recognition from that man, and risen to captain of the Black Lion Knights.
Over more than a decade watching the Sword Emperor's back, it wasn't a convincing story.
But it was undeniably the most plausible hypothesis at present.
'But—...'
Interrupting his thoughts, Veil twitched his eyebrow.
'What if that's not all?'
What if there was another reason?
For instance, if the family head had seen something no one else could, and that was why he'd begun paying attention to the youngest young master?
Perhaps the elders' decision to send the youngest to the Lion’s Den hid not political machinations, but the family head's own intent.
Feeling his mind grow complicated with that line of thought, Veil slowly shook his head.
"...Sigh."
Nothing had been clearly resolved, but he realized he had only one thing to do regardless.
And that was to fulfill his role as Chief Administrator of the Lion’s Den to the utmost.
'I'll just do my duty to the fullest.'
With that, concluding his musings, Veil regained his usual impassive tone and spoke.
"For now, let's watch."
The cheroot he'd barely smoked a few times had long since burned out where he'd set it down.
Veil continued.
"Whatever it is, the results will speak for themselves."
Because the Lion’s Den was a place where one had to prove survival solely with one's own teeth and claws.
Even if...
'That person is a direct Jordic blood relative, no exceptions.'