Chapter 101 |
After stopping by Balheim, Kraush returned to the Green Pine Mansion, feeling as if he was coming home after a long time.
It hadn’t really been that long, but the incident with Agares must have made it feel that way.
“Mr. Kraush, you’ve worked hard.”
As Kraush returned, his butler, Aliod, bowed his head in greeting.
Since Lilish had kept the incident with Agares hidden, Aliod, who had heard Kraush was in the Holy Kingdom due to injuries, must have been quite anxious.
So, seeing Kraush return safely, he finally felt relieved.
“By the way, a letter arrived from the royal family.”
“I can pretty much guess.”
Kraush read the contents of the letter Aliod handed him.
The letter was simple.
[Remember our deal?]
The letter essentially told him to control the spread of information, as managing it had its limits.
Knowing how bewildered Hilnider must have been when he heard the news, Kraush smiled bitterly.
This incident had blown up while Kraush was trying to hide his identity.
There was nothing more to say.
‘But I won’t be leaving the Green Pine Mansion for a while. It should be fine.’
Kraush burned the letter with Ignis.
“Aliod, we’ll have a guest soon.”
“Shall I prepare a room?”
“Yes, please make it a cool room if possible. They’re even more sensitive to heat than Bianca.”
It was about Bianca’s soon-to-arrive mentor.
[There’s one more.]
At that moment, Crimson Garden, who had refrained from appearing as a crow during their time in the Holy Kingdom, perched on Kraush’s shoulder.
[They will help with your training.]
She had prepared for that as well.
Crimson Garden was always thoroughly prepared.
“Aliod, aside from the person I mentioned earlier, another guest will be coming. Could you prepare one more room?”
“Yes, I’ll prepare it.”
As expected of an excellent butler, Aliod got everything ready.
After the preparations, Kraush headed straight to the training ground.
As usual, Bianca trailed behind, sitting on a chair and opening a book.
Glancing at Bianca, Kraush turned his head forward.
There was a crow perched in front of him.
[Do you know what the advantage of the Heavenly Slaughter Star is?]
“Feeling murderous intent towards everything, which in turn enhances physical abilities.”
Additionally, it also intensified curses, but Kraush didn’t bother to mention that.
[If it were just that, would it be worthy of being called the Heavenly Slaughter Star? The greatest reason it feels murderous intent is due to its overwhelming power. It’s too strong, so it manifests as murderous intent.]
Crimson Garden seemed to know a lot about the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
[The Heavenly Slaughter Star consists of seven stars. It starts with the Heavenly Pivot Star (天樞星), followed by the Heavenly Jade Star (天璇星), the Heavenly Geomancer Star (天璣星), the Heavenly Authority Star (天權星), the Jade Balance Star (玉衡星), the Open Sun Star (開陽星), and ends with the Shaking Light Star (搖光星).]
One can control and restrain murderous intent only when they can handle all seven stars of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
[But only a few in each century can handle all seven stars. This century, it might be someone like your sister.]
As a result, those who possess the Heavenly Slaughter Star often succumb to their murderous intent.
Without the Sephira family of astrologers, Blavi, who possessed the Heavenly Slaughter Star, wouldn’t have been able to maintain his sanity.
[With your talent, you can’t handle all seven stars. You know this best.]
Kraush had come this far by devouring others’ abilities.
His own talent was still only half-baked.
[You will handle just three of the stars. Even that will be a close call.]
Fortunately, Kraush could suppress the murderous intent of the Heavenly Slaughter Star with the curse of the Doll’s Eye.
So, handling three out of the seven stars would be sufficient.
[The first one is the Heavenly Jade Star. This star has the strongest Yin energy and symbolizes the moon among the seven stars. It complements Lunar Body well.]
“You mean it can extend the limits of Annihilation Erosion.”
[Tsk, I honestly think not extending it might be better.]
Knowing what state Kraush ended up in after each use of Annihilation Erosion, Crimson Garden was not pleased.
However, leaving it unaddressed wasn’t an option, so she decided to teach Kraush about the Heavenly Jade Star.
[The second star to learn is the Heavenly Authority Star. It possesses the murderous and ominous energy of the heavens, enhancing the murderous intent of the Heavenly Slaughter Star the most. But it is also a star that selects and shapes geniuses into great people. It will be most beneficial in compensating for your lack of talent.]
It was the star Kraush needed the most.
To compete with those possessing numerous talents, he had to forcefully incorporate talent somehow.
[The last one is the Shaking Light Star. It has the power to create lightning. It will help you handle Lioner better than before. Moreover, this star is also known as the Breaking Army Star. It is the source of the power to defeat enemies and the inherent physical abilities of those with the Heavenly Slaughter Star come from it.]
After explaining the three stars, Crimson Garden spread her wings and soared upward.
[Your task is to master these three stars before entering the academy.]
If Kraush could master these three stars, there would be few who could match him at the academy.
With the summer gradually waning, there was less than half a year left.
In that time, Kraush had to master three of the Heavenly Slaughter Stars.
“I’ll be burning the midnight oil.”
[That’s your specialty, isn’t it?]
Indeed, it was the one thing Kraush excelled at.
Kraush drew Rain Thunder Prime, and a golden blade of light surged forth.
Simultaneously, black flames and thunder energy erupted.
“Let’s do this.”
Dogged determination was his forte.
＊ ＊ ＊
Despite the approach of early autumn, the late summer heat still lingered.
Bianca was once again reading a book by Kraush’s side.
Her recent reading had significantly increased as she sought to learn about the world through books.
Most of her recent readings were about world erosion or combat manuals.
There was only one reason she read such books.
To help Kraush, who walked into danger every day.
‘Mr. Kraush will get hurt again.’
Rather than just worrying and fretting over him getting hurt, she decided to become strong and help him.
When Bianca thought something, she acted on it immediately.
However, she also knew that just reading books wouldn’t make her stronger.
She tried to learn aura as described in the books, but her expressions showed confusion.
As the youngest lady of Hardenhartz, she was mostly neglected by her family and knew little about such matters.
‘When will Mr. Kraush’s mentor come?’
Bianca watched Kraush, who was covered in black flames and dripping sweat.
To master the Heavenly Jade Star, Kraush spent nearly every day trapped within the black flames.
Next year, Kraush would be going to the academy.
Thinking about that made Bianca’s eyebrows furrow.
She wanted to follow him desperately, but she couldn’t enter Rahelrn Academy because she wasn’t old enough.
‘If only I had been born a year earlier.’
As Bianca felt deep regret over being born late, her legs instinctively swung under the chair.
If she were the same age, she could attend the academy with him.
Instead, she had to be a year younger and separated.
Recently, Bianca had other concerns too.
There seemed to be an increasing number of women around Kraush, which kept bothering her.
She didn’t fully understand why it bothered her.
But it did.
Thinking about it made her chest ache.
“…I want to be the only one by Mr. Kraush’s side.”
Bianca, startled by her own words, covered her mouth.
It hadn’t been long since she regained her suppressed emotions.
So, she was surprised when her emotions briefly ran wild.
‘…Am I a greedy person?’
Wanting to be the only one by Kraush’s side.
Even though she said it herself, it was a surprising statement.
If Kraush had heard, he would have scolded her, so Bianca hurriedly calmed her racing heart.
Her heart was beating as fast as when she wanted to touch Kraush’s hand recently.
“Ugh, it’s so hot here. I hate it!”
At that moment, Bianca turned her head towards the sudden voice.
She saw a woman with blue hair, drenched in sweat, looking exhausted.
She had sweated so much that her skin was visible through her clothes.
The woman forced a smile upon seeing Bianca.
“Hello, little lady Bianca Hardenhartz, right?”
Seeing the suspicious person, Bianca quickly stood up from her chair and assumed a combat stance she had seen in her manuals.
The woman, finding her adorable, covered her mouth and laughed.
She looked like a tiny white chick, bristling with feathers in alertness.
“You don’t need to be so wary. I’m here to be your mentor.”
“Really?”
Hearing that, Bianca released her stance and ran over to her.
“I need to get stronger. Can you start teaching me right away?”
“Right now?”
Seeing Bianca’s enthusiasm, the woman sweated even more.
The woman, with skin as pale as Bianca’s, was from the Arctic Sea, a northern region filled with ice.
She had struggled through the heat to get here and would have liked to rest.
“Please, mentor.”
“Mentor, hmm.”
Having lived alone in the icy region, the woman was weak to the word ‘mentor.’
She then glanced at Bianca’s sparkling eyes.
‘Hmm, Crimson Garden said she was a stoic child.’
From what she saw, Bianca seemed far from being stoic.
The woman looked towards the blazing black flames.
A boy, who had sensed her presence as soon as she arrived, was within the flames.
Caw-
At that moment, a crow’s cry echoed from the sky.
Seeing one of Crimson Garden’s crows, she knew this was Kraush, whom Crimson Garden often spoke ill of.
‘I wondered what kind of child he was for Crimson Garden to criticize him so much.’
She felt he was more cherished than she had thought.
And the girl in front of her was the one Crimson Garden had personally asked her to teach.
As she met Bianca’s gaze, the sparkle in Bianca’s eyes grew even brighter.
In the end, she couldn’t resist that gaze and sighed.
“…Alright. First, I’ll show you what I do. I handle things like this.”
Suddenly, a white wolf appeared behind her.
The wolf exuded a fierce coldness.
At the same time, a white snake emerged from her neck.
The snake, exhaling a chilling breath, looked formidable even in the summer.
“A wolf and a snake.”
Bianca, who loved animals like crows, couldn’t take her eyes off the snake and the wolf.
“I’ve shaped aura into the form of ice. Of course, the ones you create will initially be just smoke. How about it, want to learn?”
The woman asked, and Bianca nodded.
“Yes, please teach me.”
Kraush had personally brought this mentor.
Bianca answered without any doubt.
“Hehe, you’re a cute student. My name is Jena Edalsia. Nice to meet you.”
Jena Edalsia, a northern beast tamer.
A guardian of the eternal ice region, one of the forbidden areas.
And the mentor who would teach Bianca.
＊ ＊ ＊
As Bianca and Jena became mentor and student, Kraush watched them from within the black flames.
[You’ll lose your eyes staring so hard. Are you that worried about your fiancée? Why not keep her by your side forever?]
Crimson Garden’s scolding voice reached him.
Even though mastering the Heavenly Jade Star wasn’t easy, Kraush’s concentration had been wavering.
“Even if I want to, I can’t.”
[Oh, you have the desire to do so?]
“…Crimson, you can’t wait to devour me, can you?”
[I can’t wait at all. I’ll swallow you whole, so sprinkle some pepper on your head.]
She flapped her wings and landed in front of him.
[Forget it. You won’t be able to concentrate anyway.]
“What…”
As Kraush showed his puzzlement, Crimson Garden’s crow form began to twist.
[Since Jena is here, the other one I called must have arrived too.]
At the same time, Kraush drew Rain Thunder Prime upon hearing the voice.
Everything around him was starting to twist.
It was a curse.
Clap!
A sound of clapping echoed from somewhere.
[A training session that feels like the real thing, just the way you like it.]
Well, it was an outrageous training method.
End of Chapter
