The items in the room were large chests, three of them, to be exact.
However, it wasn’t the chests that surprised him. It was precisely what was contained inside them.
‘This is….’
Ian’s eyes sparkled as he picked up the orange stone contained within the chest.
Whether aware of his anxious heart or not, the orange stone emitted a brilliant glow.
“Sun Stone?”
-Sun Stone? What’s that? Is it something good?
“Yeah, it’s good. It’s an extremely rare item.”
In response to Neltalion’s words, Ian continued to fiddle with the Sun Stone.
“The Sun Stone is a stone that comes from Sky Peak, the highest mountain in the Empire.”
Sky Peak. An item obtained from the lake at the summit of that place, known to be so high it touches the sky.
The lake bottom was scattered with stones soaked with mana.
Among them, the stones with the highest quality were given the name “Sun Stone”.
What Ian held in his hand was precisely that. Smiling as if in disbelief at the mana harbored by the Sun Stone.
‘It’s not comparable to the Origin Jewel I obtained before, but it’s still an item that requires a lot of money to acquire.’
The situation of obtaining so many of those stones to fill three chests was astonishing.
‘Of course, all the stones from Sky Peak are managed by the royal family.’
Could it really be common sense to give so much?
Roughly estimated, if he were to consume all these stones, it would produce an effect similar to consuming the Origin Jewel.
This realization filled Ian’s heart.
What was even more annoying was the laughter coming from outside the window.
“Hahaha. What a bright day! Can it get any better than this, hahaha.”
Bedon, visible outside the window, was laughing heartily as he climbed into the carriage.
Surely by now, he must have identified the true nature of the gift and was doing such a thing.
‘I should correct the misconception that Bedon was a decent guy. He’s indeed crazy.’
He would have wanted to just throw it away. But he realized he couldn’t.
“Ugh, it’s your fault for this, considering your fate.”
Wasn’t he the guy who got possessed by pushing in a driver that wasn’t insulated enough for the PC even though the ancestors gave him a chance?
Ian was well aware that life didn’t flow as he wanted it to.
Therefore, he knew he had to comply with the current situation.
‘Well, I’ll just eat what’s given.’
It was given as a gift by the prince himself. Would there be a problem? If Bedon was a fool, he wouldn’t know, but now that he knew he’s a normal person. He didn’t think using his gift would be a problem.
‘Still, just in case. I should do what needs to be done.’
After saving the text message from Bedon as an important message, and backing it up, Ian sat Neltalion on the floor.
– Ian? Why are you doing this all of a sudden?
‘You need to open your mouth, Neltalion. There’s something I need to do.’
– Yes? Open my mouth? Okay…
When Neltalion puffed up his body and opened his mouth, Ian started pouring out Sun Stones from the chest.
Whoosh!
The precious stones were sucked into Neltalion’s mouth. The Sun Stones that entered his stomach began to be absorbed into his body as mana.
Eventually, when he had emptied all three chests, a new notification appeared before Ian.
[Neltalion has consumed an enormous amount of mana.]
[Due to a large amount of experience, Neltalion has grown.]
[Contractor, Ian Volkanov, also gains the same effect.
[Neltalion has grown and regained divinity! Although temporary, he can embody the role of the King of a Thousand Arms!]
[Curse, Hatred of the Blade, Curse Removal 56%]
Due to Bedon’s gift, Neltalion achieved tremendous growth.
Not only did his mana increase, but the curse removal, which had shown no signs of progress, also began to advance.
However, Ian was only interested in one thing.
– Ian! I’m shining! This is amazing!
‘How… This.’
Neltalion emitted an intimidating aura. It was the moment he regained a portion of his divinity.
***
After completing the Day of Divine Slaughter event, Ian boarded a carriage heading to Ashlan.
The event was so large that there were still tasks to be concluded, but he couldn’t stay longer as he had to go back to Ark for school.
‘Nevertheless, since Eri has taken care of the big things, Oliver should be able to handle the rest.’
Even though it was a completely different task from his usual work related to agriculture, Oliver’s abilities would likely suffice for handling simple matters.
With the urgent issue resolved, Ian leaned back in his seat and shifted his gaze forward.
In front of him were Lia, who was admiring the view outside the window, and Igor, who was sniffing and rubbing his nose upwards.
Igor, scowling with arrogance, couldn’t stand it any longer and opened his mouth.
“Ugh! Why is my nose so blocked today… Hey, Eri, can you give me a tissue or something?”
“Here you go.”
With one hand holding onto his nose, Igor fumbled as Eri handed him a tissue.
It was rather stiff and considerably narrow for a tissue.
Was tissue always like this? He briefly wondered, but Igor decided not to dwell on it for now.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Wasn’t Eri a noble daughter? Being sensitive to trends and overflowing with sentiment even for seemingly useless items, she spared no expense as a noblewoman.
As such, she would likely use unique tissues, so Igor took the tissue handed to him by Eri toward his nose without any suspicion.
And then he saw it.
“Eh?”
Emperor’s visage was printed on the tissue.
The item Eri handed him wasn’t a tissue. It was imperial currency. A 1000 Valus banknote.
With a bewildered expression, Igor looked at Eri while shaking the banknote in his hand.
“Hey! Didn’t I ask for a tissue?”
“We don’t have tissues right now. But we have plenty of banknotes, so use that. You can bring it for cleaning later.”
“Ugh!”
Realizing his mistake, Igor eventually handed the banknote back to her and roughly wiped his nose with his sleeve.
No matter how urgent the situation, he couldn’t blow his nose into the Emperor’s face.
“Phew!”
Of course, seeing this made Eri laugh.
Seeing her rare smile, Ian also smiled.
‘Eri seems to be gradually adapting.’
Of course, if other people did something like this, they would be caught and punished for insulting the Emperor. But who could stop Eri when the Emperor is her father?
Moreover, she probably didn’t mean it sincerely. She likely wanted to demonstrate that they had grown to the point where she could use a 1000 Valus bill without hesitation.
Having worked hard so far and become wealthy through solo efforts, she probably wanted to indulge in that feeling for a while.
‘Indeed, the family seems to have some flexibility now….’
Compared to the impoverished appearance of the Volkanovs until now, it was truly a remarkable development.
However, the more he observed this, the more frustrated Ian felt inside.
‘Having earned money because I didn’t have any… Now I have to protect it from those who want to take it away…’
Bedon’s last words still lingered in Ian’s mind.
‘He mentioned that the aura of greed surrounds the family.’
It was highly likely that the madness of the ancestors was due to that. Those who play with emotions could easily make people foolish.
‘Of course, it’s not common for demons to use their hands to destroy a family… But it’s different for the Volkanov family.’
The Volkanovs were known as the Empire’s protective shield.
Some of it might be due to their connection. They were called a shield because if this place collapsed, the empire would suffer immense losses.
If the place that suppressed the barbarians disappeared, the damage would all fall on the Empire.
‘The barbarians in the north will likely raise their troops, abandoning the cold lands and heading to the warm south.’
To prevent such a situation, the Volkanovs needed to remain strong. Ian had an obligation to prevent the family from falling apart.
‘Now is the time to make things right.’
Various methods came to Ian’s mind in an instant.
He could either replace the current vassals with new ones or gradually replace them with competent vassals….
Those were good methods, too. But would they do more than just extinguish the urgent fire?
The hands of the demons had covered the family for a long time already. If he didn’t eliminate the root cause, the same thing would happen again.
Ultimately, there was only one solution.
‘I need to eliminate the cause altogether. First, I need to provoke them.’
It seemed like he would have to prepare for another fight.
‘Let’s start a mock battle.’
As Ian finished his thoughts, he became engrossed in his thoughts.
***
If there were those reaching out with black hands towards the family, what choice should be made?
‘There are many ways, such as secretly investigating to find the cause and eliminating it, or classifying and removing those who are already beyond redemption.’
It might be aggressive, but the effect would be certain.
At least it would buy time from their influence.
But Ian chose a completely different approach.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Leaning against the training room wall, Ian watched Igor hitting the sandbag.
He hadn’t looked into the family’s situation separately. He simply remained still.
In a situation where the family was in danger, it might seem irresponsible to do nothing.
However, in the current situation, this was the best course of action.
‘In the first place, just because I move doesn’t mean I can do anything.’
Thanks to Bedon’s help, the situation revealed that the key figure is affiliated with the Demon King of Greed. In such circumstances, would it truly be wise to act for the family’s sake?
Ian didn’t think so. He believed it was much better to remain still and not move.
‘Acting rashly without knowing anything can lead to more than one failure.’
In a situation where information was still lacking, moving recklessly would only invite greater trouble.
Therefore, Ian stayed still. This way, he thought, the enemies would continue their activities thinking he hadn’t caught on to the situation yet.
‘The Demon King of Greed’s goal is to ruin our family. He has already succeeded in his plans to some extent, even making Killain fall ill.’
In such a dire situation, he suddenly appeared and began to lift the crumbling family.
Then, how will they move on that side?
‘It’s obvious. They’ll try to eliminate me, the thorn in their side. Since their plan to ruin the family has failed, they will move more actively.’
Since they would move first anyway, there was no reason for Ian to act hastily once he knew that.
Instead, it would be better to prepare step by step.
‘Bedon must also know that, so he gave me the Sun Stones to prepare for the upcoming fight.’
He knew that a fight would soon occur, and he must have prepared his items for his own growth.
‘How many moves ahead did he predict… It’s getting to the point where it’s scary.’
Ian was lost in thought.
Swoosh.
“Mr. Igor. Looks like you’ve been training hard?”
Using a spirit to create a sandbag, Eri sat down beside Ian.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead with a towel, she looked straight ahead.
“Seeing you train so hard is somewhat inspiring. I trust in spirits and do nothing…”
In response to Eri’s abrupt concern, Ian casually replied as if it were nothing.
“You don’t need to worry about that. Just being able to use spirits is enough to prove your worth.”
“I know, but on the other hand, it’s a bit disappointing. It feels like I can’t do anything without spirits.”
“Can’t do anything…”
Ian wanted to explain that being a spirit mage was a respectable profession, but he didn’t think it would change Eri’s mind.
For now, it would be best to empathize and provide a solution.
Having made up his mind, Ian looked at Eri.
“If you’re that concerned, I can teach you some basic techniques for close combat.”
“T-Techniques?”
“Yeah. These are skills that can help you subdue enemies when they get close.”
He briefly thought about teaching Eri boxing, but that idea quickly passed.
A spirit mage who punches seemed a bit strange.
Fortunately, Ian knew a martial art that would suit Eri well.
‘If you learn a few simple chokes, you’ll be able to survive face-to-face encounters with enemies.’
Once she got used to it, she could use it effectively when facing enemies alone.
With his decision made, Ian stood up and moved behind her.
“Let me show you.”
Moving behind Eri, Ian extended his arms and wrapped them around her neck.
Eri seemed perplexed by the strange posture.
“S-Squad Commander?”
“Don’t think strangely of this. It’s just the way the technique works.”
“D-Don’t worry… You’re not someone who would do strange things. I was just a little surprised.”
Saying this, Eri relaxed her stiff body and entrusted herself to Ian. It was at that moment, when they were about to delve into the technique.
Thud!
“What was that?”
A sound came from the direction of the training room’s door.
Was someone watching? Thinking this, Ian quickly turned his head towards the door and saw.
‘Blue hair?’
A woman with familiar blue hair was running away.
