Chapter 37

Assistant Moderator (4)

At present, SwordMaster—Ash—is what people would call an unemployed bum who gets smacked on the back by her mother practically every day.

An unemployed bum who spends all day browsing the gallery and snickers whenever something amusing happens.

However, she was someone who had, strictly speaking, experienced “working life.”

And not just ordinary working life, but life in the political world, where conspiracies, schemes, and power struggles were everyday occurrences.

Since ancient times, politics had gradually developed as a means of keeping overwhelming power in check.

Ash, in particular, had been nothing more than a commoner until the Emperor bestowed a title upon her.

Until then, she had worked hard at navigating society so she would not find herself in politically troublesome situations—watching the moods of nobles, flattering them, agreeing with them, and so on.

In truth, marriage would have been the easiest option, but because Ash was simply too strong, every attempt had fallen through.

And after she became captain of the Imperial Guard, there was no longer much room for political problems to arise around her anyway.

In any case, Ash had experience with society—and, more specifically, with the dark and murky world of politics.

That was why the Heavenly Demon becoming a sub-mod set off a few alarm bells in her head.

She definitely made some kind of deal. There’s no way that old fossil would’ve become a sub-mod otherwise. Same goes for the head mod.

The instant Ash heard that the Heavenly Demon had become a sub-mod, she started thinking.

Unlike certain people, she actually had experience dealing with society.

She grasped the situation faster than anyone else.

What kind of deal did she make?

Ash had been a regular fixture in the gallery for a long time. In terms of seniority alone, she had been around for nearly ten years.

Unlike the previous head mod, the current head mod placed great importance on principles and rules.

On top of that, they had such a strong self-sacrificing streak that they would never force the sub-mod position onto somebody else.

For someone like that to appoint a sub-mod—and a well-known fixed-nickname user at that—meant there had to be something behind it.

The Heavenly Demon was probably the one who proposed the deal first...

In truth, the Heavenly Demon becoming a sub-mod was not much of a problem for Ash.

What if the Heavenly Demon started abusing her authority however she pleased?

Her privileges would be stripped immediately, and she would probably be banned for several weeks.

The Heavenly Demon knew that as well, so on the surface, she seemed to be diligently doing her job.

But Ash tried to discern the intention hidden beneath it.

Why had the Heavenly Demon decided to become a sub-mod at this particular moment?

The timing is way too convenient.

Ash had clashed with the Heavenly Demon quite a few times recently.

They had bickered over whether mana cultivation was better or whether an internal energy cultivation method was superior.

Though, to be fair, it had been closer to Ash picking fights one-sidedly, so Grylls had sided with the Heavenly Demon.

Ash was aware of how embarrassing her own behavior had been, so she limited herself to giving advice and stopped interfering beyond that.

Still, what a waste...

That did not mean she intended to give up easily.

It was simply too much of a waste. It had been a long time since she had seen someone with that much potential.

Ash had once trained countless disciples.

Of course, the reason had been the thoroughly impure intention of finding someone suitable to marry, but that was beside the point.

Regardless, she was confident in her ability to judge people.

All of those disciples had eventually fallen for other women and gotten married, but Grylls was different.

As she had said before, his life might constantly be in danger, but at least there was no need to worry about him getting distracted by women.

Even the ones I personally trained weren’t this exceptional. I have to teach him somehow.

Whenever she looked at Grylls, Ash felt as though she were looking at her past self.

A constitution that accumulated mana simply by breathing.

Because of his unusual environment, Grylls accumulated mana just by breathing.

And for mana to circulate throughout the entire body was ordinarily something that should only become possible after reaching the intermediate level of Sword Expert.

But I really don’t want to become a sub-mod.

Even so, becoming a sub-mod herself was something she absolutely wanted to avoid.

It was not as if the gallery was free of politics.

If anything, it was full of something even worse than politics: “gallery politics.”

And what was the difference?

Gallery politics consisted of agitation, fabrication, trolling, and finally, infighting.

Sub-mods, in particular, attracted far more attention than ordinary fixed-nickname users.

Just look at the Heavenly Demon.

The moment she became a sub-mod, she was subjected to all sorts of attacks.

She had managed to brush them all off thanks to her uniquely domineering personality.

Besides, mental fortitude was not an issue for Ash.

She simply hated it.

Ash just hated being a sub-mod!

Whatever the case, that makes me the latecomer.

In the end, Ash could only let out a small laugh.

The Heavenly Demon had put her in a perfect bind.

Who could have predicted she would become a sub-mod?

Still, Ash could not suppress her curiosity.

She wanted to know what had possessed the head mod to place the Heavenly Demon in that position.

I should find out.

The method for contacting the head mod was extremely simple.

All she had to do was send a trade request.

Only fixed-nickname users could send trade requests anyway, so the head mod usually accepted them.

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: Hello! What can I do for you?!]

The moment the request was accepted, the head mod greeted her energetically.

Ash smiled at the head mod, who never seemed to lose that energy, and spoke.

[SwordMaster: Head mod. You made a deal with the Heavenly Demon, didn’t you?]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: W-What?!]

Despite her smile, Ash's question went straight for the throat.

The head mod must have been thoroughly flustered, considering the bizarre response.

The head mod Ash knew was terrible at lying.

That remained true even in a gallery where anonymity was the norm.

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: How did you know?! Did the sub-mod tell you?!]

[SwordMaster: No. I just figured something like that had probably happened and took a shot in the dark. Then you confessed. So, what kind of deal did you make?]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: She asked me to make one-on-one conversations possible!]

[SwordMaster: Oh.]

So that was it.

What a greedy woman.

Ash nodded at the head mod's painfully honest answer.

Thanks to that, she was able to piece together the whole story.

As expected, the Heavenly Demon had become a sub-mod for Grylls.

But couldn't she just use private posts? That seems way too simplistic.

Yet one question still remained unanswered.

What was the point of private posts, then?

Ash wanted to know the reason.

[SwordMaster: Aren’t one-on-one conversations still visible to you, head mod?]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: Yes! I’m watching right now too!]

[SwordMaster: What are they talking about? The internal energy cultivation method?]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: I can’t tell you the details, but I can answer “yes” to that!]

That much was within her expectations.

But she still did not understand.

The reward was far too small compared to the responsibilities that came with being a sub-mod.

Then again, was the Heavenly Demon the sort of person who would recklessly abuse authority?

No.

The Heavenly Demon was the type to say what she wanted to say and nothing more.

She was not easily swayed by other people's opinions.

If anything, she was similar to the head mod in that she was not the type to become tyrannical simply because something displeased her.

And with the head mod still above her, she did not even have the conditions necessary for that.

Suspicious. Way too suspicious. What is she actually after?

Ash's thoughts grew longer.

It was difficult to figure out the Heavenly Demon's intentions.

Still, the conversation had not been entirely fruitless.

Ash nodded and thanked the head mod.

[SwordMaster: Thank you, head mod. Is there anything you want in return?]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: I don’t need a bribe! If you want to become a sub-mod, you can just tell me!]

[SwordMaster: No, I’m fine without being a sub-mod. That’s not why I contacted you. I was just curious about why she was acting like that.]

[Don’tAbandonTheHero: I see! Understood!]

Their conversation ended there.

Ash slowly organized her thoughts.

It doesn’t seem like she has any political motive.

Given the Heavenly Demon's personality, she almost certainly had no political intentions.

Becoming a sub-mod was probably partly to make it easier to help Grylls, while also serving some other purpose.

Ash did not know what that purpose was, but at the very least, it was unlikely to harm her.

Was I worrying for nothing?

The Heavenly Demon becoming a sub-mod was a massive issue in and of itself.

Especially since Ash had even gotten into a war of nerves with her recently.

There was no way she could simply ignore it.

This is complicated. Really complicated.

Maybe she was overcomplicating things.

She had never abandoned the idea of helping Grylls, after all.

She could simply step in quietly whenever he ran into trouble.

Internal energy cultivation methods contain a lot of terms that are difficult to understand unless you're from the Central Plains. He’ll definitely make a post saying it’s too hard.

That would be her chance to give him tips on mana cultivation.

Since mana cultivation methods were specialized for training others, there were plenty of useful tricks she could teach him.

She just had to wait for the right timing.

Ash focused on the gallery.

She refreshed the page once every ten seconds, waiting for Grylls to make a post.

[Internal energy cultivation is way too hard.]

There it is!

Before long, Grylls made a post.

And the title was exactly what Ash wanted to see.

A post complaining about how difficult internal energy cultivation was.

She immediately opened it.

Title: Internal energy cultivation is way too hard
Wild Grylls

I’m learning an internal energy cultivation method from the Heavenly Demon, but there are so many words I don’t know that it’s really hard.

She says this is just the basics, but if even the basics are like this, I’m scared of what the advanced stuff will be like ;;

└ The Heavenly Demon taught you? How? She didn’t even make a post.
└ Wild Grylls) She requested a one-on-one chat with me?
└ Sub-mods can do that too? The head mod allowed it?
└ Wild Grylls) Yeah. She said the head mod gave permission. Also said she didn’t care if people knew.
└ Wow ;; look at that special treatment. I’m already getting jealous.
└ Lmao, makes me want to start trolling.

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero) If you want, I can appoint you as a sub-mod too!
└ That threat doesn’t work anymore lol. We figured out anonymous users can’t become mods.
└ Anonymous users can’t do it anyway lol.
└ Don’tAbandonTheHero) Then I’ll come find you in person and threaten you!
└ Sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry
└ Damn, when the head mod says that it actually sounds scary lmaoooo.
└ Reminds me of when the head mod used to stalk people back in the day lol.
└ Police? Open up?

└ SwordMaster) Which part are you having trouble with?
└ Wild Grylls) It’s hard to understand the route. The Heavenly Demon even showed me a diagram while explaining it, but maybe I’m just too dumb because I still can’t get it.
└ SwordMaster) I understand what you mean. I can help you with that.
└ Wild Grylls) Thank you.

Ash stared at the post, unable to hide her sense of emptiness.

She had gone so far as to initiate a trade with the head mod just to figure out what was going on, yet the person involved had simply revealed everything himself.

It made all the effort she had put in feel pointless.

Then again, perhaps that was just like the Heavenly Demon.

...I should just teach him some tips.

Still, there was work to be done.

Ash pulled herself together.

Then she started typing comments so she could pass on various useful tricks.

She smiled when Grylls thanked her so politely.

Unlike internal energy cultivation, mana cultivation was a breathing method specialized for training others.

It was perfect for teaching the fundamentals in painstaking detail.

But why isn’t the Heavenly Demon interrupting me?

Normally, she should have butted in by now.

Yet there was not even a glimpse of her.

Just what was she plotting?

Ash remained suspicious as she continued typing.

└ SwordMaster) Mana cultivation and internal energy cultivation may have different branches, but they share the same roots. Start with your breathing first.
└ Wild Grylls) I already am.

└ SwordMaster) While maintaining that state, send the energy in your lower abdomen toward the perineum. You know where the perineum is, right?
└ Wild Grylls) More or less?
└ SwordMaster) “More or less” isn’t enough. Since you’re a man, Grylls, just think of it as the area between your testicles and your anus. Send the energy there and you should feel something.
└ Wild Grylls) Hmm... yeah. I can feel it. It’s itchy though. Can I scratch it a little?

Could this be why the Heavenly Demon did it too?

Her reasonable suspicion steadily grew.

***

This was strangely frustrating.

Ash furrowed her elegant brows.

It was not because Grylls was having trouble understanding.

Nor was it because she had to cram so much text into the narrow comment section...

└ Teach us too~
└ Why are you keeping all the good tips to yourselves?
└ SwordMaster, I’ve hit a wall in my cultivation recently. Could you help me too?
└ Unlocktheprivatecommentsunlocktheprivatecommentsunlocktheprivatecomments

The jackals had smelled something sweet and come running.

They were getting in the way of her concentration.

They kept invading Grylls's comment section, making it harder for her to teach him properly.

Meanwhile, at that very moment, in the Demonic Cult—

I can feel her frustration from here.

Yu Sowol smiled as she read SwordMaster's private comments.

The moment she had been given a moderator badge, she had gained the authority to view private comments as well.

It was only natural.

That meant Yu Sowol could also see all the useful tips SwordMaster was passing on.

Calling these “tips” is somewhat generous.

SwordMaster's advice could barely even be called advice.

Because it was no different from what Yu Sowol had already taught him.

This problem stemmed from SwordMaster—Ash—being far too talented herself.

Unlike swordsmanship, which she had built up from the very bottom, she had possessed a constitution that accumulated mana merely by breathing.

She might have been exceptional at swordsmanship, but she had very little talent when it came to teaching breathing methods.

I suppose it only works because the benefactor's potential is exceptional.

Still, geniuses had ways of understanding other geniuses.

Grylls gradually absorbed what SwordMaster considered “useful tips.”

Even though Yu Sowol herself had dismissed the method, Grylls devoured it eagerly.

SwordMaster. As expected, this person is extraordinary as well.

But it did not matter.

Yu Sowol shifted her gaze.

Where she looked, the message window containing the conversation she had just exchanged with Grylls was still open.

Unlike trades, one-on-one conversations allowed them to communicate in real time.

The entire conversation history remained as well, meaning she could review it whenever she pleased.

For fruit to grow, the roots must first be strong.

What Yu Sowol wanted was simple.

For Grylls to fully understand every insight of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and eventually bear fruit.

She planned to use SwordMaster's advice to strengthen his weak foundations.

In the end, people are always more interested in sweet fruit than in the roots beneath it.

Even if Grylls received SwordMaster's advice, the foundation itself remained the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

That had not changed.

Eventually, he would realize the greatness of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and his respect for her would naturally grow.

SwordMaster was merely an assistant.

The one who would ultimately pass everything on to him was the Heavenly Demon, Yu Sowol.

It is only proper that I do this for my benefactor.

Now it was time to fulfill her duties as a sub-mod.

Yu Sowol turned her attention back to the board.

But even then, she did not yet realize—

└ Wild Grylls) Oh? It worked? My sword is glowing!
└ SwordMaster) Holy shit. Seriously? How did you do that?
└ Wild Grylls) Why are you asking me that? ;;

└ SwordMaster) I’m more amazed that you actually do everything I tell you just from hearing it ;;

When the roots changed, the branches growing from them were bound to change little by little as well.

Especially because SwordMaster's true specialty was not breathing techniques—

but swordsmanship itself.

└ SwordMaster) With a little more practice, you might be able to stop carrying a shield and just use a sword. But seriously, how did you do that?
└ Wild Grylls) I told you, I don’t know either ;;

Very slowly, it was beginning to seep into him.