Let’s Have A Talk? (1)

“Is that you?”

“Damn it. How did something like this even crawl in here!”

“You’ve crossed the line, now even this retarded thing is sticking its ass in the way? Hey! Who the hell are you?”

Starting with Hazel, then Naruan, Lee Hyo-ju, and Mae Young-ryeong barged in one after another and immediately set a hostile tone.

Most of all, the show-stealer was Hazel.

She started speaking as if she were under immense stress, in a grave tone.

“Seriously, our spirit was right, now even this fucked-up bastard comes in? What are you! You motherfucker! Should I fucking—!”

I was the most shocked by Hazel’s rapid-fire swearing. Her demeanor was so unlike her usual image that it felt dissonant.

Besides, wasn’t she the one who claimed to be a high elf?

How could a high elf construct sentences that begin and end with curses?

Perhaps Benialis was as surprised as I was?

Four beautiful women suddenly stormed in and started yelling obscenities, leaving him unable to keep his wits about him.

“I—I am the representative of the Heavenly God Amor!”

Benialis shouted desperately. The audience chamber fell silent.

Perhaps Benialis thought his outcry had worked.

Just as he tried to put on a sneering smile, Naruan pulled a huge scythe out of her magic pouch.

“And? What of it! What’re you gonna do about it!”

At the sight of the strange, this little girl wielding a blue, razor-sharp scythe larger than her body, Benialis flinched and backed away, fumbling.

“So, I mean… the Heavenly God Amor’s…”

“My patron god is Mors, you bastard!”

“Gah!”

Naruan swung the long scythe shaft, sending Benialis and his chair tumbling backward.

“How did Amor end up with such a moron…”

Naruan’s scathing assessment, and then the names of the patron gods started pouring out.

“Crazy bastard. Amor? What the hell is Amor?! The one who first kicked the door in is Spatium, and the one who came in after is Aetas. Aetas has a rotten temperament. That leaves one spot. Who do you think it is?”

“…Genesis? No way the Creator’s dog… Guh!”

Just as he was about to call them dogs, Benialis was struck by a vase Lee Hyo-ju threw and went down.

Lee Hyo-ju prepared to hurl more blades while I tried to stop her.

“Let go! Let go! Kill that bastard!”

“Hey! You can’t kill him during training anyway! Ah! Just stay still!!”

I restrained her while Lee Hyo-ju struggled. Three beauties watched, and Benialis trembled in the corner.

“Then… Mr. Kim Han, where should we lock that bastard up so we can kill him later? Is it okay to feed him once a week and beat him until he’s about to die?”

Behind the panting Lee Hyo-ju, Hazel casually uttered the line in a seductive tone. At that, Benialis wet himself.

“Ah! Really!! That’s really Amor’s representative?”

“Kim Han, throw that away.”

“Ugh—smell!”

“You idiot, what did you eat for your piss to smell like shit!”

The four goddesses (?) stormed out of the room as if fleeing.

Where the storm had swept through.

I quietly got up, approached Benialis, and tossed five gold coins into the puddle of his yellow urine.

“Here, take this and go get something to eat and wash up. The smell on you… Ugh, anyway, go quickly.”

After Kim Han left, Benialis, who had been sobbing alone, suddenly perked up as if he’d seen something.

He glanced around for a long moment, then shuffled up and picked up the red crystal on the table.

Debating where to hide it, Benialis made up his mind, stuffed the crystal into the underwear he had just urinated in, and slowly left the mansion.

Was his awkward, shuffling gait due to having wet himself in his trousers? Or was it the crystal rough against his underwear?

Only he would know.

As soon as we saw Benialis leave the mansion through a third-floor window, the four women and I burst into uproarious laughter.

“Ah… that idiot. He actually put it in there. What did Amor ever do to deserve checking that later?”

“Ugh… stop talking about that. And Kim Han, this sister has something to say.”

Hazel put her hand on my shoulder, exuding that tough-sister vibe she used in front of Benialis earlier.

“This tone is so annoying. Can’t stand it! We should do it the original way. What do you think?”

“…Y-yeah.”

She asked with a bright smile, but the hand on my shoulder tightened.

When I nodded to Hazel, she raised both hands in triumph.

“Truly a remarkably understanding partner. Thank you. Hohoho.”

The four women smiled meaningfully.

What is this? Why do I feel like I lost? Nah… no way.

Anyway, that idiot hesitated for a long time even when we handed it to him right in front of his face, then finally took it.

It was so hard pretending not to notice.

If we’d delayed any longer, it would have been stranger if he hadn’t taken the crystal.

Thinking of Benialis, I suddenly remembered the four women who had just smashed through the reception door and unleashed a tirade.

“Ah! Right. By the way, you guys swear like crazy, huh?”

The chattering laughter of the four women, so loud it could break plates, abruptly stopped.

Hazel and Lee Hyo-ju in particular began to look noticeably flustered…?

“Why… what’s wrong?”

“Hmm… I should ask Arun if there’s a spell to erase memories.”

“Ah, Hazel, Arun’s dumb, he won’t know. Ask elder Talis.”

“Oh! Naruan, you’ve gotten so smart. Let’s go right away.”

“Still, we should ask the master’s permission…”

The women, dragging along the hesitant dark Mae Young-ryeong, rushed out.

About twenty minutes later my door swung open and Talis entered, eyes shining.

“Disciple! You have memories you want erased?”

No, I don’t.

I am an elite mage of the magic tower and a candidate for the next elder.

Personally, I am very satisfied working at the mansion of the Messenger of the gods.

The Messengers are all kind, and the workload isn’t heavy. Because so many mages work in shifts, I actually have more free time here than when I was at the magic tower.

Moreover, the garden is full of superior mana accumulation arrays compared to the magic tower, and the famed alchemical works Depratio and Depro, often called the finest ever, bloom here.

Thus, for many mages from the magic tower, being dispatched to the mansion is an opportunity to vastly improve their skills.

And sometimes, like now, simply being able to watch battles between the Messengers makes life at the mansion feel much freer and more constructive than at the magic tower.

It is absolutely not because Arun is here.

I sat with two mages from the Wind Tower I often hang out with, on the tiered stands around the training ground, pulling snacks out and finishing preparations to watch.

Before I knew it, in the center of the training ground, our Arun and the newly joined Simon were composing themselves.

In fact, only Simon looked tense, while Arun wore an indifferent expression, waiting for Kim Han’s orders.

“Both are mages, so set the ‘Setting’ (magical protection) to medium-high. Set it?”

Kim Han’s voice spread calmly.

Though Kim Han sat on the stands like us, his voice carried across the training ground, and both men nodded and replied, ‘Yes.’

“Then begin.”

The moment he said ‘begin,’ both men started chanting spells without hesitation.

My chest pounded and my heart raced, I was more nervous than Arun.

“…Protect… Water attribute protection!”

“Barrier.”

Both of them, as expected, wrapped themselves in defensive magic first.

My master always taught that mages are those who prepare. Naturally, preparing defenses against others’ attacks is the very foundation.

‘As expected, Arun!’

Simon, unlike typical mages who choose an attribute, seemed to focus on a single school of magic.

The Evocation school.

It’s a school dominated by spells that generate energy or draw potent mana to launch attacks, primarily direct offensive magic.

My master said it was once very fashionable, used often in wars because of its tremendous destructive power.

However, because they draw such intense mana, evocation mages were always prone to internal injuries.

Young mages sometimes failed to control the mana they summoned and died as a result.

Hence, the school’s prominence rapidly declined.

Among Evocation spells, the most famous is the one Simon was using now, a spell I can also cast.

“…Fireball. Separation. Lock-On. Fire!”

Whooosh—

A fireball far larger than anything I could manifest split into sixteen and surrounded Arun, rushing in from all directions.

‘Uh? Ah, Mister Arun!’

I clasped my hands and stamped my feet, but Arun’s face remained calm.

Glancing down, I saw the other Messengers’ expressions were much the same.

Just as my worry deepened, Arun’s voice rang out.

“…Ice Missile. Repeat-Triple. Transmute. Impact.”

I thought Simon’s Separation spell was an impressive use of magic.

But when Arun uttered the unfamiliar ‘Repeat-Triple’ and the number of ice missiles tripled, I leapt up without thinking.

I wasn’t alone; every mage in the training ground stood up or gaped in astonishment.

The tripled ice-based mana arrows collided with the fire spheres, causing a massive explosion.

And many still flew toward Simon.

Simon seemed to rely on his protective spells and continued chanting. However…

‘Ah… he shouldn’t do that… Arun’s magic can’t be stopped like that…’

As I suspected, Arun’s ice missiles ignored water-attribute defenses and struck Simon’s whole body.

Arun’s Transmute turns the magic into a physical attribute, so relying only on elemental defenses based on appearance invites a bloody fate like Simon’s.

“Eek! Arun, you’re awesome!”

Moreover, a mage’s incantation is reconstructed in their own language, so without proper information, one could be struck down like Simon without understanding what happened until they bled out, such is combat between mages.

‘As expected, Arun is the best!’

“Wow!”

“Arun, I need to see you again?”

“Did you see that? The ice arrows tripling?”

Mae Young-ryeong approached the unconscious Simon and held up a glowing hand for a moment with no special spell; Simon’s color rapidly returned.

Cheers rang out for Arun from all sides, and I joined in.

Of course, when Kim Han glared, Arun hastily returned to his place, but the display was truly impressive. I had a pleasant premonition that I’d like Arun even more from now on.

And next, to my surprise, three Messengers appeared in the training ground.