—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Ekaf Tzin Ogatorf.
Not an ordinary knight, but one of the prides of the Itisiel Kingdom.
known as the youngest commander of a knight’s division in the kingdom and one of the King’s Ten Swords, possessing outstanding swordsmanship skills and excellent leadership.
Surprisingly, he said that 6 years ago, on the day I killed those thieves, he took on the role of a reconnaissance rider and investigated the village.
I wondered why such a person acted as a reconnaissance rider, but conversely, it was a serious enough matter for him to do so. At least, that’s how he judged it, and if such an outstanding person judged it that way, it must have been correct.
After all, the Demon King is not some shitty mutt from the neighbor’s backyard, and his army attacked the kingdom for the first time in hundreds of years, so it was indeed a grave incident.
“It was only after nightfall that I could reach the village. As it was the first invasion in centuries, I was cautious in my movements… and arrived too late.”
What he found was a completely shattered village, the corpses of thieves presumed to have different times of death, mounds of dirt not yet dry, and the graves of my parents that I hadn’t finished burying.
It seems he tried to check further to see if there were any survivors, but without much success, he just came to Ogwen and wrapped things up.
Our cabin wasn’t in a position to be easily seen, and I fell asleep really early that day out of exhaustion. It was a truly exquisite missed connection.
“But… to think there was a survivor. Moreover, he killed those thieves at such a young age?”
“I understand it seems like there’s something wrong with my humanity, but I hope you can understand that it was a conclusion I reached because it was hard to tolerate the act of desecrating my parents’ graves when even their mementos were about to be taken away.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? We’re discussing how you could have such skills at that young age. If you killed the thieves, you did well.”
I was at a loss for words at Radnelband’s response, which was incongruously flippant.
Is it even plausible to have such a reaction when an 8-year-old child killed six people? I’m starting to have doubts about the humanity of this world.
“I understand what you’re trying to say… but honestly, I feel the same. The age of 8 is difficult to overcome even the issue of strength, let alone skills.
I feel sorry for asking only questions in a situation where I should praise your achievements, but… it’s such a surprising fact, so I’d like to ask for your understanding.”
“Actually, when I was young…”
Putting aside the absurd connection, now that the past murder has been ridiculously exposed like this, it’s too late to hide my mana, so I decided to slightly alter the story and convey it.
With the help of a passing mage, I was able to feel mana, and by repeating that, I was able to manipulate mana. At that time, I used it to enhance my body and kill them.
However, after hearing from my teacher that it was dangerous, I realized it and sealed it, but I used it this time to kill Delt.
I didn’t really lie, roughly explaining it like that, but instead of deliberately saying I could use it like eating meals, I explained it in a way that felt like I was risking my life to use it in a life-threatening situation. The expressions of the three people completely froze.
“Even if it was for survival… it’s really a miracle that you crossed such a dangerous bridge and remained unscathed. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone capable of that.”
“I’m saying this because I actually saw someone explode and die while doing that… it’s truly a miracle.”
Thanks to Radnelband, who had an actual eyewitness account, a strange silence lingered, but it was also Radnelband who broke that silence and opened his mouth.
“It’s clear that aura isn’t felt or anything. But to have such growth despite that, Lagnis. This is why you purposely brought him, right?”
“Yes. Teacher.”
When I glanced over, Lagnis was smiling faintly, easing her stiff expression.
“Not only did he save me twice, but he also possesses talent. As someone who carries on the will of the previous generation, I can’t not give proper compensation and opportunity to my savior.”
“Indeed… even if he trained from the age of 8, it’s an admirable achievement. Not all knights’ children turn out like that. Even my daughter would have to concede a few moves.”
“Certainly, your daughter is outstanding, but it’s a bit much to compare her to a friend who has shown such prominence since the age of 8.”
I almost blurted out, “No matter what, isn’t it too rude to talk about someone else’s daughter like that?” but Ekaf nodded his head.
“Certainly, there’s no comparison.”
This suddenly made me feel embarrassed and flustered. After organizing his thoughts for a while, Ekaf cleared his throat, looked straight at me, and continued.
“Is your goal to avenge your parents and the villagers?”
“That’s part of it… but after experiencing such a big incident at a young age, I don’t want to go through that again. My goal is simply to make it so that no one dares to harm me.”
“Are you saying you want power?”
“No. I just want it to be a fact.”
“A fact?”
“Yes. The fact that if you mess with Eldmia Egga, you won’t end up well. Whether it’s power or force, I don’t particularly care as long as I can do it. That’s why I helped Lagnis too.”
Perhaps because what I said was too blunt, Lagnis secretly poked my side, but I couldn’t bring myself to react in front of such people, so I endured it by gritting my teeth.
“It’s a very long-term goal. That goal may be difficult, but I can help with the revenge of killing the Demon King’s army commander who led the destruction of your village. If that actually becomes possible, it will be a big help to the kingdom as well.”
As if it were an obvious fact, Ekaf continued speaking with a calm face showing no change in expression.
“If I say I’ll help, would you be willing to come to my family and receive teachings?”
The proposal that Lagnis wanted far more than me finally came out of his mouth.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Although I pretended to ponder inside, in the end, there was only one choice I could make.
Using my guardian as an excuse, and getting out of the situation for now.
Lagnis didn’t brush off my story so that I would consult with Asirye, and both Ekaf and Radnelband acknowledged it, as they heard that Asirye was my teacher and savior.
They even lent me a horse, saying that it wasn’t just for today anyway and that they could give a grace period until the last day. Still, I’d like to highly appreciate the fact that none of them came out forcefully.
Come to think of it, it’s a ridiculous thing. Because I don’t need to ask Asirye anything in the first place.
There’s no reason to be scolded for acting recklessly to save Lagnis. Originally, it was a contractual relationship that simply started with an 8-year period as a condition when I saved Asirye.
In fact, Asirye doesn’t need to care much whether I live or die. Rather, it’s just becoming free a bit sooner.
However, it was evident that neither of us could do that. I was sincerely at a loss with Asirye, and Asirye was sincerely worried that I might die.
If my parents were alive right now and told me not to follow Ekaf, would I even ponder? No matter how much I think about it, I would have just nodded my head, saying “Yes, I understand,” and silently followed Ekaf.
However, the 8-year contract, the contract that had only 2 years left, is making me contemplate Ekaf’s proposal.
There is a part of me that wants to reject the perfect opportunity to properly learn swordsmanship, master aura, and become stronger with all sorts of excuses and just spend 2 more years with Asirye .
I couldn’t tell if it was because that happiness had a specified end or because of personal feelings.
Even though I rode the horse as slowly as possible to calm my conflicted heart, I arrived at the cabin in an instant.
I couldn’t tell if it was because the military horse was strong, or if I got lost in time while lost in thought, so I decided to just blame it on the unnecessarily energetic military horse.
If I were to judge by time, it would be around 4 o’clock, and even though it had only been a little over a week since I had been here, a part of my heart ached at the sight of the cabin.
And at the center of it was Asirye.
I was momentarily distracted by her platinum-blonde hair, which had a stronger silver hue, shining in the light filtering through the leaves.
Asirye, who had reacted to my sound with her ears perked up, stopped feeding the horse and welcomed me with a bright smile.
“Welcome back, Eldi.”
“I’m back, sis.”
I got off the horse I was riding, tied it appropriately next to our horse, and Asirye, who examined it with interest, asked,
“No matter how I look at it, it’s a military horse. It doesn’t seem like you would have received it as a gift… I guess the story isn’t over yet?”
“Exactly. I have a problem that I need to discuss with you, sis. They just lent it to me, saying I’d have to come back anyway.”
“Discuss?”
Seeing Asirye’s face showing puzzlement, my mouth, which was hard to open, but it opened anyways, and it became even harder to open.
But since it wasn’t something I could keep delaying, I slowly began to speak.
“Lagnis’s standing seems to be much greater than I thought. It’s not just that an escort came, but a guard unit arrived.”
“Oh my.”
She was someone who had only exchanged light farewells with Lagnis, saying she wasn’t particularly interested, and returned home, so she was indeed unaware of anything.
Still, she seemed quite surprised, as if she hadn’t expected it to be to that extent.
“One of the representatives of that guard unit was a person named Ekaf, the King’s 3rd Sword.”
Asirye’s face, which had been listening with her ears perked up out of mere curiosity, subtly stiffened with just those words. As I hesitated at that reaction, Asirye asked in a lowered voice,
“He asked you to join his family, didn’t he?”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
