Chapter 53: Tao Ron
TL: Akabane
***
Ten days have passed since I was taken care of at Grandpa Pai's place.
During this period, Athena, Frey, and Mirialia had grown up considerably.
Athena is acquiring the ability to feel emotions.
This surprised me, too. I had expected Athena to have more trouble expressing her anger, since it is the opposite of her personality, but she has been able to do it.
She is one step closer to making it her own, though she still lacks a few things to complete.
I am also continuing to work on ukeganashi, which I would say is already perfect. She is a talented person, a star in the rough.
If Athena can combine her flow and emotion, she will be able to reach even higher realms.
Mirialia has also grown beyond compare to what she was ten days ago.
Her physical strength and agility have increased dramatically through running around in the mountains and playing with demons. At the same time, her ability to quickly assess situations and the versatility of her magic have also improved.
As the days went by, she spent more time running away from me. Thanks to this, I had to get serious too.
I could have beaten her, but she would have noticed if I took it easy on her, and she wouldn't have liked it if I took it easy on her, pride-wise. I don't care if it lowers her motivation.
I'm getting good at meditation.
Now I can quickly empty my head and increase my concentration - partly because Mirialia doesn't usually think about anything - and I can do it even in the middle of playing oni, no matter where I am.
As for tuning in, she does so carefully.
Even I don't know what kind of accidents might happen. If I fail to do so, Mirialia's life would be in jeopardy. When it comes to training with your life on the line, you have to be very careful and cautious.
For the small amount of time they had, Mirialia was gradually becoming more and more in tune.
Perhaps it is because she is an elf loved by spirits and has a high affinity for magic that she is able to do this. Of all the people I know, the only one who could attune with the world, or rather, who taught me how to attune, was an elves.
If Mirialia could really learn to be in tune with the world, she would be a mage who could defeat even the demigods.
As for Frey, I don't really know because I haven't seen her myself.
I heard that she has become a provisional disciple of the Kikagei-ryu and is training hard with Meimei. I laughed inwardly when I saw Frey doing the dusting and cleaning.
I thought she would snap and say she was going to quit at any moment, but she seems to be taking it more seriously than I expected. It means that Frey is becoming mentally mature.
Grandpa Pai says we should look forward to it.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Frey has been climbing up to near the gold rank by simple physical strength power.
What do you think would happen to such a power idiot if he learned fighting techniques such as ukeganashi (parry) and bujutsu (martial arts)?
If the Kikagei-ryu of martial arts is combined with exceptional power, it would not only be a plus, but would increase many times over. Then she would be a fighter who is second to none.
To be honest, I'm most excited to see how much Frey has grown.
I hope it will be far beyond my imagination.
"Hey, that Meimei hasn't come back yet, has she?"
"Hm? Oh, I haven't seen her. Eh, she hasn't come back yet?
"Yeah, I haven't seen her yet. She told me to stay ahead of her because she had something to do, but she hasn't come back at all. I had to cook dinner by myself because of her."
"Oh, can you even eat that?"
"If you have a problem with it, you don't have to eat it, elves."
Around dusk.
After training in the mountains, Athena, Mirialia and I returned to the dojo and hung out until dinner time.
Frey had returned from shopping quite a while ago, but, well, Meimei wasn't there at that time.
It's been a long time, but she hasn't come back yet. ......How long does it take her to get back home, no matter how much she has to do? And that too, until the serious Meimei skipped cooking dinner.
Something must be wrong. I wasn't the only one who thought so, and Athena opened her mouth suspiciously.
"It's not like she's Frey, something must have happened to Meimei. Shouldn't we all go looking for her?"
"Why are you making fun of me all the time, you guys. ......I'm the only one who can go look for her. You guys wait here."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm not a kid, don't worry about me. I'll find her and I'll be back."
With that, Frey turned on her heel and left to look for Meimei.
Even with that attitude, you could tell she was worried about Meimei. It's a good thing that the disciples get along so well with each other.
I was just thinking that kind of thing.
Frey, who was supposed to have gone to look for Meimei, came back immediately with a change of expression. She was carrying Meimei's battered and bruised body in her arms.
"Athena, Mirialia! Apply recovery magic to this guy!!!!"
""This is--!""
We were astonished to see Meimei, covered in wounds.
Her body was swollen all over, probably from bruising. This terrible swelling is not only thing, but her bones as well......
The most serious wound is the abdominal wound, which looks as if it was gouged out by something and is quite deep. It's also in a dangerous state because it's spilled a lot of blood.
""Heal!""
"Frey! Get all the restorative potions from the bag!"
Athena and Mirialia immediately perform a restorative magic on Meimei. At the same time, Frey splashed the potions she had brought over her entire body. Meimei's body glows green, her surface wounds heal, and the wounds on her belly are closed.
Her breathing is getting back to normal.......
"Hah ...... hah ...... I'm tired ......."
"This should be a relief for now. But we must not let our guard down. We can't restore the blood we've lost, and our restorative magic can't even heal broken bones."
"No ...... you did a great job. Good work, both of you."
I say words of exertion to Mirialia, who collapses limp, and Athena, who wipes the sweat from her forehead.
Thanks to the two of you, we were able to save Meimei. With this wound, the potion alone wasn't enough.
"What's all the noise - what's going on - Meimei!"
Grandpa Pai, who had come to see the commotion, was dismayed to see Meimei's terrible appearance.
It was a close call, but when I told him that Athena and Mirialia had saved the day, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Athena, Mirialia, and Frey for saving Meimei. Thank you."
"No, I did what I had to do."
"But who in the world could have done such a thing.....?"
"Does Frey know anything about this?"
"I don't know, man. I was down the stairs and she was lying in this state. There was no one else in the house."
There was no one else.....?
The fact that Meimei, who is as good as Frey in fighting alone, was beaten up this badly means that she must have been surrounded by a large group of people or was a very skilled fighter.
And he has a personal grudge against Meimei. No ...... not for Meimei, but for Kikagei-ryu......?
"Hello. No, I guess it's already good evening."
"'--?""
Suddenly I heard someone's voice from behind me, and I turned around to see a man standing there, clad in street clothes.
He had short black hair and a long face with threadbare eyes.
He was tall but thin, but not without muscles.
He was probably a martial artist because he was wearing a black robe, but he gave off a suspicious atmosphere for a ...... martial artist.
(What the hell is this guy ...... I couldn't sense any sign of him at all.)
No matter how much I was thinking, I couldn't notice him getting this close. Were his footsteps muffled?
Whatever the case, this string-eyed b*stard ...... is pretty decent.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Tao Ron, and I am the master of the Hatten-ryu style. I am here today on behalf of Kikagei-ryu."
"The master of the Haten-ryu ...... is this guy!"
"Oh, I see that I and Haten-ryu have become quite famous. I didn't realize that even strangers know our name."
So this is the rumored head of the Haten-ryu.
But still, he showed up at the right time, didn't he? Aren't you afraid of being suspected?
Okay, let's play along with hik.
"Tao Ron you say? How dare you show your face at this time? It's like saying you're the one who did this to Meimei."
"Oh, I don't see what you're talking about at all. I don't even know about Meimei."
"Don't you dare blab about it, you little b*tch!"
Frey is annoyed by Taoron's attitude and shouts angrily at him, but he maintains an attitude of ignorance.
Oh ..... so that's how it's going to be.
"So, what do you want?"
"Ah, yes. Let's get down to business, shall we? It's a simple matter of handing over the signboard of the Kikage-ryu."
"You mean, you want to break up the dojo?"
"To put it simply, yes. Even though it is a small, smelly dojo with no disciple, it seems to have a good name for itself. It was just too much of an eyesore. And since our disciples seem to be concerned about Kikagei-ryu, I thought it would be a good time for them to disappear."
"What are you talking about? I heard it was you who instigated the disciples."
Athena, hearing Tao Ron's story, asks in a rare display of anger.
Athena has a point. Meimei told me that Tao Ron seduced Ryu and the other disciples of the Kikagei-ryu.
He was so rude as to make it sound as if his own disciples were the ones being bothered by it.
"You're a real pain in the ass, you string-eyed son of a b*tch."
"That's outrageous, they voluntarily transferred to my dojo. Because some master somewhere is incompetent and won't teach them anything."
"What if I say no?"
"Then I will have to use force. However, I am not an ogre either. It would be painful for me to hurt an old, old man. How about this? How about having the disciple fight each other, and the losing dojo gives up it's signboard? Well, if there are still disciples in the Kikagei-ryu, that's it."
""......""
Damn it, he's a convinced criminal, no matter how you look at it.
He knows that Meimei is the only disciple of Kikagei-ryu and that Meimei is in no condition to fight.
"Scum. Dale, can I kill this guy?"
"I know how you feel, but don't do it."
Mirialia snaps at Tao Ron's jokey offer.
If you give it your all, this guy is no match for you, but this is a matter of Kikagei-ryu.
It's not our place to interfere, we're outsiders.
Yes - we are outsiders in the Kikagei-ryu. But there is one person who is not.
"If you're not here, you should just give up your signboard and say--"
"I'll do it."
Frey offers, interrupting Tao Ron.
Tao Ron's eyes widened as he stared at Frey's sudden candidacy with a dubious eye.
"I'd appreciate it if those of us who have nothing to do with this would keep our mouths shut."
"It's none of your business, octopus. I'm a disciple of the. I'm a disciple of the Kikagei-Ryu too."
"If you're making this up, please don't. If you don't want to get hurt, it would be better for your own health if you don't get involved so much."
"Oh? You're the one who told me that, right? Or are you going to run away?"
"......"
Frey and Tao Ron glaring at each other.
After a beat, the guy lets out a small sigh and cowered his shoulders.
"Fine. Then tomorrow at noon, the place is this dojo."
"As you wish."
"It would be wise to hide the money while you still can. Tomorrow, everything will belong to us, including this dojo. Now, if you'll excuse me."
With that, Tao Ron turns on his heel and leaves.
He was a snotty b*stard the whole time. Bring some salt, and sprinkle it on the front door.
"Frey, this is our problem. You don't have to get involved."
"What kind of nonsense are you talking, old man? Meimei is already one of mine. I'm not so smart that I'm going to stand by and let my friends get beat up."
"Thank you, Frey ...... I'm in your debt."
"I'm not sure how you can win this. They beat Meimei, so I don't know if you can beat them."
Frey looked at the sleeping Meimei and said,
"Ha, I don't care if I can win or not. I'm going to kill them! That's all."
Haha ...... what a dependable word.
But, well, I think you can beat any opponent right now. Not only me, but Athena and Mirialia think so too.
Good luck, Frey.
***
While jet black covers the sky.
At the Haten-ryu Dojo, while Tao Ron waits for someone, a mysterious woman unexpectedly appears.
Tao Ron called out to the woman, who appeared with no sign of her at all, with a cold sweat running down his spine.
"I have been waiting for you, Celine-sama."
"Oh, I thought I told you not to call me by that name, Tao Ron."
"I'm sorry, Madam-sama."
As Tao Ron hurriedly reiterated, the mysterious woman fluttered her hands in the air and said.
"Oh, well, that's all right. So, how's it going? Is it going well?"
"It's going great. The town has already been infected with the "Heavenly Style". All that's left is to finish it up."
"Fufu, that's good. I'm sure he will be pleased."
"Well ...... Madam-sama, if all goes well, will you add me to the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"Well, if this case goes well, there is no doubt that you will be. I'll give you my word too."
"Oh, thank you!"
"Good luck with that. I'll tell you one thing, if you mess up, you know what will happen to you."
"Yes, I know what will happen."
"Okay then, goodbye."
With these words, "Madam" suddenly disappears.
Alone, Tao Ron laughed, the corners of his mouth rising up like a crescent moon.
"One more step, and I too will become the "Seven Deadly Sins".
Darkness moves stealthily.
A great evil was about to befall Dale and his friends.
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