The Man Who Attracted Trouble

Killing someone, even if it was legal and justified, still meant he had to inform the person in charge of this village.

It was then that Li Ke learned the two men's names.

The old man was called Kusho.

The younger one was his son, named Shen.

Li Ke broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.

Kusho, the current Eye of Twilight, was the strongest person in Ionia.

With a spirit blade, he smote demons and vanquished evil; with a steel blade, he dispensed justice in the mortal world.

And Li Ke had just said, right in front of him, that he was going to kill a man's entire family...

"You don't need to be so nervous. You should know that the Kinkou Order doesn't interfere in mundane affairs."

Kusho had noticed Li Ke's unease and spoke with a kindly smile.

That was indeed the case. Unless necessary, the Kinkou Order did not interfere in Ionia's worldly affairs. They focused only on maintaining the balance between the spirit realm and the physical world.

But that wasn't the whole story. In theory, the Kinkou Order managed all the magic throughout Ionia.

And every patch of land in Ionia contained magic.

If they said you could use magic, then you could use it to clear land on a grand scale. If they said you couldn't use magic and continued to exploit the land, you'd be wise to know your place, stop working, and move away.

Yes, although the Kinkou Order neither governed nor ruled, in practice it managed all of Ionia.

Land, magic, population, gatherings—anything related to magic fell under their purview. They wouldn't care if you gathered ten thousand people and conquered cities, but if you threw the balance between the magic in the land and the people out of proportion...

Then they would come and balance you out.

In truth, the Kinkou Order was Ionia's governing body, and its leader, the Eye of Twilight, was Ionia's king.

He simply collected no taxes and didn't manage the cities. He had no royal title, nor was there any true father-to-son succession. He received none of a king's privileges or benefits. He was merely respected and accepted Ionia's freely given offerings.

Of course, even Kusho couldn't use those offerings to indulge his personal desires, or he would lose his standing.

In other words, if Kusho took a dislike to you and said you were disrupting the balance, then even if he cut you down, no one would plead your case.

"Mm, I understand. I understand."

Li Ke just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. He hadn't wanted to run into Kusho at a time and place like this at all. And he'd also figured it out: Kusho hadn't really wanted to save that young man...

Otherwise, saving him would have been effortless for someone with Kusho's abilities.

Kusho shook his head. He was simply interested in Li Ke, which was why he'd spoken with him for a while. But seeing Li Ke act this way had made him lose interest.

"Forget it. I can tell you don't understand... Let's go, Shen. This matter is over."

Picking up his weapon, Kusho headed for the door. But before leaving, he turned to look at Li Ke.

"Young man, it's best to leave yourself some room to maneuver. And be careful. You seem to have a knack for attracting trouble."

The man had merely stepped outside and run into a Kinkou defector, a Kinkou possessed by a demon, and even managed to encounter Kusho while eating alongside someone who wanted to transform into a demon.

Honestly, Kusho felt that Li Ke had a real affinity with the Kinkou Order. Given how often he ran into demons and spirits, along with his unusual magic, he could probably deal with Yazakana much faster if he became a Kinkou acolyte.

Unfortunately, Li Ke was already Souma's disciple, so all Kusho could do was advise him to think carefully before acting.

Having offered his final words of advice, Kusho left.

Li Ke sent him off with a smile, but once Kusho disappeared from view, his face fell.

"Wasn't that basically just a curse?"

What did he mean, a knack for attracting trouble? Did Li Ke look like some protagonist with a face that drew taunts?

"Forget it. I can't stay in this town either. I'd better get out of here quickly."

Having killed someone in this town, Li Ke didn't think he could recover in peace here. His top priority was to leave as soon as possible and avoid running into any more ridiculous trouble.

So he paid without complaint for the broken table, bought some more beef and flatbreads, then purchased medicinal herbs and salves in town. He paid a hefty sum to hire a carriage driver to take him to the Placidium.

After Li Ke left, Kusho and his son, the Eye of Twilight, remained in town dealing with the agitated spirit beasts from the spirit realm. They, too, saw him hurrying away.

Shen didn't care. There was nothing unusual about it. Anyone would hurry off after saying those things in front of his father.

But Kusho stopped what he was doing and watched Li Ke leave, shaking his head slightly.

"He really is someone who attracts trouble... No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that trouble and he seek each other out."

Shen was curious. He knew his father rarely judged people, let alone said something like that.

But recalling Li Ke's behavior, he figured that in his father's eyes, Li Ke was probably just a third-rate swordsman with a second-rate weapon—nothing remarkable. What had made his father say such a thing?

As if sensing his son's confusion, Kusho spoke once Li Ke had gone a little farther away.

"Judging by that boy's route, if he leaves now, by the time he reaches Shon-Xan, Zed will be there dealing with an agitated spirit beast. And if nothing unexpected happens, Zed and he will end up in the same village, where they'll deal with two different troubles. One is an unruly spirit beast from the spirit realm; the other is a somewhat restless magical beast."

Kusho paused, then continued.

"Given Zed's nature, after calming the spirit beast, he'll kill the magical beast outright. So they're bound to meet there."

Shen raised his head in surprise. Put that way, this man named Li Ke really did seem to have a strong connection to their Kinkou Order.

But for an ordinary person, especially one without magic who possessed only a strange power, this was quite an incredible coincidence.

"Then he'll be in trouble constantly, won't he?"

Kusho nodded. Every age had people like Li Ke. They seemed unremarkable, yet trouble was always at their side, and they encountered all kinds of strange and unusual things.

After thinking it over, he spoke to his son.

"That's why I said he and trouble are drawn to each other. Shen, once you've taken care of these matters, follow him. If you travel with someone like that, you should get to see a different side of the world. But remember, no matter what you witness, as long as it doesn't affect the balance, you must not interfere."

Ionia was on the brink of change.

It was time for his son to see the darkness of Ionia.