Ch.46Chapter 46: Goals, Rings, and Sobs

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After returning to my room, what I had to do next was somewhat more leisurely than when I was exhausted from fatigue.

“…Being less tired gives me the luxury to look around.”

As I slowly surveyed my surroundings, the first thing that caught my eye was the evening sky where the sunset had not yet completely faded.

No matter how much time had passed there, the experience of the past few days—returning to the exact moment before entering that place—remained valid this time as well.

‘Well, I suppose it will continue to be valid in the future.’

I was curious about how he so effortlessly maintained a virtual space with a completely distorted time axis compared to reality, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such trivial(?) curiosities.

The urgent task was to relieve the tension built up in my body and mental fatigue while realizing I had safely returned.

“Yaaawn…”

As that thought crossed my mind, a yawn naturally escaped my lips while I stretched my body.

Since awakening my super-regeneration ability, I had become a body that hardly felt physical fatigue, but there was nothing I could do about the mental exhaustion that had accumulated, which is why I acted this way.

As I continued to stretch and yawn, I could feel the tension that had built up during the test gradually easing, allowing a sense of calm to enter my mind.

“That guy… He was indeed strong.”

Strong enough for me to make an objective assessment of Fafnir’s strength—the one who had put me through this test.

He was definitely powerful.

Recalling the fierce battle until I passed the test just now, I couldn’t help but acknowledge his strength.

‘I didn’t expect my ki blade not to work on him.’

I saw that he didn’t take any significant damage from my strongest technique learned after regression.

After regressing and gaining the ability to freely manipulate ki, the first target I used my ki blade against was Laplace, one of the Blood Pentagram, who had slipped through the time axis to assassinate Siz.

Though he was considerably weakened compared to his original power due to forcibly entering the time axis, his strength was still impressive.

Similarly, even though she was still young and her power hadn’t fully matured, he effortlessly blocked the sword wielded by Siz with her holy sword and cornered her.

If it hadn’t been for my ki blade, awakened with the determination to protect her, Siz might have died at the hands of the Mein right after my regression.

Anyway, despite using the same ki blade that had cut through Mein and his armor—who had demonstrated such overwhelming strength—it failed to leave any significant mark on Fafnir’s armor.

“…It didn’t feel like cutting through flesh with a blade, but more like hitting metal with a club.”

The heavy pressure I felt in both hands gripping the sword when it made contact with his armor still lingered in my mind.

“…What a shame.”

I kept thinking that if I had done just a little better, I might have been able to leave a mark on Fafnir’s strange material armor, but…

“…I’m tired, let’s rest for now.”

Although the test ended relatively quickly compared to the past few days and was successful, that didn’t mean the accumulated mental fatigue was completely gone.

“Hup.”

I took off my clothes one by one and headed to the bathroom to wash away the dirt accumulated throughout the day.

Lately, it seems I’ve been experiencing the sense of ending a day by washing my body in the bathroom more often.

#

Splash!

The refreshing feeling of cold water washing away the dirt from my face and body always welcomed me pleasantly.

“Whew… That’s refreshing.”

After thoroughly washing my body and drying it with a towel, I left the bathroom and put on my pajamas while carefully considering what I needed to do next.

Simply put, pursuing strength to protect those most precious to me was the top priority.

“Perfecting my swordsmanship is most important.”

Like perfecting swordsmanship, which is the most direct expression of that strength.

However, there was something that took precedence over perfecting my sword skills right now.

“Since I need to participate in the Subjugation Festival, I’ll have to postpone that for now.”

Having successfully awakened my special talent, I needed to add my name to the list of participants for the event that every student at the Cradle hopes to join when this time of year comes around.

“Well, there’s quite a lot to do for that.”

I felt a slight headache coming on as I thought about doing something I hadn’t done in my previous life, when I left the Cradle after refusing to remain as an ordinary student after failing to awaken, but…

“Just as important as becoming stronger is earning the right to stay by Siz’s side, which means gradually shedding my anonymity.”

I quickly dismissed the negative thoughts that briefly surfaced and carefully considered what I needed to do to participate in the Subjugation Festival.

The Subjugation Festival.

Beyond the Dragon Claw Mountains in the northwest of the Central Continent—which is larger than several other continents combined—lies the Demon Territory, the only place in the Central Continent where the administrative power of the Empire, which rules as the sovereign of the Central Continent, does not reach.

A thousand years ago, after the Great Holy War ended, the Demon God who threatened humanity’s existence was sealed by the great hero Lumen Ranos.

But even though he was sealed, the power of a divine being, though weakened, still functioned steadily as a source that attracted demonic beings who worshipped him, causing Mein, demons, and other beings tainted by demonic energy to continuously gather in the Demon Territory.

Of course, since the Demon God had not yet revived, the demonic creatures gathering there did not transform into a threat to humanity by raising a large army.

Now as in the past, the most important thing in commanding a large gathered crowd is a charismatic leader who can exert their ego and vision without being overwhelmed by the aura emanating from their numbers.

The absence of the Demon God, who could bind together demonic beings whose individual power and abilities were second to none, and make them exert cohesion, was indeed a stroke of luck for humanity.

Of course, if these creatures were left unchecked under the pretext of lacking such a leader, they would naturally gather over time and form an army—though laughably weak compared to the Great Holy War era—proving that the term “demon” wasn’t used for nothing.

And they would fearlessly cross the Dragon Claw Mountains, becoming like a destructive storm that annihilates everything near the border.

From the Empire’s perspective, the damage to the southern periphery of the Dragon Claw Mountains might be at a level that could be ignored, but if they neglected it just because the damage was minor, it could cause problems for the Empire’s dominance, which had consistently ruled at the apex of humanity.

Therefore, when a certain time came, the Empire would dispatch troops in the form of a preventive war to subjugate the demons before they could form an army, thus preventing them from gathering one by one to form a military force.

The Empire called this preventive war the Subjugation Festival.

Not many, but the core talents who protect the Empire’s peace are invariably dispatched to the Subjugation Festival.

The Imperial Knights, the Empire’s elite order formed primarily to subjugate demonic creatures, are typical regular members of the Subjugation Festival.

The sight of a small elite force with overwhelming individual martial prowess subjugating the demonic creatures gathered in the Demon Territory was also symbolic of why the Empire had remained the master of the Central Continent for the long millennium.

“…Ah.”

At that thought, I realized I had come up with a specific goal beyond the vague objective of becoming stronger, and I lightly struck my left palm with my clenched right hand as I sat on the bed.

“I’ll become an Imperial Knight.”

Becoming a member of the Imperial Knights, known as the Empire’s Sword.

Participating in the Subjugation Festival would be the first gateway to entering the Imperial Knights.

Why do I want to become an Imperial Knight?

There’s a good reason.

“To protect Siz, I need to follow in her footsteps.”

Siz shed her anonymity by single-handedly stopping a sudden large-scale surprise attack by demonic creatures in this Subjugation Festival, and based on that, she became a member of the Imperial Knights.

Her name, already renowned as the recognized owner of the Holy Sword Lumen, began to be spoken throughout the Empire after this Subjugation Festival ended.

Naturally, I thought that to protect her, I too should be by her side when she distinguishes herself in the Subjugation Festival, which is why I made participating in this Subjugation Festival my top priority.

“It’s definitely not an easy festival to participate in.”

It’s not easy to be counted among the future talents who will display the Empire’s prestige.

Although I’ve successfully met the basic requirement of awakening my special talent, it was clear that as someone who awakened extremely late even in the Cradle’s thousand-year history, I would need to make tremendous efforts to participate in the Subjugation Festival.

Within the tight academic schedule, I would need to receive strict evaluations from professors who closely observe every move of the students.

And without recommendations from some professors, participation in the Subjugation Festival would be impossible.

There would certainly be continuous obstacles waiting for me as I tried to participate in the Subjugation Festival, but…

“Still, I have to try.”

If I were to give up because it’s not easy, I wouldn’t have mentioned participating in the Subjugation Festival in the first place.

Clench!

I clenched both fists tightly, strengthening my resolve.

Having been given a chance to restore a once-broken life…

At the very least, if I couldn’t straighten out my own life, I wanted to make the lives of those precious to me a little easier.

After organizing my thoughts, I lay down on the bed I was sitting on and tried to sleep.

“Tomorrow… will be busy, so I should sleep early to build up energy to move diligently.”

I wasn’t extremely tired, but the moment I decided to sleep, my eyes naturally began to close.

As my eyes closed, I had a feeling that I might have forgotten something important, but the pressure of drowsiness sent that thought far away.

‘Nothing serious could happen.’

I successfully passed Fafnir’s test and quickly decided what to do next, so everything else must be trivial.

But despite falling asleep with such thoughts, not long after opening my eyes, I would painfully realize the importance of the follow-up I had forgotten.

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My consciousness, which had fallen into a deep sleep, did not wake up voluntarily.

Creeeeak

It was the very careful sound of the door opening that involuntarily woke me up.

‘…Who is it?’

With my senses dulled, I was momentarily confused about who had opened the door and tried to get up, but…

“Still… sleeping.”

The voice that warmed a corner of my heart just by hearing it let me know who had opened my door.

“…It’s Siz.”

This was unusual.

I didn’t know what time it was, but it was quite surprising that Siz had entered my room to wake me up at this hour when the sun hadn’t fully risen, as I could see with my slightly open eyes.

But the surprise was brief.

“Did you forget… that we agreed to train together at dawn when we ate yesterday?”

The moment I heard Siz speak in a slightly hesitant voice, I became wide awake.

‘Ah, I forgot.’

I can’t believe I forgot the promise I made with Siz while eating before taking Fafnir’s test yesterday.

“Ah… Sorry, I had a lot on my mind and overslept.”

As I immediately apologized and quickly tried to get up…

“Then… I’ll wait outside.”

Siz left the room to wait for me as I got up, and…

“…Let’s hurry.”

I quickly changed from my pajamas into my uniform and left the room.

As soon as I opened the door, Siz’s expression, waiting for me in a modest posture despite skipping her beloved morning sleep, was a mixture of shyness and anticipation.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting.”

I apologized once more, expressing my regret to her, but…

“It’s okay. Before, when I always overslept, Kal would wait for me too.”

Siz’s manner of speaking, ensuring I wouldn’t feel embarrassed for apologizing, was incomparably lovable.

“Thank you…”

Feeling a tightness in my nose, I raised my right hand to pat her head, which she loved, to express my gratitude.

“Hehe.”

With a bright smile, Siz leaned her head forward to accept my touch, but…

“…Huh?”

At that moment, as Siz carefully examined my right hand approaching to pat her head, a low cry escaped her lips, and I witnessed Siz’s expression shake most heavily since my regression.

“…Kal. W-what is this?”

After the brief heavy trembling, Siz pointed at the ring on my right index finger with an expression that looked like she might cry at any moment, her entire body shaking finely.

‘Ah….’

Only then did I inwardly lament, finally realizing what I had forgotten when falling asleep yesterday.

‘Shit. I forgot to take it off my finger.’

The Ring of the Nibelung, received as a gift after successfully passing the test proposed by Fafnir.

The ring had such good wearability that I didn’t feel it on my finger and didn’t take it off even when washing my body, and it had now caught Siz’s eye.

It was no wonder Siz was shocked to see her fiancé, who had worn nothing on his fingers until yesterday evening, suddenly wearing a ring, albeit a modest one.

“Uh…uh. Uhhh…”

As she let out all sorts of near-screaming sobs and fidgeted restlessly, two thoughts crossed my mind.

‘How should I explain this?’

The first was the fundamental concern of how to explain the series of events with Fafnir, which would be hard to believe even if explained in words, and…

‘Thank goodness it’s not on the ring finger of my left hand.’

The second was the relief that I hadn’t put this ring on the ring finger of my left hand.

‘If Siz had seen this on the ring finger of my left hand, the Cradle would have been split in two that day.’

I don’t know for sure, but the imperial newspaper would probably have published a special edition with headlines about how the recognized owner of the Holy Sword split the Cradle in two with her Holy Sword over a love affair.

Just imagining it made my head spin, but quickly organizing my thoughts, I slowly opened my mouth to soothe her.

“Siz?”

“Uh…sob…waaah.”

…This is bad.

She seems to have reached a state where she can’t hear my words.

I managed to calm her down by gently embracing her—not a desperate clinch—to soothe her as she entered this tearful mode reminiscent of childhood, but in the end, the dawn training promised with Siz came to nothing.