-Yum!
Wrath licked his lips, savoring the lingering taste of mint chocolate ice cream.
'Is it that delicious?'
Raon popped the last bead ice cream from the box into his mouth and nodded.
-Mint chocolate is always satisfying! It's cool and slightly bitter, so it never gets old!
Wrath grinned, saying today's ice cream was especially tasty.
'That's good.'
Raon chuckled as he closed the lid of the now empty bead ice cream box.
'It was worth coming out, even if it was a hassle.'
Wrath had been wailing about losing the battle of wills after seeing the reward message, so Raon had to shut him up with ice cream. What a troublesome Demon King.
'Are you satisfied now?'
-This king is still hungry! Eat cookies!
Wrath shouted to eat cookies with an expression like an emperor about to conquer a continent. The more time Raon spent with him, the more absurd he found him.
"Sigh..."
Raon exhaled and bit into a cookie he had bought in the bustling street. The chocolate chips and pineapple pieces embedded in the cookie's surface harmoniously melted in his mouth without overpowering each other.
-Aaaah! This is good too! The chocolate is delicious, and the pineapple is tasty!
Wrath rubbed his cheeks and grinned. It was amazing how his taste descriptions remained so simple despite eating only foods he liked.
'Is this really the same guy?'
Even now, Raon couldn't believe that the absolute blue Demon King he had met in his mental image and this cotton candy getting excited over a single cookie were the same person. It almost felt like a split personality.
'Oh well.'
Raon put a cookie in his mouth and called up the reward message he hadn't been able to properly check because of Wrath.
[You have received sincere recognition from a Transcendent Warrior.]
[You have achieved an impossible feat.]
[All ability scores increase by 30 points.]
[The rank of the trait
[The rank of the trait
'That's quite generous.'
Since the opponent was the former Holy Sword Alliance Leader Darkan, even though they only engaged in a controlled swordsmanship duel, all stats increased by 30 points and both traits were upgraded. It was a reward beyond expectations.
'And...'
Raon looked down at the message below.
[You have outwitted the Demon King of Lust.]
[All ability scores increase by 40 points.]
[The title
Perhaps because he had received Lust's authority, the point increase was even higher. However, what really mattered wasn't the ability scores, but the strengthening of the title.
'So this is how it turned out.'
Originally, the title was
For a title to be strengthened twice, Raon couldn't help but laugh even as he received the reward.
'Huh?'
Raon's eyes widened as he read the title's effect.
'Significant level?'
When it was
-Nooooo!
Wrath, who had been enjoying the taste of the cookie while sucking his fingers, jumped up like a live fish.
-This bastard doesn't need such a title! The Demon Kings already bring tributes just by him flapping his mouth, so why strengthen the title!
Wrath screamed at the void, saying he couldn't understand it.
'Ah, that's right. You always said my tongue wasn't just heaven and earth level, but dimension level, and it really became that.'
Raon laughed as he patted Wrath's head.
-It's clear they made it like that after hearing that!
Wrath gritted his teeth at the message, saying he was still in a battle of wills.
'By the way, does this work on you too?'
-Ab-absolutely not! How could something created by my own authority work on me!
He shook his head while averting his eyes. The fact that he was even whistling made it clear that it did work on him. It seemed he was even lying now that they had become closer.
'I see.'
Raon smirked as he watched Wrath's eyes darting around. This title enhancement might be the biggest reward he received today.
'Then lastly.'
Raon took a deep breath and called up the final message.
[The trait
He read the message about unlocking
'This is insane?'
Raon swallowed hard as he read the description of Lust. He had been worried because of the meaning the name
-That's because your lust is weak.
Wrath clicked his tongue as he looked at the content of Lust. He snorted, saying that if the lust had been stronger, it would have become a more explicit ability.
-I thought the authority might not be unlocked because you're more chaste than a monk, but it seems you're not completely devoid of lust.
Wrath rolled his eyes and nudged Raon with his round elbow.
'Um...'
Raon smiled awkwardly and averted his gaze. In his past life, he couldn't even develop feelings of liking someone, let alone date anyone, and in this life, revenge had been his priority, so he couldn't have a relationship with anyone.
But seeing Sylvia and Edgar sacrificing for each other and eventually reuniting to share their love, he had a tiny wish that if he survived after completing his revenge, he'd like to meet someone and have a normal love.
That emotion might have awakened Lust.
'But what's this about physical resilience here?'
Raon tilted his head, looking at the content attached at the end of Lust's description. He could understand everything else, but he couldn't comprehend why Lust would strengthen the body.
-W-well, to satisfy lust, the body needs to be sturdy?
'Huh? What do you mean?'
-S-simply put, you need to not die, right?
Wrath quickly moved his lips as if embarrassed.
'Ah, so that's what various forms of...'
-Ah! This king doesn't know! Stop asking!
He shouted that it was good anyway, his face turning red.
'Hmm...'
Raon lowered his eyebrows as he looked at the message again.
'Building various forms of affection with all those who make eye contact...'
He could roughly understand that content. It seemed it could be interpreted not just as sexual affection, but also as friendship or goodwill.
'Wrath.'
-Stop calling me!
Wrath waved his chubby hand, saying it was annoying.
'This ability says it works with eye contact. Just in case.'
-Hah! You think that will work unconditionally? It won't work easily on those with higher soul status than you! Besides, this king has no affection for you at all...
It was when he was sneering, saying it absolutely wouldn't work.
[You have gained
[All ability scores increase.]
[Your soul status increases.]
"..."
-...
Raon and Wrath were momentarily speechless as they looked at the newly appeared message.
-N-no! It's not true!
Wrath screamed, his face turning red.
-This damn system is spouting lies!
'Thank you, Wrath.'
Raon calmly nodded and put his hand on Wrath's shoulder.
-You just go away!
* * *
The next day. Raon went out to the training ground in time for the early morning training session. The Light Wind division swordsmen were warming up with basic training as instructed by the Gambling Monster.
"Seeing it directly, it's not bad at all."
Martha clicked her tongue briefly as she watched the swordsmen's movements.
"As the Gambling Monster said, it seems they've been diligently training every day."
Burren nodded, saying it was decent growth.
"Yeah. They didn't slack off..."
Runaan also blinked her sleepy eyes as she looked at the Light Wind division.
"Hmm..."
Raon lowered his eyebrows with his arms crossed.
'I want to crush them...'
-C-crush them? Your subordinates? This is really crazy!
Wrath bulged his eyes as if dumbfounded.
'I don't mean literally crush them, I mean I want to train them.'
He waved his hand, smiling lightly.
-Then just do it, why not?
'The Gambling Monster said something.'
-That drunk old man?
'He said not to pressure them too much since the Light Wind division also trained hard while we were away.'
This morning, the Gambling Monster had come to say that the Light Wind division had also done their best to train, so don't pressure them too much. Because of those words, he couldn't move rashly. Rimmer had also said that the Light Wind division had trained without missing a day, so he felt guilty about forcing them to train.
-I didn't know you cared about such things.
'I do consider people's feelings, you know.'
-Like hell you do! If there's one thing this king can't accept, it's that! You're the most inconsiderate person this king has ever seen!
Wrath snorted, saying not to talk nonsense.
"If they had completely slacked off, we could just beat them up, but it's ambiguous since that's not the case."
Martha frowned. She muttered that it was difficult to touch them overtly because Krein and the other swordsmen showed signs of having trained diligently.
"It's not that they're slow, but that we returned too quickly after growing too fast. We should watch over them slowly."
Burren nodded calmly, saying they should take time to nurture them.
"No, that would be too late."
Raon shook his head firmly. It was certain that they would go on a mission soon, so he needed to make them grow quickly before that.
"Then what are we going to do? It feels a bit wrong to force them."
"I have a way."
Raon grinned and approached Dorian.
"Dorian."
"Yes?"
Dorian, who was eating a snack, flinched and turned his head.
"Don't you feel angry that they seem to have been taking it easy while you were training to the point of death?"
"Well, it does feel a bit like that..."
"You suffered under Zalek until your cheeks became so hollow, but you can see they've been eating and sleeping well, right?"
Raon pointed at the Light Wind division while looking into Dorian's eyes.
"Now that you mention it, Division Leader, it does seem that way. There's not a single one of them who's lost weight!"
Dorian frowned, chewing his snack roughly.
"Right?"
Of course, he didn't mention the unnecessary fact that they were already all muscle and couldn't lose any more weight.
"So why don't you show them how hard you've been training?"
Raon pointed at Krein, who was glancing this way.
"Let's beat up your rival and show them how tough our training was."
"Understood!"
Dorian shouted energetically and walked forward.
"Hey! Let's fight!"
He approached Krein quickly and jerked his chin.
"Me? With me?"
Krein exhaled, pointing at himself.
"I'll show you how much I've developed while you were comfortably eating and sleeping."
Dorian clenched his fist, saying he'd crush him in an instant.
"Ha!"
Krein deeply furrowed his brows.
"Overconfident much? I was only wary of the Division Leader and the squad leaders, I didn't care about the likes of you! You green-haired weed!"
He bared his teeth, looking at Dorian's green hair.
"That's right!"
"Know your place!"
"Just go around shouting about supplies like usual!"
The other swordsmen also rolled their eyes as if finding it ridiculous.
"Then how about this?"
Raon suddenly approached and stood in front of Krein and Dorian.
"Krein and Dorian will fight, and whichever side loses will follow the training method of the winning side. All of you."
Raon grinned as he looked at Krein and the swordsmen behind him.
"Hmm..."
Krein trembled his lips as if scared that Raon had stepped in.
"The Division Leader might help him."
He shook his head, saying he couldn't trust it.
"I swear I won't help at all. And if Dorian can't end it within five exchanges, we'll consider it our loss."
"Five exchanges?"
Krein raised his eyebrows as if dumbfounded.
"You're underestimating me too much! If I fight Dorian ten times, I'd win at least seven!"
He shook his head, saying their styles were too different even before considering skill.
"That's why I'm saying let's do it. Not confident?"
Raon jerked his chin, narrowing his eyes.
"Ugh! I'll do it."
"Good."
Raon licked his lips with eyes like looking at a fish that had taken the bait.
"Let's start right away."
* * *
Krein pressed his lips tightly as he faced Dorian in the training ground.
'I might lose to other squad leaders, but never to this guy.'
Burren, Martha, and Runaan had visibly become stronger. Even at a glance, they seemed to have reached the pinnacle of the Master level. But Dorian was different. Although he had lost weight, there wasn't much change in his martial prowess or aura. If anything, he seemed weaker because Krein himself had grown stronger.
'But there must be something.'
Seeing Raon make such a bet, Dorian must have prepared some martial art. However, Krein had also trained his best. He was confident he could withstand Dorian's five exchanges no matter what.
'I can't lose to this supply parrot.'
As the seventh-ranked member of the Light Wind division, he absolutely couldn't lose to Dorian who only shouted about supplies every day.
With a metallic sound, Krein drew his sword, feeling the gaze of the other swordsmen on his back. With a ringing sound, Dorian calmly raised his sword to mid-level, his face more composed than usual.
"Are you both ready?"
Raon quickly lowered his hand after checking the condition of Dorian and Krein.
"Then begin the duel!"
He announced the start of the duel and immediately stepped back.
"I didn't slack off either!"
Krein bit his lip and thrust the sword he held with both hands. It was a thrust that aimed for the vital point in an instant, breaking through the opponent's aura. Although it was a sword technique he often used, its speed and power had become vastly different thanks to two months of training.
Dorian advanced with footwork and swordsmanship maximized in speed, making it impossible to predict where he was aiming.
'It's over.'
Krein curled his lips. The moment his sword pierced through space, the situation was over. With Dorian's skill, he couldn't block his strike when his reaction was delayed.
Just as he was about to thrust at Dorian's waist, thinking he would reverse-mock Raon, Dorian's sword fell like mountain stream water, curved and trembling.
With a clashing sound, Dorian perfectly defended against his strike with a sword path that curved like he had read the direction of his attack. Krein's sword was violently deflected. But Dorian didn't counterattack and just waited in that position.
"Take your stance."
Dorian calmly nodded as if giving him one more chance.
"...You'll regret this."
Krein bit his lip hard and pulled out his sword stuck in the ground.
'Focus.'
It seemed there had been a change in Dorian. He had been too dismissive despite thinking that. He shouldn't hastily think of victory, but calmly subdue him.
'Then let's go with variation.'
Normally, Dorian is weak against complex sword techniques. If he focuses on the variable sword he trained with the Gambling Monster, he should be able to win sufficiently. With a whooshing sound, Krein inhaled and rushed at Dorian. He lightly loosened his sword-holding hand and drew a star-like trajectory of the sword in the air.
With a ringing sound, he performed a sword technique that thrust five times in one strike, repeating it four times to create twenty sword strikes. It was a sword technique that the Gambling Monster had interpreted for him.
'This should do it!'
Thinking he could sufficiently subdue Dorian, he extended his sword with all his might.
"Hmm."
Dorian, as if reading his sword again, calmly lowered his sword with a composed gaze. Dorian's sword softly rotated, erasing all the changes formed by the technique. It felt like his thoughts were being read.
With a ringing sound, his sword perfectly pushed away Krein's sword and stopped right in front of his neck.
"It's over."
Dorian jerked his chin with eyes as calm as if he had been meditating.
"Uh..."
Krein trembled his lips as he stared at Dorian's blue blade in front of him.
"I... I lost."
He finally admitted defeat and lowered his head.
"W-what? What just happened?"
"Krein lost consecutively? And so one-sidedly?"
"Those two were always evenly matched."
"This, this doesn't make sense..."
The Light Wind division swordsmen gaped at Dorian who had overwhelmed Krein.
"What the hell. Your aura and energy are the same, so why have you become so strong!"
Krein shouted that he couldn't understand as he grabbed Dorian's arm.
"Why? It's simple."
Dorian nodded as if he had been waiting for this.
"It's because I did exactly as the Division Leader told me to."
He parroted Raon's words verbatim as he lowered his sword.
"It wasn't even hard, I just lost some weight, and the training was really good."
Dorian smiled, saying the training he had done at the Holy Sword Alliance was excellent.
"Division Leader!"
Krein bit his lip and then knelt before Raon.
"Please give me the same training as that guy! I'll do anything!"
"Please, me too!"
"We'll do it together!"
The Light Wind division swordsmen shouted that they would do any training, breaking through the Gambling Monster's protective barrier on their own, as if mocking the Gambling Monster's attempt to protect them from Raon. They seemed to feel both crisis and expectation at Dorian's change, who hadn't shown much difference before.
"I'll teach you. It's not difficult."
Raon raised his chin slightly and drew a deep smile.
-W-what! You planned this from the start?
Wrath clacked his teeth, saying it was unbelievable.
'That's right.'
-See! I told you this guy doesn't need a tongue title! He crushes everyone with just his basic tongue!
He screamed, asking why such a title was given.
"Everyone get ready. It might be a bit tough."
Raon drew a thin smile as he looked at the eyes of the Light Wind division swordsmen filled with enthusiasm.
-But how are you going to do it? The wallet guy got stronger not because of martial prowess, but because of the Mind's Eye effect!
Wrath opened his eyes wide, asking what he was thinking.
'Is crisis perception such a big deal? If they get beaten to near death, they'll naturally develop it.'
Raon grinned, saying it would be fine.
-...Is this really a human?