episode_0071

After talking to Mathias and returning, I saw Cosette and the twins playing happily while the rest of us sat and watched. When Lini and Leni swung the branches, Cosette acted out her suffering by moving around in a fancy way, which was quite realistic.

Is Cosette good at playing with children because she is kind-hearted, or because she is just stupid? Or is it both? It was a question that wasn’t really worth worrying about.

Sweat was already dripping down the twins’ foreheads. Although a cool breeze was blowing through the forest, the weather itself was quite hot, so it would be strange not to feel hot if they were moving their bodies so actively.

They are strong kids, so nothing much will happen, but I still thought something might go wrong, so I decided to become a human air conditioner. Of course, it’s also for the training of my disciples.

“Okay, Lini and Lenny, go play with Sister Annies now. Cosette is busy now.”

“Wow! Sister Anies, what should we play?”

“Let’s read a book.”

Agnes, who had opened a book and was about to read, looked at me in surprise. That didn’t last long, but before I knew it, Lenny had crawled into Agnes’ arms and Lini was running around, so Agnes was flustered and flustered, which was very cute.

I decided to just leave that side alone, and I slowly released my magical power from the center of the mat. It was much easier and more efficient to hold the sword, but I was hesitant to do it in front of the twins. There was always the chance that something would happen. Suddenly, when I felt the cool air, Liny opened her eyes wide and looked at me.

“Well, the rest of you should train until you can perfectly control your magic powers, right? You’re a third year student, so how can you not consciously use physical strengthening yet?”

In response to my words, the inspectors seemed to be concentrating hard to feel the magic power in their own way. In fact, these three were probably instinctively channeling their magic power into strengthening their bodies. It was because of the instinctive movement of magic power that they were able to demonstrate reactions or powers that were obviously impossible with physical abilities alone.

Using it consciously to maximize its effects or to do it efficiently can be said to be basic physical strengthening. Even if pure swordsmanship skills are superior, if there is a clear difference in physical ability, it is difficult to take advantage of it, so physical strengthening can be said to be the basis of everything.

“Should we offer some kind of reward to encourage them to do their best? Or, on the contrary, should we punish them so that they will try to avoid last place?”

As I muttered, the three bodies trembled. They reacted more when I mentioned punishment rather than reward. This attitude is really bad. I should be the first to realize the power of magic.

Tsk tsk. How can they be so timid? Compared to when I was learning magic, they were training in a heavenly environment, but they didn’t even seem to appreciate it. I made up my mind to prepare a punishment, and began to think hard about what kind of punishment I could give to instill a sense of crisis in these three.

But when it came to actually doing something, I couldn’t think of anything else. I really couldn’t be last, I really had to work like crazy. It had to be a serious and brutal punishment that made me think like this.

“If Cosette is last, should we limit her food intake to one serving for a week?”

“Huh!?”

Cosette, who had been curled up in a strange position with her eyes closed, jumped up. Was it really that surprising?

“Princess! If you do that, you’ll die!”

“Does Cosette know the exact meaning of the word one-person portion?”

I muttered in disbelief, and the twins giggled and teased Cosette. I just recited whatever came to mind, but I didn’t know she would react so violently. Let’s just say Cosette is okay with it… What should the other two do?

Should Mathias be made to dress up as a woman? Wait, that might not be a punishment for Mathias, but a reward for Ayla. Let’s move on, Ayla…

“If Ayla loses, she’ll make us call her sister for a week. And of course, Mathias is her brother.”

“Ouch..”

Ayla muttered with a face of horror. This seemed like a punishment that was really nothing, but Ayla seemed to dislike it quite a bit. The only one left is Mathias… What on earth should he do?

“Mathias will study side by side with me and Agnes for a week.”

“..Yes, I understand.”

Mathias nodded with a serious face. Mathias listens to most of what I say, but he doesn’t listen at all when it comes to studying. I should make him read books diligently.

“Well, whatever the penalty is, as long as you don’t come in last, and if you achieve it very quickly and I feel good, the penalty itself might disappear, right? So please do your best.”

In fact, the fact that no one has mastered it perfectly even after several months is against my standards, but I guess there’s nothing I can do about it…

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Dragging. The sound of something heavy in a bag being dragged across the floor echoed. The man dragging it was a man with unruly red hair who had not even bothered to fix it. The man hummed and threw the leather bag with the strength of his arms.

The cannon, which had fallen with a dull sound that was hard to pinpoint, whether it was a thud or a thud, moved on its own. Just by looking at its shape, anyone could tell that there was some kind of living creature inside it. And judging by its size and what was visible outside the cannon, it was not difficult to infer that it was a human being.

“Sir, I’m here.”

“I told you not to call me sir, Reditus.”

A man came walking out from the direction where Reditus had thrown the cannon. He was a handsome man who looked quite young, but considering that Reditus had referred to him as an old man, it was likely that he was middle-aged. He had emerald hair that was neatly swept back so that his forehead was visible.

A handsome middle-aged man with quite thorough self-management, this assessment would be appropriate if we look at it up to this point. That is, if we exclude the fact that the man is wearing a robe with the symbol of the cult of the dead that is currently causing chaos on the continent.

The man opened the entrance to the leather bag, lifted it up as if it were a light object, and turned it over. A man fell to the floor inside, his whole body tied up. Judging by the wounds all over his body and the scabs already forming, he was quite seriously injured, but no one paid much attention to it.

The gagged man flinched in fear as if desperately trying to say something, but neither Reditus nor the man called Uncle showed any interest in it.

“The target is the successor to Frundia. But isn’t it too late?”

“That’s ridiculous. You told me to kidnap the royal family and that’s what you’re saying? I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Reditus grumbled. It was exactly as he said. The sack that Reditus had been dragging around like an object contained the royal family of Frundia, one of the countries that currently divided this continent into three, and they were not just royals, but direct royals with the right of succession.

It was obvious that the difficulty level would have increased several times over if he had not even assassinated such a being but rather captured and kidnapped it. Reditus was dumbfounded at the fact that, instead of praising himself for accomplishing such a task, he was scolded for being late.

“But wasn’t it easy with the power and force that was given to you?”

“..It wasn’t exactly difficult, as you said, but it wasn’t easy either, right?”

“I see. Then that must be it.”

The man began to look around the royal body as if he had no interest in Reditus’ words. Reditus wanted to say something to the man, but he knew that he would be the one to suffer anyway, so he had no choice but to suppress his anger.

“So, why did you ask me to kidnap this worthless guy? He’s such a weakling.”

“Of course, for the sake of the cause. Do I really have to tell you all this in detail?”

“Oh my, really… Are you doing this on purpose? Of course I understand that you’re talking about a cause and such, but what exactly are you doing with this thing!”

Reditus roared. You could tell he was genuinely quite angry by the way his hand unconsciously moved to the handle of his sword. The man noticed it too, but it didn’t mean much to him since he knew that Reditus couldn’t cut himself.

The man who was examining the blood flowing out of the royal’s neck spoke slowly.

“Well… there are many expressions, such as sacrifice, or food. Anyway, should we call it an experiment to create such a being?”

“Experiment?”

Reditus followed the man’s words absentmindedly. An experiment, you say? You made me go through all the trouble of capturing a direct lineage member of the royal family with the right of succession, and now you’re going to experiment on him?

The man paid no attention to such a reditus and held a staff in one hand. Most nobles or wizards had no particular problem using magic without any special items, but when using extremely difficult magic or when careful adjustments were required, they would use a staff.

His staff moved, and a terrible amount of magic gathered there. It was the curse of the cult of the dead, something familiar to Reditus and even to the royal family, who were struggling with their bound bodies and trying to escape somehow.

“I bless you.”

The man waved his staff once. It was a simple gesture. However, what happened next was horribly dramatic. The rope that bound the royal body was incredibly strong and strong, and it shook as if it was about to break. That was how strong the royal was.

But neither the man who had swung the staff nor Reditus showed any reaction. Within seconds, the royal body sagged. A disgusting smell vibrated, but it wasn’t the smell of the man’s excrement. It was the foul stench of rotting flesh.

The royal body disappeared in an instant, leaving no bones behind. If it weren’t for the clothes and ropes that remained in place, and the horrible smell that hadn’t yet disappeared, no one would have thought that there had been a person here just a moment ago. The man who was looking at it clicked his tongue.

“You still can’t hold out. Even if you’re royalty, Frundia has very little magic power, so it’s out of the question. I don’t know about Karsten, but at least you have to be Bertal.”

“Wasn’t Mr. Kirch the heir? Then didn’t he already experiment on all the royals?”

Reditus blurted out. He seemed a little angry that the royal family he had worked so hard to bring back had disappeared in the blink of an eye. The man shook his head at Reditus’ words.

“I was young back then, and I didn’t have a chance to properly research or experiment, so I couldn’t help it. I thought time was on my side, but who could have known that such a large country would disappear in an instant… Anyway, in the end, we need the royalty of another country.”

“I’ll do it if you tell me to.. But even so, if other countries have thoughts, wouldn’t they be more careful? I don’t think it’ll be as easy as this time..”

“Don’t worry. There’s a place that looks simple. It’s a place I didn’t expect much from, but there was an unexpected harvest.”

As the man reached out his hand to the ground, a small rat came running from somewhere and jumped on his hand. The man stroked the rat as if it was very cute.