I wondered if I would be able to beat the Iron-Blooded Lord. I had become quite strong through various training, skills and incidents, but I still couldn't see a path of victory against him.
That was if it was him, though. The opponent I would fight now wasn't the Iron-Blooded Lord, who was the nightmare of the Dark Church, the charisma of a Great Family, and the strongest hero. He was Delac Badniker, a boy who was born with tremendous talent but who hadn't trained it to the limit.
"Hmm..." I muttered to myself after Assad left.
I lay on the bed fully dressed as usual and became lost in thought. I had the useless thought that the chandelier on the ceiling looked rather ridiculous, but I was also analyzing Delac's current combat power.
HIs mind had regressed, but his body remained the same. That was the current Iron-Blooded Lord. It meant that among other things, his physical abilities were still intact.
So the question was what Delac was lacking. First of all, he had lost a number of his blessings. As far as I knew, the total number of blessings he'd originally had was nineteen. He had so many that at least half would have been lost. So the number of blessings he had now would be around nine at most.
There were still a lot, though. Among my peers at the training camp, Hector and Seren had received the most blessings. The Iron-Blooded Lord had likely lost around half his blessings, but he would still have far more than those two.
Still, I ultimately concluded that it was worth a try. After all, the most crucial element that made a perfect martial artist was lacking in the present Delac.
Needless to say, it was experience. Even geniuses had to hone their instincts through countless real battles to truly grow into warriors worthy of being called masters. After all, there was a limit to solo training. The Iron-Blooded Lord I knew was a man who seemed to have sculpted the raw gem called dazzling talent to the peak through countless real combat experiences.
In other words, the current, unrefined Delac was worth fighting.
My body started to itch when I thought about fighting. Come to think about it, I had been comfortably resting since coming back to the main house. Lately, I hadn't moved vigorously except for when I hit Aerts. Thus, I decided to talk to Delac.
The sun had set outside, but it wasn't time to sleep yet. I decided to head to the Iron-Blooded Lord's quarters to deliver the message to him directly.
"You mean the family head? He is probably concentrating on work in his office right now," an old butler answered when I asked about Delac's whereabouts.
"Ah."
"Shall I deliver a message for you?"
"No need. I'll go there myself."
"Very well."
The butler didn't stop me. Certainly, the position of future family head was quite convenient at times like this. I was allowed to enter most places in the main estate without hesitation.
In any case, I quickly arrived at the Iron-Blooded Lord's office on the fourth floor and knocked on the door. There was no response even after five seconds. I wondered for a moment if he wasn't here, but I sensed a presence inside.
Thus, I briefly hesitated before slightly opening the door and calling out in a low voice, "Can I come in?"
I had knocked and informed him in advance, so I was innocent. When I entered, though, I couldn't see Delac at the desk in his office. I was feeling confused when I felt a presence nearby.
The sofa was probably used to entertain guests; I found Delac lying there sleeping. He seemed to be dozing precariously on the edge of the sofa.
Certainly, I felt that the current Delac was softer in many ways. He was sleeping soundly without hearing my knock or sensing my presence. No matter how safe the main house was, the Iron-Blooded Lord I knew would've never shown such a defenseless appearance.
Well, I could understand. He had to be in a condition where quite a bit of physical and mental fatigue had accumulated. Most things would be hard for the twelve year old Delac to accept. It was impressive that he hadn't panicked yet.
I looked at the clock. It was six in the evening. It was a very late hour for a nap, but it was difficult for me to wake him up. I decided to let Delac sleep for another thirty minutes, and sat down across from the sofa where he was lying.
I wondered whether he really was asleep. Maybe he was pulling some strange trick to deceive me again. Suspicion flared up in me for no reason.
I stared intently at the Iron-Blooded Lord's face and even listened to his breathing and heartbeat, as both of those things had a unique tempo in a person who was truly asleep. Through that, I verified that he really was sleeping.
It didn't really seem suitable to refer to such a person this way, but he looked completely knocked out and oblivious to the world. His mouth was slightly open. I thought that if he drooled, I would have to preserve the memory forever. Unfortunately, it didn't reach that extent.
I looked around, wondering what he had been doing in his office. All kinds of papers were scattered indiscriminately on the table in front of the sofa. It seemed he had fallen asleep while reading and organizing them.
I skimmed through the documents and found that they all contained unusual information. They pertained to the missions issued by the imperial family or the Hero Society, the recent trends of the Dark Church, the appearance of monsters in various places, and top-secret information about the Badniker family. There were also numerous reports on the missions Delac had performed as the Iron-Blooded Lord. He seemed to have been reviewing past records to fill in gaps in his knowledge.
Then I found a document that caught my eye. It was about a region on the outskirts of the empire: the special demon realm, Spirit Mountain.
This Spirit Mountain wasn't the place where Bai Luguang and I lived, but the Colorless Demon King's residence. In other words, it was the stronghold of Senior Brother He Lou somewhere on the continent.
However, the document listed the number of operation personnel as two. I instinctively narrowed my eyes; I'd heard that the mission related to Spirit Mountain was carried out by the Iron-Blooded Lord alone.
I half-subconsciously reached for the documents. At that moment, the Iron-Blooded Lord shifted in his sleep. I thought,What a surprise.
I wondered if Delac could be awake. I felt a strange tension as I stared at his face. His eyes were still closed, but his expression had changed. His brow furrowed and his eyes seemed to move rather intensely beneath his eyelids. It seemed like he was having a nightmare.
Just in case, I waved my hand in front of his face and whispered softly, "Father? Are you sleeping?"
There was no answer. He seemed to still be asleep. My tension disappeared as if it had melted in water. In fact, seeing him so defenseless made a wicked thought appear in my mind. What if I just kidnapped him like this?
At that moment, the Iron-Blooded Lord's expression changed. A slight crease appeared between his eyebrows and the muscles of his face twitched a bit.
Then Delac's lips opened awkwardly and he said, "Father isn't sleeping."
I gasped.
***
It was a day of heavy rain. The ground was wet like a swamp, tangled blades of grass clung to my legs in an annoying manner, and the unpleasant smell of rainwater filled my nostrils.
My heart was beating as quickly as the rhythm of the raindrops falling on my skin. It was a side effect of mental strain, not physical activity; the remnant of emotions that I had considered unnecessary.
It was strange. I had already discarded my emotions. I'd chosen to do so because I judged it was the most efficient path. From then on, every decision I made was rational. I never made a mistake. Not even once.
So I wondered why I was so agitated.
Beyond the fog, the boy smiled and seemed to say in a playful voice, Thank you.
Then he committed an act that was anything but playful. Beyond the rain and fog, the staggering figure was swallowed up by the darkness below a sheer cliff.
I reached out, but couldn't touch him. Countless people grabbed onto my body and stopped me. The chaos made it feel like my nerves were being severed, and my heart pounded like it was going to burst.
Then I—
***
As Delac opened his eyes and adjusted his clothes, I brought a prepared tea set into the room. Needless to say, I didn't know anything about tea ceremonies. Still, it was rude to prepare tea for my father without any semblance of ceremony. I roughly imitated what I had seen and heard to prepare the tea.
Then I glanced at my father sitting across from me. Delac still looked a bit dazed, as if he hadn't fully woken up. I could even see what seemed to be tear marks from yawning.
"Let's have a cup of tea," I said.
Delac nodded belatedly, his expression still a bit blank. He tried to look at the documents again while drinking his tea, but they had already been covered by other papers.
Should I just ask openly? The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly shook it off. Thinking about it, the current Delac probably didn't remember that time anyway.
Delac took a few sips of tea before saying in a hoarse voice, "I ended up showing an unsightly look."
"It's okay. You must be a bit tired, right?"
"Mm. I was just going to close my eyes for a moment before dinner."
Looking closely, he did look tired. I wondered if he'd gone several days without sleep. It was a ridiculous thought, but it wasn't impossible. Somehow, I thought that he might have stayed up all night reading the papers.
Delac wondered, "What brings you here?"
"Um, that..." I trailed off, hesitant about where to begin.
It was difficult to read Delac's inner thoughts even now. Just as I was about to get a read on him, he'd lost his memory and ended up like this. I had felt it when previously talking to this guy: He was too pure.
Maybe the words I can't read his inner thoughts and pure sounded a bit contradictory, but that was how I felt.
His emotions were openly readable, if only slightly revealed by his minor movements and facial expressions. For example, the corners of his eyes dropped a bit as if the tea I made was awful.
I briefly apologized in my mind. By then, my thoughts had been roughly organized. I said, "Father, I would like to offer you two options regarding your rehabilitation."
"Options?"
"Yes. First of all, you can continue browsing the papers you were just reading..." As we talked, I brought it up in a fairly natural manner. I naturally rummaged through the papers and picked up the one I was aiming for. It was the report on the mission concerning Spirit Mountain.
"So these documents talk about the missions you carry out as the Iron-Blooded Lord." I quickly skimmed through the document I picked up while talking.
Damn, I thought. There was a stain covering the name, so I couldn't see it. I was a bit confused, but I tried not to show it.
Delac listened to the explanation and asked, "What about the other one?"
"You could move with me. Well, you can think of it like being an aide."
Delac said nothing.
"Or maybe a companion," I tried again.
Still nothing.
"Or a family trip?"
Delac didn't smile at all.
I wondered if I really wasn't any good at telling jokes. Even I, the positive Luan Badniker, couldn't help feeling deflated at this point. I said in a somewhat sullen voice, "Well, it isn't like my side is completely safe either. I am the type of person who attracts a lot of trouble and incidents. But—"
I looked at Delac and quietly revealed my true feelings. "This option would be better."
It was the right choice for Delac to accompany me. I didn't have any concrete evidence for it, but I could say that with confidence.
Now, I'd said everything I had to say. I wondered how he would react.
Delac Badniker nodded and said, "Yes, I will do so."
It was a straightforward agreement. I was momentarily taken aback and looked at his face, but Delac just frowned at the awful tea and didn't reveal what he was thinking.
"So when are you leaving?" he asked.
"If nothing happens, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," I answered.
"I still have some paperwork to do, so is three days possible?"
"Yes. Ah, well, there is one condition."
"Condition?"
"Yes. It is..." I trailed off as two thoughts came to mind.
The condition Assad had put forth was for me to win against Delac. It seemed possible to manipulate the situation. Delac had expressed his intention to join me, so it wouldn't be impossible to get him to more or less agree to be defeated in the sparring match.
Assad was an Archmage, but no matter how skilled, he was just a mage. He didn't have the insight to fully see everything in hand-to-hand combat between martial artists.
And yet, I had a different idea. It was the exact opposite of my first thought. The twelve-year-old Delac Badniker had supreme talent, but he hadn't yet blossomed into the Iron-Blooded Lord. I wondered what the result would be if this person and I fought with all our strength.
Eventually, the words that came out of my mouth were the opposite of what I had originally planned. "You have to beat me."
"What?"
"The condition is that you have to win against me."
It could be attributed to pride. Or it could also be curiosity. In truth, from a martial artist's perspective, the two weren't that different.
So I said, "Father, let's have a fight."
I wanted to see the full power of the current Delac Badniker.
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