## Chapter 251 – (2)
“Wow…”
“Isn’t that an amazing movement? Is it… like this?”
“Ahem! It’s like this! Like this…”
Before I knew it, all the knights who had been training gathered around to watch me and Ethan.
They seemed fascinated by the way I was teaching martial arts, so they stopped their exercises.
As if they had discovered a rare spectacle, they formed a circle around us and started talking.
The topic of conversation was, of course, the martial art I was teaching.
Among them, everyone was clumsily trying to imitate the footwork.
Wait a bit, I’ll teach Ethan, and if it seems good, I’ll teach all the knights.
“That’s a really amazing movement. It looks like he’s barely moving, but he’s suddenly far away.”
“I can’t really understand it even when I watch.”
“Ethan’s following along pretty well, though?”
“Yeah.”
I chuckled at that conversation.
“Following along pretty well, huh…”
I chuckled as I watched Ethan’s movements.
That wasn’t just “following along pretty well.”
To be honest, it was perfect.
The movements themselves were very clean.
It’s just that Ethan didn’t consider the difference in our physiques and copied me exactly, so it looked a little clumsy.
If he slowly corrected his posture, he would already be at a graduate level in footwork.
I was a little dumbfounded.
‘I was an ace at the Martial Arts Academy too.’
Even I, who was called a genius, took about a week to imitate the footwork.
As expected, the talent of a genuine protagonist was different.
Should I try to get on his good side now?
“Haa… haa… How is it? Is it okay?”
“Ahem… Passing grade.”
Ethan smiled brightly at my words and clenched both fists.
The other knights nodded at Ethan.
I was going to be a slightly strict teacher and not give him a passing grade.
But Ethan’s talent was too dazzling for that.
Just then, the door opened, and Commander Dana returned.
“Commander!”
“You’re back.”
“Huh? What are you all doing near Ethan and Sunghan?”
“Ah… ahem, everyone, return to training!”
The quick-witted knights quickly moved away, and Ethan and I just stared blankly at Dana.
Dana’s expression wasn’t good.
Only the two of us among the knights noticed that.
“Did something happen?”
At my question, Dana frowned as if troubled.
Then she slowly looked at me and Ethan.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Pardon?”
Suddenly?
What could she possibly be apologizing to us for?
She suddenly apologized, and then Dana let out a deep sigh.
I had no idea what was going on, so I looked at Ethan, and he looked back at me as if he was also curious.
“Let’s talk slowly.”
I spoke soothingly to Dana, and she moved slightly and told us the story of what happened after she was summoned.
The reason she was called this time was because of one VIP.
A woman named Eva, the Master of the Western Magic Tower.
“The Magic Tower Master, you say?”
“Yeah. That, the Magic Tower Master.”
Even if she said it as if it were obvious, I really didn’t know.
That’s because the Magic Tower itself didn’t appear in the original story.
But I could roughly guess what kind of existence it was.
Characters called Magic Tower Masters appeared in various novels and comics.
Usually, only wizards who were excessively absorbed in magic became Magic Tower Masters.
Maybe it’s just the works I’ve seen, but it seemed like they were often villains or eccentric characters.
Anyway, Eva, the Magic Tower Master, is one of the most important VIPs, as she is one of the world’s leading magicians and donates a large sum of money to the country every year.
To protect and treat that VIP, most of the knights’ commanders and the country’s magicians gathered for a banquet.
When the banquet started, praise for the Black Knights was rare among the commanders who were called to the castle.
Praise for the achievements we had made in the dungeon before.
Dana, who rarely heard praise for the Black Knights and was at a banquet, got excited due to the alcohol she had inevitably drunk.
This doting knight commander started praising me and Ethan to the skies.
Ethan’s growth rate and mental strength, my swordsmanship, the strange exercise method I spread to the knights, even my massage skills.
“…Even your massage skills…?”
“Well… it just came out while I was talking…”
Dana gave an awkward smile.
I wondered how much she had said, and a chill ran down my spine.
But even while drunk, she seemed to have restrained herself a little on that matter.
Still, it was enough to pique someone’s interest.
“Eva-nim was interested?”
“…Yeah.”
She usually doesn’t show much interest unless it’s a story related to magic.
But Dana blamed herself, saying that the word “massage” seemed to have piqued her interest because she was tired from the long carriage ride.
Even after hearing this, I still didn’t understand.
Is Eva’s interest something to apologize for?
Dana hesitated for a moment and then said.
“Actually… I refused Eva-nim’s visit here.”
“Pardon?”
“Eva-nim takes three promising talents every year in exchange for her donations. For Eva-nim to suddenly come to the Black Knights…”
I felt like I understood Dana’s thoughts a little.
“You’re worried she might take someone from the Black Knights…”
“…”
Dana nodded.
Usually, she takes magicians, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t take a knight this time.
In fact, Dana herself had experienced it.
She said that Eva kept trying to take her, who was a knight.
The statement that Eva might take a knight was an accurate judgment in some ways.
I don’t know about me, but the protagonist, Ethan, would definitely be taken if he was caught by that Magic Tower Master, Eva.
“I’m sorry… It might have been a great opportunity for you guys.”
“Hey. It’s okay. Right, Ethan?”
“Yes! I want to become a great knight!”
Of course, of course.
As long as Dana is in the Black Knights, Ethan will continue to try to become a knight.
Magic Tower Master, huh.
I was curious, but I didn’t particularly want to meet her.
It wasn’t really related to my quest, and the Magic Tower Master, who was deeply absorbed in magic, wasn’t my target.
A person needs to have human relationships.
What’s the point of being so absorbed in magic?
“Okay… Thank you.”
Dana said with a gentle smile, and Ethan, relieved by that expression, added a word.
“I, I like knights more than magicians.”
Hmm, is that a high-level flirt?
That’s when it happened.
‘Huh?’
I couldn’t see it, but I felt something next to Ethan.
Mind’s Eye.
Something was caught by the skill that allows me to see the world with senses other than my eyes.
I clearly couldn’t see anything, but there was someone next to Ethan right now.
It was like the flow was strange only in that area.
Something was…
As I continued to look at that spot, the presence subtly moved to the right.
At the same time, I heard a very small sound of dirt being kicked.
Sasak.
This time to the left.
Sasasak.
This time to the right.
“No way, you can see it?”
“Who’s there!”
A voice was heard from the empty space, and Commander Dana, reacting instantly, drew her sword towards the air.
Then, a woman with her hands slightly raised slowly walked out.
Commander Dana’s eyes widened when she saw the woman.
“E, Eva-nim? Why are you here?”
“This person is?”
Only then did I slowly examine the woman’s face.
Red hair and yellow eyes.
And a face that seemed to have some childishness left.
I thought the Magic Tower Master would be a little older.
Eva looked to be about my age at most.
Magic Tower Master? Not just a magician who goes to the Magic Tower?
The woman had a slightly sulky face.
“To think I’d be found out. My plan has been ruined.”
“Eva-nim! I clearly asked you not to come…!”
“I didn’t say I would, did I?”
“Kuh…”
Commander Dana bit her lip at Eva’s shameless attitude.
Well, that’s how the relationship between the powerful and the powerless is.
Eva then looked at Ethan and me with interest.
First, Ethan.
“This kid has a lot of mana.”
“…Pardon? Me?”
Ethan pointed to himself with his finger.
Ethan didn’t even know that he had mana.
Even if he suddenly heard from a big shot like the Magic Tower Master that he had a lot of mana, he didn’t understand and just blinked his eyes.
And then Eva’s gaze turned to me.
“You… no, hmm…? Is this mana?”
Eva pointed with her finger somewhere between my solar plexus and navel with a strange expression.
That’s why the magicians in fantasy…
It’s common sense that there’s internal energy in the dantian.
Thinking that, I looked at Eva with a brazen expression.
“So, how did you really figure it out? It’s a camouflage magic that even monsters with developed senses can’t notice.”
“…Maybe my senses are more developed.”
“Hmph! No way.”
But it’s true.
It was a simple story.
My senses were just more developed than those monsters with developed senses.
The harmony between my body, which surpassed a superhuman, and the skill Mind’s Eye was extraordinary.
To the point where I could feel what I couldn’t see.
I only told the truth, but Eva wasn’t going to accept this explanation.
“Hmm… Maybe he has a great mana sensitivity or detection ability… Since he has a strange mana, he might have a unique magic power…”
Eva started muttering.
I was a little suspicious because of her young appearance, but now she seemed more like a Magic Tower Master.
She was so absorbed in thinking about magic that she didn’t even see us around her.
She continued to talk to herself.
Then, a woman wearing a robe ran out with hurried steps from afar.
She looked at Eva as if she knew this would happen and sighed, then said.
“Haa, I’ll take over the story from now on.”
The elf, who introduced herself as the Magic Tower Master’s disciple, decided to continue the story in Eva’s place.
