Chapter 49: I'm Going After Her

“Ugh, damn it. How many times have I been stabbed lately?

My life is really……”

A sharp hand slapped Muno on the back in response to his grumbling.

Slap.

“Shut up! Commander Robero has three wounds on one arm alone! If you count all his limbs……!”

“But you said his internal organs weren’t damaged!?”

“Then you should have blocked it better! Making a fuss over just two holes!”

“No, seriously, if I didn't have these chains, I would have fallen and broken my neck?”

“You're fine now, aren't you! The Commander was bleeding like that and still went looking for a priest!”

Muno could only stare at Rasmia with a dumbfounded expression.

‘She hated him so much…….’

Now she was strangely taking Robero’s side.

“What’s with that look?”

“No, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Hmph. Hating him as a man and being grateful are two different things! Keep that in mind, kid!”

She even made an excuse without being asked.

“Your ears are a little red……. Ouch! That hurts!”

“I told you to endure it!”

Rasmia’s hand, wrapping the bandage around his abdomen, was excessively firm.

And both her ears were noticeably bright red.

However.

‘It’s understandable.’

There wasn’t a single person in the entire Trian inner castle who hadn’t heard the thunderous shout that had echoed through the night yesterday.

- Rasmia-yaaaaang!

- Priest-nim!!!! Our Lady Rasmia……!!

The sight of the giant man, with blood pouring from his arms and legs, holding the fainted Rasmia and running around crying, would have been enough to draw attention.

And the accounts of that sighting were spreading through the mouths of everyone who had been staying in the inner castle that day.

It was so much so that it was being talked about more than the clear evidence of magic, the cold air that had spread through the noble prisoner’s cell in the middle of the night, and the red meteor that had shot up into the sky and fled in the middle of the night.

Even Priest Anan had said that most of the wounds Robero had sustained seemed to have been from protecting the defenseless Rasmia.

What would Rasmia, who had heard that story directly, think of him now?

“I told you not to look at me like that! I’m so embarrassed I could die, that’s why!”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.”

“Ha…….”

Even as Muno grinned cheekily, Rasmia shook her head as if she had given up and stood up.

“Anyway, thank you. You too.”

“Don’t mention it. Actually, it was because of me that you got dragged into this, ajum, ahem. Sister.”

She, who was about to glare at him with a murderous look for a moment, smirked at the hastily changed title and continued.

“It’s ridiculous that I, who just became an adult, was helped by a child.

I definitely owe you one for this.”

“No. Well, just teaching me Spirit Arts is already a great favor.”

“That was because I needed it……. No, never mind.

Yes, you worked hard. You did well.”

“Yes. You too, Lady Rasmia.”

“What did I do?”

“Actually, you didn’t do much…….”

“Hey!”

“Puhahaha.”

“That one, really…….”

Rasmia, who had flared up for a moment, sighed once more and shook her head as she opened the door.

And was startled.

“Eek!?”

The giant shadow standing in front of the door was certainly a sight to behold.

“Ah, I, I’m just, uh.

Here to see, a comrade……. I-I’m definitely not here to see Lady Rasmia……. Yes, yes.

It would be troublesome if you misunderstood. Of course, of course.”

Robero’s excuse, blurted out while hastily waving his hands the moment his eyes met hers, clearly showed how Rasmia had usually treated him.

‘You still like her, old man?’

He looked extremely pitiful in Muno’s eyes.

Rasmia glanced at the bandages wrapped around his frantically waving arms and.

“A patient shouldn’t be wandering around like this. Get some rest.”

She spat out a single emotionless word and brushed past him.

Even so, he saw her slightly flushed face.

‘Huh…….’

Isn’t that a bit harsh?

But Robero’s thoughts seemed to be completely different.

“Uh, huh? Uh, ugh! She, she was worried about me.

Lady Rasmia! You, you heard her too, right?”

The muscular, hairy man, well over 2 meters tall, had tears welling up in his eyes, which were as large as his physique.

His expression was one of sheer emotion.

‘Just for that?’

Thinking that relationships between men and women were indeed difficult, Muno had no choice but to force a nod.

“Yes. Yes. I think…… so.”

Seeing this reaction, he could understand why he had appeared last night.

Robero was actually supposed to be on standby near the prison on the Count’s orders, but he had stayed a little further away because he was afraid Rasmia would dislike it.

And he had been listening intently to the prison’s movements with all his senses, and the moment he heard a sound, he had run like mad.

In the end, that became a salvation for him and Rasmia.

But right now, Robero’s state was just too pitiful for another man to see.

“As expected, if you don’t give up, one day……!”

……I shouldn't live like that.

Did he sense that pitiful gaze?

The man soon cleared his throat and looked away.

“Ahem. Uh, are you alright, Young Lord Muno?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes.

Thanks to you…….”

“Ah, can I call you that? You’re a proper knight, aren’t you?

A knight acknowledged by our Excellency at that!”

“Yes. Well, you can call me whatever you like.”

He was my savior, so what did a title matter?

“As expected, you’re so refreshing, then call me brother!”

……Still, it didn’t feel right to be on brotherly terms with an old man who was said to be fifty this year.

“How could I dare……. Anyway, thank you for saving me yesterday.”

“No, I said it’s fine. Say it, brother!”

I’m not fine.

“It’s fine, Sir Robero.”

At the polite title offered with an awkward smile, an awkward smile spread across the giant, heartily laughing face as well.

After a few seconds of a suffocating, awkward exchange of glances, Robero cleared his throat again and turned his head.

“Ahem. Well, I guess there is a bit of an age difference, right?

Still, we’re comrades. Alright, Muno. I was grateful too.

I just stopped by to say that.”

“Pardon?”

“That magician, she was really deadly.

If you hadn’t weakened that protective shield at the end, when it exploded, both of us, no, all three of us would have died on the spot.”

“Ah…….”

Only then did the dizzying final scene of yesterday’s battle come to mind.

‘So it wasn’t completely useless.

That female magician’s magic was certainly amazing.’

As the amount of demonic energy was immense, it wasn’t easy to absorb.

‘And it could only be converted into mana.’

He felt a renewed sense of waste that the demonic energy, which had already been used in magic, couldn’t be converted into Origin Mana, the power of life.

Naturally, his thoughts flowed in that direction.

‘Why can’t demonic energy used in magic be converted?

Come to think of it, I can only absorb a little of a monster’s demonic energy, so what’s the difference between that and the demonic energy of a Magic Knight or a magician?’

It wasn’t that he had no idea, but it was just a guess for now.

Just as he was about to continue his contemplation of the Demon Devourer’s ability, which could be called his special characteristic.

Robero’s voice broke his train of thought.

“……it is. Anyway, that anti-magic use artifact, cherish it. Well, that’s a given, of course.”

Who wouldn’t cherish their own body?

“……Of course.”

“If possible, just use your sword when dealing with weak magicians.”

“Pardon?”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know that artifacts that break magic are consumable?

If you neutralize more demonic energy than it can handle, even the mana will be disrupted and it’ll just become a lump of iron.

I’m just saying not to waste that precious artifact.”

“Ah……. Yes. Thank you for the advice.”

Since it was advice that had nothing to do with him, Muno just smiled awkwardly and immediately changed the subject.

“By the way, do you like Lady Rasmia that much?”

He just said whatever came to mind because he hated having to keep lying.

“Yes. She is the first love of my life, and the last love of my lifetime.”

An unexpectedly serious answer came back like a knife.

‘Oh…….’

He was momentarily at a loss for words, roughly guessing how burdened Rasmia would be.

Robero gave him a bitter smile.

“……Do you think I’m strange too?”

“Pardon? Ah, no.”

Honestly, he’s super strange.

“No? It’s strange enough to risk your life for a skinny woman……. No, no.

Come to think of it……. You would be able to understand.”

“Pardon?”

As Muno tilted his head, wondering what he was talking about.

“I heard you had a love affair with Sir Karina?

You rascal, as expected, you have similar taste to me. It seems we’re really fated.”

“Eek!?”

Robero placed a thick, pillar-like arm on his shoulder and said something completely absurd.

When did such a rumor reach here…….

‘I haven’t even done anything yet, this is unfair…….’

Ah, no, that’s not it.

“I, that’s…….”

Just as he was about to hastily shake his head before being lumped in with the reckless middle-aged man.

“Of course, I don’t love her just because our tastes match.

No, should I say that I love her, so she became my taste?”

Robero cut him off with a bitter smile.

“……Pardon?”

“Rasmia has a fiery personality, doesn’t she?

You’ve experienced it a little, so you know, right?”

Muno, who was about to agree without thinking, hesitated as he perceived a ‘pure white’ wind circling around him.

A faint spirit wind, visible only to his eyes.

‘This old lady…….’

The moment a hollow laugh escaped him inwardly, he instinctively shook his head.

“Well, I don’t really…….”

“Hmm. Is that so? Well, anyway, Rasmia has been like that since she was a child.”

……Ugh.

‘Old man, you have to be careful with what you say now.’

He forcibly swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.

“And that fiery little girl changed the life of a weak, foolish, and worthless idiot.”

Unexpected words followed.

“Pardon?”

“I’m talking about me.

You might not believe it looking at me now, but when I was a kid, I was really small.

Much smaller than my peers.

To the point where I wondered if it was a disease.”

“Uh…….”

“You might not believe it, but it’s true.

And maybe because of that, I always lived steeped in an inferiority complex.

The kids around me bullied me, but I couldn’t even talk back properly, and I just walked around looking at the ground every day.

That fiery girl saved a loser like me. When was it…….”

- What are you doing!

- You guys are so pathetic, picking on a little kid!

- If you’re going to live like that, cut off your balls, you bastards!

“Even though I was being treated like a child by a girl younger than me, I don’t know why I was so happy.

That girl seemed to shine so brightly. I was helped by her several times after that too.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes, as he recalled the past, were strangely sparkling.

And Muno, conscious of the spirit wind peeking around, forced a nod.

“As expected, she was kind even then…….”

“I was cursed at a lot too.”

“Pardon?”

“A man living like that, what’s the point?

Either exercise and build up your strength, or fight to the death……. Something like that?”

“Ah. Ha. Ha…….”

He found himself glancing at the trembling pure white wind without realizing it.

“But I was still happy.

I thought that if I stood up straight, I wouldn’t be able to see that girl again, so I rather waited for the days I would be bullied.”

“Huh…….”

That’s a serious case.

He was in a difficult position, unable to hide his rotting expression, but fortunately, Robero was also giving a self-deprecating smile.

“Yes. I think I was a fool too.

But one day, that child left. She said she was going to the Tower of Spirits to become a Spirit Master.

That’s when I came to my senses. I confessed in a hurry, but…….”

Heh, Robero laughed and lowered his large face.

“Of course, I was rejected.”

- I like dependable men. Not weaklings like you.

“From then on, I started training like crazy.

With the thought of becoming a truly dependable man and confessing to that girl again with confidence when I met her again someday.

I didn’t know it would take so long, though.”

A girl who returned to her hometown a full 25 years later.

The girl had aged as much as the time that had passed, but she still retained the light of that time.

Naturally.

“I fell in love again, confessed, and was rejected again.”

“Um…….”

“Now she says my body is too big. It’s upsetting.

Because of whom do you think I evolved in this direction…….”

Muno, who had suddenly become a love counselor for a middle-aged man.

‘What do I know…….’

He glanced at the pure white wind with a troubled expression.

At that moment, he saw the wind disappear.

As if it was running away in embarrassment.

At that, Muno thought of something to say to Robero.

“……It’ll work out.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s about time Lady Rasmia acknowledged you, isn’t it?”

“You think……so?”

“Of course. I mean, earlier, she treated you……much better. Probably.”

He trailed off, lacking confidence, but Robero’s large face brightened up just with that.

“Of course! Now she doesn’t run away as soon as she sees me, and she’s even worried about my condition.

She’s changed. Yes, it’s a good sign.”

……So she used to run away as soon as she saw him.

‘Oh, dear lord…….’

A sense of pity surged up.

“Of course. It’ll work out now.”

As Muno patted Robero, who was much larger than him, on the back, he shot up.

“Alright. I’ll confess again at this opportunity!”

“Eek!? No, that’s…….”

“Thank you, Muno!”

“No……!”

Old man, stop!

……Before he could even shout that.

Robero broke down the door with a ‘boom!’ and ran out.

“Why such a sudden outburst……. Ha…….”

He was bewildered, but thinking of the pure white wind from before, he felt that Rasmia wouldn’t treat Robero the same way she used to.

And.

‘Is this the time for me to worry about others?’

As he stared blankly at the shattered door, he finally remembered the situation he was in.

Other people's love lives weren't important right now.

[Just you wait, experiment!]

The high-level magician who had disappeared after leaving that message.

A monster he couldn't handle on his own would surely be after him in the future.

Hmph.

‘What to do…….’

Of course, as long as he stayed in Trian, the chances of something like this happening again were slim.

But he didn't want to live confined in Trian, which wasn't even his hometown, just because of that threat.

In the end.

“I need to get stronger quickly…….”

And to do that, he had to take the initiative and hunt magicians.

As he grabbed his head at that dilemma.

- Grrrrr.

The Demon Devourer in his head reacted immediately to that thought.

Magician, hunt, revenge.

He could feel what his other self wanted so clearly that it made him laugh hollowly.

‘That woman is still too difficult.’

He tried to appease the Demon Devourer with that thought.

- Grrr.

He saw his black self shaking its head in his mind.

And at that moment, the final scene of the battle from last night suddenly came to mind clearly.

The image of the red meteor disappearing as it left him a message.

The scene, which had just been a fleeting memory, suddenly magnified, and he saw the core of the red meteor.

More accurately, within it.

‘Blood……?’

The image of the woman spewing blood from her mouth.

“Huh……!?”

At the same time, a piece of common knowledge about magicians came to mind.

- Magicians recover slowly. Isn’t that obvious?

They harbor a power that disrupts the principles of the world in their bodies…….

“A magician, who is already physically weak, is seriously injured?”

Come to think of it, it was strange.

In that last explosion yesterday, both he and Robero had sustained fatal injuries, and there had been a slight delay before their allies arrived.

And yet, that woman had only fled.

“……I can catch her?

Right now?”

The moment he thought that, the Demon Devourer in his head responded, and his heart began to pound.

Collid, who had been a 5-Star Magic Knight, was less powerful than a 4-Circle mage in terms of magic alone, but if he had absorbed even that, he would have almost reached the limit of 2-Star.

But.

‘If I devour a 6-Circle magician, how much stronger can I become?’

Muno didn’t even realize that his own eyes were turning red, or that a little drool was trickling down the corner of his mouth.

“……I’m going after her.”

The gaze of a predator aiming for wounded and exhausted prey was fixed on the western sky where the magician had disappeared.

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