My Disciples Think I’m Strong

“Hmm…”
Should I call it game-like plausibility?
Witnessing the bizarre scene of the children, who had been terrified just moments ago, indiscriminately slaughtering the wolf monsters, it felt like I was playing a game.

The wolf monsters fell in an instant.
Not a single one remained standing where the girls were.

“What exactly are those children?”

Dex rushed over, flustered, and asked. Seeing his desperation to obtain profitable information, there was only one thing to say.

“You know nothing.”

I entered the carriage and retrieved a towel and water.
Since Maria had only used magic from a distance, she wasn’t covered in blood, but Tina and Iris were soaked in the wolves’ blood.

I approached them.
I first handed the Purification Stone to Iris.

“This will remove the mana. Hold on to it. Once the mana is sufficiently purged, pass it to Tina.”
“Ah, yes!”

Iris gripped the Purification Stone with both hands.
I dampened the towel with water and gently wiped the blood from her face, being careful not to irritate her skin as I cleaned the stains.

“Iris.”
“Yes, yes!”
“You worked hard.”
“!”

Iris stared at me with wide eyes, as if she hadn’t expected to hear such words from me.

“Did I… prove my worth?”

Her question was filled with expectation. Her tail swished back and forth.

“Yes, you did.”
“Hehehe.”

She beamed at my response. Seeing her smile, free of worry for the first time, I couldn’t help but gaze at her in a daze.

“Aah~ Tina too!”

Tina suddenly appeared and grabbed my arm, her strength easily pulling my limp arm.

“Don’t just do it for Iris! Don’t discriminate. You said you’d keep me full!”
“This isn’t about keeping you full.”
“Just do it for me too, then.”

Seeing Tina’s more serious mess compared to Iris, I let out a wry laugh.
I reluctantly used the clean part of the towel to wipe her face.
As I did so, I noticed Iris looked a bit disappointed.

“…In any case, I can’t clean all of you. There’s a stream at the edge of the forest. Go wash up there.”

I finished wiping their faces and spoke.

“Yes.”
“Understood.”

I glanced at Maria, who stood apart with a fresh expression.

“Then let me sheathe the sword first—”
“Hand the sword over.”

I was about to sheathe it without even wiping the blood.

Iris and Tina exchanged looks before obediently handing the sword to me. I proceeded to wipe the blood-stained blade with the towel.

[It had been a long time since I felt the sensation of slaughter, my friend.]

Surely he didn’t say that in front of Tina?
If his words caused Tina’s mentality to become distorted, I would truly file a claim for damages against him.

“That’s not something an adult should say in front of a child.”
[Don’t worry. Only you can hear my voice when in contact with my sword.]

Come to think of it, I had heard Pasma’s voice in the abandoned village without using any skills.
At the time, I had been too flustered to dwell on it, but it was indeed peculiar.

[I cannot possess you without using the skill. And if I cannot possess you, there’s no way for you to hear my voice. But you, my friend, are different. You can hear me even without using the skill.]

Was there some unknown setting involved?
No, that couldn’t be.

As someone whose control over the game had been absolute shit, I had meticulously observed every episode to clear it as smoothly as possible.
If there were unknown variables, the only explanation would be that this character I was currently possessing possessed some unknowable power.

“How strange.”
[My guess is that perhaps our mana wavelengths are in sync.]
“Mana wavelengths?”
[Do you remember when my deceased self entered your body and freely wielded the Aura Sword at will?]
“I do.”
[At that time, I felt the same mana flowing through me as when I was alive. Yes, it was as if we had become one body. It felt like reincarnation.]

In other words, the ‘Unwavering Vengeance’ weapon suited me better than Tina.
No, why would the protagonist’s weapon suit me better…?

[I lent my weapon to the black-haired girl who awakened this time, but wouldn’t it be better for you to use it instead? After all, you’ll have to let me possess you whenever I wish to converse with Eri, and you’re the only one who can understand that circumstance.]
“Even so, maintaining the Revenant state is a significant burden for me. I can’t do it multiple times a day—”
“By the way, Praus, who were you talking to just now?”

Lowering my head at Tina’s question, I saw the two of them staring intently at me.
My apparent mumbling to myself must have seemed strange.

Of course, since Pasma’s voice couldn’t be heard by others, their reaction was only natural.

“…How long are you going to keep staring? Hurry up and go wash, then come back.”
“Yes, yes!”

At my words, Iris and Tina hurriedly headed towards the carriage.

“Maria, go with them and provide light, so they don’t get lost.”

As an All-Attribute Master capable of mastering the four elements representing all attributes, she could undoubtedly utilize derived attributes like light and darkness as well.

“Aren’t you going to wipe my face too?”

As the other two made their way to the carriage, she approached me slyly.

“Why would I wipe someone who isn’t even covered in blood?”
“I sweated.”

She didn’t look the least bit sweaty, to be honest?
If anything, she appeared remarkably refreshed for someone who had been traveling for a week.

“Wipe your own sweat.”

At my words, she puffed out her cheeks in displeasure.

“I’m your disciple, Lord Praus. No, Master!”

Who made her my disciple?

“Don’t call me Master. I have no intention of taking a disciple like you.”

A master-disciple relationship would be meaningless once the disciple surpassed the master.
Since I possessed no swordsmanship skills nor the ability to wield mana and use magic, having her as my disciple would only be inconvenient.

“Just go join the others.”
“I won’t go until you accept me as your disciple.”

The formerly enslaved girl had become quite bold.
I let out a sigh.

“There’s nothing for you to learn from me. Now that you’ve become one with mana, you simply need to freely manifest magic and familiarize yourself with the elements. You’ll grow on your own.”
“…I see. I knew you were intentionally playing dumb, but this must have been your first lesson.”

…Was it, now?

“You could have been more honest, though!”
“What are you talking about—”
“Anyway! You meant not to rely too much on your master, right? I’ll have to become independent someday. It won’t do to be too reliant. I understand, Master! I’ll work hard!”

What was she interpreting from my words?
I could only stare in bewilderment as Maria arbitrarily interpreted my words and became fired up with determination.

“Anyway, I’ll go catch up with the others. I’ll come back for your next advice. Thank you for accepting me as your disciple!”

After unilaterally concluding our conversation, Maria headed towards the carriage where Tina and Iris were with a light step.

She really did things her own way, didn’t she?
I felt like I had just swallowed hundreds of baked sweet potatoes.

[That one is quite the woman. You’ve been thoroughly led around.]
“Not listening and being led around are different matters.”

At this point, I felt conversing with a wall would be more productive.
Just the thought of living with such a child from now on gave me a headache.

After removing all the grime from the sword, I sheathed it.
Then I looked around. I pondered how to deal with Dex, who was still eavesdropping like a sparrow.

“…Dex.”
“Yes, Lord Praus!”
“Get lost.”
“Aw, come on. I want to become Lord Praus’s disciple too. If I become a disciple, will I suddenly become strong like them?”
“No.”

In the game, Dex’s abilities remained the same from start to finish. Even when he formed a party and went on adventures, he never gained experience.

This was likely because he was an NPC with fixed abilities.

If an NPC’s ability scores continued increasing over time like a player’s, that game would become impossible to clear.

“…What are you going on about when you’ve already reached your limit?”
“!”

Dex’s usually carefree smile froze on his face.

“Oh? Can you really discern the extent of a person’s talent?”

Aerial approached and asked.

“No. It’s just a feeling I get.”

The only reason I could assess their abilities was because I had played the game and possessed that game’s information.
If I hadn’t died dozens of times and learned from experience, it wasn’t something I would have paid attention to.

“Hmm… If you’re going to hide it, I have nothing more to say.”

She shrugged her shoulders. Dex looked utterly shocked.
He must have despaired at the realization that he could no longer grow stronger.

Perhaps even before asking me, he had sensed he could no longer improve.
The leader of a guild wouldn’t half-ass their training, after all.

“I’ll be back after visiting the carriage.”

Fortunately, the shaken Dex didn’t follow. Instead, Aerial clung to me like a leech.

“…So you really can see the future?”
“What brought this on all of a sudden?”
“From what others have told me, your responses are astonishingly precise. You predict… no, you’re certain about events that will occur in the future.”

Aerial’s gaze sharpened.
As a Spirit King who had lived for centuries, her senses must have become keen through her vast experiences.

“Just what exactly are you? How did you know those children were ‘heroes’?”
“I have no obligation to tell you that.”
“Then let me rephrase the question – what do you intend to do with those children, the heroes? If you plan to exploit them, I will have to kill you right here and now.”

Her chilling tone made my body tremble.
The flow of the air seemed to change.
An unknowable pressure weighed down on me. If I relaxed, I felt like I might immediately drop to my knees.

“Hey, Pasma, could you do something about your girlfriend?”
[…You’ve used that expression before. What is this ‘girlfriend’ you speak of?]
“It’s an abbreviation for ‘female friend’… No, it means lover. It refers to the woman you’re romantically involved with.”

This guy was acting so nonchalant despite my life being in danger.

[Oh, so there’s a way to address one’s partner like that! I learned something new today!]

Well, of course the term ‘girlfriend’ only existed in our world. But shouldn’t you be telling me how to calm Aerial down at this point?

“Are you conversing with Pasma right now?”
“Yes.”
“Without possessing him?”
“For some reason, merely being in contact with Pasma’s sword allows me to hear his voice in my head.”
“…I’m jealous! Let me hold that sword!”

Aerial snapped her fingers. The sword I held sliced through the air and landed in her grasp.

“Pasma. Pasma? I can’t hear him. Are you deceiving a Spirit King?”

‘You’re the one jumping to conclusions.’
“You’re insane.”

My mouth sure knew how to make daring remarks, but couldn’t it be a bit more tactful? I wanted to live a long life, you know.

“Ah, I wish I could hear him too.”

Aerial sighed and snapped her fingers. The sword returned to its sheath.

“So, Praus, what is your reason for gathering the heroes?”

The conversation had returned to a serious tone. However, thanks to the intermission about Pasma, the pressure felt somewhat alleviated.
After glancing at Aerial, I climbed onto the carriage.

“…To stay alive.”
“What?”
[What?]

Was my answer so unexpected?
Aerial and Pasma simultaneously let out bewildered exclamations.

“The Empire will soon be invaded by the demons, suffering the worst casualties. I gathered the heroes solely to preserve my own life.”
“So you mean to use the heroes for your personal protection?”
“No. I have no such intention. Once they grow stronger and reach an appropriate age, I plan to let them go independent. That’s as far as I intend to go.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“…You truly are an unfathomable human.”

Aerial let out a mocking laugh.
As if I were someone extraordinary.
Even now, I had no way to control them. Yet she seemed to think I could exploit them for life?

Moreover, while Tina might not harbor any resentment towards humans, Iris and Maria certainly did.
My role was simply to raise them to a certain point before departing.

If anything, as someone who couldn’t even qualify as a proper extra, it would be no surprise if they demanded I prostrate myself three times a day facing their homes after everything I had done for them.

[But if the girl named Tina who wields my sword becomes independent, won’t it become difficult for me to converse with Eri?]
“I suppose so.”

I nodded in agreement. Pasma then pondered for a moment before making a proposal.

[In that case, wouldn’t it be better for you to use my sword instead?]
“This sword? But…”
[I’ll speak to Eri. To provide that girl with a new weapon.]
“If you say that, what, she’ll give you a ‘Spirit King’s Sword’ or something?”

“Here, take it.”

This was actually happening?

“???”

I raised countless question marks over my head as I looked at the green-bladed sword she had used to block the Mirage Waltz.

[The “Wind Blade – Aura” has been equipped.]
[You can use wind-based magic up to the 8th tier.]
[It has no durability. An indestructible item.]

Why was she giving me a sword that should only be obtainable after completing the “Great Spirit War” event?

The Spirit King’s Sword was undoubtedly an artifact that could only be acquired after clearing all the trials set by the Spirit King. Handing it over so abruptly caused my mind to short-circuit.

“While Pasma did mention it, if it’s a weapon for the Sword Saint to use, you can take it. Oh, that’s right. Why don’t I summon the other Spirit Kings and have them fork over some weapons too?”

…What was this development?
I was utterly baffled by this incomprehensible progression.