"....How was your training?"

"It wasn't bad."

I answered truthfully while massaging my neck. I was sore all over and I probably stunk a lot.

....Of that I was sure.

Turning to look at Leon who was standing several steps away from me, I pursed my lips and tried my best to keep myself collected.

'He's doing it on purpose.'

This guy...

He didn't even give me the chance to properly rest before trying to piss me off.

I knew I stunk, but he was definitely exaggerating.

"Go take a shower. The family Head is waiting for you alongside the vessels downstairs. We will need to depart in a few hours."

Leon didn't even let me finish before suddenly dashing away from me.

"....Alright."

I brought my shirt to my nose and smelled it.

"Hmm."

I frowned while squinting my eyes.

Perhaps Leon wasn't messing with me.

Not that I was going to admit it.

Without turning back, I headed directly for my room on the second floor of the estate. Tak, Tak-

The corridors were strangely empty, the sound of my steps echoing throughout as none of the servants that were usually present appeared. It was a sight that threw me off a little as the sheer size of the estate became clear to me as I managed to find my way to my room.

'It's not as big as the Royal Palace, but it's bigger than what most Barons can afford.'

....The Head wasn't lying when he said the Gold mine was almost empty.

With how extravagant this place was, it'd be weird if it didn't dry up.

Creaak-

I opened the door to my room and prepared to take off my clothes.

....I was in the process of doing so when I stopped.

"What are you doing here...?"

Waiting at the entrance of my room was a face I had seen before. It belonged to the head butler.

Richard Mildrove was it?

Dressed in a sharp black suit, with neatly trimmed facial hair and glasses, he stood before the bookshelf, posture perfectly straight. He sorted through the books calmly, glancing at the covers each time.

....

He didn't reply to my question.

Rather, he turned his attention away from the books and looked at me up and down for several seconds, prompting me to frown.

What is this guy doing...? Did he lose it or something?

I was just about to speak when his mouth opened,

"You've changed a lot over the past year. You're almost unrecognizable."

"....Is that so?"

Keeping my composure, I carefully removed my blazer and hung it to the side. At the same time, I started to loosen my shirt.

"I've been told that quite a lot. I guess focusing on other aspects besides the sword really helped display my talent."

"Ah, yes. I did notice that."

The butler nodded faintly.

I thought he'd leave, but he didn't. Instead, he just continued to stare at me. The more he looked at me, the more I started to feel that something was wrong.

Why is he...?

"There's something you're not telling me."

His voice suddenly lowered and his eyes flickered.

"....The Phecda I know wouldn't-"

"Ah."

I flicked my hand and cut him off.

He stopped, his brows coming together in a frown. I looked around before making my way towards the sofa and sat down, crossing my legs.

"So this is how..."

One of my speculations came true.

There were spies of the Inverted Sky within the Estate.

'I guess I found one.'

.... And from the looks of it, he was the one that was directly involved with Julien's change.

"You've really changed in more ways that I thought."

Tak!

The sound of his step echoed within the quiet room as he moved closer to me, his eyes

narrowing as I felt the air grow tense.

"....It's almost as if you've become a completely different person."

He stopped right before me, his head lowered as he tried to meet my gaze. I didn't flinch away

from it and merely replied with a smile.

"You can say so."

"Uhm?"

The butler's eyes turned sharp, a cold chill washing down my back.

"Are you-"

"Here."

I extended my hand to display to him my wrist where the familiar tattoo rested.

"....Touch over here and see for yourself if it's fake."

The Butler didn't say anything and merely glanced at my wrist. As if not satisfied, he brought

his hand forward to try and touch it.

However, as if recalling something, he pulled his hand away, his eyes narrowing.

".....

My heart sank slightly but I didn't show it.

'Looks like he has been paying attention to the Summit.'

It was unfortunate that...

I was now different.

"What do-"

I flicked my hand mid-way through his speech. All of a sudden, a faint purple magic circle

shot toward the butler's forehead. It was so fast that he didn't have enough time to react.

"Uekh...!"

His eyes widened in shock as his head recoiled back.

"Y... you!"

As his gaze fell onto me, I massaged my eyes.

"Go to sleep. It'll all be over soon."

By the time the last word fell, his head drooped down.

The room fell silent right after.

But I wasn't over yet.

"Now that I've applied the first skill, it's time I apply the second."

I didn't have much time. While the Butler wasn't strong, he was still a tier 3 user. I couldn't be

careless.

Extending my index finger, a faint purple magic circle materialized at its tip.

At the same time, I tapped his back with my other hand.

A faint purple square appeared right after. Not satisfied, I added another one. And then

another one. And then another one.

'Tag, tag, tag, tag...'

Sweat accumulated by the side of my face as I kept focus before shifting my attention toward

the Butler who was showing signs of waking up and pressed my index finger against his

forehead.

"Not yet."

"!"

Immediately, his body jerked and I closed my eyes.

'Let's see...'

I took a deep breath.

'... You'll be my perfect test dummy to see the extent of my new skills.'

***

Drip...! Drip.

The rhythmic sound of water droplets striking the puddles echoed loudly through the

surroundings.

A ragged man stood beneath it, his eyes hollow and expression filled with loss. He was the

Evenuse Household head butler, Richard Mildrove.

"Don't stop. Wave your sword."

A rough voice echoed in the distance.

His figure was obscured, but staring at the man, Richard felt compelled to listen to his words.

He didn't quite understand what was going on, but it felt like he couldn't disobey his orders.

.... Each time he tried, his body would shudder and his lips would tremble.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah."

The breath left Richard's lungs as he hurriedly picked up the sword on the ground and swung

it.

Swoosh-

'W-what am I even doing...?'

Richard realized that there was something fundamentally wrong with the current situation.

He was no swordsman, nor had he ever picked up a sword in his life. Naturally, his movements

were extremely sloppy.

Swoosh!

...and it was such sloppy movements that brought a change to the obscured figure ahead,

leaving Richard breathless.

"No, I..."

Slap!

A hand smacked him directly in the face.

The sting from it lingered for several seconds before anger surged in Richard's mind.

"How da-"

Slap!

Richard was hit directly by another slap, his head recoiling to the side.

"Ah...!"

Clank.

The sword fell to the ground.

Richard's mind blanked. Feeling the sting on his face, his teeth chattered. However, he

realized something.

He couldn't retaliate at all.

....Richard felt insignificant in front of the man before him. It was as if he had been reduced to

nothing but a child.

"Pick the sword."

The man's cold voice echoed once more.

Richard shuddered at his words. He wanted to refute, but every time he tried, his body

weakened, leaving him trembling.

'Ah, I can't beat him...'

"Are you listening?"

"Uekh...!"

Richard reflexively flinched, raising his hand to cover his face. He didn't want to be slapped

again.

But...

Slap!

He still did.

"Pick. up. the. sword."

"I... yes."

Richard hurriedly picked up the sword and swung it in the air.

Swooosh-

His posture was a mess, and his swing was sloppy. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that

he was a total amateur. Richard himself knew this, which was why he was shuddering each

time he swung.

"I..."

'I don't know how to use the sword!'

Slap!

"Fix your posture. Your wrist is too rigid."

"W-"

'Why are you doing this to me?!'

Slap!

Whenever Richard had something to say, he'd be slapped before he could even get the words

out.

It got to the point where Richard kept his mouth closed as he swung his sword in the rain.

Swoosh!

Of course, just because he kept his mouth shut, it didn't mean that he wasn't safe from the

slaps.

Slap!

They still came.

....For every swing of his sword, he'd receive a slap.

Richard tried to get used to them, but he couldn't. The pain lingered and only seemed to

worsen with each strike.

It started to eat at his mind.

However, Slap!

"Again."

He could do nothing about them.

Slap...!

"Again."

They just kept coming.

Slap!

"Pathetic."

And he just received them.

Slap...!

"You're worthless."

Physical abuse turned into emotional abuse.

"You're trash."

The words dug deeply into his mind, each slap further imprinting them in his mind.

Slap!

"You can't even hold a sword? What are you worth?"

Richard couldn't muster up the courage to reply back. Whenever he did, his chest would feel

heavy and his entire body would become weak as the figure before him grew larger and larger

in size.

His figure started to imprint itself in his mind.

He was starting to become fear itself.

"Ah..!"

Richard's legs felt weak.

'Stop... make this stop...'

Slap!

His pleas brought nothing.

"Keep going."

""

Richard suddenly started to feel worthless.

No, he was worthless.

"Go, continue."

Slap!

The slaps continued, and so did his swings.

Time seemed to slow down.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

All Richard could think of was the sword and the swings.

"I'm worthless. Repeat it."

"....I'm worthless."

Richard repeated, his tone low and his mouth moving on its own. He had grown used to saying

the words, and he no longer had any thoughts about fighting back.

His eyes were hollow and he seemed to have lost himself.

Swoosh-

"........"

Julien watched as the sword slashed the space in front of him.

'He's actually gotten better at the sword.'

But he was still worthless.

"You're worthless."

He repeated slowly, flicking his hand as one of the tags he left within Richard's body

shattered, injecting even more fear into him.

.....It was the last tag, and perhaps the most unnecessary one.

After all, the man before him was already broken.

But it didn't matter to Julien.

He wanted to break him more.

Only then would he have full control of him.

He wanted to become the one thing he couldn't go against.

'I guess I didn't experience Caius's Emotive Magic for nothing...'

This was all a test for his new skill.

Everything was fake, a 'nightmare' that he had managed to recreate within Richard's mind.

That, coupled with his Emotive Magic, enabled him to slowly and carefully break Richard's

mind.

"Okay, this is enough."

Julien raised his head and waved his hand.

His vision shattered and he found himself back in the room.

Richard on the other hand took several seconds to recover. By the time he opened his eyes, he

was surprised to see himself standing in a familiar room.

"Hm.... where is..."

He blinked his eyes a couple of times before his chest suddenly felt elated.

"A hallucination? That was fak—"

"It wasn't."

A cold voice spoke beside him.

Richard's entire body shuddered upon hearing the voice and his head slowly turned. There,

standing a few feet away from him was the same obscured figure as before.

"Haaa.. haa... Haa..."

Richard's breathing grew heavier as he suddenly stepped back.

"No, what..."

"What are you?"

"I'm worthl-"

Richard hastily covered his mouth, but it was too late as his entire body started to shudder.

Tak.

The figure approached, and Richard's eyes widened, trembling as a familiar face emerged-a

man with deep black hair and piercing hazel eyes. He stood tall, his presence imposing, as

Julien placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

Richard's eyes constricted, but he could do nothing about it.

He was overwhelmed by fear.

"Haaa...! Haa!"

His entire body was paralyzed on the spot.

"Good."

Julien appeared satisfied by what he saw.

"Then..."

He lowered his head, his eyes growing slack as he stared directly into Richard's eyes.

"I'll be asking you questions soon. Tell me everything. From start to finish. Don't leave

anything out. Otherwise..."

He raised his hand, and Richard's face grew pale as he flinched.

"Hieek!"