Chapter 14 – First Contact #4

Kamael had been a sickly child since birth.

It was because he was born with the Curse of Extremity, which afflicted at least one member of the Paragon royal family per generation.

Ordinarily, Kamael should have been born with a constitution suffering from Nine Yin Severed Meridians, where his blood vessels were blocked by cold qi, and lived a life on borrowed time. Fortunately, that did not come to pass.

“It is impossible to completely dispel the Curse of Extremity. However, it should be possible to adjust the power of the curse… so that this child can grow accustomed to it and learn to wield the extremity itself.”

Those were the words of the Great Druid Nuada, who had deep ties to the Paragon royal family, as he inscribed a special sealing ritual on Kamael’s body.

The seal was designed to release the Curse of Extremity little by little as Kamael grew, which thankfully allowed him to avoid the extreme condition of Nine Yin Severed Meridians.

But it was still the Curse of Extremity.

Born with an excess of cold qi, Kamael was inevitably smaller and more frail than his peers, and his stamina was equally feeble.

“I hate it…”

He was six years old.

An age when a child should be running around without a care in the world, showered with parental affection, but that was not Kamael’s story.

In a corner of an annex palace, itself tucked away in a corner of the Paragon Kingdom.

Huddled alone in the shady forest beside the old, dilapidated annex palace, Kamael stared into the distance with dazed—no, with hollow, unfocused eyes.

Kamael was alone.

His mother had died of illness when he was very young, perhaps due to giving birth to a child of extreme cold qi, and his father, the King of Paragon, showed little interest in him after his beloved concubine’s death.

The king was not a particularly evil man, but neither was he a benevolent soul.

It was pure coincidence that the Great Druid Nuada had treated Kamael.

On the day Kamael was born.

A miracle occurred because the druid, who happened to be passing nearby, sensed the Curse of Extremity.

If Nuada had not come on his own, Kamael would have surely succumbed to the Nine Yin Severed Meridians from the curse.

The King of Paragon would never have summoned Nuada for Kamael’s sake.

Someone had once said it.

That Kamael was nothing more than a scapegoat doll, created to absorb the generational Curse of Extremity.

Perhaps they were right.

After all, news had spread that the queen was with child not long after Kamael was born.

Kamael killed time, crouched in the shade.

Meaningless days spent doing nothing, just sitting blankly until the sun set, at which point he would return to the annex palace.

The shady backyard of the annex palace was a place no one ever visited, and in the silence and solitude, Kamael was killing himself along with time.

Until he met that boy.

“Hello?”

Kamael flinched at the sudden voice.

But he had no time to be startled or afraid.

The owner of the voice immediately thrust his face forward.

“What are you doing here? Are you observing something? Is there something over there?”

He was a boisterous boy.

The large boy, who had plopped down next to Kamael in an instant, narrowed his eyes as he carefully studied the direction Kamael had been looking.

Short-cropped red hair.

Clothes that were dirty here and there but were clearly expensive at a glance.

He wore a wooden practice sword at his waist, which, even to the young Kamael’s eyes, was no ordinary object.

But again, Kamael couldn’t dwell on the wooden sword.

The boisterous boy, as if suffering from an attention deficit, had already given up his observation and brought up a new topic.

“Wanna see this? I just caught it. It’s huge, right?”

The boy proudly presented a beetle with magnificent horns. It was so enormous that Kamael found himself nodding before he knew it.

“Heh heh, I knew it. It’s the first time I’ve seen one this big, too. It must be the leader of this forest.”

No matter how big it is, it’s just a beetle. Calling it the master of the forest is a bit much, isn’t it?

Kamael, who was clever for his age, thought so but didn’t say it out loud.

Partly because he was unaccustomed to conversation after spending so much time alone, but also because the boy immediately moved on to yet another topic.

“What’s your name? I’m Landius.”

The boy said this as he extended the hand holding the beetle. Kamael, instinctively recoiling to avoid the beetle struggling to escape the boy’s grasp, missed his chance to answer.

“Hmm… well, I can ask later.”

When Kamael remained silent with his lips sealed, the boy—Landius—said this, then smiled brightly again, this time extending his other hand, the one not holding the beetle.

“Anyway, I’m Landius. Let’s play together.”

It wasn’t a question, like ‘Want to play?’

At Landius’s words, which were closer to a declaration, Kamael unwittingly nodded. Landius beamed and pulled Kamael to his feet.

And so, Kamael spent time with Landius.

Though it was the same place he sat every day, Kamael learned for the first time that there was a centuries-old tree in the backyard.

He learned for the first time that there was a small pond, and that tiny fish lived within it.

And for the first time, Kamael held a sword.

The practice wooden sword Landius offered him.

It was too big and heavy for the frail Kamael to handle, but the moment he gripped the hilt, he felt a sensation he had never experienced before.

And Landius, watching him, felt the same.

That was why Landius, with the brightest of all the smiles he had shown that day, said:

“You can have this.”

It was clearly an expensive wooden sword, but Landius offered it generously. Kamael blinked and opened his mouth.

“Thank…”

But his small word of gratitude was left unfinished.

It was the first time he had spoken all day, but his voice was drowned out by a much louder one.

“Landius! Where are you!”

It was a man’s loud, booming voice.

Will Landius sound like that when he grows up?

The moment Kamael had that thought, Landius turned toward the voice and shouted with all his might.

“I’ll be right there!”

His powerful shout was so loud it felt like the bushes trembled, a slight exaggeration. Naturally, Kamael, who was right beside him, was momentarily stunned.

Landius grinned at Kamael and left him with words that were clear even to his ringing ears.

“I’ll come again tomorrow. Let’s play again tomorrow. Got it?”

Instead of answering, Kamael nodded. Landius smiled brightly again, waved, and turned to leave.

Kamael returned to the annex palace late that day.

Later than usual, and with a large beetle and a wooden sword in hand, but no one said anything.

The servants provided only the bare minimum of care and paid Kamael no particular attention.

Thus, Kamael was able to place the box with the beetle by his bedside and climb into bed clutching the wooden sword without any trouble.

Tomorrow.

Landius is coming again tomorrow.

The sickly Kamael’s stamina was already depleted.

With a small smile, Kamael closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, looking forward to the next day.

*

“I see. So you’ve been building your friendship with Landius ever since then?”

Fran asked with a warm smile, as if it were quite a heartwarming story. Kamael shook his head, his face cold.

“No. Landius didn’t come the next day.”

It was only natural, in hindsight.

After all, it was their first meeting, one that Landius himself didn’t even remember.

“Not the next day, nor the day after, nor the day after that. I kept waiting, but Landius never came.”

He added a chuckle, Huhu, but it only made his voice feel colder. Fran and the others pictured a young Kamael, crouched alone in the backyard, waiting endlessly for Landius—glancing around in hopes of seeing him, only to hang his head in disappointment.

“P-Poor thing.”

Fran was right.

Lena went so far as to smack Landius on the chest, where her arms had been wrapped around his waist.

“That’s so mean, Landi. How could you do that to someone?”

“Ah, no. I mean.”

Flustered by the sudden criticism, Landius turned to look at Kamael.

His expression clearly said, ‘That was you?’ Kamael gave a bitter smile and threw Landius a lifeline.

“You couldn’t help it. You had gone abroad with your father, Lord Lanford. And you lived abroad for several years even after Lord Lanford returned. Besides… from your perspective, it was probably just a casual promise of ‘let’s play again tomorrow’ to a kid you happened to meet.”

Landius was already so famous back then, with titles like ‘Snake Catcher at Two,’ that even the young Kamael had quickly learned of his whereabouts.

“In any case… it was a truly important meeting for me. Thanks to it, I was able to learn the sword.”

Kamael was a sword genius.

All he had learned were the basic forms Landius had taught him, but that alone was enough for the Sword Demon to begin showing his true colors.

His extraordinariness, noticeable even to the servants who were usually indifferent to him, also caught the attention of the King of Paragon. Kamael was given the opportunity to become the sword of the royal family, rather than a sickly, neglected illegitimate son left to die.

As Kamael quietly closed his eyes, finishing his story, Landius looked apologetic again. Lena posed another question.

“But Landi, why did you forget that the boy from back then was Kamael? From what I just heard, it seems like it should have been a memorable event.”

“No, I… I do vaguely remember something like that happening, but I thought he was a girl.”

As Landius spoke, scratching his cheek, everyone turned to look at Kamael again, then nodded in understanding.

If Kamael was this beautiful now, he must have simply looked like a girl in his childhood.

Even for someone other than Landius, it would have been difficult to recognize at a glance that the girl he had played with for half a day as a child was actually a boy, and Kamael at that.

“Hmm… anyway, it was a good call to postpone it.”

It was a pretty good story, but it still wasn’t enough to be the highlight.

Fran, praising himself for moving Kamael’s turn up, steadfastly ignored Kamael’s piercing glare and said to Lena,

“Alright, let’s hear the highlight story now.”

Lena’s story.

As all eyes focused on her, Lena cleared her throat, looking somewhat nervous. Then, with a slightly flushed face, she began her tale.

*

Lena’s hometown was a small, remote village in the Paragon Kingdom that could be considered the countryside.

Lena didn’t remember her parents well.

She had lost both her father and mother to a horde of goblins that attacked the village when she was very young.

What little Lena could recall was her mother’s embrace.

But even that was not a pleasant memory.

What she remembered was not the warm, soft embrace of her mother, but the feel of her mother’s body growing cold as her life was taken by the goblins.

Orphaned, Lena was raised under the village chief, as was common for orphans in rural villages.

The orphans were the village’s communal property, often sold to other villages as slaves or laborers once they came of age.

Lena, who was still young but whose pretty face promised future beauty, was the village chief’s treasure.

She was a top-grade product that could be sold for a much higher price than the other children.

But that didn’t mean her situation was any better than the other orphans.

She was still just an orphan.

In fact, the village chief’s trivial special treatment earned her the jealousy of the other orphans, and Lena was always ostracized and lonely.

She couldn’t remember the exact day.

It was just a day like any other.

A night when she had done her chores, eaten a tasteless dinner, and gone to bed early.

The goblins attacked.

Lena couldn’t properly remember the events of that night.

She had been trembling with fear and terror, and when she opened her eyes, she was inside a filthy goblin lair. Right before her, Hans, who had been the leader of the orphans, was being eaten alive by the goblins.

Lena burst into tears.

It wasn’t just Lena; the other captured children were also wailing and wetting their pants.

It wasn’t only orphans.

The village chief’s child was there, as was Irina, the blacksmith’s daughter, who used to boast to the orphans about the things her parents gave her.

They were eaten, one by one.

The goblins continued their meal in front of the children, as if savoring their screams like a spice.

It was a period of time that could drive one mad.

It was not a sight a mere six-year-old child could endure.

Lena curled up and cried, thinking of her mom and dad.

Watching the blacksmith’s daughter scream and wail, she thought.

My parents were also killed by goblins.

Soon, I will be killed by goblins too.

Why was I born?

To be eaten by goblins?

Like Hans and Irina?

To die screaming?

These were difficult thoughts for an ordinary six-year-old.

But Lena’s bright mind made it possible, plunging her into even greater despair.

Irina was no longer screaming.

Only intermittent moans could be heard.

Lena curled up, sobbing and hiccuping.

She let out stifled screams at the horrifying sensation of Irina’s blood and entrails, which the goblins had playfully splattered over her head and body.

Mom, Dad.

Mom.

Mom.

Mom.

CRASH!

A deafening roar erupted.

Startled, Lena curled up even tighter, and so she could not see.

She could only hear.

A series of roars, the monstrous shrieks of goblins, and a man’s furious voice.

How much time passed after that?

A large hand was placed on the head of Lena, who was trembling with her hands pressed tightly over her ears.

“Are you okay?”

It was a foolish question.

How could she possibly be okay?

But the thought of criticizing him never crossed her mind.

At the large hand and the voice, Lena burst into tears. The man—the owner of the voice—held the messy, blood-and-guts-covered Lena tightly in his arms.

It wasn’t warm.

In fact, his embrace was hard because of his armor.

But Lena felt a sense of comfort.

It was because she had unconsciously recognized the kindness of the man who held her, a blood-soaked mess, without a hint of hesitation.

“Close your eyes for a moment.”

Lena did as the man said, squeezing her eyes shut.

She understood why he had told her to close her eyes.

The other children’s voices were gone.

The goblins’ monstrous shrieks were also gone.

Lena was the only one in the man’s arms.

What happens now?

What happened to the village?

Are all the village orphans really dead?

Her mind was a chaotic mess.

Along with the relief of having survived, terrifying and dreadful thoughts surfaced endlessly.

Mom.

Mom.

Dad.

She kept calling for them, though she couldn’t even remember their faces.

Why is this happening to me?

Was I born for this?

The air grew clearer.

The stench lessened.

It seemed they had escaped the goblin lair.

The cold air.

The cool touch of armor against her cheek.

“You can open your eyes now.”

At the man’s voice, Lena slowly opened her eyes.

She was still in his arms.

The man—no, now that she looked, he was a boy.

He was very tall and well-built, but his face looked no older than his mid-teens.

The boy couldn’t offer Lena a bright smile.

But his smile, a mixture of melancholy and pity, felt all the more comforting to her.

“Look over there.”

At the boy’s words, Lena slowly turned her head.

Far in the distance, beyond the direction of the village, the dawn was breaking.

It was a beautiful sunrise.

Who is this boy?

Is he like the knight from the only fairy tale book in the village chief’s house?

She didn’t know.

Instead of offering more clumsy words of comfort, the boy watched the sunrise for a moment, and Lena watched his face.

Without realizing it, she thought that he was a person who resembled the morning sun.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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