Chapter 305.
Elder Mirpa smiled pleasantly when she confirmed that I was with Hestia noona. "From the looks of it, you must have met that guy."
Elder Mirpa didn’t say my father’s name recklessly, but instead referred to him as ‘that guy’. That meant the fact that my father left Olympus Forest was a secret.
That made sense, since there were many people who would tremble in fear merely from the knowledge of my father’s presence. If my father’s trip was carelessly made public, there was a risk of a great panic in the political, economic, and military spheres.
"Ehew, yes. I never thought we’d meet there." I sighed sincerely.
"Do you know why he was there?"
"Well, I have a rough idea, but I’m going to hear the details once I get back to the barracks."
Elder Mirpa nodded at my answer and asked with interest, "I see. But I’m guessing you used the Firefly’s Bright Annihilation? I can hardly feel your usually vast mana."
As expected, she recognized my condition at a glance, perhaps because she was a great madosa. Elder Mirpa had also studied the results of my research, and she periodically came to exchange her results; as such, she was well aware of the aftereffects of the Firefly’s Bright Annihilation.
"Yes, I ended up using it."
"Hmm, I wanted to use the Firefly’s Bright Annihilation too, but it didn’t work out well. I wonder why?"
At Elder Mirpa’s question, I thought hard and answered, "There are a few things that come to mind, but I think the biggest problem is that Teacher-nim’s martial arts level is too low."
Since the Firefly’s Bright Annihilation had been developed based on the Dance of the Fireflies, the user themselves needed to be skilled enough to be able to use Dance of the Fireflies first.
As Dance of the Fireflies was a technique that opened up all of one’s potential, it was a technique that could only be used by those of the village who were at elder level. Elder Mirpa was one of the top five within the council of elders in terms of pure strength, but it was an achievement she had made mostly through magic.
"I’m guessing that’s within your expectations?" I asked, and Elder Mirpa nodded with a serious expression. I continued, "Teacher-nim is already good at handling mana, so if Teacher-nim develops enough skill to make strong aura, I think it might be possible."
Her expression grew even more serious as she said, "It’s pretty hard to even make sword aura."
"That can’t be helped. In the first place, magic and martial arts are like opposites. It will be especially difficult because Teacher-nim is at a high level of magic,” I said.
If magic was the act of releasing mana from within one’s body in order to control the surrounding mana, martial arts was like trapping mana within the body and circulating it. It wasn’t difficult to make them coexist at a basic level, but at higher levels, the difficulty would increase exponentially.
"Then what’s the method for doing that?" Elder Mirpa asked.
Of course, I laughed vainly at her assumption that I would know the answer. "How would I know? I did both at the same time from the start.”
"Aren’t you the creator of this magic? How can you spread your magic if you say things like that when it’s something only you know?!" Elder Mirpa roared.
I clutched my temples. "Kkeung, is that how it works?”
I hadn’t intended to teach anyone, so I’d never thought about it. At most, I had considered the subject to the extent of figuring out how to teach martial arts to my only disciple.
Martial arts was a skill built on the strong bodies and vitality of the Crows. It was clear that the physically weak Arwen would be severely overloaded trying to use it.
"Think of an expedient like you usually do. In the first place, the convergence of magic and martial arts also came from your own expedient,” Elder Mirpa said. As expected of my teacher, she knew me well. Think about an expedient, indeed.
I spoke with a playful smile. "Then you can give up on the martial arts."
"What? Give up on the martial arts?” Elder Mirpa frowned as if she didn’t understand at first, but soon smiled pleasantly. "Ahahaha! Of course! It makes sense. You’re my disciple, but what a ridiculous solution you’ve come up with!"
It was nice that she understood quickly. The point of the problem was that Elder Mirpa had a low level of martial arts. So, what could she do to increase her level quickly? Usually, a solution could be found by knowing the cause of the problem. Elder Mirpa’s magic level was so high that it would interfere with her development of martial arts techniques.
But what were martial arts, really? Crow martial arts were just another kind of martial arts, in truth. [1]
That meant one could train in regular martial arts, which didn’t conflict with magic, unlike Crow martial arts. Then, that knowledge could be combined with the Crows’ martial arts to raise one’s proficiency in it.
"Usually, people in our village start learning Crow martial arts from the time they walk, so it’s easy to overlook, but Crow martial arts are just one type of martial arts,” I said.
To be exact, Elder Mirpa hadn’t thought of it because we usually didn’t distinguish between Crow martial arts and martial arts.
"I see. Then do I need to find some martial artist outside the village who will teach me martial arts?" she asked.
"Do you want me to recommend a few?"
Elder Mirpa welcomed my suggestion. "Do you know anyone?"
"Yes. The person I recommend the most is Guild Director Glont, who leads the Adventurer’s Guild."
"That’s a name I’ve heard of before. I heard he’s a hero of the Empire.”
I nodded. I knew he was famous, but I hadn’t expected that even Elder Mirpa would know. It was a little surprising. I added, "Among the people of the Empire I know, he’s the strongest and best teacher among them. Although, he is a little bit of a pervert."
"Hmm, I see. Is there anyone else?” Elder Mirpa asked.
I continued. "There are two more. One is an adventurer called the Magic Swordsman of Thunder; although his swordsmanship is barely enough to produce strong aura, in terms of magic, he rose to the level of madosa about two years ago."
"Sounds all right. Even if it’s not enough to master swordsmanship, it’d be good to learn the technique of using swords and magic at the same time."
At present, the only martial arts I had learned were Crow martial arts, which wasn’t very helpful to Elder Mirpa. I continued, "The other is the Mercenary King, the subordinate of the Curse Specialist."
"Subordinate of the Curse Specialist?" Elder Mirpa frowned, dissatisfied.
"Yes. The Mercenary King is strong enough to be comparable to Guild Director Glont and has a completely different style. It’s unusual; he can use any weapon."
"Is it similar to the Crow tribe’s fighting style?" Elder Mirpa asked. I merely nodded in response. She said, "Okay. I’ll keep the advice in mind. It’s going to be quite fun in my later years.” Having learned about a familiar but unfamiliar field of martial arts, Elder Mirpa hummed.
"Then I’ll go back. Den, be nice to Hestia, because she’s been suffering in your stead since you ran away from home." Elder Mirpa grabbed the collars of the Curse Specialist and Elemental Specialist, who were lying passed out on the ground, and dragged them back into the castle.
"That’s right. What she says is right. You have to be nice to me.” Hestia noona nodded happily.
"Yes, yes,” I answered half-heartedly. The Curse Specialist had been tired from fighting with me, but how had Elder Mirpa overpowered Old Man Arpen? As expected, she was scary.
Sticking my tongue out, I headed to my private barracks, where we would be staying. As I entered, I took off my military shoes and jumped onto the soft bed. "Uah, I’m tired."
Looking around the inside of my barracks, Hestia noona burst into laughter. "Why is the inside of the tent better than our house?"
"I make a lot of money,” I answered.
Inside the barracks, there was a fluffy bed, colorful table, chairs, and other furniture; as well as utensils like kettles, teacups, and plates. All of them were from my pocket space.
"I’m sure it’s stolen... Sir Lupin."
"Well, I made some money that way too."
Actually, after the currency reform, it seemed keeping a lot of illegal slush funds in the house was difficult to maintain in large volumes, so I couldn’t get much cash through robbery. Still, the money I had gotten from selling corruption books, slush fund jewelry, and paintings to my aunt was worth quite a bit.
It was a drop in the bucket compared to the amount I had gotten from selling the aphrodisiac, though.
Hestia noona sat down, using a magic-engraved kettle to brew black tea. She began, "You were asking why Aunt Talaria asked for reinforcements, and why even the council of elders came out this time?”
I rolled over and looked at Third Sister. "That’s right. I can guess why she asked for reinforcements, but I don’t know why even the council of elders would come out.”
The request for reinforcements was likely related to the war diverting the attention of the Empire and forcing troops out of the Demon’s Territory. If my predictions were correct, the Twelve Zodiacs’ - no, to be exact, my great-grandfather’s - plan to summon the Demon King would have begun in earnest by now.
Upon hearing my answer, Hestia noona nodded. "The reason why the council of elders moved is simple. In the Demon’s Territory, the flood of demons has begun again, and two great demons are included among them. It happened while the Empire’s forces were absent."
Even when the Empire’s forces were gathered, it had been difficult to deal with the Turtle Carrying a Mountain, but hearing that two great demons were heading south was certainly hopeless news.
"So, they’re here to have fun,” I remarked.
"I suppose so,” Hestia noona responded.
It was a desperate situation for the Empire, but it was obvious that it would be a big event to soothe the elders’ long-held boredom.
"Which of the three remaining great demons are they?" I asked.
"A Tiger Running in the Wind and a Bird Shrouded in the Fire of Beginning."
"Should we be relieved that the Dragon that Lived Ten Thousand Years isn’t coming?" I asked, putting on a self-deprecating smile.
Hestia noona sighed deeply, touching her forehead. "No, that’s... You know, the Dragon that Lived Ten Thousand Years? Father turned it into a pet last year."
"What?"
"I don’t know the details, but it’s easy to ride and go places with...”
"Oh my..." I couldn’t believe he had made the strongest of the four great demons succumb. He was truly inhuman. I thought of something and asked, "Wait, if it’s a pet, is the dragon here too?”
"No. It went back."
It wasn’t Hestia noona who answered my question. I leapt out of my seat with surprise before sitting back down, responding, "Ahaha, you’re here, Father?"
"Oh. It’s been a while since I heard a greeting from Youngest." My father smiled and stroked my head in response to my polite attitude.
Hestia noona added, “The dragon delivered me and Father all the way here and flew back to the border of the Demon’s Territory to block the flood of demons. Its presence there alone can prevent a lot of demons from approaching."
Father sat on the chair opposite Hestia noona. "Hmm, it’s nice that the chair is big and sturdy. It’s soft, too."
I said without hesitation, "I’ll give it to you."
"Is that all right? It looks quite expensive.”
"It’s times like this that I should be a good son.”
In fact, it wasn’t that expensive.
In response, my father smiled and slapped his knee, seemingly in a good mood. "Hahahaha! Youngest has grown up. But I’m still going to take you back to the village."
As expected, he had good instincts. I made a subtle inquiry. "Of course, it’ll be after your work outside the village is over, right?” Whatever work my father had, it would be very helpful to me.
My father nodded as if it were natural, saying, "You’re planning on running away when your mana recovers."
"Yes, that’s right," I said proudly. "But I’ll still help Father with your work."
"In return, are you asking for the right to be given a fair chance to run away?" he asked.
He had been able to figure out my intentions, not with logic, but with pure instinct. I got goosebumps.
1. Translator’s note: The original Korean uses two different words for martial arts. To reduce confusion, I’m referring to one kind as the Crow tribe’s martial arts.
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