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[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 26
The expedition ended much faster than expected because they managed to take down the desert boss earlier than planned.
The corpse of the desert boss ended up mostly in the hands of the Baran Empire.
This was because Scarlett had captured the black mage.
At first, Scarlett thought it was Ren who had defeated it.
However, upon autopsy, they found traces of dark magic all over the corpse.
Considering the sword wound on the head, the autopsy revealed that Ren had only finished off the nearly dead Duskworm.
Ren also acknowledged this, so the rights to the body went to Baran.
Of course, not everyone was happy about this.
“What? Are they saying Ren didn’t do anything?”
“Ren found the Red Moon Graveyard! And the black mage toooo!”
“Hey, hey, hey! Someone might hear you!”
The knights under Louise were training in a corner of the desert to vent their frustration after hearing about the expedition's loot distribution.
One knight, unable to contain his anger during a break, shouted out, but Khalid quickly covered his mouth.
“Come on! Who’s going to hear us? No one’s here.”
“Still, those black mages popped up out of nowhere back then.”
“Yeah, just thinking about it still gives me chills.”
They shuddered at the memory.
“If we’re talking about who contributed the most, isn’t it Ren? Isn’t this totally unfair to him?”
“But what can we do? Ren wants to hide his abilities.”
“And the Prince said the same, so we can’t act recklessly.”
“Anyway, do you think anyone in Brillant even knows? That the caretaker of the Decaine Tomb is actually an insanely strong swordsman?”
“If I ever get the chance, I’d love to cross swords with Ren once.”
“You think Ren would bother fighting someone like you?”
“Ha! I’m better than you.”
“Yeah, right! I'm better than—”
“What’s going on here?”
Louise approached the group of knights sitting around a campfire.
“Your Highness! When did you arrive?”
“The weather is cold. Please sit here.”
“You all seem quite relaxed.”
“Uh? Pardon?”
Seeing Louise's stiff expression, the knights quickly sensed the seriousness and snapped to attention.
“Your bodies are comfortable, so your minds are relaxed, and because your minds are relaxed, you’re spouting nonsense.”
“…We apologize!”
They quickly understood what he was implying and bowed their heads.
Khalid and the three others glared at one knight.
“Who are you looking at?”
“Sorry!”
“Never lower your guard. I promised Ren, on my honor, to keep his secret. Are you planning to disgrace my honor?”
“Sorry!”
“We only received help and offered none during this expedition. Do you realize that?”
“Yes, sir!”
“And yet you sit here gossiping?”
They were actually taking a break after training hard.
Of course, it’s always when you’re taking a brief rest that your superior catches you.
The knights felt wronged but dared not express it.
“Sorry! We’ll resume training immediately!”
“From today, you’ll be in special training with me. Prepare to do nothing but train for the foreseeable future.”
“Yes, sir!”
That day, Louise and the knights had to sweat it out under the cold desert air.
* * *
“Phew... still, it all ended well, I guess?”
I explained the events to the Baran Empire’s knights and the Holy Kingdom’s priests.
How we ended up defeating the desert boss, how we encountered the black mages, and so on.
Fortunately, I remained a relatively unimportant figure in this incident, allowing me to slip out of the spotlight.
Currently, both the Baran Empire and the Holy Kingdom have pinpointed the black mage organization as the culprits behind the desert wave.
Mutant monsters emerging at an unexpectedly fast rate.
Upon closely examining the Duskworm, they found demonic power within its body.
Those findings led them to conclude that the black mages were responsible.
As a result, the full attention of both the Baran Empire and the Holy Kingdom was now focused on the black mages, and I was completely forgotten.
"Except by one person... haah..."
The constant prickling gaze I felt once I noticed it.
Whenever I went outside, I could feel someone watching me.
And sure enough, whenever I looked, there she was—one woman.
‘Scarlett Arzen… What are you thinking?’
She kept staring at me like she was observing me but never approached.
The Scarlett Arzen I knew was a battle maniac who loved fighting strong opponents.
She only paid attention to those who were already strong or had the potential to be—and ignored the weak completely.
Back when I was at the Arzen family, despite being the hidden son of the head of the family, she quickly lost interest in me once she realized I had neither talent nor passion.
Which is why, oddly enough, I didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward her.
‘Feels like she's watching from somewhere even now.’
There’s no reason for Scarlett to be interested in me now.
I hadn’t displayed my skills in her presence, and otherwise, there wasn’t anything that should have drawn her attention.
So why was she constantly bothering me like this?
“Is she trying to mess with me now because she couldn’t back then…?”
Knowing the Arzen people, it wouldn’t be surprising.
Seriously, the Arzen family...
“Ugh, whatever!”
I decided to distract myself by getting back to work—building graves for the deceased and helping with miscellaneous tasks.
The expedition wrapped up, and I returned to Brillant with the mercenaries.
Louise stayed behind, saying he had more to do, and Scarlett Arzen didn't follow me either.
"Finally free!"
After breathing hot desert air for a month, the cool, fresh air felt like it was healing my lungs.
Unlike the oppressive, scorching, and tense atmosphere of the southern desert, this place was cool, peaceful, and quiet.
"Mother, I’m home."
"Ren! You’re back? You must have gone through a lot."
My mother greeted me warmly as I returned home.
She must have been worried, knowing I was out there in the dangerous southern desert for so long.
"You must be hungry. Give me a moment."
"Yes, ma’am."
It seemed Resia wasn’t home.
"Where’s Resia?"
"Oh! She’s learning under the Administrative Aide right now."
Administrative Aide, huh...
It’s still a while before she gets entangled with the Privy Council nobles.
The Administrative Aide is a strict person who separates public and private matters, so I wasn’t too worried.
Given Resia’s talents, she’d do just fine.
‘Still, I should start thinking about how to deal with the Privy Council soon.’
With my return to the past, the future was beginning to change.
It was possible that Resia’s incident could happen earlier than expected, so it was better to be prepared.
"Here, eat up! I put in some extra effort."
My mother placed an array of dishes on the table.
There were so many that I didn’t know where to start.
"Thank you for the meal."
Having a place to return to—and someone welcoming me home—was such a happiness.
How long had I forgotten that feeling?
As I ate, I made another firm resolution to myself.
I would never let the demons steal this happiness from me.
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[Translator - Night]
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* * *
After stopping by my house, I headed to Decaine.
The sun had not yet set.
‘I wonder how he’s doing.’
It had been nearly a month since I last saw Raymond.
I thought I would feel indifferent, but I was more curious about his well-being than expected.
‘Mother said there were no issues.’
Fortunately, there hadn't been any black magicians invading or mercenaries attacking.
The familiar, fragrant scent of soil tickled my nose.
“Oh…”
Seeing not a single weed growing told me that Raymond had been diligently maintaining Decaine.
‘I should probably give him a vacation.’
I looked around inside Decaine but couldn’t find Raymond anywhere.
I even checked the second graveyard where the heroes of Decaine were hidden, but he wasn’t there either.
“Ah.”
Then I remembered — today was the day to submit a report to the royal court.
I headed back to Decaine.
“Ancestor, I’m here.”
My ancestor’s sharp gaze quickly scanned me from head to toe.
—You've gotten quite a bit stronger since I last saw you.
“That’s why I left in the first place.”
—Draw your sword.
Despite our long-awaited reunion, the first thing he said was, “Draw your sword.”
Perhaps this was why I respected him even more.
Without hesitation, I drew the sword from my waist.
—Hm…
He gave me a look of dissatisfaction.
I had seen that look so many times that I could recognize it instantly.
‘Is it because of the sword?’
Following his gaze, I realized he was staring at my sword.
I finally looked at it properly.
The blade was chipped in several places, and the hilt was covered with scratches.
It wasn’t a particularly good sword to begin with, and after the recent incidents, it was barely usable.
—Didn't you earn some money from that mercenary work?
“I did.”
—Where did it all go?
“…I’ll go look for a new sword.”
—Draw the sword.
“Yes.”
Since this was the only sword I had, I had no choice but to train with the worn-out blade.
Thanks to the recent battles, my proficiency with the Havenberg swordsmanship had increased quite a bit.
Even though I had been using Zalatan's sword techniques, my Havenberg skills had still improved.
Of course, not by much, but any progress was better than none.
“Ah! I have a question.”
—What is it?
“There’s a technique in Arzen swordsmanship where you shoot a crescent-shaped sword aura. Can I do that too?”
—Hmm… so you saw that?
“Yes.”
—Of course you can. Though in your current state, it’s impossible.
“That’s good enough for me.”
Even now, the image of Scarlett slicing through the black magician’s shield with a crimson crescent remained vivid in my mind.
As long as I could one day wield that technique myself, that was enough.
—It’s called Moon’s Severance, the third decisive technique of Havenberg swordsmanship.
“Moon’s Severance…”
—You want to see it?
“Can you… show me?”
—Sure. Your energy has grown enough that I can demonstrate it at about 10% of its original power.
My heart started pounding.
Just imagining that sword aura coming from my own hands made them tremble with excitement.
“Please show me.”
—I’ll show it at the end of today’s training. Once you see it, you won’t be able to move for a while.
“I understand. Then, may I finish my business at the royal court first and train afterward?”
—Go ahead.
“Thank you.”
I immediately left Decaine and headed toward the royal court.
It wasn’t just to see Raymond.
Before leaving for the desert expedition, the head of the Trevis family had said he would prepare compensation for past matters and asked me to stop by the royal court after the expedition.
‘If I’m lucky, maybe they’ll reward me with a decent sword.’
It was only wishful thinking.
Life never goes exactly the way I want, and even if it’s not a sword, free stuff is always welcome.
“Oh? Ren, what brings you here?”
I turned my head at the familiar voice and saw the puzzled face of the ceremonial aide.
“Haha, I had some business here.”
“Business? Aside from seeing me, you have business with the central administration?”
He asked out of pure curiosity, but for some reason, it rubbed me the wrong way.
Maybe I just didn’t like the guy.
“I recently returned from the desert expedition.”
“Ah! Right, you were there too! Lucky you survived.”
“…Yes. I was very lucky.”
“I’m losing my mind because of all that. Since you’re here, why not help me with some of my work?”
Now I understood.
This guy just had a natural talent for annoying people.
I wanted to say, ‘Would you help if you were me?’ but I held back.
“I would love to, but I have an important appointment. By the way, where’s Raymond?”
“Shame. Raymond? I saw him earlier — looked like he went off with his old comrades… The mood didn’t seem very good, though.”
“Did he go to the training grounds?”
“Yeah. If you’re worried, you should check it out.”
‘Why would that guy follow people he doesn’t even get along with?’
I gave the ceremonial aide a slight bow and headed toward the training grounds.
There, a group of men were densely packed together, forming a ring.
Even though it was outdoors, the suffocating heat from all the men was intense.
I squeezed into the crowd to get a look inside.
There, I saw Raymond and another man, both shirtless, glaring at each other.
“You filthy beggar, why do you keep coming back here?”
“Hah! Says the idiot who never once beat me in a duel when I was here. What’s he babbling about?”
“You think it’s still the same as back then? You’re not even worthy to lick my boots now. Save yourself the embarrassment and go back to cleaning up corpses, like you always did.”
The man taunted Raymond, poking his forehead with his index finger.
“Cleaning up corpses? You bastard! I can take insults, but I won’t stand for you mocking my mentor!”
Suddenly, Raymond’s eyes blazed with fury, and he rammed into the man.
“What, are you crazy? I was talking about you, you idiot!”
The junior knight responded, also ramming into Raymond.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!"
Just as the rough brawl between the men was about to escalate, my loud shout made everyone freeze and turn their eyes toward me.
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