Fist King (5)

At the faint trace of fear in my suspicion, Kaya burst out laughing heartily.

"Dissect you? Haha! Not a chance! Your body is far too valuable a specimen for that. It'd be a real problem if I broke it."

"..."

So as long as it doesn't break, anything goes?

The chill of her words—utterly devoid of any ethical consideration—ran down my spine.

"Huh? But with a healer around, it might be fine?"

"Whatever do you need my help with!"

I jumped in proactively before Kaya's train of thought could drift somewhere dangerous.

The madness-tinged obsession with beauty she'd shown was clearly the real deal.

One wrong step and I could end up kidnapped, locked away, and subjected to human experimentation!

Fortunately, Kaya seemed impressed by my proactive attitude, and moved on to her actual business—which turned out to be perfectly tame.

"Become my disciple... well, something like one."

"If I'm a disciple, I'm a disciple. What do you mean, 'something like'?"

"Well, teaching isn't exactly my forte. Fighting is."

Hmm?

She'd given me pretty coherent advice after our sparring session, though...

I hadn't felt her explanations were lacking in any way.

At my words, Kaya replied with an expression of sheer incredulity.

"That's because you two are overflowing with talent. Normally, people don't change overnight just from hearing a few words mid-fight."

"Really?"

"There are so many blockheads out there... ah, anyway. So, will you be my disciple or not?"

"Hmm... 'Taking me as your disciple'—does that mean keeping me close so you can analyze my body?"

"Exactly. I've never seen a body as perfect as yours."

Once again, Kaya stared at me with those dangerous eyes, her tongue flicking across her lips.

She was frightening enough as it was, and this made her downright horrifying... but it wasn't a bad deal for me either.

A golden opportunity to learn from an immensely powerful figure and build connections.

And honestly speaking... even if I refused to become her disciple, I doubted Kaya would simply let me go.

...

Advice and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠training available at any time, at absolutely no cost!

In exchange, one hour a day during which she could examine my body, by any means that caused no irreversible damage.

Contract duration: until Kaya had gathered sufficient data.

"Simple enough."

"Nothing complicated about it. Then I'll take that as agreement."

"Yes."

The quasi-disciple contract was concluded, clean and tidy.

Kaya wasn't the type to nitpick over details, so she didn't bother drafting anything like a contract with detailed terms.

She was a strange woman, to be sure, but she didn't look like someone who'd break her word, so I figured we'd be fine.

I turned to Kaya, who was nodding with a satisfied face, and asked,

"Should I call you Master?"

"No, just call me Kaya. 'Master' isn't a title you throw around so lightly."

She's oddly principled in strange ways...

Kaya had heartlessly rejected the title of Master.

And yet, with Lena, she showed a different side entirely.

"Can I call you Unni?"

"Uh... Unni? D-do whatever you want. Ahem!"

"Kaya Unni! When Ajusshi comes, can I come along too?"

"...Well, one person or two, it's all the same."

Kaya readily nodded at Lena's proposal, which hung precariously somewhere between insolence and aegyo.

Strictly speaking, the disciple contract was between me and Kaya—it had nothing whatsoever to do with Lena...

But with terrifying penetration, Lena had ascertained that Kaya was oddly soft where she was concerned, and seized the advantage in one clean stroke.

Personality analysis through mana might actually be onto something.

Up until now, hardly anyone could have approached a mountain of a woman like Kaya so freely.

Young children, least of all.

For someone like Kaya, Lena's approach must have felt refreshingly novel.

In a way, it made me wonder if Lena wasn't being a bit too calculating... but knowing her personality, she'd never cozy up like that to someone she genuinely disliked.

Someone that skilled wouldn't fail to see through such flimsy pretense.

Besides, there was nothing wrong with them getting along.

I roughly organized my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thoughts and addressed Kaya, who was still being pushed around by Lena.

"By the way, Kaya. How long will you be staying in Bolston? The fact that you rented this house suggested you weren't planning to stay long."

"Ah... I originally came to see an acquaintance living near Bolston... but we never set anything in stone, so the timing doesn't matter. I won't force you to trail after me, so don't worry."

Kaya neatly dispelled the very worry that had been gnawing at me.

Truthfully, the best-case scenario would have been recruiting Kaya into our party... but let's be honest, wouldn't that be shameless of me?

And even setting aside the low likelihood of it, having someone that powerful around wouldn't actually do much for improving our own strength.

Easy words to get cursed out for—pure fat-cat talk.

"Right, then. Got the general idea? As I said before, head in for today and get some rest."

"Yes, ma'am. We'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come back around this time tomorrow."

"Sure thing."

The current time was... 3 p.m.

Perfect timing to grab lunch on the way over.

"See you tomorrow, Unni~"

"Yep~"

"Isn't our treatment a bit uneven?"

"Then get cuter, if it bothers you."

...

"Short but intense."

"You can say that again. Still, things went well."

The training fee was settled, and I'd found a breakthrough for the various questions that had been nagging at me while training alone.

On top of that, I'd managed to pick up the mana-handling technique of a woman called the Fist King—imperfect, but still. Three birds with one stone!

My mood was so good I barely even registered the broken arm.

"By the way, don't you think Kaya Unni and Noah Unni should never meet each other?"

"She might see through Noah's disguise at a glance. Though honestly, I don't think it'd matter much even if she did."

"Fair point."

Given the bottomless depth of Kaya's skill, she could probably discern Noah's oddity even from a distance.

But then again, would someone like Kaya even care about that much?

If anything, she'd more likely start scheming to apply the engineering applied to Noah's body to remodeling her own.

"A fascinating person in so many ways... ah, there's the inn. We're here already."

...

Noah, who had been practicing various spells by herself, welcomed us back.

Apparently, someone from the Guild had stopped by while we were out.

"The artifact appraisal is done?"

"Yes. It is indeed an unrecorded artifact. We got the [Seed] back, along with the appraisal report. Have a look."

Rustle...

I took the thin sheet of paper Noah handed me and looked it over.

What did it say...

Lena, who had craned her neck to read the report alongside me, tilted her head.

"Hmm... I read it and I still don't get it. So basically, if you plant the seed, that big tree comes back out?"

"Close enough. Though once it's planted, there's no converting the tree back into a seed."

"So no carrying it around and sprouting a tree whenever we want."

An artifact that neatly blended the consumable and deployable types, then.

Useless as a combat tool... but still not bad.

"Oh! Does this mean we can get [Desert Honey] on a regular basis?"

"It won't make it for free—we'll have to supply it with mana."

"We've got mana to spare most days anyway, don't we? Then shall we plant it at the Guild, like they recommend?"

"That'd be better. One commission run takes at least a week, after all. Neglect it and it might start indiscriminately slurping up the mana around it."

Not something an individual should be handling.

Best to let the Guild take care of it and just skim off a small fee.

And just as we were about to head for the Guild on a whim, Noah stopped me.

"One moment. The person from the Guild delivered one more message."

"What now?"

"The Branch Manager... Zeres wants to see us."

"Hmm..."

I scratched my head at Noah's wholly unexpected words.

Not exactly welcome news.

"...The debt has come due, I see."

"We would have had to meet him at least once anyway, on account of Mr. Harrington's commission."

"Did he ask for the whole party?"

"He said it's up to us. It's nothing official—just a case of wanting to lay eyes on some promising newcomers, apparently."

"At least, that's the official line," Noah added with a shrug.

If I'd known nothing about Zeres, I'd have gladly accepted the invitation...

"What do you think about all of us going together?"

"Doesn't it rub you the wrong way? We might get hit with some kind of mental attack."

"Mm... it does make me nervous, but being left behind alone scares me more."

"What's this about?"

"It's not anything definite... but for a while now, I keep feeling like there are strange people watching me. I don't like being left by myself."

Lena spoke haltingly, as if embarrassed to voice something she couldn't be sure of.

To sum up what Lena said: at some point, whenever she went out alone, she'd started to feel a sticky, unidentifiable gaze following her.

It had begun even before we took the dungeon commission, so it had been going on for quite a while.

"You still feel that gaze now?"

"Today being our first day back in Bolston, maybe, I haven't felt it at all... but between that and the whole debt-trap incident before, it just leaves a bad taste."

"Fair enough."

Come to think of it, there had been that incident too.

If we'd been an ordinary party, we'd have been forced to hand Lena over under pressure from the [Commerce Association].

In these anxious times, with nobles' children being abducted left and right... the involvement of someone targeting Lena only fanned my unease.

Noah crossed her arms and put it succinctly.

"Chicken ribs, as they say."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's how I'd read the situation from the standpoint of this hypothetical [someone] who wants to get his hands on Lena. If he truly, desperately wanted her, I'd expect him to go so far as outright abduction... but going by the evidence, he's merely biding his time."

"If an opportunity arises, great; if not, so be it?"

"Exactly. In any case, Lena should stay close to us at all times."

"That does sound safer. Oh—when's the appointment with Zeres set for?"

"He said any time is fine."

...

As the saying goes, you pull an ox's horn out while the rope is drawn tight—I decided then and there to meet Zeres immediately.

It also happened to be the more fitting reaction for someone who knew nothing about him.

"Right. No sense passing up a chance to make an impression on the Branch Manager—common sense dictates that. There's no reason for us to give up our information advantage on purpose."

"First, let's grab the recording artifact Harrington gave us... oh! And this was here too!"

Digging deep into the backpack I'd left abandoned in the corner of the inn room, I fished out an iron ball—and discovered a familiar object.

The black dagger brought from the laboratory's basement.

[Obsidian].

"I can't believe I forgot about this all this time... having this around would have made the fight with the [Bishop] so much easier. I treasured it too much as a collector's piece, I suppose."

"...We didn't exactly expect to meet a cult Bishop on a simple missing-persons commission."

"Obsidian? What's that?"

"An artifact-grade item. You'd like it."

"Ooh..."

Obsidian—a blade with performance approaching that of a true [Artifact], capable of cutting through mana interference itself.

I'd left it neglected, without so much as maintenance, yet its edge was still cold and razor-sharp.

If I'd had this, couldn't I have severed those bizarre threads of the Bishop's, too?

A pointless regret, this late in the game.

"Right. This one's coming with us."

"I doubt we'll be fighting Zeres."

"I'm just planning to keep it on me from now on. You never know what might happen."

I slipped Obsidian into the storage space at my chest.

Close to my heart—if luck was on my side, it might even block a bullet someday.

"Let's go."

Decisive words, though... with the meeting taking place in the very heart of the Guild, the odds of Zeres doing us harm were close to nil.

Worst case, some mental-technique tampering, perhaps?

And with the recording artifact from Harrington, even if something did happen, detecting any deviation from the norm would be no problem.

While we were at the Guild anyway, we mustn't forget to plant the [Seed].