Chapter 7. Precursor

As usual, I was photosynthesizing in the courtyard that morning.

“What the…?”

“Hurry…!”

“Move it!”

Normally, the garden would be peaceful, with only the gardeners milling about. But today, security personnel were rushing around, heading somewhere in a flurry.

“…What’s going on?”

I approached a nearby maid and asked.

“H-hic…! I-it’s…”

The young maid, who usually just lazed around as if she were barely there, was startled by me actually speaking. But she quickly started explaining the situation.

“I-I overheard… B-Baron Clayton’s mansion… it was raided…!”

“That place?”

Being in the Capital, there were naturally a lot of other Noble mansions around.

But I’d heard of the Clayton Family.

None other than Lowell, whom I've been training with lately, had mentioned them.

“Isn’t that place supposed to be tough?”

From what I’d heard, they were a famous military Family that had produced generations of Royal Knights. A place like that was attacked?

“So, what kind of bastards did it?”

“Th-that’s… uh…”

For a moment, the maid looked like she was wondering if she should even tell me.

“Tell me.”

“Y-yes…!”

Under my persistent stare, she finally spoke.

“Please don’t tell anyone…?”

“I understand. Just tell me.”

“It… it was remnants of the Lugard Kingdom…”

“The Lugard Kingdom?”

…That’s Alden’s homeland.

The one that the Adel Kingdom destroyed.

“There are remnants left?”

“Yes… the survivors of that time have been carrying out terror attacks against the Nobles…”

“Wow.”

That’s scary.

This isn’t just some ordinary world.

It’s a world filled with magic and Aura, overflowing with powerful people.

Especially with monsters like Lowell occasionally popping up.

For those kinds of people to bear grudges and commit acts of terror…

It makes sense that even the Clayton Family was hit.

Being a weekday morning, most of their forces would have been out.

“So what happened?”

“I didn’t hear the details… but I heard Baron Clayton was injured. They sent a request for support to our Family, since we’re close.”

“Aha, so that’s why they’re going to help?”

“Yes… they’re going to fill in for the depleted security.”

“Hmm.”

For a second, I wondered if *this* place was safe…

But after attacking a Family of that caliber, the chances of them immediately launching another attack on a Family like the Voids seemed slim.

Besides, Lowell’s here. Honestly, with that monstrous old man around, I don’t think there’s much to worry about.

Besides, there's the Young Lady’s Bodyguard Knight and the Knight in charge of overall security.

Even if they send some support, the main force will remain at the mansion.

“Thanks for answering. I appreciate it.”

“Oh…?”

Anyway.

I had a general idea of why things were so chaotic.

“Get back to work.”

I crawled back into my doghouse. The Clayton Family and whatever else was going on had nothing to do with me.

Even if security was sent elsewhere, Lowell was here, so no worries.

Plus, I’m just the dog let loose in the courtyard, right? Stuff like going to support other Noble families isn't something I should care about.

Well, it’d be a different story if the Void Family was also a target.

Anyway.

I leisurely lay down and waited for the Young Lady to arrive.

It was almost time for her to come whining about not wanting to do her lessons and then go back inside, so I waited, ready to go out at any moment…

“Hmm…”

…Isn’t she coming today?

Given the incident, I guess she can’t come out to the garden.

It’s pretty serious then.

If a Noble's mansion in the Capital was attacked and the Head of the Family was injured…

Things would be different, but wouldn't the city gates be closed and all hell breaking loose right now?

The Young Lady definitely wouldn't come. I decided to head to the training ground for some training.

The garden, usually filled with the cheerful voices of the servants, felt unusually quiet today.

The atmosphere was truly somber.

If it was like this at the Void Family mansion, I could only imagine what it was like elsewhere.

As expected, the training ground was empty when I arrived.

Were they all on guard duty?

With so many sent out, there probably wasn't enough manpower for training.

Well, I’ll just train alone then.

Times like these made me feel isolated from the rest of the mansion.

Though, it was a good thing for me since I liked training at my own pace.

I stood in front of a scarecrow in the training ground, ready to start my solo training.

Lately, I'd been polishing the basics that Lowell taught me.

As befitting the basics, they were easy to learn, but difficult to master.

I stared at the scarecrow for a moment, circulating Aura through my body.

Circulation, the most fundamental skill for an Aura User.

And then.

*Paang—!*

Emission.

The scarecrow caved in the moment my fist connected, the impact sending a tremor through its straw-stuffed body.

This is Rush. Exploding your aura outwards for a burst of power.

Personally, I don’t fucking like it. Drains your aura too damn fast.

Supposedly it gets more efficient as you get stronger, but it’s not something I’ll be using often.

Fleet’s more my style.

Acceleration.

Now that's fucking cool.

If I'd known this shit earlier, I could've gotten away clean from the Colosseum.

Well, water under the bridge now.

I focused my aura again, staring at the tattered scarecrow. Earlier, it was all about explosive force, but now, I needed to conserve—no leaking aura allowed.

Fleet’s about circulating your aura to its limit within your body for an instantaneous burst of speed.

My mind went blank as I focused.

Then.

Suddenly, I was behind the scarecrow.

A movement so fast, I hadn't even registered it myself.

“Hmm….”

A technique that makes you ridiculously fast for a split second, but hard as fuck to control.

You’re supposed to use it with Track, which enhances your dynamic vision, but I can’t manage both at the same time yet.

Lowell said I’m learning fast, but…

I’m itching to master the basics and move on to the real shit.

Anyway, that’s how my training was going.

“Working hard, I see.”

“Lowell?”

I turned at the familiar voice to see Lowell walking towards me.

“You’re allowed to be here?”

Wasn't everyone focused on security? I figured Lowell would be glued to the Young Lady’s side.

“The Young Lady is having a magic lesson with a special tutor.”

“So?”

“Meaning she’s currently one of the safest people in the Capital.”

“...Guess this tutor’s pretty amazing then.”

“As far as I know, yes.”

Huh.

The Young Lady always struck me as a nagging old woman…

Didn’t realize she was so important.

“So, is the situation really that bad?”

“You know what happened, right?”

“A little. Heard from the servants.”

“Well, it’s… pretty fucking serious.”

If Lowell says it’s serious, it’s fucking serious.

The guy’s not one to bullshit.

“But the Royal Knights are sending support, so it should be alright.”

“Oh, really?”

“A lot of the Royal Knights are from the Clayton Family, so they’ll be out for blood.”

Right, the Baron Clayton’s Family was known for producing a ton of Royal Knights.

Their eldest son is the Squad Leader of the Royal Knights, and the second son is some big shot in the military.

Sounds like someone really kicked the hornet's nest this time.

Are they that confident? This is the Capital, for fuck’s sake.

“Hopefully, we get some good news.”

“Don’t worry too much. Let’s finish our training.”

“Sparring?”

“Yes. Loosen up those muscles.”

“...Still sore from last time.”

“You’re young. You grow stronger by getting hit.”

And so…

I got my ass handed to me by Lowell, and for a while, I forgot all about the terror incident.

He told me not to worry, and the Royal Knights were on it.

A group with a name like that has gotta be strong as fuck, right? They’ll handle it.

And just like that…

Several days passed quietly in the mansion, quieter than usual, with the servants keeping to themselves. I just did my thing, not really worried about much.

Then, finally, news about the terror incident arrived.

“What? The Royal Knights got hit?”

“...Seems they were well prepared this time.”

The Pursuit Squad formed by the Royal Knights… ambushed.

“That’s bad, right?”

“Yes, we need to tighten security.”

Shit. Didn’t think it’d get this serious.

Do these guys have nothing to lose?

“Can’t they catch them with magic?”

“...They have skilled Magician Woman on their side.”

“Better than ours?”

“Seems they’re using specialized esoteric magic to erase their traces.”

“Ah….”

This is a fucking disaster.

Elite guerilla terrorists operating in the city, experts at covering their tracks? Each one practically superhuman, and with a serious grudge.

“Shit, shouldn't we be running?”

“The Adel Kingdom isn't that weak.”

“But you said they can't catch them.”

“The Royal Family is taking this seriously. The city's on lockdown. They have two choices now.”

“Which are?”

“Try to break through and escape, or get cocky and get wiped out.”

“Which do you think they’ll choose?”

“Hard to say. Before, they would’ve run, but now… they’re probably feeling confident.”

…So they might get cocky. Which means a bloodbath is likely.

“This is bad. I’m hiding in the doghouse.”

No point in sticking my neck out in this situation.

I’ll keep training to a minimum and hole up in the doghouse until this blows over.

“That’s one option…”

But…

Lowell, who had been watching me intently, spoke up.

“You said you wanted to learn the Void Family's Esoteric Technique, right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“...Protecting the Young Lady is your greatest merit.”

“Huh?”

“Please… keep that in mind.”

He's stating the obvious pretty seriously.

“Yeah, alright.”

So I answered casually.

That night…

*BOOM-*

A massive explosion, the likes of which I’d never heard before, rocked the mansion.