Chapter 83

Chapter : 83

Agares tortured the bastard who had cut the back of his hand and obtained several pieces of information.

Among them, the most important piece of information was that the bastard knew almost nothing. A Masked Man had come to him and said he would pay him a huge sum if he wounded Agares in any way. Beyond that, he had told him nothing.

Agares heard how he had met that Masked Man, what he had looked like, and such, but none of it was particularly useful information.

When people were tortured, they spat out everything they knew and did not know.

They would pour out everything they could possibly say in order to escape the pain, so considering the bastard had insisted until the end that he did not know, it was probably the truth.

Agares clicked his tongue.

Thanks to the Artifacts hanging all over his body, he had confidence against most bastards.

But carrying the burden of always having to be careful with his body was a separate matter.

While he was in his territory, he added together various pieces of information.

Among those whose acquaintances he had killed or who had suffered great losses because of him, he narrowed it down to only those with enough power to lead a group.

“There were roughly three....”

Agares thought of their names and let out a long breath.

Suppose he found them all. And suppose he killed them all. Even then, it would only increase the number of his enemies. When he had possessed Amadeus’s power, it would have been fine. Whenever an enemy appeared, he only had to punish and destroy them.

That was not the case now. The probability of being wounded in the process was too high.

“So that was why.”

He had once wondered why people spent so much time solving with words what could be solved with a sword. Now he finally understood the reason. Because they were afraid.

‘What do I do about this...?’

Agares called Raphael and asked for his opinion.

“What would you do if you were in my situation?”

“First, I think identifying who is using people is a necessary task. Even if you do not retaliate. Is there a way?”

“I have around three guesses. In two cases, I killed people from their side, and in the remaining one, I took their territory because they failed to repay a debt.”

“Is there no way to find out which one it is?”

“If I go there and make a mess, one of them will turn themselves in. If not, they will report me.”

“So there is none. Then we have no choice but to change methods.”

Raphael once again asked about the incident where Agares’s hand had been cut and confirmed the details. After listening closely to Agares’s story, he spoke.

“In short, that means the other side still does not know that Your Grace has lost your recovery ability. Because you dealt with the man before he could pass on the information.”

“Exactly.”

“Then there is another method. Pretend you still have your recovery ability. How about pretending you have been wounded, secretly pouring a Potion over it, and acting as though it healed immediately?”

“Is that not too shortsighted a solution? Even if I do that, eventually, some bastard will notice, and even if not, it will be exposed someday.”

“It will work while you are at the Academy.”

“It might. But I need a more fundamental solution.”

Raphael muttered inwardly, How picky, then clicked his tongue.

“Then there is only one method. For those who suffered losses because of problems caused by profit, compensate them. For those with debts and grudges built up against you, visit them and apologize. Ask for forgiveness.”

When Agares’s expression began to rot, Raphael clicked his tongue as though he had known this would happen.

“You hate that, do you not?”

“Yes. That is a little....”

“Instead of that, how about you stay with me for a while? We listen to similar classes anyway.”

“That is too troublesome.”

“A day will come when you need my help as well. When that time comes, I will help you with all sincerity.”

Only after grimacing and scratching his head for a long while did Raphael accept.

“Yes, understood. Let us do that for a while.”

---

This semester was Agares’s last before graduating from the Academy.

There was less than half a year left, so it was not as though I could not understand why he would bother staying to graduate, but I still had complaints.

I did not know how impressive the power of the Artifacts he wore was, but they were not invincible.

If he stayed here, there would clearly be danger, so what was there that made him go out of his way to remain?

I went to Agares’s dormitory to pick him up. He smiled leisurely and waved a hand at me.

“I was waiting.”

“Yes....”

Today made it one week.

This was not something I could do forever. If we could not find a proper path, I might have to do this all semester, and just imagining it was dreadful.

When I consulted Ian about this, he said,

“Just say no. What obligation do you have to do that for him?”

“I know. I wish I had the guts to say that.”

“I will look for a method. Wait a little.”

“Please do it as quickly as possible.”

“I will, even if you do not nag me.”

---

“When this semester ends, I will probably take a break from work for a while. So I will teach you a few things you can train on your own.”

In the past, swordsmanship had poured as much effort into moving the feet as into moving the sword.

Depending on where the weight axis and center of the body were placed, movement changed, and the power of attacks changed.

However, this trend had changed with the development of Mana Circulation Methods.

Rather than practicing techniques commonly called Footwork, it was more advantageous to perform more Mana Refinement and raise the body’s specifications themselves.

“The reason I have not taught you foot technique until now is because it is not the recent trend. But I cannot put it off forever.”

“Understood.”

“Still, for you, it will be more useful than for other kids. There is nothing like this when fighting someone at a similar level. That bastard Jefrin already seems to be using it properly.”

Katarina briefly explained Footwork to me and told me how to practice it alone. I trained exactly as she instructed.

The important thing was rhythm.

The focus was to shift the center of gravity naturally while making it impossible for the opponent to predict. I was practicing like that when Jefrin walked over from far away.

“I intend to leave the Academy for a while.”

“Again? Why?”

“It seems my growth has stagnated.”

“At your age, that is enough. Why is your goal so high?”

Jefrin glared at me as though asking what right I had to say that, then spoke urgently.

“It is all because of you. If you had been slacking off, I would have done the same.”

“Ahh, yes. Understood. Yes, in any case, I have to leave the Academy for a while, so regarding the matter I asked of you before, I ask you again.”

From the moment I heard his request, I thought something like this might happen. It was not an unreasonable request.

When I had room to spare, if Bishot was in danger, I would help.

With two conditions attached, it felt as though I would not need to do anything at all.

“I know. I remember.”

“Thank you.”

---

Jefrin left the Academy once again, and I was absorbed in practicing foot technique. Several days passed like that. Ian called me, saying he had found a method.

“I found a way to raise him up to a certain level, even if it will not be the same power he had before.”

Ian explained Agares’s body. His body had accepted Amadeus’s power for a long time and was filled with Dark Power.

His claim was that traces of Dark Power would still remain in Agares’s body, and if it was a matter of using Dark Power, he would be good at whatever he did.

“I do not think he wants to become a Dark Mage.”

“Yes, probably. But if he says he hates this and hates that too, then what does he expect us to do?”

He was right. If I had the courage, I would have said those words to Agares exactly as they were.

“He has already tasted bitterness after contracting with a Devil. He will hate that side. Even if it is a contract that wagers his soul instead of his body.”

“If there is no other choice, there is also the move of using Dark Magic without making a contract. No, to be precise, he has not learned Dark Magic, so he would be using Dark Power.”

“Can that be done?”

“Normally, no. Without a contract, there is no driving force, so he cannot generate the energy to use. But mages trade Dark Power with each other, so he can buy it and replenish himself.”

“Explain more.”

I heard about Dark Power from Ian. According to him, Agares had contracted with Amadeus and handled power using Dark Power as energy.

Because of that, the influence of Dark Power still remained in his body, and furthermore, he had ample experience using Dark Power, so if he only filled that energy back in, he could use power in a similar way to before.

No matter how much Dark Power Agares bought, he would not be able to produce the same strength as before, but this was enough that he no longer needed to be careful of nameless bastards from nowhere.

I went to Agares and relayed what I had heard from Ian.

“Hmm. That seems all right. I do not think there will be a better method than this, so let us do that.”

“Then I will accompany you only until today.”

“No, just a few more days. That auction house sounds dangerous from the brief explanation alone. You should accompany me at least that far.”

“Understood.”

I immediately visited an auction house selling filthy goods with Agares, but we could not obtain the large quantity of Dark Power we wanted.

For Agares to replenish his power in the long term, it would be best to make a contract with a supplier, but each supplier also differed in the quality of Dark Power they provided.

“You are suffering a great deal because of me. I am truly grateful. So please put in effort for just a few more days.”

In order to find a supplier that could regularly provide Dark Power, we often visited auction houses. It was in the middle of that that we were surrounded and threatened by a group. As though they had predicted we would come and prepared in advance, they were properly armed, and there were many of them.

I sighed loudly, making sure Agares could see it.

“I knew this would happen.”

“If you knew, why did you not bring escorts? Why are you alone?”

“Can you really joke even in this situation?”

I wondered where Agares’s composure came from. There were many enemies, and instead of swords, they carried Spears, Halberds, and the like. Even if they considered Agares a civilian, they knew I, a famous Sword Expert, was attached to him, yet they had still attacked.

“Let us join our strength and overcome this crisis!”