CHAPTER 64: Clench your teeth and endure well (3)

As mana surged and was swiftly absorbed, the magic circle completed itself.

Since Vanessa had mastered up to the 5th-circle, it was likely a 5th-circle spell.

Moreover, since it had been fueled by Ghislain's mana, its destructive power was bound to be formidable.

If these spells all activated, the training ground would be destroyed, and anyone outside would be severely injured.

Boom!

Ghislain quickly began blocking the raging mana flow within Vanessa's body, one by one.

As the flow of mana diminished, the magic circles flickered and distorted.

'At this rate, it's dangerous.'

He couldn't keep holding onto it like this forever.

Yet, if Ghislain let go, Vanessa's life force would be completely drained.

Unless Vanessa stopped it herself, the magic would continuously activate.

Even though it was risky, he had to wake Vanessa up by force.

"Haaah!"

Ghislain emitted his mana and instantly blocked all the mana pathways within Vanessa's body.

As all the channels were sealed simultaneously, the raging mana inside Vanessa suddenly halted.

Seizing that moment, Ghislain shouted loudly.

"Wake up!"

Boom!

With a voice powerful enough to shake the entire training ground, Vanessa finally regained her senses.

The countless magic circles hovering in the air lost their light and disappeared.

Ghislain, confirming that the turbulent mana had subsided, slowly removed his hand from Vanessa.

Cough!

Vanessa bent over, coughing up blood.

Writhing in agony from the intense turmoil inside her, she nevertheless felt a strange thrill.

Finally, she understood what mana felt like.

The tiniest speck of mana settled within her body, giving her newfound certainty.

"Uugh!"

Even as she continued to cough up blood, she laughed. She felt as if something blocked inside her had finally cleared.

In her hazy mind, she gazed at Ghislain.

The one who had allowed her to feel mana. At this moment, she was overwhelmingly grateful.

Ghislain also smiled, looking at her with satisfaction.

'It went as planned. Still, things almost took a terrible turn.'

Multi-casting as soon as she sensed mana—this was an outcome beyond expectations.

Seeing Ghislain in high spirits, Vanessa cautiously asked.

"Why… did you go to such lengths for someone you've just met?"

"Well, because I need your strength. You'll help, right?"

"Will I… be of any help to you, Young Lord?"

Ghislain responded with a chuckle, as if he had heard something amusing.

"Of course, you'll be a huge help. Now that you can feel mana, I'll teach you the mana cultivation technique. There's one that's perfect for you."

Looking at Ghislain's playful face, Vanessa couldn't help but shed a tear.

Though she had been fortunate enough to find a good teacher and enter the Magic Tower, touted as the best in the northern region, reality had been cruel.

With mediocre talent, scorn from those around her, and a reality that wouldn't change despite all her efforts, things had only worsened after her teacher's death.

She had fallen to the level of a maid, enduring hardship without recognition from anyone.

Even the other maids ostracized and bullied her just for having been a mage's disciple.

In the Magic Tower, she was an outsider, neither mage nor maid.

For her, who belonged nowhere, an unbelievable miracle had just occurred.

Vanessa quietly murmured.

"…I want to."

"Hm? What did you say?"

She truly wanted to be of help to him.

"I…"

The young lord before her had freed her from all the shackles that had bound her with an unknown force.

She wanted to repay him.

Vanessa gathered a bit more courage and spoke up.

"I want to be of help to you, Young Lord."

"Don't worry about it. I'm good at putting people to use, so be prepared."

Ghislain laughed heartily. Vanessa also smiled.

Lowering himself, Ghislain crouched down and met her gaze.

"Welcome to the Ghislain Mercenary Corps, Vanessa."

Vanessa began to formally train in the mana cultivation technique under Ghislain's guidance.

He had modified the Perdium family's mana cultivation technique into a safe version that only gathered mana, and taught it to her.

If the Count Perdium and his vassals found out, they'd likely faint.

It was an unspoken taboo among nobles to alter their family's techniques or teach them to outsiders.

But Ghislain paid no heed to such things.

"If only you could use the cultivation technique I've been practicing, it would be faster."

The cultivation technique Ghislain used was tailored specifically to his body, so it couldn't be passed on to others.

Even he struggled to control the flow, so if anyone else tried it, their body would likely explode.

"A war will break out soon. At that time, your magic will be essential."

He explained the upcoming situation to Vanessa.

When a sudden event strikes, people often panic and lose their chance to react.

It was important to be mentally prepared so they could handle things properly when the time came.

"I… I can't even use magic properly yet."

"That's fine. You've mastered the spells up to the 5th-circle, haven't you?"

"B-but I lack mana…"

Vanessa had only accumulated a small amount of mana.

No matter how talented she was, time was an unavoidable factor.

With the mana she had gathered so far, she could only cast very simple spells.

With a snap of her fingers, a small, fist-sized ball of light floated above her palm.

The 1st-circle spell, Light. For now, that was her limit.

Looking distressed, Vanessa glanced at Ghislain.

How could she possibly be of any use in a war with only this?

"What should I do? This won't be very helpful…"

"You're short on mana, so there's no way around it. I'll handle it; just keep training."

Vanessa nodded, still anxious.

"When will the war start?"

"Perhaps in a month? At the latest, two months."

It had already been a month and a half since they left the Forest of Demonic Beasts.

Their enemies had likely heard by now and were beginning their war preparations.

Ghislain hadn't been idle either.

For a month, he had gathered mercenaries with the funds from selling Rune Stones.

Then, for the past fifteen days, he had been teaching Vanessa the mana cultivation technique.

While it had taken some time, it was essential preparation for winning the war.

Once Vanessa reached the stage where she could gather mana on her own, Ghislain reduced the time he spent with her and started attending to his backlog of duties.

"Gillian, how's the mercenary training going?"

"No issues. They're now as good as any typical estate's soldiers."

Gillian responded with a satisfied expression.

Rather than focusing on individual strength, the mercenaries were trained to operate as a cohesive unit.

Since they were already skilled fighters, results appeared quickly.

After a brief pause, Ghislain gave an order to Gillian.

"Let's take them into the Forest of Demonic Beasts now."

Ghislain led three hundred mercenaries back into the forest.

Although he had destroyed all the monster habitats when he first cleared the path, new monsters naturally filled the empty space.

They needed to regularly sweep the area to prevent any from settling in.

"This time, it'll be easier than the first, so don't worry."

The mercenaries who had been in the forest before laughed comfortably.

The newly recruited ones, however, followed behind with tense faces.

Having already secured blood and flesh from the Blood Python, it would be safer as long as they stayed on the path.

With the increased manpower, Ghislain and the mercenaries quickly eliminated the wandering monsters and gathered a new supply of Rune Stones.

Counting the remaining Rune Stones, Ghislain let out a deep sigh.

"I'll have to be more careful with these going forward."

Rune Stones were not an endless resource. Although there were still many, two large harvests had noticeably reduced their supply.

Leaving Gillian and Kaor in charge of the mercenaries, Ghislain returned to the castle.

"Alright, now it's time for some of my own training."

The stronger he became, the more lives he could save.

As he headed for the training ground, a group of vassals gathered around him.

Hearing that he had brought more Rune Stones, they eagerly crowded him.

"Young Lord! Please give us some Rune Stones!"

"We have a use for them."

"Just give us some! Hand them over!"

The vassals were persistent. Ghislain reluctantly handed out a small amount of Rune Stones.

Since he had a specific plan for this batch, he couldn't simply give them away.

While the vassals protested, claiming it wasn't enough, Ghislain snorted and sent them away.

He then devoted himself to training for a while.

Physical conditioning, weapon skills like swordsmanship, and mana cultivation rounded out his daily training.

"It's a pity I only have one body."

When his training ended, he would check on the progress of the road and palisades being built in the forest.

With the added responsibility of overseeing Vanessa's training, there wasn't a moment to waste.

A lingering issue weighed on his mind, but with so much on his plate, he hadn't found time to investigate it thoroughly.

"It's hard to figure out why this happened."

Since the battle with the Blood Python, his recovery rate had subtly improved.

With better recovery, his rest time had decreased, giving him more time to handle other matters.

This change was beneficial in their current situation, but the unknown cause made him uneasy.

Power he didn't understand or control wasn't true power.

"Could it be related to that?"

He could think of only one potential cause.

Ghislain sighed and shook his head.

There was one way to confirm his suspicion, but it would require risking his life.

With the war's timing uncertain, he couldn't afford to take such a risk.

"I'll investigate once the war is over."

For now, he had to focus on the basics.

While Ghislain concentrated on his personal training, the mercenaries continued their team drills.

Whenever Ghislain had a free moment, he'd check in with Gillian on their progress.

The newly recruited mercenaries were highly satisfied with their current situation.

Their duties consisted of training, occasionally dealing with forest monsters, and guarding laborers working on the road.

The laborers handled the task of clearing paths for carts and building palisades along the road.

With the Blood Python's blood sprinkled around and Ghislain's sweep having cleared the monsters, the mercenaries had little active work.

"Wow, this is way easier than I expected. All we have to do is train and fight the occasional monster."

"And the Forest of Demonic Beasts isn't as dangerous as they say. They say it was rough to clear the path, but… who knows?"

"And we're getting war wages along with top-notch equipment. Hahaha!"

With high wages and expensive gear provided, the mercenaries' morale was exceptionally high.

Still, not all of them were fully loyal to Ghislain.

The time they'd spent together was too brief for strong bonds to form, and Ghislain hadn't performed any noteworthy feats to earn their respect.

Yet, they couldn't openly disregard him either.

The loyal mercenaries already under Ghislain's command maintained control over the newcomers.

From the start, Ghislain had planned to manage the new recruits through his trusted mercenaries.

With both money and power at play, the rowdy mercenaries were kept in check without any issues.

"But they really train us hard. Have they heard about an invasion or something?"

"Don't be silly. Wars don't happen that easily. A territorial dispute takes at least a year to prepare for."

"Our young captain has no war experience, so maybe he thinks anyone can just attack at whim."

"Rumor has it that many lords would be interested if they heard about these Rune Stones."

"But could we hold our own if there was an invasion? This estate isn't that strong, right?"

"We're fine for now. When the rumors spread and the lords start eyeing us, we'll just make ourselves scarce."

Before contracting with Ghislain, the mercenaries had assessed the time it would take for news to spread and for other lords to prepare for a conflict.

They figured they'd have plenty of time before any serious threats arose.

Though not entirely worry-free, they were satisfied with the relatively easy life here in the countryside.

"Man, this is life. I wish all our jobs were this relaxed."

"It's nice, but there's not much to do here."

"Yeah, it's pretty boring in the countryside. Let's play a game."

The mercenaries were relaxing as usual when suddenly, one of them came running frantically.

"B-big news! There's big trouble! It's a huge disaster!"

The mercenaries who had been preparing for a game looked at the runner with disinterest.

In this estate, "big trouble" usually didn't mean much.

Maybe a laborer got hurt during construction, someone got a beating from Kaor, or someone slacked off in training and got chewed out by Gillian.

"What is it? Someone got hurt?"

"Did someone mess with that wild dog and get beaten up?"

"Or is the old man calling us for more training?"

The mercenaries laughed.

But after hearing what the runner had to say, they couldn't laugh anymore.

"It's war! An actual war has broken out!"

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