Chapter 166: Entering Body Improvement (5)
The Apprentice Knights suffered daily from the pain of forcibly breaking through their Mana Roads, becoming more haggard by the day.
They desperately realized why the Lord wasn’t worried about leaks.
“How am I supposed to teach this to someone else?”
“I’ve never heard of teaching like this before.”
“Even if I know how, I might end up killing the other person.”
With the Mana Roads forcibly created, there was no way to know the method.
Literally, they were just learning through experience without any theoretical knowledge.
As the Apprentice Knights became more worn out, Ghislaine’s complexion also darkened. He was struggling just as much.
“It’s definitely not easy to finish everything at once.”
Even though it seemed rough, Ghislaine was carefully adjusting the mana so that the Apprentice Knights wouldn’t die.
Compared to his previous life, the amount of mana was significantly less, so he had to be careful not to waste mana while managing so many people.
Doing this every day until his mana ran out was bound to take a toll on his body.
“Should I extend the schedule? At this rate, I might die first.”
It was so bad that Ghislaine contemplated giving up halfway.
But every time he thought of that, he recalled his past life and tightened his resolve.
“Delaying won’t help. I have to think of each day as a debt of life.”
He couldn’t repeat the regrets of his past life. Ghislaine gritted his teeth and focused on breaking through the Mana Roads of the Apprentice Knights.
This determination of Ghislaine naturally emanated an atmosphere that resonated with the Apprentice Knights.
They endured and gritted their teeth, syncing with the Lord’s unusual vibe.
After a week, their gazes sharpened like finely honed blades. A few even started to faintly feel mana.
The most basic preparations had been completed.
Ghislaine expressed relief as he announced the end of their suffering.
“You’ve all done well. The pain that felt like death is now over. From now on, I will teach you how to stack and move mana using the Mana Convergence Circle.”
“Woohooo!”
The Apprentice Knights burst into cheers.
No matter how many times they repeated it, they never got used to the pain tearing through their bodies.
Though they endured with a bitter resolve, honestly, every day felt like hell.
It was only natural for them to be overjoyed that such pain was finally over.
The Apprentice Knights began training earnestly using the Mana Convergence Circle.
“Wow, I’m finally in the Mana Convergence Circle.”
“Wow, I can really feel the mana!”
Even though they had formed Mana Roads, it was still hard for beginners to absorb mana.
However, thanks to the incredible power of the Mana Convergence Circle, the Apprentice Knights could absorb mana just by breathing.
“This is real, my body is truly accepting mana!”
“The suffering ends! Happiness begins now!”
Everyone sat in the Mana Convergence Circle, grinning from ear to ear. They couldn’t hold back their laughter.
“Ah, I’ve become a knight who can handle mana, and I’m supposed to keep this in?”
The Apprentice Knights began slowly learning how to control and emit mana from Ghislaine.
While it wasn’t easy to handle mana yet, they tried to move it little by little according to the Mana Road Ghislaine had engraved in them.
It was a bit boring, but compared to the pain they had experienced until the day before, this felt like heaven.
“I trusted the Lord. He must have had a plan all along.”
“Ugh, I must have lacked faith.”
As if no one had ever spoken ill of the Lord, everyone busied themselves praising Ghislaine in their minds.
That’s how memories work. No matter how painful they were, if the reward is great enough after the pain, they become just memories.
Everyone believed without a doubt that this happiness would continue on.
A week passed, and finally, the apprentice knights began the process of using mana.
“Alright, this is the real deal. Even if you feel and gather mana, it’s meaningless if you don’t know how to use it. Gordon! Step forward and show us what you’ve learned so far.”
At Ghislaine’s words, Gordon stepped up confidently.
He began to draw up mana, based on everything he had learned until now.
“Aah! So this is how it feels!”
As the mana spread throughout his body, Gordon fell into ecstasy.
Though he only had a tiny bit of mana, he could definitely feel his body hardening like steel.
He felt like he could break anything and block anything.
A new world he had never known!
“This is mana! I am invincible now! I think I could even beat that bastard Kaor!”
With that in mind, Gordon drew up all his mana.
He wanted to feel this strength even more.
Boom!
“Ooooh! I can’t believe Gordon is radiating such momentum!”
As Gordon’s momentum grew, the other apprentice knights wriggled with excitement to try it themselves.
And at that moment…
“Uweeeek! Keeyaack!”
Gordon, having exhausted all his minuscule mana, collapsed, spewing blood everywhere.
“……?”
Everyone froze, eyes wide open, unable to say a word.
However, Ghislaine clapped her hands and cheered.
“Good! Well done! That’s how you use it! How does it feel? Feel the power?”
With a look of disbelief, Gordon looked up at Ghislaine and asked.
“Um, Lord? I’m in pain right now. I just threw up blood, you know? I feel all drained!”
“Oh, that’s normal.”
“……Normal?”
“It’s a kind of side effect. You exert more power than you actually have, which puts a lot of strain on your body. It’s how you explode mana.”
“Side effect…? Wait, does that mean I’ll keep throwing up blood and collapsing every time I use mana?”
“Yep, but don’t worry. That only happens if you exhaust all your mana, and if you train hard and get stronger, it’ll be fine.”
“Oh, so I’ll be okay later…”
Gordon nodded, reassured by Ghislaine’s nonchalant words. Yet, a nagging feeling prompted him to ask again.
“But what happens if I don’t train hard and get stronger?”
Ghislaine gazed off into the distance as she recited, “If the mana accumulated in your body keeps trying to explode, it’ll deplete itself even while you’re just sitting still. If that keeps happening, you’ll eventually drain your life and die.”
“……Die?”
“Yep. So you better get strong enough to control it quickly, right? The stronger you get, the longer you can use mana. That also means your lifespan increases.”
“W-Who came up with such a bizarre mana circulation method?! Isn’t this the Perdium family’s mana method?”
“I modified the Perdium method. This version has fewer side effects so you can learn it more easily. The mana won’t explode as violently.”
“Oh… I see. So, the weak die— that’s how you reduced the side effects. Hahaha!”
Tears welled in Gordon’s eyes as he laughed. The other apprentice knights also had tears in their eyes, watching him.
As Gordon chuckled, he couldn’t hold back and shouted.
“Ah, you never mentioned this at the start! This is a scam contract, right? Please cancel it immediately!”
Ghislaine stared at him with wide eyes.
“Wow, I heard you used to get scammed often, but now you’ve learned to read and you’ve really changed. Asking to cancel a contract? You’ve really transformed.”
“Whyyyy! What are you talking about? I’ll take it back and say I didn’t learn anything, so please cancel it!”
“Ah, no matter who I am, I can’t cancel it. The only way is for you to train hard and elevate your realm as quickly as possible. If you want to live, everyone needs to get stronger than you are now.”
“The only way to increase our realm quickly is to work hard. If you want to live, everyone needs to get stronger than now.”
The apprentice knights, including Gordon, couldn’t find the words and silently cursed.
“Who the hell created this insane Mana Circulation Method?”
“Well, he wasn’t a normal person to begin with. It’s our fault for forgetting that.”
If until now only the lord and his close associates were busily occupied, now the apprentice knights also had to move around in a frenzy.
The Penris Knights literally became an order where only the strong survived.
If you didn’t want to die as a joke, you had to train hard enough to actually become strong.
It was the start of a new pain.
*
Count Desmond and Harold were deep in thought inside the office.
They were busy reorganizing the forces lost in the war against Ghislaine, and fatigue was obvious on Harold’s face.
Even amidst this chaos, the reason for his worry was simple.
The content of the letter from the Duke Faction particularly disturbed him.
“That bastard has Ghislaine as his guardian and joined the Crown Prince Faction? He even received support from Brivant…”
The last report he received about Ghislaine was that he was turning the territory upside down.
After that, all the spies were hunted down, and the Penris Territory was sealed off. They hadn’t heard news from there for a while.
Yet, suddenly one day, Ghislaine appeared in the capital, selling cosmetics and became an instant celebrity.
Harold had thought to dismiss it, convinced that a reckless fool like him couldn’t accomplish anything, but now he was part of the Crown Prince Faction.
Harold clicked his tongue and glared at the letter, then asked his deputy sitting next to him.
“The Duke Faction said to treat Ghislaine on par with Count Raybold’s Knight Commander Jurgen. What do you think about this information?”
“I… I can’t believe it either, but the Duke Faction wouldn’t say such a thing without evidence.”
“I can’t understand it.”
Harold buried his head in his hands.
Jurgen was one of the top contenders across the entire kingdom. He wouldn’t have gained the title of the North’s top knight without reason by taking the position of Knight Commander for the Great Territory of Raybold.
If the Duke Faction’s assessment were correct, it would explain how Viktor was defeated by Ghislaine.
“Ghislaine, Ghislaine! That damn bastard!”
The Duke wasn’t only sending warnings about Ghislaine.
He also reprimanded them for not investigating such a person properly, alongside a warning that this would be the last chance.
It was a humiliation Harold experienced for the first time in his life, where he had always succeeded without failure.
Everything fell apart because of just Ghislaine.
He wanted to storm into the Penris Territory right now, but there was something pressing down on Harold even more urgently.
“How about the movements on Count Raybold’s side?”
“…They are definitely preparing for war.”
“Just as I thought, they’re targeting us. Do you have any idea what justification they’ll use?”
“It seems they’ll claim they are retaliating against the attack on Perdium as allies of Perdium. They’ll argue that we attacked without proper procedures since we had no lawful justification.”
“You crazy bastard.”
It was disgusting to think that when the war broke out, they had ignored Perdium and now late in the game claimed to be allies.
Harold had never thought he could hide the fact that he helped Digald eternally.
No matter how much they deployed troops secretly, such a large army’s movement would ultimately be exposed upon detailed investigation.
At that time, he believed it didn’t matter. Justice belonged to the victors, after all. If Viktor had won, all suspicion would have ended as mere suspicion.
But they lost the war, and Count Raybold bared his teeth as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Harold clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Why did they have to start moving at a time like this?”
The deputy cautiously spoke.
“We need to hurry the rebellion of Amelia before the war breaks out.”
“Mmm…”
Harold let out a groan without realizing it.
The deputy was correct. They had already provided a lot of funds and dozens of knights to Amelia to instigate the rebellion.
In order to support Amelia, a lot of funds and dozens of knights had been allocated.
If Count Raybold declared war on Desmond before the rebellion, it would be like all those tremendous resources being blown away.
However, Harold could not bring himself to make a decision.
“Jurgen, there’s no one capable of dealing with Jurgen. Even if Viktor were here…”
Jurgen, the Knight Commander of Raybold, known as the North’s Greatest Sword. Viktor, whom they had raised to face him, had died in the last war.
Since there was no one who could confront Jurgen directly, Harold felt uncertain that a rebellion would be successful.
If this rebellion led by Amelia fails as well, it wouldn’t be Raybold who would take Harold’s head, but the Duke Faction.
Naturally cautious by nature, with his own life at stake, he could not move easily.
His deputy, understanding the reason for Harold’s hesitance, continued the report in as objective a tone as possible.
“Predictions suggest that Raybold will finish preparations for war in two to three months.”
“I know time is tight. But if we fail, it will be even more dangerous. Tell Amelia to prepare thoroughly.”
“All preparations have already been made. She has summoned all her subordinate factions scattered throughout the North, and they said they can move as soon as they receive the green light.”
At those words, Harold raised one eyebrow.
He knew Amelia was clever, but he hadn’t expected her to read the situation and predict things to this extent.
“Hmph, she’s still quick-witted.”
“Moreover, there is a message from Amelia.”
“What is it?”
“If you are worrying about Jurgen, she says she will handle it… So don’t worry and just set a date.”
Harold grimaced at his deputy’s words. How could she say not to worry about the most important matter?
He was also displeased that someone like Amelia had dared to make assumptions about his concerns.
“Tsk… Just as I praised her, she’s getting ahead of herself. Has she grown so bold just because she feels a bit stronger? What a presumptuous girl.”
“It seems Amelia is in a hurry as well. If Count Raybold starts a war, he will command an enormous army.”
Once the war begins, it would be useless for Amelia to seize an empty castle.
As soon as Count Raybold returns with his forces, it would all be swept away like autumn leaves.
Harold understood why Amelia was anxious, but he couldn’t take a reckless gamble just for that reason.
Whether Amelia lived or died didn’t concern him, but if she failed, his own head was on the line.
“Tell her not to act rashly and to wait. I will not allow any actions without my permission.”
“…Understood.”
“And mix some spies among the next group of immigrants entering Penris Territory. We can’t afford to let that side sit idle either. Tell them to disrupt activities in the territory as opportunities arise.”
“Understood.”
Since Penris Territory had barred outsiders from entering, it wasn’t easy for anyone to get in.
But they wouldn’t be able to filter out all the spies mingled among the thousands of immigrants.
Once the deputy bowed and left, Harold squinted, pressing his temples.
His headaches were becoming increasingly severe.
“Ghislaine… Ghislaine Perdium.”
That guy had thrown all his plans into disarray.
He wanted to storm in and trample him right away, but he couldn’t.
Harold and Amelia were bound to Raybold, and even trying to move other lords was difficult due to the Crown Prince Faction.
In short, he was a man born under a lucky star.
“Lucky bastard. Enjoy your leisure while you can. After I deal with Raybold, your turn will come next.”
He had only bought a little time. No matter how hard he struggled, his fate of death would not change.
Though he thought so logically, his insides were boiling, and he couldn’t calm down.
“Wait for it. I will make you regret all this mischief.”
From beneath lowered eyebrows, a murderous intent to kill Ghislaine emanated from Harold’s eyes.
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