Volume 6 Chapter 30 Compression
The family gathering was underway.
"..."
"Wade, won't you eat this too? It's delicious."
"Sieg... what's with you? Are you my brother or something?"
It was a fairly large guest room, with a long table laden with numerous dishes. And in the center, I sat, wearing a ridiculous-looking hat that made me feel like some kind of big shot.
Fist of the Dragon didn't care about my complaints, and just kept piling more and more food in front of me. And to top it off, he was eating twice as much as I was.
I looked at Brada, pleading for help. Brada just smiled and said,
"Sieg's just a bit of a busybody, that's all. Just go along with it."
"I'm a prisoner, right? Am I really a prisoner? Or maybe I'm the new general who just got promoted to the Four Heavenly Kings?"
"If Wade's going to be the new general, then this welcome party is pretty pathetic."
"Liar...?"
At this point, things were already getting pretty wild. Several high-ranking officers below the Four Heavenly Kings were mingling and eating, and 'Phantom Beast Army' Misty was sitting in the corner, crying and stuffing her face.
And to make matters worse, I was now calling Sieg by his name, thanks to his relentless pressure. What's with that? Are we friends now or something?
I had no choice but to take a bite of the food. Ah, it was seriously delicious. Wait, is this a battlefield or something? I was starting to lose confidence.
"By the way, Sieg made all this food in just one hour."
"Sieg, can you do anything? Are you a superhero or something?"
"Some people call me a living god."
"Superhuman and beyond god, huh? Then I guess it's okay to do whatever you want."
I raised both hands in surrender. Sieg handed me a piece of bread and a glass of wine. What's with that?
"Brada... help me out. I can't keep up with Sieg's natural airheadedness."
"Give up. When Reiji and Romant get together with him, they're even worse, so this is still better."
"Is that so...?"
But I could imagine it. 'Wrath' Reiji and 'Narcissistic Bard' Roman were pretty weird when I thought about it. Maybe Sieg's wavelength would match theirs too.
I had no choice but to take a bite of the bread and wash it down with wine.
"You're a great drinker, Wade. How about we have a drinking contest?"
"Sieg, you're definitely going to get drunk with your own body weight in alcohol, okay?"
"A bit more, please."
"Then, it's even more ridiculous."
"Wade is really not nice..."
Brada shook her head at that.
"Sieg, that's not true. Wade is actually very kind, considering he's willing to take your tsukkomi and respond properly."
"...I guess so! Compared to when Brada completely ignored me, Wade is indeed kind."
"Did Brada completely ignore you, Sieg?"
"Well, he's annoying, after all."
"Yeah, Sieg is annoying..."
I couldn't help but think about how his army was treating him. It's somehow reminiscent of Frain. Frain was treated like a fool, and Sieg might be treated like a nuisance.
After finishing the 'mystery' gathering and getting full, Sieg and I faced off in the forest outside the castle.
"Well, shall we have a post-meal fight, Wade?"
"...I've never heard of a prisoner engaging in a duel with a general."
"If you win, this war will be a victory for Karditsa."
"You're really confident, aren't you?"
Sieg chuckled at my sarcasm.
"Don't worry. I'll hold back. You're not even armed, are you?"
"Hey, Sieg, you're not going to use weapons, right?"
"? No, I won't use them."
"Then why did you say that?"
Sieg tilted his head at my question. Is this guy really the enemy's Commander-in-chief? I'm full of doubts.
But when Sieg took his stance, my tension returned. The aura of the great hero known as Fist of the Dragon forced my consciousness into battle mode.
I took my stance and chanted.
"'Brahma', Weight Increase, Weight Reduce, Repulsion, God, grant me protection."
Sieg raised the corner of his mouth at my words.
"That's a pretty long curse, isn't it?"
"There are a lot of them, and I have to chant them. Can't you think of something better?"
Sieg responded to my casual remark.
"You can just compress it, I suppose."
"Compress?"
"That's right. It's Roman's secret technique, but I guess I'll teach you anyway."
I think he'll get scolded for this.
"A curse text is a message to God. So, as long as it reaches the god, it's fine. Like when you go to a frequent shop and always order the same thing, you can just say 'the usual'."
"That situation never happens in life, though."
But I guess it's not impossible to understand. Since 'Brahma' has become a routine and doesn't want to change, setting up a compressed language separately would be good, right?
"How do you set up a compressed language, then?"
"That's exactly what you negotiate when you talk. You gather these curse texts and want to call them something, right? If it's established, you'll get the same effect."
"That's how it is, huh... So, um..."
I cut off my magic and looked up at the sky, saying.
"Let's call the 3 magic words 'Weight Increase', 'Weight Reduce', and 'Repulsion', along with a phrase praising the gods to 'Atman'."
Then, I realized that the 3 magic words had taken effect on my body through the magic seal. And they were even expanded magic, too. "Wow," I exclaimed, thrilled by the effect.
"This is convenient. Easy to use."
"...What's 'Atman', then?"
"Hmm, yeah. It's one of the true words my master taught me. It means 'self', I think. Strictly speaking, it's a smaller, more fundamental meaning of 'self', but..."
"So, what about 'Brahma' that you always talk about?"
"It's like the universe, I think. It's everything, after all. It's like 'all is one, one is all' or something."
I shrugged and said it again. Sieg also got ready.
I said.
"'Brahma' = 'Atman'."
"Hmm... interesting. Let's do it, then."
Sieg grinned, showing his teeth, and said.
"You'll get a glimpse of the god."
Sieg's feet suddenly jumped up.
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