‘I came out because I thought I’d be in the way.’
Shiron walked around the mansion grounds after leaving the training room. He wasn’t sure where to go since he didn’t leave with a specific purpose.
‘Now, what should I do?’
He had planned to practice his internal techniques in the morning, but now that he found out he couldn’t master them, he had a lot of free time.
‘I already practiced with my sword at dawn.’
Even after thinking about it, Shiron couldn’t come up with anything else to do.
Siriel had mentioned that training through internal techniques took longer than expected.
According to the schedule Johan prepared, Siriel spent about 4 hours a day mastering and utilizing her internal techniques.
Shiron had also allocated 4 hours of his day for it.
‘By the way, why is she following me without attending her classes?’Walking aimlessly, Shiron, who found himself in the mansion’s garden, turned around to look at the groaning Siriel behind him.
“Siriel.”
“Uh, huh?”
“Are you skipping the internal technique training today?”
Was it because he approached her so suddenly? Siriel, visibly startled, froze for a moment, tilting her head in confusion.
“…What do you mean ‘skipping’? I’ve never heard that word before.”
“It means missing the training. You could’ve trained with Lucia even if you couldn’t with me.”
Upon hearing Shiron’s question, Siriel hesitated for a moment before answering.
“I just… wanted to follow you because I was worried about you.”
“You were worried about me?”
“Yes.”
Shiron chuckled in surprise, but Siriel didn’t laugh and instead lowered her head.
“It seemed like you and Lucia were fighting.”
“Uhm…”
Shiron hesitated to deny her words. Anyone could see that he was out of spirits. As if his heart softened at her genuine concern, no excuses came to his mind.
Come to think of it, the atmosphere wasn’t that great earlier. Shiron tried to imagine how he looked from the outside.
‘Did I appear to Siriel as if I ran out in disappointment?’
He unintentionally caused her worry. He couldn’t directly confirm his expression at that time, but if even the usually cheerful Siriel was concerned, his face must have looked troubled.
Shiron laughed brightly and put his arm around Siriel’s shoulder.
“We didn’t fight, so don’t worry.”
“Why are you laughing…”
At this, Siriel lowered her head more, tapping her foot as if feeling teased.
Over the past few weeks, Siriel’s social skills have improved. She can now read the atmosphere and react even without being told directly.
“I just… find you adorable.”
Shiron took out candy from his pocket. It was lemon-flavored, Siriel’s favorite.
“…”
Seeing her favorite candy, Siriel hesitated for a moment. However, unable to resist the temptation, she closed her eyes and quickly popped the candy into her mouth.
“Mmm, yum.”
Siriel shivered slightly, savoring the sour taste.
Like this, every time Siriel did something cute, Shiron would give her candy. The count of candies he gave her easily exceeded two digits.
At first, he kept the candies for personal taste, but now, they primarily served the purpose of raising Siriel’s favorability.
It was fascinating when he thought about it.
Even what seemed like trivial items could come in handy when used correctly in the game. Shiron’s inventory was filled with various items.
Shiron comforted Siriel as if handling a tiger cub.
‘I hope you grow up just like this.’
That was Shiron’s small wish. The emotions of a child, who was neither a reincarnated nor a possessed being, were simple and easy to deal with.
‘Come to think of it.’
While watching Siriel enjoy her candy, Shiron looked around.
Spring had just begun, and the flowers bloomed lavishly.
He hadn’t had a proper rest since he was transported into the game.
If he wasn’t training or researching, he spent the remaining time giving a good impression to the game characters, hoping they would help in the future.
“I need to organize my thoughts about the method of storing and handling Mana inside me… I’ll think about it later.”
The best way to clear one’s mind was by taking a walk. Shiron decided to wander around the gardens scattered across the mansion.
“By the way,”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you worried you’ll get scolded for missing the meditation lesson?”
“Ah…”
“I know Lord Johan might not care, but the Great Madam might reprimand you.”
“Well, if I explain properly, it’ll be fine!”
With that, Siriel, who had been speaking, walked alongside Shiron in the garden.
To anyone watching, they seemed inseparable. Holding Shiron’s hand, Siriel introduced various spots in the garden.
After a few rounds around the mansion grounds, Shiron finally returned to the annex.
The dry spring weather made him thirsty, so Shiron pulled out a water bottle from his shoulder. A relic with the feature of inventory expansion. He manifested this function after absorbing the relic’s abilities.
“It’s still cold.”
Even after several days, the well water he fetched in the early morning still maintained its coolness.
Shiron would occasionally check to what extent he could utilize his current abilities.
The ability Shiron named ‘Storage’ was very useful; he could retrieve stored items from anywhere on his body without any decay or damage.
“So, I can only use the relic’s ability and the Holy Sword now…”
Since he couldn’t circulate Mana, he naturally couldn’t use the martial art called Aura.
However, not being able to use Aura wasn’t a big problem for Shiron. After all, he had the sharpest sword in the world, the Holy Sword. Its sharpness was so formidable that it could even cut through Ophilia’s skin, the Guardian of Dawn.
“It’s better than a mediocre Aura.”
While his offensive measures were sorted, defense was an issue.
Being unable to harness Aura meant he couldn’t envelop himself in a protective Aura barrier to bolster his defenses.
While the system allowed for natural defense increases as he trained, nothing could replace the invisible shield-like protection of the Aura, which could negate damage up to a certain level. Lucia’s Aura from his memories could even negate minor monster attacks.
And if someone like Lucia could, then for Shiron, playing without any buff was perilously dangerous, especially with only one life left.
Shiron pulled out a notebook from his pocket.
“I have to discard the Mana absorption path.”
Shiron tore out some useless pages and threw them into the heater.
After mastering Aura, He intended to gather relics, but one of his plans was completely ruined.
“Next plan.”
Shiron flipped the pages of the notebook.
Through experiments, he found out that items in ‘Storage’ could be retrieved not only through his hands and feet but also his mouth and forehead. He could even halt the retrieval process.
Once, he had tried pulling out the Holy Sword just a tiny bit from his fingertip. When he scraped it against a plate, the plate neatly split in half.
“…I wonder if this would work?”
A sudden curiosity arose. What if he summoned a shield from beneath his skin, not in an equipped state? Would it block an attack?
Without hesitation, Shiron pulled out a fork from his waist. Where should he stab? The thought didn’t take long. A place hidden from others: his thigh.
Shiron thrust the fork with all his might.
Clang-!
The sound of sharp metal clashing echoed.
“…”
When looking at his clothes, four red marks appeared. While only a droplet of blood formed on his thigh, the fork was horribly crushed.
The relatively soft fork was stopped just beneath the skin by the summoned gauntlet.
“This is it.”
A shiver ran through his body.
Shiron quickly noted what he had discovered.
‘I might be able to block most of the attacks, right?’
Then he thought of an item.
[Shield of Chesed]
‘Reincarnation of the Sword Saint’ was a game with no leveling system, and players couldn’t directly adjust the game’s difficulty.
However, the combat difficulty drastically changed depending on which character a player met, which item they wore, and which choices they made.
The Shield of Chesed, which nullified direct attacks, possessed an overpowered ability. But, it also had a significant drawback.
However, in a state where Shiron couldn’t use his protective Aura, he wasn’t in a position to be choosy about the risks.
Several utilizations came to mind, and Shiron smiled with delight. However, a sigh of regret escaped his smiling lips.
Unlike the holy sword, which was easily obtainable in the starting area named Dawn Castle, the Shield of Chesed was in the Castle of Blessings, a place where Shiron couldn’t go yet.
‘It’s too dangerous to go there now.’
To become stronger, you needed to gather sacred relics, but to gather sacred relics, you needed to be stronger.
Resolving this contradiction was the priority.
‘Still, it’s not like there’s no way at all.’
Shiron prepared to meet Hugo.
Hugo’s office.
“Sir, I’d like to do something crazy. Please allow me.”
“Hmm…”
Upon hearing his nephew’s words, with a solemn face, Hugo groaned.
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