War God (3)

After Talis and Bioss left, the third-floor terrace was filled only with the Jaryong’s ‘gyaa’ cries.

‘Confirmed.’

They apologize to me, but what if I had prepared alone without the two of them?

If I had only learned Deicide and Destruction by rote and trained alone, could I have this level of stats and skill proficiency now?

I can say with certainty that absolutely not.

The reason Heavenly Strength could quickly rise to level 5.

The reason Argus’s Eye became familiar in combat situations.

Training that turned crude combat—grabbing, rolling, swinging fists, or throwing one’s body—into an efficient way to cut off an enemy’s air.

The reason I could easily handle the Myryian King and the adamantium golem.

It was all because of the beatings disguised as sparring with those two monsters.

But since that day, Bioss and Talis couldn’t hold their faces straight whenever they ran into me.

Bioss, unsuited to it, even carried a notebook collecting members’ specialties and information, while Talis personally led the mansion expansion works.

They demolished the houses behind the mansion—the ones abutting the training ground wall—and, with a crude magic trick of uprooting the wall and moving it to the expanded area, a wide space appeared behind the training ground in an instant.

And in that space Talis spent days sweating as he installed something and repeatedly buried it in the ground.

The two of them stayed secluded for nearly a month.

They dismissed me with ‘rest as much as you can’ and busied themselves talking with Jimnas and the gardener or visiting the library.

In short, they just wouldn’t hang out with me.

The lethargy vanished after two days, and afterward I spent my time crafting items.

Not locked up in the workshop like during Benialis’s plague incident, but leisurely crafting for the first time in a long while.

Moreover, with so many high-grade materials available, I made things I’d only conceived of in thought until now.

First, I put Earth Dragon leather, Earth Dragon blood, and Earth Dragon scales on the workbench.

I took out ten bottles of ‘Resistance Dye 2L’ and lined them up, then added the Myryans’ hide and the Myryan King’s hide, filling the workbench and surrounding area enough for ten people to work in a row.

“Phew….”

Work began by tanning the Earth Dragon leather and the Myryan King’s hide.

After tanning, I set the two hides aside, mixed dragon blood and resistance dye, added finely ground mithril powder and attribute crystal dust, and stirred.

I cut the two hides on the side into the desired sizes and shapes, then evenly applied the dye-and-dragon-blood mixture inside and out.

I repeated coating and drying three times, layered the two hides, and sewed them together.

I attached Earth Dragon scales and finished by drawing runes with a mithril pen.

“Yes.”

“Manteau of Rebound.”

I read the item description several times, smiled in satisfaction, and stretched.

After a brief stretch, I fell into a crafting frenzy, the cloak’s recipe registered.

After consuming most of the prepared materials and, for the first time in a while, watching the legion members’ sparring leisurely, it happened.

Hearing that an unexpected guest had arrived, I stopped the sparring and, with Lee Hyo-ju, Hazel, and Merus, headed to the reception room.

Upon entering, I saw Lubeite at the front gate communicating.

After finishing the communication, Lubeite confirmed the visitor’s identity again.

“Violentia really came?”

“Yes.”

“…Hmm.”

About ten minutes passed, and the reception room door opened. Violentia herself entered with two representatives. All three were women.

“Welcome.”

“Thank you for allowing our visit.”

Polite greetings were exchanged. But after taking their seats, they drank tea and admired the garden without saying a word.

To a passerby, they’d look like residents of the house, so at ease were they.

While waiting briefly and checking Violentia’s status window, I almost spat out my tea.

Thankfully, Hazel’s timely voice kept anyone from paying attention to me.

“What business brings you here?”

Perhaps displeased by their attitude, Hazel asked Violentia directly in a low but forceful voice.

“Hmm… It was some time ago, about a month, I think. We came because we’re curious about what happened here.”

“We have no obligation to tell you, you know.”

Violentia spoke as if ‘what happened at your place?’ were obvious, but Hazel calmly countered, ‘Why should we tell you?’

It was like sparks flew between the two.

As the woman beside Violentia suddenly tried to stand up, Hazel rose smoothly as if it were no big deal and pressed the woman’s shoulder with a subtle, sharp application of divine power.

The perfectly timed move disrupted the woman’s balance; she clutched her back and neck in pain and slumped to the floor.

While everyone was puzzled, I approached as if startled and began massaging the woman’s back.

At my slight infusion of divine power into the massage, Violentia’s face and that of the woman who had come with her softened.

But they had no clue what I was doing.

“It seems your muscles suddenly experienced a ‘weakening.’ You should be careful.”

“…Yes? Y-yes. Th-thank you.”

Violentia and the other woman soon averted their gaze from me, and that would bring the worst consequences for them.

“It could lead to a serious (bewitching) situation, so be careful. That’s all.”

“Ah… Thank you.”

Was this also an effect of the ‘Empathy’ talent? Or the result of a covertly cast bewitchment spell?

The woman stared at me dazedly, unable to regain her composure.

Violentia looked at that sight meaningfully, then rose from her seat.

“We’ve been very rude today. I also lead an organization, and you do as well, so rather than sharpening our blades at each other, why not use this chance for constructive exchange? We’ll leave the familiarities to this person, Imoen.”

“Well, fine.”

“Hoho. Very well, then we’ll see you again.”

Violentia left the mansion with a broad smile alongside the two women.

As they disappeared, Merus stared at me with eyes full of curiosity.

“What?”

“She’s a representative of a demon god. From what I could tell, she seemed mage-like. Why did you use a bewitchment spell on the representative attached to someone like her?”

Merus was asking why I did something so obvious that even he had noticed.

“Why? Do you think I did something pointless?”

“Well… I’m not sure either.”

“You saw Violentia leave—proud, arrogant, full of herself. How did she look to you?”

“She still looked brimming with confidence, even smiling at the corners of her mouth.”

That’s right. Violentia is different from Benialis. Benialis is an idiot, but Violentia isn’t to that extent.

Since it was my first time facing her directly, I hesitated about how to present myself—then a very good idea came to mind.

From Violentia’s perspective, my earlier behavior might have seemed like a clumsy attempt at bewitchment, somewhat concealed.

How would Violentia react to such an obvious stunt?

From her point of view, I probably seemed laughable.

So she might have schemed to send that stupid woman as an envoy to test me, believing the magic had taken full hold.

“If she’s clever, she might hand over an artifact that reflects or repels charm magic when she goes.”

“Aha… so it’s a kind of feint and fallback?”

“…Where did you even hear something like that?”

Spend a day with this eccentric lizardman and you’ll be startled at least once and feel outright bizarre more than three times, making you want to keep your distance. Like now.

Isn’t the lizardman talking about a feint straight out of Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Even with smooth communication between us, it’s surprising he knows such a phrase.

“Heh heh, I’m quite something, aren’t I? Though of course not as much as Kim Han. Haha.”

“Do you still hang out with Arun these days?”

“Heh heh, well… huh? No, why is the conversation going that way?”

“No.”

I glanced at Merus with a look of pity directed toward Arun, then told Hazel and Lee Hyo-ju to keep that woman confined to the reception room if she came again, and was about to move.

If Lee Hyo-ju hadn’t suddenly spoken as if remembering something.

“Ah! Kim Han.”

“Hm?”

“Uh, about Katarina.”

“Katarina? Who’s Katarina… Ah! That crazy woman. Why her?”

“Well… she seems to have gotten strangely stronger and physically recovered.”

“…That can’t be.”

Hearing Lee Hyo-ju’s explanation and sensing something off, I opened the door to the corner room on the third floor for the first time in a while and went in.

As soon as I entered, I saw Katarina screaming some kind of hoarse cry—whether a shriek or a chant, it was hard to tell.

So far, nothing particularly different.

‘Confirmed.’

“… No, what is with this woman?”