Chapter 100 : Chapter 100
Chapter 100: White Flame (2)
“What's Mectera like? You didn’t come to Bahab because it was hard to be there, did you?”
“No way. It's bearable. There are a lot of annoying things, but it’s not too bad.”
The direct descendants must have been annoying.
The reason it ended with just being annoying was probably because Simurtr was strong.
Unlike Haryun, who had been tormented by Hejel.
“What about the Sword Order? I heard you hang out with the 3rd and 6th Sword Orders often.”
“The Sword Order? They’re good. The 3rd Sword Order has gotten better too. It’s comfortable. As you know, Mectera isn’t the type to be formal.”
It meant that the swordsmen of the Sword Order also ignored Simurtr.
“What about your family? What are your grandfather, father, and mother like?”
“Everyone’s nice except for my grandfather. Though they can be a bit clingy.”
They were only nice to the direct descendants.
He had said he wouldn't become the Sword Master, but they must be suspicious.
That's why they were being clingy. The second wife, Janya, was actually like that.
“But why do you keep asking about my personal life?”
“Why. I can be curious.”
“Are you really trying to seduce me?”
“Are you crazy? I’m just trying to make the walk less awkward.”
Haryun's voice grew louder.
“What’s there to be awkward about. Between us.”
“That’s what I think too.”
“So. Where is it today?”
“It’s a bit far today. It’s in the opposite direction of Hella.”
“Towards The Ember of the Swelling Flame?”
“Yes. A troupe called the Horebein Troupe is performing a new play that was a big hit in the capital. They said they would tour the major territories first. Except for Mectera.”
“Right. Because no one would watch it even if they went there.”
“Even with that content?”
“They’d rather swing their swords more in that time.”
I looked at the crowd gathered in the distance.
The Horebein Troupe had rented an entire building from Bahab. It was said that it was difficult for ordinary commoners to even get tickets.
“And Akarr Bahab gave you those tickets?”
“Yes. Two. For you and me. She gave them as a gift, saying we were getting along well.”
“So we can get along even better?”
“Probably?”
“I never knew Bahab was interested in the arts.”
“Me neither.”
I smirked.
Akarr Bahab was extremely aristocratic, but she did not have aristocratic hobbies.
Bahab was a family that had started as a typical military family and had become a prestigious martial family.
But now that they had become a Hero Family, they must be starting to pay attention to other fields as well.
‘I heard The Ember of the Swelling Flame has many civil officials and artists too.’
They were trying to master various genres.
It was the greed of Bahab, which had become a Hero Family. I was quite pleased with that fact.
The longer the dominoes, the more fun it is. The more Akarr built, the more spectacular the sight of it collapsing would be.
“Fuck.”
A large banner was hanging on the building rented by the Horebein Troupe. It was the new play that was a big hit in the capital.
“Is that the title?”
“Yes. They said they got the idea from a rumor from long ago.”
“That?”
I openly contorted my face.
“Isn't it too much to hate it when it's far from the truth? It’s just imagination anyway. The Swelling Flame is white……”
“Stop. Don't say it. Please.”
It was enough that my eyes were rotting.
I didn't want to let that title pass through my eardrums.
“Are you going to watch it?”
Even at this moment, our steps were getting closer to the building. The title was becoming clearer, and various voices were entering my ears.
We had to enter anyway. We had to show our tickets and be seated.
“It doesn't matter. If you don't want to watch it, I won't either.”
Though she said that, Haryun fidgeted.
Her fingers were slowly scratching her palm.
“…Surveillance.”
“There isn’t any! I don't think there will be in the future either. We've been acting so well so far. My mother was very pleased last night.”
“What did you report.”
“…That he's almost fallen for me?”
“And she believes that?”
“…So it seems.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
Once, when she had lost to Exa, Akarr had sincerely believed that the duel was unfair.
She had been certain that she would win if her condition was at its peak or if she used her secret technique. It was the same as then.
Looking at her like this, Akarr seemed to have changed, yet she hadn't. At times, the delusions in her head, which rolled as she pleased, were considered the truth.
“There’s no surveillance? Are you sure.”
“Yeah. Yes. Of course.”
“…Alright. Then let’s watch.”
“Really? We don’t have to.”
“Then let's go.”
“Let's just watch for a bit and then go.”
“I’ll have my eyes closed.”
“Yes!”
Haryun, who had jumped forward, pulled my hand.
She handed the two tickets to the ticket checker at the entrance.
“The Swelling Flame Will Be Stained by White. Tickets for the 9:20 AM show. Is that correct?”
“Yes, yes! That's right.”
“Thank you for visiting our Horebein Troupe.”
Until the play was over.
Though I felt nauseous, I did not get up from my seat until the end.
“What's the difference if you only close one eye?”
“Quiet.”
“You can close both. You can cover your ears too.”
“Then what would you, who is with me, become.”
“Hee hee.”
Haryun liked that.
***
Hella was far.
As soon as the actors’ greetings were over, I took Haryun and came out.
“Was it fun?”
“The story was just so-so. Others might be different, but it’s hard for me to sympathize.”
My mother was far from pure-hearted.
A pitch-black carriage was parked near the building. Haryun followed me and got on that carriage.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No. I arrived in time for the play.”
“Really? That's a relief.”
I spoke to the coachman in a friendly manner.
The coachman also greeted Haryun. He was a familiar face, a man who had become even more familiar over the past month.
“I’m sorry every time, James. We were thinking of going by ourselves today, but……”
“Not at all. The situation is what it is. It is an honor for me. Since it is for the benefactor.”
It was James from the Butcher Shop. A crow of Degrate.
He held out two masks. They were masks with an impressive tear on the left eye.
“Today's masks are from the Anelam Merchant Guild. Anelam is one of the guilds that was absorbed by Koral. If someone asks your purpose, you can say it's to visit the black market.”
“Is it okay to wear a mask related to Koral? Everyone knows that Paeltke Koral is dead.”
“It should be fine. Anelam is one of the guilds famous for being a regular at Hella.”
We passed through entrance number 5 and got off the carriage.
“Then please be careful today as well.”
“Thank you every time, James.”
“I am the one who is more grateful.”
James took the carriage and disappeared somewhere.
It was a carriage used by Degrate to bring outsiders into Hella, a carriage whose passage had been verified by bribing Hella.
“Come here.”
I gestured to Haryun, who was standing at a distance the size of a carriage.
“Isn't it fine since there's no surveillance?”
“You never know. The carriage that went out came back, and two people disappeared in front of the troupe, and two new people entered Hella.”
“That’s too much of a leap.”
“There’s no harm in being careful.”
Haryun grumbled but held out her hand.
“You don't need to hold my hand anymore.”
“You said you never know. It’s good to save mana.”
I nodded and took Haryun's hand.
A white phenomenal color. The mana flowing through Asha became an illusion.
Haryun's and my clothes changed. Our hair turned brown, and our height decreased. Brown eyes were visible beyond the masks.
“I say this every time, but……”
“You want me not to tell Sir Jeremiah either? How can you say that every time we come here. Do you not trust me that much?”
“I don't trust you, I don't trust Bahab.”
I didn't want Akarr to find out that I had a Phantasmal Ability.
Nevertheless, the reason I shared it with Haryun was an unavoidable opportunity cost. To gain one thing, I had to be prepared to give up another.
“Don't worry. I won't tell anyone that you can use strange magic. Never.”
“I told you it's not magic.”
“Then what is it.”
“It's magic.”
“Spit.”
Haryun pretended to spit at me.
The past month. I thought we had gotten as close as we could, but at times like this, it felt like it was just my own delusion.
Simurtr was hiding too many things.
“You shouldn't tell anyone either.”
“Of course. I'll never tell.”
“Me neither.”
Haryun sighed and shook her head.
I could see her red hair fluttering. The magic had been released at some point. It must have been as soon as we entered here.
‘He gets so petty when it comes to mana.’
Haryun thought, looking around.
It was smaller than the smallest room in the West Palace. But since there was no furniture, it looked about the same size.
It was said to be a hideout for a snake of Degrate prepared in Bahab. Simurtr and Haryun were using the basement of that hideout.
Once a week, so today was the fifth time.
‘He usually lives in the training ground. But on Sundays, he pretends to be playing openly, deceives the surveillance with magic, and then comes here.’
Unlike the proactive Haryun, I had said that it was necessary to maintain a daily routine.
“Shall we start right away?”
“Let's. Since we don't have time.”
Every Sunday.
And even then, it was three or four hours at most.
Deceiving the surveillance for a long time would arouse suspicion. Even today, when there was no surveillance, not much would change.
Increasing the time as soon as the surveillance disappeared was a very suspicious act.
“Is this even possible? It's difficult even with years of training.”
“Still, we have to do it. If it really doesn't work, we can stay a little longer.”
The Swelling Flame.
I had decided to go to Bahab just by seeing that. I had no intention of leaving before I obtained it. If a year was not enough, I would stay longer.
“Really?”
Haryun's face brightened.
“Of course. But I don't think we'll need to go that far.”
“Pardon?”
“I'm sorry, but could you explain it all over again from the beginning today?”
“While showing you?”
“Yeah.”
The method of teaching the Swelling Flame was extremely simple.
Will this work? Haryun would have such thoughts whenever she came here.
“Bahab's fire is different from any other mana. It has an attribute. Mectera is also unique, but it’s not an attribute power, is it?”
Just as Mectera's black color had weight, Bahab's fire expanded.
It did not go out, and constantly sought to cover its surroundings. Akarr Bahab's Swelling Flame had the power to consume an entire battlefield.
That was why. I was accustomed to Mectera's pressure, but I was unfamiliar with attribute powers. It was a concept that magicians were more familiar with.
“To be honest, it's difficult for me too. I show you like this every time… but actually, the reason I learned the Swelling Flame is because of my bloodline. Hejel, and my mother too.”
The Bahab bloodline was loved by fire.
Magicians would use such expressions.
When the perceived mana was absorbed into the body, that mana would raise its own temperature within the body. And it would seek to expand. It would naturally seek to become the Swelling Flame.
“You have to start from the beginning. But I don't know that beginning.”
That was not Haryun's domain.
The young Haryun had not yet learned the secret techniques of the Swelling Flame. It was a time when she was just barely eating what the mother bird gave her.
“How to make your mana take on the attribute of fire, and how to make it have the property of expansion. Even if you do that, I don't know how to combine the two. I can't tell you.”
It was a difficult problem that only someone on Akarr's level could ponder.
It was not on the level of deeply exploring and digging into a phenomenon. It was a problem of the source. It was something that could only be solved by entering a realm where one could pioneer a new, single domain.
“It’s alright.”
Bahab's Swelling Flame consumed Haryun's hand.
Haryun did not feel that heat. It went past her elbow and approached her face, but it was rather cozy. To the Bahab bloodline, the Swelling Flame was like a part of their own body.
“Shall I show you with a sword too?”
“No. As you please.”
Flick. Flick. As Haryun flicked her fingers, the blue fire shot out as sparks.
The flame that fell to the floor did not die out. It flickered and soon expanded. What was the size of a fingernail was now the size of a fist.
‘For sure.’
I nodded.
It was different from when I had gotten a feel for it after seeing the Black Hemisphere.
Mectera's black color. The pressure from that weight was something that could be easily imitated even with the power of the Star-Breaking Style.
‘It wasn’t the only time I saw the Black Hemisphere.’
It wasn't the first time I had seen it in Degrate.
In my past life, on the battlefield, Exa had encountered the Black Hemisphere quite often.
Aran, as well as various Heads of the Sword, Gerehk Mectera. I had seen and experienced the Black Hemispheres with their own unique characteristics.
‘The Swelling Flame… there’s almost none.’
I had fought with Akarr quite a lot.
But in all those duels and battles, Akarr had never shown the secret techniques of Bahab, including the Swelling Flame.
‘Our battlefields rarely overlapped either.’
Akarr was reluctant to stand on the same battlefield as Baperr. She was afraid of the possibility that the Swelling Flame would be taken.
‘On the battlefields where I was, she blatantly hid it.’
I had seen the flames that covered the battlefield.
But that Swelling Flame was a simple flame without any information.
Flame and expansion. The immense mana that maintained it. On the battlefields where Exa was, Akarr only sought to show simple information.
“It's difficult.”
I stomped on the Swelling Flame that had fallen to the floor. Even though it seemed to have been extinguished, the embers were still alive. As I lifted my foot, it expanded again.
The Star-Breaking Style could imitate the pressure with its unique power, but it couldn't imitate the attribute. They were on different tracks.
‘It’s not something you can copy just by being good at handling mana.’
If it had been my past life, I would have missed it like this.
I would have given up, saying it was a tree I couldn't climb.
There would have been no regrets. Things were very different then.
“Shall I show you with a sword too?”
“No. I’ve already seen that a lot.”
Bare hands. Next, a sword.
In the snake's hideout, Haryun had demonstrated the same explanation and the same movements every time. If I closed my eyes, I could perfectly recall that scene.
“You’ve seen this just as much.”
Haryun flicked her fingers again. The Swelling Flame flew around. It expanded on the floor.
If a signal was given from there, it would explode. It was a Swelling Flame specialized for dealing with multiple opponents. The Akarr of the battlefield had become a hero that way.
“So. That's the last time.”
“Pardon?”
“I don't need to see it anymore. I think I'm starting to get a feel for it.”
Today was the fifth time.
I finally came to a conclusion.
It was impossible with just the Star-Breaking Style, with just ordinary mana.
A path would only open if another element intervened.
‘Phantasmal Ability.’
The power of illusion.
Could not exert physical force on the world without creating a Unique Phantasmal Realm.
Even if I cut Haryun with the sword I had pulled out with my Phantasmal Ability now, she wouldn't get a single scratch.
‘But the implementer is an exception.’
The subject of the power.
Asha was imprinted on my heart.
‘Phantasmal Ability is free for the implementer. To the point where a fake without Asha is possible.’
For the implementer himself, the Phantasmal Ability could be called omnipotent.
The phantasm of Huit. That guy had lightly deflected my attack. I remembered the process of that evasion.
He had not fed me an illusion. The guy had implemented the Phantasmal Ability on himself.
Causing a ripple on his face, he had tried to treat himself as non-existent. My hand had not been able to break that illusion.
‘Even a phantasm without Asha did that. Me.’
Was superior to the original of Degrate.
The illusion from the Star-Breaking Style was truly realistic. It seemed to exist, and even the phantasm Jiaren had not been able to distinguish it.
‘Asha.’
Mana flowed through the imprint on my heart.
A white phenomenal color flowed out of my body. If I gave an intention here, the illusion would be implemented accordingly.
‘No. I have to turn it inward.’
I put the phenomenal color that was coming out of my body back into my heart.
I drew such an intention. The Phantasmal Ability made the originally impossible possible.
‘Again.’
The white phenomenal color returned.
It turned back into mana. But that mana was imbued with an illusion. I thought so.
‘There’s heat. Bahab’s heat.’
The imbued illusion followed my intention.
The replaced mana began to contain the heat of Bahab. It was the same as the quality possessed by the Bahab bloodline.
At the same time, it constantly sought to expand. The mana resembled a conflagration. I thought that at least within my body, it would not be hot.
‘Done.’
The heat completely subsided. It worked. Thinking so, I revolved the mana. It circulated through my body's circuits. I operated the Star-Breaking Style that way, and spat it out.
…And it became the Swelling Flame.
“What the……”
A flame flickered on my hand.
Haryun's wide-open eyes turned to that heat. The flame consumed my hand.
It was the same as when she had shown the Swelling Flame earlier. The flame that expanded and reached for my elbow did not dare to harm me.
“The Swelling Flame……?”
I flicked my fingers.
The fire that fell to the floor did not die. It swelled its body. The speed was faster than Haryun's.
Without even time to stomp it out, a pure white flame filled the hideout.
“No……”
That was not the Swelling Flame.
It was not the blue flame of Bahab. A white flame. Haryun muttered, looking at the pure white fire.
“…What are you doing?”
Then her face suddenly turned pale.
“Huh? Why? Didn't it work?”
“No……! Put it out!”
The white flame that had revealed itself to the world for the first time continued to expand.
It had consumed the hideout and was flowing to the surface.
“How?”
“Pardon?”
“…How do I put it out? Do I just cut the connection? I'm cutting it?”
“It’ll explode then, you idiot!”
The snake's hideout became an incinerator.
…And so, for a year.