He Didn’t Want to Be the Center of Attention, Hence, after Defeating the Demon Lord, He Became Guild Master (LN) Volume 2 Chapter 4

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The Ashen Menace

1 – [Violet Scorpio] and the Hero of the Holy Sword

Having gone off on her own, Cody headed to [Violet Scorpio] on Fifth Street. The public order there should be better compared to Twelfth Street, which was home to [Silver Aquarius]. However, Cody wasn’t convinced. They housed a rotten bunch, after all.

Though, looking into the location of their base gave Cody a surprise. They certainly had a gathering place of sorts, but they were located underground, below a building that they disguised as a regular house, for secrecy.

They wouldn’t need to gather underground if they didn’t have anything to hide. It seems there really are corrupt people even among guild masters.

Cody’s goal was to free their guild master, who was being controlled using the collar. The strongest adventurer in [Violet Scorpio] was S-rank, whom Cody could easily defeat without problem.

But still, I should do this as stealthily as possible. Holding back the urge to just charge through and mow them down, Cody went around to the back of the building.

The guard pets that were standing guard charged towards Cody who attempted to go to the back. [Violet Scorpio] employed wolves instead of dogs to guard their base, as they were quite the formidable guild themselves.

Dogs are cute, and I guess wolves are too… No, actually, they’re a bit scary.

“GRRRRRR!”

“GYRRRRR!”

Two large wolves, looking starved, leapt towards Cody with their drool-filled mouths wide open. As if halting them, Cody put his right hand forwards and instantly chanted a spell to summon the sword spirit of light.

— [Flash Veil] —

“GYAU!”

Blinding light flashed right in front of the wolves, causing them to fall to and roll on the ground. Cody summoned a blade using the Sword Spirit’s power that would neutralize them without fatalities.

— [Magic Blade Conjuration – Harmonix] —

Cody summoned a spirit blade that looked like a tuning fork¹ and made it emit a sound to put living beings to sleep. Though the sword was of little use with Dick’s all-roundedness, Cody had continued to research more spirit blades.to not be overshadowed by Dick’s various abilities.

The wolves tried to get up, but they slowly lied back down on the ground and gradually stopped moving. As the wolves showed their bellies to her, Cody wore a bitter grin.

“Any animal really is cute when they’re like this.”

Cody tried to put the people inside the building to sleep, but the sound couldn’t go through the walls.

Having tested the capabilities of the magic blade, Cody noticed that a trap was set on the back door of the building. She inserted [Light Blade] in a gap of the door and destroyed the lock without a sound.

Cody slightly opened the door, and by projecting the light bestowed upon her by the blade spirit, she could see in the darkness of the room.

Without this, I wouldn’t have been able to go on the subjugation trip with Dick.

Thanks to this ability, there never was an accident like Dick seeing Cody while she was in the middle of changing, because Cody could always see where Dick was, even during the dark. Though she felt guilty about doing it, Cody absolutely did not want Dick to find out her secret at the time.

Dick was hard to get along with at the time. Nobody knew what was going on in his head. Having never seen a man that was close to her in combat power, Cody was wary of him, which was why she did that. Even so, she really felt guilty of her past actions.

One of the things she realized from going on the subjugation trip was that Dick was unbelievably soft against girls. He always answered the wishes of the other three in the party even though he seemed reluctant while doing it. After observing him all through the trip, Cody started wanting to put her trust in men like him.

I’m feeling kind of restless. Is it because I’m so relieved that I won’t have to hide anything anymore now that he knows my secret? I can’t believe I’m feeling something so selfish.

She invited Dick to a duel because he was a friend. But she wouldn’t force him to one if he were extremely reluctant about it.

But still, why was she so persistent about dueling him? The more she thought about it, the deeper her thoughts went. Thoughts such as “I shouldn’t have told him my secret,” “Since when has he known? I might ask him later,” and thoughts like that.

Halting the endless spiral of thoughts, Cody entered the building from the back door, which led into the kitchen. However, there wasn’t much foodstuff to find inside. As the building being a private home was just a front, there wasn’t much trace of life; the interior smelled like aged mold. Cody guessed that they prepared just enough to act as a regular house in case other people visited them.

As she endured the stench of mold, Cody remembered Dick’s steel mask that covered his mouth and felt envious. She took out a handkerchief to cover her mouth with, though it made her look like a thief, which made her smile bitterly. Then, sensing someone coming, Cody hid behind cover and waited for him to go in the room before grappling his arm from behind.

“Gkh!”

“It’d save me some trouble if you don’t try anything funny. You were going to check on the wolves outside, I assume? They’re both sleeping peacefully outside.”

“……”

Realizing that his arm was in a firm lock, the man gradually stopped resisting. Cody grabbed the dagger laced with poison on the man’s waist, threw it, and destroyed it with [Light Blade].

“…?!”

The man looked shocked, but didn’t let his voice leak. He only saw that the thrown dagger melted, as his eyes weren’t fast enough to see something that moved as fast as light itself—[Light Blade] could also be used to shoot beams of light with high heat energy, which was used to melt the dagger. [Light Laser] was what she called the light that could burn any object, cutting through iron like butter.

The thing that was once a dagger fell to the floor, looking nothing like how it once was. The man who seemed to be overflowing with battle experience looked frightened, his knees trembling.

“Using weapons coated with poison is prohibited with the exception of exterminating harmful beasts in the capital’s outskirts. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“…Gaaah!”

Seemingly in reckless abandonment, the man rampaged, trying to break free of Cody’s hold—But Cody held on, and dislocated the man’s shoulder, though reluctantly.

Before he could raise a shriek of pain, Cody aimed a chop with his hand to knock him out, exactly like how Dick taught him long ago. The man, of course, fell unconscious.

I really am not suited for stealth missions after all… I can’t do things as smart as Dick can.

“Oi! What happened he… Gwah!”

Though Cody wanted to end this silently, two more enemies came running. She blinded them using [Flash Veil], and then used [Harmonix], a repeat of how she neutralized the wolves.

She woke one of the three fainted men up by slapping his cheek, and asked him where the door leading down underground was located. The man told her that she just needed to move the stinger of the scorpion statue on the first floor hallway. Having gotten the information that she wanted, she put the man to sleep once more with a chop.

Every Scorpio member had a dagger laced with poison, and they all seemed to have used it for something or other. Put bluntly, all of them were assassins, so they should be treated as such.

However, Cody felt she was doing something unbefitting of a knight leader. That is, oppressing the weak. They were just so weak that she couldn’t help but feel that way.

This must be one of the reasons why Dick went out of his way to make a guild.

Since Cody now commanded many knights, the number of battles she fought in thinned. It bored her some, but she also thought of it as proof of how blessed she was.

Going down the hallway, Cody spun the stinger of the scorpion statue to open the way downwards. Then, a part of the walls divided and revealed a staircase to go down.

Cody spotted multiple enemies after going down, to which she pulled out her sword for the first time today. Not a magical sword, but a regular, plain old sword. The enemies’ arsenal was varied—chain sickle, axe, mechanical bow, blowpipe, and many others. Cody used [Auto Counter] with the help of the Sword Spirit, and repelled the projectiles flying at her with rays of light, then proceeded to knock them out one by one.

Just like the ones above, these guys sure are silent even when fighting… I guess they really are a group of trained assassins.

Although she was impressed by the eerie silence of the twenty or so enemies aiming for her vitals, Cody defeated them all without much problem. Soon, she finally reached the final room.

The air on the first floor already made her sick, but the foul stench only got worse as she went down. Is the guild master in the last room? Or maybe… Cody thought, as she operated the device to open the door, with full wariness.

The double door opened accompanied by the sound of moving cogwheels. The moment she entered the room, Cody sensed someone going down from the ceiling behind him, who instantly tried to assassinate her.

“Die.”

Cody couldn’t feel any kind of emotion behind those words, only the intent to kill. What came swinging at her was a talon.

But Cody’s figure became hazy, and then completely disappeared. Then, three separate Codys reappeared in the dim room.

Of course, the multiple Codys were illusions. But they looked exactly like the real thing, not something a regular illusion magic could do. As she was able to manipulate light, she could easily control the light that enters her enemy’s eyes to show multiples of herself.

The assassin wore a deep-violet overcoat, bandages covering his whole body, including his face—he was [Violet Scorpio]’s guild master. Cody took notice of the collar around his neck.

Cody saw that the wounds he took from battling Clive Garland still hadn’t healed. She doesn’t know how he ended up this way, but she felt pity towards him.

“It must’ve been rough. But soon, you won’t have to fight until you’re battered like this anymore.”

“Shaaaah!”

Without giving way to her words, the guild master slashed at Cody with a deadly strike—He got down enough that he was almost prone, and rushed towards Cody, raising both of his talons to slash at her.

But Cody’s [Light Mirage] wasn’t so easily seen through.

She could control the light that flowed into her opponent’s eyes—which meant she could throw the enemy’s sense of orientation into chaos. The direction he thought to be the source of the voice, was in fact, the exact opposite of where it actually was.

His talons uselessly clawed air. Then at that moment, his claws were split apart at the center. Following suit, the collar that controlled his mind met the same fate.

Cody summoned [Light Blade] for only a split second and swung it—to respect the dignity of the guild master who challenged her.

“Rest now. I’ll make sure you pay for your crimes when you wake up, though.”

Lastly, Cody used [Harmonix].

The guild master had nothing to protect against sound—Even though Cody expected him to have some measures against sound, considering he’s an expert assassin and all. But that was likely because he was controlled by the collar and couldn’t make use of his vast experience, Cody judged.

His guild tag fell down onto the floor as it was cut along with the collar. Cody picked it up and looked at it. [Master Thief] was written as his job. That proved that he was once an adventurer who fulfilled his role, and racked up achievements to rank up.

Thief, fitting its name, had abilities related to thievery, but it was by no means a criminal job. However, as they could pick locks and their nature was to act stealthily, many of them eventually became assassins and actual thieves.

Looking at the prime example of that, the guild master in front of her, Cody pondered. An adventurer, of course, has to continue “adventuring,” and not become someone who dirties their hand for the sake of money.

I wonder if Dick agrees. He will surely at least listen to what I have to say if I talk to him—Believing that, Cody picked up the fallen collar and left [Violet Scorpio].

Then, she thought up another request to ask of Dick.

“Let’s go on an adventure, not to exterminate demon lords, but an ‘adventurous adventure.’” Cody noticed that since becoming SSS-ranked adventurers, they hadn’t gone on an adventure together even once. Though to do that, she needed to take many days off from her knight leader post.

But at that moment…

“…Kh!”

Cody sensed that Dick and Mylarka were engaged with the enemy from the magical earrings—which she received from Dick for communication purposes.

Unbelievably, the two of them combined couldn’t instantly defeat the enemy. In fact, it seemed like they were in a close fight.

Cody contacted [Silver Aquarius] guild members and some of his knights to take care of [Violet Scorpion] and hurried towards Dick and Mylarka. Their location being the capital’s largest guild, located on First Street.

2 – The Demonic Goddess, Saint, and Sweet Disaster

The guild on Eight Street, [Viridescent Cancer], had many adventurers who controlled lifeless “puppets.”

With [Create Puppet] and [Create Golem], they could house spirits and ghosts inside puppets of varying materials, which then the spirits could move. However, Yuma’s purification abilities could put not only ghosts to rest, but spirits as well; her presence alone rendered the guild’s field of expertise useless.

[Viridescent Cancer] boasted wide land coverage in order to summon dirt golems. But as their main defensive tool, the golems, were unusable with Yuma there, Eileen and Yuma made way through the guild’s defenses and reached the guild master without much trouble. The strength of their guild members were at most A-rank, which meant there was nobody who could stall Eileen for even a second.

On the guild’s top floor, the guild master had been waiting for them. Without a shred of pity, Eileen instantly moved behind the guild master and knocked her out with a weak blow.

“Gh… W-Who are…”

“Sorry for this, ‘kay? Everything’ll be done by the time you’re back up, though. Umm, I think this is the collar.”

The guild master was a female shaman; she donned tribal clothes, which exposed a lot of skin. While thinking that the guild master’s clothes would’ve made Dick flustered, Eileen removed the collar and then covered the unconscious guild master’s body with an overcoat she found nearby.

“Eileen-san, are you all right? Oh, it seems you’re safe without a scratch. Wow, so many puppets…”

Yuma, who came after Eileen finished up, looked at the puppets inside the room, impressed by their numbers. Eileen guessed that a shaman could control them, but this time, not a single one moved from their racks before the shaman was knocked out.

“You’re like this guild’s natural enemy, Yuma-chan. Now that I think about it, when we were still on the trip, not a single golem attacked us, right?”

“The demon lord army’s golems use human, animal, and demon souls, not regular wandering ghosts, so I made sure to purify everything in an area around us while we were in hostile places.”

“And you don’t get tired at all from doing that? Awesome! To me, your purification power? Looks like it’s always expanding… Just being near it makes me relax!”

“Everyone from the subjugation team might not believe it, but to me, this is as natural as breathing.”

Yuma had the most amount of magic power within the subjugation team. But she couldn’t use it for anything else but purifying souls, so she had no combat power score at all.

Eileen thought she was insanely amazing for being an SSS-rank from purification abilities alone. Yuma herself never thought about using her overabundance of mana for anything else. She abandoned physical combat and other ways to use magic, and specialized in purification, which led Dick to say “Yuma’s perfect, in her own way.”

“Yeeeah, I sure am glad Yuma-chan’s here. That’s the subjugation team’s supporter-in-charge for ya. I can go wild and rest easy with you around!”

“That makes me happy. A priest’s job is to put people’s hearts at ease, after all. One day, I will guide everyone by hand and bring you all to the land of the gods…”

“Yuma-chan, just take Dick there first, got it? He’s totally interested to go there.”

“W-Well… I would love to do that, but if your spirit goes too far away from your physical body, then you won’t be able to touch the ground anymore, or in other words… you’ll go to heaven…”

Looking at the masked Yuma fidgeting, Eileen grew worried.

Back then, Eileen wasn’t interested in the customs of the world, only caring about her father and furthering her martial arts training. But ever since she started living in the capital, many talks of men-women relationships started reaching her ears.

Yuma-chan really is an airhead… Dick sure can hold himself back, huh. I mean, the older girls that work in the red-light district call out to men saying they’ll appease their lust or bring them to heaven or stuff like that…

“Eileen-san, are you worried about something?”

“Hyaah! N-No? I just thought Dick’s really good at holding himself back… I mean, I was just thinking about something…”

“Your soul is pink, Eileen-san… Is this because your ogre and human mana are mixing together…? No, this looks like a certain desire is leaking from your soul.”

“S-Stooop! It’s not like I’m thinking about bringing him to heaven or anything, okay?!”

Eileen ran up to Yuma and covered her mouth, in a way that won’t hurt her. Yuma tried to continue talking, but then smiled and nodded.

“Okay, I will keep those feelings of yours in mind for the future, Eileen-san. After all, we’re still a bit too young to go to heaven, aren’t we?”

“A-Ahaha… haaah. What’s wrong with us? We’re still talking about Dick even though he’s not here. Don’tcha think we’re being a bit too dependent on him?”

“That’s not true.”

“Whaaa… A-Are you sure? Can you really live without relying on Dick, Yuma-chan?”

Eileen asked, seemingly surprised. Yuma picked up the collar that the guild master previously wore and clenched it tightly—her purification powers could even erase magic power bestowed upon magic tools, as the runes carved onto the collar disappeared.

“I had held myself back from meeting Dick for many months. I could sense that Dick-san was still living healthily in the capital as usual, so I didn’t need to meet him, which means I can live without meeting him.”

“…Oh, okay. But doesn’t that mean you know whenever Dick’s going outta the capital?”

“T-That’s… yes, sometimes when we’re acting as the Masked Saviors outside the capital, Dick-san comes to watch us in case anything happens, so…”

“Huh? Really? Geez, even though he usually acts like he hates going outside. He’s so nosy, a super-good cook, and never refuses anything I ask him for.”

“Yes, he is like that, so not being able to see him for some time does make me feel sad. Which makes me glad Father and Mother gave me their permission to go to his guild now.”

Eileen felt that Yuma, just like herself, also missed Dick.

Unconsciously, Yuma once again put Dick at the center of her actions. Eileen felt like nothing had changed since the day they first formed the subjugation team, her chest filling with warmth.

“I was thinking about letting Mylarka take the lead, but we’re both still young gals, so we can’t stay passive forever, don’tcha think?”

“…? What do you mean by that?”

“Nah, nothing…”

As she gave a casual reply, Eileen sensed that Mylarka and Dick were fighting against the enemy from the magic earrings.

“Ah… Dick-san feels nervous. As he said, there might be somebody in [White Aries] who are equal to us in rank…”

“Yeah, we gotta hurry. Umm, did we need to do something else here?”

“We can leave the rest here to Dick-san’s guild. Let’s go towards First Street immediately.”

“Do you want a piggyback, Yuma-chan? Or maybe a princess carry?”

“U-Um.… I’ll take the piggyback ride.”

Eileen took Yuma up on her back and leapt outside through a window. With her jumping prowess, jumping all the way to a building on the other side of the street wasn’t that difficult.

“Make sure you leave some for me, Dick!”

“Y-Your jumping power is impressive as usual, Eileen-san… Ah!”

Yuma clutched onto Eileen tightly even though she knew she didn’t need to. Eileen carried her so steadily that she felt so much more comfortable than on any other vehicle she had ridden.

Winding the clock a few hours back, when Dick and Mylarka had just arrived at [White Aries]…

As they controlled eight guilds, [White Goat]’s guild grounds was the largest out of every other guild. By land area alone, it rivaled even the Magic Academy.

[Hiding] was effective even against multiple people, so I went through the main gate without any problems. Mylarka was already used to seeing my magic in action, so she boldly walked past a guard without much worry, confident in my magic.

Inside the grounds, there were trees grown in thickets. On the other side of them must be the guild headquarters.

“Your [Hiding] even hides the sound of us talking, huh… Upgrading magic like this, your abilities are as impressive as usual, Dick.”

“It’s rare for a compliment to come from you, Mylarka.”

“If it’s something worth a positive evaluation, then I will give it a positive evaluation. There’s no point to be stubborn over something like that.”

That blunt nature of hers must be one of the things that made her students look up to her. Studying under someone who gives you praise when you’ve earned one must be nice, I thought.

“That said, I still think my plan of throwing out every guild member from the guild grounds and then having the Professor Mylarka use Annihilation magic would’ve been the simplest way to do this.”

“If I were to do something as brutish as that, my guilty conscience would still take a hit even if I weren’t found out. I want to live my life with pride.”

“I agree… Stop, Mylarka.”

Seems like we were found out. Well, that’d happen sooner or later, I guess.

With [Hiding], I could stay hidden until I attack, even against an S-ranked enemy.

But if an S-rank adventurer increased their combat power by some means to the same level as an SS-rank, then it’d be a whole different story. Or alternatively, the enemy, the SSS-rank just like us, had a way of sensing intruders, and they notified their subordinates of us. It’d make any kind of stealth strategy useless.

“You thought we wouldn’t notice if you used the trees as cover? Fool!”

Two pairs of adventurers, two men and two women, stood guard around the headquarters. The two men were vanguards; all four of them possessed power equal to S-rank—As we expected, it wasn’t possible for them to mass produce Clive-level adventurers even using enhancement magic.

The power level of enhancement magic goes up in accordance to the caster’s own abilities. A-ranks could enhance themselves to S-rank—In my weighted state, I could only enhance someone’s combat power by 3,000.

However, the enemy’s enhancement user clearly could give more than that.

As I thought, it’s definitely her… It’s hard to believe that there’s anyone else who’s at her level in enhancement magic.

But what if the one waiting for us up ahead wasn’t her? That would annoy me so much, having made me worry to this extent, but at the same time, I’d welcome that outcome gladly.

“Where do you think you are? Don’t think you’ll get off easily, trespassing into [White Aries] grounds!”

The middle-aged man looking around 30 years old—a brawny [Breaker]²—charged towards me through the trees.

So he’s using a magic weapon… It’d be a pain to [disperse] it. So, I’ll just…

“Uwooooh!”

The Breaker raised his hammer high up, and came slamming it down on me so mightily that it seemed like the handle was stretching. He used a skill called [Bone Crush], which is a blunt attack aiming to break bones; a basic Breaker move. Though bluntly speaking, it’s a pretty nasty way to fight.

But things would only go nasty if I got hit. Having decided to not receive it using my weapon, I simply dodged it.

As the hammer is a heavy weapon, he left a large opening after the attack. If he didn’t think of what to do after he gets his attack evaded, then this would’ve been the end—which I hoped to be the case.

I didn’t attack the man who was full of openings. Instead, I took some distance, unsheathed my sword, and casted [Spirit Blade].

“Would’ve been nice if you took the bai- Gh!”

“No need for you to reveal your tricks. It won’t do you any good if you keep relying on other people to buff you, just so you know.”

There is an enhancement spell that could reflect a single physical hit you take. [Spirit Reflect]. One could cast enhancement magic on one person many times, as long as they were different types of enhancements. To get rid of that enhancement, I shot a magic-enhanced coin towards the Breaker. The coin was reflected back, and I stopped it with my hand.

Teacher… Is it really you? Back then, you never seemed to be so obsessed with me… and yet…

“What’s wrong with using someone else’s enhancements?! I won’t let you interrupt that person’s plans!”

Teacher could easily entrance the hearts of people, taking control of them. She attempted that when she first met me as well.

But she was always so whimsical, refusing to be restrained by the concepts of good and evil, and always acted how she wanted to.

“I hold your kindness in high regard, Dii-kun, but at the same time, I want to trample you and mess you up under my foot. I love you so much that I hate you and want to break you.”

Her words resurfaced in my mind.

Should I have gone to see Teacher at least once back then? But if I did, I might become just like these people in front of me, without their sense of reason.

“You’re not focusing at all, Dick. I’ll handle it, so try to get your concentration back quick.”

— [Wide Area-form Annihilation style #10 – Earth-rending Crushing Field] —

“Wha…?!”

One man was trying to attack me, one woman was about to shoot magic towards us from afar, the other man threw short swords from behind shrubbery—and it seemed like the last woman was a healer.

Ignoring the distance between their vanguard and rear guard, Mylarka’s magic field expanded from her feet, reaching their rear guard instantly. An instant later, the ground caved, transforming the terrain.

“Uwoooh?!”

Inevitably, the large man could do nothing but yell—the ground below him caved, putting his two legs on uneven footing. Then, he was brought up extremely high, high enough to be called a steep cliff.

I chose to defeat them using coins, taking advantage of their surprise—though, any projectile weapon could’ve worked; it didn’t have to be coins. I casted [Spirit Homing] and shot coins directly to each of their heads. In case the other three had a reflect enhancement as well, I shot two coins each.

“With how much of a ruckus we’re making, there’s no more need to act stealthily, is there? Do escort me, Dick. I’ll annihilate anyone who appears.”

Looking at Mylarka saying that so proudly, I thought: Teacher isn’t the one that I want to follow now—Mylarka just seemed so dependable, as she said those words.

“…Sorry for that earlier, Milady. I won’t be hesitating anymore… Let’s go!”

Our thoughts synchronized, I carried Mylarka up in my arms, got up a nearby branch of a tree, and leapt—towards the roof of [White Aries] headquarters.

I no longer feared meeting my master. I had already decided on what to say when I reunited with the [Ashen Jester] again.

I won’t kill her. However, I will have her release [White Aries].

If I told her that, she’d certainly be infuriated. I’d need to calm her down, but that’d surely take a toll out of even me—though I don’t plan on being crushed by her either.

3 – The Moment of Reunion and the Unfulfilled Promise

As I leapt towards the building’s roof, more and more adventurers went out to welcome us with attack magic and projectile weapons.

“Do it according to that person’s instructions! They can’t dodge midair! Give ‘em your everything, lads!”

“[Fireball]!”

“[Icicle Lance]!”

Balls of flame and ice spears came flying towards us. Their elements weren’t in harmony, but if we didn’t do anything, we’d still take damage, as their attack spells were equal to S-rank.

Still in my arms, Mylarka analyzed all their spells in an instant—the enemy offensive ‘disintegrated’ the moment before they got close to us, a certain distance away.

— [Restricted Area-form Annihilation #90 – Absolute Boundary Field] —

There should have only been 80 restricted area annihilation spells, but she apparently created new ones up until 90. Some of them are useful in defense, just like the current one; it stopped the enemy’s attacks, both projectiles and magical attacks alike.

Amazing as expected. With this kind of magic, you wouldn’t need to fear even a whole kingdom’s army.

We weren’t so careless as to speak when in combat, so we communicated using the magic tool.

This works on every spell I know of. To save the effort of analyzing the enemy’s spells for each time I use this, I put several attack magic patterns in the magic circle. It takes about three more seconds to expand the magic circle compared to other spells, but I made sure beforehand that it is, in fact, applicable in real combat.

As we conversed mentally, I realized just how fast Mylarka could process information in her mind. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to memorize hundreds of magic circles and expand any of them whenever she needs them in battle

“W-What the hell is that… Our spells are disappearing before they even reach them?!”

“Impossible… We should be as strong as S-ranks now! We must’ve made some kind of mistake!”

Based on their conversation, it seemed like they hadn’t realized the ones raiding them were SSS-rank adventurers. The fruits of my low-profile life in the capital.

—But then, as they all panicked, I noticed something off.

She had predicted we would arrive from midair. Was telling her guild members to intercept us really the end of her plans?

Dick, they seem a bit strange… This is bad!

I immediately realized what Mylarka was trying to say. The enemy mages were preparing a second volley to intercept us—But something was off; the amount of magic they were about to fire was on a completely different level.

I don’t know this spell… To think they have magic other than spirit magic up their sleeves… No, wait, this is…

That power of theirs is borrowed. It’s [Spirit Actualize]!

I didn’t even need to guess. The enemy was clearly trying to provoke me.

She originally used Spirit Actualize to bring out my magic power, back when I still couldn’t use magic.

That spell completely changed my life. Before, I didn’t know how to keep my overabundant magic power in check, recklessly causing trouble for other people. It was the first spell I had ever learned. I learned it by having Teacher directly pound how to use that spell into my body—by letting her use my magic power to fire off spells.

However, the adventurers’ weapons surely weren’t strong enough to endure the pressure. Although they may be enhanced, as long as they originally weren’t even S-rank in prowess, then when they attempt an SSS-ranked spell, it wouldn’t end at exhausting their mana, but even magical power inversion, which would lead to fatalities—which was, to bring forth the extra magic power the spell needed, it would absorb the magic power of the people around the caster. It would even take the magic power they needed to continue living, which meant it would certainly not end well for them.

With a closer look, I saw that all the guild members who had come out of the building had a collar on each of their necks. They wouldn’t even bat an eye if ordered to kill themselves.

Did I really make you so mad that you find me unforgivable? Just because I didn’t come visit you?

Dick…?

Regardless if that was true or not, I mustn’t let them activate that spell. They had three mages; there was no other option but to sever their magic connection.

Without unsheathing my sword, I immediately shot magic blades at them—but I was still too late. Transmitting my thoughts to Mylarka, she expanded her magic circle to envelop the three mages and activated the spell, just like how I told her, without any hesitation.

Make it!!

— [Limited Area-form Annihilation #66 – Particle Dispersion Field] —

Mylarka expanded her magic circle although we were midair, and disintegrated the mages’ collars. It would’ve ended horribly if she were a bit slower and let them activate the spell. Truly splendid work.

The next moment, I landed with Mylarka in my arms and let her down. I then proceeded to continuously swing my sword at them while running past them, this time not with [Spirit Blade], but [Silence Rune]. With this, they wouldn’t be able to use their magic to interfere with us. Carving the runes directly like this gave them a short effect duration, but as long as it stopped them for a good few hours, it’d do.

“Guh…”

“Ugh…”

Their collars broken, their magic connection severed, the enemy members all collapsed.

“Thanks, Mylarka. That magic they tried to activate was seriously bad news.”

“No problem… They were using magic that even I didn’t know of, so I figured it was nothing good as well. That [Silence Blade] of yours or something or other, it’s really useful in situations like these.”

After saying that, she seemed like she wanted to bring something up. Before she could ask, though, I answered.

“The one we’re going to fight is the person who taught me magic.”

“The one who taught you magic…? But why would someone like that take over a guild like this?”

“She must’ve found out. Found out that I’ve become a guild master.”

“…So she took over a guild and committed crimes just because she is displeased with what you chose to do? That’s childishly irresponsible.”

It was only natural for her to feel that way, so I couldn’t refute any of that.

But common sense like that will never reach her. Because, she is one of us, one of the prodigious people only seen once every thousand years.

“’Take over’? Please don’t spout such slander. I just helped this guild ‘return to its former glory.’”

“…?!”

The “voice” came from behind us.

She went up to the roof, but not by going through the stairs in front of us.

‘Then how did she get up here?’ you might ask.

She used teleportation magic, without a teleportation magic circle. She certainly could do that—As she did the same thing back during our first meeting, appearing abruptly in front of me with an impish smile.

She pretty much hadn’t changed at all from back then. The self-proclaimed ‘immortal’; she proved that fact with this reunion, after five long years.

Entrancing blue eyes, as beautiful as the sky itself. Her long, silver hair, billowing in the air, was bathed in light. It was as if her entire body emitted light—but not in the same sense as Yuma.

The light she radiated felt cold, unfeeling, causing the people who feast their eyes on it to go crazy. Thanks to that fact, I never asked for her name, and just called her “Teacher.”

“Did you come here accompanied by the [Sweet Disaster] because you knew I’m here? Did you think you wouldn’t be able to win alone, I wonder? Even though your body grew up, it seems like your heart still remains as small as ever.”

Her smile was disdainful, yet, it was pure without a shred of maliciousness. That contradicting feeling swirled inside of me.

Her presence felt terribly nostalgic. But at the same time, it was heart-wrenching.

“Why are you donning a mask? You know it’s meaningless to hide your identity in front of me.”

“…Yeah, you’re right. I should’ve taken it off before meeting you.”

I took off my mask and passed it to Mylarka, who took it without saying anything.

Teacher, seeing my face, was delighted—Regardless, I had to bare everything in front of her.

In order to straighten all the misunderstandings she bore against me.

“You really haven’t changed at all, Dii-kun. You’re still the same you that I remember. Now, why are you continuing to lie to yourself, continuing to protect this failure of a kingdom?”

The me from back then thought of her as being so accomplished I could never match up to her. But now that I’ve at least grown taller than her, I feel like I could catch up someday.

Still, even though we were close enough I could close the distance in a single moment, I didn’t feel like I could lay a finger on her. She just felt so far away.

“Sorry, but I’m no longer in a position where I can let you continue treating me like a kid.”

“No need to act tough. You felt nostalgic the moment you saw me, didn’t you? You’d forgive me no matter what kind of wicked deeds I’ve done, wouldn’t you? I know, because you’re trying to accept me as who I am.”

“…I’ve been staying silent, but you really run your mouth, don’t you? Although you are Dick’s Teacher, the crimes you’ve done isn’t something I can overlook. Are you planning to throw the kingdom into chaos?”

Though Teacher was being questioned by Mylarka, her smile didn’t wane one bit. She casually, defenselessly, walked towards us.

“Don’t come any closer. I’ll attack you if you get any closer.”

“If you’re a spatial magic user, then you should be able to use some kind of teleportation magic circle, with guidance. Would you like me to teach you? I imagine Dii-kun can use it as well by now. Let me teach you, like how I taught him. Otherwise, there’s no way you two can defeat me, after all.”

Saying that confidently, she of course had enough capabilities to back up those arrogant words.

Teacher had always been kind only to me.

Back then, she said words that left a curse on me. “Make sure to kill me one day, once I’ve found happiness.”

“…Why is your heart broken? Back then, I never asked for your name because I felt I was never particularly interested, and I felt I wasn’t qualified to ask because I was still weak. However, that’s no longer true now.”

“Really? You still can’t even ask me for my name now and you dare say that you’re changed?”

Those eyes always seemed to see through anything. She only ever showed a trace of ill will in her smile when teasing me, which I honestly didn’t like.

Though the neat clothes under her cape made her look divine, the darkness in her eyes was so strong it felt as if it was sucking me in. But most surprising of all, she had a choker on her neck—must be the main body of the dominating collars, the collar she used to control others.

If I asked her why did she make the controller something that is similar to the collar, I’m almost sure she would say, “If one desires control over another, then that means they themselves are being controlled by their desires.”

“Fufu… I see. Looking at these people with their connection to magic severed, I suppose Dii-kun really hasn’t forgotten about me at all. You still remember everything I taught you.”

Teacher continued to prick at me while Mylarka watched.

Back then, I believed I was strong, strong enough I would never lose to anyone. Teacher was the one who fixed that arrogant misunderstanding for me.

She pinned me down, and said she will teach me the beauty of people and the most repulsive part of them as well.

I couldn’t recall what she told me at that time. Most of the memories I had with her were all things that I wouldn’t want to remember.

Mylarka was staring at me worriedly. Causing her to make that face made me realize just how pitiful of a man I really was—But still, the me right now isn’t the same as the one Teacher was describing.

“…Actually, I forgot about that until you brought it up. I’ve got a life to live here, too, you know.”

“Well, I haven’t. I haven’t forgotten it even once, so Dii-kun surely hasn’t either. I made sure to teach you to be that way.”

“Dick, you don’t have to continue talking with her. It doesn’t matter what kind of connection you two shared.”

Mylarka had gathered her mana so that she could expand her magic circle at any moment. Will it be Annihilation or Destruction magic? Though she was readying attack magic, Teacher wasn’t showing any signs of panic.

“Dick isn’t your property. Are you perhaps trying to take control of him? What a shame, this guy isn’t so weak as to obediently do what you say.”

“Nobody can tear apart the bond between me and Dii-kun. After all, he’s still using the spells that I taught him.”

“And so what? There’s no fact that says the disciple can’t surpass the master.”

“Mylarka, calm down. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

“…Dick.”

I drew my sword. Seeing that, Teacher drew the sword at her waist as well. As she could wield any sword with so much force that it’d be an effective weapon even if it wasn’t heavy, she always used a thin-sized sword.

The sword was a [Fairy Sword], made out of rare materials. Highly compatible with enhancement magic, it is the most suitable sword for magic users that I know of.

I once thought of getting that sword as well, but then I realized I didn’t need to.

Why? Because I could do the same to a regular sword. But whether I could enhance one well enough to surpass the [Fairy Sword], that would need some live testing.

I learned of both magic and swordsmanship from Teacher. I had to surpass her no matter what.

As long as I haven’t surpassed her, Teacher’s time will stay still. She’d be stuck thinking that I haven’t changed at all, that I was still easily manipulated.

The me from the past was no longer here. I had gone off on my own and left Teacher alone. And I didn’t plan on going back to her either.

“With this sword, I can stab you, heal you, and stab you again without worrying about killing you… With this method, I taught you how to use healing magic, how a battle to the death feels like, and how to wield the blade. Come, Dii-kun. We’ll train just as we used to.”

“Sure, but this isn’t some mock battle. We’ll fight while actually trying to kill each other. Otherwise, you won’t realize anything.”

“…You’re the one who hasn’t realized anything, Dii-kun. Why won’t you listen to me?”

“Gh…”

Even Mylarka took a step back, faced with her aura. An SS-rank adventurer would’ve been overpowered for at least a moment.

Back when I still trained under her, I felt the same.

But after going on the demon lord subjugation trip, I had changed.

The battle commenced without a sound. Teacher rushed towards me, her Fairy Sword glimmering faintly. She launched her first attack, [Spirit Blade]. I countered with the same, to which we neutralized each other’s attacks. She then launched her second attack, casting [Spirit Blade Attack Rise], and fired off many magical blades. I had predicted she would do that, and countered with the same amount of blades. Our magic blades clashed and repelled each other. I jumped back in order to not get caught in it. Teacher noticed I was vulnerable, and activated [Teleport] to get behind me.

Bye-bye, Dii-kun.

Mylarka screamed from afar. You don’t need to worry about me that much, you know?

I could feel vicious killing intent coming from behind me. The thrust sword easily tore apart my defense enhancement. But, the moment right before it stabbed through my heart.

I activated the [Teleport] I had set up before exchanging blows with her and got behind her.

With a sword thrust right behind her back, Teacher stopped moving. As expected, she hadn’t lost her cool.

“Maybe you’re misunderstanding something. I never said I couldn’t teleport myself.”

“Dick!”

Mylarka sounded impressed. Seeing her relieved was a pretty rare sight to see.

But things weren’t so easy as to end with just this. Teacher activated teleportation magic and took some distance. If I tried to attack her now, it’d just end up as the exact repeat of what had just happened.

“…Good job. If you died from just that, then that means I must’ve failed as your teacher.”

“I’m glad I could meet your expectations. But please stop going easy on me, Teacher.”

I’m no longer the same me from five years ago. To make Teacher realize that, I had to win—no matter what.

4 – The Limit of Growth and Limit Burst.

The first time I got my hands on a teleportation crystal, I researched the basic principles behind how it worked.

Back then, I couldn’t ask Mylarka for help as easily as now, so I had Verlane help me instead, and discovered several things.

First. A single magician can’t use long-range teleportation by their own power. Long-distance teleportation is based on a completely unique principle, and cannot be used easily.; hence why teleportation magic crystals are so preciously sought-after.

But in the case of short-range teleportation, then even I could do it, as long as I ignore the fact that it burns through mana like crazy.

“Did you learn teleportation from analyzing a teleportation magic crystal too, Teacher?”

“Fufu… I see, so we thought to do the same, Dii-kun. I had many teleportation crystals, after all. But regardless, I don’t remember ever teaching you how to analyze magic items.”

“You taught me the basics, Runes. Thanks to that, I could read and find out how they work.”

“As I thought, Dii-kun truly is special. [Stellafact] runes aren’t something any regular kid can read, even if they were taught the basics of runes.”

Teacher praised my abilities highly. Which ironically enough, is because we exchanged blows in a real fight. I kept myself from giving a joyful smile by using [Spirit Limit Hold], as it could limit my emotions as well, not just my abilities.

“Stellafact… So teleportation magic is a Stellafact spell.”

“This kingdom’s ruins don’t go too far down. You acted reserved and didn’t request the kingdom’s investigations division to help either, yes? If only you went far down enough, then you’d understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

“…Why are you telling us that now?”

Mylarka shot her a question. She didn’t interrupt my and Teacher’s exchange from earlier, but now she was concentrating hard enough to be able to expand her magic circle at a moment’s notice—her concentration was so intense I could feel it on my skin.

But both me and Teacher excelled at cancelling the enemy’s spell. Using a magic circle to fight her will be harsh.

“I’m certain Dii-kun will come back to me no matter what. I am planning to teach him anything he wants to know.”

“Saying that when you tried to kill him just moments ago… I know I’m not in any position to say this, but your ‘love’ is twisted.”

“Fufuh… True, you certainly aren’t in any position to say that. You ran away from Dii-kun, potentially letting him go to someone else, and hurt him in the process. Yet, you still go to his little bar several times afterwards to see him.”

“Kh…”

“Mylarka. Don’t bite the bait. She’s just trying to throw you off.”

Just how much does she know of us? The answer to that is, it wouldn’t be strange for her to know everything.

Teacher could learn anything she wanted to know. It was one of her abilities.

My information network was made thanks to my guild members’ hard work. But in Teacher’s case, she could prowl anyone’s memories, as long as they were close enough—which meant she could earn a massive amount of information just by staying in the capital for a few days.

Which was why she knew that I never actually tried to kill her. I casted [Mind Guard] on myself and Mylarka to prevent our thoughts from being read again, something I should’ve done from the start.

“How kind you are, Dii-kun. I still remember that time you desperately tried to heal that injured wyvern, even though it attacked you.”

“And you were the one who healed me back then.”

“Yes. Because you just seemed like such a big fool, Dii-kun. Remember that right now, you’re only alive because of a whim of mine.”

“You, just how far are you trying to bring him down?!”

When I thought she was praising me, she then proceeded to insult me. Back then, I just thought that I was too much of a child to understand what she meant, as she was an adult.

“Be it a whim or whatever, you recognized me and took me in as your disciple. So I have to stop you, no matter what.”

“…Then let me say one thing. [Azure Sagittarius] and [Violet Scorpio] were both already corrupt before I took control. They were left to rot, didn’t receive any jobs to support their adventurers, and weren’t able to procure any new jobs either. The guilds in this kingdom need to be culled in half, as half of them are defunct.”

“Why do you know so much about the guilds? Also, what did you mean by ‘return it to its former glory’?”

I already more or less knew the answer to that. It was the reason why she is called [Ashen Jester].

Why were the twelve guilds named after colors?

Were there really only twelve guilds? No, there weren’t.

But I never thought Teacher was directly involved in the reason why there were twelve now. I should’ve been able to at least guess that, but I never tried to think of things to be related to Teacher.

“I’ll tell you if you win against me, Dii-kun. Mere magic circle-based spells won’t be able to touch me, so don’t interrupt us, understand?”

“What…?!”

“The only one who can land magic attacks on her is me. It’s better if you don’t waste your trump cards on her, Mylarka. Just how you can analyze the structure of materials, she can analyze the structure of magic, and nullify it on the spot.”

“Ugh… That’s just impossible! There’s no way my magic circle could be analyzed and nullified in an instant!”

Teacher knew I could do the same things she could, but didn’t tell Mylarka. Still, she’ll know by watching our battle anyways.

“In the demon lord subjugation team, I suppose the most troublesome one for me would be the ogre girl. Her quick, powerful attacks are among the strongest that I know of. The knightly child and you, magic circle girl, can be dealt with simply. The Sword Spirit might pose a problem, but I can cope with it… using this.”

If it was her, then it wasn’t out of the question. But seeing that shield in person like this, all I could say was that it’ll be troublesome to deal with.

She summoned the [Shield Spirit], one of the one-of-a-kind unique spirits in this world—which boasts absolute defensive powers—then turned it into a shield, and equipped it on her arm.

I once saw an ancient mural that depicted a goddess holding that very same shield she was holding right now. Teacher held a [Fairy Sword], not a spear like that goddess, but I couldn’t help but recall that old memory of mine.

“She summoned a shield out of nowhere… There’s other spirits than the Sword Spirit that can do something like that?”

“There exists an Armor Spirit as well. You should try to procure one of these if you still want for more power. After all, my defenses are quite weak, although I’m still an SSS-rank.”

I stayed vigilant although Teacher showed no signs of attacking. Then, she suddenly launched a slashing attack towards Mylarka with her [Fairy Sword], to which I countered by teleporting in-between them, flinging the slash back.

“To think you would act so rashly for her. Dii-kun, she really is special to you, isn’t she?”

“…I didn’t feel any killing intent in that attack. So this woman really doesn’t have any emotions…”

“I don’t remember her being like this. Teacher, could you please not do that?”

I kept a close watch on Teacher until Mylarka retreated further back. I could see the flow of Teacher’s magic changing whenever she activated a spell—and I could even pinpoint what kind of spell it was.

“You won’t be able to break this shield. I, too, tried to break this once before, but failed. So it’s impossible for you, Dii-kun.”

It seemed as though she had already fully grasped my power level.

But I still haven’t released my limiter. Though, I couldn’t tell if she knew that or not.

Still, there was no way she didn’t have any plan B. Teacher was definitely hiding some kind of ace.

“Won’t know for sure till I try. I can still beat you without breaking that shield, anyway.”

“That’s impossible with your current level of magic power. Especially when you’re moving so slowly.”

Wrong.

In these five years after I left her, I never found out.

In these five years, the intimidating air around her and her magic power didn’t change at all. Though, never did I imagine it was because she actually didn’t get stronger at all.

After subjugating the demon lord, I invented a way to constantly train my body, by constantly applying a limiter. The Limit Burst was the result of releasing that limiter.

She didn’t know of that training method. She likely never sought to get stronger.

If she never thought of increasing her power, which was already equivalent to SSS-rank, any further than that, then my theory would make sense.

“…Stop, don’t look at me with that look.”

My thoughts weren’t leaking, I knew that for sure. Regardless, Teacher started acting strange just looking at my face.

“Why are you looking at me with pity in your eyes? I don’t remember you being that kind of boy, Dii-kun. You were weaker than me and always followed my footsteps. I want you to stay that way, forever.”

“I’m not pitying you or anything. It’s just that, I realized the current me won’t lose to you, Teacher.”

“…On what basis? There’s no way you can defeat me, not when your movements are so constrained. Not when you don’t plan on killing me.”

I wasn’t being constrained by anything at all. She believed that I was the same as I was before, and thought I would still come back to her after all this time. That was all just her delusion.

I’ve come this far to tell her that she’s wrong. I hoped she would have forgotten about me by now. I hoped she would’ve continued wandering the world, moving to the next place the wind brought her, without a care about anything else just like before.

“You can’t break this shield, nor will you be able to land an attack on me, Dii-kun. You are-“

In the middle of her speech, I teleported right in front of her.

I started drawing my sword the moment I teleported, so I could attack the exact moment I arrived.

“Gh…!”

Teacher blocked my attack using her shield, and for the first time, let emotion show on her face. Looking at her up close like this, it really seemed like time stopped for her. She still had the looks of a girl in her youth.

It was as if she was stuck in her youth. If she really is immortal, then she would stay at this age forever—unlike us, she couldn’t age.

“I waited forever for you in that village… I planned to make you fulfill your promise, in the same place I taught you how to fight… but… Gr!”

After blocking my attack, her shield emitted a force field, attempting to blow me away.

That force field was one of the spells that the Shield Spirit could use. Though as long as I analyzed it in time and then activated Antimagic, it’d pose no problem.

I of course only had one way to increase my thought processing speed to make that possible. I needed to release the limiter I had on my body.

Even if it meant making Teacher herself feel despair for the first time in her immortal life.

— [Spirit Release – Limit Burst] —

With the limiter gone, I could use my full strength. The objects in my field of view looked warped, due to my enhanced natural abilities.

My thought speed sped up, I analyzed the Shield Spirit’s force field—the defensive field, and casted a spell to nullify it.

“Wh… Why… you can’t possibly be faster than me… It’s impossible for me to lose, and yet… Gh!”

“…You told me to kill you, right? Then don’t complain.”

“You’re supposed to be my property! But why, why are you…?!”

She was interested in nothing but me. She had been this way ever since she met me.

I used Eileen’s move, which I learned from one of our spars, and put a spin to it to be more effective in this specific situation.

— [Shadows of Asura – Thousand Slash Strike] —

I used magic power to create ‘real’ afterimages, ones that had an actual physical aspect, and attacked. It was one of the secret techniques of the Shuperia Style Martial Arts.

Combining that with Teleportation magic, I launched afterimages that sent wave after wave of slashes all around her, enhanced with [Spirit Blade Attack Rise].

“Gh…. Kyaaaa!”

Now that she couldn’t use the shield spirit’s defensive field, she could only block the vast amount of attacks using her shield.

Which was impossible. But she managed to successfully deflect the first 100 or so attacks. But eventually, she grew fatigued and became overwhelmed by the rain of blades.

“Dick… That’s Eileen’s…”

“My own skills aren’t too strong on their own. So I asked her to teach me this just in case.”

“…But your Adventurer’s Strength isn’t just barely above 100,000 like ours. Even with the four of our scores combined…”

“You’re exaggerating. My abilities aren’t anywhere near as strong as the original, Eileen’s. It’s just that I’m kinda good at everything, an all-rounder, so it gives me a lot of options to choose from in battle.”

Mylarka just smiled, not knowing what to say. Looking at her make that face made me feel really bad.

Even if Eileen found out I could use one of her secret techniques, She probably wouldn’t be too surprised. Though I could use her [Shadow of Asura – Thousand Flash Strike], it was only 80% as effective as the original.

“…Kgh… Ugh…”

Battered from the rain of attacks, Teacher got down to one of her knees. She tried to stab me with her [Fairy Sword], but in my Limit Burst state, each one of my strikes were heavier than usual, and they struck her blade, chipping it away.

Her shield that held enough power to block [Light Blade] was also damaged horribly. It was so horribly damaged it lost its original shape, which was of a polished mirror, but her damaged shield was gradually returning to its original state—the Shield Spirit must’ve had a self-repair ability.

The copycat [Light Blade] I used was able to damage that shield, though whether it could fully destroy the shield was uncertain. One thing I knew for sure though, my Spirit Blade was strong enough to be able to cross blade’s with Cody’s [Light Blade] without breaking.

As the battle ended, everyone arrived: Eileen with Yuma on her back, Cody, and even Verlane. I immediately sheathed my blade and put the limiter back on my body, though they managed to catch a glimpse of my limit-broken stat, much to my dismay.

“Dick… And here I was thinking you were having a close fight over here, but you defeated her without taking even a scratch.”

“Just now, looking at Dick gave me the shivers… Explain to me what happened later, ‘kay?”

“Dick-san, so that woman is [White Aries]’s… Oh, her clothes are a mess…”

Giving the panicking Yuma a sidelong glance, Verlane untied her apron as she walked towards Master, and covered her body. I didn’t cause any deep wounds to her, I only chipped away at her defenses and exhausted her magic power, so she wasn’t bleeding buckets or anything.

But I surely did ruin her equipment. It wouldn’t be wrong to say she was butt-naked under that apron, with how much of a bad state her armor was in.

Verlane leaned in to look at Teacher from her side, seeming to have figured something out from looking at her.

“…To think that Master’s Teacher would be one of ‘them.’ Even I didn’t believe ‘they’ actually existed… and you even defeated her.”

“Them…? Do you know who she is, Verlane?”

Teacher was an adventurer with SSS-rank power, who loved wandering the world, and was deeply affiliated with [White Aries].

Not changing a bit since the old days, Teacher looked just like an elf, but she wasn’t. Verlane then told me the truth behind Teacher’s origins.

5 – The Guilds’ Origin and Her Secret

We decided to keep silent for a while and report what happened at [White Aries] to the officials on another day.

The knights, accompanied by the board’s officials investigated [Violet Scorpio] and [Viridescent Cancer], and confirmed that the things they did were against the law of the kingdom. The guild’s master and its members were all apprehended. Each one of them was to be questioned and given appropriate punishment.

[White Aries]’s guild master, Etna Veldor, didn’t submit to Teacher due to the effects of the collar, but voluntarily.

Etna Veldor told me the meaning behind Teacher’s title, the [Ashen Jester].

Long ago, the guild system didn’t exist in Albein. Adventurers accepted requests individually. Some even went on an adventure just to make a name of themselves or find some random treasure, without accepting any requests.

But then, 100 years ago, when the first adventurer with SSS-rank power emerged in the capital—Teacher—appeared, [Adventurer Guilds] started being formed.

Teacher named her guild [Ophiuchus]³, and assembled many excellent adventurers, clearing many requests from the kingdom’s citizens and nobles, which resulted in her becoming as loved as the king himself. As there was only one guild at the time, her guild had no appointed color. ‘Colorless,’ so to say.

I never imagined Teacher to have come from the capital.

Ten years after she formed her guild, Teacher suddenly disappeared without a trace. The adventurers, abandoned, were in turmoil.

With their charismatic leader gone, the leftover four SS-ranks and eight S-ranks formed guilds of their own, just like Teacher had done.

As the abandoned adventurers felt tricked, some of them began calling Teacher a [Jester], as she abruptly abandoned the group she created herself, seemingly on a whim; in other words, a fraud.

She was given the color of “ash” because the guild masters perceived the color ash to be inauspicious, dissuading anyone from choosing it. Hence, her title, [Ashen Jester] was born. And yes, even the guild masters never found out what Teacher’s name was.

Even then, without letting the other guilds realize, [White Aries]’s guild master still adored teacher. She didn’t bat an eye even as Teacher took over her guild, and continued to hold Teacher in benevolence.

Teacher didn’t even do anything to influence her to hold that belief. [White Aries]’s guild master held unbending faith that Teacher could take control over all twelve guilds and all of their adventurers anytime she wanted to.

[White Aries] firmly held onto the number one spot all to present that grand seat for its one true leader, Teacher.

Without knowing of that brewing plot, I made three guilds leave their alliance. I had been in their radar ever since I did that.

But after finding out of my true identity, [White Aries] didn’t try to crush my guild, instead, they strengthened their grip on the guilds they still controlled.

However, the times have changed. Ever since we subjugated the demon lord, the amount of monsters have clearly decreased, making the adventurers who mainly hunt for a living lose their source of income.

Consequently, [Violet Scorpio] and [Azure Sagittarius] dirtied their hands with dirty jobs. [Viridescent Cancer] was unable to stay afloat, and voluntarily accepted [White Aries]’s help, and were fully taken over.

What Teacher said was right: There was no longer any need for 12 guilds.

The one who needed the enslaving collar was [White Aries]’s guild master. She wanted to preserve her influence. Teacher complied with her request and made it—hence why Teacher wasn’t clean of fault. She put those collars on all of [White Aries]’s guild members and made them carry out an order that would burn through their lives.

Yet, I didn’t immediately bring her to the board.

I had something I wanted to tell her, even though it may be far too late for it now. I brought her back to my guild house.

As I couldn’t just ask Verlane to lend Teacher her bed, I let her sleep on mine after changing the sheets.

It had been around two hours since the battle ended, but she still has yet to open her eyes. That was only natural, after all, she used up her magic power to defend from my attacks. I could just supply her with some of mine, but I couldn’t just do that without considering her feelings.

Whether Teacher would accept me giving her my magic power.

Which resulted in now, I was just waiting for her to recover naturally, without doing anything.

I carried her here on my back—hesitatingly—which meant I still held some amount of respect for her.

Of course I would, because she taught me my way to live. She told me to ‘do what I wanted to do,’ when I left to subjugate the demon lord.

Now, I’ve found out exactly why she told me that. Because she fully believed that I would eventually come back to her.

Because I couldn’t make her accept that I truly, from the bottom of my heart, didn’t want to kill her.

“Master, I’ve brought refreshments. Would you like for me to take over?”

“No thanks. She can teleport away at any time. She might disappear if I don’t keep an eye on her. Thanks, though.”

“Your rare words of appreciation caught me off guard. It appears Master showing such weakness has its own set of charms as well.”

Switching to her demon lord tone, Verlane put the drinks on the table beside the bed. It was brewed using [Mishika] herbs, and had a calming effect.

In one gulp, the sticky feeling in my chest went away. Verlane smiled, and proceeded to switch out the compress on Teacher’s forehead for a new one.

“Verlane, back then you acted like you knew who Teacher really is. She’s not an elf, and I don’t know any other demi-human race that could live as long as she has. Just what in the world is she…?”

“There is a story of a certain race passed around between us demons, they possess overwhelming talent in magic, knowledge of all things, and eternal youth. They bring blessings if worshipped, and bad luck if resented.”

I already knew that much—but I didn’t know what they were called, nor where they came from, and what’s their purpose. Verlane seemed to know the answer to those questions. Looking at Teacher lying on the bed, she continued her story.

“She is likely one of [the Forgotten]. The people created by the Gods when they were still on this land, created as the spitting image of the Gods. She must be one of the very few who are still alive today.”

Back when I first saw the full extent of her abilities, I had a thought.

To me back then, she was pretty much a divine existence. She knew everything, and could do anything.

The face Teacher made when I told her that resurfaced in my mind.

She said, with an extremely lonesome look on her face, “To tell you the truth, there is one thing, just one thing that I cannot do myself.”

“…With how much of an eccentric she is, I’m not surprised. But [the Forgotten], just how long is their lifespan?”

“I assume they’ve lived since the first humans were born into this world, at the least.”

Every time Teacher asked me to kill her, I couldn’t understand why, picking me up and nurturing me just to make me kill her. Until now.

If Verlane’s words are facts, then that would mean the reason she created her guild in the capital 100 years ago was to find someone who could kill her. But she then judged that the chances of that were unlikely, and left without a trace.

Then, 80 years later, she found me in that very same kingdom, Albein. But why did she come back to the kingdom she once abandoned? I guessed she might’ve already ventured all over the world in those 80 years. But regardless, that was something I needed to ask the person in question to find out.

But now, it all clicked. Now, I finally knew why she wanted me to end her life.

Because she has lived for way too long. And if that one thing that she couldn’t do was take her own life, then it all makes sense.

“Still, I can’t grant her wish. I’ll tell her that as soon as she wakes up.”

“That is harsh. However, pulling your Teacher back to the right path if they ever stray from it could be said to be the duty of a disciple.”

“…A poor excuse of a disciple, mind you. I lied to her. And I kept up that lie until today.”

I’ll teach you everything you need to survive. In exchange, make sure to kill me once I’ve taught you everything.

It might seem nonsensical to you, but this is an earnest wish of mine.

After you fulfill that promise, you can be free. Until then, we are both bound to each other.

“From the start, I never once thought of fulfilling that promise. After separating from her to subjugate the demon lord, I… never intended to come back.”

I was squeezing the cold glass with enough force to crack it.

I had always looked away from it, just how big of a betrayal I committed against Teacher. I’m not going to let you die, I’m not going to go along with your illogical wish, were my thoughts

I had lived so carefree, thinking that I was making the right choice, without even knowing who or what she really was nor why she wanted me to do that. I continued with the mentality of doing anything that I deemed interesting, and lived my life the way I wanted, only thinking of my own happiness.

Even though everything I had, from knowledge, magic, to combat expertise, were all things I received from Teacher.

“…No need to blame yourself like that.”

Verlane put her hand over mine that still held the cracked glass.

Then, she hugged me from behind, as I was still sitting. A drop of tear trailed down my cheeks, even though I knew I had no right to pity her.

“I can see that you treasure her so very much, Master. And if so, then you only need to take things from step one once again. Although what she did may be accounted for as crimes, there has to be a way for her to atone for them.”

“…I’m the one who drove her to do this.”

“We, your friends and myself, will not stand by you taking the responsibility yourself. After all, I know how sincere of a person you really are, because we see each other every day. Therefore, I have no intention of staying silent and leaving you alone. Additionally, if this woman lying in front of us were to push you to such a brink, causing you to bear such an irreversible wound on your heart, then we wouldn’t be able to stay our hands.”

Though she seemed to be saying that in a joking manner, she was serious.

Her arms that wrapped around me were slender, but they felt as if they would never let go of me. They were filled with intentions that strong.

“If you have decided on what to do, then we will consent to it. Though she may have to bear part of the crime for the capturing and selling of beast-humans that Galumdoor enacted, the case with [White Aries] violating the law will be treated as them having violated the law by themselves. After all, they hoped for her to come back and assist them in their plans, correct…?”

“That’s… I still don’t know for sure. I’ll ask her after she wakes up.”

I imagine it’d still take quite a while to let her naturally recover, but I had no other choice but to wait.

Even if she would prefer me to end her life now, I couldn’t do that. Now, I no longer had the will to hurt her even more than I already have—Still, if that final spell I used against her had killed her, I surely would have regretted it all my life.

“Though unlikely, if by chance Master chooses to end her life, then I will do everything I can to oppose you. We have a few complaints to convey to her, after all. For example, ‘don’t ever pull any stunt like this on Master again’ and such of the same fashion.”

“…Just make sure to not go too far. It’ll be a pain in the ass if you girls got into a fight.”

“…Hm? I notice that there seem to be traces of you having cried, Master. Please stop acting so fragile. It’s already taking me everything to give you a hug like this, you know?”

Blushing, Verlane took out a handkerchief and brushed my cheeks with it.

If she were to wake up—I worried. But of course, that was unnecessary, as Teacher stayed unconscious. Instead, I sensed something strange from the walls behind me, prompting me to turn around slowly.

“…Hey, it’s not good to spy on others like this, you know?”

Mylarka, Yuma, Eileen, and a hiding Cody noticed I knew they were there and revealed themselves.

“We were worried whether to come here or not… but if we knew you were having this kind of important conversation then we shouldn’t have come, I suppose.”

“Hic… guh, Dick-san, you had it harsh, haven’t you? Such an important person to you wishing for you to kill her… On top of keeping it to yourself all this time… Hic.”

“How do I put this, I think she wasn’t being honest… I guess. I know I shouldn’t say things like that, but I think I’m right. But you defeated her, Dick. So she should be able to say her honest feelings now… Oh, sorry, don’t cry, ‘kay?”

“…Your worries are much more deep-seated than any of ours. You’re making me embarrassed for worrying over something so small like my gender… Don’t you think you’re being a bit unfair?”

Cody said that, but I couldn’t tell them exactly because they were my friends.

I planned to keep it myself until the day I die. But in that case, then that would mean I never did fully open my heart to my friends.

But now that they’ve heard it all…

Of course, even though I acted tough all the time by acting like my emotions were being ‘limited,’ I knew for sure that my face was going red right now.

“… Forget what you just saw, I wasn’t crying. My eyes just suddenly started hurting for some reason.”

Of course, the five of them didn’t buy that weak excuse. It was obvious, looking at their faces.

Even now I felt like laughing my face off, but then the four outside went inside the room, looking like they’d cry at any moment thanks to my sob story.

Verlane put her head beside my shoulder as she kept hugging me with a satisfied smile on her face, as if saying, “He’s mine.”

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1 Like this.

2 Written as a hammer-wielding fighter.

3 Ophiuchus is a large constellation straddling the celestial equator, commonly represented with a man grasping a snake.