Chapter 135: The Sorcery’s Aftereffect

“Ah…”

A short sigh escaped his lips.

The night wind that had been blowing fiercely at him and the hatred-filled sorcery that came rushing towards him had both disappeared.

Right now, he was standing at the place where he first fought with Helric.

The first things that greeted him were the Northern’s cold and the gently falling snowflakes.

Perhaps it was because they had found those whom they thought had fallen.

He could hear joyful, innocent cheers coming from his surroundings, as if everything had been resolved.

Unlike last time when this place was filled with the remnants of the great wall, now, long fences and strategically placed tents filled up the space.

In response to the confirmation of the Malidean Wall’s disappearance, the commander of the troop, Eisenwolf had temporarily erected the fences to guard the North.

“He’s back! Baron Logan is back!”

“The baron is here!”

Cheers of the soldiers—almost close to shouts, even—pierced Isaac’s ears.

Thud.

Before he realized it, the falling snow had touched his head.

It was a pure white, crystal-like substance that one could never see in Naraka.

“You’re back! Hey!”

“…!”

When he moved his gaze, he could see the Reeves’ Siblings, Leian and Marlin, running towards him in a hurry.

“Sir Isaaac!”

The knight, Jonathan, was also running towards him, screaming and crying.

They took him in their arms, embracing him, welcoming him for his return.

He accepted the current situation as it was, no matter how stark the difference between it and what happened back in the other world.

The warmth of his colleague melted his frozen mind.

And he gradually accepted the fact that he had indeed returned to the humans’ world.

“Ria…”

Tears that had been welling up on his eyes flowed down his cheeks.

His voice that called out to her name was weak, like a piece of ash about to be scattered by the wind.

“Ria…!”

He stretched out his hand. Though he knew that he wouldn’t be able to reach her even if he did this, he still did it anyway.

Because he wasn’t sure if he could keep himself together unless he did this.

He was back.

Back here, in the world where he should be.

And yet, she wasn’t here. He had left her in that world alone.

“Sir? Shouldn’t you be in the meeting right now?”

Jonathan, acting as Isaac adjutant, was following him closely behind.

However, Isaac kept on walking, completely ignoring his call.

“Sir Isaac—A-Ahem, I mean, Baron Logan, I heard you were the last person to leave that world.”

“Just call me Isaac as usual.”

“…Okay.”

Jonathan continued to speak, albeit cautiously because he probably noticed that Isaac wasn’t in a good mood.

“A-Anyway, Sir, since you were the last one to leave, they believe that you’re the only one who knows why Lady Rianna…isn’t here with us. So, Lord Eisenwolf—”

“Jonathan, please be quiet.”

“…”

At that, Jonathan shut his mouth.

Originally, they were on their way to attend a meeting, but Isaac suddenly changed direction to head off somewhere else. His gait showed his impatience.

And sure enough, he was trying to relieve his broken heart.

His heart felt like it was going to collapse from the sense of loss.

He needed some time to rest.

“This way.”

In the end, Jonathan decided to lead the way instead of dissuading him from going. Seeing this, Isaac followed his guidance and started walking.

They then arrived at a small tent.

There weren’t any people around, making it feel like this lone tent had been isolated from the rest of the camp, but it actually made it feel more noticeable in a way.

In front of the tent was a short man with stooped back and two daggers on his belt.

Back in Isaac’s previous life, he had told this man to straighten his back so that he could put more strength into his core when swinging his blades.

He was none other than Damian, the Grandmaster’s disciple.

“Ah, sorry, inside—”

“…”

“Huh, it’s you.”

Damian recognized Isaac right away.

He was about to say something, but he closed his mouth again and nodded.

“Damn, you really are handsome. Guess Master wasn’t lying when she said that.”

“…”

“She told me that if I see a handsome guy with a ponytail, I should let him in.”

As he said that, Damian stepped aside.

“By the way, since I became her disciple first, you have to call me Senior Brother. Got it?”

The traitor, Damian.

Back in Isaac’s previous life, during the final battle with the Transcendent Race, while the other Grandmaster’s disciples were guarding a city, he was the one who opened the gates to that same city.

In hindsight, even without his betrayal, their defeat was pretty much guaranteed, but…

It didn’t mean Isaac could just accept it.

But, he saved the Grandmaster.

If it wasn’t because of him taking the Grandmaster out of the battlefield after Helric gave her a severe wound, she would’ve bled out and died back then.

In other words, it was thanks to him that Isaac could meet the Grandmaster again.

Pat.

So, Isaac put a hand on his shoulder and left him with a word of gratitude.

“Thanks, Senior Brother.”

“Thanks? C’mon, does it kill you to be more polite—”

Isaac ignored him and went inside.

Damian, surprised by him, tried to grab him in reflex, but Jonathan stopped him.

When Isaac entered the tent, what greeted him was the smell of thick tobacco instead of medicine and herbs.

“Hm?”

And there she was, the Grandmaster, with bandages all over her body, sitting with one leg on one thigh on her bed.

The cigarette in her hand was still long, but when she saw Isaac, she immediately put it out by crushing it under the candlestick that was sitting next to her.

“You’re back.”

Her body trembled as she said that.

She wanted to come over to him, hug him and praise him for coming back safe, but…

Unfortunately, as his master, she had to save face.

Especially considering that lately, his disciple of hers had deemed her as undignified.

“You seem okay. Good, that makes me feel more at—”

Both her words and her wagging tail stopped moving at that moment.

It wasn’t just her who wanted to give the other person a tight embrace right away.

The moment Isaac saw her, he hugged her tightly, trying to hold back his tears.

“…!”

“…I’m…back…”

She could hear the relief in his voice amidst his sobs.

His fingertips trembled, showing his fear of the possibility that he might just lose her again.

Tighter.

As if refusing to let go.

He put more force in his hug, but the Grandmaster just patted his back without saying anything.

“You must be tired.”

With a voice that was laced with tears, making him unable to speak properly, Isaac answered, all while trying to ignore the ticklish sensation in his nose and his trembling tongue.

“Yes…”

I’m tired…

“It was…hard…”

Isaac buried himself into her arms as tears poured down his face. It made him look like a whiny child, but he didn’t care.

He felt so helpless that his heart felt like it was about to collapse.

“Grandmaster, please…”

He sobbed, burying himself deeper in his master’s embrace.

“Don’t leave me…please…”

His words were almost like a plea.

“It can’t be helped then…”

At that, the Grandmaster let out a soft smile and hugged him tightly.

“Since you still seem to need me, guess I’ll stick around for a while longer.”

A moment later.

Isaac entered the tent where the meeting was being held.

He tried his best to erase his reddened eyes before coming here, but unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

It was embarrassing to show up like this, but now wasn’t the time to be concerned about such a thing.

All eyes in the room were focused on him.

Lord Eisenwulf, Leia Reeves, Lohengrin Helmont and so on.

Everyone was staring at him.

Sitting across from that group was Uldiran and Silverna Cardias.

“Isaac!”

Silverna couldn’t be more happy to see him all well.

She wanted to come up to him and celebrated the fact that they all had survived that ordeal.

But she couldn’t. After all, they didn’t all survive through that ordeal.

Hence why she stopped after that greeting and sat back down.

“Sorry for being late.”

“It’s fine.”

“Hey, where’s Rianna? What happened to her?!”

Lohengrin slammed his desk down and jumped up.

Was he worried about his sister?

Though it seemed out of character of him, Isaac ignored him and continued.

Carefully and calmly, he explained everything that happened back there.

It was tough.

The composure that he regained from his time with the Grandmaster collapsed in no time.

Guilt and helplessness mixed together, making him all the more uncomfortable, while his self-hatred was growing in real time.

Those who were listening to him felt the urge to stop him.

Because they could feel his self-hatred as he spoke, as if he was gouging himself with a knife.

But, he continued, because he himself wanted to continue.

Words kept flowing out of his mouth.

His story was so detailed, almost as if he was resolving himself with those words.

I…

Will bring you back, no matter what.

After his report that sounded more like self-torture ended.

A brief silence enveloped the tent.

“That’s all.”

When Isaac announced that, everyone felt like they could finally take a breath.

They already heard the story from Uldiran, but as he was someone who was directly involved with the sorcery, his story was significantly more detailed.

For a moment there, Isaac thought that the meeting would continue right away.

But then, at that moment, a woman entered the tent.

Without her signature satgat and oodachi, the woman came in with her hands bound.

“…Nameless?”

Isaac stared at her with surprised eyes, in which she threw him an annoyed gaze.

“What?”

“How are you…?”

“Well, the light that was supposed to envelop Rianna enveloped me instead. As for how, I don’t know.”

Nameless let out a sigh.

From there, Eisenwolf took over while raising his chin.

“In any case, she suddenly appeared. Is she an enemy?”

“Yes…supposedly…”

As Isaac nodded hesitantly, something suddenly crossed his mind.

“You, are you by any chance, a mixed-blood?”

Nameless nodded at that question, prompting Isaac to let out a wry laugh.

He knew why she was here now.