I Obtained Sword God Level Talent - Chapter 20
”W-Who am I? Are you really asking me that?”
The woman’s long eyelashes fluttered. Her gesture of touching her ear, as if trying to deny what she had just heard, looked rather pitiful.
Swoosh!
“That’s mean. Too… too mean…”
The woman then dispersed her mana, canceling the magic she had cast, and spoke softly in a tearful voice.
“….”
Actually, I had a name in mind ever since this uninvited guest appeared.
I didn’t know her face or gender. A mage from Helios Magic Tower. Her name is Ariel. She didn’t appear in any of the routes in (Silver Ring), and she knew the original me very well.
“Ariel?”
“Wh-What? Were you messing with me this whole time?!”
“Not really. It’s just that I really don’t remember you.”
“…You don’t remember? What in the world are you…”
The woman, Ariel, covered her mouth in shock.
“Frey went through a near-death experience. He has a severe head injury, and his memories are incomplete.”
Lancelot, who had been silently observing our conversation, said in a low voice.
He was still looking at Ariel with cautious eyes. If he saw even a hint of ill intent, he looked ready to draw his sword.
“……!”
Ariel’s head turned sharply as she listened to Lancelot. Her blue eyes, filled with astonishment, turned towards me, as if asking if it was true.
“Yes. Lancelot is right. I don’t remember. Ariel, I only know your name thanks to your letter.”
“How could this be…”
Ariel, her face filled with despair, collapsed onto the ground.
The ground was covered in dirt. But she didn’t seem to care that her clothes were getting dirty.
“You lost your memory? Then you don’t remember our promise? Our dream?”
“…Unfortunately, that’s what happened.”
Ariel, with a dejected expression, hung her head.
Promise? Dream?
Unfortunately, I didn’t remember. Judging by her mentioning those two things, it seemed like we had known each other since we were quite young, but what could I do if I, the person involved, couldn’t remember?
“For now, I understand. Time… Time will heal it. But before that.”
Ariel, who had been sitting motionless for a while, stood up. Her gaze then turned towards Lancelot.
“Why don’t you explain what happened earlier? You were trying to attack Frey, weren’t you?”
Th i s w a s c opi e d fr o m k i n g m t l . o r g
“…We had a spar. I lost.”
Perhaps sensing Ariel’s misunderstanding, Lancelot honestly explained the situation.
Ariel’s eyes narrowed as she listened.
“A spar? Really? Frey suffered from a mana-related illness when he was young. So he can’t accumulate mana, but you used mana against him?”
“…You’re saying I can’t accumulate mana?”
I couldn’t help but mutter to myself as I listened to their conversation.
Most people in this world stored mana in their lower abdomen, their dantian. But I was different. Thanks to the enlightenment I experienced during the battle, I had become someone whose mana flowed throughout my entire body, exceeding my Lower Dantian, Middle Dantian, and Upper Dantian.
…Yes, like a dragon.
“I can use mana, though?”
Woong-!
“…Huh?!”
Ariel’s eyes widened as I casually gathered mana in my palm. Judging by her reaction, what she said was true.
‘Is that why I joined a mercenary group?’
Unlike the Knights, which had strict entry requirements, many mercenaries didn’t master mana. Perhaps that was why I, in the past, had joined the Oak Mercenary Corps.
T h i s was c op i ed fr o m k i n g m t l. o rg
“I don’t know what kind of guy Frey used to be, but he’s stronger than you can imagine, Woman. You don’t know everything.”
“…Woman, he says.”
“…Strong, he says.”
Ariel and I shook our heads, reacting differently.
‘Woman’. It wasn’t a big deal, but it felt like an incredibly awkward way to address someone. And her tone carried a hint of displeasure.
T h i s w a s c o p i e d f r o m k i n g m t l. o r g
Anyway.
“Let’s get to the main point. Ariel, why are you here?”
“I came to invite you personally.”
“…Inviting me?”
Invite? Why would a mage from Helios Magic Tower invite me? And where, for what purpose were they inviting me?
“Yes. Senior mages at Helios Magic Tower can each take in a companion¹. So… I came to bring Frey with me.”
“Ah.”
I had forgotten for a moment. I knew about that tradition. It wasn’t common to all magic towers, but a unique tradition that only existed at Helios Magic Tower.
T his w a s c o p i e d f r o m ki n g m tl . org
…By the way, a senior mage? I couldn’t help but ask.
T h i s wa s c op i e d f rom k i n g m t l. o r g
“I thought only white-bearded old men were senior mages at the magic tower.”
“Hehe.”
“…Don’t tell me?”
Ariel scratched her head as if embarrassed.
When she first appeared, she seemed like a charismatic and mysterious magic master, but seeing her like this now, she just seemed silly.
“Yes. I… became a senior mage. Now Frey can stop his dangerous life as a mercenary and live with me. Memory… I’m sure time will heal your memories.”
“Really? You’re a senior mage?”
“Yes!”
My face stiffened at her cheerful reply.
Senior mage.
T h i s w a s c o pi ed f r o m ki ngm tl . o r g
It sounded like a title for a mage with a lot of experience, but being a senior mage at a magic tower carried a much heavier weight than one might think.
The main force of a magic tower was, of course, ‘mages’.
And among them, the senior mages were the ones who were deployed in actual combat, the ones who handled requests and projects for the tower on the front lines.
Th i s wa s c o p i ed fr o m ki n g m t l . or g
In other words, this girl who was smiling bashfully in front of me was one of the core members of Helios, the most powerful magic tower among them all.
‘Then….’
Why… I didn’t know her?
Ariel clearly still looked quite young.
This meant she possessed a brilliant talent, like Lancelot and me, and there was no way she could have escaped my radar, the owner of the (Conqueror) title.
‘Something’s not right.’
Intense curiosity overwhelmed my mind. So I stood up and answered immediately,
“Let’s go.”
***
Once again, in the commercial district of the fortress city of Roven.
“Hey, Frey.”
“What?”
“Are you really going? To Helios Magic Tower?”
Lancelot’s displeased question came as we were walking down the street.
He seemed to be uncomfortable with Ariel for some reason, and he was glaring at her as she walked behind us.
“Well, why not?”
“It might just be a hunch, but… I have a feeling you’ll be in great danger if you go with that woman.”
“…Really?”
Looking at Lancelot’s serious expression, it didn’t seem like he was saying this out of mere emotion. He might have sensed something based on his intuition.
“….”
I looked at Ariel again.
Blue hair like the ocean, blue eyes, lustrous hair that reached her waist, and snow-white skin. Lastly, a pure white Helios uniform with boots.
…She was undeniably attractive. The word ‘danger’ seemed completely out of place.
“Then you should protect me.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Let’s go together. To Helios.”
Lancelot’s head tilted as we walked side by side.
“The I’ll offer you something. Something incredibly tempting that you can’t refuse.”
T h i s w a s c op ie d f r o m ki n g m t l . o rg
“…Huh.”
A dumbfounded sound escaped Lancelot’s lips at my resolute statement. He probably never imagined that I would invite him to come with me to Helios Magic Tower.
“I’ll help you out with money. Weren’t you looking for a house to take your mother to?”
“Hmm. I wasn’t trying to hide it. I just didn’t want to burden you further, since I had already received such a great gift.”
“What are you two talking about?”
Surprise!
Suddenly, a blue figure squeezed between Lancelot and me. The culprit was obvious. It was Ariel, who had been quietly following behind us.
“Hmm. Nothing.”
Lancelot, perhaps thinking that his weakness would be exposed, furrowed his brows and muttered briefly.
However, it seemed Ariel had already heard our entire conversation. She smiled brightly and said,
“Helios Magic Tower is a good place. The strict rules are a bit of an issue, but it’s a tower where you’re free from ‘money,’ which is the biggest problem for mages.”
“…?”
Money? So what? I looked at her with a questioning gaze.
“Helios has so much money that they even give a monthly allowance to companions.”
Th i s wa s c o p i e d f r o m kin g m tl .org
“What? They give an allowance to companions?”
Lancelot, his eyes widening, turned sharply and asked.
“Yes. About… this much.”
Ariel raised her white fists. Then she extended the index finger of her right hand. It seemed she was expressing the number ’10.’
“Alright, let’s go.”
“….”
Lancelot’s subtly excited gaze turned towards me.
He probably thought she meant ten gold coins, which was indeed an unimaginable amount. It was only natural for Lancelot, the money-grubber, to react like this.
“Ariel, is it okay for Lancelot to come with us?”
“Yes. I’ve never had a companion since I became a senior mage.”
Smiling brightly, Ariel walked beside me. She kept glancing at me, observing me. It was understandable, considering it had been a while since we last saw each other.
Then,
“Eh? You have a ring?”
A natural-sounding remark slipped out from Ariel as we walked slowly. The ring she was referring to was the silver ring on my right hand.
It was the sacred treasure of Britzhardt that Maria had given me, and it was also a Legendary-grade item.
“It was a gift.”
“A gift? From whom? A woman?”
“Yes. A woman. Why?”
“….”
Ariel was silent for a moment. She seemed to be collecting her thoughts, and after some time, she said,
“Hmm… You… are not like a lover or anything, right?”
“A lover? No. It was just a gift because she said she was looking forward to my future.”
“Reeeally? That’s strange. People usually don’t give rings as gifts to the opposite gender, do they?”
Halt.
My legs, which had been moving forward silently, stopped. I looked at Ariel with an expressionless face.
T h is w as co p i e d fr om kin g m tl . or g
“An insult to Lady Maria is an insult on me.”
“H-Huh? Really? Sorry. Are you two close?”
Ariel apologized immediately. I nodded and replied, stroking the tarnished silver ring,
“Lady Maria is watching.”
Just think about the pouch of money that appeared in front of my hotel room.
…I wasn’t that clueless.
¹Tbh the korean text of this word literally means ‘Guest/house guest’ or something more like a guest that should be given a good treatment, for now I’ll translate it to companions because of the context that has been given. I’ll change it in the future once I know the correct translation.
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Glad that he’s perceptive.