Chap 18-The Thief’s Secret Techniques

 

The princess was trying her best to avoid physical training.

Not a chance.

Because I already have a plan.

“Well, I guess it would be a bit much to see a muscular body after stripping you down like this.”

“That’s right.”

“So, you can control that with mana. Circulating mana throughout your body will solidify the muscles. Training at that time will accumulate strength. Ailia will be similar.”

I’ve seen exactly what that elf and mage were doing.

If it’s that method, then it’s fine.

At that moment, a student who had been swinging his sword for a while threw it down and strode towards Gustav.

“I can’t do it anymore. I didn’t come here to learn this!”

“You can’t do it anymore?”

Gustav’s face, as he looked at the student, didn’t betray any particular emotion.

‘As if he was greatly disappointed.’

That was the expression he seemed to be making.

Right. So, he’s saying he can’t do it with just this much.

He must be angry at the weak student’s protest.

“No! At least teach me proper techniques! I need to avenge my parents!”

“Proper techniques, you say. What are you thinking, saying such a thing? You want to learn techniques with a body that doesn’t even have the basics?”

Gustav’s voice was still indifferent, but the chilling aura around him seemed to be intimidating the students.

Adventurers are a profession that walks the line between life and death.

Nobles despise adventurers, calling them lowly, and commoners avoid them, feeling scared, but.

They were beings with more practical experience than anyone else, who had fought and survived.

Gustav, who was a Gold-ranked adventurer, would be even more so.

“Th-that’s…”

“There are countless cases on the battlefield of people without proper combat skills rushing in and dying.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

The student who was scolded turned red in the face and looked like he was about to rush at Gustav any second.

Being treated like someone who rushes in and dies, his pride must have been hurt.

Moreover, seeing him act like that, it seems his parents probably died because of the Demon King’s Army.

“I’ve seen countless guys like you when I was a Gold-ranked adventurer. People whose families died, or whose loved ones died, saying they would avenge the Demon King’s Army. They went to the battlefield with swordsmanship and magic learned superficially and died.”

“Kuh.”

“Revenge is a driving force that makes people stronger. But what’s the point if you die before you get stronger? Don’t disappoint the instructor and swing again.”

Gustav carefully, but not too harshly, soothed the student.

I thought he would be crude because he was an adventurer.

Gustav was a surprisingly humane instructor.

“You’re quite the professor.”

“I was a Gold-ranked adventurer, so it’s only natural. Now, let’s work hard, Princess.”

The princess should be happy that at least I’m here with her.

“How do you use this mana poison technique? The explanation is too long. I don’t understand most of it.”

The princess pointed to the mana poison written in the secret manual.

It was certainly written in a complicated way, as if it were a secret manual.

But it’s surprisingly easy.

“It’s simple. Draw out mana and imbue it with malice. I want to kill that bastard. That bastard is the axis of evil. He’s my parents’ enemy. Then the mana itself will become poisonous. If it flows into the opponent’s body, it can destroy the mana circuits and inflict fatal damage on the person’s body.”

If you have all sorts of ominous thoughts, then malice will explode from that point on.

That malice is directly and purely grafted onto the mana.

“Just that much?”

The princess doesn’t know enough about people’s malice, about revenge.

“It’s possible with just that much. That unquenchable desire for revenge can also be the basis for when a person falls into becoming a Magical Creature.”

People’s malice cannot be ignored. That malice can become a huge desire for revenge and overwhelm you all at once.

“I see.”

“Now, let’s try imbuing it. First, draw up all your despair and revenge, and let the mana flow into this weapon.”

I pointed to what she was holding in her hand.

That small dagger.

It was convenient because it was properly enchanted for educational purposes.

“I’m trying it, but if that’s the case, can’t anyone use mana poison when they’re angry?”

“It’s different. There’s bound to be a difference between practicing and learning, and just getting angry without knowing anything.”

Anyway, you’re just getting a feel for it.

After using it once or twice, you’ll get a sense of how to use it.

That means that you can use mana poison to some extent without necessarily imbuing those emotions.

“I see.”

“The best thing is that it works on things like golems.”

“I see.”

Arietta just nodded with a soulless face.

“Now, let’s try three things.”

“Three things, you mean pouring mana into my body, swinging a heavy weapon, and mana poison?”

That’s right.

It’s originally for star sign awakening, so you have to do all sorts of things, including those three.

Above all, star sign awakening is quite affected by the environment.

How the owner of the star sign uses their power, how they awaken. It all varies widely.

“Yes. You need to be able to do these three things at the same time.”

“I don’t think I can control that.”

You have to be able to do it even if you can’t control it.

Rather, a dagger is easy to use because it’s short.

It’s not like you’re just swinging a long sword recklessly.

“You have to be able to do it even if you can’t. Now, think about it. What if that archer prince shoots an arrow today, right now?”

A competitor who hasn’t appeared yet.

I pointed that out and clearly said to the princess, who was swinging her sword haphazardly.

“Aren’t you going to protect me?”

“I hate being a meat shield.”

I would block it if an arrow came flying like crazy, but.

That’s very different from the current situation.

You have to be able to block it yourself.

You have to be at least that good for a star sign to appear.

“No, you have to say it right. It’s a bow, after all. I can’t block it if you shoot an arrow. Ranged attacks are no match for close combat.”

“You can block it.”

Saying you can’t block it in close combat is just a generalization.

So, you have to build up your strength. At least enough to block an arrow if it comes flying.

If you can’t block it, then at least be able to deflect it. Of course, the latter is more difficult, but you have to be at least that good to stand up to an archer.

“You’re really good with words. Can you do it?”

“Of course. Yes. For example-”

Paaah!

An arrow came flying perfectly.

I said “for example,” but an arrow came flying so suddenly and perfectly.

This thing in my hand is the proof. An arrow of mana made of gold.

He must be thinking of only committing perfect assassinations and getting away with it, without leaving any evidence.

Anyone who isn’t an idiot would know.

The princess also frowned and looked at the arrow in my hand.

Soon, it scattered into particles of light like a collapsing sandcastle.

Look at this.

I’m being quite underestimated.

I let out a scoff in disbelief, and the princess widened her eyes when she saw this.

She must have felt the threat.

“What’s that?”

“It seems it’s really true. This is my mistake.”

An arrow actually came flying. And it was aimed solely at Princess Arietta.

With pure murderous intent.

Was he trying to kill her? Or did he just throw it to see what would happen?

Whatever the purpose, it’s quite annoying.

Most of all.

He pierced the barrier and shot the arrow.

To be more precise, he sent the arrow directly through the hole I broke.

“What is it? Could it be?”

“What you say comes true. Your lovely siblings seem to be quite mentally unstable.”

I turned my eyes in the direction the arrow came from.

I can’t feel any presence. He’s probably far away.

It’s not in my nature to just be attacked.

“What are you going to do?”

“It’s not in my nature to just take it. I have to do something about it.”

I can’t forgive this.

Because that means he directly saw me breaking the barrier.

It’s quite annoying.

“That sounds terrible.”

“It’s actually a good thing. If you build up your strength while doing these three things at the same time, burying a person is nothing.”

If you just do that, you can catch most people.

If you develop that sense, you can even catch arrows flying at you.

“Then what are you going to do with the person who shot the arrow?”

“You mean the Third Prince?”

Sneakily aiming at the back of the head.

This is why I really hate archers.

“Yes. That’s probably it.”

“What about the Third Prince?”

“The Third Prince also has a support base. He’s supported by the empire’s merchants and the Western Aristocratic Alliance.”

“Ah.”

The Western Aristocratic Alliance.

The West is a region without a prominent aristocratic leader.

Because all the nobles have equal power.

But if they just stay still, they could be eaten by the aristocratic leaders of other regions, so they formed an alliance.

Economically and militarily.

That is the Western Aristocratic Alliance.

The nobles themselves aren’t a problem, but. It’s much easier to beat than Arnold.

“What are you going to do before that?”

“I have to retaliate. I don’t like being disturbed during class.”

Above all, I don’t know how that archer will use that hole.

It’s getting a bit annoying.

“Well, I didn’t expect him to be so reckless.”

“The Third Prince has an excellent talent for assassination. You won’t even know who killed you, and you’ll die mysteriously.”

Even the arrow disappears? Perfect.

Of course, some people who know the power of the star sign will think, “Ah, it’s that bastard.”

But what if they reveal that?

They only have suspicions and no evidence. How can they arrest him?

Above all, he’s a member of the imperial family.

“Is that so? But can you retaliate?”

“The barrier department will take care of the repairs anyway, but you can’t know what’s going on in the mind of such a shady guy.”

He might shoot arrows from somewhere else again.

Or maybe this is a kind of initiation ceremony. A warning.

Something like, “Don’t meddle.”

The answer comes out when you see Ailia appearing and scolding me at first.

So, what I need to do now is first.

I turned my eyes to the barrier.

Repair it. To temporarily repair this barrier.

First, I took out a box from my Subspace Pouch.

A small box.

The princess was puzzled when I took it out of the Subspace Pouch, not knowing exactly what it was for.

“What’s that?”

“I’m going to repair it first.”

When I opened the box, there was a small, shining bandage-like thing.

This blue-glowing thing was a kind of bandage made of mana particles.

It’s obvious what it’s used for.

“Isn’t that a bandage?”

“It’s an emergency mana kit for repairing barriers.”

That prince might secretly spread rumors that they broke the barrier.

I heard that breaking a barrier is usually treated as a crime anywhere.

“Why do you carry something like that around? It’s not something a noble lady would carry.”

“Well, that’s…”

Originally, it’s for temporarily repairing a barrier so you don’t get caught when you break into it.

For example, a museum. Anyway, you have to break the barrier when you infiltrate to steal something or find out information.

It’s for repairing it at that time.

If you repair the barrier immediately after it’s broken, it’s hard to tell even if an alarm goes off.

Looking at it this way, it’s suspicious.

I started to apply this bandage-like thing to the hole.

The mana particles, which were widely attached around the broken hole, melted into the barrier, filling the hole and erasing the cracks.

“So, this is for that. Just in case. There are times when the barrier is broken like this. Please think of it as a preparation to protect the princess.”

The princess was suspicious but understood.

Then how should I deal with that archer?