episode_0326

‘Wow…! That older sister is Raonjena! My father’s best disciple!’

It was the day little Eugene Schneider first visited the Sophist’s training ground.

Ulysses had hoped that Eugene Schneider would not go to the Sophist’s training ground because he was still too young, but he could not stop his son’s desire, who had become very curious from hearing about it.

So, he visited the Sophist’s training ground, and what captivated Eugene’s eyes was the beautiful swordswoman Raonjena, who brandished her sword while her purple hair fluttered.

That was Eugene Schneider and Ulysses’ best disciple Raonjena’s first direct encounter.

‘So pretty! And cool! That gaze focused on the sword! Her passion is truly amazing!’

Of course, Raonjena had seen Eugene when he was very young.

However, at the time, Eugene was too young to remember Raonjena.

And after a few more years passed,

Eugene began to gradually recognize her before seeing Raonjena like this.

This is because Raonjena had begun to periodically visit Ulysses to discuss and report on the operating status of the Sophists.

As a result, stories about Ulysses and Raonjena naturally came and went, and little Eugene Schneider, who had inevitably lived a life largely isolated from the outside world, developed a growing affection for his father’s best disciple, Raonjena.

‘My mom was also a warrior… Was she like that? Was she pretty yet charismatic?’

Especially the reason why Eugene became so interested in Raonjena,

It was because she was essentially the first female creature he had encountered.

Of course, after some more time, exchanges with the Oblean family began, and he experienced the women there, but before that, Raonjena was almost the only human woman Eugene had ever experienced.

And that first human woman came to little Eugene with a very special meaning.

Because it was a time when he greatly missed his mother.

He projected the image of his mother, which he had occasionally heard vaguely from his father, onto Raonjena, and had affection for her.

“Older sister, Father will be here soon, so let’s have tea together.”

“O-okay? Then you drink this. This tea is only for Master to drink.”

“Hehe! Okay.”

After that first meeting, Eugene deliberately tagged along every time Raonjena visited Ulysses.

‘She’s an older sister who is somehow aloof yet humane. She takes care of me without seeming to. I like her so much.’

Especially when Ulysses was a little late, the sight of the two of them was incredibly awkward.

Primarily, Raonjena also had a isolated and unfortunate upbringing, so she wasn’t good at getting close to someone.

In addition, didn’t she have an inferiority complex in her heart towards Eugene Schneider, the master’s own son?

Therefore, due to such complex reasons, her aloofness and awkwardness were directly visible.

However, her basic nature was not bad, and she didn’t dislike Eugene clinging to her, so she did her best, at least while they were together.

Eugene seemed to feel that effort, so he felt a very deep sense of intimacy from Raonjena.

“Father… Why hasn’t Older Sister Raonjena been coming to our house lately? Is Older Sister Raonjena sick?”

Then, from one day, Raonjena disappeared.

She wasn’t seen at the Sophist training ground, and she didn’t visit Eugene’s house either.

Eugene Schneider had been suppressing his questions, but eventually he cautiously asked his father about Raonjena’s whereabouts.

“Do you miss Raonjena, Eugene?”

Pat…!

Then, Ulysses put his hand on his beloved son Eugene Schneider’s head with a warm gaze and asked.

“Yes…”

Eugene replied dejectedly.

The emptiness is great. Now, Raonjena felt like family to him, along with his father. But she hasn’t been seen since one day.

“Raonjena has something to do. So, this father asked Raonjena to carry out that task. Because she is the most trusted and capable disciple. So, she will be away for a while, my beloved son Eugene Schneider.”

Smile…!

Pat… Pat… Pat…

Ulysses explained Raonjena’s situation to his son Eugene Schneider in detail, with a warm smile.

While stroking his son’s head.

It’s good to see.

The fact that his son, who was so shy, had opened his heart to his disciple Raonjena.

“Hmm… I see! Then, if I wait a little longer, will I be able to see Older Sister Raonjena again, Father?”

Eugene Schneider regained his sparkling eyes at his father’s kind explanation.

“Yes, that will happen, Eugene. Then, when our Eugene meets Older Sister Raonjena again, will you be able to treat her as well as you have until now? Even if Older Sister is in a somewhat difficult state?”

Then, Ulysses asked a question with a subtle feeling.

As if a situation more than 10 years later was drawn in his head,

It was a question with a feeling that he wanted his beloved son and beloved disciple to be safe and well-integrated even when that dark situation came.

“Of course! I’m on Father and Older Sister Raonjena’s side no matter what! Definitely like now! No, I’ll treat her even better than now!”

Little Eugene Schneider responded to his father’s request with the brightest and most cheerful face and voice in the world.

However, those promises gradually disappeared into the darkness of Eugene’s unconsciousness.

Since he fell into great trauma after seeing Ulysses as a sword demon,

His defense mechanism distorted or deleted memories from the period closest to when the incident occurred.

As a result, Eugene Schneider lived for 10 years after entering the Oblean Grand Duchy, almost forgetting Raonjena.

But then,

[I am the leader of the fallen Sophists, Eugene. I am the one who clings to Tyrannos and commits all sorts of evil deeds as a Sophist, who made the Sophists violate Master’s teachings and go down that path. My foolish choice has broken me down like this too.]

Raonjena, who was such a beautiful and cool warrior in her childhood, was nowhere to be found,

Raonjena, who had become the leader of the fallen Sophists in a form no different from a demon, appeared.

“N-no way, Older Sister. How well did you follow our father’s words? My father clearly told me. You said you had important things to do and had gone far away.”

Eugene Schneider, who was filled with joy at meeting his beloved older sister again after 10 years at Raonjena’s desperate confession, was struggling with great cognitive dissonance.

He remembers.

The last narrative with Raonjena, which was sealed due to trauma, is also emerging in Eugene’s head like a panorama.

Raonjena, who remains such a beautiful memory, was the leader of the fallen Sophists,

Moreover, due to the unjust things that happened within, she has become this hideous figure,

Eugene Schneider desperately denied it because he could not accept it.

‘Ah… Was this what Victoria told me…’

Raonjena looked up at such Eugene Schneider and had a subtle expression.

‘I’m so sorry and so sorry…’

It was an expression stained with sincere regret that surged from the depths of her heart.

‘It’s not just something I’m imagining in my head… My heart aches when I stand in front of Eugene, who has been greatly hurt by me…’

Victoria told Raonjena that she would have to apologize to Eugene Schneider, the person involved, to resolve the matter.

Raonjena was confused while coming here and waiting for her reunion with Eugene after settling in the abandoned house. Because it didn’t feel real.

But when she sees Eugene’s truly wounded appearance, even a hint of confusion disappears.

She is a sinner.

“There’s no reason for you to do that! How great and recognized by Father were you! I remember that Father absolutely trusted you!”

Eugene poured out Raonjena’s image, which he believed 200 percent, in order to overcome the cognitive dissonance that felt like his head would explode. The existence that Eugene trusted next to his father since he was born, and the existence that his father Ulysses also cherished and kept by his side, such Raonjena could never be like this, he cried.

[I envied you, Eugene…]

Then, Raonjena began to reveal the truth, looking slightly at the floor with unfocused eyes.

[I had a distorted obsession with Master because I was swayed by my devastated upbringing… That’s why I envied you… Because it felt like I was being deprived of Master…]

The truth she had told Victoria, but Raonjena was different then and now.

At that time, Raonjena had fear. But now there is none.

Because she thoroughly acknowledges her sins, she will gladly accept all punishments given by Eugene.

So, like a confession, she revealed her inner rotten heart to Eugene.

“W-what!”

Eugene Schneider protested,

[Why does Father take care of Older Sister Raonjena so much?]

He had a memory of the past flashing through his mind.

[Hehehe! Are you that curious, Eugene?]

It is Eugene’s memory of being puzzled while seeing Ulysses putting effort into preparing a gift for Raonjena, who had become a Sword Master.

[Raonjena grew up very lonely as a child. I thought I wanted to fill that loneliness a little bit as a master. I thought that our Eugene might be lonely like that in a place where I am not. When you love your child, it seems like you see everything from your child’s perspective.]

Ulysses gave a very honest answer to young Eugene Schneider.

This is because he thought that Eugene might feel deprived.

Ulysses was conveying the meaning that he loved his son, so he was also concerned about Raonjena, who had grown up lonely.

‘Father’s eyes… It was true. I just vaguely understood those words when I was young…’

The story that he had understood as his father really loved him,

However, when it brushed his head again after growing up, it was Ulysses’ eyes recalling the loneliness that Raonjena was experiencing that especially came to him.

Ulysses knew and worried about the pain of Raonjena’s psychological anxiety until the end, and tried to take care of her.

“Tell me, Older Sister.”

Eugene Schneider, who accepted Raonjena’s words that he had envied Eugene Schneider himself because of his distorted mind,

“Why did you say you were sorry for confusing me with Father and doing that when I first came here? What did you do?”

He felt the key to Pandora piercing his heart like a dagger and wanted to know the truth.

[I…]

Pandora’s box began to open.

[I made Master turn into a Sword Demon and die through a potion made of the Demon God’s flower…]

The truth was conveyed to Eugene Schneider in that way.