Chapter 80: Idle Time

Thud!

Arandel’s knees fell upon the rose petals.

His head, no longer having the strength to rise, slowly dropped.

“Haa! Haa!”

The tachi in Isaac’s hands also fell before him. His arms trembled, and his heart pounded so hard that he felt it might just burst.

He opened his eyes wide, taking in the scene he had just created, but it still was hard to believe.

Arandel Helmont was kneeling.

At that moment, Silverna rushed over, supporting him from behind as he was about to collapse.

Rianna followed closely, supported by others.

“Announce it.”

Arandel declared, his head dropped as his voice grew faint.

Perhaps due to the Vassalization, words continued to pour out of his mouth despite him growing weaker by the second.

“My death.”

And…

“Your victory.”

“…Lord Arandel.”

Princess Clarisse stepped forward, shedding tears for the knight who had devoted himself to the kingdom until his very last breath.

“Thank you, Lord Arandel.”

Clarisse knelt before him, bowing her head.

“Do not shame me, the defeated.”

The man who had protected the kingdom’s peace left his last words…

A declaration to all those present, with his fading voice.

“Therefore… Be great…”

From then on, his lowered head would never rise up, ever again.

His form reminded one of a broken rose.

About three days after Arandel’s funeral.

Isaac was standing blankly at the Helmont Mansion’s entrance.

The garden, once lavishly surrounded by roses, was left in a devastated state. Meanwhile the mansion itself was left in ruin.

Now that the funeral was over…

They had started the reconstruction of the Helmont Mansion, but…

No one knew if it could even regain its former majesty.

Perhaps, they’ll never regain their former glory.

Even in Isaac’s previous life, after Arandel’s death, Helmont was in a decline.

Lohengrin was chosen to be the family head, but he was insufficient to fill Arandel’s shoes.

He felt a strange bitterness on his lips, probably due to his love-hate relationship with Helmont.

“You’re leaving?”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

It was Rianna, who had returned to the mansion after surveying the surrounding villages.

“Are you going to Evergard?”

“Yeah. Well, I have to.”

Isaac was set to return to the capital, Evergard. He had to meet up with the Grandmaster for one, and he happened to have earned a noble title through this incident.

“I probably won’t be able to attend the conferment ceremony.”

“It’s okay. I know you’re busy.”

Rebuilding the fallen Helmont would keep her busy enough, he knew that she couldn’t leave the place even if she wanted to.

On a related note, their divorce would be soon announced.

Originally, they had planned to keep it among themselves, but now there was a justification for them to announce it.

The fact that Isaac had killed Arandel.

After a moment of silence, Rianna spoke again.

“From now on, the nobles will truly be on guard against the Transcendent Race.”

Isaac nodded.

“Yeah. That, and the awareness about sorcery will have been instilled as well.”

After all, even Arandel Helmont had fallen prey to sorcery, although he was strong enough to turn his blade against them.

With this, more nobles would become wary of sorcery. Even the Magic Tower began researching it, treating it as something distinct from magic.”

“Lord Arandel… Left behind more things than expected.”

The awareness of sorcery, the death of 5 Primordials, and finally, by letting himself be killed as an enemy, elevated the status of the kingdom’s next generation.

And now…

There was a trend going on, people calling those who had fought in that battle as the Golden Generation.

They sang that even without Arandel, as long as the Golden Generation was there, the kingdom would be safe.

“It’s fortunate that Father died there.”

Rianna’s words could be taken as cold, but she couldn’t be any more correct.

Thanks to Arandel’s death, people would recognize him and Helmont as martyrs to some extent.

“Thank you, Isaac.”

“Rianna…”

“Thanks to you stopping Father, Helmont is able to preserve the last of our dignity.”

Even as she was staring at this scene, where everything was in ruins, or terribly damaged…

Rianna still said that it was fortunate that this much remained.

For a moment there, Isaac hesitated. Then he let out a sigh.

“You said that, but you don’t look happy at all.”

“…”

He was the only man in the world that she could bare her true feelings to.

Hence why, albeit with a bitter smile, Rianna uttered words she should never have uttered.

“If only…nothing had remained…”

Then.

I could have abandoned the Helmont name and lived on…

As if trying to tell him to ignore what she had just said, Rianna glanced at him and promptly changed the subject.

“From now on, I will become the family head. I will lead Helmont.”

For her, it was an unwelcome position.

But she had no choice, this was something that she had to do.

After all, there was no one else who could bear that position other than her.

“Father was…a great warrior. But, because of that…he abandoned too many things. Far too many…”

There were always different sides to people.

From the outsider’s perspective, Arandel was a great man who protected peace with just a single sword.

But for those living in the mansion, he was a merciless father who abandoned everything for the sake of the sword.

“From now on, Helmont will take a different path. Thankfully, the current Helmont has been broken to the point where none of its previous traces remains.”

She shrugged, letting out a self-deprecating smile.

“I’m thinking of making Helmont…a bit more family-like…”

That’s all that’s left anyway…

Such words lingered on her lips, but she didn’t voice them.

She didn’t want to tie him down with her lingering attachments before he left, after all.

“I suppose the next time we meet will be on the battlefield.”

Rianna took a step towards the mansion.

As if she was trying to see him off.

“When that time comes, I’ll be counting on you.”

Rianna’s gentle voice was like a hand that was pushing his back.

“Isaac Logan.”

“…!”

Hearing that, Isaac’s eyes widened, and he nodded with an incredulous chuckle.

“I still can’t get used to hearing that name.”

“Go.”

“Alright, alright, I got it.”

Isaac slowly stepped back before bidding his farewell.

“Goodbye, Rianna Helmont.”

“May only happiness fill your journey, Isaac Logan.”

As she said that, Rianna lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed her head.

A formal, courteous farewell.

After exchanging the farewells, Isaac walked away from the mansion, but…

Rianna stood still in the same place, not relaxing her posture.

“Sister, the workers have arrived—”

At that moment, Edel, the youngest son who was in charge of the administrative work for the mansion’s reconstruction approached her, but he soon stopped in his tracks.

“…”

It was because he noticed the teardrops that fell onto the dusty floor.

Sister…

And so, he quietly retreated.

Everyone needed time to collect themselves after all, and his sister was no different.

“Hey!”

Isaac was lurching his body forward when Silverna suddenly appeared, slapping his back.

“Ugh?!”

That startled him.

But, thanks to that, he got to quietly put aside the complex emotions he had from his conversation with Rianna just moments ago.

“You were there, Silverna?”

“Yeah, I was helping the people around here a bit.”

The surrounding villages were bustling with activity. Though the damage wasn’t as severe as the mansion, they still needed to clean up.

Rather than helping around the mansion, the knights of Helmont actually went down there to help the villagers out.

“So, are you going to stay here for a while longer? Or do you want to leave together now?”

At Isaac’s question, Silverna hesitated for a moment, then she awkwardly looked around before changing the subject.

“What about Sharen? Didn’t she say she’d come along?”

“She’s staying here for the time being, she’ll follow us after everything’s settled. That girl has a lot of things to do here, after all.”

The poor girl lost her father not long after her mother.

Though she put on a brave smile, saying that she had overcome the grief once before and she’d do it again…

It’s just bravado…

Naturally, there was a hidden shadow in her smile.

Nevertheless, since she had already said so, Isaac didn’t offer his consolation unnecessarily.

Because he knew that she’d definitely overcome this and grow.

“I’m going straight to Evergard. They might not say it but I could tell that my presence isn’t welcome here.”

There was a clear reason behind, and Arandel himself had wanted it, but…

It was unreasonable to expect people to use only their reason to think.

Moreover, Isaac was no longer part of Helmont.

There was no way that the Helmont knights could view Isaac in a positive light unconditionally.

I wanted to say goodbye to Jonathan at least, though.

Unfortunately for him, Jonathan had left to escort the external aid supplies.

“About that, Isaac…”

At that moment, Silverna scratched her cheek awkwardly. Then, with a sigh, she confessed.

“I’m thinking of returning to the North.”

“…Already?”

“Even if the Transcendent Race’s momentum has been broken, they won’t give up just like this, right?”

She was right.

This wouldn’t be enough to make them give up.

“I’m going to the North to prepare to stop them.”

“…I see.”

In his past life too, the moment the North was breached, the Transcendent Race launched a fiercer offensive than ever before.

For them, the Malidean Wall was a thorn in their side.

But, it’s different from back then.

In his previous life, the invasion had been sudden, but now, the Malidean Wall was prepared.

It was clear that the flow of the battle would be different from before.

“So, Isaac, this is goodbye for now.”

“I guess so.”

The wind blew.

Silverna’s hair fluttered, hiding her cheeks that had turned red from embarrassment.

“Well, we did this once because of the Sword Dance Festival, so it won’t be as awkward, right?”

“Seeing how talkative you’ve become, that couldn’t sound any further than the truth.”

“…”

Hearing that, Silverna pouted.

Isaac had tried to say something to avoid making a heavy farewell, but…

It seemed that the result wasn’t as good as he expected.

“Was my line that bad?”

“It feels like you are taking our farewell too lightly!”

“…Try to understand my position for a bit.”

He had just said goodbye to Rianna, and now Silverna was leaving too, so his heart felt a little unsettled.

Seeing Isaac’s awkward answer, Silverna stared at him intently before suddenly hugging him.

“What’s this, all of a sudden?”

“…What’s with that calm reaction?!”

“…”

“Anyway, we won’t see each other for a while. You were a married man, so this much isn’t a big deal for you, isn’t it?”

“…Right.”

With that, he returned her embrace.

Friendship and affection.

Their relationship was something that stood somewhere between those.

“But…”

Suddenly, Silverna whispered softly in his ear.

“How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That they’d get…bigger…”

“…”

Actually, he had been trying so hard to ignore it.

But, thanks to her comment, the sensation of the two large masses pressing against his chest became even more pronounced.

“You said it, didn’t you? That they’d get bigger, so I shouldn’t use the chest binder and get used to it. Because I wouldn’t be able to use it anymore.”

“I…did.”

“You were right. They got a bit bigger.”

Isaac tried to forcefully pull away, but he wasn’t strong enough to overpower Silverna yet.

“You’re gonna let go now? You want to make this as our parting moment??”

“…That would be a little bad, isn’t it…?”

Silverna nodded and slowly released her hands. When stepped back, Isaac felt a wet sensation on his cheek.

“…?!”

Startled, he grabbed his cheek with his hand. Then, he saw Silverna winked at him.

“This way, you’ll remember something other than my chest, right?”

Though she pretended to be composed, her face had turned as red as Helmont’s hair.

Her eyes had lost their focus, and the finger that she used to point at her was trembling. It was clear that she was embarrassed.

“If you were going to be like this, you shouldn’t have done it.”

Isaac complained with a sigh.

Silverna hesitated for a moment, then…

“P-Pikyat?!”

She tried to smooth it over with that one desperate act.