Chapter 112

Chapter 112

***

For a room where only the strongest person in this city could stay, it wasn't exactly that great. Because it was merely a space originally used as a warehouse converted into a bedroom.

There was only a single bed, with empty wooden barrels and boxes scattered in the corner, and a cobweb spun in the corner of the ceiling.

The good points were that he could use a fairly spacious area all to himself, that it was relatively quiet, and that there were emergency basement stairs and a back door only he could use.

Going out the back door, a donkey tied up was chewing on fodder. It was Magnoli, the Viola Clan's property list item number one.

And there was an unmanaged, desolate vegetable garden, crossing which led to the forest.

It was one of the few places in this city that was somewhat pleasant and had a well-secured escape route. The current owner of that room was Bori.

Rickart, Marie, and the group had entered Bori's room. It was spacious enough that even with everyone inside, it didn't feel cramped at all.

First, Rickart introduced the people to Bori.

"Say hello first. That's Mr. Hartmann, his wife Madam Elia, Becca, Roy, and guide Mr. Bremen. This is Bori."

"Hello, I'm Bori. I'm friends with these two."

Perhaps because it was a bit awkward, they were sitting somewhat apart, but Bori slightly bowed his head towards Hartmann's family and Bremen. They also slightly bowed their heads.

"I am Hartmann."

"I am Bremen."

Exchanging almost eye-contact-level greetings, Bori asked Rickart.

"By the way, why the Eastern Frontier?"

"Just, well... I heard the last hope is there."

Bori looked towards Hartmann's family once before speaking to Rickart again.

"Well, I doubt it'll be much different there than here."

"I'll know when I get there. By the way, I heard you stole the secret arts?"

"No. I just brought them with me. I killed the bastards who tried to stop me. So it's not stealing. Because I didn't sneak them out."

"Anyway, those people were chasing you."

"Yeah, right. To absorb my mana. So I'm laying low for a while. Looks like I'll have to move soon."

"Absorbing mana? What are you talking about?"

Marie asked.

"It's a long story, but somehow or another, they say if you kill a person and consume their heart, you can absorb their mana. Even ordinary people have a small amount of mana. I don't even know how much mana they've absorbed from how many people so far. But, a Sword Master's mana must be the most coveted. What the Rubens Clan is really aiming for is capturing me."

It was a shocking fact. Capturing a person and eating their heart? Wasn't that something monsters like orcs or goblins would do.

"Even vampires wouldn't do such a thing. But is that the contents of the secret arts? Eating hearts?"

"Yeah."

"Worth stealing then."

"I told you I didn't steal it."

Unlike when he met Bolka and Delphy, even though they hadn't seen Bori in four years, there was no particularly affectionate feeling. It was just nice to see him, and he felt comfortable being certain that his feelings matched theirs right now. There was a slightly different feeling with each friend.

"Anyway, so beating up bad guys and finding strange Codexes to burn is what you're doing now?"

"No."

"Then? That's what Bolka said?"

"Bolka wouldn't understand. The kids wouldn't either."

"Understand what?"

"Mana Drive. I'm going to create a new one. That's what I'm really trying to do. The rest is just, well, secondary."

"Why?"

"Oh? Really?"

Rickart and Marie's reactions differed. Rickart was like 'why do such a thing', while Marie showed immediate curiosity.

"I'm trying to find a proper way to train Mana Drive without it being dangerous, without harming others. We were just at a basic level, right? We just went through actual combat recklessly, letting whatever happen happen. Then luckily stumbled upon it by chance. I think that's why everyone is making such a fuss. Whether it's the Cult, Rubens, or other clans. No one has ever presented the proper path."

"I don't really know about that?"

Because Rickart had originally never learned Mana Drive through ordinary methods, he couldn't empathize with why someone would bother doing such a thing. He just thought 'I guess so'.

"Can you show what you've made so far?"

When Marie asked, Bori revealed his Mana Drive notebook without any hesitation. Although it wasn't finished yet, to someone knowledgeable in this field, it was research material more precious than a thousand pieces of gold.

Written on the parchment cover was , seemingly a working title.

Opening the parchment revealed words scribbled haphazardly without order. There were diagrams and drawings, explanations, and many interrogative sentences as well. It was entirely written in ancient letters, so only those who knew them could read it.

Marie was instantly immersed and read through the Mana Drive book Bori was creating.

"By the way, I met your disciples in the middle, Bori. Caspar and Yulia, right?"

"Well, were there kids like that? I think so."

"What's the matter, what's with you. You don't even know your disciples' names?"

"It's closer to the clan assigning them rather than me taking them as disciples. They attached kids showing the sprouts of becoming Sword Masters to me. But, from what I observed, no. They are caught up in useless formalities and are a bit... Anyway, being in the clan is uncomfortable."

How could he be so similar to Rickart. Their personalities seemed to be complete opposites. Weren't they? In what they liked and disliked, Rickart and Bori surprisingly overlapped a lot.

However, having no attachment at all to his disciples was a bit surprising.

"Still, I know at least my disciples' names."

"You have disciples?"

"Those two. Becca and Roy."

Originally, only Roy was his disciple, but coming this far he simply ended up taking both as disciples.

"But isn't Ricky bad at teaching?"

"Ahahaha!"

As soon as Marie heard that, she burst out laughing while reading Bori's parchment notebook.

Bori chuckled as well, and Rickart, though slightly indignant, laughed as well. Honestly, he secretly thought that was true.

"Oh? You're not getting mad?"

"I'm an adult now too, Bori."

"Hmm? You seemed more like an adult when you were younger, Ricky. But you look good now."

"What do you mean?"

"It's true. You seemed like an old man in a kid's body before. Barely smiled. Often felt lonely by yourself."

Marie agreed. What one thought of oneself and how others perceived them were bound to be different.

"You had a cute charm, Bori. And Marie was a bit clumsy."

Rickart also spoke of the two people he remembered. At that, Marie and Bori simply smiled gently.

"By the way, I have something I'm curious about. How do you operate your Mana Drive, Ricky? You didn't originally have mana."

"That seems to have naturally come to me since that day. It feels like wind blowing in my body. Then the moment I swing the sword, it turns into flames. Shimmering flames and blowing wind might actually be the same thing. The only difference is whether it's hot or not, visible or not."

"Wind? Fire? Not water?"

Marie asked. Because they just took each other's abilities at face value, this was the first time they spoke about them specifically.

"I'm closer to stone. Black stone."

Bori said.

"What do you mean stone."

"Anyway, what everyone feels is different. You can think of it as researching that function. Mana is like the heart, formless but distinctly existing, right? Maybe that's why the things you used to say that I didn't understand before came back to mind a lot. 'Ah, so that's why Ricky said those things?' like that."

"What did I say?"

"To do it without thinking when swinging a sword."

"Because if you think, you're late."

"Right. Agreed. But that's not something to say to someone just starting to learn the sword. What you say, Ricky, is like explaining the sky to someone who has only ever looked at the ground."

Bori said with a smile.

Rickart had always just spoken exactly what he felt, never intending for his words to trouble or torment a beginner.

But as Bori said, what Rickart was teaching was like explaining the sky to someone who had only ever looked at the ground since birth. One had to lift their head and behold the sky to understand that explanation.

Conversely, because Rickart had only ever looked at the sky his whole life, he felt frustrated when teaching someone. Bori knew that. Now.

Hearing Bori's words, Rickart felt a moment of realization. That his direction had been wrong to begin with. Rather than explaining the sky, he should have looked at the ground.

Truly teaching someone might be synonymous with learning.

"This guy Bori, pretty impressive?"

"I'm an adult too, you know? I'm two years older than you, Ricky?"

As one aged, some things changed, but some never changed. Rickart and Bori were like that. Just looking at each other brought forth a laugh.

"So what are you going to do now? Going back to the clan?"

"No."

"Isn't it a bit dangerous to be alone?"

"Not anymore."

"What are you talking about."

"I'm going to the Eastern Frontier too."

"......Why?"

"I'm not going to check on something like the last hope. The Codex originally came from the Eastern Frontier, right? There are likely many ancient ruins there, so there should be plenty to research as well. I was originally thinking of going, but now seems like the time."

"......What about the clan?"

"I told you. It's uncomfortable there now. Why did you leave four years ago, Ricky?"

"Well, I wanted to rest, and I thought Bolka would do fine without me."

"Not me. You left, Marie left, Ice left too; I felt like I couldn't not be by his side. But seeing it now, it seems to run well even without me."

Could it be called a difference in disposition? Bolka had always excelled at managing and leading people from before, and loved doing it.

Conversely, Rickart and Bori tended to be slightly aloof from the crowd and stuck tightly to just the two of them.

They had done many meaningful things, but they had never once done it seeking private rewards. They did it simply because it had to be done, because they could do it.

Feeding the students during winter, participating in the war. Every single bit of that vast amount of money they earned was used to buy clothes for kids.

Helping Bolka establish the clan was in a similar vein. They didn't do it to settle down and live a comfortable life, but simply because it was good to provide a better fence for the adventurers and be together with friends.

However, having achieved that goal now, implicitly Rickart, and Bori too, knew their uses were done. Calling it a mismatch in values might be appropriate; the current clan felt like that to the two of them.

Honestly, they could leave the clan without lingering regrets, but lingering affection merely prevented them from cutting that final thin string.

Pondering deeply, Rickart made a sudden decision guided by his heart.

"Decided."

"What?"

"Inner Fire."

"What's that?"

"I'm going to write a book too. That's the title."

"Ricky, you secretly feel a sense of rivalry with me, don't you?"

"Hah! Ridiculous. When I wrote the swordsmanship manual, you were the one copying me."

"But did you know the book I wrote was appointed as an official swordsmanship textbook at the academy? Titled 'The Standard of Swordsmanship' no less?"

"Standard my ass. No way."

"There is a way. You were the one who hid the original copy and left because you were embarrassed, Ricky."

Even while bickering, Rickart kept breaking into laughter. He felt indignated, yet it felt as though he had returned to his childhood placing a bet.

"It's different this time. Because I have a wonderful assistant."

Rickart suddenly pulled Marie, who was reading the notebook, by the shoulder.

"I think this is a bit unfair. And isn't all information leaked by now?"

"If it bothers you, go get married too."

"But you know, I want to write one too. A book. Thinking about it, Mana Drive seems just as important as swordsmanship. When you guys were writing the swordsmanship manual, my family's swordsmanship was hard to leave behind as a document."

Marie said. If she had been learning by bumping her head against the wall through actual combat until now, she felt she could somewhat establish a system of her own.

However, because mana remained an unknown territory to the point it was essentially metaphysics, it required an immense amount of research. While writing a swordsmanship book was difficult, this was on a different level.

Even in ancient times, it wasn't properly researched, and whatever existed was passed down secretly until mostly lost.

All that remained were methods such as slicing away human hearts. Fast, easy, and evil. Of course, even that could only be learned by a very select few.

If so, how about I present a proper method? That was Bori's thought. Rickart and Marie agreed with that thought.

"Are you betraying me?"

Rickart asked his wife. As if finding it absurd, Marie unbound her husband's arm without answering and said.

"Have you both decided on titles based on the feeling of mana each of you has? Then I should do that too. Purple Scarf. How's that?"

"Isn't it a bit tacky?"

"Sounds like you're boasting about your family?"

Because silk scarves were expensive items, Bori said it was boasting.

"Such ridiculous people."

With Rickart and Bori both saying their piece simultaneously, Marie was utterly baffled. Of course, a flower of laughter bloomed on her lips too.

The companions sitting a bit apart watched the three people as if fascinated. Because Rickart and Marie normally weren't the talkative types.

Upon meeting Bori, the two truly chattered endlessly and ceaselessly like kids. It felt as if they had their own separate space, completely aloof to others.

While some friends catch up to share sorrowful affections about past times and hardships after a long time apart, some friends might deliver the feeling of returning back to those old days.

What was there to be sorrowful about. They could still be together right now. Despite being apart for a while, it was as if they had never been separated.

The hearts of the three people grew full. It was akin to feeling full without eating. To Rickart, to Marie, and to Bori, they were those kinds of friends to each other. Simply put, they clicked perfectly.

Not tears, but a persistent calm smile proved it.