Chapter 161. For Some Reason, That’s How It Felt
Right. Of course.
Because of that pointless urge to mete out justice, the topic had gotten pushed back a bit—but now, this was the main point.
Of course, it wasn’t like everything we’d talked about up until now had been completely useless, either.
‘It’s something I had to say someday.’
Anyway, I held out the Thousand Origin Art thesis I’d carefully stowed away in Subspace and threw out the question I’d been holding back.
“So you said that if you take a look, I can get some kind of result…….”
“You’re in quite a hurry.”
“How could I not be?”
This was about finally grasping the New Thousand Origin Art I’d been yearning for.
Even if it was an intermediate result—something incomplete, not yet perfected—the meaning it held for me was anything but small.
How could it not be?
Paharen von Deculan.
The secret art that placed that bastard among the strongest in history was this very New Thousand Origin Art.
Of course, I didn’t think Paharen became the strongest in history from a single secret art alone.
But it was also an undeniable fact that after obtaining the New Thousand Origin Art, Paharen achieved remarkable feats no one could dismiss.
It was right then that Henji opened his mouth.
“Aster, there’s something I’ve been thinking for a while.”
“……?”
“No, never mind. It’s not important.”
I stared straight at Henji as he started the sentence and then quietly tried to back out of it.
‘What is with this bastard?’
If it wasn’t important, he shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place. Stopping halfway only prodded at that unpleasant, lingering feeling people get.
Normally, I would’ve gone, ‘Ah, sure. Then forget it,’ and moved on, but seeing the meaningful look on Henji’s face, there was no way I could.
“What is it? Let’s hear it.”
“It’s really nothing, you know?”
“…….”
My fist trembled.
I was itching to deliver justice.
Having successfully hooked my attention, Henji gave a light laugh as if it truly were nothing and let his real thoughts spill out.
“I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but it feels like your craving for the New Thousand Origin Art is… not exactly normal.”
“…….”
“Isn’t it? Ah, and just so you know—though this is me boasting a little—the New Thousand Origin Art really is an incredible secret art. But if you ask whether it’s something you’d stake your life on… well. I’m not so sure?”
When I fell silent, Henji’s eyes gleamed like a cat that had found a new toy.
“Before, I thought you might tear down every secret art you’d learned so far just to learn the New Thousand Origin Art. You’re still young, after all. But if you look at Parun’s letter, your level isn’t shallow at all.”
“So?”
“You’ve already built up quite a lot, so it’s not like you can just throw everything away and learn the New Thousand Origin Art. Kalahen, Lortel…… Normally, people don’t stake their lives on secret arts they can’t even learn, right? Is this human curiosity? Ah! Could it be—like me or Parun—an expression of pure intellectual curiosity? Hmm, that could be it. Intellectual curiosity. Very important.”
Henji nodded to himself, drumming up the whole conversation alone, and watching him, I could tell he was already half convinced of “a certain fact.”
And what was that “certain fact”?
That I was currently practicing the Old Thousand Origin Art.
“Well, that’s the question I had… really, it’s nothing, right?”
At his coy, slippery act, my fist trembled for a moment, but I put on a calm smile.
“It’s not so much intellectual curiosity as… you know. Isn’t it natural to be curious? They say the Thousand Origin Art—the root of House Deculan—has been improved.”
“How many people would stake their lives over that kind of curiosity? You’d have to be insane.”
“…….”
At that point, even I had nothing to say.
Like he said, there wasn’t a single madman in the world who would burn their life away over that kind of curiosity.
So, in other words—
‘He thinks there’s no way I’d be this fixated on the New Thousand Origin Art unless I’d already learned the Old Thousand Origin Art.’
That thought reached me, and I let out a short laugh.
It wasn’t some great secret, after all.
No—well, it was a secret I couldn’t tell other people, but at least to Henji and Parun, it had become a secret I no longer needed to hide.
So I was just about to admit, ‘Yeah. Your guess is right’—
It was right then that Henji spoke.
“My, I’ve gone on for far too long.”
“…….”
“Haha. I guess meeting someone I can share secrets with loosened my tongue. I’ll look over the thesis and contact you again. Like Parun said, I can’t promise I’ll be able to produce results quickly—but I’ll do my best.”
So this is what it means to be beaten with words.
Henji beat me one-sidedly, then folded the whole thing up in an instant.
I forced the corner of my mouth up and clenched my teeth. Then, very slowly, I nodded, balling my fist tight.
‘I can… beat people with my fists now, too.’
Of course, it was an impulse I wouldn’t act on.
Well… truthfully, I half wanted to, but—
“Right, you said you had something to ask, didn’t you? In your letter, you wrote that you were looking for a way to split your core.”
The way he switched topics was almost obscene.
I pressed down the boiling anger and nodded.
“That’s right. A way to split the core.”
“Actually, the theory itself behind splitting a core isn’t that difficult. The problem is the danger during execution, and the efficiency afterward… Hmm. This is quite strange. When House Deculan’s Thousand Origin Art tempers a core, it doesn’t split—”
“Hey.”
As he rolled right past verse one into verse two and three—eventually pushing my patience to the edge—I glared hard.
But maybe because he’d never actually been hit? He laughed, then spread his palm as if to say it had been a joke.
“As for the splitting method, I’ll select a few books and send them. You shouldn’t find it difficult to understand just from those.”
“It won’t be over a hundred books again, right?”
“Haha, of course not. Ah, and about the New Thousand Origin Art—Parun says it’s at the level where I only need to formalize it, but… still, it won’t be done in a day or two. How long do you plan to stay in Brando?”
How long I planned to stay in Brando…
I quietly ran the numbers.
To be honest, I didn’t want to stay very long.
Choosing to come to Brando despite it not being in the original plan was entirely because of the circle and the New Thousand Origin Art, and once that was resolved, I intended to return to the academy right away.
But—
“……Hmm. Now I think it’s not a matter of how long I’ll stay, but how long I can stay.”
That was because of the scum from House Tulk.
Depending on how they moved, I might have to leave Brando sooner than expected.
Of course, even then, it wouldn’t mean my relationship with Brando would break—but since I’d laid hands on the young head of a vassal house, it wasn’t something that would be let go easily.
But putting that aside—
‘Something about it still feels off.’
Who had moved that idiot scum who couldn’t even keep his head straight in front of Gamo?
It wouldn’t be that he was acting under direct orders, and it felt more like someone who knew the scum well had subtly fanned the flames.
Just as my thoughts were about to be pulled into a deeper current—
“Is it because of that trash from House Tulk?”
“You know?”
“The fact that House Tulk’s young head is trash is something everyone knows. If anything, his younger brother is the useful one.”
“No, not that.”
There was something oddly suggestive in Henji’s tone.
As if he knew about the justice I’d enforced earlier today.
“Ah, are you referring to the incident at the tailor shop? I don’t know the details, but I know the general outline.”
“……How?”
“Wouldn’t it be strange if I didn’t know? Parun is only risking his own life, but I… you know, don’t you?”
In other words, he was saying he’d been fully prepared because he didn’t want sparks flying all the way to Brando.
“I didn’t know your loyalty to the House ran that deep.”
“Not me. But my foolish younger brother is different.”
Ah, right.
He had a younger brother.
Our first meeting had been because of that idiot younger brother, but he’d been so lacking in presence that I’d forgotten about him at some point.
“Was his name Stanley?”
I felt like it was something like that.
“I don’t recall ever telling you his name?”
Ah. Was that so?
Then what was Stanley?
He just seemed like the kind of presence-less guy who’d be named Stanley. If not, then not.
Anyway—this presence-less scum… no, well, he was at least a little less severe than House Tulk’s scum, so let’s call him a halfwit.
Anyway.
The halfwit wasn’t important right now.
‘Yeah. Why didn’t I think of asking Henji?’
What was that “not typical” vassal house Ransi mentioned? And who was it that fanned the flames for that scum?
Henji was the optimal target to ask—the one who could answer things Gamo and Ransi wouldn’t, or things that were awkward to ask them directly.
Right when I reached that thought—
Henji smiled faintly and spoke.
“Anyway, I think I can help you a bit with that matter. What do you say? I’d like to hear your opinion, Aster.”
“Help?”
I voiced my doubt at the unexpected offer.
But Henji’s offer didn’t stop there.
“Yes. I can make it so House Tulk can’t take issue with you over the trash incident. If you want, I can also resolve the matter with the vassal house that’s raising an issue about you.”
“Even the vassal house issue?”
“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve already guessed, but in my estimation, the trash and that vassal house aren’t separate incidents. So if I’m going to handle it, it makes sense to handle both at once.”
“……Hold on.”
I raised a hand and stopped Henji’s mouth.
Information was pouring in so casually that I needed a moment to organize the situation.
First—one.
‘As expected, the one who fanned the flames for the scum was that “not typical” vassal house?’
Second—two.
‘And Henji says he can resolve all of it?’
“You look a bit confused—shall I explain the situation?”
“As briefly as possible.”
Henji nodded, still wearing that friendly face.
“First, the vassal house taking issue with you is House Jiloks. The problem is that this is a somewhat unusual vassal house—”
“Ransi said that too. What, exactly, makes it special?”
“Ah, you didn’t know? The current Head of House of Jiloks is the older brother of our Head of House.”
“Sworn brothers?”
“No. Blood brothers.”
“……?”
Wait—if he was the blood brother of the current Head of House of Brando… then that meant Demian’s paternal uncle was the Head of House of Jiloks.
“How? Did he found House Jiloks himself?”
No—even if that were the case, it didn’t make sense.
Even if a blood relative created a new house, if the level was lacking, they wouldn’t accept it as a vassal house.
And it wasn’t common for a splintered bloodline to create a separate house in the first place.
Henji smiled as if my shock amused him.
“The previous Head of House of Jiloks didn’t have a son. Of course, it’s not rare for a daughter to inherit the seat, but… unfortunately, those daughters weren’t particularly talented.”
“So….”
“Well, it’s a common story. Jiloks had no suitable heir, and there was a man who couldn’t become Head of House of Brando. Their interests aligned perfectly, didn’t they?”
What was this?
He called it common, but it was oddly gripping.
At any rate, why House Jiloks was “special” was simple.
A vassal house led by the current Head of House’s own brother.
Of course, even if he was the Head of House’s brother, strict house law meant he couldn’t just do whatever he wanted—but it was also true that it would be awkward to treat them like any other vassal house.
Then a scenario flashed through my mind like a ridiculous comedy.
“Is the Head of House of Brando away from the house right now?”
“Yes. Do you know about the incident that happened recently in the Hamelin Great Forest? Because of that, there was a disruption in supplying magic materials, so he departed again on a long journey.”
There it is.
“All right. I understand.”
“What do you mean you understand?”
Henji looked at me with bright, intrigued eyes.
As if responding, I laid out, in my mind, puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly.
“House Jiloks’s scheme is to shrink Gamo’s influence by making an issue out of me. In truth, I’m just an excuse. They want to assert their own influence. With the Head of House absent, this is the perfect opportunity.”
Isn’t the matter too trivial? That’s how power collapses.
“Absolute power” is “absolute” because you can’t resist it—but the moment even a single counterexample appears, its authority cracks.
“So then, what is House Jiloks’s objective?”
“Hmm, interesting. Go on.”
“Treason.”
Yes. There was only this.
“Usurping the throne.”
Taking advantage of the Head of House’s absence, reducing Gamo’s influence, strengthening their voice little by little within Brando…
“Until they sit on the throne of Brando that they once failed to obtain.”
That was what I concluded House Jiloks’s purpose was.
It was right then that Henji clapped.
Clap, clap, clap.
I smiled with satisfaction at the dry applause spreading through the air. Even I had to admit—my read had been sharp.
‘Then what about Demian?’
I’d have to help him.
As that thought formed, Henji’s voice rang in my ear.
“Incredible. In an instant, you’ve turned the Head of House of Jiloks into a degenerate who wants to kill his own brother.”
“……?”
Wait. It wasn’t that?
Then what was it?
“First, I think you’re holding a dangerously big misunderstanding, so let me explain that part. Ah, but before that—”
“Before that?”
“I’d like to pay my respects to your distrust of humanity, Aster.”
“…….”
I never would’ve dreamed I’d hear something like that from Henji, of all people.
Maybe… I’d stepped slightly outside the category of good.
For some reason, that’s how it felt.
