episode_0013

“Master~”

“Don’t you have anything else?”

Ria, still hugging my waist, asked.

Since she’d never seen flashy techniques like the Water Sword before, it must’ve piqued her curiosity.

‘Later, when even more dazzling techniques start popping off, that curiosity will fade…’ Or… maybe not? Would it stay the same even then?

‘Magic in developed with practicality in mind.’ ‘It’s far from being flashy.’

Upper-tier spells might feel grand due to their sheer scale, but in terms of pure spectacle, anime techniques still reign supreme.

…I’ll admit that much.

‘But as for techniques I can use inside a carriage…’ ‘Ah!’ ‘That one!’

I clasped my hands together and focused.

‘Gather water.’ Whoosh!

‘Shape it.’ Hummm!

‘Freeze it.’ Crackle!

The water turned to ice, and the ice took the form of a bird.

“Ice Sculpture Magic – Kingfisher.”

The completed bird soared through the air, firing water bullets. Splash.

To others, it might look like a pee cannon, but… whatever. It shot cold water bullets.

“Wow!” “Master!” “How did you make that?!”

“It’s a combination of water and fire magic.” “Fire magic?” “Yeah.” “Not ice magic?” “Nope.” “It’s fire magic.”

I gave her a quick magic lesson.

Novice ice mages focus on creating cold, but that’s amateur work.

A true ice mage focuses on stealing heat. ‘Rather than directly generating cold,’ ‘it’s far more efficient to create cold by removing heat.’

It’s the same principle as refrigerators and air conditioners. You don’t make cold— you remove heat to create cold.

And then, the stolen heat is sublimated into flame magic.

BOOM!!!

The bird flying outside the window exploded.

‘The outside is ice,’ ‘but the inside is dry ice.’

Dry ice— solid carbon dioxide at a chilling -78°C. With this, you could even make bombs in Korea.

1. Put dry ice chunks in a plastic bottle. 2. Add water. 3. Close the cap.

Done.

If you throw in some metal scraps or pebbles, you’ve got a bomb that could actually kill someone.

‘With a little more tweaking, you could even make a time bomb.’

Ah. Just a heads-up—if you actually make this, the police will arrest you.

Good kids—no, good adults—should never try this.

But. In a fantasy world, no one’s gonna arrest you for making bombs. So I made an ice-bird bomb.

…And I explained it in a way that Ria, a medieval-era girl, could understand.

“Wooow…” “This is magic…” “The power to gather countless spells and knowledge in one place, opening a new world…”

Ria spoke in awe.

“Master…” “So this is the true beauty of magic…”

She was reacting like a mage who’d glimpsed the truth.

Hey now. It’s not that impressive.

Gather water, shape it, draw heat to the center while freezing the outside, then install a bomb inside. The smooth movement of each wing joint—

‘Huh…’ ‘Maybe it is kinda impressive?’

The mana cost and raw power are pitiful, but the precision is on another level.

So yeah, it is impressive.

‘If I master this, couldn’t I reclaim my lost dream of being overpowered?’

I don’t need to be strong. But.

The title of World’s Strongest is the very essence of a man’s romance. Just striving for it is beautiful in itself!

My thoughts raced.

‘There are characters like this in manga and novels too.’ ‘Almost no innate magic power,’ ‘but overwhelming magical control to solve everything—the ultimate powerhouse.’

…With that in mind, I experimented.

“Mana Drain!”

I closed my eyes and focused, imagining stealing Ria’s mana.

“Ugh!…”

But. Nothing happened.

“Then how about this?!”

I imagined absorbing natural mana to awaken.

“Huuuh!…”

I could feel it. The natural mana. The sensation of absorbing vast natural energy to grow stronger—!

‘……Nope.’

I did feel slightly stronger, but it was probably just my imagination.

All that happened was a tiny mana recovery.

‘At this rate, chugging one mana potion would be more efficient…’

But. Natural energy is free, so it’s a good backup when potions run out.

…Thinking that, I kept absorbing.

And. I practiced more magic with the absorbed mana.

“Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

I summoned that famous ice monster from a certain card game.

“Come forth, WarGreymon!”

I summoned that famous ice monster from a certain digital monster anime.

“Battle!”

The two ice monsters glared at each other and began fighting.

‘Oh…’ ‘This is fun.’

Two monsters clashing with their own techniques— this is romance.

But. Something felt lacking.

…Or so I thought.

“Master!” “Me too! Me too!”

Ria perfectly replicated my WarGreymon.

“You wanna fight, huh?” “Yeah!” “I’ll take you on!”

I summoned MetalGarurumon in ice. Then. Fused WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon!

Appear! My ultimate ice monster— Omegamon!

BOOM!

The ultimate ice monster, born from fusing two others, made its entrance.

Clang!

Omegamon drew its ice sword.

Whoosh!

And charged straight in.

“Go!” “Great Sword!”

Omegamon swung its blade majestically.

Ting!

But. It didn’t work on Ria’s knockoff WarGreymon.

“Piercing Strike!”

The knockoff WarGreymon stabbed my Omegamon with its claws.

Crash!

One-hit KO.

Huh? One hit?

“Ria.” “Yeah?” “First, disable your traits.” “Ah…”

Ria removed and from her knockoff WarGreymon.

“Master!” “I’m ready! Bring it on!” “You got it!”

And so, we enjoyed ice model battles until we reached our destination.

The ice model battles were incredibly fun.

“We’ve arrived.” “Master!” “This time, I’ll win with this!” “Bring it!” “I’ll take that challenge!” “We’ve arrived.” “Gooo!” “Raaah!” “We’ve arrived!!!” “……Ah.”

We were so into it we didn’t even hear the arrival announcement.

“Ahem!” “Let’s call it a day.”

I erased all the ice models and stepped out of the carriage.

“So this is Thebes.”

The agricultural city of Thebes— a place famous for its diverse crops and high-quality ingredients.

…Not that I care.

‘A runaway like me has no need to stock up on ingredients for the hero’s party.’

But. Other things do interest me.

‘First, this.’

The installed in every city— more expensive than a carriage, but a convenient way to instantly teleport to another city.

The most used mode of transport in .

But. There’s a slight problem.

‘Only registered individuals can use the .’

What does that mean?

Roughly this:

Tap!

I grabbed the orb and channeled my mana.

Ding!

Registration complete. Cain could now use Thebes’ .

But. Ria, unregistered, couldn’t.

If I went to the next city and used the , Ria wouldn’t be able to follow.

‘Kehahahaha!’ ‘This is my escape route!’

…I laughed inwardly.

Ding!

“?” “Master!” “I registered too!”

Ria naturally registered her mana in the .

Tch. I’d hoped to slip away alone, but that’s not happening.

‘No problem.’ ‘This isn’t my only escape plan.’

Using the would’ve been the surest way, but there are plenty of other methods.

…Thinking that, I headed to the next destination.

“Master.” “Where are we going now?” “Let’s eat first.”

It was evening, and Thebes was famous for its high-quality food thanks to abundant ingredients. Skipping dinner here would be a huge waste.

But. I won’t drink alcohol.

“Master~” “Just one glass~”

Even if Ria tempts me like this, I won’t drink.

“This is so good~” “Really, really good~”

Even if Ria drinks it deliciously in front of me, I won’t drink.

‘Because my life would be over if I do.’

Yesterday, Ria was a girl who didn’t know what sex was. Today, she does.

Now that she knows sex is essential for marriage, there’s a high chance she’d pounce if I got drunk.

‘Ria thinks of sex as something you do to become husband and wife, to have a lifelong companion…’ ‘She’s the type who’d do it purely out of a desire to be together.’

So. I won’t drink.

…With that unshakable resolve, I didn’t touch a single drop.

“Tch…”

I heard something as we left the restaurant, but I ignored it.

Next stop—here.

Creeeak~

When I opened the door of the shabby hut, a shady-looking man glared at me.

“Who’re you?”

I immediately recited the passphrase.

“The crow crawls the earth, the rat flies the sky.” “……We are the darkness.” “We shall shine.” “Hah!” “Pleasure meetin’ a comrade!” “So, what’s your business?” “I want to use the Warp Gate.” “That’s no trouble at all.”

The shady man opened a hidden door and guided me inside.

He’s an NPC from the game too.

The smuggler Kikl.

A master of spatial magic, a wanted criminal who profits from illegal trades using unauthorized .

If you know the secret passphrase of the Captain, he’ll open a door to anywhere.

What a great guy.

“This is .” “Since I helped, pay the price.”

If not for that last part, he’d be an amazing free teleportation service.

But since I don’t know what the price is—

‘I tried to find out, but…’

I don’t know who the Captain is, or what organization this is, so there’s no way to dig deeper.

Honestly, I only stumbled upon the passphrase by chance, so I couldn’t investigate further.

Thus. I had no choice but to capture him.

Slap!

I borrowed Ria’s hand to smack his cheek.

Then. ’s activated.

“Guh—!”

Kikl rolled on the floor a few times before collapsing.

Perfect. Time to tie him up and sell him at the slave market.

‘Might as well loot his items too.’

I rummaged through Kikl’s corpse (not really) and took anything valuable.

“You bastard!!!”

Ah… He was truly a good man.

He teleported me where I wanted. He even packed his wallet before being sold into slavery. He handed over expensive items.

A selfless, tree-like man who gave everything he had.

Kikl. I’ll never forget you.

…Well, I’ll remember you for about five seconds.

“Sniff…” “To give us everything like this…” “What’s even left for you?” “You damn trash!!!”

“Aha!” “The slave brand remains!”

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

I applauded as I declared:

“Slave Kikl!” “You were my greatest fool!”

“Gyaaaaaaah!!!”

Kikl screamed in joy(?).

A truly beautiful ending.