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Chapter 71

Vier stared blankly ahead, dumbfounded at how his master stroke had been thwarted so easily. And the surrounding students, still surprised by the sudden explosion, were moving their eyes back and forth, unsure of what was happening.

Meanwhile, Aria, the blonde woman who had caused the situation, was ignoring them all, waiting for an answer from Se-Hoon.

Should I be relieved about this...?

Se-Hoon wore a grim expression.

It was a good thing that everything had been neatly resolved without him needing to intervene, but he wasn’t thrilled about the encounter with Aria. To him, she was the last person in all of Babel that he wanted to meet.

Damn it Jake. You should have told me if she was going to attend the Noblesse too... He unendingly cursed Jake, who had left earlier, in his mind.

“Hm...”

Approaching until she was right in front of him, Aria looked upward at his face with a curious expression.

“Did you not hear my words?” she asked, her tone gentle yet sharp.

Se-Hoon internally sighed.

“No, I did hear you. I was just a bit startled by what happened just now, so my response was delayed.”

“Ah, right. You could have been seriously injured...”

Seemingly smiling in understanding, she scanned his body. Before long, her eyes sparkled.

“No, it seems like it might not have been a big deal for you after all.”

Hearing that whisper, a shiver ran down his spine. He felt like she had seen through seventy percent of him with just that quick scan.

I hope she didn’t notice Soul Honing.... Though, she must have realized that I have no injuries.

Quickly accepting that it was impossible to feign an injury against someone like her, he slowly spoke up.

“Thank you for your help.”

“It’s nothing. What’s your answer to my question, though?”

“If you’re talking about having a chat, aren’t we having one right now?”

Easily seeing through his attempt to dodge the question, she smiled softly.

“I meant a quiet conversation somewhere with just the two of us. But there’s nowhere indoors that’s favorable... so how about the garden? It’s quite nicely decorated. What do you think?”

She showed not a single sign of letting him go easily. Sighing internally, he decided to relent and take it positively.

I can’t keep avoiding her forever, so this might work out for the best.

Considering that her evaluation of him had improved due to the sword aura equipment he had just processed, the conversation this time might end up reducing unnecessary encounters with her.

He nodded.

“We can do that.”

“Good. Shall we go then?”

Naturally grabbing his wrist, she led him outside, amidst the gazes of the still puzzled audience. However, before they could leave, Vier blocked their path.

“Why...”

With his face hideously twisted, Vier spoke to Aria.

“What do you even want from this worthless piece of...!”

Seeing Vier unable to finish his sentence due to his surging emotions, Se-Hoon became confused.

Why is he suddenly like this?

He confusedly pondered why Vier, who had been calmly handling everything until now, was suddenly falling apart. At that moment, Aria, who had been quietly observing, calmly responded.

“Hm... still pathetic.”

With that, she resumed walking, seemingly deeming it no longer worth responding. And Se-Hoon, who was being dragged along by the wrist, naturally met Vier’s gaze.

Grind-

He saw Vier revealing intense emotions, seemingly about to charge at them at any moment. Realizing that this would be the perfect moment to extract a bond from him, Se-Hoon stopped in his tracks.

“Just a moment.”

“Hm?”

Stopping Aria, he approached Vier and naturally placed his hand on Vier’s shoulder before he could react.

[Extracting bond from subject ‘Vier Barmuth’]

[The bond with the host is Lv.1.]

The bond prickled like thorns as it seeped into his hand.

Feeling the clear indication of the feelings Vier harbored toward him, Se-Hoon gently patted Vier’s shoulder.

“Try practicing a bit harder. And stop wasting so much of your time,” Se-Hoon said, in a voice easily audible to everyone.

It was a sincere piece of advice.

“Let’s go now.”

Finished with saying his piece, he headed out to the garden with Aria, leaving a heavy silence swirling through the banquet hall.

Normally, it would be unthinkable that a freshman who just enrolled this year would be criticizing the skills of a third-year. However, after witnessing Se-Hoon’s abilities, everyone there knew that it was no longer unthinkable.

And being the one to experience that interaction firsthand, Vier was unable to do anything but look toward his shoulder with an impassive face.

Crunch!

A chilling sound echoed inside his mouth. Then, after silently wiping away the blood flowing out his mouth from his shattered teeth, he endured the terrible pain and walked out of the banquet hall without blinking an eye.

***

[The bond with ‘Vier Barmuth’ has increased to Lv.2.]

[Since the bond has increased to Lv. 2, a Relationship has been established. Your Relationship with ‘Vier Barmuth’ is currently ‘Envy’.]

[Relationship: Envy]

[Selfish and arrogant individuals feel envy and resentment toward those superior rather than admiration for them.

They look for faults in others rather than in themselves and will try to eliminate the other in this relationship in any way they can.

*A Fatestone is created whenever the subject feels envy.

*The maturation rate of the Fatestone increases whenever the subject feels envious.

*Currently created Fatestone: None]

It worked! cheered Se-Hoon internally, having stepped into the outdoor garden.

Seeing how Vier’s look was clearly filled to the brim with dissatisfaction, Se-Hoon prodded Vier just a little, and as expected, their bond level increased.

Envy, huh? I didn’t expect to form a malevolent Relationship with someone so quickly.

Unlike friendly or neutral Relationships, malevolent Relationships were filled with malice toward him. Any Fatestone created from these Relationships always required caution when handling.

Normally, Fatestones usually amplified one’s abilities, but when it came to those formed from malevolent Relationships, they invariably had curse-like effects that either diminished one’s abilities or caused them to go berserk.

Using it for Bond Imprint seems risky... so maybe I’ll just use it later to create a cursed item.

While Se-Hoon was pondering over what kind of curse item to make, Aria stopped and slowly turned around after they had walked for a while.

“This should be far enough.”

The garden they arrived in was beautifully adorned under the moonlight, with the fountain scattering water under the lights. And with the scene as a backdrop, Aria herself seemed to shine.

However, despite the picturesque scene, Se-Hoon was unimpressed. Instead, he recalled Vier’s strangeness and asked, “Were you affiliated with Vier Barmuth in any way before?”

“There was an incident... though it’s not even significant enough to call it one. Two years ago, he showed me a sword he had forged for me, and I just gave him my thoughts on it.”

Listening to her story, he quickly grasped what those thoughts had been.

“You thought it was pathetic, didn’t you?”

“Right. It really was pathetic,” she said with a gentle smile.

From her answer seemingly devoid of malice, he finally understood why Vier’s bond level had dramatically increased.

Did I inadvertently make him recall past trauma?

At this rate, he believed that Vier might even send an assassin after him someday soon.

“By the way, since when?” Aria asked.

“Pardon?”

“Since when have you been able to use sword aura?”

“What do you... oh.”

Although initially puzzled by the question, he quickly understood the intent behind it.

Is it because of the Iron Warden I showed earlier?

It was common knowledge at this point in time that to create sword aura equipment, one needed the help of a hero who could wield sword aura. Believing that as well, Aria assumed that Se-Hoon could use sword aura.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I can’t use sword aura.”

“Then what about that piece of sword aura alchemical equipment that you processed just a short while ago?” she asked, confused.

“You see, sword aura is essentially compressed mana. So, all I did was add a compression formula to recreate it.”

To be able to wield sword aura, one had to be able to compress their swordsmanship into a single blade in their mind, a process commonly referred to as enlightenment.

However, that was purely a mental aspect. In reality, as long as the mana on the blade was compressed into a certain shape, it could turn into sword aura.

Well, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

The compression formula he used to produce the sword aura was his own creation that combined various bits of knowledge from before the regression—things such as knowledge on the nature of mana, the characteristics of swordsmanship, and the mental image of a sword.

Standardizing it was essentially akin to creating a body part from just mana circuits alone. It was so difficult that the mass production of sword aura had been impossible up until now.

But it\'s not actually impossible to make.

To Se-Hoon, who had personally modified his body and mana circuits using Soul Honing, it was as familiar as the back of his hand.

“Compression formula...”

Pondering Se-Hoon’s explanation for a moment, Aria asked, “But it seems to reduce the equipment’s efficiency quite a bit. Do you have any plans to improve it?”

“If I add the auxiliary enchantment I’m currently developing, it should be improved to where even D-rank heroes could wield it a few times.”

To wield sword aura barehanded, heroes typically need to be at least C-rank, and even then, only skilled practitioners could. Thus, the user was typically B-rank.

However, the goal of mass-producing sword aura equipment was to train lower-rank heroes in it early on, so Se-Hoon’s method of processing had to be sufficient enough that D-rank heroes could wield it.

Adding on the power output that wasn’t lacking...

Recalling the quality of the sword aura she had touched earlier, Aria looked at Se-Hoon.

“Have you signed a contract for the mass production of sword aura equipment with anyone?”

“Not yet.”

“Then how about partnering with us?”

Having somewhat already anticipated her proposal, he immediately asked, “What are the terms?”

“The manufacturing and sales companies will be decided after consultation with our family. And for the next two years, the mass-produced sword aura equipment will be limited to swords. Those are the main conditions.”

Honestly, the terms intrigued him.

While limiting the type of mass-produced equipment to swords was normally an inefficient choice if the goal was simply to make money, with the Myers family, who were known for their swordsmanship, that wasn’t the case.

Members of the Myers family are often invited as swordsmanship consultants, so the more heroes that wield swords, the stronger their influence becomes.

Furthermore, using the priority rights for the supply of mass-produced sword aura equipment as a negotiation card could literally help them captivate entire government organizations and giant guilds.

Considering whether the terms would put him at a disadvantage, he came to a conclusion not long later.

“The terms are not bad, but since we don’t even have a prototype yet, I think it would be better to discuss this in more detail once I’ve made more progress.”

“Okay. Let me know through Jake once it’s complete.”

“Is that all you wanted to discuss?”

Aria nodded with a smile in response to his question.

“Yes, that’s all.”

“Then...”

“But starting now, there’s a personal matter.”

Seeing her looking at him with sparkling eyes, he sighed internally and then reluctantly asked, “What do you want?”

“I heard you’re forging a sword for Jake? And that you’re using a unique method involving blood.”

She sat on the edge of the fountain, an intrigued look on her face.

“As far as I know, such forging methods are only used for bioweapons, which are illegal.... Do I have that right?”

Despite knowing the answer already, she still pressured him by asking; she was just like this before the regression.

“If used in earnest, yes. But I only use it as a part of the inscribing process, so it shouldn’t be an issue,” responded Se-Hoon calmly.

Before the regression, bioweapon manufacturing was fully legal due to dire circumstances. However, since humanity wasn’t currently on the brink of annihilation, related technologies were banned.

Knowing this, he had acted cautiously, ensuring he wouldn’t be unjustly accused of crimes—unlike before.

“That’s a relief then. It would be troublesome if Jake were involved in illegal weapon manufacturing.”

“I’m being extra careful about that aspect, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Good. I hope it turns out well.”

Despite her smile, her response seemed to carry a hint of sarcasm. However, Se-Hoon chose to ignore it and just continued the conversation.

“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

“No.”

“Then...”

Bowing slightly, he turned around and was about to start walking back to the banquet hall. But he stopped, hearing a soft voice behind him.

“Why won’t you forge a sword for me?”

Though soft, the voice carried a chill that allowed him to discern Aria’s apathetic demeanor.

As expected, she isn’t that easy to get away from.

Since he had agreed to forge Jake’s sword himself, he couldn’t just simply ignore her request.

Well, I can’t refuse her forever...

Seizing the opportunity to lay some groundwork, he stopped and opened his mouth without turning back.

“I believe each piece of equipment should be used by someone who actually needs it, for it to serve any purpose.”

“What meaning is there in giving an ordinary sword to someone who can wield a twig no differently from a perfectly crafted sword?”

Of course, it did have some sort of meaning; no matter how skilled the wielder, a steel sword would almost always be better than a twig.

But regardless, the point he was trying to make was slightly different.

What’s the point in forging a mediocre sword for someone who treats perfectly forged swords and twigs the same?

Whether it was a perfect sword or a twig rolling on the ground, in Aria’s hands, neither held any significance.

And that abnormal sense of a gap between the weapon and the wielder—an assimilation rate of zero percent—-was a sensation that only Aria Myers could feel.

“I cannot make a sword that sunbae would need at the moment. And I don’t want to provide you with an inadequate sword, whose only fate is to be disregarded.”

“So, I’d appreciate it if we no longer discuss commissions.”

With that firm statement, Se-Hoon closed his mouth, leaving only the sound of the fountain filling the silence between them.

But before the silence could linger for too long, Aria spoke up.

“Alright. If it’s that burdensome for you, I won’t mention it anymore.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Leaving behind that brief response, he headed back to the banquet hall before any further conversation could ensue.

Watching his retreating figure, Aria began murmuring to herself.

“So he’s saying that right now it’s...”

If someone else had said it, it might have simply sounded like they were trying to evade the situation, but she felt a certain confidence from Se-Hoon.

It was as if he knew exactly what the problem was and how to solve it.

“Truly interesting...”

She had been worried that she would be disappointed, but now, the anticipation only excited her, making her more impatient than ever. Feeling those emotions that she hadn’t experienced recently, she enjoyed them for a while before deciding to let them go.

There’s no need to force him yet.

Whatever the outcome, she wanted to savor the anticipation. Keeping that thought in mind, she began musing about the sword he was forging for Jake.

He thinks dealing with Jake’s ability is the only issue... but the real problem is the succession ceremony.

The succession ceremony was a ritual where one was acknowledged as a swordsman and bestowed with a sword. And while it was known to the public as a typical event, it was actually far from it.

I wonder how far Jake can make it...

The outcome of Jake’s ceremony would significantly influence her opinion of Se-Hoon.

Truly enjoying the thrill, she smiled as she watched him enter the banquet hall.

“I’m looking forward to you, Lee Se-Hoon,” she murmured softly.

With that murmur still in the air, she disappeared from the garden.