Chapter 54: Finishing Touch (3)
LYrv4CmI won.7brSOpr
IeMBgvZThe mastermind behind the 2nd Arc, Fermack Daman, who had been living as a professor for 10 years while deceiving the Merkarva Academy.UmG8b9
L0oo5gIf I remember correctly, the users used to call Fermack the Traitor as one of the Elite Four.5nz
KM0Dk[H, help me!]ytsA9
k5IAwz[I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!]9dk
nZKk2[Korin…! Help me!]nqwAQv5
IQJguJClosing my eyes, I could still hear the screams and cries of that time. When we met Fermack Daman again, whom we couldn’t catch at the end of the 2nd Arc, we were imprisoned in a world of nightmares.dvvZ
Bx3bMhA hell called Paradise that was inhabited by beasts of the shadow.FOA6
TBkWe lost a lot of my teammates.3xNnNQ
5uSA lot of innocent people had been killed.vDC
1jPeFermack Daman. One of the four executives of the Evil King – the Strongest Rune Mage, Tates Valtazar – who tries to bring Paradise to this world.gmwI
W8GKilling him early was incredibly meaningful, because with the support of the Precept and the Shadow Paradise, his power could even reach the level of a Unique Grade. And…QEmOW
LVqst“I knew it… He doesn’t have it yet, huh.”cOZpOr
tVOpuDzI rummaged through the body of the heartless Fermack but couldn’t find what I wanted. It was to be expected though, because he would have used it already if he had it.1Xrlf
KDqKeOne of the 4 great treasures protected by the druids, the Destiny Stone of Falias, Lia Fail. If he was in possession of that item, which he would have later received as a prize for retrieving the Primal Rune, my chance of victory would have fallen below 40%.KhyN1D
8vzs0KF“…Found it.”63A
S0SqqBut nonetheless, I managed to retrieve the Primal Rune that he stole so that was still okay.whB
l8Hs『Primal Rune – ó』2L2R5D
btKRJmbThis stone with the rune was one of the eight Primal Runes that could lead one to the Paradise of Erin.H4B4
IrrNThe Advent of Paradise was the goal of the final boss of ❰Heroic Legends of Arhan❱, Tates Valtazar, and he needed to have all the 8 pieces of the Prime for it.IW35
mGiWEh“Just for something like this…”8OXd2
6VVNJust for something like this, they had massacred countless people. Well, I could understand their hatred and anger at the world… but their method was terribly wrong.HpYq
f70g7“Huu…”r5Q6
EluI threw my body over the parched land.gWhVdeq
XI4pVhFighting while taking in all the damage of the Golden Mandrake’s scream and the solar runes with my bare body was quite a crazy thing to do for sure.dasE
XmdThe Mandrake, the runes and the Shura-mode were all great ways to ruin your body. Honestly, I was only doing it because I had my regeneration ability and I would have long died without it.WSBo
JsrBut it was thanks to that that I was able to come out on top. Fermack Daman had to be in a rush the whole fight after being pulled into my tricks.TXZRAr
IkaI“Hmm…”LFfzlB
15dcAMy eyes were very heavy.BQ1u1SF
DnINkMy entire upper body was scorched by the runes of the sun and my left eardrum was also ruptured because of the Golden Mandrake. Plus, my right one wasn’t normal either.9zgH
lY94nuWhat was worse than these injuries, which I could just disregard, were the wounds I gained during the fight against Fermack.dDwYpe
J4UBsmThere was a piercing pain in my liver and my right shoulder bones were also crushed. The strike to my chest crushed my sternum and shook my organs.9qb9F
yxfQCAcThe only things I could barely move were my left arm and my two legs… and even those were hard to move because of the backlash of Shura.ksxI9m
uOEHQsU‘I thought I was used to pain but…’cQb4
IJiDespite everything, it was still hard to withstand the pain of having twisted organs.WYq1H1
q644gHuu… Huup… Huu…ml5
Wm6mglxWhile straightening my mind and my breath that could fade away at any given moment, I took a hold of my consciousness. If I lost my consciousness here, the rune stone and my goldie would be…F0Y
aIjx『You have successfully defeated Fermack Daman. You will now receive the reward of your Precept.』xWqZ
oxkIRNeA faint message appeared in front of my dim vision.TnK10u
pkXNNo, that’s not the important thing here…98V
Nn6AEH0My vision turned dark.veUmJTt
U8uMy eyes slowly closed by themselves. It didn’t take long for my consciousness to escape from my grip.f3v8sU
XSgJcj1****FlW
fIdWkr“…”8ATB
49Oe7RBy the time Korin woke up, he found himself going down a familiar path.zFdSg
Qi7cG0Of course, he wasn’t the one voluntarily moving his body – his body was still in a mess and was bleeding down the track.Y3rfk
EFtCM“Is this Alicia…?”zveu3
D9gasG1Korin vacantly perceived the identity of the girl carrying him by seeing her hair.Yi2rWi
sPugwI“You woke up…”chWNw
xCJBqAlicia was walking down a pathway with Korin behind her back. She was probably heading to the infirmary.HT5C
B2ALuvIHer martial uniform, which conservative adults would consider as having too much exposure, was revealing her skin that was covered in blood. Even though it should be very uncomfortable for her, Alicia was still walking forward while carrying Korin on her back.sONVcr
h3suofw“Working hard aren’t you…”CJiC
WBAEX“Not as much… as you, Mr. Korin.”XTZK
Pi0mHis body was still very numb. Since she was a knight, Alicia should be fine carrying a male adult on her back, but Korin was feeling a mental burden from the fact that he was being carried by a girl.VfZal
ZEKCy“How did everything go?”UmBlwU
WsO2DHowever, it’s not like he could turn her offer down so he gratefully accepted her help.KJQsPwM
hfzbT“Professor Deina has started cleaning everything up. She did seem very sad though. Mr. Dorron went back while everyone else, like Ms. Yuel, were looking for you.”hga41
79Qvsa“Dorron that freaking… unloyal friend…”5faH
96Xng“He said don’t expect anything more than that from a business relationship. Also, he said you need to pay him the remaining payment for this incident by next week.”vhy9
HFmm“Hah. Seriously…”aj2Z
nCmlKorin gave an empty smile while thinking about how that was exactly what he would expect Dorron to say. However, he didn’t hate it – being honest about one’s greed was an adorable thing in comparison to everything he had seen.u5KPSVo
LKWo“Alicia… Did you…”LNA
AZb“Do you mean the Rune Stone and the Golden Mandrake? I took both of them.”Mkb2s1
bzgxU“…You’re surprisingly quite sharp today aren’t you?”aiX
YFTq4“Eeeek…! You know you’re on my back right, Mr. Korin? Do you want me to shake you!?”8OqZH
GvGOVs“Wait wait. Don’t… My organs are going to shake as well…”utK
00wFQRealizing once again that Alicia was such a nice girl who wouldn’t even talk about throwing him away even in the heat of the moment, Korin gave a grin.pC9
hUf0e“I’m alive… thanks to you.”EuT
AtF“It’s nothing much.”ozm
ICss2OiAlicia smiled widely as she continued walking down the road. Riding on her back, Korin forced open his eyes that were still threatening to close and tried his best to keep himself conscious.ROwiIZV
I1I“Say something. I might fall asleep again.”eVmoDKW
hXx“…You can just take a nap and rest. It won’t take long.”etY
QNOby“No. If I sleep… my regeneration speed will also slow down.”aKwXUzt
uosfLHis regeneration was based on the ‘tenacious spirit’. In other words, it was better for him to tenaciously stay conscious for a better regeneration.GPsY
S3gtnM“Okay. Then… Why did you fight by yourself?”ZJi
IPpC7Her voice was a lot lower than usual, as if she was trying to rebuke him.trzLs
kbuvV“Because it was necessary.”B5jp
63yz“…”jCp
AgH3Hearing his ambiguous response, Alicia slowed down her steps. Because of that sudden reduction in speed, her fluttering strands of hair tickled his cheeks.Tp3
4LE“Honestly, I have no idea how much you know and what you are trying to accomplish, Mr. Korin.”MJyN7of
iNP3xShe started off with the question that had constantly been on her mind, but Alicia wasn’t going to delve deeper into that now.gqnfY
7Vzgz“Isn’t it alright… to fight together until the end?”2338L43
Fmh8“Haha…”HYzFEw
Cqc0IY5Korin looked back on the past with a bitter smile on his face as he reminisced in the memories of the last iteration.sew
CKzgOPeople with a good personality that risked themselves for the right things – the so-called heroes always looked like they were in a precarious spot for the ones watching them from the side.hmY
K5O4Korin’s old friends used to ask something similar in the past.sD8
94ITzEven when he gladly offered his neck to the girl that just awakened as a vampire, and even when challenging the great evil of the world that he would stand no chance against without the support of his Precepts…oTjIstO
CzGVSHe simply did not look after his body, and that was very evident for everyone watching him from the side.8R46h
84gETOq“I am aware of it myself. I will ask for help next time.”5js
NE1“Of course you should. Because we are… umm…, ehem…!”03g5V
qkX814QWhile Alicia was hesitantly thinking about her next words, Korin regained a bit of strength so he lowered his legs back on the ground.RLHYhx
MgUckI“Mr. Korin?”swm
Z5qal7C“That’s enough. Let’s… take a rest at that bench over there.”7qxEUz
lNx5AU“Shouldn’t we go to the infirmary for a…”GTrzl9M
tNYQ“Resting at a bench is more than enough.”hP45Sw
xok“Okay.”nK0XjI
GUwHis voice was still energyless but Alicia noticed the firm resolve in his tone, so she headed to the nearby bench and laid him on top. Seeing him lying down on the bench, Alicia was fidgeting her hands when Korin opened his mouth.qUlRnQE
qk1TR“Aliciaaa…”Ozxv
AcSiO“Aht, yes?”itxFScO
dsNnjyL“My head hurts…”p4cTjHZ
ArHzcn“Haht…!”9e0
TkxKShe quickly lifted his head and sat on the bench where his head used to be. Only after resting his head on her soft thigh did Korin heave a small sigh of comfort.us6kQJ
hK9rmRsHe slowly reopened his mouth.KpL9
yBzcsFL“If you weren’t there… we wouldn’t have been able to kill the King of Iron Mountain.”MOnQ
Y8qUTK5“All I did was swing my sword once.”XJ2jC3
oPG“The action itself is important, but what you achieved with that action is just as important.”QLdET20
AHf“…You’ve been preparing for this fight, right? Mr. Korin?”U13R9
4KeUKvAlicia had felt her breath coming to a stop after seeing the aftermath of the fight at the empty plot of land. Back when they borrowed the land to boil Mandrake into a stew as well as when they were practicing spearmanship for the group assignment… Alicia could still remember him carving runes across the land whenever he had time.WxK
IrCRWbHundreds of rune letters on the ground… and the pebbles of rune that he gave to Marie – it was extremely evident that he had been arranging a lot of things for the fight for a very long time.keew561
eTr“Yes. I did prepare for it.”dqqG2
MCI5b5z“…”Ix9Z
ilLcxBHShe didn’t ask him how he knew about this beforehand. Instead, Alicia quietly gazed at Korin resting beneath her chest before carefully raising a question.9Tc
Mncr“…Why?”aXQlRw
MU8FPlenty of time had already gone by. There was a scorching red sunset on the horizon and the light from the setting sun was shining brightly on Korin’s figure on this inhabited bench. Revealed by that spotlight were traces of burns all over his body – despite his seared skin, his eyes were still burning as brightly and clearly as the sunset.ZnD
Zhc1‘So pretty.’6kj4zSY
pjukBtt‘This person’s eyes are always clear,’ thought Alicia. They were endlessly clean and tough. Even though he was stepping on a puddle of his own blood, his eyes were chasing after something remarkably beautiful.P4rB
4tPwgnShe wondered where his strength was coming from. Were adults all like this?VB0e
us2SMC“My eyes…”LzO
TLFt“Ah. L, let me cover your eyes!”PRpShA
lcuouxH“It’s fine… Let’s just, stay like this for a while.”xcVR
L76qkAs if he sensed her silent gaze resting on him, Korin mischievously opened his mouth.HG7cgTq
b20I“Geez… How blessed of a mom am I to have a daughter like Alicia?”I7dL
f5L5SOo“…You’re treating me like a kid again.”3Xw
EMa“Didn’t you say I was like a mother?”r6u5ws7
81Rah3O“It was just a figure of speech.”m0M30ye
Gc4FG4“Haha…”zBxE
CPW6nThe silly smile on his face and his heartwarming gaze that were looking at her like an adorable baby were a sign that he was considering her as a young child.ZSfrHQA
Q6T6iG3“Mhmm…!”UlaH
2yBWQvPinch! She gently pinched on the nose of the annoying boy.bBYnSWX
g3Gea6“Aiya… my bad, my bad. Ahh, I’m starving.”hSQum
HEVThe boy easily glossed over her response and changed the topic.fEoAZNL
J5lcgTDue to losing a lot of blood, his mind was going back and forth. His next remark that reached Alicia’s ears was probably an unconscious one.1M8Wg
8LmnP“It’s better… for less people to die.”wjXlTa
PAB“That was very sudden.”8L8ye
cVldu“Why is everyone so… insensitive…?”y0r
B3FyMWas he talking about the mastermind of this incident? Or was it someone else that Alicia wasn’t aware of?yHA
6c0In any case, Alicia soothed his mind.ltvJC
anLMw“You have done more than enough.”zcFtj
BvQi8k“Yeah… This… should be good enough. Yeah…”nHoUKL
5FZ1Fatigued, Korin completely relaxed his body with his eyes closed. He and Alicia stayed at the bench for quite a while.xMu
Z3NP3N****FP6
lVQAc『You have successfully defeated Fermack Daman. You will now receive the reward of your Precept.』aiW3R
SEt54Bg『Many Unspecified』
※ Difficulty: AtTAI
Z9iu※ Reward: Even distribution of 60 pointsiCHDR
yACh5JInside the single room of the infirmary, I checked the reward I received for this incident.LhIBU
4n5af“…”p5S2z
iOPIt was a bit… less than I thought.7aqF1
47L3dUntil now, the rewards I had received from the Precept were all from dealing with specific targets. In the case of Marie and Alicia, I had even gotten a specialty along with the stat points.cT3SeF
X9caufgBut as for Fermack, it wasn’t as if it was decided that he would be killing a specific good-natured person, so that was probably why it said [Many Unspecified] as the name of the reward.0Sw
SxI9TstIt’s not like I couldn’t understand what was going on, but wasn’t this still a bit too small considering I killed one of the executives…?D8ou
C1b『You have defeated one of the great evils of this world. You will receive bonus rewards.』BmD3k0
bARSmVXHuh?RCfuv
I016w5『Findias’s Sun』ayCWz5W
dSX9“…What the heck?”VIidOmH
LD2Why is this coming out here?D6Z
GDpFindias. That was the name of the mysterious land that contained Claiomh Solais, which was another one of the 4 great treasures just like Lia Fail.JpC
GQ0The top epic-graded items, the 4 treasures. From what I knew, they were all supposed to be in the hands of Tates Valtazar.gucOVw
TnwIn fact, Claoimh Solais was the solar sword of one of the Elite Fours, the King of Beauty, Ohad. What I received just then as a reward was the ‘map’ of the place where that sword was buried. They just drove the location into my mind.CPp
fgv3U‘Seriously. That stupid Mr. Park received stuff like this as an item in his inventory and here I am, having these driven into my head.’LDGcLZ
inrmUIsn’t this player discrimination?IgQIjjw
LjMLAnyway… it seemed that those ruins would open up during the solar eclipse. I will have to look into that later…3V0hZPs
lmxOmaN“Korin! I cut all the apples. Here!”s6QCGd
oNWA bright voice woke me up from my rumination. Marie, who was here for a visit, handed me a piece of apple on a fork with a bright smile on her face.4TJN
8YclvJust like what one would expect from her personality, she had sliced them into bunny shapes. Unfortunately, I had to wear casts because of the broken bones in my arms and I thus couldn’t move them. The bones were already fine again, and yet for some reason, it seemed that I still needed to refrain from using them.pcwFc9
4d8lca“Open your mouth. Say ‘Ahh~’”afo
BaxQF“A, ahh~”Fr4mla
ou8r– Crunch!OS4En
6BYeA“Ehew, good boy~”TZw2F8e
LLMdMarie patted my head after I bit on the apple in her hands.Pgml0dX
F7dufpOMhmm… this isn’t too bad. Ah, by that, I mean the apple of course.PYVPUFy
a7mW“…”cH4
cVg“…”nex
cboSRvJaeger and Lark, who had similarly come over for a visit with packets of snacks in their hands, had unfriendly gazes in their eyes.KiBFcqH
sjDqCD3“What? What’s wrong, huh?”EunF
gcIJP88“…You freaking bastard.”NTqNTbt
8MAEPa“You don’t deserve to be worried.”GSN
RAQgz4Are you jealous? Huh? You jelly? Why don’t you have all your bones fractured like me then, huh!NLykH
kPThZ“Korin! Would you like some peaches as well? I can slice them up for you!”mLBR
6Sd“Of course~. Anything will be delicious.”I659d
tohIIt has been 3 days since the King of Iron Mountain incident. Marie was staying in the infirmary looking after me without even returning to her dormitory.xs6
NHa“Mr. Korin~! I’m here!”wdx1Pbj
h01pXYh– Thud!bjCSg
HlP5aFAlicia pushed the door open with a slam. In her hands was a dessert set which high school girls would love to eat.3jNU8Lo
DqpPpx3“Hey. Be careful with the door. You might break it.”3bT
XnXL“Haht! I’ll be careful.”g15
EZ2yIFk“But seriously~. Single rooms are great, aren’t they~.”7FAI
qW93zThis room was big enough to hold a lot of visitors, which was definitely a plus. Alicia was opening the box of desserts that she brought when someone started knocking on the window.ctiLs0
gsGAIs– Knock knock.idzLo
faZLooking outside, I saw Hua Ran in her nun clothes knocking on the glass. This was the 13th floor though…J5wQxn
cwSOor“…Please open it for her.”u38Wt
xzxAlicia immediately went to the window and opened it as Hua Ran nonchalantly walked into the room.8yw
cpKG“That’s not the entrance. We have a functioning door so why do you keep coming in from the window?”8UrPiC
ad9MvWhile disregarding my words of disapproval, Hua Ran placed a flat fish on top of the table.eDe
iynTlH“…Is this a gift for me?”2b73ej
aMmHMi“Please cut it.”tnyK9e
qkA“…”7avQQUe
LBRrwpYou want me to cut an 8-inch giant flathead? Where the hell did you even get this from?D8Bx
kPU“I’ll do it later.”2njp3BD
HL4“And you can have the rest.”BChSwb5
emQfEaLet’s think of this as something positive. She must be trying to show her goodwill on her part… right?eZn
3qYdd5Since we were all together in one place, we spent time chatting and playing some simple games. There was a bizarre combination of food – a flathead, a cake and fruits but… well, kids their age should be able to digest steel so it should be fine.gCtR
3CY6Myh– Knock knock!Mhv
eGdThinking that we had more visitors, Jaeger walked up to the door and opened it as people I had been waiting for finally showed themselves.qM3hEzo
QNA6t“Korin Lork. How is your body?”Pxk
NXvZ5Coming in from the door were Senior Professor Josephine Clara of the Academy, and a man with an appearance that seemed a bit… too young to be the Chairman of the Academy.KYO
lOJFcT“Student Korin.”NIX
Jgs0Chairman Eriu Casarr. It was him.eibxQ
bKi5BA“It seems that a lot of things have happened during my absence. My heart skipped a beat when I heard what happened from Professor Clara.”8vK
ufgAs if. That’s not even your real body.9YfxGx
HyPEU“Hello, Mr. Chairman.”5aG
IuLeUeDespite what I was thinking on the inside, I welcomed ‘her’, who was officially the Chairman of Merkarva Academy.wmo
1mn33qI think it’s about time for us to reveal our hands, Master.QAwI
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