Chapter 110: Engagement Ceremony (5)
mLad58Lunia had been walking the way of the sword for the whole 28-year period of her life. She had been called a prodigy of swords ever since a young age and not only was she the target of everyone’s expectations as the only successor candidate, but she also answered their expectations with hard work.x0BA
tVNAuOne day, the house was in an uproar.S7rw5K
Ny6Wz『Are you… telling me to raise an illegitimate child?』TkiH
UkboV『What else can we do about it? It is still an offspring of Arden.』CtArIOc
raUWgzvIllegitimate child.92G
wDVEcjuAlthough she was only 10 years old back then, Lunia still understood what that meant.bJbt
FuyFy『This is your sister.』56AA
ZixShe was then introduced to a baby who had yet to even hit their first birthday. The baby covered in an old and ragged piece of cloth was rejected and pushed away by everyone else. In the end, the young baby ended up in her hands.xxc
AO4H– Baaa!3RK
B0BEven so, the baby had a bright smile on her face, oblivious to everything happening around her.9Eu2r
h9bLooking at the little thing in her hands, Lunia found her so adorable that she unconsciously showed her off to her parents.kEcJJr
MbBj『Look. Father. Mother. She just touched my cheeks.』BfW
mpeaj『……』IP5
SsBMGJHer words were met with a long and arduous silence, as well as a discontent gaze. Lunia belatedly realized something.2zZg
PCDThe baby was an illegitimate child made due to the family head’s affair. Her mother died during delivery and in the Arden Family, she couldn’t be welcomed by anyone as an existence that could mess with the succession process.5uhw
ZxUpkAfter thinking of all that, Lunia realized that this baby in her arms wouldn’t be welcomed by anyone no matter where she was.WD2
V4dQShe would be condemned at the village of her mother for being a child that devoured her mother; the father who provided the seed refused to look at the proof of his dishonesty; and the only victim of this incident – Lunia’s mother – was disappointed and silent.NLegKPF
H4T7fISeeing the poor and crying baby that couldn’t even swallow baby food yet, even the servants treated her with contempt and didn’t acknowledge her, talking amongst themselves about how dirty the nature of her birth was.EXK
g8ph26cLunia understood there, that she was the only one who cherished this little baby.Rp1
Q3r88fF『Mama… Hug!』46q
PVKFEkk『Sistaa. I’m biggaa! Look look. I’m over one meter!』Z5TuGA
NgfAAQV『Sister! I’m going to become an awesome knight just like you!』5bES1Ib
ihPY3fi『S, Sister…! I… will be going to the Academy tomorrow.』nfM
B3ra5P3She watched over everything that the child went through; she watched over the feeble girl who couldn’t even take what was rightfully hers without her help.huXn
6oZyy『A, as an instructor of a newly founded Arden-style dojo… I request the Captain of the 1st Sword Squad, Lunia Arden, for a practice duel.』smA
j72ahlIn less than half a year after being sent off to the Academy, the child went through a change.7QjgK
x0Q9Korin Lork.CDA
cm0tHe was a Knight with excellent talents and hard work, and was the one who had changed the girl.ZStlHde
I4LPlWith just a glance, Lunia noticed that he was the one who changed her sister and that Alicia was interested in him.hUj
ATncJw‘Doesn’t even know how to be proactive. Still just as dull and slow as always.’XyNTXZ
ROCShe had been the one watching over her growth for 17 years. She knew exactly what kind of personality Alicia had.WsFTC4N
eyXThat was why she started to think that… maybe snatching the boy away from her would make that dim-witted girl wake up. And watching that happen wouldn’t be a boring experience either.a8X
aije『What do you think about marrying me?』aHu
rW3kPYBecause of the consistent and annoying pressure for a political marriage, Lunia went for it and saw the face her sister was making, which had been a sight to behold. The fact that she was making such a face without even noticing her own emotions felt even more absurd.0PZWTO
vn99It was just a fake engagement though. After some time, the engagement would be renounced and Korin Lork would be free again. It was just a contract that they forged with both sides having conditions they were after, and Lunia was simply trying to stimulate her sister in the process but…fn6Sbb
nWT2ZdF『Each and every one of these calluses prove your hard work and experience. What’s the reason you should be embarrassed by them?』DD5
9gkq『If someone says something about them, that just means they are narrow-minded as heck. This is a beautiful charm that only you have.』zOfT
EaBMyP8As she continued spending more and more time with him, she noticed that there was something about this boy that touched her heart.zokvOlV
X5jmRAn innately nice person who volitionally chose to walk the laborious path.ozIwof
dMve0VThat conviction of his and his manliness made her heart throb, to the point that she even wanted to turn this fake engagement into a real one.Qe7EYq
WMtQHowever, she knew that would be a cowardly thing to do.ua1v
tATZTheir engagement had to stay fake, because she, the strongest Knight of the East under the name of Sword Master, was always proud of her words and actions.PrEn
L6o5『What are you doing here?』uI7O60
HYU『S, Sister…』3rT
7qxsidGazing down at her younger sister who had chased after them on their date, what she saw was a fighting spirit blazing in her eyes.Mk6t2h
mRw『Hah…』pDb
fUlrIt seemed that she was finally ready to stand on the starting line.kH2raG
GqzRejLunia thought to herself that taking him away just like this would be a shame. Stealing him away in a more straightforward and frontal manner would probably be even better.5O2
xCHP9WT『Do you like him?』vm1slP7
zKTbO『S, sorry? W, who? Who likes who?』oGug8
nUi4LUF『Always make sure to enunciate your words properly. You are already almost 20 years old.』d9d
Sdx『S, sorry…』6Y47v
KZ2aM6『Hmph.』2aRc5
l6tWhile facing Alicia who had her head lowered to the ground, Lunia opened her mouth and muttered what seemed like a monologue.ACjpwQ
CNATl『The core purpose of this engagement is to escape from a political marriage – a means to buy time. In other words, as long as something can buy time, it does not have to be in the form of an engagement.』qBgt
Ahhh『S, Sister?』j30h
JWl『Right. If someone were to suddenly appear during the engagement and run away with my partner in hand… I probably wouldn’t feel like meeting anyone for the time being due to that shock.』sinWdR3
Pvss6『……』slv47j
v7G9GA fight had to be fair. Lunia’s mindset was that a proud victory of a fair fight would taste the sweetest out of every fruit in the world.UAy2
T7j9jy“I, I am against this engagement…!”XKs
FJM4MShe deemed it okay to concede for now, while looking forward to the day she would steal him from her little sister, who had finally gotten to the starting line after realizing her feelings.HEZWxAz
qBXZ“A, Alicia? W, w, what are you?”tjtT
aHw“C, come with me!”5p0rc
7YN“Huh? Huuhhh?”Rrf3H
0lRHKorin Lork was grabbed and dragged by her. He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even think about resisting that pull.1V9pxcR
6bk“W, what are you doing? Chase after them right now!”hMbzG35
Tvj7NSophia commanded the warriors of the household but that was when an enormous shadow was suddenly cast on top of them from the sky.Htrx
QTCkoMz– Kwaang!8AR4c
5DMniThe identity of the shadow descending to the ground was the Hresvelgr, a large-type monster carrier from the South.qvBQ14d
zLCs“Korin! Alicia…!”Qv2YvDv
woKgThe oldest daughter of the agricultural empire in the south; the girl with a unique water-colored hair and the probationary nun from the Grand Chapel of Zeon reached their arms out as if they had been waiting for it.nx35
KMV“Ehk? Ehh?? Huhh???”C4Yr9p
jmBWithout even knowing why, Korin was made to get on the Hresvelgr, which was followed by Alicia.2xREXpD
zmj“Let’s go…!”Agl
J03The monster carrier flapped its massive wings and floated back into the sky. The unprecedented event of the engagement partner being kidnapped by the younger sister from another mother made Sophia, the guests and everyone present turn pale.xtGL8
rqz1jiALunia was the only one smiling while watching all that unfold.TByFP
1Evu“Huhahahaha…!”vig9Bb
tyZ0I“L, Lunia?”Dsqz
ATT“Goodness. Mother. Your daughter is feeling greatly shocked.”TS17F
9D5hm“Oh no. B, but why were you lau…”Gk3AZo
rwgZuwo“Haa~. My shock is so great that I do not feel like seeing any men for a while.”Puu
4bxE“Sorry? Wait. Wait, Lunia?”APYnnb
Q4a2yShe walked out of the hall with large strides, gathering the eyes of everyone inside.KiWKm
Vjml3B3Just like that, the small engagement ceremony of the renowned Arden household of the East ended up being annulled.lzeWV5D
0Dlt………GLiUNl
rahtB……8p7X
hgq…95Jqd
PuU“Umm. So what is going on right now?”UfNrC6n
nWRnKorin Lork dumbfoundedly raised a question. Hearing that, Alicia took out a letter from her pocket and handed it to him.I61
WHUUa“Uhh… Mr. Korin. Sister wanted me to give you this letter.”bYKVol
9DMY7“…I see.”VCUtz
fJlGJb『I shall pay an official visit later to take you in. My dear fiancé.』WyK
l6QCSZQ“Oh damn…”dwd
280GGa“W, what does it say?”i6aamx
o9R3“…You don’t need to know.”Jhrg
P1U****7GLe1hd
ADHX1A lady raced through the night.T6knj
EcZnShe was surrounded by an army of undead on all sides in the city filled with screams. By nature, the dead loathed and were envious of the living; thus, they pounced at the lively and fresh meat in front of their eyes.woI
9WrThey all pounced at once from the streets, alleyways, roofs… and even from the skies.ONqZi
dy3ActSA silver figure drew lines on the night sky, followed by ink-black maggots.GMDMW
TT5ckt– Kwack!tRB
XRB“That’s not good…!”Cx8WJX
027zThe undead bat, Abyss Shrieker, rapidly descended towards the ground from the clouds, which it had been using to hide itself. The large wings of the bat raged on the silver humanoid figure.LBJ
NKMs5– Kwaaack…!zubsM6o
2QboiiHer body fell down. The gravitational force added with the acceleration caused by the impact made her fragile body speed into the rough ground.jsdI09
sr74Pcz“Kugh…!”CF4VIvu
3U86SOn the third night, hordes of undead were forming legions in ranks, moving in alignment just to swallow one living person, creating an extremely surreal sight.T4k
57rZAlas, tens of thousands of undead managed to surround the spearman.d5c
fgkeDes“Haa~. If only I found that guy earlier on.”MA4rmXR
9mAUShe muttered while looking at the large flying undead monster that attacked her from above, Abyss Shriker.8whmoDa
YLCbsBecause it was a winged monster without as many restraints, it was hard to find and track it down, which was why she had been hunting it at the end all the time. And this time around, it had been roaming around so freely that it took much longer than usual. She had to hurry up and defeat the Immortal King on top…knQ86
iER“Can’t be helped.”eJNb
MPqecgThe silver lady… Erin Danua grabbed onto her spear and lifted her mana. The Rune Letters engraved into the shaft of the spear brightened up and became visible again after being supplied with mana. At the same time…Kou8a6
OOrHmi– Kwaa!0LUXXni
YN7– Kwaaang…!WD27nY
NpX8– ??!!!LUW6SyW
pkrThe undead were puzzled by the sudden storm of tempest and flames that started rising from everywhere around them.xgN
qqs“I hadn’t been doing nothing for 300 years.”bsr4
bGdThe only privilege Erin had as the only one who went through countless repetitions was that she could freely move around the city during the day while the undead could not.JgqPmhS
nIs1The Rune Letters that she had carved all around the city during the past 300 years had been for times like this.b9X7Pgm
uWxGyIn an instant, thousands of undead were wiped out. It was a miraculous feat that would be difficult even for the greatest of mages but without sparing a glance at the burning corpses, Erin jumped from the scorching blazes and approached the flying bat.RAcnq
KVbjHL“The end of your short life had been decided the moment you showed yourself.”5t2Let
AoxHer silver spear soared into the sky, piercing through the entire body of the Abyss Shrieker in the blink of an eye.JL0
RZf7Af1That was the secret art of Crumbling Mountain.5pwDx4
eTBAlAJThe killing javelin toss shot down the emperor of Nazrea’s skies.gFv2U
6s9“Huu~. Let me take a short rest.”1jsEh1E
JtQKeuEThere was still quite some time left, so she decided to recover her stamina first before striking the Immortal King. She avoided the meddlesome undead and hid herself in the alleyways when the Grim Reaper appeared before her.nOCcUN
heD《You look like you are enjoying yourself.》RaD9Y
1FA8“Does it seem that way?”z3aXg
qQMRDvErin didn’t deny the words of the Grim Reaper.8u46yz
mgQUc3HOthers might be curious about the reason but the Grim Reaper wasn’t.dvH
r3wCK5 months ago, a boy had appeared at Nazrea, making a bold claim that he would stop the 3-day repetition of Nazrea while taking one of the treasures from the Grim Reaper in return.InY
xkI5oFYKorin Lork.oLJ
dabmtUA disciple of the original ‘Erin Danua’.OQRjZ
PMeThat was the man who declared that he would save her, who had been left inside the town ever since the Lunar Eclipse 300 years ago.jjwIa
0kNThe Grim Reaper gazed on at the same scenery it had been seeing for 300 years. What changed after that day though, was that Erin would always go to the same place and look down at the whole city after everything was over.5LH
w6YS“And you know what? The thing that Korin said after that is more important…!”EcXqyoW
UCZd2Her excited voice made her sound slightly silly even.4gno
h1jUo2《I have heard this several times already…》6Yw
JWdiIThere was a slight sense of irritation in the Grim Reaper’s voice, because Erin tended to repeat the same thing over and over again only when it concerned the boy.GVtz0
fdqAlthough it was a long friend of hers… the Grim Reaper couldn’t help but think that she didn’t seem as dignified as before.A2XRRr2
Tzd“He said, ‘This time, I want to be the one saving you.’”yuCyE
tYEpnDid she have any idea? That she would give a wide smile with flushed cheeks whenever she was talking about her disciple?sAJlR9
KJmShe, who had been living for 300 years in a pit of darkness, now gave off so much light like a goddess of the Moon.6BkJ
WhWq8M“Ahh~ I miss Korin so much.”3uMx0Nz
UqpLThe Grim Reaper had known her for over a thousand years, but hadn’t ever seen the last queen of the fallen gods show such a foolish smile like a maiden in love.8fNraQw
yeBa《You will see him soon. The promised date is about to come very soon.》Kfm0N6z
eb3“…Right.”2AIg6r
dhqWDEven though she was chirping and singing about how she wanted to see him, she turned dejected whenever that topic was brought up.iauAu
RKPCleansing 1.2 million souls of Nazrea in half a year. It was an impossible feat for a mere human, and yet he had made a contract with the Grim Reaper on that with his soul on the line.eqSnKqb
4DJmXt“Reaper… How about…”MddS2R
3VRRMh《I have told you many times and it is still a no. Once made, you cannot cancel or edit the contents of a contract》Wb9RK
OrQPDespite knowing very well that it would be impossible to change the cost of the contract to her own soul, she continued trying to persuade the Grim Reaper again and again.Wzo4x8T
CvY1“He is… still a young child. Taking his reincarnation from him… is too brutal.”URy
lbzQQs《That was the choice made by that deceiver, Queen. You are one who encourages, teaches, trains, and presents wisdom and plans to heroes. Do not try to do any more than that. Ensure that you do not forget the reason why the spear of Goidel is not pointing at you.》uTIWcO
zRty“Are you telling me… that that boy will be walking the path of a hero?”4s9zUk
MPopNu《That is not even a question as he already is one. The world has prepared its hero already.》oIS8U5
BVny“…I see. So the world will be in danger once again, huh.”cUIrNF
U6GFZnThe appearance of a hero meant the coming of a disaster. The Grim Reaper and Erin, who had been living for a very long time, both knew about that concept better than anyone else.qIbnBK0
ZD3umhu“How pitiful…”Md13
5RsDfShe had taught countless heroes and sent them off. She was the master of heroes; the Queen of the Kingdom of Shadows, who bestows wisdom and magic.27a8VYs
ohQiiIt was only because she was such a being that the Grim Reaper offered to create a clone of her to stay behind at Nazrea in the first place. After all, the Grim Reaper knew how important her role was as the Queen teaching the protectors of the world.F0J2hr
gIR“Reaper… What will happen to me once Nazrea gets cleansed and I leave the restraints of this place?”bFCc
PQr………qwnvEl
YX72PUgThe reply she heard was a relatively short one. Hearing that concise response, a sorrowful expression appeared on her face.v88enL
5wyg“That’s… a bit of a shame.”AkSH3
PKWG7G《This too cannot be avoided.》AnIVTP
93lCh“I know. I know but… I still do think it’s a shame.”XTvZ
qjSAfter some time, Erin lifted her body up from the bed of a random house that she had been resting on, and gave a long stretch.TMK
3cCsb“Looks like it’s about time to go.”f7Pj
QuWThe night was about to end. All that was left was to defeat Gerolge the Immortal King and finish the last night as it was supposed to.HZxVs0u
wy33yYErin started heading to the residential area where Gerolge was staying. She slowly climbed down the stairs and headed to the residence of the black mage but…hTgXd
yRAN“That was slightly later than I thought. Have you had dinner?”7EDJ
BSnNKorin Lork.Jw8G
VdGcDCErin was met by the young hero and his characteristic wild appearance.Cj2t
Wk3RNky“Huh?”F5rXUb
ssR4N“That’s all? I was expecting you to be a bit more welcoming than that.”B3ci
adLFBAoErin shook her head as she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Korin, who was standing on the roof of the house at the end of her vacant and disbelieving eyes, jumped down and leisurely walked towards her.aVw
HOKUAxA“I’ve already dealt with Gerolge.”SJjCoM
zDcFlG“Huh? Huhhh?”aDF
lBKkhUnlike her, who was extremely dumbstruck, Korin Lork gave a smile while caressing her cheeks. His natural gesture made her heart beat fast, amplifying the rate of her heartbeat.7id
S6i“I told you; I’ll definitely save you this time.”YWb
esJ5sSeeing the smile on the boy’s face made her heart go on an unbelievable rampage. Whenever the thick calluses on his hands grazed past her skin, her skin throbbed as if they were being electrified.Bmd4
Xd8nShe knew he was coming. Even though she knew he would be coming…D9u1l
xVsSq“I’m here to save you, Erin.”hKdlz
xuQ2ECFFor some reason, she was still getting chills down her spine.An6I
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