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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 36
Cohen finished his preparations and returned to the family graveyard.
He had decided not to use honorifics in public for the time being—at least until my true identity was revealed.
‘I wonder how long it'll take.’
It was said that it would take time to fully master the art of cold energy.
Especially now, with his body in a weakened state.
There was no way of knowing how long it might take.
However, all Cohen needed to do now was thoroughly memorize the mantras of the cold energy cultivation method and practice it properly.
It was said that should only take about ten days.
‘I should also make a visit to Decaine during that time.’
Before that, I planned to stop by the forge and say a few words to Caleb.
“Ren, you're here?”
Right after talking with Cohen, I went straight to the Dragon's Furnace to see Caleb.
“Yes, I need to go back to Brillant for a few days.”
“Is that so? Well, I suppose you have your own business to take care of.”
“I’ll be back soon. I’m only planning to be away for about ten days.”
“All right, travel safely. I’m swamped with work ever since the creation of Soulcall. Everyone’s been clamoring for me to make weapons for them.”
“You’ll probably get even busier from now on.”
“Hahaha! I’d better take good care of my health then. So, how are you planning to get to Brillant?”
“Oh, some people are heading there from Trevis, and they said they’d connect me with them.”
“Then you’ll get to ride comfortably in a carriage.”
“Yes.”
Apparently, a few of Trevis’s guests were heading to Brillant for business.
They were originally scheduled to depart the day after tomorrow, but moved up the date to today because of me.
After finishing my conversation with Caleb, I headed to the Trevis estate, where preparations for departure had already been completed, and the butler came out to greet me.
“Sir Ren, you mentioned you had a preferred route. Please let the coachman know in advance.”
“But will the other guests be all right with that? The schedule and route are changing because of me. Won’t it make the carriage ride longer?”
“They said they don’t mind. Miss Lila Bates only cares about getting to Brillant, and Miss Becca said she thinks it’ll be more fun this way.”
“Oh… I see. That’s a relief.”
Lila Bates was said to be a noble from a fallen family, now drifting across the continent.
She had stopped by Cormir for some business and ended up staying with the Trevis family.
Becca was a wandering adventurer, skilled with the spear, helping out the Trevis family in exchange for room and board.
‘I haven’t heard of either of them before, but if Trevis arranged it, it should be fine.’
We weren’t going far out of the way, and I would take care of any issues myself, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
“When would you like to depart?”
“Let’s leave in thirty minutes.”
“Understood.”
After the butler left, I headed to the front garden, where a red-haired woman sat, roughly tying her hair back as she fiddled with some of the bright blue flowers.
‘That must be Lila Bates.’
She was deeply engrossed in plucking, crushing, and rubbing the petals of the flowers.
‘What is she doing?’
She looked as if she were analyzing the flower.
These flowers, grown by the Trevis family, were known for having cold petals.
Other than their bluish hue and chilliness, they weren’t particularly special—but they were symbolic of the Trevis household, and most people in Cormir would recognize them.
‘Is it really okay to handle them like that?’
Looking around, I saw no one else nearby.
I carefully approached her.
She was so focused that she didn’t even notice me until I was right behind her.
“What are you doing?”
“Ahh!”
Startled by my voice, she let out a shriek and fell backward onto the ground.
She had been squatting, so she didn’t seem hurt.
“Wh-What?”
“What about you? Why are you plucking flowers from someone else’s garden?”
“Ah, I—uh…”
Judging by her flustered reaction, it hadn’t been pre-approved.
Did she think nobody would notice one flower missing out of so many?
She quickly swept up the fallen petals and tried to hide them behind her back.
Despite her sharp appearance, she seemed a bit clumsy.
“I saw everything.”
“Ah… I was just really curious, that’s all.”
“About what?”
“This flower. Isn’t it amazing? How can a petal be so cold, like ice?”
She had already forgotten her wrongdoing and was lost in admiration, gazing at the petals in her hand.
‘She’s the type to lose herself in something and forget everything else.’
She didn’t seem malicious, and she hadn’t completely wrecked the flowerbed, so maybe I wouldn’t report it this time.
“You should leave. It’s not good to touch things that don’t belong to you just because you’re curious.”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to… Could you please keep this a secret? If not, I won’t be able to go to Brillant…”
‘If she knew that, why did she do it?’
“All right.”
“Thank you so much! I’m Lila Bates, by the way. May I know your name too?”
“Ren Arzen.”
“What? Oh! You’re the one joining us for the trip…”
“That’s right.”
Her face was filled with panic.
She was probably afraid I’d refuse to let her on the carriage.
“I said I’d keep it from the family, didn’t I?”
“Oh, thank you. I promise I’ll just sit quietly in the carriage.”
“Why are you going to Brillant, anyway?”
“I have a few things to research. I heard something related to my studies is there.”
“I see. Got it.”
She didn’t seem like a strange person.
At least, that was the impression I had from our conversation so far.
‘Status window.’
Now it was time to find out who she really was.
Was she hiding something behind a mask?
Or was she truly just a curious researcher?
[Lila Bates]
-Skill: Bates Flame Arts (Beginner)
-Strength: 5.3
-Agility: 5.1
-Stamina: 5.3
-Sense: 2.9
-Magic: 11.5
[Bates Flame Arts – Beginner]
A magical technique for manipulating fire, passed down through the Bates family.
‘Hoh?’
Hidden behind her unassuming appearance was a considerable amount of mana.
The fact that she was a mage rather than a mere researcher was quite surprising.
This was the first time I’d met a mage in this life.
Mages were largely gone from the continent nowadays.
With a magic stat of 11.5, she might be comparable to a knight in terms of strength.
‘So she has no intention of revealing she’s a mage.
I had thought it would be a simple carriage ride, but now there was something to keep an eye on.
I could’ve left her here, using her earlier blunder as an excuse, but this might be a good chance to build a connection with a mage.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Besides, she’d owe me for overlooking her mistake.
I left her in the garden and returned to my room.
After quickly packing, I made my way to the entrance of the mansion.
Everything was perfectly ready for departure to Brillant.
Outside the carriage, Lila and Becca were waiting for me.
“You’re finally here. Let’s go!”
Becca dragged me into the carriage as if we were already well acquainted.
Blue hair and green eyes.
This woman with a peculiar appearance seemed to have quite the social charm.
Judging by her actions, she looked like someone who’d cause trouble at least once, but oh well, it probably didn’t matter.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ren Arzen.”
“I’m Becca.”
“Lila Bates.”
She bowed her head shyly as she introduced herself.
“Let’s depart.”
Rather than taking the fastest route to Brillant, I chose a detour that circled the mountain and crossed over the adjacent one.
This would nearly double the travel time, but we had the luxury of time, so it was fine.
“Wow, I didn’t know there was a place like this. The view is amazing, right? Oh! Look over there! Wolves are running around! Whoa! How fascinating.”
She chattered non-stop during the ride.
Thanks to that, I wasn’t bored—but thinking about hearing that voice all the way made me feel a bit tired.
Lila already looked drained.
Grrrrawwwr!!
Awooooooo!!
As the sun disappeared and darkness fell, the howls of wolves echoed through the forest.
“This is kinda unsettling. You think those things are after us?”
“They might be. This mountain is known for being full of beasts.”
The person talking about the threat of an ambush had a remarkably calm expression.
Probably confident she could handle a few wolves herself.
She didn’t seem to realize she was revealing her own strength.
“Hmm...”
The window on the front wall of the carriage slid open, and the coachman peeked through and called for me.
“Mr. Ren, what should we do? I was thinking we might rest here for the night.”
“Let’s do that. Is everyone okay with it?”
“Sure! The scenery’s nice, and spending the night breathing in the scent of grass sounds so romantic.”
She sure had a knack for dressing up the idea of sleeping outside.
Well, if she’s happy, I guess that’s enough.
“How should we handle the night watch?”
Before anyone could answer, the coachman hastily interjected.
“Oh! Don’t worry about that. The staff we brought will take care of it.”
“Really? Thank you.”
The sleeping conditions weren’t the most comfortable, but everyone soon lay down.
I didn’t sleep, as I had other matters to tend to.
Awoooooooo―!
The deeper I went into the forest, the louder the wolves' howls became.
With the sound of rustling, a wolf appeared before me.
Grrr... Arrrrgh, grrrk, grrrr...!
– Why’s this ugly human here?
Because I’d learned the wolf language, I could understand every word.
I was so annoyed I nearly drew my Soulcall and attacked.
“I have no intention of fighting you gu–.”
Grrrk, kharrk, karrrrk.
– Is that how your mom and dad raised you?
Srring!
I smiled and drew my sword.
Why do these wolves always bring up parents the moment they see a human?
Grrrkarrrk–
– There’s some tasty human meat he–
Tatatat.
With just three leaps, I was right in front of it, channeling energy into my Soulcall as I swung it.
Whooosh!!
With a fierce slicing sound, the grass beneath the wolf was neatly cut.
It was quick and twisted its body to barely dodge my sword.
Grrr! Krrrk! Karrk!
– Attacking without warning?! I can only imagine what kind of parents you had!
“Alright, maybe I’ll try some wolf meat today. Judging by the plumpness, you’ve been eating well, huh?”
Karrk! Kark!
– I didn’t eat much! Can’t you see I’m skinny!?
“You little... You can understand me? Then why didn’t you listen earlier? Only now that you think you're going to die do you finally open those ears?”
These wolves really only understand when you beat some sense into them.
The black wolf, these ones—they’re no different.
Those others back then might’ve even been tougher...
Karr! Grarararak! Gururak!
– No! I really couldn’t hear you earlier! Let’s make peace!
“Let’s start with a beating.”
Even if we made peace, once his friends showed up, he might come at me again.
You have to establish dominance with wolves to avoid future problems.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Yelp! Whimper!!
– It hurts! I’m sorry!!
“Sorry?”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Whaaaa!!
– I apologize!!
“There we go. Whew...”
I wiped the sweat trickling down my forehead and rolled my shoulders.
Suddenly moving my arms so hard had made my muscles complain.
The gray wolf staggered to its feet.
Awoooooo!!
Seemed like his friends had arrived.
“Explain things to them properly.”
Whimper... whine...
– Underst...ood.
I gave him a satisfied smile and gently stroked his fur.
Just then, a wolf twice the size of this one emerged from the forest.
GRAAAAAWR!!
– So you’re the one who hit my son!!
I looked at the wolf beside me in shock.
He gave me an awkward, sheepish smile.
‘You’re the chief’s son?’
This guy came from quite the lineage.
With a pleasant smile, I stepped forward toward the chief wolf.
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[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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