Chapter 29

Chapter 29. Wolf Blade (6)

Balun ultimately could not bring himself to ask for money instead of goods as compensation.

He felt too bad to say it.

How could he, when Philip had already gone so far as to order sturdy armor with Balun in mind?

Besides, Balun did not want to make crude demands in front of someone who was bowing and apologizing so sincerely, so in the end, all he could do was swallow the words, I would rather have money, and keep them to himself.

‘Ah, my money...’

Balun kept smacking his lips in regret.

He had given up on it, but the more he thought about it, the more it bothered him.

That was compensation for his life, after all. Even if he was mistaken, he should have gotten at least twenty or thirty gold...

“Balun, what are you thinking about so hard?”

“Hm? It is nothing.”

Philip’s sudden question cut through Balun’s thoughts.

“Come over here. I prepared the armor in advance for you. I hope you like it.”

Balun followed Philip to a warehouse at the rear of the guild grounds. Inside, in the most secluded section of the valuables storage, stood the armor Philip had prepared.

The moment Balun saw the leather armor draped over a wooden mannequin as tall as a man, his expression turned uncertain.

“This is it. What do you think?”

“It is not iron armor.”

“Ah, that is true. But you are a Barbarian. I heard barbarians do not wear armor made of metal, so I prepared leather armor instead. It is fine, is it not?”

“It is fine.”

It was not fine at all.

If he was going to receive armor, iron armor would have been better.

Plate armor, for instance.

The kind Knights wore in movies.

“I am glad you like it.”

“How is it any different from what I already have? Is it not the same thing?”

At a glance, it looked almost identical to the leather armor Balun was already wearing.

“Of course it is different. This is magic armor.”

“Hm?”

Balun’s eyes widened.

Magic armor?

“It costs well over a hundred gold per set. Impressive, is it not?”

“Gah.”

Balun swallowed hard at the price, which was even higher than he had imagined.

‘That scrap of leather costs as much as a house?’

Why was it so expensive?

Was it some kind of luxury brand?

“Ah, perhaps you may dislike it. Your people dislike magic, after all. I failed to consider that. In that case, perhaps I should prepare something else instead—”

“No!”

Balun shouted in a hurry.

“It is fine. I do not dislike magic that much.”

“What? Truly?”

“Truly.”

“That is a relief, then...”

Balun let out a sigh of relief.

He had nearly let a luxury-grade suit of armor slip away.

“Come, put it on.”

“Understood.”

Balun removed the leather armor from the wooden mannequin and tried to put it on, but he could not.

It was far too large.

He had never expected this.

Balun was already a large man, but for the armor to be even bigger than he was?

“Philip. This is too big. I cannot wear it.”

“Haha. That is normal. It has an adaptive fitting function.”

“Adaptive fitting?”

“Put it on and tighten the straps firmly. Then you will understand naturally.”

“Underst— Oh?”

Balun was startled.

Just as Philip had said, the armor shrank in size.

The loose leather armor tightened until it fit his body perfectly, and Balun could not help but marvel.

Something like this existed in the world?

“It was designed so that anyone who used it could wear it. It is the latest magical engraving technique. Well? Is it not remarkable?”

“It is remarkable!”

If this was not remarkable, then what was?

Not even Earth had anything like this.

And that was not all.

‘The fit is unbelievable.’

Leather armor usually felt uncomfortable.

But this leather armor felt no different from wearing an ordinary cotton shirt.

That in itself was astonishing.

How should he put it? It felt as though it had become part of his body.

“That is not all. It is as light as a scrap of cloth, so it is easy to wear, yet it is as sturdy as armor made of iron. Arrows will not even leave a scratch on it. You can move nimbly while still having strong defense.”

“That is good!”

Balun rapped the armor with his knuckles. The hard sound it made was like knocking on stone. It was definitely different from the one he used to wear.

The old one had always felt like it would sink in if he pressed on it.

“I like it. Thank you for the gift!”

Balun grinned in satisfaction.

The armor itself was excellent, of course, but more than anything else, it was expensive.

‘If it comes to it, I can always sell it. Even secondhand, it should still fetch at least dozens of gold.’

Unaware of the devious thought in Balun’s mind, Philip smiled warmly.

***

The third floor of Wolf Blade’s guild headquarters had lodging prepared for the guild members.

Philip gave Balun one of the rooms on that third floor and told him to use it for the time being.

“Can I really stay here?”

“Of course. There is no need to feel burdened. Stay as long as you like.”

“Is this not uncomfortable for you? No matter what, I killed your subordinates. There must be many who resent me.”

“It is fine. None of them will be able to voice any complaints. They have done too many wrong things.”

“That is true enough.”

As far as Balun was concerned, this was an unexpected stroke of luck.

Saving money on lodging was always nice.

“And besides, I was planning to clean house anyway.”

“Clean house?”

“You have to cut out rotten roots. If you keep them around, there is no telling what harm they might do.”

Philip then explained his plans to Balun.

He intended to overhaul Wolf Blade from top to bottom.

“When I looked into it, the state of it was appalling. Embezzlement was the least of it. They were threatening adventurers, collecting illegal protection money, controlling Workshop Street, even acting like the city guard. Tsk.”

As Balun listened to Philip’s detailed explanation, even he shook his head in disbelief.

The corruption was truly severe.

Of course, what organization existed without some corruption?

But the leadership of Wolf Blade had taken it far too far.

“I cannot stand by and watch that. That is not why I founded Wolf Blade.”

“Then why did you found it?”

“To hone the sword. And to help those who wished to do the same.”

Philip continued.

“I looked into it and found that our guild’s reputation had already hit rock bottom. I had been living blind.”

“......”

“But not anymore. I will set it right from now on. And to do that, I will have to stand at the forefront myself. I cannot continue as I have.”

Philip’s expression was solemn.

“Stay strong. You can do it.”

“Thank you for the encouragement.”

“I have one question.”

“What is it?”

“Are all the Knights in this world as upright as you are?”

Philip looked at Balun.

There was a serious question written plainly across his face.

Meeting that question, Philip let out a faint laugh and shook his head.

“No, they are not. I simply try to be.”

“I see.”

“I was a failed Knight.”

“Failed...?”

“I lost my liege on the battlefield. I witnessed death right before my eyes. I could not protect him.”

Philip spoke with a bitter smile.

“After that, I retired, settled in Pordel, and founded Wolf Blade. That is how I have been living ever since.”

“I see.”

Balun nodded.

This man’s story ran deeper than he had expected.

‘He seemed rigid, but he must have been quite an accomplished man.’

That would explain why he spoke of a liege and such things.

Honestly, he was a decent man.

If he were not, he would never have been able to apologize like this.

Nor take responsibility.

To take responsibility and to know shame.

That alone was enough to make Philip a true man.

“It haunted me that I could not protect my liege. So I neglected the guild’s affairs and did nothing but swing my sword every day. And yet I still lost to you.”

“Do not lose confidence. You are strong.”

“Do you truly mean that?”

“I do.”

Philip was skilled.

He was simply weaker than Balun.

“If you keep working hard, your efforts will bear fruit.”

“Then do you think I can become a Sword Master?”

“A Sword Master?”

Balun was momentarily flustered.

What was that?

‘If he is a Sword Master, does that mean he is some absurdly powerful swordsman?’

Of course, Balun knew what the term Sword Master meant.

He just did not know exactly how strong that was supposed to be.

“Of course.”

“Truly?”

“Certainly.”

He did not actually know, but he said so anyway.

He could hardly tell the man no in a moment like this.

“If you, who are stronger than I am, say so, then it must be true. That gives me strength.”

“T-that is good!”

Balun felt a little guilty for no reason.

He quickly changed the subject.

“I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

“May I use the training yard?”

“You mean the drill yard? Of course you may. As much as you like.”

“Good!”

Balun nodded in satisfaction.

‘While I wait for the Ego Weapon, I should do some focused training.’

He had realized many things during this battle with Wolf Blade.

Balun wanted to completely make those realizations his own.

There were several of them, but if he had to name one in particular, it would be the stomping attack.

That technique that shook the ground like an earthquake.

The very same technique that had drawn such intense curiosity from the mage Banet.

Until now, he had only used it unconsciously.

He wanted to practice it in earnest and make it his own.

***

After leaving Wolf Blade’s guild headquarters, Banet arrived at the Pordel branch of the Blue Magic Tower.

The rank-and-file mages and apprentices of the Blue Magic Tower welcomed him.

“Senior Mage Banet. You have returned!”

“Did anything happen while I was away?”

“Nothing major. Though there was one piece of news.”

“News? What news?”

“The people at the Red Tower succeeded with their latest secret project.”

Banet’s eyes narrowed.

It could hardly have been otherwise.

The Red Magic Tower was the rival of the Blue Magic Tower to which he belonged.

“If you mean the secret project, are you referring to the High-Density Mana Concentration Array?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it.”

Banet’s face twisted.

The Red Tower had succeeded in developing the High-Density Mana Concentration Array. Few pieces of news could have irritated him more.

“So they actually succeeded.”

“They say it cost them an astronomical amount of money.”

“That is no surprise. But is it not worth exactly that price?”

A Mana Concentration Array artificially gathered mana and increased the efficiency of meditation methods.

Simply put, if someone practiced Mana Cultivation inside a Mana Concentration Array, mana would gather more easily.

No matter how hard people had pushed the old Mana Concentration Arrays, their maximum efficiency had stopped at 1.8 times.

But the new High-Density Mana Concentration Array developed by the Red Tower reportedly boasted an efficiency of no less than 2.2 times.

It was a tremendous difference.

The efficiency gap was a full forty percent.

“And what about us? Still no progress?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“This is maddening.”

Banet scratched at his head furiously.

It was enough to drive a man mad.

Those wretched Red Tower people were making such excellent progress, so why was the Blue Magic Tower making so little?

“Should we not do something? At this rate, the Red Tower may overtake us.”

“Do not say aloud what is already obvious. It only makes me angrier.”

“Ah, my apologies!”

Suppressing his troubled thoughts, Banet brought up something else.

“There is an interesting research subject, at least.”

“Yes?”

“It may become the breakthrough that saves us from this crisis.”

“R-really?”

“That remains to be seen. At the moment, it is still only a hypothesis.”

“What is it? What is it that makes you speak so seriously, Senior Mage?”

“At Wolf Blade, I saw a Barbarian.”

Banet recalled what he had witnessed earlier.

The duel performed by the Barbarian named Balun.

The overwhelming sight of him marching into the guild alone and cowing everyone there.

And the monstrous strength and techniques he had displayed.

Banet had only stayed there because of the enormous support he had received, and he had never expected to witness something so valuable.

“That Barbarian displayed monstrous strength. And he did it without the movement of mana.”

“That is not especially unusual, is it? Barbarians are generally strong to begin with.”

“That is true. But this one was different.”

“How was he different, exactly...?”

“He tore chainmail apart with pure physical force.”

“What?”

The subordinate mage’s eyes widened.

“Is that even possible? He is not an Ogre.”

“That was not the end of it. There was more. He merely stomped his foot, and it caused an earthquake. Without even the involvement of mana. How should I put it? It was almost like Earthquake Magic.”

“What?”

The subordinate mage was utterly shocked.

And understandably so.

Earthquake Magic was a seventh-tier spell.

And yet he had produced an effect like that earthquake attack purely through physical force, without even the involvement of mana?

“N-no, is that possible?”

“Of course, it was not that powerful. But the effect was similar.”

Banet recalled the scene.

Balun had only stomped his foot, yet the ground had trembled in fine ripples, the earth’s mana had surged in response, and everyone standing there had staggered.

It had been close enough to a miniature version of Earthquake Magic.

The only thing missing was the earth splitting apart.

“I wanted to bring him back with me, but I failed.”

“Why did you not simply bring him?”

“I could not. The situation did not allow it. So I returned, but I still regret it.”

“He must have made quite an impression on you.”

“He did.”

Banet stroked his chin.

Desire stirred within him.

He wanted to bring Balun in somehow, no matter what it took.

His frustration lay in the fact that he could think of no way to do it.

“Does it not simply come down to bringing him in?”

“That is true enough. But how? He is extremely wary of us.”

“I will do it.”

Banet’s eyes widened at his subordinate’s words.

“You will?”

“Yes.”

“Can you do it?”

“I am confident. At the end of the day, he is still just a Barbarian, is he not? Winning over someone like that will be simple.”

“Hm.”

Banet let out a low sound.

Was he really just a Barbarian, though?

He had not seemed ordinary at all.

“If you are that confident, then give it a try.”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

“Do not try to browbeat him. Do nothing that would stain the honor of the Blue Magic Tower.”

“Well, of course not. Why would I do anything that would harm the Blue Magic Tower?”

With a face full of confidence, the subordinate mage clenched his fist.