Chapter 240
"Hmm, what should I do with these kids..."
After a round of roughhousing with Mio and Rwen, Lee Shin looked down.
"Huk... Huk..."
"Haaa..."
On the floor, Mio and Rwen were collapsed, gasping for breath.
-Is there a problem?
At Lee Shin's words, Irehgue, who was lying on his head as usual, asked with a worried tone.
Irehgue's eyes were dripping with interest and affection for his newly acquired subordinates.
'Hmm? Should I explain?'
-Isn't that obvious? That's why I entrusted my subordinates to you in the first place.
Originally, Irehgue had intended to educate the two himself by borrowing Lee Shin's body.
However, Lee Shin was a step above Irehgue in the talent for grasping an individual's physical characteristics and the viciousness to push a person's body and mind to their limits.
That's why he had magnanimously given up the chance to play with his subordinates for the first time, but when Lee Shin spoke in a 'do you really need to hear this?' tone, Irehgue's eyes towards him sharpened.
At that, Lee Shin instinctively felt that if he dragged it out any longer, the back of his head would be tingling again, and opened his mouth.
'While I'm at it, I should probably say it out loud so these kids can hear too.'
Ahem-
"Do you want to hear the good news first? Or the bad news?"
-Let's hear the good news first.
At Irehgue's words, Lee Shin nodded.
"Alright. Then I'll start with the good news."
At that, Irehgue's expression became strange.
-...What? Didn't you ask that so you could do the opposite of what I chose?
"Ah, I was thinking of doing that at first, but I figured you'd think that far, so I twisted it one more time."
At Lee Shin's words, Irehgue made a sulky face and gently wagged his tail as if he were about to hit the back of Lee Shin's head at any moment.
However, since he had said it himself and Lee Shin hadn't tricked him in any way, he had no choice but to let it go this time.
For reference, while the two were chatting like that, Rwen was telling Mio, the only one who couldn't hear this conversation, what was being said.
"First of all, they both have a good sense. On top of that, considering they haven't been eating properly and have been rolling around, their bodies are excellent. It's probably because of the dragon's blood flowing in their bodies."
In Lee Shin's opinion, if Mio just filled her stomach, she seemed capable of easily overpowering not only an adult man but also the mercenaries they had met in the alley.
-Hmm, is that so.
Having heard that much, Irehgue looked at the two with satisfaction and wagged his tail.
And the two, who had received unexpected praise from Lee Shin, raised the corners of their mouths slightly even in their exhausted state, feeling good.
Mio tried to hide her expression, not wanting to be caught smiling, but it was all visible.
However, Lee Shin's words were not over.
"The problem is that the difference in their levels is too severe."
The moment they heard those words, the three's expressions froze as if they had never smiled.
It wasn't because they had learned something they didn't know.
It was because Lee Shin had brought to the surface a fact they knew but had been trying hard to deny.
Although it was a clumsy imitation that couldn't even be compared to the real thing, there was a Dragon Heart in Rwen's body.
Mio's physical abilities were good enough to be compared to a trained adult, but even she was so different in ability from Rwen, who possessed a Dragon Heart, that comparison was meaningless.
And that was the cause of the confusion that had arisen between the two.
Because among the two, the one with power was Mio, and the one who always protected was also Mio.
Rwen, not knowing what to say, fidgeted and watched Mio's reaction, while Mio, feeling her existence being denied, was dejected, not even realizing that Rwen was looking at her.
Irehgue, who had been watching the scene for a moment, asked.
-Is there no way to solve the problem?
"Well, I wonder?"
In the end, the problem was that the difference in their physical abilities was too severe.
And the cause was the presence or absence of a Dragon Heart.
In other words, Irehgue was now asking Lee Shin in a roundabout way if Mio could also awaken a Dragon Heart like Rwen.
"Well, they share the same bloodline, and they look so similar that you could see them as clones rather than twins, so it doesn't seem impossible."
At Lee Shin's words, Irehgue's tail wagged a little more strongly, and the two's eyes sparkled with hope.
"But to do that, we first need to make her body into a state similar to what Rwen experienced, and I don't know how to do that..."
At Lee Shin's muttering, the two looked at him with tense eyes.
"Well, for now, shall we try to solve it by feeding her a lot of elixirs?"
-Is the amount of elixirs sufficient?
"Yeah, it's still enough. I still have about 100 of them."
At Lee Shin's words, Mio's eyes widened and she looked at him.
Mio remembered the moment Lee Shin had teasingly shown her an elixir before.
A clear fragrance and a beautiful color.
It was an item that even she, with no knowledge, could tell at a glance was a valuable object.
And now, Lee Shin was saying that he had about 100 of such things in his possession and that he would feed them all to her.
"That... isn't it expensive?"
"It is, right?"
Although they were for supply, they were all handmade at Crowley's guild, and their quality was top-notch, so they were elixirs that could be sold for a handsome price even on Earth.
For someone of Lee Shin's level, it was hard to expect any effect other than supplying internal energy, but for Mio, it would surely be effective.
"I was originally planning to make a fortune here with this, but I end up using it like this."
At Lee Shin's words, Mio and Rwen's hands trembled slightly.
They were nervous at the fact that such a valuable item was about to be invested in them.
'Well, if I run out of funds, I can just rob a noble's house or something, so it doesn't matter. Come to think of it, it reminds me of the old days. I've raised funds by robbing the Black Guild before.'
However, Lee Shin, whom the two were watching, was just reminiscing without much thought.
-But you there, is it certain that a Dragon Heart will be created just by feeding her elixirs?
"That... honestly, I still don't really know the reason why the Dragon Heart was created. So I think the best thing to do is to try to replicate Rwen's state at that time as much as possible."
-Will it be okay?
At Irehgue's words, Lee Shin answered lightly.
"Well, I've done it once, so there shouldn't be a problem."
Grin-
"But isn't it boring to just awaken it?"
-Hmm? What do you mean by that?
"Ah, just a moment."
Lee Shin looked at the dazed Rwen and said.
"I'm going to talk with him for a bit, so you tell your sister what it felt like back then."
"Ah, yes!"
"Yes, you have to tell her in as much detail as possible."
At Lee Shin's words, Rwen nodded with eyes full of enthusiasm and began to explain to Mio, recalling the sensation of that time as much as possible, and Mio listened to Rwen's words with a focused expression.
"Let's try to manipulate the flow a little. She seems to be the physical type, so this time, let's focus a little more on the body..."
-Hmm, not bad. But if it's a Dragon Heart, it's hard to give up...
"Then I'll take the body, and you take the heart..."
-That's a good idea...
Without knowing what conversation Lee Shin and Irehgue were having behind them.
◎ ◎ ◎
"Phew, that was tough..."
-It is all over.
At the two's words, Mio, who had opened her eyes, got up and looked at her own body as if she couldn't believe it.
"Just a moment ago, I really felt like I was going to die..."
Lee Shin, under the pretext of preliminary preparation, had forcibly fed Mio 100 elixirs and then left her body to be broken by the raging magic power.
Thanks to that, Mio had felt like her body was about to explode from the overflowing magic power, but now, on the contrary, her body felt so light that she could do anything, so it was strange.
"So, what are your thoughts?"
"...I'm overflowing with power."
"No, you don't need to state the obvious like that."
At Mio's amazed words, Lee Shin replied as if he wasn't interested and burned away the black waste products covering Mio's entire body with [Flame].
"Ugh! What, my clothes are burning too!"
"That's why I told you before we started that it would get dirty, so you should just take everything off."
Lee Shin said that and threw a cloak he had.
Then, in place of Mio, who couldn't grab the cloak because she was in the middle of a sterilization process, Rwen hurriedly spread the cloak like a curtain to cover Mio's body.
Grit-grit-grit-
From behind the cloak, along with the sound of flames burning, the sound of Mio grinding her teeth could be heard.
"You're dead by my hands once this is over."
"That's too bad. There are a lot of people who have said they'll kill me, so you'll have to take a number and wait."
At Lee Shin's words, Mio and Rwen glared at him with eyes full of hostility.
"Look at me later, and check something else first."
Lee Shin said that and tapped his chest area with his finger.
Mio, who understood the meaning of the signal, clicked her tongue softly and quietly placed a hand on her chest, concentrating.
Woong- Woong- Woong-
Then, she felt the existence of another organ, different from her heart but feeling similar to it, pulsating in her chest.
"I feel it."
At Mio's answer, Lee Shin smiled, satisfied with the success of his experiment and the fact that the back of his head would be safe.
"Seeing as it's working properly, it seems to have been a great success."
-Hmph! I personally moved inside Mio, so this much is a given.
As the two were celebrating quietly, Mio, who had finished her sterilization, wrapped a cloak around her body and said.
"Then am I the same as Rwen now?"
"Um... no, that's not it."
At Mio's words, Lee Shin shook his head.
"To be honest, the Dragon Heart in your body is a bit inferior in performance to Rwen's Dragon Heart."
In this task, Lee Shin and Irehgue had referred to the moment Rwen had awakened her Dragon Heart.
'If I control the flow of internal energy and magic power, can I develop her into a body more suitable for fighting?'
-I remember the moment the Dragon Heart awakened, so this time, I'll have to stimulate the heart directly from the inside.
And they had worked with their own arrangements mixed in.
Thanks to that, all the meridians and ki points in her body were opened, and her muscles and bones were completely changed, making the completion of her body better than Rwen's.
Perhaps as an effect of that, Mio had also grown a little taller.
However, Rwen's Dragon Heart was a little better.
He didn't know if this was also because of that, but Rwen's horn was a little bigger than Mio's.
'The fact that their heights became the same because of that is truly strange.'
Lee Shin thought that and told the two what he was thinking.
"There might be other reasons, but it's probably because your Dragon Heart was forcibly awakened using elixirs instead of a natural method, or because there were many different aspects from Rwen's psychological state at the time."
Having said that, Lee Shin shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"Well, either way, the work is done, so fixing it is impossible."
This was as far as the two of them could go.
The rest all depended on what they did.
"By the way, there's something I want to ask..."
Lee Shin pointed at the empty air with his finger.
There, Irehgue was floating with a face full of anticipation.
"Can you see him now too?"
"...Yeah, I can see him."
At Lee Shin's words, Mio nodded slightly, and Irehgue grinned, pleased that Mio could also see him.
"But it's not clear, it's blurry. His voice also seems to be a bit muffled."
"I can see and hear him clearly."
"Hmm, is that so?"
At the two's words, Lee Shin fell into thought.
When Irehgue was occupying Lee Shin's body in the lord's castle, Lee Shin had flown around among the knights with Irehgue's body and checked if anyone felt his presence.
However, none of them felt the presence emanating from Irehgue's body.
From that, it seemed that even though Irehgue had newly constructed his body, not everyone could see him.
Then why could those two see Irehgue?
'The most likely reason is that in the process of creating the Dragon Heart, Irehgue, who was integrated with my internal energy, and the Dragon Hearts of those two became connected, even if only a little?'
If so, it would roughly explain why Irehgue appeared blurry to Mio and clearly to Rwen.
Because at Rwen's time, both Irehgue and Rwen had obtained an unexpected enlightenment, causing the internal energy to explode.
As Lee Shin was satisfied with having solved his curiosity, Mio was making various movements with her body, looking dumbfounded.
"I thought I could get stronger if I followed the master, but I never thought I'd get this strong already..."
-Hmm? What does that mean?
"This kid suddenly got a big head just because she got a little stronger."
At Mio's words, Irehgue and Lee Shin spoke as if they were dumbfounded.
Mio, who had been hit by the two's one-two punch in succession, blushed with embarrassment, but to hide that embarrassment, her eyes turned fierce.
At that, Lee Shin said in a voice full of ridicule.
"Right now, you two have just barely made your bodies... no, you haven't even made your bodies. You've just finished preparing to stand at the starting line."
"Just finished preparing to stand at the starting line?"
"Then we haven't even properly started yet?"
At Rwen's words, Lee Shin spoke as if she were asking something obvious.
"Of course, you haven't done anything special since you came under Irehgue in the first place."
"..."
"..."
Come to think of it, they had no memory of learning or trying anything special.
"What are you talking about power for when you haven't even done anything yet."
Left speechless by Lee Shin's blunt words, the two quietly calmed their excitement and cooled their heated faces.
-You there.
Seeing that, Irehgue tapped Lee Shin's head with his tail.
It was a signal to stop hitting the kids.
At that, Lee Shin shut his mouth as a sign of understanding.
But that didn't mean the sunken atmosphere would revive.
At that, Irehgue swung his tail strongly as if to say 'do something', and Lee Shin, with the meaning of 'you take care of your own subordinates', wrapped materialized internal energy around the back of his head to block Irehgue's attack.
Irehgue, who had taken a step back from that fierce exchange, said with a voice mixed with a small sigh.
-Well, don't mind what was said just now. The important thing is that you can now gain power.
At Irehgue's words, the two's ears perked up slightly.
Judging that it was effective, Irehgue continued.
-Since this is an opportunity, I will tell you in what direction you can become stronger from now on.
As he said that, the heads of the two, which had been lowered in embarrassment, were slowly raised.
-Will you listen?
"Yeah!"
"Yes!"
At Irehgue's words, the two quickly nodded their heads.
(End of Chapter)