Estriel carefully examined the meridians of the unconscious Albina.
Soon, he narrowed his brows and opened his mouth.
“…You said Camilo, right? I roughly expected it after hearing the symptoms from Aiden, but what your sister is suffering from is a symptom called ‘Reverse Flow.’
With this, even if a priest from the Life Church casts a healing spell, maintaining the status quo would be the best they could do.”
“W-What exactly is that illness?”
Estriel explained about Reverse Flow to the anxiously pacing Camilo.
- Albina was born with a constitution called Reverse Veins, and Reverse Flow is something like a side effect that appears when this constitution manifests too strongly.
- The algorithm of the faith-based healing magic used by priests is ‘returning the body to a normal state.’
- However, as mentioned earlier, Reverse Flow is a kind of physiological phenomenon stemming from Reverse Veins.
- Therefore, even high-level healing spells used by priests of the Life Church cannot recognize it as ‘abnormal.’
In summary, it was roughly this story.
“One of my priests had a brief struggle with Reverse Flow in his childhood as well.”
“I-I see.”
Camilo, who had been extremely tense, finally let out a sigh of relief.
Estriel’s words meant that Reverse Flow was a condition that could improve.
“Then, shall we wake up the sleeping princess?”
“…Pardon?”
With a sly smile, Estriel moved past the puzzled Camilo.
He once again checked Albina’s meridians and poured a generous amount of vibrating energy into her body.
At that moment.
“Ugh… Ah?”
Albina, who hadn’t regained consciousness for several months, began trembling with a short groan.
Then, suddenly, she bolted upright in bed.
“Ah…”
Albina frowned as she slowly scanned the faces of the three of us… and then abruptly screamed.
“Ah… It huuuuurts!!”
Her hoarse voice echoed throughout the room.
After that, she kicked off the bed and began rolling around on the floor.
“Spiro, is that okay?”
“It’ll be a seizure for about 2-3 minutes, then it’ll stop, so don’t worry.
More importantly, my real name is Estriel Mirvana.
From now on, call me Estriel.
Ah, of course, use the alias in front of people unrelated to the Alsigima style.”
I felt a sense of dissonance in his words.
By revealing his real name even with the outsider Camilo present, he was indirectly signaling what intention Estriel currently held.
“Aaah! Uwaaa… Hoo…”
Albina, who had been dramatically thrashing around on the floor, finally caught her breath.
Camilo, who had been blankly watching her, suddenly burst into tears.
“Al… bina.”
And he tightly embraced his sister.
“Albina…!”
“…Camilo oppa? Why are you suddenly like this?”
Albina, suddenly hugged by her brother, wore a bewildered expression.
She had collapsed one day and hadn’t regained consciousness since.
Albina didn’t even know that she had been bedridden for several months.
“Ahem.”
Estriel, who had been smiling warmly at the touching scene, lightly cleared his throat.
“Camilo.
Calm down for a moment?
There’s still one very important matter left to discuss.”
“Yes.
What is it?”
Camilo’s attitude toward Estriel was exceedingly polite.
He was the benefactor who had awakened his sister, and I had told him beforehand that despite appearances, he was quite old.
Albina looked at her brother treating a young boy with such deference as if it were exceedingly strange.
“…I just woke Miss Albina, but that was merely a temporary measure.
If left as is, the Reverse Flow symptoms will reappear within a few weeks.
For a complete cure, we need to enter a more specialized domain.”
“Specialized domain, you say?”
“It means coming with me to the Holy Empire to learn the Heart Method of the Alsigima style.”
Once one masters the Alsigima breathing technique and can control the vibratory nature of the mana within the body on their own, phenomena like Reverse Flow will naturally no longer occur.
But Camilo hesitated.
He must have felt burdened by sending a girl who was only 11 years old to a foreign land.
“I’ve heard that Sub-Master Prince Aiden has also learned the secrets of the Alsigima style.
Wouldn’t it be possible to learn the breathing method from the prince without needing to go all the way to the Holy Empire?”
“It’s possible to just learn it, sure.
But the Reverse Flow symptoms will keep recurring at any time.
The only ones who can respond to that—even including me at the main branch—are just three people.
Aiden isn’t among them.”
“I see.”
Just moments ago, Estriel had used his own energy to temporarily restore Albina’s disrupted meridians to their original state.
It was a delicate technique that even I couldn’t dream of imitating right now.
Moreover, as a high-ranking figure in the Circulation Church, he was an extremely busy person.
He couldn’t stay in this city indefinitely to guide Albina, so by process of elimination, there was no choice but to send Albina.
“It will certainly be a good opportunity for Albina too.
It’s the only place where she can live with others who possess Reverse Veins.”
“Hmm…”
Estriel persistently persuaded the hesitating Camilo.
He continually appealed to points like building connections with believers of the Circulation Church and blooming Albina’s potential as a martial artist.
Feeling his sincerity, Camilo eventually raised the white flag.
“…There’s no other way.
Since Estriel-nim, the teacher of the Sub-Master, doesn’t seem like someone who would speak nonsense, I’ll trust you.”
“A wise choice.”
Albina calmly accepted the fact that she had contracted a strange illness and needed to travel to a distant foreign land for treatment.
As expected of Camilo’s younger sister?
Of course, the reason she decided to go to the Holy Empire without hesitation wasn’t solely that.
“That oppa named Estriel, doesn’t he look kind of cool? He’s so relaxed and mature! Ah, don’t tell Camilo oppa that I said this!”
“Hmm…”
I couldn’t find the words to respond.
In truth, he’s not an oppa but an uncle with two children already—if she knew that fact, Albina would be quite shocked.
Shaking my head, I went to find Estriel.
“Estriel.
Since we’re already meeting, could you teach me about the remaining forms of the Resonance Shatter Art as well?”
“Hmm… Why don’t you try using Vileshaker against me once?”
“Got it.”
Without question or hesitation, I infused vibrating energy into my sword.
Then, with full power, I swung it toward Estriel.
Tok!
However, Estriel stopped my desperate strike with a single index finger.
He had offset it with the same vibrating energy.
Closing his eyes as if savoring it, he felt the sensation of the sword and soon spoke.
“…The vibratory nature of the energy is still insufficient.
Using the second form in your current state would be impossible.
You need to make the vibration speed per second at least 2-3 times faster.”
“Hmm…”
Recently, the Alsigima technique had entered the ‘Proficient’ stage, so I thought there might be a chance, but it seems it was still too much.
Judging from this, the acquisition condition for the second form is probably Proficiency ‘Expert,’ and the third form ‘Mastery.’
If I steadily train, I should be able to acquire both before the end of Part 1.
“Well, that’s fine… Personally, there’s one request I have.”
“As a disciple who found me a new Reverse Veins possessor, I can’t refuse your request.
Say anything.”
“There’s a kid I want to introduce to you.”
With those words, I brought Amiel.
“This child’s name is Amiel Brever.
I’d like you to take charge and teach him techniques for a while.”
“Take charge? It doesn’t seem like this kid is a Reverse Veins possessor either.”
Estriel looked puzzled upon seeing Amiel.
But from the beginning, I had planned to entrust Amiel to him.
Fundamentally, he and Estriel share similar thief and assassin-type characteristics.
Since he’s not a Reverse Veins possessor, he can’t learn the Alsigima style techniques, but mastering various assassination arts, weapon techniques, and the component footworks of 『Silent Realm (A)』—including 『Spirit Step (B)』—would be immensely helpful.
“I’ve already taught him a separate Heart Method, so I’d like you to mainly pass on weapon techniques or footwork-based arts.
He has tremendous talent in that area.”
“Really? Now that you say it, I’m getting interested.”
The two of us looked at Amiel.
The kid had slightly hardened his expression and was staring at Estriel.
Somehow, he looked a bit displeased—as if saying, ‘I’ll learn because you told me to, but I prefer swordsmanship.’
Among the Continent’s Twelve Heroes, the only opponent a full-powered Estriel couldn’t guarantee victory against is the Sword Saint.
Though it’s a judgment born of ignorance, to have such an attitude despite getting the chance to study under him—it’s amusing.
I whispered to Estriel.
“Amiel admires the Thousand-Man Slayer, so he wants to focus on swordsmanship.
But in my view, he has more talent in other areas.”
“Hmm.
I understand what you mean.”
Estriel nodded.
At present, besides me and Albina, he already has two disciples.
With his abundant experience as a teacher, he should naturally guide Amiel to realize his own talents.
The next day, Estriel packed up and departed for the Holy Empire with Albina and Amiel.
Regardless of the contents, the sight of a boy who outwardly appeared mid-teens leading two children on the road was truly bizarre.
“I wonder if they’ll be okay.”
Camilo said anxiously.
Albina herself had been greatly excited right up until departure, but her guardian was the one worrying more.
“The Holy Empire is right west of the Empire, so if you’re really worried, take leave and go visit.”
“…No.
If I’m gone, Blispiel’s finances will immediately fall apart.
Until the foundation is sufficiently built, I have no intention of taking any leave.”
As if proving the sincerity of his resolute words, Camilo’s work efficiency greatly increased afterward.
Several months passed, and it became May of Dragon God Year 983.
The three elite knights had already returned to the principality.
At 16 years old, I had completely withdrawn from accounting, and Camilo took full charge of the duties.
His skill was truly astonishing; even though the clan’s activities hadn’t properly begun yet, the treasury somehow kept filling up.
Using those funds, Camilo hired a few personnel to assist him.
Around that time, I began a certain task with Linia.
“As much as possible, avoid leaving traces, and leak limited information about our clan.
It would be appropriate to give the nuance that Chesa, our only attribute mage, specializes in water attribute and is thus vulnerable to fire attribute.”
“I will implement it immediately.
But is there a need to proactively reveal the clan’s weakness?”
“This is like bait to catch a big fish, so we have to take some risk.
Besides, that weakness won’t remain a weakness for long.”
“Understood.”
Perhaps recalling the existence of the 『Firebird’s Heart (S)』 and the details of the talents I had mentioned recruiting earlier, she meekly nodded.
I smiled wryly.
As I had just said, in a few months, the vulnerability to fire attribute would be overcome.
No, it wouldn’t stop at merely that—it would instead become the party’s greatest strength.
I traced the timeline in my mind.
Three months from now, one of the relics from the Magic Empire era, ‘Snowflower Swamp,’ would be discovered in the underground labyrinth around Elanore.
I needed to quickly assemble the personnel in preparation for that time.
“Shall we go greet the original protagonist soon?”
Crash!
“Huu, huu…”
Chloeria, an executive of Caracol, swallowed her anger while throwing a glass bottle.
Even now, recalling the humiliation she suffered months ago from that brat named Aiden or whatever, she couldn’t suppress her rage.
She had complained to her father Citrio, one of the Continent’s Twelve Heroes, but he only showed an indifferent reaction and no sign of stepping in himself.
Since Chloeria had provoked the opponent first and thus provided the cause for the conflict, it was a natural flow.
But for her, who had lived her entire life in the position of the strong, it was infuriating.
Then one day, a peculiar rumor reached her ears.
“Have you heard about that clan the young master who took over the Seal of Struggle entered?”
The one that used to have the Thousand-Man Slayer but fell into decline? Apparently, there hasn’t been much change in their roster for months.
“They say there’s still only one mage who can handle attribute power.
I think it was a water attribute mage?”
“Is that true? I’m not sure if they’ll be able to properly explore relics.
In subjugation requests, if they encounter a tricky enemy, their response might be lacking.”
Her eyes lit up.
The Church of Utility discourages direct conflicts between clans.
However, there are plenty of cases where city clans jointly undertake relic explorations, and if an ‘unavoidable accident’ occurs due to a clan’s weakness in the process, who could complain?
“…Heh, hehe.”
The corners of her mouth twisted.