Chapter 032. Dolos Family (3)
The entire Dolos Family blinked.
They wondered if they were dreaming.
No matter how famous a practitioner had beco recently, speaking like that under their roof?
It was so absurd, so unexpected, that they were at a loss.
Should they get angry? Scold him? Or show that rude brat a bitter lesson?
As they all hesitated on what to do, Razonia stepped forward.
“Haha. My apologies. That was not sothing we should’ve discussed with guests present.”
Shockingly, the family head, Razonia, apologized to Anagin, the one who had spoken rudely.
Spanich’s uncle shouted.
“Father!”
“Is he wrong? Talking about money, money all the ti doesn’t match the dignity of a practitioner's family. Especially not in front of guests. Enough.”
Since the head of the family said so, the two sons could no longer argue.
The family head’s word was absolute law.
Razonia sealed it with another apology.
“We’ve been rude to our guest. But I hope you’ll understand. Once you beco a family of practitioners, there’s a lot you must consider.”
“I understand. Providing for a family is difficult, and protecting soone is even harder. I was the rude one for running my mouth. I’ve got a bad temper, please overlook it.”
Since Razonia apologized so readily, Anagin also responded with proper courtesy—so much so that one might wonder if he was the sa person as earlier.
“Haha. Since we’re at it, may I ask you sothing about yourself?”
“?”
“Yes. A guest has arrived; it would be impolite not to ask even the basics, wouldn’t it?”
“Well, if it’s sothing I can answer.”
Razonia grinned.
“My grandson tells you don’t really know where you ca from. Is that true?”
“Yes. I lived deep in a forest.”
“That doesn’t make sense, does it?”
One of Spanich’s cousins frowned.
He dismissed it as lies or bragging—wanting to look special.
There were practitioners like that.
“It may be hard to believe, but it’s true.”
“You must have left the forest at so point. Then you should know where you ended up.”
“My master helped , so I don’t know.”
“Helped you? How?”
“He threw . Said he’d help leave the forest quickly. So I don’t know where I landed.”
Everyone grimaced at the absurdity.
Throwing a person out of a forest?
But Anagin had nothing more to add. It was simply the truth.
“Hm… could it have been magic?”
Razonia turned to the butler, pouring his drink.
“Well, perhaps. It could have been magic. Magic has many forms and effects.”
‘So the butler might be a mage?’
Anagin wondered, watching the butler explain.
Now that he thought about it, the ice under the fruits—sothing impossible to see in spring—might not have been winter ice preserved. It might have been made with magic.
“If not magic?”
“Then he must’ve been an extrely strong Gigant.”
“Oh…! So either way, he wasn’t ordinary. Magic or strength, throwing a person that far isn’t sothing normal folk do. Was he a mage, or a Gigant?”
“He was probably a Gigant.”
“Probably?”
“I’m sure he was a Gigant, but it wouldn’t be strange if he were a mage too.”
His master had said he couldn’t use magic, but Anagin wasn’t convinced.
That man claid he couldn’t use magic, but honestly… even if he could, it wouldn’t be surprising.
He might’ve just said that because he couldn’t be bothered. Whatever the case—
Razonia laughed in disbelief.
“Haha… You don’t know your own master? Isn’t that a bit unfilial?”
“I didn’t want to beco his disciple. Anyway, he was definitely a Gigant.”
Absurd as it sounded, it didn’t feel like a lie.
“That answer is beyond what I imagined. Can I at least know his na?”
“I don’t know his na.”
“You don’t?”
“He didn’t tell , and I wasn’t particularly curious. But he was a man of many talents. Farming, livestock, brewing, painting, music—he taught those to the villagers.”
“And what did you learn?”
“Mostly fighting. Physically.”
“You an sparring?”
“Yes.”
Anagin unconsciously grimaced. The mory of sparring with his master surfaced.
Normally, ti beautifies mories.
But that mory could never be beautified.
It was far too shitty for that.
“Oh? I’m curious. Would you like to spar with ?"
A woman who had been quietly listening suddenly made the suggestion.
It was Daria, Spanich’s cousin.
“We spar frequently, too. There’s a training yard over there. Want to go for a round after we eat? Help with digestion?”
The only woman of the Dolos Family spoke casually, clearly wanting to see Anagin’s skill for herself.
The others’ eyes also sparkled.
They wanted to witness firsthand the abilities of the rising star known as the Hero of the Outskirts.
However, Anagin could not et their enthusiasm.
“I refuse.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I’m pretty sure what you an by ‘sparring’ is very different from what I an by it.”
“Ha?”
Daria let out a disbelieving sound.
She thought Anagin was looking down on her.
Considering how he’d acted earlier, she figured defeating a few villains had made him arrogant.
The family head stepped in, diating.
“Your master must have trained you harshly. Those who go through that usually avoid sparring.”
“To be honest, yes.”
“I don’t know who he is, but I’d like to et him soday. He seems incredible in many ways.”
“I agree that he’s incredible. He’s far more extre than I am.”
“Then how about a toast to him? Thanks to him, we’ve been able to et like this.”
It was a sudden suggestion, but Anagin accepted it without hesitation.
Even though his master had beaten him, slashed him with swords, chopped at him with axes, clubbed him, stabbed him with spears, fed him poison, attacked him while he slept, attacked him while he ate, and just attacked him whenever—he was still his master.
And he was also the one who, though an outsider, helped the village to the very end when a plague struck.
Razonia likely made the toast to lighten the atmosphere, but Anagin gladly raised his cup for his master.
* * *
“He says he would like to speak with you privately.”
After the al, the butler approached Anagin and whispered to him.
Following him led to Razonia’s room.
Naturally, Razonia was inside.
“Welco.”
Now dressed in his nightclothes, Razonia poured himself a drink and greeted Anagin cheerfully.
“I called you because there are things I wish to discuss with you alone. I hope you’ll understand.”
“I got a delicious al, so there’s nothing to complain about. What’s this about?”
"I like your straightforwardness. Please, have a seat."
Razonia gestured for him to sit and placed a bottle on the table.
Anagin sat where the drink had been set.
Razonia began.
“To be blunt. What is it that you want from us?”
"Was it too sudden? As one gets older, patience thins, but the ability to read people improves. As I see it, you don't seem like soone who ca here frivolously."
Oh… so the old man really does know how to read people.
“I just wanted to get so als.”
“als?”
“I eat a lot. And I’m picky.”
“Haha… Well, was the food satisfactory?”
“Very. I ate my fill. I even tried that fruit, the waterlon.”
Anagin brought up the day’s most impressive fruit.
That luscious red flesh, crisp and refreshing texture, sweet fragrance—
He wanted to eat it again soday.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Waterlon is quite expensive, you know.”
“But als aren’t the only reason I’m here.”
“Ah, here cos the real reason. So what brought you?”
“Curiosity.”
“Curiosity?”
“I wanted to see with my own eyes what a practitioner family is like.”
“Hm, that’s hard to grasp.”
“It’s literal. In case you didn’t hear, I’ve been a practitioner for only about ten days.”
“I heard.”
Of course.
Spanich’s reaction earlier made Anagin suspect he’d told his grandfather, and he was right.
“So I don’t know much about practitioners. My master taught , sure, but I let most of it go in one ear and out the other.”
Anagin said without sha. He never intended to beco a practitioner in the first place, so he felt no embarrassnt.
“I see. I understand. There are plenty like that. People who decide to beco practitioners yet know little about what a true practitioner is, or what one must do to beco one.”
To beco a true practitioner, one usually went to the Temple of Delphi to receive a god’s selection, or take on a mission to earn it.
That was the proper path.
But so wandered off it through ignorance or stubbornness—idiots who pursued strange personal thods.
Razonia assud Anagin was one of those.
Not a bad thing. Sotis, those idiots beca great.
“Hmm… Anagin, let ask plainly. Would you consider staying with us?”
“No.”
Razonia offered the bait for recruitnt, but Anagin rejected it instantly, so cleanly it was almost rude.
“…Without even hearing the terms?”
“Even if I hear them, my answer won’t change. So it’s pointless.”
Razonia clicked his tongue in disappointnt, then quickly let it go.
Confidence was a privilege of the young, and there was no point forcing fate.
Still, he felt it was a pity.
If Anagin agreed to help them, it would’ve greatly aided the expansion into the Witch’s Territory…
Razonia, thinking “might as well try,” presented the terms anyway.
“We could teach you how practitioners train. A practitioner family’s advantage is that it can pass down accumulated knowledge for generations.”
“No need. I’ll figure it out myself.”
“Hm… then what about teaching you how to handle Energy(Γι)?”
Anagin paused.
Inside, Razonia shouted, I knew it.
“I can tell you’re no ordinary fighter. But it seems you cannot properly control your Energy(Γι).”
Razonia deduced this from his grandson’s report and his conversation with Anagin.
Anagin ntioned having a great master, but all he’d done was sparring.
Unfortunately, Energy(Γι) was not sothing one could learn through re sparring.
“So you’re offering to teach Pariisphero (parĕisphĕrō) and Eulogia (εὐλογία)?”
The power of Gigants—Energy(Γι).
Pariisphero, concentrating Energy(Γι) into a part of the body.
Eulogia, imbuing that concentrated Energy into objects to strengthen them.
Razonia shook his head.
“Energy control is profound. That’s not the end of it.”
He continued explaining other techniques for controlling Energy(Γι):
Sending Energy outside the body — Ekpémpein (ἐκπέμπειν).
Molding outside Energy into tools — Plássein (πλάσσειν).
Imbuing properties into Energy — Dídōmi (δίδωμι).
To hide one’s Energy and erase one’s presence entirely — Krypto (κρύπτω).
They were called Pa (πα), Yul (εὐ), Ek (ἐκ), Pl (πλ), Di (δί), and Kr (κρ), respectively.
Energy(Γι) could be handled in many ways like this.
“Pa, Yul, Ek, Pl, Di, Kr… interesting.”
“That is only the basics. With these as a foundation, one can exert far greater power. Naturally, our family knows all of this.”
It was an obvious point.
A practitioner family made up of Gigants absolutely had to inherit and preserve the techniques of Energy cultivation.
They could pass these techniques down through generations, and also use them as leverage to gain favor with other practitioners.
Just like right now.
“If you help us, we will teach you. Not a bad deal, is it? While aiding us, you would receive instruction as well.”
“Hm… it is an attractive offer.”
Anagin admitted it honestly.
With no ties or backing, it wasn’t easy for him to receive formal guidance in controlling Energy(Γι).
However…
“I still have no intention of accepting.”
“……Why not?”
“No special reason. I’m just not feeling it.”
“…Hah.”
Razonia exhaled a deflated sound, unable to comprehend him.
The very first barrier a Gigant must overco is learning to control Energy(Γι), yet this man rejected the opportunity simply because he “didn’t feel like it”…
Completely incomprehensible.
But there was one thing Razonia understood:
He and this man called Anagin were simply not ant to be.
So he chose not to dwell on it.
Desirable or not, fate was fate.
Besides, today’s greatest harvest wasn’t Anagin anyway.
Anagin was rely incidental; Razonia’s true interest lay elsewhere.
“Phew… what a sha. I thought we might form a good bond.”
“I already think we have. Since I got a great al.”
“When do you plan to leave?”
Having no more business with him, Razonia asked when he would depart.
He wasn’t particularly disappointed.
“I’ll leave right after breakfast tomorrow. I originally only ca to get so food.”
“Would you mind if I asked your companion to stay?”
Companion? Ah, he must an the robed woman.
“Mages are valuable assets. If she agrees, I’d like to hire her. If that offends you—”
“—Do as you like.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Yes. She’s not exactly my ‘companion,’ more like soone who just traveled with for a bit. If she wants to stay, I don’t mind.”
Razonia recalled what his grandson had said:
That Anagin lacked basic common sense.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t so easily give up soone as valuable as a mage.
A mage was soone one should keep close at all costs.
'Well, it's not bad for us.'
“Thank you for yielding.”
“You shouldn’t thank yet. You haven’t even asked her.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“If we’re done, may I leave now?”
Sleepiness was hitting Anagin.
Since they were finished, Razonia had no reason to keep him.
“Of course. Thank you for indulging .”
Anagin bowed his head lightly and stood.
As he was about to exit the room, Razonia asked one last question.
“Sir, let ask one more thing. What do you think should be done about monsters?”
A strange question.
What should be done about monsters?
It sounded like a trick question, but Anagin answered in his usual blunt, simple way:
“Any beast that ruins the fields should be beaten to death. All of them.”
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