Ch. 233

The city was nearly deserted despite it being broad daylight. Two men shot across the sparsely populated plaza, their strides so powerful that their speed easily surpassed that of a horse at full gallop.

“Did something just rush past…?”

“Huh?”

The merchants guarding their stalls only turned their heads in confusion after we had already flashed by, which showed just how extraordinary our speed was.

Rovenin being able to move like that was one thing, but I hadn’t expected Ash to be capable of it as well.

More than anything, I was amazed that he could maintain such speed while carrying me.

Had I been underestimating Ash all this time? Maybe even after updating my assessment of him over and over, I still hadn’t caught up.

“Hold on tight, Geenie.”

At some point, Ash naturally shifted his grip, cradling me in his arms like a princess.

His lips were almost brushing my ear as he whispered, holding me close as if I were precious. We were so close, and yet it didn’t feel awkward at all.

[Master, where are they going?]

[I don’t know.]

Normally, I would have made a fuss, telling him to put me down so I could walk on my own two feet, but this time I stayed quietly in his arms.

When people with monstrous physical abilities were running at a terrifying speed that someone like me, who wasn’t built for physical combat, could never match, staying put was the wisest choice.

I’d decided.

From today onward, I wouldn’t go easy on swordsmen, spearmen, archers, and anyone else who trained their bodies. I would torment them even more.

Of course, it wasn’t as if I’d ever gone easy on them before. It was just that now I had the firm conviction that they wouldn’t die so easily, considering how sturdy they were.

[Tch, if they can run at this speed, they don’t even need horses. They can just run everywhere.]

I grumbled my misplaced dissatisfaction and dumped it on Rai, who was rummaging through my hair inside my hood.

In his snake form, Rai was particularly playful, shaking his small head excitedly as he replied.

[Isn’t it a matter of efficiency? You can’t afford to run out of stamina in an emergency, so wasting energy like this is foolish.]

[Who doesn’t know that? I’m just annoyed because their physical abilities are too overpowered.]

[Ugh, you’re always so grumpy. Ash doesn’t get annoyed when Master performs High-level spirit summoning… but he might. It’s annoying. Seeing talented people is annoying.]

Even if it was a chronic problem caused by the difference in our fields, the sheer gap in physical ability between swordsmen and Mages made me irrationally irritated.

After seeing Rovenin lose, I should have been in a good mood all day, but he had ruined everything.

My nemesis, who was not only obnoxious and clueless but also ruthless, had the incredible talent of making me feel awful just by existing.

Watching him fight the Count and win through overwhelming physical prowess had left me so disgusted that I’d been growling like a beast ever since.

And now, experiencing this ridiculous running speed firsthand was making my stomach twist and slowly fall apart.

That moment when I had to feel my chances of victory— which I’d optimistically put at half—suddenly plummet… it was nothing short of torture.

If I’d known it would end up like this, I wouldn’t have gone to see Toomdra.

Who would have thought that bastard would win?

[Rai, answer me honestly.]

[No way, no way!]

[What… are you on something?]

[What drug would even work on me?]

[Then why are you acting like this? I thought you were crazy, but did you actually lose your mind?]

[It’s not that! It just feels like I’ll lose no matter what I say! There’s no right answer to the question Master is about to ask! If you don’t like the answer, you’ll imagine tying me up with ribbons!]

[You know me well.]

[And you won’t just stop at imagining it!]

When Rai was in snake form, it felt so good to tie him up tightly with ribbons and kick him.

Rai was usually the one asking for it, and since I was only human, I didn’t kick him that hard. If I did, it would just hurt my foot.

[Shut up and answer me.]

[I don’t want to…]

[What do you think my chances are of winning against Rovenin?]

[I knew you’d ask that! This is torture, torture! Mental torture!]

[Answer.]

[…You told me to shut up. How am I supposed to shut up and answer at the same time?]

[When I say shut up, I mean stop with the useless chatter. It’s not like you’re talking with your mouth anyway.]

[Sigh… Do I really have to answer now? Can’t I answer later, when Master doesn’t have the strength to kick me anymore? In 60 years…? Or 59 if you’re willing to compromise?]

Rai tried everything he could to avoid answering, but he had no choice. Right now, more than anyone else, he could feel just how ominous and twisted my mental state was. That was what it meant to be connected by spirit. A relationship where your true feelings were laid bare.

[Rai, should I develop another new technique just for you?]

[You’re cruel… Usually, when people talk about developing techniques, they don’t mean torturing their own Spirits, do they?]

[Usually, Spirits don’t talk back to their masters.]

Rai’s specialty was being infuriatingly cheeky, but because of that, he would sometimes say things outright that no one else would dare to.

Thanks to him, I could get an honest answer—one that made my murderous intent spike.

[If you kill me, I’ll be cold.]

[I won’t kill you. I won’t hit you, and I won’t do anything as long as you don’t add any extra comments and just answer immediately.]

[Master will definitely lose.]

[I take back what I just said.]

[I knew it! Liar!]

[You traitor! You’re way too sure about it!]

I was the master of Endairon! One of only two humans, probably… who could perform High-level spirit summoning!

I growled again in Ash’s arms.

Ash, thinking it was because of Rovenin, gently covered my eyes to calm me, like a dog owner shielding their pet’s view when two dogs start barking at each other on the street.

[It’s all Master’s fault! I don’t know why, but you’re trying to fight him without taking his sword! How can a Spirit Mage win against a swordsman! It’s like trying to put out a fire with oil! There are plenty of other ways to die! Just bite him once and be done with it!]

[Ugh… Damn it! Fine! Then what if I take his sword? If I absorb his sword with you, I can definitely win!]

[No?]

The implication that I was talking nonsense made me even angrier.

[Hey! Are you even my Spirit!]

[That’s exactly why I am! My right to stay in this realm depends on this, so I have to evaluate the chances of victory objectively!]

Was this guy thinking of me as his visa for staying in this realm rather than his master?

Well, given my crazy tendency to ignore things like age, status, or gender and never do anything in moderation, my loss would probably mean my death, and if I died, Rai would have to go back to the Spirit realm.

[Swordsmen and Spirit Mages are complete opposites! And it’s 1-on-1? No one would try that unless they were insane!]

[I know that!]

[If you know, why do you keep insisting!]

Swordsmen and Mages were polar opposites. But when they were on the same side, they could cover each other’s weaknesses and form an excellent combination.

It was the optimal relationship when putting together a party. One of the unchanging truths that had been passed down since ancient times.

But if they fought each other, one side was bound to lose. And, infuriatingly, that side was always the Mage.

[It’ll still be a little better if I take the swordsman’s sword!]

Maybe this was too underhanded!

[You’re the most incredibly underhanded person on the continent! And! Even then! The redhead is still a human who uses Sword energy! Even if you take his sword, if he picks up a twig and imbues it with Sword energy, it’ll still hurt like hell! Have you forgotten about Undine!]

[That’s exactly why I’m doing this!]

[But… now that I think about it, he might not even need a twig?]

[I think so too… It’s chilling.]

[A bad feeling never lies.]

There were many levels of Sword energy.

Ten years ago, he was already a Sword Master who could wield the most basic form of Sword energy, imbuing it into a sword. And now, he had grown to a level beyond comparison.

There was no way to verify it yet, but there was a high probability that he’d reached the level of skilled Sword energy, ‘Sword essence’, forming a blade purely from condensed energy.

In other words, in an emergency, he didn’t need a sword at all.

If he could use a lightsaber-like Sword essence!

[Okay. Let’s assume the worst and say he can use Sword essence. He still can’t use Sword essence forever, right? Just like I can’t summon Endairon for long, there has to be a limit. So if I just take his sword, I’ll definitely have a chance to win!]

[…Excuse me? Master? Are you assuming it’ll be easy to take it just because you’re not the one doing it?]

[What’s the problem now!]

[To absorb it, I have to touch it, but I’m a Metal Spirit, not a Wind Spirit, remember? Compared to the redhead, my movement speed is basically crawling.]

[…Is the wolf form the fastest?]

[I still have to get within a certain distance to absorb the sword, and that’s already difficult! No! Impossible!]

Rai’s greatest disadvantage and weakness was that he was bound by his physical form, which was why I primarily used him for defense or support rather than offense.

If he could teleport or something, he’d be far more useful for attacking.

If any Spirit could do that, it would be the Spirit king.

[Hmm, if I summon Ador, who has the fastest attack speed, to pin him down…? Then, in that opening, you absorb the sword!]

[He’s the fastest, but he’s also the hardest to control. He can’t tell allies from enemies! Master has to explain everything to him one by one, so you’ll get stabbed before you can even give him an order, right? And you know I can’t eat the sword if there’s electricity on it, right?]

[…What if I summon Pein to freeze him first, then shock him with lightning? To bind him. It’d be good to summon Endairon and flood the area with water beforehand. Then I can freeze it any time I want! Pein’s freezing speed is slow, but it’d be much faster with water.]

I whispered and plotted how to kill him with Rovenin right next to me, but no convincing plan came to mind.

All the plans I’d come up with before had been made while severely underestimating Rovenin, so I had to revise everything from scratch.

At one point, I’d thought very simply: with Ador, the Spirit of electricity, I could either strike his sword with lightning or electrocute him by running electricity through water.

It had sounded like a perfectly reasonable plan—until I realized that Ador’s electricity was so indiscriminate that it could easily hurt allies if mishandled, and that it was hard to hit an enemy who wasn’t standing still.

Hitting an invisible guy with lightning wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

The only times I could land a lightning strike were when the opponent was standing still like a Mage chanting a spell, or when they were charging straight at me like wolves in the middle of a hunt.

[And Master? I think you’re avoiding the obvious question… Do you think he’ll just stand there and wait while you chant your summoning spell? Master’s head will fly off before you can even summon Endairon.]

[Are you even on my side?]

I felt like he’d been saying nothing but awful things for a while now—words like ‘stabbed’ and ‘fly off’. I could feel him trying his hardest to destroy every last one of my plans.