novelraw Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Stepping out of the Head Instructor's Office, Feyr walked outside and took a moment to organize the current situation in his mind.
'With the operation locked in, training for the next week will be out of the picture.'
That meant the time left to him was roughly 1 week.
He had to prepare as thoroughly as possible within that time.
Felid Forest harbored that much danger lurking within it.
'That aside—so the "someone from above" turned out to be that woman, Batori Beilhart after all.'
It suddenly made perfect sense why Zak and Lowell had been so hush-hush about it.
With a madwoman like her, even uttering her name was something one had to tread carefully around.
Among the anecdotes Feyr remembered of her, there was this:
She had carried out a massacre at a certain monastery in the Meibel Theocracy.
And it didn't stop there.
She had brazenly filled the monastery's bath with the blood of maidens and enjoyed a blood bath at her leisure.
An outraged cardinal had charged at her meaning to kill her, but a Sword Master was not about to be taken down so easily.
Batori had annihilated the elite forces Meibel had dispatched at the time with effortless ease and returned home.
The old guard of the Empire had worried this would stir political problems, yet not a single issue arose.
'Because Batori was a Beilhart.'
He felt it anew—just how fearsome a name this was. Just how powerful.
A Family that even nations were powerless against.
That was what the Beilhart Family was.
'But it will be a Family that crumbles by my hand someday.'
Feyr thought so as he ground the fangs of his vengeance.
'Regardless—what now?'
It was too awkward a time to rejoin training, and too early to head back to his quarters.
If possible he would have liked to exercise in peace, but unfortunately every available space was already full.
Just as he was considering taking a stroll along a back path—
"......Feyr?"
A familiar voice drifted in from behind him.
At the voice he recognized, he turned around to find a familiar face.
"Mad Bl——no, Leticia? Why are you here? Training isn't over yet."
"Because I didn't attend training today."
"Ah."
That explained why it had been oddly quiet despite all the commotion earlier.
But could she just do that as she pleased?
The more he looked at her, the less she seemed like a trainee.
'Well, when your backer is Mad Demon, what is there to worry about.'
Wait—Mad Demon?
It suddenly struck Feyr as curious why Leticia had skipped training.
It wasn't that he had any particular interest in her.
He simply wondered whether her reason for skipping today's training had something to do with Mad Demon.
Feyr asked, casually.
"Was your absence from training today related to your master, by any chance?"
At his question, Leticia gave a small nod.
As he suspected.
True to Feyr's guess, it was indeed connected to Mad Demon.
Still, at least Mad Demon had quietly met only with Leticia and left.
It was a relief he hadn't tried to seek Feyr out himself.
'Someone at Mad Demon's level would have heard about me.'
From the Lunar Eclipse Training Ground onward, he had caused enough of an uproar that there was no way anyone wouldn't know.
Word of Feyr had surely already spread among the notable figures within the Family.
How could it not?
The youngest son of the Family head had been broken so thoroughly and mercilessly.
'Come to think of it, I haven't seen that fellow Kail in a long time.'
Knowing his personality, there was no chance he wasn't preparing some form of retaliation.
He was undoubtedly scheming something.
'Well, he's notorious for being dim......so I don't need to worry about him.'
What mattered was not someone like Kail.
It was a heavyweight like Mad Demon.
Either way, it was fortunate not to be entangled with Mad Demon.
Just as Feyr was about to turn and leave—
"Feyr. My master said he wants to meet you."
"......."
Nothing ever resolves smoothly.
If Mad Demon had said that, Feyr would have to go himself.
Otherwise, he would come directly.
Leticia knew that too—which was why she had brought it up.
'If he comes directly, that makes for a bigger scene.'
In the end, the answer was already decided.
"Let's go........."
***
A small village near the Crescent Moon Training Ground.
The 2 of them came down to the village to find Mad Demon.
'This is convenient, though.'
Simply having Leticia with him meant he could come and go through the training ground's entrance freely.
The guards at the gate barely so much as touched them.
'It would be convenient if I could come down to the village like this from time to time.'
Being a small village, there wasn't much to be gained—but there would be numerous advantages in various ways.
For instance, being able to catch news from the outside, or the ability to accumulate funds.
With so many advantages available, it would be worth making sure he could come and go as he pleased.
'At least while I'm at the Crescent Moon, I should make full use of the surroundings.'
As Feyr walked and took in the sight of the village around him, Leticia parted her lips.
"Be careful with my master. He's an unusual person."
At Leticia's words, Feyr narrowed his brow.
Was "unusual" really sufficient to describe him?
He wanted to say just that, but refrained from actually doing so.
Instead, Feyr naturally redirected the topic.
"So where is your master right now?"
"......I don't know."
"......."
Truly an incomprehensible existence.
To have told her to bring someone along and then gone and vanished himself.
In the end they would have to comb through the entire village to find Mad Demon.
As Feyr pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed at the troublesome situation—
"Ah, come to think of it, we could just track him with Mana."
"Track with Mana?"
"Yeah. Your Mana shares the same nature as your master's. That makes it easier to track."
Tracking someone with Mana was no simple task.
It was something one could barely manage if the target happened to be leaking Mana as they moved.
But when 2 people share the same Mana nature, it was different.
When Mana natures are aligned—as with a master and disciple—one can follow the trail even if the target isn't leaking Mana.
"Try sensing Mana with the feeling of scanning the surroundings."
At Feyr's advice, Leticia nodded.
Presently, following the advice, she began sensing Mana and started tracking Mad Demon's Mana.
At the sight, Feyr gave a nod.
'Useful, as expected.'
Succeeding so readily from a single pointer.
Her talent really was something worth making use of.
Just as Feyr was satisfied by Leticia's talent—
"Found him."
Leticia said so and immediately set off.
Watching Leticia move toward her master, Feyr quietly followed behind.
The place the 2 headed to in silence was an alley beside a tavern.
And there......
"Uuugh......."
An old man was hunched over, retching out everything that had been in his stomach.
At the sight, Leticia went over and patted him on the back.
After a moment, the old man composed himself and rose unsteadily to his feet.
"Euk......."
As the old man approached with tottering steps, one pace at a time, the face obscured by shadow gradually came into view.
As that face came into view, Feyr couldn't help but tense up.
It was unchanged from the image in his memory.
'Mad Demon.......'
Feyr received Mad Demon with the same expressionless, emotionless face as always, betraying not even a trace of tension.
Just as he was about to offer a proper greeting—
"You have pretty eyes."
Mad Demon, who had somehow drawn right up in front of Feyr, fixed eyes with him and leered.
"Give them to me."
Grinning wide to reveal yellowed teeth, Mad Demon slowly, languidly extended a hand toward Feyr's eyes.
Just before Mad Demon's hand could reach Feyr's eyes—
"......!"
Feyr snapped back to his senses in an instant, threw himself backward, and dodged the hand.
'Why wasn't I thinking about dodging?'
Had some kind of suggestion been cast on him?
Whatever the case, Feyr locked eyes with Mad Demon and raised his guard to the fullest.
Mad Demon looked at Feyr with eyes that lit up.
"Wow...... he dodged it!"
Mad Demon said so and clicked his tongue with relish.
Then, as though coveting something, Mad Demon asked.
"Whose disciple are you? Directly under the Family head? Or Batori's new plaything?"
At the sudden question, Feyr held his tongue.
Mad Demon simply continued pouring out whatever he felt like saying.
"Doesn't matter. Come under me as my disciple. If you become my disciple, the world will look like a very trivial place."
Mad Demon grinned, baring his yellowed teeth.
True.
As he said—if one became Mad Demon's disciple, the world would look trivial indeed.
Even if it were purely in name alone, bearing the title of Mad Demon's disciple meant there would be no one in the Family who could touch him freely.
But.
'It would mean losing my freedom of movement going forward.'
That was ultimately the problem.
Having a powerful backer was certainly a good thing.
But being Mad Demon's disciple would mean being unable to take missions freely, and being unable to join any knight order either.
His autonomy would diminish.
If that was the case, it was better to stand alone.
'Then the answer is clear.'
Refusal was right.
To begin with, he was already sick and tired of placing himself beneath anyone any longer.
One simply couldn't trust anyone.
With that thought, Feyr opened his mouth.
"I apologize, but I must decline."
At Feyr's refusal, the amusement slowly drained from Mad Demon's face.
In the chilled atmosphere, Mad Demon asked quietly.
"Why?"
"Because I do not yet wish to take on a master."
"You don't wish to take on a master?"
"That is correct."
Mad Demon's brow furrowed.
He was trying to find the reason behind Feyr's vague answer.
Unable to find any reason at all, Mad Demon asked Feyr directly.
"And why is that?"
"Because my fundamentals are still lacking."
"Fundamentals are still lacking........."
At those words, Mad Demon looked Feyr over.
It wasn't wrong.
As Feyr himself said, there were areas still lacking—that much was true.
Of course, even so, he was several steps ahead of everyone else, but still.
Mad Demon clicked his tongue at Feyr's words and nodded.
The truth was, this too was something a master could fix—but what could one do if the person themselves didn't want it?
'Above all, this one.'
He lacks any fear of death.
He felt it when their eyes met.
This one was very different from the ordinary sort.
'Fellows like this are the kind you can never tame no matter how you cook them.'
Mad Demon clicked his tongue and looked at Feyr.
"Alright. Then when you need a master later, let me know. You can say so through Leti."
"Understood. I'm sorry for not giving you the answer you hoped for."
Mad Demon waved a hand as if to say it was fine and passed by Feyr.
Just as he was about to exit the alley—
"Ah. Now that I think of it—you're going to Felid Forest, aren't you?"
"......That's right."
"Let me tell you something good. There's treasure behind the red waterfall there, you know."
Mad Demon said as much, then cackled as he cleared the alley entirely.
Feyr turned the cryptic remark over in his memory.
'The red waterfall...... treasure?'
Did he mean he had left treasure behind there himself, or that there genuinely was treasure?
And if so, why hadn't he taken it?
The question arose, but given that it was Mad Demon who had brought it up, he didn't attach great significance to it.
It was simply a matter he could check on later if time allowed.
Either way, the fortunate thing was that Mad Demon had behaved himself.
'It was wise to keep the reason for not seeking a master vague.'
He had phrased it vaguely on purpose.
Otherwise, Mad Demon might lose interest and kill him.
From the very first moment they met, he had been trying to gouge his eyes out—that said it all.
'That was sincere.'
If he hadn't reflexively dodged in that moment, he would have lost his eyes.
Truly an unpredictable madman.
As Feyr was deep in those thoughts—
"Feyr."
Leticia, who had been quietly present this whole time, suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah."
"We have to go now."
"Ah."
It seemed today was turning out to be a remarkably busy day all around.