Ch.315EP.67 – Parting Does Not Mean Farewell (1)

“Huff, huff!”

The man walked as best he could while gasping for breath.

At first he had been running, but it was getting more difficult with each step.

What is this place?

‘W-why is the air so heavy?’

It felt as if gravity was pressing down on him.

Guild Association Head Simon was gasping for breath, his vision darkening, and he was on the verge of fainting.

The twin siblings who were practically dragging Simon along shook their heads.

“Mister, you’re in the way.”

“You’re out of shape. Get some exercise, mister.”

“Ah, I’m not ‘mister,’ call me big brother or oppa, you little brats…”

“Watch your mouth.”

“You asked us to come and now you’re just relying on us. Pathetic mister.”

Tina and Tick.

The half-blooded werewolves didn’t look tired at all despite having run about 30km.

Rather, they moved with light steps as if overflowing with energy.

And the twins…

“But is grandma okay?”

“Should Tina carry you?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. Are you two not thirsty? Would you like some water?”

“No, we’re fine. Grandma, you drink it.”

“We’re not weaklings.”

“How reliable you two are. Hoho.”

“We are reliable!”

“Tina is strong!”

The twins followed the woman like well-trained puppies, beaming brightly.

Not only did she smell nice, but they instinctively knew she was a good person.

“…Talk about discrimination.”

Simon laughed dejectedly.

Considering all the snacks and meals he’d bought them over the past month, they should be treating him better, not showing such respect to someone they’d met less than half a day ago.

‘Ah, if I hadn’t received their help, I’d be scolding them…’

Unfortunately, since he owed his life to these twins, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Just then.

“Meong?”

“Huh?”

“…A puppy?”

The twins who had been walking energetically stopped and looked at the puppy blocking their path.

No, not a puppy.

“Orthros?! Why is a high-rank magical beast here?!”

Simon recognized its identity immediately just by looking at its dog-like form and was terrified.

Though it appeared to be just an infant, a high-rank was still a high-rank.

Absolutely not to be underestimated…

“Puppy!”

“Wait!”

“Hey, you brats!!”

Before Simon could stop them, the Orthros and the twins began playing together.

Proving that it takes less than ten seconds for children and puppies to become friends, they were suddenly playing tag.

Simon felt a headache coming on and was about to grab the back of his neck.

Tap tap.

…To be precise, before he could grab his neck, there was a gentle touch calming him down.

“Oh, Elder?”

“I don’t think you need to worry. It seems we’ve arrived at our destination.”

“Pardon?”

“Look over there.”

“That’s…”

“It might seem like there’s nothing there at first glance, but there is something, isn’t there?”

“…Ah.”

Simon was a clever man, and it wasn’t difficult for him to figure out the answer when given a small hint.

Therefore…

“I-I found it…!”

Simon rushed forward like someone who had found a long-lost love, and the priestess followed him with a gentle smile.

Dong, dong-

“The bell is ringing. So clearly…”

The priestess chuckled as she listened to the clear bell sound.

It was an upright sound, just like the person who rang that bell.

* * *

…To be honest, it wasn’t that Ihan was ungrateful and trying to leave.

The meeting with the high-ranking officials was dragging on, and knowing that staying would only lead to awkward silence, he just wanted to leave quickly.

He had intended to visit later and express his gratitude in person.

So…

“Ungrateful bastard.”

“…I’m telling you, it’s not that I lack manners.”

“That’s what they call a cowardly excuse.”

“…This is driving me crazy.”

This treatment felt unfair.

He knew she was clearly teasing him, but it was still burdensome to be called out like this in front of so many people.

‘She knows I hate this kind of attention, so she’s deliberately doing it, that woman.’

He was certain that Isis was well aware of his intentions and was just teasing him.

If people saw him having a friendly(?) conversation with Princess Isis, everyone would know what they’d rather not know.

– Knight Ihan and Princess Isis have been acquainted all along!

…Such rumors would probably spread throughout the royal capital as soon as the people here left.

‘Well, it’s not exactly a false rumor…’

Either way, it was clearly a scheme to disrupt his peaceful daily life, and Ihan couldn’t understand why this woman was acting this way.

‘She knows I hate standing out, yet she…!’

Ihan disliked fame and attention as they only got in his way, and despite knowing this better than anyone, Isis was deliberately creating gossip.

Just then…

“Sir Ihan.”

“…It’s been a while, Author.”

“Haha, right now I’m here as a swordsman, not an author. I wanted to help the benefactor of Ophen, even if just a little. Though seeing the situation now, I wonder if I needed to come at all. I thought this would be a chance to repay my debt, but it seems I haven’t been able to.”

“Just your presence is a great help. Rather, thank you for coming despite the hastily written letter.”

Iliad, who had arrived leading the instructors of House Ophen, shook hands with Ihan, diverting the attention that had been focused on him and the princess.

Isis’s eyes narrowed slightly, but ignoring this, the two men continued their conversation.

“But why did you come in person? Your body isn’t fully recovered.”

“Though my body is lacking, I still wanted to help. And don’t worry. I’ve regained enough strength to take care of myself.”

“…Indeed, your condition is quite good? Wow, I honestly thought it would be fortunate if you could just swing a sword, but you’ve recovered this much in just a month or two? As expected of someone called the Sword Saint.”

“You flatter me.”

Iliad, whom Ihan met after two months, was in better shape.

When they had met recently, he had been pale and so thin that he had no muscle to speak of, but now he looked incredibly healthy.

Moreover, his energy was stable.

As he had claimed, he had indeed regained enough strength to take care of himself.

‘The truly fearsome aspects of this man are his swordsmanship and mental energy.’

Though his body was damaged and he could no longer use destructive techniques like sword aura or battle qi, the true skill of a swordsman called the Sword Saint comes from refined swordsmanship and mental energy, not destructive techniques.

Probably among the 400 knights here, fewer than thirty could clearly gain the upper hand if they were to face Iliad now.

And even this assessment…

‘He’ll be terrifying in six months.’

This was an assessment of someone still in recovery; in six months, when his body was further trained, he would likely rank among the top thirty in the kingdom.

“Teach me some swordsmanship when you get the chance. At some point, I became relatively better at fighting with my fists than with swords or axes.”

“Haha, I know how fierce Sir Ihan’s axe and sword skills are. Do you really need guidance from an inferior swordsman?”

“At least in swordsmanship, there’s probably no one better than you, not just among those here but in the entire kingdom.”

“Well, that’s…”

“I thought so.”

“…You’re still as candid as ever.”

This was a conversation that could only be shared between those who had fought a sincere duel, even if reason had been lost.

Iliad said he was embarrassed, but he seemed pleased by Ihan’s acknowledgment of his skills.

Like a fan showing admiration for someone they look up to.

“I see you’re quite friendly with Duke Iliad.”

“It’s similar to what happened with you, old man.”

“With me?”

“We fought to the death.”

“…Hoho! Indeed! That would certainly bring people closer.”

Pat pat.

A handsome middle-aged man laughed heartily as he patted Ihan’s shoulder.

Viscount Jeminia, who at first glance seemed frivolous enough to remind one of a playboy, but Ihan knew he was actually quite a decent person beneath that exterior.

He had come to help without hesitation this time too.

“Hmm, now that I think about it, I’m both grateful and sorry to you, old man. I only have debts to repay you.”

Ihan, being conscientious, felt somewhat awkward about asking Tristan for help.

However,

“You’re worrying about trivial matters. This was something I had to help with. If not for you, who would have known that Modred faced such a crisis? Honestly, if a High Demon had been released, the kingdom—no, the entire southern region would have been in ruins. So for Tristan, it’s an honor to participate in this glorious battle to stop a demon.”

[[-That’s right!]]

“Our knights say the same.”

“…You all live so nobly.”

Ihan couldn’t bring himself to be brazen with Tristan, unlike with others.

Though there were circumstances, attacking them was inexcusable, and they didn’t even hold it against him.

Instead, they settled it with just a duel, showing their magnanimity. And this time, they were the first to come to his aid and even fought against vampires.

‘I should send them a proper gift later.’

There were so many people he was grateful to.

As Ihan was making such a resolution in his heart,

“I see, you’ve faced both the Sword Saint and the Divine Archer? That’s quite a fresh story.”

“Not fresh, but not fun either.”

“Well…”

“…Ahem.”

…His body suddenly staggered.

The moment those two men approached, the air pressure seemed to change, and he looked at them without hiding his discomfort.

At first glance, they appeared younger than him, with youthful faces.

But they were only young in appearance; it would be no exaggeration to call them ancient monsters.

“I-It’s been a while…”

Ihan struggled to greet them, as they naturally pressured his body just by standing there.

Duke Blake and Grand Duke Magnus.

These two monsters in human form showed great interest in him.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

“I can no longer ignore you. If I let my guard down, even I might be threatened.”

“…Ha.”

Such statements made him laugh involuntarily.

Guard down? Threat?

‘What nonsense.’

Having awakened to mental energy, he couldn’t help but know.

These two were on a different level.

Viscount Jeminia?

Of course, he was impressive too.

In terms of mental energy, he was certainly more mature than Ihan and close to perfection.

But these two had gone a step further, completing their own mental energy, their own world, and integrating it.

‘Now I understand why those two are said to be on par with Aura users.’

Superhumans.

Those two were superhumans.

They had just become superhumans in a different way than Aura users.

Thanks to his growth, Ihan could clearly sense this, and that’s why he felt overwhelmed.

‘What’s going on? The more I grow, the more these old monsters keep appearing?’

Just when he thought he had finally become a lion, two large elephants suddenly appeared and pressed down on his back.

The fragile lion could only cower in the presence of these two elephants, who gave no room for arrogance or conceit.

‘Life…’

There were too many elephants around him for some reason.

“Why do they keep coveting what belongs to others? I don’t understand. They have no business ethics…”

Isis’s quiet murmur.

Her voice carried a certain chill, but no one heard it.

Even if it was a soliloquy, it demonstrated that she possessed means to prevent others from hearing.

“How vexing, nothing but the mindset of thieves.”

Isis had never let go of anything that had come into her possession.

Even if it was a worthless ornament or a cheap item, once it was in her hands, it was hers.

So Isis gritted her teeth.

She was naturally irritated seeing those people coveting her most precious ‘jewel’!

“…Should I put a leash on him?”

Isis was so annoyed that she wanted to put a leash on him.

But the wise woman knew she couldn’t do that.

If she did, that jewel would immediately break the leash and leave her.

Whoosh-

As her eyes momentarily flickered with light, unable to suppress her dissatisfaction,

“Don’t overuse it, beautiful lady. Such power will only damage yourself.”

“……”

“You might consider this the nagging of an ignorant old woman, but please don’t take it as nagging, but as an old woman’s concern.”

“…I’ll be careful.”

“Hoho, not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in thought as well.”

“…Hmph, I’m simply not foolish enough to fail to distinguish between sincere advice and cunning falsehood.”

Isis responded curtly, and the elderly priestess nodded with a gentle smile.

As if finding her endearing.

The usual Isis would have frowned at such impertinence, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to the priestess.

Rather…

“My sworn brother once told me that there are people called ‘hidden masters’ in the world. It refers to experts who hide their skills and live in seclusion…”

“?”

“It’s true indeed.”

“…Hoho, you flatter me.”

She couldn’t help but feel respect.

After all,

‘A Holy Woman… to think I’d meet such a person in my lifetime.’

That elderly priestess clearly had the right to admonish her.

Seeing her sworn brother’s ‘connections’ that made even dukes and princesses seem insignificant, Isis finally showed signs of being overwhelmed.