Book 1 Chapter 473
It was some time after the great heroes’ party had become complete following Dweino’s merge.
The regions where the great heroes had been active began to recover gradually, emerging from despair and chaos.
The place that recovered first among them was Gardsron, which the great heroes had used as their base.
It was around that time that Lisinas, who had been ridiculed as a fool for a long time, was appointed as the lord of Gardsron.
One day, while busy stabilizing administration.
Kyle came to Lisinas and made a request.
“You want me to teach you Spiritism?”
Lisinas, who had been processing documents, looked at Kyle with a surprised expression.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“I felt it when I saw your Spiritism during our last battle. I thought it would be a great help in future battles if I could use it.”
“Hmm?”
At Kyle’s words, Lisinas, resting his chin, opened his eyes lazily and put on a slightly crooked expression.
“So now you want it, when you said you didn’t need it when I offered to teach you Summoning?”
Lisinas scoffed.
“Because I didn’t understand the concept of Summoning you explained.”
“What about Luna and Arion? Aren’t their explanations even harder to understand than yours?”
Kyle had already asked Luna and Arion for tutelage.
But before that, Lisinas had once offered to teach Kyle Spiritism.
But he was refused then.
‘Your explanation is too difficult, so I don’t need it.’
As he recalled the past and frowned, Kyle said to Lisinas.
“Indeed, their explanations are full of things I can’t understand. That’s why I’m learning them through practice and forcing the incantations into my head. If I do that, I can understand them to some extent. But your Summoning concept isn’t something you can understand just by memorizing it. Besides, I was already using your Spiritism at a superficial level, so I didn’t feel the need for it.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Lisinas reacted primly but acknowledged that part.
Kyle had tried to imitate Luna and Arion’s martial arts without learning them, but he failed.
On the contrary, Leo was able to follow Lisinas’s Spiritism well.
“Why can’t Luna and Arion follow, but you can follow my Spiritism?”
“I’ve watched you the longest, and among our companions, I observe you the most.”
“Ah, is that so?”
Lisinas replied listlessly, shifting his gaze away from Kyle to look out the window.
At that indifferent reaction, Kyle let out a small sigh.
Lisinas seemed to have no intention of teaching Kyle Spiritism.
‘He observed me a lot?’
However, Lisinas’s mood had slightly… No, it had greatly improved.
Though Kyle couldn’t see it, his leg was tapping away happily under the desk.
In fact, recently, Lisinas had been feeling a bit resentful towards Kyle.
‘He’s spending the most time with Luna learning magic, too.’
When he first became lord, Kyle visited often, but after he started training with Luna and Arion, it became difficult to see him.
Of course, he didn’t blame him for that.
‘It’s definitely a good thing that Kyle has become more motivated. But he’s my partner in founding the subjugation team. Can’t he spare a little consideration?’
He wanted to teach him Spiritism.
He wanted to spend time alone with Kyle.
But before that, he also wanted to tease him.
“Even if I wanted to teach you, I’m too busy right now to have time.”
“If you don’t mind, I don’t care if it’s late at night. Should I come to your house? If you don’t like me entering your space carelessly, you can come to mine.”
‘At night? To your house?’
“Hehehe~ hum~ hum~”
Lisinas, his mood improving even further, hummed a tune.
But to Kyle, that appearance seemed like he was pretending not to hear.
As Kyle furrowed his brow even more at that sight.
“It wouldn’t be bad to try teaching you.”
Lisinas smiled faintly.
“Come to my house when you have time tonight. I’ll teach you the deactivation spell to open the door.”
“Is there a need to teach me the deactivation spell?”
“Because it’s bothersome to undo it every time you come. Ah, of course, if you sneak in when I’m not around, I’ll kill you.”
“Do you think I would do something like that?”
“It’s okay if you come when you’re bored or have something on your mind. I’ll be your conversation partner or drinking buddy anytime.”
“I’m grateful for that. Ah, but.”
“Yes?”
“Do I have any talent for Spiritism? I need to know that before I start learning.”
At those words, Lisinas inwardly flinched.
‘Kyle has no talent for Spiritism.’
He recalled what he had said to Luna out of curiosity about the all-rounder Kyle.
‘Lisinas, can he possibly use Spiritism too?’
‘Kyle has no talent for Spiritism. It would probably take him being reborn to get it.’
‘Oh? So he’s not omnipotent after all.’
Just as he said, Kyle had no talent for Spiritism.
Therefore, there was no way he could use Spiritism just by learning it.
Lisinas simply wanted to spend personal time with Kyle.
Crucially, he was envious of Kyle and Luna, who had become close like siblings.
“That’s something you can’t know. Your all-rounder potential is infinite. I think there’s a possibility.”
“I see.”
Kyle nodded.
“Then I’ll come tonight.”
“Tonight?”
‘My study is a mess. Should I organize it a little? No, rather, do I have any decent clothes?’
While Lisinas was lost in various thoughts.
“Hi!”
Luna entered Lisinas’s office.
“Kyle! Tonight, I will give you special tutoring! Consider it an honor!”
“I don’t need it. You’re going to come to my house again, drink, and make a mess, aren’t you? Never come to my house again.”
Kyle scowled.
“What kind of attitude is that towards your teacher! How insolent!”
“Teacher my foot. I’m helping you create your magic incantations too. It’s a give-and-take relationship, isn’t it?”
Kyle irritably pushed away Luna’s face, who was grabbing him and shaking him.
Luna pinched Kyle’s hands hard.
“In the first place, I have a prior engagement tonight.”
“Prior engagement? Do you have a drinking appointment with that perverted old man and Arion?”
“No, with Lisinas.”
“Lisinas?”
Luna looked flustered, glancing back and forth between Kyle and Lisinas.
“Kyle asked me to teach him Summoning, so.”
“Really? Then I want to learn too.”
Luna smiled brightly.
She was also a summoner who had made a contract with a fairy.
Lisinas was taken aback by Luna’s reaction.
“Luna, I’ll teach you separately next time.”
“Yes. You learn separately next time. I’m going to learn Spiritism today.”
At Kyle’s words, Luna’s eyes widened.
“You’re going to make Lisinas uncomfortable and force him to teach you, aren’t you? Get over it.”
“What?”
“Lisinas said before that you using Spiritism would only be possible in your next life.”
Luna crossed her arms with a triumphant expression.
“Stop wasting your time and learn magic from me!”
At Luna’s words, Kyle narrowed his eyes and looked at Lisinas.
“Hey, you fraud lizard. You did that to mess with me, didn’t you?”
“No, I was just exploring your potential, just in case…!”
“It’s because your usual behavior is bad that Lisinas is treating you maliciously, isn’t it?”
Luna clicked her tongue and looked at Kyle with a pathetic expression.
Kyle grabbed one of Luna’s cheeks and pulled it.
“What are you doing!”
Luna, with her eyes wide open, yanked at Kyle’s hair.
Lisinas looked at Luna with a slightly resentful gaze.
After that, there was no opportunity to learn Spiritism.
***
Recalling the past, Leo pondered.
‘Was that an auditory hallucination?’
In his past life and this life, he hadn’t been born with the talent for Spiritism.
‘But it was too vivid for a hallucination.’
It felt as if Lisinas had spoken to him.
It was when Leo frowned.
“Master, is something wrong? Your expression is serious?”
Lily, who had approached, asked in a small voice.
“I was thinking about Spiritism.”
“Spiritism?”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“Isn’t that a realm of pure talent? Master, are you… even Spiritism?”
“No.”
‘If I could wield Spiritism, I might have completely finished off Erebus.’
Leo wore a troubled expression.
‘The reason I couldn’t completely finish him off in the first place was because I was insufficient.’
When subjugating Erebus.
The essence of the power built up by his companions was all poured into Kyle’s vessel.
Kyle defeated Erebus based on that power.
But it was only borrowed power.
Kyle couldn’t make that power his own.
‘It was simply that the vessel was filled and became stronger. My vessel itself didn’t become stronger.’
In terms of pure combat power.
Kyle’s martial arts skills were far inferior to Arion’s.
It was impossible to reach Luna’s level with magic, and even Summoning couldn’t compare to Lisinas.
‘And I couldn’t play the role of a shield in place of Dweino either.’
If he had reached the ultimate realm that his companions had reached in even one aspect, the subjugation of Erebus wouldn’t have ended with just sealing him.
Leo looked down at his hands.
‘As an all-rounder, I could only stand shoulder to shoulder with them by pooling all my abilities.’
In a sense, that too was not achieved solely by his own power.
‘I was just following the path they forged.’
He lacked the ability to pioneer unknown territories.
‘Whenever I hit a limit, was it always them who created a path for me to move forward?’
He had always been good at observing and imitating.
In the final battle against Erebus, Leo had simply imitated his friends.
For example, Arion’s true power comes from his hyper-sense.
Arion’s hyper-sense, reaching the ultimate level, can even glimpse fragmented futures, but Leo has not yet entered that realm.
Similarly, to perfectly understand Lisinas’s Summoning, one must be able to use Spiritism.
‘If that wasn’t a hallucination, but truly Lisinas’s voice.’
Once, as a reward for conquering Lisinas’s world, Leo obtained Lisinas’s mana essence.
If that power awakened and granted him the talent of a Spiritist.
‘Doesn’t that mean I can reach the same level as Lisinas?’
While Leo was pondering.
“We have arrived.”
Jeremin stopped.
The ruins called the tomb of the vanquished.
It was once an old fortress, and in these ruins, there was a place surrounded by vast city walls.
As they entered, in the open space, many boys and girls were shouting while holding spears.
It was like military training.
Leo and Lily looked at Jeremin with bewildered expressions.
“These children are all war orphans. They are the darkness of this country, having lived their lives being deprived.”
Jeremin had a stern expression.
“Those who hold military power in this country have been running orphanages for a long time.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Lily tilted her head.
“On the surface, it is a good thing.”
Jeremin’s face was filled with disgust.
“But their orphanages were a type of military facility.”
“Yes?”
“A training ground to raise strong soldiers. The reason they gathered young orphans was to send them to the battlefield when they reached an age where they could fight.”
Lily’s expression vanished.
Leo crossed his arms.
“I will tell you the terms of our deal.”
Jeremin took a deep breath and stood before Leo and Lily, saying.
“Please stop these children from going to the battlefield.”
“That’s easy. We just have to smash the heads of the higher-ups right now!”
As Lily growled, Leo spoke.
“It won’t end with that.”
“Yes?”
Lily paused.
“Those children will want to go to the battlefield voluntarily.”
“Why is that?”
“Because that’s how they were taught and raised.”
Leo, answering the flustered Lily, looked at Jeremin.
“Crown Prince Jeremin, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“When did the plan to raise these war orphans as soldiers begin?”
“It was about 5 years ago.”
“Are these children the first generation?”
“How do you know that?”
Leo had seen this scene before.
5,000 years ago, in the refugee city of Reisar.
And he knew well whose work this was.
‘The Great Duke of Mourning, Artkhan.’