Chapter 41

White Mask was a person who consistently wore a white mask, as her nickname suggested.

That alone made it difficult to figure out what kind of person she was, and since she wasn't often in Rondan, she seemed even more shrouded in mystery.

Such a person was now talking about her past for the first time.

Dragon Slayer.

The fact that it had a specific title, and that White Mask had fought and lost to it, clearly indicated it was at the level of a Greater Outer God.

Most Greater Outer Gods, unless they had a specific purpose like the Gardener, didn't kill people with the 'intent to kill'.

Bell just wanted to play with people, and the Chef wanted to give food to dying people, but they couldn't endure due to their wrong methods.

In fact, you could even understand the Gardener's actions as partly self-defense, as she killed people in the process of protecting her friend.

"Play? Are you going to play with me? I want to go for a walk!"

Not yet, you rascal.

And it would be a big problem if you came out now when there are people around!

"Hmph..."

Tsk, making pitiful noises won't help.

There's a time for walks too.

Still, it might be nice to go out of Rondan later and take a walk where people can't see, while also dealing with any invading Candles.

Anyway.

"...Now that you have a disciple, did you come here to catch it?"

No matter how I looked at it, this was the only explanation that made sense, so I asked White Mask, but she just shook her head.

"What are you talking about? I've always come periodically to deal with the lesser dragons that creature generates. Today just happens to be that time."

White Mask's finger pointed somewhere, and I could see the human-like figures I had seen earlier.

As expected.

I wonder if it looks to other people like dragons are rampaging right now.

If it's a being created by a Greater Outer God, it's probably a fragment of an Outer God like the Lesser Outer Gods.

If that's the case, it means that every Outer God has various types of fragments, so then who are the Lesser Outer Gods fragments of?

I also need to look into the entity repeatedly referred to as 'her'.

It seemed I would need to gather information related to Lesser Outer Gods after this incident was over.

Since all information related to Outer Gods has been erased from records, I might have to buy secret information from the market.

Given that even the Hunter seemed to know a bit, there might be quite a bit of information spread in the market.

For now, I'll look into that later.

The fact that she called Muyeon and me to a place where she comes to do weeding seemed to indicate that training was the main purpose.

Although my physical abilities had improved somewhat after eating the Chef's food, considering how I couldn't do anything when I met the twin Outer Gods, it seems my physical abilities aren't that good yet.

"Why are you making that face? Did you think I'd tell you to charge in without any explanation?"

Because White Mask said something unexpected, I couldn't help but look at her with a questioning expression.

"Wasn't that the case?"

"Say so if you want to."

"That's not it, but..."

Just tell me to commit suicide instead.

White Mask, who seemed to be joking in her own way, snorted and returned to her original tone of voice.

"From now on, you'll be training to enhance the abilities you have. For you, it's about controlling the horn flute with unlimited mental power, and for Muyeon, it's about practicing to handle her unique ability more freely."

White Mask said this and first looked at Muyeon.

Muyeon, sensing the gaze on her, looked at White Mask with surprised and fearful eyes.

"W-White Mask?!"

"Muyeon, your physical strength has already reached a high level. It's probably thanks to diligently following the training I've taught you so far. But your problem is that it stops right there. Strength that's only used consciously won't be enough against the Outer Gods we might face in the future.

For this, you need to open the next door like me or the Vice Captain, but in the end, innate abilities are closely related to the mind. Without erasing that fear of yours, you can't even get close to that door."

White Mask, who explained to Muyeon in a voice that naturally stuck in one's ears, began to take a certain posture.

With weapons on her arms, she put her fingers together, closed her eyes, and started breathing.

It looked somewhat similar to meditation.

But just from that, wind seemed to scatter around White Mask, and just as it felt like it was becoming as strong as a gale...

Whoosh!

White Mask swung her hand through the air.

The air was being cut.

That powerful slash seemed like it would hit one of the lesser dragons floating in the sky, but it narrowly missed and hit the wall instead.

Bang!

A loud noise erupted, and because of that, the piled-up snow collapsed greatly, instantly changing the terrain.

...Huh?

What did I just see?

The person who actually performed it was just showing a calm demeanor as if she had thrown what's called a 'normal attack'.

"If you can unify your mind and make your will one, you can pour all your effort into the action you want to do, not just consciously but unconsciously as well. Well, I'm not expecting you to show what I just demonstrated."

White Mask said this and started to take that meditation posture again, as if telling Muyeon to follow.

Muyeon hurriedly started to follow the posture, and like White Mask had done earlier, she took a few breaths in and out.

But maybe it was because of the situation.

After trying a few times, Muyeon became dejected and looked at White Mask with crumpled eyes.

"...I-It's not working."

"If it worked well from the start, all humans would be knights. Your goal for the next month, Muyeon, is to master the Meditatio I just taught you, and to grasp just a hint of your innate ability."

"Yes... What?!"

Muyeon responded in shock to White Mask.

It must be like a bolt from the blue to be told to do such a difficult technique in just a month.

But White Mask, who had already turned her back on her, approached me.

"Ah, aah..."

I could vaguely see Muyeon falling into despair in real-time.

Regardless of that, White Mask gestured towards me, which seemed to be an action telling me to take out the horn flute from my pocket.

When I held the horn flute in one hand, White Mask nodded as if that was correct.

"You probably think that horn flute is only for summoning Outer Gods."

"...Isn't it?"

White Mask snorted at my question.

"On a simple level, that's correct. But if you dig deeper, you can see it's a bit different."

She paused for a moment, probably thinking about how to explain it.

Suddenly it became quiet, and I could hear Muyeon groaning and practicing the method White Mask had taught her. When I looked over, her face was red and she was fluttering about.

Well, I don't think it's something to be so embarrassed about.

"Hmm, yes. I can explain it like this."

White Mask seemed to have sorted out her words during that short time.

"The horn flute has the power to summon Outer Gods. And in some cases, it can also summon a 'part' of an Outer God. For example, it could be a part of an Outer God's body, or an Outer God's thoughts, or an Outer God's language, and..."

White Mask exhaled once and said.

"It could also be an Outer God's 'ability'."

"You can bring an Outer God's ability?!"

White Mask shrugged and said.

"Well, I haven't used it myself, so I don't know what it feels like. But I can see it. That countless possibilities have opened up for you as you become able to blow that flute efficiently."

White Mask seems to be seeing something even though her face is covered.

Come to think of it, it was strange that she could see in front of her with a mask that didn't even have eye holes.

As soon as the explanation ended, White Mask pointed at my head with her finger.

"Don't you sometimes hear certain voices in your head?"

"...Ah, yes."

That's right.

I hear too many.

Like the Gardener giving advice every time I do something, or Bell's whining sound trying to squeeze out of the space when there's casual talk about playing.

White Mask nodded at my words.

"Probably, Outer Gods are whispering to you in your head, asking you to summon them. It's impressive how well you're enduring despite how terrifying it must be."

"Ahaha."

Asking to be summoned... is it?

I think they want to be summoned, but it might be a bit different from what White Mask is thinking.

However, her deduction method wasn't wrong in the big picture.

"It means that your body has become a vessel that can receive gods. Then, you might be able to use that power temporarily by making a conditional contract."

Is that possible?

"...Bestowing power on a human body, it might be possible with your current body condition. Well, it feels a bit different from something like a contract."

The Gardener spoke, partially refuting White Mask's words.

If it's possible with my current body condition.

Wasn't it just that my body got stronger after eating the Chef's food?

How so?

"It smells good!"

It smells good...

Are you saying I've become able to emit pheromones that attract Outer Gods?

Is that... good?

"It's true that it's more efficient to send power directly into it than to manifest directly through a hole. It's similar to sending fragments to spread influence."

Setting aside some strange talk, the Gardener was just calmly telling me that what White Mask said was possible.

White Mask nodded at me as I was having a conversation in my head.

"Judging by your expression, it seems the conversation is over. Does it seem possible?"

"Yes... Somehow it seems possible."

"If it's here, summoning an Outer God won't cause any damage. But that would just result in a fight between Outer Gods. So try to blow that horn flute and bring in part of an Outer God's power."

Sure, fighting by summoning an Outer God would be quick work, but that would only make me rely on Greater Outer Gods without getting stronger myself.

Even that had high risks, so this was the training method I needed.

"If the explanation is over, it's time for practical training."

"...What?"

"D-Don't tell me it's that again?"

Muyeon seems to know something, but White Mask quickly grabbed our collars and threw us off the cliff.

"Hey!"

A curse that couldn't become words scatters over the cliff.

"Mr. Tanton! Your hand!"

Muyeon, who I thought would be the most scared in this situation, was calmly reaching out her hand to me with a composed expression.

As I grabbed Muyeon's hand while falling off the cliff, she took out an axe from her back with one hand and started to strike the wall, gradually reducing the gravitational acceleration.

I knew she was strong originally, but to control this with her bare body.

What on earth is the Knight Order doing?

As we kept falling, the bottom of the seemingly endlessly dark place started to become visible, and we landed safely with Muyeon's help.

But we couldn't afford to be relieved just because of that.

"Be careful, Mr. Tanton! This is the domain of the lesser dragons! Even though they're called lesser dragons, they're beings that border on the level of Lesser Outer Gods!"

Dragons.

They are the strongest in the fantasy genre, with wings and sharp teeth to tear apart their enemies.

Thanks to the Super Chicken Mod that's immune to darkness, I could clearly see the lesser dragons that were hidden by clouds.

"This is crazy."

"E-Even Mr. Tanton is surprised, ugh, I'm scared. What should we do?"

A curse involuntarily spilled out of my mouth before I knew it.

Of course, it wasn't a word uttered out of fear.

It was just a reflexive response to a sight that I couldn't bear without using harsh words.

"Welcome, Master! Oh my, you're humans? What would you like to order? Since you've trespassed into the mansion without prior notice, shall we proceed with the special intruder steak rare course using warm breath?"

Long horns, large wings. And frilly frills and a maid cap, a human-like figure with everything in the right places.

...No, even for a Chicken Mod, isn't this too forced?

It seems that in Super Chicken Mod, dragons are apparently maids.