Rumors travel fast.
And if the figures in those rumors happen to be the Sword Saint of the Empire or a cardinal of the Holy Kingdom, they spread even faster.
All the more so when the incident took place in a banquet hall packed with people.
The rumor that began in the southern city of Sauer spread to every nearby city and village within days.
"Have you heard the rumor? They say the Sword Saint of the Empire appeared in the city of Sauer."
"Is that all? I hear there was someone who fought that great Sword Saint head-on. Some... mage, they said."
A mage who fought the Sword Saint.
A powerhouse who wielded the sun and was acknowledged even by the Sword Saint.
And the reaction to that rumor was uniformly the same.
"Puhaha! What kind of nonsense is that supposed to be?"
"Right? That's what I thought too."
"I've met a few fellows who called themselves mages, and every last one of them was out of his mind."
They dismissed it as a wild rumor.
A powerful mage.
That alone was hard enough to believe, yet this mage was supposed to have faced the Sword Saint on equal footing?
Unless one was exceptionally naive, most people simply did not believe it.
And the reason they did not pay much attention to that fact came next.
- The Saintess has appeared!
The appearance of the Saintess.
Since more than a few people had witnessed the Holy Kingdom’s white carriages heading one after another toward the city of Sauer, the rumor about the Saintess spread with certainty.
Thanks to that, the rumor about the great mage who had faced the Sword Saint...
Was settled as simply the appearance of a mad mage.
* * *
「The story of the ‘mad mage’ spreads.」
「You have gained 2 points from increased fame.」
「The story of the ‘mad mage’ spreads.」
「You have gained 1 point from increased fame.」
...
"It’s all well and good, but."
Distracted by the messages that kept appearing, Hio muttered to himself.
"Why does it have to be a mad mage?"
How in the world did the rumor get distorted like that?
It was puzzling, but fame points were coming in regularly.
Of course, since it had not actually affected anything and was merely a simple rumor, he was not receiving many points.
‘Still, I’ll take what I can get.’
He had now taken his first real step.
Though he had started as a mad mage, in the end everyone would remember him as a great mage.
"Whoo..."
A long, slow breath left him.
「Stat ‘Mana’ has increased by +1.」
His Mana stat rose once again.
The mana breathing he had practiced whenever he had spare time since the Magic Tower had become a habit, and now he did it every day.
‘I should be able to attempt the 2nd Circle engraving soon.’
If he gathered just a little more mana, he felt he could challenge the 2nd Circle.
So if he bought Mana with the fame points he had now, he could attempt the 2nd Circle a little faster, but...
‘There’s no need to rush.’
He made a bold decision.
「Purchased stat ‘Stamina’ for 10pt.」
「Stat ‘Stamina’ has increased by +1.」
「Purchased stat ‘Strength’ for 10pt.」
「Stat ‘Strength’ has increased by +1.」
「Purchased stat ‘Agility’ for 10pt.」
「Stat ‘Agility’ has increased by +1.」
「Remaining points: 8pt」
Even if he did complete the engraving, he would have to return to the Mage’s Tower in order to learn 2nd Circle magic anyway.
So rather than hastily raising his Mana right now, it was more important to evenly raise his other stats and maintain balance.
In the end, to join the ranks of the strongest, he would have to push every stat to its limit.
Just as he finished distributing his stats...
The door flew open, and someone strode into Hio’s room.
The treatment Hio was currently receiving in the castle was nearly on par with that of a cardinal.
The guardian of the prospective Saintess, and a powerhouse acknowledged by the Sword Saint.
The count and viscount, who had unknowingly ordered the tearful clown show themselves, could do nothing but sweat buckets.
There were not many people who could open the door to the room of Hio, who was being treated as an honored guest, so brazenly and walk in.
No, there was only one.
"Mage."
The Sword Saint, Vitalianus.
"Let us spar."
A hopeless sparring maniac.
Hio was well aware of this aspect of the Sword Saint’s personality.
Even back when this was a game, his intense love of competition had been famous.
But the situation now was far too different from back then.
At that time, Hio had been equipped with a dazzling lineup of specs that would not lose even to the Sword Saint.
So he had simply needed to spar once and be done with it—and above all, it had been a game.
Now this was not a game, but a cruel reality where, if the Sword Saint so much as drew his blade, Hio’s head would be sliced clean off.
A spar with the Sword Saint had to be avoided at all costs.
"I’m not feeling well today, so let’s do it another time."
"Did you not say you were unwell yesterday as well?"
"Mages are prone to illness by nature."
"You are avoiding me too much. I have no problem starting right now."
"Are you fine with it even though I am not in my best condition? I merely wish to face you when I am at my peak."
This was it.
The reason Hio had managed to hold out for the past few days.
"...Take good care of yourself. I should ask the cardinal to pay special attention to you."
"I suppose I have a constitution that doesn’t respond well to divine power."
"...I will come again tomorrow."
The excuse that they should spar when he was in his best condition worked extremely well on a pervert with such a fetish for the strong.
But even this had nearly reached its limit.
Until now, the Sword Saint had been busy with various matters, so Hio had been able to get by with words like that. But now that the investigation of the incident was gradually wrapping up, he needed to come up with a method soon.
‘A method...’
In truth, there were almost no methods to speak of.
Run away in secret?
As if it would be possible to escape the eyes of that monster.
Reach an amicable agreement through conversation?
If that had been possible, he would have done it long ago.
That sparring monster, whose eyes rolled back at the sight of anyone strong, would never back down until he was satisfied.
‘In the end... I guess I have no choice but to shut my eyes and spar once.’
It would quickly be exposed that he was nothing more than a weakling who merely possessed two highest-grade skills, but what could he do?
The world always forced choices upon the weak.
And so, as Hio held his worries and dissatisfaction close, the night deepened.
The next day.
"The Sword Saint... left?"
Without leaving behind a single word, the Sword Saint had suddenly departed.
* * *
"Just as expected."
The three boys who had nearly become demons.
Even after investigating them, nothing came out.
Because from the beginning, those boys had been disposable pawns.
"Like damn gnats."
To Vitalianus, Black Fang was like a swarm of gnats.
Insignificant vermin that crawled out endlessly from somewhere no matter how many he swatted down.
They were bothersome to catch one by one, and trying to exterminate them completely would turn the matter into something far larger.
Well, that was purely from Vitalianus’s perspective. Black Fang, with Ataolf standing firm as its leader, was undeniably one of the major organizations.
With an incident of merely this scale, there was no way to reach the key figures of Black Fang.
Vitalianus knew that as well, so he had not expected much.
"Tomorrow, I must settle this one way or another."
That was why his mind had already gone somewhere else entirely.
The spar with the mage.
Even now, whenever he thought of what had happened a few days ago, did his heart not pound?
The wrathful flames that seized the sky.
If, on that day, that sacred light had not stopped the two of them, what would have happened?
Even the Sword Saint under heaven had rarely experienced something possessing such immense power taking control above his head.
Even when he closed his eyes and replayed that day dozens, hundreds of times, he could not properly predict the result.
Blue flames that might fall at any moment, in any way.
A power filled with wrath that could never be taken lightly.
Of course, the Sword Saint was confident that his aura could cleave even those magnificent flames apart, but... in the end, they had never decided the match.
Until the outcome was truly determined, it was nothing more than fantasy.
And so the Sword Saint resolved himself firmly.
"Tomorrow, your excuse of not feeling well will not work, Mage."
Tomorrow, he would make the spar happen no matter what.
As far as Vitalianus had judged, the mage’s disposition was not very bellicose.
The day they had first met.
Was that not clear from the fact that he had completely hidden his true power and spread false flames?
From the start, he had been someone with no intention of harming others.
Of course, the moment he recognized the Sword Saint’s existence, he had transformed the false flames into reality... doing something truly akin to magic.
After witnessing such a scene, there was no way the Sword Saint could restrain himself.
A mage who was not bellicose, who avoided fights, and who did not wish to draw attention.
Well, he felt sorry for a mage with such a personality, but he could no longer suppress this boiling desire to compete.
So tomorrow, he would spar with him without fail.
Resolving himself thus, Vitalianus headed to his own room.
...He noticed the abnormality the moment he entered the room.
A very faint, unfamiliar presence.
Something had secretly come and gone from his room.
How dare they.
Fearless, indeed.
Vitalianus approached the window.
It was on a high floor of the castle, but if the intruder was skilled, this height would be no problem.
Sure enough, he found traces of intrusion through the window.
Because the traces had been left openly.
There was even a note wedged into the window frame.
With an expression that had grown somewhat grave, Vitalianus picked up the note.
Because he had a rough idea of who had left it behind.
Vitalianus checked the note he had lifted.
A short word written on the paper.
"..."
The moment he confirmed it, the Sword Saint kicked open the door and rushed out.
In an instant, he left the castle and sprinted swiftly through the night air.
Because the contents of the note were far from ordinary, he intended to run at full speed all the way to the imperial palace right now.
‘In the end... it has come to this.’
The paper clenched in Vitalianus’s hand crumpled mercilessly.
The very thing he had feared and feared again, yet had been unable to prepare for, had finally occurred.
As if unable to believe it, he looked down at the note once more.
A single word, very short and hastily scrawled.
- Demise (崩)
The old emperor who had ruled the Empire had passed away.
* * *
The Sword Saint had abruptly departed.
‘...Why?’
Because he suddenly got tired of it?
Hio knew better than anyone that could not be the case.
He was a sparring monster who took sparring more seriously than anyone.
There were not many incidents that could force someone on the level of the Sword Saint to bend his own will and move.
That was why Hio could immediately think of it.
‘Come to think of it, was it around this time?’
The emperor’s death.
The situation had already changed dramatically from the main story, but there should not yet be any possessors capable of influencing the emperor.
So the emperor’s death had proceeded as scheduled.
It was sudden, but it had also been predetermined.
The emperor was dead, and internal strife would inevitably break out.
Formally, the current crown prince was the First Prince.
The problem was that the Second Prince’s faction was no less powerful than the crown prince’s, and his ambition was terrifying.
The fact that the old emperor had foreseen this situation and yet taken no particular measures only made the Second Prince’s faction even more solid.
Aside from those two princes, the only one left was the third child, the princess.
There was almost no information about the princess.
Because in the game, she had been eliminated almost simultaneously with the outbreak of internal strife.
Hio did not know what they had feared so much that they eliminated the princess immediately, when the situation had already hardened into a two-strong rivalry between the First and Second Princes...
‘War is coming.’
War would break out.
The emperor’s funeral would become a stage for unseen schemes, and before the crown prince could formally become the new emperor, war would erupt.
‘War, huh.’
Could there be any better environment for raising honor and fame?
The possessors who had been active in various regions would smell the opportunity and flock in, while Black Fang, aiming for its chance, would expand the board everywhere.
Major figures who had been crouching in every region would emerge en masse, and the longer the war dragged on, the more devastating the damage would become.
In the end, the Empire’s strength would weaken, and Black Fang’s influence would grow.
If it went that far, the future would become even bleaker.
‘How sickening.’
Dozens, hundreds, perhaps thousands would die.
The only way to stop that catastrophe would be to end the war quickly.
‘...For now, I should do what I need to do.’
In any case, he had escaped from the Sword Saint’s grasp.
Now it was time to move.
The reason Hio had specifically chosen Fire among the many 1st Circle spells.
The reason he had needed the Blue Flame that could burn anything.
It was because it was absolutely necessary for his next destination.
A hidden piece that only the Supreme Heavenly Demon, who had once possessed the trait Ruler of Flames, had been able to obtain.
Now it was time to properly grow stronger.