Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

From Ryo’s perspective, there appeared to be little difference between Abel and San.

Their speed and power are almost equal.

In terms of technique, San appeared to be slightly superior, but…there seemed to be a significant difference only in terms of mental fortitude.

That may be the result of the difference between having all your friends frozen and having all your friends watching over you.

Realistically, even if he won, San probably didn’t think he’ll be able to escape unscathed.

He had witnessed his three companions defeated so easily, and all of them were frozen in ice.

Even now, he sees them buried in ice.

No matter how optimistic he is, he cannot hope to escape from that place in one piece.

Since that’s the case…he probably didn’t have the mentality to want to ‘win at all costs’.

In mortal combat, the so-called mental strength accounts for an astonishingly large proportion of the outcome.

It is no exaggeration to say that the ability to fully demonstrate speed, power, and technique…depends on one’s mental strength.

Sometimes, people who do not understand human nature at all say things like ‘work like a professional’, focusing only on reason.

“Don’t let your emotions get in the way of your work.”

“I’m not feeling up to it, but as a professional, I’ll be sure to do a proper job of it.”

“You can’t do a professional job while being all buddy-buddy.”

Whenever he heard such talk, Ryo’s father would wear a pitying look on his face.

About half of a person is made up of emotions.

One cannot control emotions with reason.

The best you can do is suppress your emotions…and that will only result in a half-hearted display of power, where you do without the power that emotions provide.

It is obvious, but the state in which a person exerts the power of reason and also exerts the power of emotion…is the state in which the person is most capable of exerting their abilities.

Such is logic that even a high school student can understand.

For example, when a team has to accomplish something, the better the team members get along with each other, the better the results will be…it’s a matter of course.

This is because they are creating a situation where they can use not only the power of reason but also the power of emotion.

That is what real professionals do.

Based on this, the sword fight between San and Abel became so intense that even an amateur could see the tide of the battle was beginning to shift.

It could be said that the difference in mental strength, or in other words, the difference in emotion, began to outweigh the slight difference in technique.

The two fighters understood this better than anyone else.

They couldn’t not notice.

“Dammit.”

San muttered quietly.

Once words like that are uttered, the end was near.

The moment San switched from his backhand grip to overhand, Abel’s sword tip struck San’s sword.

Clang.

The sword flew out of San’s right hand.

However, just as everyone’s eyes turned in that direction, San pulled a dagger out from his back with his left hand.

And then he thrust it directly at Abel in front of him.

…Just before it pierced Abel’s body, San’s left hand fluttered about in the air.

Abel severed it from the tip of his elbow.

“Ughhaa!”

A muffled cry escaped from San’s mouth.

Then, Abel repositioned himself without breaking the momentum of his sword and executed a side cleave…and the next thing that went flying was…San’s head and a plume of blood.

Abel remained motionless retaining his posture as he bathed in the blood gushing out.

“Nicely done.”

Ryo muttered quietly, and perhaps hearing his voice, Abel finally released his posture, turned to Ryo, and nodded his head.

Thus, the attack on King Abel by the Five Dragons was completely crushed.

The ensuing clamor was no joke.

As Calvin the scout had said, everyone in the mansion was put to sleep.

Sleeping pills had been put in dinner and, to be even more thorough, sleeping incense had been burned in some of the rooms.

Only the four people in Abel’s office seemed to have been spared because they were having a meeting without eating dinner.

The knights, who had returned from the drill outside the castle with Ryo, went around waking them up, and eventually they all awoke, marking the beginning of the uproar.

When the awakened guards came to the office to check on the safety of the King, they found the King covered in blood, the members of the Crimson Sword exhausted, and the water-attribute magician mindlessly picking at the leftovers of the snacks.

On the balcony were three ice coffins and the headless corpse of a swordsman.

Soon after, the Adventurers’ Guild was dispatched, and the guildmaster, Hugh McGrath, arrived, adding to the clamor.

By then, however, Abel had indeed taken a bath and was no longer covered in blood.

The other three members of the Crimson Sword had also been driven to their respective beds by Abel.

For some reason, Ryo was the only one sitting on the sofa…and the food had been reheated and laid out in front of him.

“Please, I leave my security to you.”

When you’re told so by the King, who has just been attacked, you cannot refuse….

Even for Ryo.

No matter how much he would like to take a bath.

No matter…how badly he would like to crawl into bed.

“I am terribly sorry, Your Majesty.”

After a series of explanations and mutual status reports, Neville Black, the captain of the Rune Knight Order, suddenly got down on one knee and began apologizing to Abel.

“Why, Knight-Captain?”

Abel asked, not understanding the meaning of his apology.

The others present, including Ryo, Hugh, and Marquis Heinlein, were also a little lost.

King Abel had just made it clear that no one would be blamed for not preventing the traitors from entering the mansion, because of their abilities….

“If I hadn’t asked Sir Ryo to conduct the drill exercises outside the castle for the knights, this wouldn’t have happened…”

“Oh…”

Hearing Neville’s explanation, Ryo muttered.

“Sir Ryo, please accept my apology as well. The lord personally asked Sir Ryo to guard His Majesty…If I hadn’t asked you to take part in the drills outside the castle, you would have been by His Majesty’s side, and this situation could have been handled before it endangered His Majesty’s life…and for that, I am truly sorry…”

“Oh no, that’s…the knights’ drills and mock battles are something I undertake as a swordsmanship instructor…so, it’s not really…”

When Ryo was to go on the drill exercise outside the castle, he unintentionally shouted “traitor” at Abel, who permitted him to go, but he felt uncomfortable when he was being apologized to in public like this…perhaps it’s a Japanese trait.

“Knight-Captain, as Ryo just said, he is my bodyguard, but at the same time, he is also the swordsmanship instructor of the Rune Knights. Considering that drills are part of the job, I don’t think the Knight-Captain is responsible for this matter.”

Abel said so, dismissing his responsibility.

However, he instructed them to go without Ryo for subsequent drills outside the castle.

Ryo did a little fist pump after hearing that.

Although Abel’s eyes caught that fist pump and he gave a small shake of his head.

It was around 3:00 a.m. when those who had gathered in the office left for their respective designations.

“It’s so peaceful tonight~”

“…Huh?”

Ryo unintentionally muttered with coffee in one hand, and Abel, who was doing paperwork as usual, looked up in shock.

“Well, although there was a raid event, the assailants were human. If it had been a dragon or a group of Akuma or some other force that couldn’t be dealt with, it would have been a different story.”

“Okay, you say some really weird stuff at times, Ryo. First of all, dragons are legendary creatures. Forget about restoring the country, the continent as we know it would perish.”

Abel said while letting out a sigh.

Ryo was a little irritated by such a reaction from Abel.

So he decided to be honest with him.

“Abel, this is between you and me, so don’t tell anyone else. Dragons are, in fact, real.”

“Hmm?”

‘There is a tall mountain to the east of the Rondo Forest, and at the top of it are dragons. In fact, I spoke…or rather, had a conversation with them via telepathy.”

“What??”

“I’m telling you this so that when you eventually become a great king, you won’t consider launching an expedition or something to Rondo, because dragons live there.”

“…Ehh.”

Abel ruminated over Ryo’s words in his head, then again, and one more time, before it finally settled in.

“Dragons are…real…and they are living in Rondo Forest.”

“That’s right. So you’d better steer clear of the south side of Devil’s Mountain, okay?”

“Oh…right…and I’ll leave a will to my heirs not to mess with them too…”

Ryo was relieved that King Abel, who had yet to marry, decided to leave that in his will.

Satisfied, Ryo nodded repeatedly with a smile.

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