Chapter 64

While the parlor was being tidied, I stepped outside the mansion to check on the situation for a moment, then came back in and asked Ileia, who was treating the knights.

“Ileia. How are the knights doing?”

“Ah, most of them have been treated fine. The knight whose side you pierced—his organs and blood vessels weren’t damaged, so we managed to patch him up.”

“That’s good.”

My stance was that anyone who drew a blade with the intent to kill should be prepared to die from that moment on… but the reward for the fight was over anyway. If someone could be saved, it was better to save them.

“But how can someone stab a person’s belly with an arming sword as thick as an arm and still pull off something like that?”

“Um… just, well?”

“Still. Really a weird person.”

“Anyway, good job.”

“Oh, and the knight whose arm was cut off—I’ve treated him for now, but later he should get another blessing from a high priest. Since some time had passed after the arm was severed, the reattachment’s a little unstable. If left as is, his strength and sensation might decline.”

“They’ll deal with that themselves… no, wait. Come to think of it, we can handle it here.”

“Pardon?”

“Stay there.”

I walked over to the knight who was fussing with his reattached arm with a dissatisfied expression and gave his shoulder a light knock.

“Hey.”

“Gah…!!”

The knight freaked out when he saw me suddenly appear behind him.

“Wh-what!? Isn’t it over!? I lost! I surrender! I didn’t recognize your exalted prowess because I’m blind in one eye! If you want ransom, I’ll pay. Just—please spare my life…!”

I waved my hand to show I meant no harm.

“I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to hurt you. But that arm… she said it didn’t attach well because it wasn’t fresh, right?”

“W-well, the priestess did say that… It might be fine for a normal person, but for someone like me—a knight—I’d have to go to a high priest for another treatment.”

“A high priest, huh. But that’s expensive, right? Is it really necessary? If the cut surface wasn’t fresh and it didn’t take, couldn’t you just freshen it up and reattach it?”

Sring.

A golden blade slid out of its scabbard. The knight finally understood what I meant and frantically waved his hands.

“N-no! Wait! I—I’ll just pay more money!”

“It’s fine. It’ll be quick. I’ll cut it cleanly so it won’t hurt.”

I pressed my foot down on the struggling, theatrically whining knight’s back and raised the sword. For the record, this was, strictly speaking, a disinterested medical act. It absolutely wasn’t because that knight had earlier called me names like ‘dishonorable brute’ and ‘filthy sorcerer’ while clutching his severed arm and cursing me. Don’t get the wrong idea.

“Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale… One, two, three!”

Sliccck!

Thud.

The knight screamed as he looked at his arm that had fallen again.

“Aaah! My arm!!”

I inspected the stump of his fallen arm and smiled. Hm. It had been cut neatly.

“Oh, come on. Stop being a baby. A knight should be able to smile even if his head was off and say, ‘Ah, refreshing. Day one as a Dullahan (a headless rider)~’.”

“Wh-what kind of—! Aah! Hurry! Reattach it, quick!!”

Right then, the baron and the beastkin mage who had stepped out saying they had something to discuss walked back into the parlor.

“I finished talking with the baron—huh!!”

They froze and blurted when they saw the knight screaming with his arm severed and me standing over him holding the detached limb.

“G-gods…! Wasn’t it over!?”

I tilted my head, then gave an awkward smile as I realized how easily my actions could be misread.

Honestly, anyone who saw me now would probably think, “Oh, they’re trying to cure him,” less often than “That butcher’s gone berserk and’s about to carve someone up,” and that was understandable.

“Oh, no, it’s a misunderstanding. This friend here was being surprisingly stubborn, so I was just going to immobilize him then cut—uh, I mean—”

Selan, who had been dabbing blood from his cheek with a handkerchief, muttered in disdain.

“Um… M-master. Saying it like that might make the misunderstanding worse…”

“R-really?”

Of course, as if on cue—

Kraaaak!!

The beastkin mage didn’t calm things down; he reacted even more dramatically, casting a physical barrier and leaping backward. Having been burned badly before, his reflexes were a little overdone.

“—Baron. No, Jimmy. Come behind me. Whatever happened, that idiot knight must’ve poked the wrong person’s temper. He just poured oil on an already-out fire.”

“······!”

“His strikes might be a bit excessive, but he doesn’t seem the type to be cruel on purpose… Looks like he’s just really angry.”

“Th-then what should we do?”

“…I’ll send you with Blink. The coordinates might waver, so I can’t tell where you’ll end up… but if you’re lucky enough to survive, get out of here and head to the Magic Tower. Show them my seal and explain the situation—they’ll protect you.”

“······!”

“He doesn’t seem like a ruthless man, so your wife and child should be safe. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll meet them again someday.”

“What about you, sir…?”

“This place will probably be my grave. I’ve lived long enough anyway. It’s a shame I never got to cross the wall… but better this than growing old and dying helpless as a beastman.”

“…B-but!”

“I’ll hold them back for at least five minutes somehow…! You must survive…!”

“Grandpa Talos…!”

“…This time, your father owes me one. When I meet him in the afterlife, I’ll make sure he pays that debt in full.”

“Ugh…”

I watched the dramatic scene unfolding before my eyes, utterly bewildered, then opened my mouth to clear up the misunderstanding again.

“No, that’s not what I—”

But just then—another unexpected set of guests burst in as if they’d been waiting for their cue.

KWAANG!!

“Sword God! I have arrived!”

“Hey! You damn Sword God! You think I’m some elf you can summon like a dog!? What!? You tell me not to crawl over slow and just teleport because you’re busy!? Am I your servant!? Huh!? Am I your lackey!?”

Shia. And Sodin Cross.

And those two, arriving at the most perfectly ill-timed moment possible… fell silent as soon as they saw the scene before them.

Shia was the first to speak, hesitantly.

“…My dear, what on earth is this situation? Why are you holding someone’s arm?”

Then Sodin glanced between me and the beastman mage, let out a long sigh, and muttered as if she’d figured everything out.

“Ah, fuck. I knew it. You just can’t go anywhere without dragging trouble behind you, you damn bastard. If it weren’t for that promise about introducing me to an angel—sigh. Anyway, Professor Talos—no, Senior Talos. Don’t pick on kids who can’t even throw a punch, and why don’t you put that scary-looking wand down first?”

The beastman mage blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“I didn’t expect to find you here, Senior… Looks like you’ve been hired by that baron over there, right? To keep the Tower from interfering. But let’s be honest—weren’t you the one trying to seize the poor kid’s house first?”

“…What?”

“I’ve talked to him, you know. The kid’s got nothing—no home, no family, no backing. He finally found a quiet place with clean air and good water to settle down in, and you’re bullying him like this? That’s just cruel.”

“…What?”

“Even if you’re a mage, there are basic decencies. From the look of it, you tried intimidation, and when that didn’t work, you went straight to force. Honestly, Senior, isn’t it beneath your dignity as a great mage to bully a powerless kid like that? Look at him—he’s so cornered he’s taken a hostage and started making a scene. Doesn’t that make you feel even a little sorry for him?”

“…What?”

“Senior, I owe that guy a bit of a debt. So for my sake, could you please let this go? And you, Baron—you’re not helping either. Blue blood doesn’t make you the only kind of person. Red blood flows in people too. The Empire’s laws are strict—how could you twist them like this?”

“…Huh?”

“The local branch is still part of the Magic Tower. Which means this whole mansion transaction was overseen by the Tower. The Tower has a reputation to maintain. If you treat someone like dirt just because they’re a nobody adventurer… well, they won’t just laugh it off.”

“…Huh?”

“Let me put it this way. Suppose you, Baron, gave someone a loaf of bread out of kindness. Then right in front of you, some thug snatched that bread away. Would you find that amusing? That’s exactly how we—the Magic Tower—feel right now.”

“…Huh?”

“So, gentlemen, please back down quietly. I, Sodin Cross, won’t forget your generosity if you do.”

Even with dark circles under her eyes, the elf mage’s radiant beauty and impassioned speech filled the wide parlor with silence.

And after a long, heavy pause—

The beastman mage finally stammered out a single word.

“…What?”

“…Sodin. I can tell already there’s a huge difference in how we’re perceiving this situation.”

“…What do you mean?”

The beastman mage glanced at me nervously, swallowed hard, and continued.

“I just want to be absolutely sure… The pitiful, homeless, powerless kid you’re talking about—are you referring to that master over there?”

“…Huh? His name’s Go Geom-shin, but by formal title it’d be Sword God. Master? Hey, Go Geom-shin, you got a middle name or something? Is your middle name ‘Master’?”

“No.”

“He says he’s not.”

“…No, I mean—he is a Master. The way you two were talking, it sounded like you knew each other… You really didn’t?”

“What kind of nonsense is that? He’s a Second-Circle mage. Learns fast, so maybe he’ll reach Third soon, but a Master? Unless he’s some lunatic like Falun, how’s a human supposed to reach the Eighth Circle?”

The beastman mage pressed a hand to his forehead, clearly unable to figure out where or how everything had gone so sideways—or how he could possibly explain it.

The baron, meanwhile, just rolled his eyes around as if wondering what the hell was happening.

“My arm… My arm! When are you going to put my arm back on!?”

And through it all, the poor knight clutched at his stump, wailing over his detached limb.

Selan snickered under her breath.

“Wh-wh-what a late reaction…”

Exactly my thought.

Ten days later.

Ssshhh—

I floated on my back in the lake, no tube, just me drifting freely as I gazed at the far shore.

Ssshhh—

It was a fine day—light clouds, pleasant breeze, soft waves.

And across the lake, a lively group of stunning women, each with a different kind of beauty, played around in swimsuits that were a little bolder than modesty might allow.

“Kyaaahahaha!”

“Ahahaha!”

“Hihihihihi!”

Splash!

“Gah! Pffft! Hey! Who the hell uses magic during water play!?”

“If you’re jealous, use some magic too.”

“Ugh, seriously! Go, Hosik! I choose you!”

Splashhhh!!

“Pffft! Gah! Sir Hosik! Why are you siding with Ileia!? As fellow servants of the Master, you should be helping me!”

“So noisy. Hosik, make those girls quiet.”

“Ah! Hosik, you traitor! Hey, Lady Shia! Give me back my outerwear!”

“Tch. We’re at a pool—you’re supposed to wear a swimsuit. What’s with all that covering up? Did your goddess forbid swimwear or something?”

“N-no, but still…”

“Oh? You’re one of those types who looks thinner in swimwear. Hm. Feels like you’d be fun to touch.”

“Stay away! Aah! Oppa! Oppa! Stop this pervert, please! Oppa!!”

Ssshhh—

“Um, Lady Sodin, the waves are kind of weak… could you make the wind a little stronger…?”

“…Are you fearless or just brainless?”

“Huh? Heheh… I mean, I trust the Master. And you can’t really go against him either, can you, Lady Sodin?”

“…I swear, I’m going to kill you both.”

Ssshhh—

I couldn’t help but sigh in admiration as I watched that radiant, chaotic scene.

“…Now this is what you call flex.”

Naturally, as you’d expect, the mansion issue turned out exactly the way I wanted.

Whatever that beastman mage told him, the baron came back meek as a lamb (though there was a bit of a commotion midway through). He bowed so low it was hard to believe he was the same man who’d tried to seize my house—and on top of the agreed 36 million sel, he even threw in some “voluntary tax payments.”

Thanks to that, I didn’t spend a single coin, yet I got to hire the leftover laborers to build all sorts of facilities around my home.

One of them was that enormous pool where the ladies were now having fun—converted from part of the lake itself.

After all, swimming in a lake and swimming in a proper pool were two very different experiences.

Anyway, after about a week of leisure, I decided it was finally time to set my next plan in motion.

Yeah. No better time than now, when things were peaceful.

It was time to dive into what I’d been putting off all along—a proper exploration of my own inner world.

“…Though honestly, I really don’t want to eat that part. Damn useless sucker-mage system. I told them to fix that ages ago and they still haven’t… tsk tsk.”