Ch.575The Daily Grind

The aftermath of the Holy Grail’s destruction caused an anomaly. My activities afterward could be summarized in three simple words.

Training. Hunting. Rest.

As soon as I finish breakfast, I shut myself in the training room, sweating with effort to become even slightly stronger.

I constantly repeat the process of refining the power of my Karma and manifesting it as a skill to increase casting speed, while repeatedly contemplating and experimenting with the mysteries of spatial cutting, striving somehow to grasp its principles.

Then when someone from the Imperial House or Imperial Knights comes begging for help, I go out to hunt monsters, and return with the praise of those whose lives I saved to rest.

Lying on the sofa, sipping drinks Lena made for me while chatting about everyday matters, the day passes in an instant.

After dinner, I write down strategies for the monsters I’ve faced and send them to the Imperial House, then sleep well and wake up to repeat the training again.

It was a life closer to a combat machine than a person, but for me, it was a familiar and comfortable daily routine that occasionally made me think of home.

Of course, I wasn’t just living like that. Unless you completely wall yourself off from society, how could you?

Whenever Millia and the other members of the Thousand Sword Corps, or Frider, or Leonore leading the Rosicrucian Knights returned from monster subjugation, I would visit them and chat for hours.

About their experiences at their posts, stories about the monsters they subjugated, and trivial everyday matters.

Like traveling for days to reach a dungeon and exploring its interior. Or subjugating large monsters attacking cities together with the defense forces. Classic adventure stories, really.

“This time we had to clear out the entire dungeon interior, and walking through the cave reminded me of old times.”

“You mean when you almost died trapped under collapsing ruins? Well… at least now you won’t die from being crushed.”

“Is that something the person responsible should be saying?”

I nodded along appropriately, smiling with satisfaction. Since they all had enough skill not to die somewhere far away, they were growing well even without me by their side.

Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to that dungeon. I buried it in a landslide, but with the whole world rising and sinking in chaos.

Surely it hasn’t resurfaced?

…No, perhaps resurfacing would be beneficial. Now I could easily defeat those Deathknights, and the magical techniques that remained there would be a great help in the current situation.

Semi-permanent magic manifestation through seals. In my case, my seal could only create fire, so it seemed there was a limitation of one magic per seal, but…

If thoroughly researched and put to practical use, it could potentially render all existing mages unemployed.

At the time, I just buried it because overuse of magic risked strengthening the monsters’ forces, and if leaked, it would cause chaos, but now the situation had changed significantly.

First, there was no longer any need to worry about leaks. Not because it wouldn’t leak, but the opposite.

I thought we just needed to close that ruin since it was a site and technology that never appeared in the game, but similar ruins must have existed in other countries because the Dane had already acquired the technology and implemented it in actual combat.

Otherwise, how could thousands of mages suddenly appear?

Having obtained such power, they weren’t attacking the Ka’har, nor were they targeting me, but instead beating up the vulnerable Panam, which was honestly baffling.

It was certainly a rational and cold-blooded judgment as a nation. Attacking a weakened neighboring country to expand territory and enhance national power is the shortcut to wealth and military strength.

…But it’s absurd that the Dane are doing this. Despite gaining the power to retaliate against their one-sided plundering, they’re not retaliating but plundering other countries instead.

At this rate, they’re just “Unlucky Ka’har.”

Knut, whom I had crippled, seemed to have a personality that was emotional yet adhered to warrior principles and ethics. He definitely hated plundering. Was Knut the exception rather than the rule among the Dane?

…My thoughts have wandered. I tapped the ash from my cigarette and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

Anyway, it was no longer a situation where we should worry about leaks, but rather one where we needed to somehow secure that technology ourselves.

It’s similar to the nuclear armament debate in a way.

Nuclear weapons were certainly effective but better off not existing due to the massive pollution they caused. However, if hostile nations acquired nuclear weapons, we couldn’t properly respond without possessing them ourselves.

—-

“Marquis Median, sir. A request for support from the Imperial Knights. There are reports of five Grave Eaters appearing near a mausoleum in the Rezervie Gorge…”

“Alright. Tell them I’ll be there soon.”

A message from a servant who visited my residence. I nodded as I put on the armor I had taken off during training.

After wiping away my sweat and sheathing Durandal, I slipped Frosting onto my left arm and pulled it up to my shoulder to secure it.

The chilling coldness, more eerie than refreshing, cooled my heated body appropriately.

[This makes the eleventh time. Too frequent, far too frequent. At this rate, shouldn’t that balding man bestow upon you the position of Imperial Army Commander-in-Chief?]

‘I wonder.’

Hersella grumbled that the frequent support requests left little time for training.

Supporting the Imperial Knights could also be called practical training, but it wasn’t very meaningful for me.

It would be helpful if enemies that required me to put in some effort appeared, but dealing with mediocre monsters was just a waste of time. It was not much different from beating moving scarecrows.

Still, calling him “that balding man” is a bit harsh. Leopold is just preparing for baldness, he hasn’t completely fallen into being bald yet. Probably.

—-

The Rezervie Gorge was originally not included on imperial maps. That’s because until the cataclysm, this place was not a gorge but an ordinary plain.

Since it was far from fertile soil, it couldn’t be used as a granary, and with no significant water sources nearby, developing it as a residential area was inefficient—it was practically worthless abandoned land.

The empire didn’t even pay attention to it, but apparently some people exploited this, using it as a secret hideout or burial ground.

“Grwoooooooh!”

Seeing five of these undead creatures crawling out confirms it.

Mounted on Cascador, I stood on the cliff above the gorge, looking down at the five massive bodies howling in the valley below.

Grave Eaters. They were large monsters with slow movements that could be defeated by three Masters and a couple of priests, but with five gathered together, it was understandable why the Imperial Knights wouldn’t dare attempt subjugation.

[It’s been a while since we’ve seen those creatures.]

‘Indeed. Not particularly welcome, though.’

I was surprised they managed to gather in such a narrow place. The gorge was plenty spacious for humans, but from those monsters’ perspective, it was too narrow for even two to stand side by side.

“What would you like to do, sir?” the Imperial Knight who guided me asked, looking down at the gorge.

The knight was sweating, perhaps intimidated by the monsters’ presence, but understanding that with my arrival there was nothing to worry about, a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Instead of answering, I quickly surveyed the situation below.

Down in the gorge, a group of knights and three or four priests who had arrived before me were engaging the monsters. Due to the sudden appearance of the Grave Eaters, the response force wasn’t very large.

They had formed defensive lines blocking both sides of the gorge, struggling to prevent the Grave Eaters from breaking through the barrier.

It seemed my combat guide wasn’t entirely in vain, as they were responding better than expected despite not having a single Master among them.

“I don’t see any Paladins. Surely they haven’t all been wiped out… didn’t you request support from them?”

“We did request support, but the Paladins of the Archdiocese are currently engaged with Deathknights that have appeared in the southwestern part of the island, so they don’t have the capacity to support us here.”

“Is that so? Lacy seems quite busy too. I understand.”

I dismounted from Cascador and drew Durandal. The golden seal engraved on the blue-silver blade rippled with a soft afterglow.

“I’ll go down right away, so you join the knights and prepare for the cleanup. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

What a resounding answer.

Seeing the knight respond in a rigid attention stance, I smirked, shrugged my shoulders, and approached the edge of the cliff.

‘You know what to do, right? Please control my posture.’

[Don’t you enjoy jumping off too much? You’re almost like that Demian fellow who’s always leaping about.]

‘You need to compare properly.’

He’s just doing grasshopper things, while this is an excellent tactic that kills two birds with one stone—an accelerated strike and a dramatic entrance. I’ll prove it right now.

I stepped past the edge of the cliff into empty air.