The Willpower Of An Expert

At the moment Ian was thinking that, Viscount Rubingston shouted with his face all twisted.

“How dare you! Did His Majesty not speak? Will you still not open your mouth at once!”

‘As if he’s going to talk just because you yell. He hasn’t opened his mouth until now, after all.’

What he himself had just said had not really been because he expected the man to answer. As he was thinking of going straight into Mental Manipulation, he had been wondering what kind of reaction the mana user would show. In a way, it was also the first time he actually tried it.

“I wasn’t going to listen to him anyway, so leave it.”

“As you command.”

It was the sight of Viscount Rubingston backing down at his words at once, and Ian immediately turned his gaze to the man. Just as he was about to manifest his ability within their once-more-crossed gazes, it was unexpectedly the man who opened his mouth.

“King Ian, what is your true identity? What do you have behind you?”

“Hm? So you finally talk. More than that, something behind me? Why do you think I have anything like that?”

“The very fact that someone with no more than the status of the Ninth Prince became king makes no sense. There must be something behind you. No—there has to be.”

The gaze of the man, who spoke as if convinced, was still turned toward the Guardians seated there with expressionless faces. At that sight, Ian shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

“Sorry, but there is no such thing. I achieved all of this on my own.”

“Heh heh, you think I’d believe that nonsense? I knew you weren’t going to tell me anyway.”

“Mm. This is really making it feel like I’m the one being interrogated, isn’t it? I’d appreciate it if you could remember that you’re the one who’s been captured, as you can see.”

“I’m already a dead man, am I not? Don’t bother keeping me alive in such a pathetic way—just kill me.”

“Whether you die or not is for me to decide. And besides, you don’t really look like you’re thinking of dying. You seem more attached to life than I expected.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“The moment you woke up, you didn’t think of killing yourself; you started thinking of escaping. So I can only conclude you’re attached to life, don’t you think?”

“My life is something I can give up at any time.”

“For the organization you belong to, you mean?”

“…….”

From the way he kept his mouth tightly shut, he looked like he had no intention at all of talking about the organization. Shaking his head at that sight, Ian spoke.

“I never really expected you to suddenly decide to talk anyway. But I’ll make it so you can open your mouth soon enough.”

“Are you planning to torture me, or inject some kind of drug? Things like that are useless on me.”

“Of course, I know there’s a geas placed on you people. When I checked, I found there was a rather nasty one laid on you.”

“Heh heh, then they’ve all died by now. I’m useless as well, so just kill me.”

“I told you, I’m not killing you. And this time, I’m planning to do it properly.”

“Do what, exactly?”

Under the gaze full of questions fixed on him, Ian smiled at the corners of his mouth. Then he told Viscount Rubingston to go wait outside.

“Viscount, wait outside.”

“Understood.”

He left without a hint of doubt. Because he obeyed orders unconditionally, he acted like that. Of course, it would not have mattered even if he watched directly, but actually showing him the use of his power was a somewhat different matter, so Ian had decided to do it alone.

‘Well, not quite alone.’

There were also four Guardians in the room at the moment, so he was not truly alone. In any case, he moved closer to the man. At Ian’s actions, the man twisted his mouth into a nasty smile and spoke.

“You dare come close to me—so you’re not afraid of me, is that it? Do you really think chains like these can hold me?”

“Who knows. I’m just not very good at being scared, you see.”

“You may look like you trust those lackeys, but if you come near, I’ll kill you with my own hands.”

“I’ll look forward to that.”

At the sight of King Ian approaching without hesitation and paying no heed to his words, the man could not help but be somewhat taken aback. Did he really trust those guys that much? What was more, they were not even moving from where they stood a little distance away instead of coming closer. At that sight, a chill glinted in the man’s eyes.

“You’ve completely lost your sense of fear.”

“I told you, I’m not afraid.”

“……”

Clang!

In an instant, he shattered the chain that had been binding his wrist and his hand shot out. It seemed he had been hiding that trick all this time. However, the outstretched hand stopped right in front of Ian’s face. With his hand trembling violently, an emotion of disbelief filled the man’s eyes.

“What, is it so hard to believe you can’t reach any farther?”

“How did you do that? A magic tool? No, I couldn’t feel any mana at all…”

“Think whatever you like. The important thing is that with your power, you can’t harm me.”

There was no need for him to bother explaining about his Psychic Power. The opponent was probably confused. After all, his attack had been stopped even though he could not sense any mana at all.

“Earlier, you asked me what I had behind me, didn’t you?”

“…..”

“I don’t have anything like a ‘backer.’ I built all of this with my own strength. So? Can you believe that now?”

“Don’t talk nonsense…”

At that moment, Ian’s palm seized the man’s forehead. The man was already in a state where his body was bound by telekinesis. He tried to move in response to Ian’s action, but he could not so much as twitch and gradually lost control over his own body. As if he could not believe this fact, he kept trying to move.

“I once saw someone who had reached the level of an Expert before. Thinking back now, I’m certain he was stronger than you.”

“What are you trying to babble about..”

The emotion contained in the eyes that could be seen between Ian’s outstretched fingers was bewilderment. Speaking quietly to such a man, Ian continued.

“Do you know what I thought when I faced him back then? Ah, that someone of that level would still be someone I could completely crush and defeat with my own power.”

“What are you trying to say..”

“As I said, all of this is power I achieved with my own strength. Now, let’s begin. From now on, you’re going to tell me everything about yourself.”

“Stop talking nonsense..”

Zzzrrr— Ian no longer listened to what the fellow was saying. From this point on, what he was about to do required extremely delicate work and a very high level of concentration. Through several prior experiences, he had been figuring out a way to release the geas, and by now he had almost perfected a method of breaking it through the sacrifice of more than a dozen people.

‘It would be nice if it worked this time.’

At the last attempt, the geas had frustratingly reactivated and killed them, but this time he was confident he would definitely succeed. At that very moment, the Expert-level man felt that something was wrong.

“S-sto– stop it!”

Drooling heavily as he screamed for Ian to stop, the man struggled, but Ian did not stop and simply began Mental Manipulation. Ian’s will, driven straight in, dug into the man’s mind as it was. In that situation, he could tell that this man was somewhat different from the ones he had dealt with before.

‘There isn’t any sort of geas at all?’

The peculiar resistance he had felt before was completely absent. Of course, that did not mean there was no resistance at all. Something rather heavy was blocking his will. Ian felt it was likely the man’s own mental defense.

‘So mana users have something like this, huh?’

To be honest, for Ian this attempt was nothing but a challenge against the unknown. Until now, he had never tried Mental Manipulation on someone who used mana, so he had no way of knowing what result it might produce. Just as he thought that, he realized his will had run up against a fairly strong “door.”

‘It’s certainly solid.’

He realized that, from the beginning, there had been no need for something like a geas. That was why he felt this might be an opportunity. If he could completely subdue this man’s mind, he might be able to learn a great deal about who they really were.

‘I don’t know how much he knows, but one thing is certain—his status is by no means low. He’ll have a certain amount of information.’

Because he was such a rare mana user on a global scale, his status within the organization could not possibly be low. Thinking that, Ian expanded his power even further. He was pounding at the barrier quite forcefully. In response, the man’s mental “door” shook violently.

“Urgh!”

With a groan, nosebleed flowed down from the man’s nose in streams. At that sight, Ian slightly reduced the force with which he was pounding. If he continued too strongly, the man’s mind could literally burst. Even with the lessened force, the mental waves continued without pause.

‘Surrender. Confess everything you have to me!’

Under that intense will, the ripples that continued to strike the door of the mind began to crack it. Noticing that sensation, Ian could not help forming a triumphant smile. Of course, the man being hit also felt it. That was why he denied it all the more desperately.

“Uwaaa! No!”

“Hurry up and surrender.”

“No! Uwooooo!”

As the man screamed louder and continued his resistance, Ian clicked his tongue at that mental tenacity. He had a rough grasp of how strong his own power was. Especially after opening his third ability, his Mental Manipulation, which had grown stronger in proportion to the expansion of his willpower, was now more powerful than at any time before.

‘That’s what allowed me to create Guardians, but this guy is really resisting it fiercely.’

It seemed that was why they had been unable to place any special geas on him. To do that, they would first have had to break his will, and since they could not, they had chosen instead to trust him. Whatever the case, Ian’s mental ability had grown frighteningly strong, and even in that state he was starting to feel slightly strained.

‘I can’t believe I’m actually finding this hard. Is breaking the will of a mana user really this difficult?’

If it had been an ordinary person, he would have crushed them in an instant, but the strength of this man’s resistance was incomparably solid. Even so, that door was now cracked and slowly on the verge of shattering. At that moment, he could clearly feel it: the door breaking apart and his will driving itself straight into the man’s mind.

The moment he bored in, what he could see were fragmented pieces of memory. As he examined those pieces, Ian was able to learn the man’s name.

“Right, your name is Camyu.”

He had finally learned the name. Now all he had to do was look into the organization the man belonged to. Just as he thought that, he could not help sensing that something was wrong. The fragments of memory were breaking apart and disappearing like shattered pieces of glass. In that situation, Ian realized that the man was destroying his own mind.

‘He’s destroying his own mind?’

Why was he trying so hard to protect the secret? For someone whose instinct to survive had been so strong to do such a thing made Ian click his tongue. At the same time, this level of willpower made it clear the man was no ordinary figure.

‘If he hadn’t been captured by me, he would have grown even more than he has now.’

In a way, it made Ian feel like asking why he had come here only to end up like this. The important thing was that the fragments of memory were disappearing rapidly, and he had to skim through those shards as quickly as possible. He managed to extract a small amount of information, but in the next moment what he felt was an almost completely empty mental space.

He saw the man sitting there with vacant eyes and his mouth hanging open. Just a moment ago, he had been a being capable of thought, but now he was literally in a blank state. He had completely killed his own existence. At that fact, Ian felt regret.

‘He’s become a complete idiot.’

Feeling deep regret at the fact that not a shred of reason remained, Ian immediately thought, No, that’s not right, was it? Although the mind was dead, the body remained intact. The man had not thought of it, but Ian had the ability to turn him into a being that obeyed only his commands.

“He might make a pretty good Guardian.”

If he used him well, Ian felt he could transform him into a far more powerful existence than any of his current Guardians. If the original mind was dead, then he could simply implant a completely new one. One that was loyal only to him.

At the same time, however, he also wondered whether the man would still be able to use the mana he had originally possessed.

‘Well, I’ll just have to try. It doesn’t matter if he dies anyway.’

Since the man was in a blank state, Ian felt it did not really matter if he died. Thinking that, he immediately called for Viscount Rubingston. Before long, the viscount came inside, and seeing the man standing there vacantly, he asked in puzzlement.

“What happened to this man?”

“He erased his own mind.”

“Is that so? He truly is a ruthless fellow.”

“Leave the body for now. There’s a good chance he can be reborn as a Guardian.”

“Ah, so you intend to make him a Guardian as well. That is an excellent idea.”

As the viscount brightened at that, Ian took out a handkerchief and began wiping the hand with which he had grabbed the man’s forehead earlier. Then he told him one more thing.

“And I found out the location of the enemies lurking in the capital.”

“Oh!? I’ll have them arrested at once!”

“They may have erased their traces since their attempt to infiltrate the palace failed, so move quickly. Take a fair number of special agents and Guardians with you as well.”

“Of course. Since they are not people we can be careless with, I will deploy only the very best.”

Viscount Rubingston’s eyes flashed as he showed his determination to capture them without fail. Ian decided to return to the royal palace. Although there were some things that left him feeling regretful today, he also felt there had been gains as well.