That morning.
As always, Jung Sua
met with a small group of those who shared her thoughts—
in other words, something like a club—
and after forming that gathering, she said,
“When I was working in the Ammunition Battalion, those trees moved on their own to clear the Commander’s path...”
“Ahh, what a holy act.”
“Even nature cannot stand in the Commander’s way. I only regret I didn’t witness it with my own eyes...”
With them,
she was drafting a scripture.
“The voice we heard within that mana surge this time...”
“Of course we must record it.”
“He conversed as an equal with a divinity—clear proof he already bears a rank of that level...!”
The achievements her benefactor had accomplished were not one or two.
Each one, even, was a monumental feat fit to be written into a history book.
However—
there was one thing that made her feel as if she would weep blood with regret:
not all of them
had managed to witness every deed the benefactor had accomplished with their own eyes.
Good things, when shared, double.
Therefore,
together with those who shared her conviction, they gathered his achievements
and decided to bind them into a book for all to share.
“In truth... some time ago, the benefactor briefly returned to the 423rd Battalion.”
“He did?”
And
in such gatherings, the one who contributed the most was, as expected...
“It wasn’t an official unit event, so it’s normal you all wouldn’t know. As for me—well, how should I put it—I watched secretly through a spirit, just in case, to be prepared for the unforeseen.”
“Oooh...!”
From her position, she could see most scenes through spirits:
Jung Sua.
“You watched secretly through a spirit?”
One comrade cocked their head and pointed out,
“That sounds... a bit like stalking?”
“A-hem!”
“What outrageous talk!”
“Silence!!!”
After a brief, merciless education for the one who’d uttered such nonsense,
Jung Sua proudly described the sight only she had seen.
“I could only watch, not listen... but what I saw was someone thought never to walk again rising to their feet.”
“Oooh...”
“In fact, I also heard something from those who joined recently—the so-called demon hunters...”
In this manner,
their work of proclaiming the benefactor’s greatness had continued steadily.
By now, not only within the unit
but even outside the unit, those who had come to know of that greatness met regularly.
They themselves had no special name for their group,
and with no strict rules, they called it merely a small gathering.
Yet its scale was no longer small by any means,
to the point it could be called a second faction rooted within the Legion.
It was natural, of course,
but she wasn’t doing any of this for her own benefit.
‘The benefactor is a great one. Everyone must know his greatness.’
So that many could know the existence of the great one—
and by coming to know that existence,
in this dangerous world filled only with despair,
they could gain hope to survive somehow.
‘...Of course, it’s not as if I had no private desire to learn of the benefactor’s deeds I couldn’t witness.’
In any case,
that wasn’t the main purpose.
Even while engaged in such activity, she was always careful.
She was not certain whether the benefactor would like her doing such things.
It might be a burden.
Therefore,
even if others learned of it, she had tried her utmost to keep it from the benefactor.
And yet—
“The things I’ve been doing...”
In the midst of that pleasant scripture-making,
she, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) as a spirit user, received a summons from the benefactor—
and there...
= The growth of the faction inside the fortress that depends on my Lord has swelled rapidly. This will impose major constraints on my Lord’s actions.
—she heard
a shocking story.
“To think we were, instead, standing in the benefactor’s way...”
Words the benefactor himself had assented to.
Even if she could not repay the grace the benefactor had shown,
she had, instead, only been a hindrance.
‘Ahh.’
If there were a mouse hole, she wanted to crawl into it.
A wave of despair surged in,
and she felt her vision gradually blur.
‘Then... what should I...’
Unable even to think to conceal her fluster,
she hurried down the inner keep’s stairs in a daze.
“...What else? You make a decision.”
She wiped the tears running down her sleeve and steeled herself.
Even if it wasn’t solely for herself,
it was undeniable that her private desire had mixed in.
‘It was joyful for a short time, but it must end here.’
If such actions of hers would harm the benefactor,
then she should consider disbanding their gathering.
****
“Per your words, my Lord, eliminating that dependent faction outright would not be good.”
“Then what do you intend to do?”
“I will provide direction to that dependent faction that is growing now without any rules or guidelines. I will intervene so their power grows in a way that helps you, my Lord.”
Those whose dependence on me had grown too large.
Perhaps they might be helpful later—
but for now, they were only elements that hindered my freedom of movement.
However—
“Will you grant permission?”
It wanted to intervene with them
and overhaul their direction into one that helps me.
‘Indeed... if this one steps in and tidies it up, it might not be bad.’
If there was a worry,
it was whether it might do something strange again under the pretext of “this helps my Lord.”
“Just to be sure: the ‘benefit to the Lord’ you prioritize now... matches the standard I myself use, right?”
“Yes. Originally, it did not; but due to your order a few hours ago, I am currently acting on the premise that the arbiter of that benefit is you, my Lord—not me.”
“Right. As it should.”
At present, my order overlays it so that the judgment of benefit is “by my standard.”
In fact,
by that, it had become my [vassal] as well.
‘Unlike a mere system message of [acts only for the Lord’s benefit]... the vassal oath is rather thorough.’
The former could be freely interpreted depending on who judged that benefit,
but the latter permitted not even such arbitrary interpretation.
Ariella, upon becoming a vassal, had sworn loyalty to me with truly no loophole.
Though many other parts of the system were fairly lax,
this [vassal] relationship was quite rigorous:
even if something inflicted physical harm on me, if it benefitted me, it was permitted;
and even if something benefitted me, if it was something I would balk at, it could not be done—
a powerful shackle.
If so,
there was no need to worry overmuch.
“If it benefits me, do as you please.”
“Thank you.”
It nodded, seeming pleased.
“Right now they’re an unstable group... but if we build a proper structure and establish a code of conduct, they will surely be of great help to you, my Lord. Please look forward to it.”
“Well, handle that part yourself. Then, is that all you wanted to ask?”
“There is one more thing, but it should not be a concern. Usually, the corpses of subjugated monsters go to the food storehouses; I’d like your permission to consume some portion of them.”
It wasn’t hard to understand the intent of that request.
“For use in the [Droplet]’s transformations.”
“Correct.”
Though for now they were only the forms of ten humans of low level or even unawakened,
the potential the [Droplet] possessed was not limited to this.
Monsters with diverse traits—
even if those traits would be somewhat weakened,
it could reproduce their forms as they were.
A superior counterpart to one of my own traits, Absolute Palate.
To leverage that strength properly,
it meant to absorb the monsters our unit had subjugated.
“As you say, there’s nothing particularly problematic. Do so.”
“Thank you.”
“Instead, report the list of monsters to be absorbed to the squad-leader tier and receive approval before absorbing.”
It seemed that was as far as the things it wanted my permission for went.
There had been a lot to handle, but for now, things were roughly settled.
‘Ah.’
Ordinarily, I would leave it at that and return to duty...
“Ah, by the way.”
“Is there something you’re curious about?”
“You said if you devour a monster, you can transform into its form, right?”
As my thoughts reached that part,
one thing
occurred to me.
“That transformation—do you have to eat an entire individual?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean... in the case of rare monsters, we captured them and threw them in the fridge, but some have bodily parts missing. In that case, you might not be able to reproduce them.”
“Ahh, that’s what you meant. You needn’t worry about that.”
I had assumed you needed a complete individual for such transformation,
but apparently not.
“The reason a droplet must consume a target to reproduce it is to obtain sufficient genetic and mana information.”
“Really?”
“If I manage to consume about 80% of the target’s body, I can implement it without issue. Even if over 20% of the organs are missing, genetic information still contains the record of those regions. The missing parts can be reproduced as they were.”
About eighty percent of the flesh.
In practice, if that much is absorbed, any being would be dead.
Which means the cases where someone could become this thing’s duplication target while alive...
‘They’re not nonexistent.’
A target
did come to mind.
“Then one more. Say there’s a being with tremendous regeneration.”
“Yes.”
“You keep feeding me a part of that being’s body... say, thigh meat? Let’s say the amount fed that way reaches over 80% of the being’s original body.”
“...Yes.”
“In this case, I’d only have fed you a single region, but could you still mimic that target?”
“In principle, yes.”
As expected.
‘In the end, what matters is [sufficient quantity].’
It doesn’t mean you must feed every region of the whole body.
“However...”
“However?”
“The target you have in mind is probably the [Nobles of the Night].”
Beings with that degree of regeneration—
only our unit’s vampires fit.
“Even so, my implementation rate would not be high. Especially in the case of your vassals, my Lord, they are beings who hold tremendously mighty power. Even if I take that form, the implementation rate would drop so much it would be of little meaning.”
It seemed
it thought my question was asked with the vampires in mind.
“Even if I thus mimicked your vassals, the power would be inferior to that of a single vassal spawned by your vassal.”
“Ah, of course. I know. I wasn’t telling you to copy the vampires.”
Naturally.
From the start, Ariella alone was sufficient to grow the vampire corps.
“Ah... so it was a question out of simple curiosity.”
“Hmm?”
“Forgive the needless remark.”
Right.
I had no intention of copying the vampires.
However—
“If you ask whether it was out of simple curiosity... not exactly.”
“Pardon?”
Beings with that degree of regeneration—
it was true only the vampires fit.
But
if I added a few conditions to that—
‘—the number would increase by exactly one.’
I looked down at my hand
and muttered in a small voice,
“It won’t be easy to regenerate to that degree, but... what falls short in regeneration can be solved with cuisine... and if I bring the medics along, it’ll be enough.”
“...?”
“Hm. The pain will be severe, but if I add a sauce like [No-Pain Sensation] to it...”
“M-My Lord?”
At my muttering,
Vimanar—wearing the human body called ‘Soon Nayeon’—had a face
that twisted rapidly.
“Mm.”
Be that as it may,
I spoke with conviction.
“As I thought. It seems perfectly doable.”
Even though it couldn’t have had many chances to use a human body,
the expression the [Legion’s Droplet] wore was...
“...My Lord—surely not!”
thoroughly human—
an expression of utter shock.
“No matter how I think about it: even if you can soothe anxiety to a degree by steering opinion, at the moment I disappear the soldiers will be uneasy.”
“My Lord... that idea!”
“Then the best is either not to disappear in the first place... or, even if I do, to make it so they don’t realize it, right?”
For example—
set up an excellent stand-in
who looks exactly like me,
can mimic my abilities to a certain degree,
and knows all my behavioral patterns down to the last detail.
“This is madness!”
“I do think so too, but... you know this?”
An artificial spirit that had declared it could never do anything that harmed the Lord—
I was about to give it
an order that would inflict [grievous harm] on me.
“Ariella told me this: my blood is quite delicious.”
In that case—
“Wouldn’t the meat be edible too—at least to some degree?”
