Ch.102Chapter 102: Trigger (1)

#

After lying down in bed for some night fun(?), I closed my eyes.

I’m not sure how long I had been asleep.

[Young one. It’s time.]

What awakened my sleeping mind was Fafnir’s voice.

My closed eyes opened wide.

My body naturally rose from the bed.

My awakened consciousness was clear and refreshed.

And my body, which had been quite tired from the morning sparring, had completely returned to normal.

“How refreshing.”

That’s why I could utter such a brief sentiment.

“I wonder what it’s like outside.”

I moved from the bed to the window to check the outside situation.

I was hoping for continuous snowfall or at least a massive accumulation of snow.

Fortunately, even though the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a clearly distinguishable white world was welcoming me.

While it might be difficult for covert activities due to footprints and other visible traces,

At least the white snow, which magical beasts couldn’t openly traverse, would certainly help my actions.

[The ring.]

As I was about to continue my thoughts about the activity, Fafnir’s brief voice echoed in my head.

It was a suggestion to wear the Nibelung ring he had given me after I passed his test.

“I was just about to do that.”

After responding to his request aloud rather than in my thoughts, since no one else was in the room,

I took out the plain gold ring I had kept on my person and placed it on my left palm.

It was a ring without any craftsmanship, almost crude in its plainness.

Even though I hadn’t put it on my right index finger yet, when I pushed the fighting energy circulating from my heart into the palm holding the ring…

“…Oh.”

A phenomenon occurred that made me unconsciously utter a brief exclamation.

Just like when I first infused the ring with fighting energy,

A beautiful scarlet flame, too exquisite to be described merely as “brilliant,” rose up small.

A ring that creates flames in response to fighting energy, flames that don’t physically affect the body or materials.

I couldn’t find anything even similar to this artifact no matter how many ancient documents or other materials I searched through.

[No matter how fascinating fire-watching is, don’t waste time and put it on quickly.]

I had only been looking for a moment, but Fafnir kept urging me to put on the ring quickly.

“Alright.”

Without further delay, I put the ring from my left palm onto my right index finger.

Since I maintained the circulation of fighting energy, the ring continued to emit its brilliant flame, and as soon as it was placed on my right index finger…

“Ohhh…”

An even greater exclamation escaped my lips.

The flame rising from the ring increased in both size and brilliance.

What was strange was that despite the intense aura emanating from this flame that had started from my left palm,

The key point was that my body didn’t feel any heat from it.

By the way, no matter how much this flame doesn’t affect the body, if I leave it like this, won’t it be too noticeable?

I think I could extinguish it by stopping the circulation of fighting energy.

But could I extinguish the fire at will even while circulating fighting energy?

As soon as these thoughts crossed my mind,

The flame flickering on my right index finger subsided without a trace, as if it had never existed.

It was as if the flame itself had consciousness and recognized my will, executing it accordingly.

Hmm… It’s convenient, but I’m starting to wonder what this ring really is.

If circumstances allowed, I would have spent all day thinking about this ring and forming plausible theories about its identity, but…

[Well, do you notice any changes?]

Fafnir’s solemn voice echoing in my head prevented me from continuing my thoughts about the ring.

But, changes?

It’s not like wearing a ring would give me tremendous strength, so why is he asking such a thing…

Hmm? Huh?

Wait, why does my body feel so light?

And what about the fighting energy circulating throughout my body from my heart?

“The circulation of fighting energy through Fricasa is happening much faster and more comfortably.”

Before I could grumble about unnecessary questions,

My mouth informed me that I was thoroughly experiencing the effects of the interaction between wearing the ring and circulating fighting energy.

As if he had anticipated my response,

[The effect is much better than I thought.]

Unlike my surprise, Fafnir’s voice contained only the calmness of observing something that was bound to happen eventually, as he observed the changes in my body after wearing the ring, no less keenly than I did.

In contrast to his composure while observing the changes in my body,

[The ring. No matter what happens, don’t take it off your finger.]

He was resolute when advising me to wear the ring regularly, like now.

It seems I should follow Fafnir’s request and wear the ring without complaint when a situation requiring effort arises.

[Since you seem ready, let’s move. Our first destination is the wall to the northwest, the closest fortress from here.]

“Yep. Let’s go right away.”

Thus, my two legs, empowered by the vitality the ring had given me, headed toward the entrance of the lodging according to Fafnir’s instructions.

Creeeeak…

As I carefully opened the entrance door made of ebony wood,

A sight I had never seen before in the time before my regression greeted me.

This place, completely buried in snow to the point where one couldn’t even distinguish what it originally was, could best be described as a small country.

Yes, a country of pure white snow.

“Damn, that’s beautiful.”

I couldn’t help but utter these words.

The fortress landscape, covered in such clear and clean white snow without any volcanic ash mixed in, was truly…

It naturally made me want to prevent any impurities from staining it.

#

After opening the door to my lodging and taking energetic steps toward the place Fafnir had pointed out where the magical beast’s impure mark was located, it wasn’t long before…

“Oh shit…”

An exclamation(?) combining both admiration and lamentation in just the right proportion spontaneously escaped my lips.

The main reason for this exclamation was that my initially quick pace was neutralized after just one step.

It was no wonder.

Despite my intention to traverse the fortress—now completely devoid of human presence as snow removal efforts had been abandoned due to the incessant snowfall—in one go,

The moment I stepped on the accumulated snow, it swallowed not just my ankles but up to my knees, robbing me of freedom of movement.

“At this rate, I’ll barely reach the first destination in a day, let alone remove all the marks.”

How could such lamentation not escape my lips?

In the past, I might have complained about the weather, given up on my journey, and returned home to sleep.

[So? Are you going back?]

“Of course not.”

To turn back because of knee-deep snow and cold weather would be unthinkable,

Given the significant and weighty meaning of what I needed to do once I reached my destination.

“I must do this no matter what.”

I continued my steps silently while responding this way to Fafnir’s playful question about whether I would turn back.

Although the knee-deep snow meeting my body temperature had completely soaked everything below my knees except for my waterproof shoes,

The vessel, which had grown in size and purity through consistent training, did not allow the cold to penetrate.

“Haaah…”

The heat generated by the accumulated fighting energy circulating through my body as I continued the breathing method of inhaling and exhaling dried my wet clothes.

So there was no problem in continuing my steps without rest.

Thus, as I continued my steps diligently like a plowing ox,

[Stop.]

I was able to reach the location of the first target specified by Fafnir.

In fact, even if Fafnir hadn’t told me to stop, I could have recognized that this was the target point.

My sense, having once been tainted by magical beasts,

Could confirm with each step that the dark, sticky malice characteristic of magical beasts was intensifying.

Although this second life was like riding on the back of a fierce beast unwillingly,

The thought that such gloomy experiences were also very helpful to me, who had resolved to correct what had gone wrong after regression, made me…

“Heh…”

Almost laugh self-deprecatingly.

[Why are you laughing?]

‘Because what I’m looking at now is far inferior to the mark that Shizu blasted away with the sealing ritual this afternoon.’

Of course, I couldn’t reveal what was in my mind, so I gave a suitable answer to Fafnir’s question.

[I see. It’s laughable to me too. I wonder if magical beasts lack talent. Looking at this paper-thin thing they’ve planted as a mark.]

Fafnir seemed to have similar thoughts as he offered his mocking appreciation of the dark malice rising faintly but surely from the snow-covered ground.

By the way, I wonder who placed this mark and when.

Compared to the impure mark hastily installed by Adorator who secretly infiltrated the fortress two evenings ago, the quality is significantly inferior.

I’m not joking—even an ordinary knight could easily remove it if accompanied by a cleric who can detect magical beast malice better than anyone else. The mark before my eyes was sheer sloppiness.

Judging by such a sloppy mark, the person who installed it must not be very skilled.

How could someone who created such a sloppy mark freely roam a fortress garrisoned by the Empire’s elite forces?

…No matter how much I think about it, I can’t imagine it.

Even though the impure mark is clearly engraved on the ground as a result,

Whenever and however it was installed, without a certain level of skill,

It’s clear that the person would have been caught by Imperial Knights members and faced the blade immediately upon installation.

How did they install this?

“Hmm…”

Even as I scratch my chin with my right index finger and continue my thoughts, no plausible answer comes to mind to fill the question.

Since it was clear that continuing a puzzle with no answer would yield no benefit,

“Haaah…”

I cleared my head of complicated thoughts with a single sigh.

Rather than wasting time on such trivial thoughts right now,

Guooooo-

It was more important to sever the source of the black energy that was seeping up through the snow-covered ground, making an unpleasant noise in my ears.

[Talking has delayed us.]

‘Indeed it has.’

[Well, it’s unavoidable since we’ve seen such a pathetic mark that warrants such comments.]

‘We should finish this quickly and move to the next location.’

After this final preparatory conversation with Fafnir, I turned my head to look around.

Due to the endless snowfall, human presence had completely disappeared, and I couldn’t sense any human presence at all.

With snow still falling heavily, all surrounding sounds were completely buried as well.

After confirming once more that these were perfect conditions for covert activity,

[Get ready.]

‘I will.’

As soon as Fafnir’s request fell, I immediately drew the dragon sword from my waist.

It took quite some time to draw the sword with a blade about the length of a bastard sword.

However, the clear metallic sound from the dragon sword as it left its scabbard made this potentially tedious process not boring at all.

Seeing the snow getting heavier, I realized that if I dawdled here, I might not be able to remove all the marks even if I spent the entire night.

So, to use the fighting energy sword that I hadn’t even used during today’s sparring, I wrapped my right hand holding the sword with fighting energy and pushed it into the dragon sword.

Now, as a brilliant pure white light rises, it should erase that impure mark on the ground just by grazing it…

Whoosh

…What? What? Why is the sword suddenly engulfed in flames as soon as I draw it?

[Wow…]

Even Fafnir, who should provide appropriate explanations when situations arise, only uttered an exclamation rather than an explanation.

What on earth is going on here?

By the way, the flame is quite intense… Ah damn, that’s not the point.

“What is this? Why is my sword suddenly engulfed in flames when I tried to use a fighting energy sword?”

[I didn’t expect such rapid growth…]

“No, don’t just admire it, explain it in a way I can understand.”

[Well, never mind.]

“But…”

[You don’t even need to touch the ground with the sword, just hold it over where that faint energy is rising.]

I wanted to retort to Fafnir’s demands without explanation, but

I thought it better to do the task first and then argue.

“Sigh…”

After dispelling my urge to retort with a light sigh, I held the dragon sword with its brilliant flame over the impure mark.

I didn’t deliver a slash with physical force, nor did I thrust with the will to pierce everything in its path.

I just placed the sword in my hand directly above the mark emitting a faint impure energy.

At the very least, I would need to graze the ground where the mark was engraved with my sword to physically remove it or do something, but simply placing it above wouldn’t do anything…

…or so I thought until I saw the flame rising from my dragon sword consuming the impure mark without a trace.

A small flame, which could be described as a spark from the sword, fell to where the impure mark was engraved on the ground as if it had a will of its own.

Whoosh

The spark transformed into a small pillar of fire.

The impure mark, which until just now had been emitting only a faint energy while covered in snow, disappeared without a trace as if consumed by the flame.

The pillar of fire, having fulfilled its role, disappeared without a trace.

And what remained in the place where the flame had vanished was…

Despite the intense pillar of fire that had stood there, the snow-covered ground still proudly displayed its pure white presence.

Thanks to the disappearance of the sticky and slimy impure energy characteristic of magical beasts, it boasted a remarkably vivid color.

…I had rolled up my sleeves to eliminate the cancerous impure marks scattered throughout the fortress, but

Confirming that I had created a flame that only burned invisible impure energy without melting things like human skin or eyes…

“What is this…”

I could only sigh.

[Hmm, good effect.]

Why does Fafnir’s voice, adding commentary as if he had predicted this all along, sound so annoying to me?

[The next target is to the west from here…]

Whether Fafnir knew my feelings or not, he immediately directed me to where the next mark was located.

“Yes, yes, I’m going. Let’s go.”

With the mindset that I’d rather finish the task quickly than dwell on trivial matters, I responded to Fafnir’s request and moved my feet.

I’m not sure if it was just my imagination,

But my steps, which had been quite cumbersome due to the knee-deep snow,

Had become remarkably light compared to when I first went outside.

However, due to the inexplicable situation that had unfolded, I couldn’t fully enjoy this light-footed movement.