Chapter 229

Roenn smiled faintly while watching Raon get into position.

'It should be difficult for him since it's his first time.'

Even though the martial art of sound was a branch of martial arts, the way one had to activate and control aura was significantly different from swordsmanship. Even though Raon was a talented swordsman at Master level, it was still impossible for him to imitate him after watching the demonstration once.

'But I like how confident he is.'

Probably because he was still young, or had piled up a lot of accomplishments, Raon's eyes seemed fully confident that he could do it on his first attempt. Roenn nodded pleasantly, since he liked the youth and confidence Raon had.

'He must be starting now.'

Raon's eyes suggested that he was about to start. He removed his defense and focused his hearing in order to give him advice.

Creak!

The silver blade scratched the edge of his scabbard and soared. The dissonant sound of friction vibrated the air, and a clear sword resonance burst out like a ferocious roar.

Whir!

The heated aura dashed through that sound, creating a powerful vibration in Roenn's ears. That perfectly clear sound cleared his head as if he had covered himself with cold water.

"Huh!"

Roenn nervously gulped.

'How is this happening…?'

He was so confused that he couldn't even think straight. The only thing he knew was that Raon had managed to incorporate aura into sound on his first attempt, which was completely insane.

'I'm going crazy.'

He thought he had recognized that Raon was a genius, but it must've been a serious mistake. Raon was a monster far beyond his imagination.

'The process of producing sounds and the way he incorporated aura in them were both perfect.'

Raon had created the sounds by using the friction during the draw and the sword resonance after drawing the sword, and he even managed to incorporate aura into those sounds. It was an unbelievable achievement for his first time.

'I would've been in danger if he managed to use that sound as an attack.'

Raon couldn't use his sound and aura for offense. It looked like he was just focusing on incorporating aura into sound, although that was already surprising enough to make his strength leave his legs.

"Hmm..."

Roenn narrowed his eyes while looking at Raon's slightly frowning face.

'Is he thinking about the reason for his failure?'

Raon looked like he was wondering why he didn't manage to use his sound as an attack.

'It's obvious.'

Since he had never seen anyone attacking with sound, it would've been strange if he'd managed to do that. His desire for progress, which was making him think about the next step right after achieving something outrageous like that, was truly surprising.

'I'm sure he can manage on his own.'

Raon had the qualities of a founder, who could create martial arts on his own. He would be able to figure out how to attack with the sound on his own, but Roenn wanted to speed up the process for him and create an opportunity for him to produce an even better technique.

Roenn's smile looked like he'd made a decision as he watched Raon tilting his head.

* * *

"Hmm."

Raon licked his lips while looking at Heavenly Drive.

'It's a shame.'

Although he'd sent the sword resonance to Roenn with the intention of attacking him, his will wasn't transferred into the sound. The result was nothing more than a large explosive sound that was incorporated with aura.

'It's a lot more difficult than using a sword.'

Unlike swordsmanship, which used a solid medium, it was really difficult to incorporate aura into sound that was transmitting at an extreme speed. Thinking about further including his will to attack was giving him a headache.

'But it's not impossible.'

Since he'd successfully incorporated aura into sound on his first try, he figured he would be able to attack the vestibular organs in his opponent's ears if he kept trying for some time.

'I could use the principles I have to create this...'

He could estimate that he would be able to create a technique that could incorporate anything he wanted into sound if he mixed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, Ring of Fire, and the principles from the other martial arts he'd learned so far.

"Vice-squad leader."

As Raon decided on his objective and was about to start working towards it, Roenn came towards him. His visibly wavering eyes were showing his agitation.

"That was amazing. I honestly didn't expect you to succeed on your first attempt."

"It wasn't even a complete success."

"You must be talking about the intention to attack."

"Yes. This is as difficult as when I first learned the heavy sword."

Raon nodded. Although he wasn't looking down on the martial art of sound, he felt like he would need a lot more time and effort in order to master it.

"It's not difficult to incorporate aura into sound. You are going to need a principle to make into the medium, since it doesn't use any sort of material. Lady Yua, you should come over here as well."

Roenn called for Yua, who was standing blankly to the side, to make her stand next to him.

"Since I was planning to teach Lady Yua anyway, now seems to be a good time to do this."

He raised his finger and smiled gently.

"I'm going to teach you a martial art of sound called the Sound Fragrance Art. You should be able to spread sound as naturally as a fragrance once you master it."

"A-Are you teaching this to me, as well?"

Raon's eyes widened. He could understand why Roenn would teach the technique to Yua, since he considered her his disciple, but he never thought Roenn would also teach him.

"Of course."

"Why…?"

Even though they were from the same house, it was extremely rare for anyone to teach their personal martial arts to anyone other than their disciples and families. Moreover, since Roenn had been living as an assassin, he didn't think he would teach his technique so easily.

"Hmm, it's difficult for me to answer that question. I can't really reveal all of my thoughts, after all."

Roenn scratched his chin and smiled.

"But if I were to be a bit honest, Sir Raon is interesting to watch and help."

"What?"

His lips unconsciously parted because of his unexpected answer.

"When you didn't manage to incorporate your will into the sound earlier, you were thinking about what the problem was and how you could fix it, weren't you?"

"I was."

Raon nodded. Roenn was right. He had been wondering why he had failed to incorporate his will into the sound.

"Most people would've asked a question before thinking about it by themselves. It's extremely rare for anyone to seek the answer by themselves in that situation. That's why I wanted to help you."

Roenn's expression was totally composed. The wavering that he'd shown a moment ago was completely gone.

"I-Is it okay if I'm also here to listen, Sir Roenn?"

"Of course. I was planning to teach Lady Yua about it soon, anyway."

Since Yua had learned an aura cultivation technique from Roenn, he must've been planning to teach both of them at the same time.

"I wish for you to create sounds of your own by improving the Sound Fragrance Art even further."

Roenn smiled, then told them the principles of the Sound Fragrance Art.

"Huff!"

Yulius exhaled roughly while looking at the three people having a nice time together.

"Did you forget about me by any chance…?"

* * *

When it was almost time for lunch, Runaan left her room and went to House Sullion's training grounds.

"Oh, Runaan!"

Rokan Sullion had been watching the swordsmen practice in the training ground, and hurriedly came running at Runaan as soon as he saw her.

"Are you already going to practice when you only just returned yesterday? It's okay to rest for today."

Since Rokan was planning to quickly finish practice in order to enjoy a snack with Runaan, he stood in her way with a troubled expression on his face.

"No."

Runaan simply shook her head. Her eyes were blank, but a strong determination was glowing from inside.

"I even prepared ice cream, though."

"Ugh…"

A small crack appeared in Runaan's determined expression from hearing the phrase 'ice cream'.

"I-It's still not okay. I'm going to save the ice cream for later."

After a moment of hesitation, Runaan covered her ears and turned around.

"Huh, she even refused the ice cream…"

Rokan gasped. The fact that Runaan refused the ice cream meant that it was an emergency. There must've been a serious problem.

"Wh-What happened? Did you get hurt or something?"

"I didn't get hurt."

"Then why?"

"I need to get stronger."

Runaan tightened her lips while grasping Snow Flower's hilt around her waist.

"Hmm…"

Rokan bit his lip. He could understand why Runaan even refused the ice cream in order to practice.

'It must be because of that damn Raon.'

Runaan must've been trying to catch up to Raon's astonishing growth.

"Runaan, it's honestly difficult to catch up to that Raon bastard, I mean, Raon. You should leave a monster like him alone, and walk your own path where you stand…"

"What are you talking about?"

Runaan tilted her head.

"W-Weren't you going so far as refusing a snack in order to practice to catch up to Raon?"

"No."

"Then why…?"

Rokan's mouth widened because of her unexpected answer.

"I'm going to protect Dad, Mom, and the other people."

Runaan calmly announced that she wanted to protect everyone in the house.

"P-Protect?"

"Yes. I'm going to protect everyone, so that he will never be able to lay his hands on them."

She nodded with her hands gathered together.

"Huff!"

Rokan fell on his knees while grasping his chest. His heart would've popped out if he didn't do that.

"Kuh, she's back! My kindhearted daughter is back!"

He was so excited that he felt like he could fly, since his daughter was paying attention to her family once again instead of Raon.

"Raon! You bastard! In the end, our daughter chose me instead of yo…"

"Why do you keep mentioning the damn handsome Raon?"

"Huh? D-Damn handsome?"

"That's how he is described. Similarly, you can also say 'freaking handsome'."

Runaan casually explained the expressions 'damn handsome' and 'freaking handsome'. Encia's teaching by rote was super effective.

"So, you are telling me that Raon…"

"Yes. Raon is freaking handsome and damn handsome."

"Well, that's…"

Rokan bit his lip. He wanted to deny that, but he couldn't say anything. When he saw Raon last time, he could only describe him as handsome even from a man's perspective.

'No! It doesn't matter!'

It didn't matter whether Raon was handsome or not. The return of his daughter's attention was already good enough.

"Runaan, why did you suddenly decide to protect your family?"

Rokan asked her a new question in order to return Runaan's attention to himself. However, he shouldn't have asked that question.

"The damn handsome Raon said it. He said I have to protect my family with my own hands. I'm definitely going to protect Mom and Dad."

Runaan gave him a big nod, then went to a corner of the training grounds to swing her sword.

"Uh…"

Rokan's jaw dropped as he watched her walk away.

"Wh-Which means… Her attention didn't actually return to me…"

She only said that because of that damn Raon bastard, right?

He was happy because her attention had returned. He'd figured that she finally got tired of Raon, but that wasn't the case. Runaan had actually become a complete believer of Raon's words.

"God daaaamn it!"

Rokan shouted towards the sky.

"I'm going to kill myself."

He grasped the sword's hilt with a vacant expression on his face, as if he had given up on everything.

"I just want to die!"

"Uaaah!"

"Stop him!"

"Grab him!"

House Sullion's swordsmen, who had been watching the situation, quickly ran up to him and grabbed his four limbs.

"Let me go! I can't live like this! How could a punk like him influence my cute and lovely Runaan?!"

The swordsmen got swept away by Rokan's enraged movements.

"Th-The mistress! Call the mistress!"

"Yes!"

Since only one person was capable of stopping him, the swordsman closest to the mansion started to run towards the mansion swiftly.

"Damn handsome."

Runaan kept swinging her sword while murmuring the words she'd learned from Encia, not caring about what was happening around her.

One week had passed since Raon learned the Sound Fragrance Art.

The principles of the Sound Fragrance Art became the line connecting aura and sound to their killing potential, and he became capable of stopping a low-rank swordsman's movements with a single footstep.

Raon prepared to draw his sword and controlled the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's energy. He raised the wrist of the hand that was grabbing the hilt slightly, drawing Heavenly Drive.

Whir!

Friction appeared between the blade and the scabbard, and the thunderous sound of sword resonance spread out at the same time.

Bam!

The soundwave spreading out in an instant created a huge wave in the lake in front of him. A deep cavity appeared at the center of the lake, as if a magic explosion had occurred, before spouting the blue stream of water up like a fountain.

"Hmm…"

Raon narrowed his eyes while watching the water drops falling down like rain.

'It's not enough.'

He got somewhat used to incorporating aura and killing power into sound through the Sound Fragrance Art, but he wasn't getting much progress beyond that.

Haa, it's enough! What do you even mean, 'it's not enough'?

Wrath popped out while covering his ears because Raon was too noisy.

I haven't been able to sleep for a whole week because of you. Please, stop it already!

'I'm sorry.'

Raon inclined his head towards Wrath. Even though Wrath was just a tenant, Raon immediately apologized since it was the minimum courtesy to be had.

The King of Essence can tell that your current technique is on the same line as that old man's demonstration. Since your lack of proficiency should be resolved over time, please stop and sleep already!

'Ah! I see.'

Raon clapped his hands and grabbed the hilt once again.

Nooooo! You just said. 'I see'! Why are you holding your sword?

'I understood what I was lacking.'

You are a demon!

Raon drew Heavenly Drive while ignoring Wrath's scream. The sound created from friction advanced to slash the lake diagonally with the aura's support.

'I did it!'

He'd made the sound and aura even faster by mixing the principles of swift sword into the principles of the Sound Fragrance Art.

Raon unconsciously smiled, since it was his first success at incorporating a swordsmanship's principles into sound.

What the hell?!

Wrath also realized that fact and his jaw dropped.

H-How did you do that so quickly…?

'You gave me a hint.'

Huh?

'It's a difference in proficiency. Since I'm more proficient with a sword than the Sound Fragrance Art, I focused more on swordsmanship than sound.'

He'd increased the speed of sound and aura by drawing the mental image of shooting an extremely fast sword aura. The success was all thanks to Wrath's hint about proficiency and his mention of how mental image could solve all problems.

"Thank you."

Raon waved his hand at Wrath with a grin on his face.

Ah, it was the King of Essence… The King of Essence's mouth did it…

Wrath smacked his own mouth and sank to the ground.

'Next up.'

Since he managed to incorporate the principles of swiftness into sound, he wanted to try heaviness next. He grabbed his hilt once again with that goal in mind.

"Young master."

Judiel's voice could be heard from behind him when he was about to draw his sword.

"I brought some snacks."

She said, placing a food tray on the table. However, there was a thin piece of paper placed under the cake's plate.

"Thank you."

Raon wiped his hand with a handkerchief before sitting at the table. He drank a cup of tea before opening the booklet placed underneath.

"The Gambling Monster was originally part of Zieghart's direct line and one of the elders, but his current affiliation is obscure."

Judiel's eyes became serious.

"Obscure?"

"Yes. I didn't know about it either, since it happened a long time ago, but he apparently gained freedom through some kind of negotiation with the head of house. Even though he currently has the Zieghart name, he doesn't exactly belong to Zieghart."

"That's why he was able to travel throughout the continent as he wished."

Raon nodded while turning the page. There were countless stories about his strange actions as he traveled throughout the continent with his excellent skills in gambling, drinking, and martial arts.

'And the Promise of Three is the best among them.'

The most famous story was the Promise of Three, and it was a promise that the Gambling Monster would grant any wish of the person who gained his acknowledgment in terms of gambling, drinking, and martial arts.

Countless people challenged it, yet no one had ever succeeded, and the Gambling Monster was still looking for victims to make fun of.

"I didn't know there was such a strange person in Zieghart."

He couldn't understand at all why he returned to the house after going through all the trouble to leave. The booklet didn't mention anything about it, either.

"That is still unknown, since the Gambling Monster doesn't tend to reveal his personal stories. He usually likes to travel around, but he's currently staying for a relatively long period of time here."

"I know the reason for that. Of course he would want to stay here with the doormat elf periodically offering money for free."

Raon chuckled. He would also want to stay here forever if the doormat elf came to give all of his money every time he got his salary—or, rather, every time he got any kind of money.

"Is the young master planning to achieve the Promise of Three with the Gambling Monster?"

"Yes. I need to take back the money because he took too much."

"Gambling is a problem, but the Gambling Monster is extremely good at drinking. To my knowledge, the young master has never even had a drink before. I'm sure he will realize it if you are planning to remove the alcohol with aura."

Judiel frowned in worry.

"Don't worry about that. I never get drunk."

Raon shook his hand. In fact, his confidence wasn't based on his high alcohol tolerance.

'I have the Ring of Fire.'

One of the Ring of Fire's effects kept his body and mind in peak condition. Since even Glenn was unable to discover about the Ring of Fire, there was no way the Gambling Monster would realize its effect.

'Drinking isn't a problem.'

The result was pretty much decided if he competed against the Gambling Monster, since while the Ring of Fire would keep cleansing his body, the intoxication would keep piling up little by little for the Gambling Monster.

The gambling was the same, since there was no way he would lose with the pushover—or rather, the demon king—next to him.

'The real problem is…'

The martial arts.

He needed to gain his recognition on the third bet, which was martial arts, in order to ask him to grant his wish.

'I'm far from being enough.'

Raon placed the teacup down and stood up. He had Wrath for gambling, and the Ring of Fire for drinking, but he didn't have anything for martial arts. All he could do was improve himself through training.

Raon returned to the lake and drew his sword. A thunderous noise burst from the silver blade to crush the center of the lake.

Judiel bowed at Raon, then silently stepped back to leave.

* * *

Three weeks later.

Raon was still standing in front of the lake. He was completely immobile as he looked down on the lake for a long time. He almost looked like he was appreciating the scenery.

He nodded and placed his hand on his sword's hilt. It looked like he had finally made up his mind. The moment his eyes glowed in a different color, his hand flowed like a cloud.

Shring.

The sword was drawn. Unlike the creepy sound of friction that previously took place, the smooth sound of cutting through tofu advanced alongside a refined sword resonance.

The sharp blade produced a clear sound into the world, but nothing changed. There were nothing more than small ripples on the lake, created by a gentle wind.

Raon's expression didn't change in the slightest as he returned Heavenly Drive to its scabbard. 

At that moment—

Baam!

A huge explosion occurred from the center of the lake, and the water spurted high enough to reach the clouds.

"I did it."

Raon tapped on his scabbard and smiled. He had just succeeded in using the principle of compression. It was a new special technique consisting of compressing the aura sound to create a huge explosion by using the sound compression method mentioned in the Sound Fragrance Art's application.

He managed to incorporate the swordsmanship's principle into the martial art of sound through his sleepless training for the past three weeks, and he got used to the new principle he'd learned. He unconsciously clenched his fist, as he felt like his efforts finally bore fruit.

I'm seriously bored to death.

Wrath emerged from the bracelet like smoke. His eyes were slightly bloodshot as he looked up.

Aren't you getting bored after repeating the same thing every day?

'I'm having fun though.'

There was no way he would be bored when he could feel his progress every day. He was just having so much fun.

Please move on now! Gambling, drinking, or whatever—just finish them quickly and offer some ice cream to the King of Essence!

'You don't need to tell me. I was planning to go anyway.'

Raon nodded. Even though he wouldn't be able to defeat the Gambling Monster, he was completely confident that he could gain his recognition. Raon took the outer garment he had hung on a chair and went towards the annex building.

But where did all the money that you've been raking in so far go? Don't you need that money to gamble against him?

Wrath curiously tilted his head.

'I have it in my wallet.'

Wallet? But you don't bring a wallet around with you.

'I called it, so it should be here soon enough.'

A-Are you telling me that a wallet is coming? What kind of madness…?

"Ah, over there."

Raon raised his finger and pointed towards the garden.

"Vice-squad leader!"

Dorian was running towards him while waving his hand. He'd gained some weight during the rest period.

"It's over there. He's my wallet."

Raon grinned, while looking at Dorian's belly pocket.

Huh…

Wrath shook his head at Raon as he casually called a human being his wallet.

Is he seriously human?

He definitely looked like he should be in Devildom instead…