Chapter 44 - Training Camp

'Mm... '

Galahad desperately suppressed the groan threatening to escape him. He had answered the Grand Duke lightly and stepped away, but in truth, he was not in good shape.

The blood of a top-ranking Demon was on an entirely different level from anything he had drunk before. If drinking other Demons' blood had felt like swallowing water, this...

'It's like swallowing lava.'

It felt as though everything was melting, from the lips that had touched the cup to his mouth and his esophagus.

This was a deadly poison. Even among people ignorant of mana, ninety-nine out of a hundred would die from drinking it. If it did that to the ignorant, what would it do to a Mage sensitive to mana?

All his mana seethed. It slipped free of Galahad's will, welcoming the Demon blood as though in worship. The pressure felt ready to burst his heart.

Then the Egg of agony moved. Drooling copiously, it approached the top-ranking Demon's blood as though it belonged to the Egg by right.

Galahad intervened.

'Wait.'

He stopped the Egg as it lunged at the blood.

The Egg of agony trembled faintly. Pain rose inside him, his insides seeming not merely to boil but to melt. The Egg insisted that unless it dealt with that blood immediately, his insides would dissolve.

It was right. Mana of that concentration would certainly melt Galahad. In fact, even the mana he had possessed before was now running wild beyond his control. At this rate, ruin was inevitable.

However...

'This much won't kill me.'

A deadly poison was only poison to the ignorant. To someone who handled poisons, it was a treasure. Likewise, this top-ranking Demon's blood was a treasure to Galahad—one that could never be easily obtained.

How could he simply hand such a treasure over to the creature?

It was certainly dangerous, but not enough to kill him immediately. He had time for the tiniest taste.

Just a little...

The Egg of agony shuddered violently, as if asking why he would go out of his way to do something so dangerous. If he fed it the blood, it would come back out anyway.

That was true. If he handed it over to the Egg, it would supply pure, dense mana without any need for compression.

But...

'Where's the flavor in that?'

He had never encountered mana this dense before. As a Mage, he could not accept handing over mana of such exquisite concentration without touching it.

The Egg of agony buzzed. It seemed positively appalled.

Galahad's attention was entirely on the Demon blood. He prodded the virulent poison that was melting his insides rather than merely burning them, gently scraping its surface as though savoring fine cuisine.

A little seeped out. The taste was truly intoxicating—so delicious he could die eating it alone and never notice.

'How shall I eat it?'

Ah. Galahad narrowed his eyes.

'Compression.'

Compression was the pinnacle of mana manipulation. If he could compress it, that meant he had brought it fully under his control.

'I think I can do it.'

The Egg of agony shook violently, continually crying out that it was dangerous. It seemed worried that if he died, that would be the end of it too.

'Shut up.'

The Egg froze. Having silenced it, Galahad licked his lips.

The mana's concentration was exceedingly high, but it had not been compressed. It was simply pure, naturally dense mana. In theory, he could compress it.

His calculations were brief. Galahad forcibly pressed down on that unyielding mana. It was so dense that it felt as solid as a mountain. He felt as though he were standing atop a mountain, pushing down with his palm.

It did not budge.

'How dare you—'

This mana had entered Galahad's body. In theory, he held its reins. No matter how dense it was, how could a Mage let mana drag him around?

So...

'Bow.'

In the face of that unwavering conviction, the mana that had resisted as though it would never move finally shifted.

Only slightly, of course. But what mattered was that it had moved.

'Ah...'

The result followed his calculations, but conjecture and certainty were different things. And the experience of pressing down on a mountain was no small matter.

Galahad felt that his power to compress had grown stronger. Unable to be contained, the compressed mana twisted. Mana that should have dispersed into the atmosphere abruptly vanished, as though it had been absorbed.

Galahad narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar phenomenon.

Then the pain returned. The mana he had failed to compress began running wild again.

'Eat.'

The Egg of agony, which had been wriggling as it held itself back, pounced on the Demon blood. This batch seemed difficult even for it to handle; the two wrestled back and forth inside him.

The Egg began devouring the blood. It swelled with each heave, growing so large that he could feel a weight beside his heart. Galahad groaned and pressed firmly against his chest.

The Egg of agony vibrated as though cheering, violently shaking Galahad's already battered body. Perhaps its meal was so delicious that it had lost its senses. It kept heaving, its presence continually shaking him.

Come to think of it, wasn't it an egg?

'Is it hatching?'

It was right beside his heart. If it hatched there, he would be in considerable trouble.

Alarmed, he called to it several times, but it kept shaking as though it had lost its mind. It seemed too excited to hear him.

Now that he looked closer, it seemed to be dancing in its own way. Apparently, it was not about to hatch.

But Galahad was in poor condition. Even that bizarre dance was lethal to him right now, and it was too excited to listen.

Galahad urgently turned his head. At times like this, there was only one person to turn to.

'My wife!'

Adrianna.

* * *

'He won the Grand Duke's recognition.'

Belograim, commander of the Seventh Battalion, swallowed hard.

The Grand Duke was the ruler of the North. He was not called its ruler merely because he was a duke. He had risen to his position by paving a road with the blood of his own kin, his enemies, and Demons.

["Anyone who cuts off my head may have this seat."]

Those were his first words after becoming Grand Duke. It was like throwing fire at the already hot-blooded northerners.

Countless people had challenged him. Every last one had knelt before him.

Very occasionally, the Grand Duke bestowed a cup upon one of them—roughly once for every thousand challengers. Most of those offered the cup declined to drink. Simply receiving the Grand Duke's cup was an immense honor.

But this fellow had not stopped at receiving it. He had drained it in a single draught, then asked for more.

It had never happened before, and it would never happen again.

'You truly do see everything if you live long enough.'

Belograim looked at Galahad with fresh eyes.

Hair slicked neatly back without a strand out of place, a long, lean body that nonetheless looked sturdy, impeccably arranged clothes—he was a man wholly unsuited to the North.

He was even a Mage. He was the very opposite of the North, yet someone like him had won the Grand Duke's recognition.

'You really do see everything if you live long enough.'

Then the man opened his eyes. A dense presence emanated from him, one Belograim could never forget.

'... An upper-echelon Demon?'

Belograim instinctively seized his staff. His hair stood on end, and his grip tightened.

Then the man closed his eyes and opened them again. The ominous presence Belograim had just sensed was gone.

No, this was the same man as before. Those eyes were calm, yet held a hint of madness.

'... Did I imagine it?'

Belograim narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him, but he was still the same man.

'I'm getting old.'

As that thought passed through his mind, Belograim realized his hand was drenched in sweat.

To think he had grown tense.

The man headed toward the Grand Duke and Adrianna, who were talking. His legs were trembling as though he were ill.

'So it was too much for him after all.'

It was surely because he had drunk Demon blood. Belograim had heard it was more lethal to Mages. He knew as many things as he had wrinkles. Most of it was trivia, but trivia was knowledge too.

"Out of the question."

"Restoring the Seventh Battalion must come first."

"It has already opened."

"That does not mean we can leave the Demon Realm as it is."

There was a subtle gentleness in the Grand Duke's eyes. Others might not notice, but Belograim, who had served beside him on the battlefield, could tell. The Grand Duke's love for his daughter was famous—as was his love for his late wife.

As Galahad approached, the Grand Duke and Adrianna turned toward him together.

Then...

'...?'

The man abruptly held out a hand to Adrianna without a word. He simply offered his hand.

Adrianna gave a small sigh, removed her gauntlet, and took it. The entire sequence was remarkably natural. They even interlaced their fingers, as though they had done it many times before.

'They make quite a good pair.'

At that thought, Belograim suddenly sensed a murderous presence and turned his head. The Grand Duke's brow was slightly furrowed. The thick, fearsome muscles of his back writhed violently, as though screaming.

"Haha, my hand was a little cold."

As Galahad smiled and offered that explanation to the Grand Duke, Belograim felt genuine admiration.

'He truly is insane.'

He had seen plenty of strange people, but this man topped them all.

* * *

'I might actually die.'

Under the Grand Duke's scowl, Galahad hurried behind Adrianna. He had had no choice; the Egg of agony had been rampaging too violently.

The instant he took Adrianna's hand, the Egg fell uncannily silent. It seemed to have calmed down a little. It nipped at his heart as though disappointed.

'Power you cannot control is useless.'

At Galahad's rebuke, the Egg of agony clammed up.

Then Adrianna looked at him and spoke.

"We were discussing the Demon Realm."

"This, you mean."

Galahad waved his hand. The ash scattered around them swirled after it.

"Yes. Left as it is, it will affect Demons and demon-beasts. There is ample potential for trouble, so we were discussing how to guard it."

Adrianna nodded.

Calling the Demon Realm a good environment for Demons, demon-beasts, and Mages hardly did it justice. For knights, however, it was the worst possible environment, from the inability to see even an inch ahead to the psychological terror.

If it was that bad for knights, ordinary soldiers went without saying. Simply entering would surely send them into a panic.

"Do you have a solution?"

The Grand Duke asked in his characteristically deep voice.

'Like a wild beast deep inside a cave. One that smoked heavily while its voice was breaking.'

Galahad murmured under his breath.

At first hearing, it sounded almost confrontational, but the fact that the Grand Duke had asked him directly was significant. It meant he was willing to hear Galahad's opinion.

'So this is recognition.'

Recognition aside, merely meeting the Grand Duke's gaze made his eyes sting as though they were burning.

"Yes."

Naturally, he had a solution.

"... Really?"

Adrianna's eyebrows rose. She looked at the Grand Duke, whose eyebrows lowered.

"I dislike jokes."

"I enjoy them, but I know there is a time and place."

"... Do you?"

At the Grand Duke's low question, Galahad laughed. No one joined him.

'A father and daughter with no sense of humor.'

Galahad clicked his tongue and nodded.

He had seen the evidence earlier: fragments of mana stones and a broken magic circle. It was easy to infer the connection.

"Yes. They likely gathered a large quantity of mana stones and used a Demon as a medium to detonate them all at once, creating a mass of compressed mana. Once compressed, that mana drew in the surrounding mana, producing this result. Of course, beyond a certain area, the mana threshold would prevent it from drawing in any more—"

Galahad had intended to explain further, but trailed off at their lowered brows.

"How do you know?"

"Because I am an exceptional Mage."

Galahad tapped his head as he answered, and the Grand Duke narrowed his eyes.

"Then is there a way to eliminate it?"

Adrianna turned to Galahad as she asked. He nodded.

"We have you, don't we?"

"... Pardon?"

"For all we call it a Demon Realm, it is ultimately just an area with unusually dense mana. And this isn't even a true Demon Realm."

"Speak plainly."

Galahad cleared his throat, forcibly swallowing the words, 'I already am.' These were northerners.

"I stop the mana continually flowing in from outside, and we erase what is inside."

"Erase it?"

"Yes."

"With what?"

At the Grand Duke's question, Galahad looked at Adrianna. Her eyes widened.

"Me? I know nothing about magic."

"That's all right. I know plenty. I'll block the mana coming in from outside. You just need to draw up plenty of aura and run around."

"... Pardon?"

Galahad briefly wondered how he could possibly explain it any more simply.

"Ah, I understand. But is the problem truly that easy to resolve?"

"It isn't a true Demon Realm, after all. It only covers about one fortress, though creating it does require a high-ranking Demon or above as a medium. However..."

"However?"

The Grand Duke repeated the word in a low voice. His enormous trapezius muscles twitched, making him look ready to seize Galahad at any moment.

Galahad met those fierce eyes and spoke.

"Must we erase it?"

The Grand Duke's brow furrowed ever so slightly. Adrianna's eyebrows lowered.

'There's one way this father and daughter resemble each other.'

Both expressed their emotions through their eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" the Grand Duke asked.

Adrianna held her tongue.

"Of course, having something like this here will draw the surrounding Demons and demon-beasts. But is that necessarily a problem?"

The Grand Duke's brow furrowed further. He looked like a wild beast opening its jaws wide. Galahad's neck prickled for no reason, and sweat broke out on his back. He sidled farther behind Adrianna.

"What do you mean by that?"

"From what I saw that time, even the First Battalion's knights didn't seem accustomed to the Demon Realm."

"That is true."

"This incident is only the beginning. It will happen again. Caution alone won't solve the problem."

Galahad addressed the Grand Duke, who watched him silently.

"So we train them."

"... Train them?"

The suggestion seemed to shock Adrianna considerably. Her mouth opened and closed.

"Do you know what sort of place the Demon Realm is?"

This time, the Seventh Battalion's commander spoke. His eyes held horror.

'What a fuss over the Demon Realm.'

Perhaps that was only natural. Galahad gave his fingers a small snap.

"Yes. I stopped by before coming here."

"Stopped by? You make it sound like a visit to a tavern."

Then the Grand Duke spoke.

"Training in the Demon Realm... Intriguing."

"Yes. With proper management, we could operate it as a training camp to prepare for the Demon Realm."

"It is dangerous."

"Once overcome, danger becomes opportunity."

Galahad quietly watched the Grand Duke.

"Very well."

It was the answer he had expected.

"Then the training camp will need an administrator."

The corners of the Grand Duke's mouth had lifted in a ferocious smile.

'Hmm. I wasn't expecting that.'

Meeting the Grand Duke's eyes, Galahad thought rapidly.

Manage a Demon Realm training camp...

'Not a bad prospect, is it?'

His calculations complete, Galahad nodded. The Grand Duke's smile widened a little further.

At the mention of the Demon Realm, the sulking Egg of agony began bouncing about.

'Like a puppy hearing it's time for a walk.'

Galahad clicked his tongue softly.

* * *

'Quite a bit of resistance.'

Theodore frowned at the reports that had come in. The commanders were not displaying it openly, but they were subtly expressing their opposition.

It was because His Highness the Grand Duke had ordered them to seal every gap completely—or he would plug those gaps with their spinal cords.

He understood the difficulties the commanders faced. How could they possibly seal such a vast front without missing anything?

It also did not help that His Highness had not issued an order in a long time. The greatest factor, however, was that most of the men who had served when the Grand Duke was active on the battlefield had since been replaced.

'They have no idea how frightening His Highness is.'

Theodore clicked his tongue softly.

A letter saying he would pull out their spinal cords and use them to fill any gaps was actually quite kind. He had not threatened to chew their spinal cords, and he had even given them time.

The Grand Duke of old would have torn their heads off first and thought afterward. By comparison, he had become considerably kinder.

Then the door burst open, and a man rushed in. The red letter in his hand bore the mark of His Highness the Grand Duke.

At last, news had arrived.

Theodore hurriedly knelt and received it. When he carefully unfolded it, he found bold writing like the claw marks of a wild beast.

'... A Demon Realm training camp? The Special Operations Unit's commander?'

The sentences were plainly concise, yet he could not understand them. Only after reading the letter over several times did Theodore fully grasp it.

'Ah, a Demon Realm opened at the Seventh Battalion, and he intends to use it to create a Demon Realm training ground. The Special Operations Unit's commander will manage it. Troops from the other battalions will train in the Demon Realm...'

Hmm...

What the fuck was this nonsense?