chapter 26
sunny day.
Outside, the canter of the knights circled the castle, led by Mark.
Inside, the attendants, whose faces became bright just because Adelian was absent, were decorating the castle extensively with flowers and textiles.
Thanks to that, every wind that blows carries fragrance and flies to the deepest part of the castle.
Even the elegantly decorated office seemed to be filled with that excitement.
“Halon Knight… No, Halon… uh… secretary? I will leave my meal here.”
One of the attendants, humming cheerfully and bringing a sandwich, smiled awkwardly at Halon, who seemed to be spewing out a dark cloud in the middle of the office.
“me too… Can’t I follow you?”
“Why are you asking me that? If you’re done, can you leave?”
Harlon’s expression darkened even more at the words of the unkind servant.
“Take it easy… Even if it’s a bunch of people, eat while eating. Secretary Harlon.”
Halon looked at the papers piled up on the desk again with a sad face as he watched the attendant close and leave the door where the scent of flowers blew in.
“If you’re really human, you can’t do this… … .”
How can a person betray his trust in a person so much?
With the dark circle in his right eye, Halon muttered like a madman and started signing the papers again.
There is no end to doing and doing.
Of course, since the documents are filtered once, all you have to do is scan through and sign.
On the day when you just glanced at it and signed it, things got twisted and your contract increased… … .
Goodbye to the sword for life. The nightmarish time of living with Penn will await.
“I’m going crazy, really… … .”
I think it’s crazy to think of myself laughing out loud.
Even in the middle of the strike, he couldn’t help but laugh because he was so dumbfounded by checking the documents.
“master… No, Bocchan… I believed it.”
No, how can a person do this?
Is it possible to leave only Halon alone in all these documents?
If that’s the case, shouldn’t you just take yourself with you?
“How can you be such a ruthless lord?”
Halon began to rummage through the past with one side of his head as he scanned the papers with his eyes intently.
The day he first came to this castle.
The day he started as a seed, was trained as a reserve knight, and eventually was appointed.
During those long, if short, short days, what sins did Halon commit to Adelian?
‘Did you hear that I was talking behind my back with my colleagues?’
But it must be the same for other colleagues.
Halon’s bloodshot eyes become moist and small dew forms.
“I hate my talent.”
If I had chanted this with a sword, I would have come out with a saga that started with a rare talent, but unfortunately, Harlon’s talent wasn’t like that.
Still, as he bit into the sandwich with his jaw moving as if he was chewing sand to live, Harlon suddenly remembered a letter he had put in his shirt pocket.
“okay… Where is the floor anymore?”
Upon receiving the letter handed over by the servant for the first time, Harlon could not bear to open it on the spot.
It must be an appointment letter from Adelian laughing at me and appointing me as a paper slave forever.
In fact, he had such a dream the day before he received the letter, so Harlon wondered if he had a precognitive dream.
But now I’m feeling like I’m going to live as a slave forever anyway, so I’ve come to the point where I’m wondering what’s wrong with seeing the appointment letter with my own eyes.
“Let’s open it.”
Let’s open the letter and see.
to halon
If I suddenly go on a trip, I will be very surprised, but let go of your worries.
I will catch your juniors and send them to you, so I wish you luck in the meantime.
—Adelian
“after… whooping… … .”
Laughter escaped Harlon’s lips.
Quietly raising his quill, Harlon drew a cross over the word junior on the letter and slowly wrote slave below it.
“You damn employer… said to give He said he was going to give it away.”
What kind of aspiration is this to catch a wild paper slave?
Are you really sending it before that?
“I can’t stand it any longer.”
day’s departure.
There will be no one to stop it.
Halon eventually got up from his seat.
document?
Set aside the day.
What are you going to do, Master Adelian isn’t coming right now.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been ironing… No, should I run enough to throw up… After, wear all the chain mail and dress up once, huh?”
inefficiency. Laughter flows from his mouth at the thought of abusing his body instead of his brain.
Halon did not suppress his excitement and vigorously turned the doorknob of the office.
Wood deok!
“… uh?”
what is this sound
Halon stopped at the sound of something breaking instead of a door opening and looked down.
clumsy-
Why is this in my hand?
Halon looked at the doorknob, which had broken neatly and dangled in his hand.
“under?”
Then I gently push the door with my other hand.
“… … .”
The door did not open.
Halon’s empty eyes fall upon the broken handle and the motionless antique door.
“Should I break it… … ?”
Compared to other knights, it’s a nimble body, but it’s not a job to break a door like this if you use mana.
Behind it, there will be a training ground where you will sweat, and a sword will be waiting for you.
However, since it was the office originally used by Kaiman, Halon could not break the door.
why can’t i go out
It’s such a nice day. I finally had a rebellion.
Halon’s head moved with a sense of giggling, and he looked back.
A sunny desk full of papers.
“I can’t help it.”
Until someone opened it outside, perhaps an attendant to bring dinner to rescue him, Halon sat back down and began to flip through the papers.
“Brother Adelian is a devil… … .”
Took, toduk.
The tears he had been holding back so far fell from Halon’s eyes.
* * *
Kyaaak!
Leaving behind the crows that flew away while letting out sad cries, we arrived at the entrance of the village and caught our breath.
Somehow, thinking that it was not polite to ride a horse there, I got off the horse and tied the reins to a dead tree at the entrance of the village, but Kane let out a low sound.
“Your brother is alive. when you said so I thought maybe.”
It seemed calm, as if he was talking to someone else, but the emotions contained in it seemed to stick to his skin.
Cain let out his voice without hesitation and took one step after another into the village and opened his mouth again.
“Maybe the child is lucky enough to survive and stay here.”
would you wait for me
Another step, walking ahead of me, the sound Kane spat out, dissipated as if it were scattered by the wind, entered my ears.
“Actually, at first I thought it was a lie. I lost my temper for a moment and responded, but I thought maybe it wasn’t an attempt to fool me.”
It was clearly intended to shake Kane, but… … .
“Isn’t it… no.”
Even as I answered, it seemed as if a bitter taste lingered on the tip of my tongue.
It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t so much a lie. but… … .
“I am alive.”
“okay. It’s alive, it’s there.”
Kane’s mind was confused about how much he must have read from my words and why I didn’t say it all comfortably, but I felt muddled.
The three of us walked slowly from the entrance of the village without saying a word.
“Okay… It’s rather clean… … .”
In a slightly lowered mood, Luna opened her mouth in a tone that said it was okay and looked around.
Except for the fact that it was a desolate place with almost collapsed houses and no animals, it was in a quiet forest in a way.
However, the more I went inside, the tableware and sundries that had not been cleaned began to appear one by one.
A wooden cup that had already been worn out and a broken doll that looked as if it had been made by hand.
I sighed because I felt that it was once a place where someone lived, made tableware, and dreamed of happiness.
And when you enter the innermost part of the town.
“This… … .”
Along with a small burial mound, a tombstone carved out of stone was revealed.
joint grave.
A cult human sacrifice that took place in a small village with no human presence.
The village smells fishy as if it rained with blood, houses scorched by fire and people on display cruelly.
Other slash-and-burn farmers and small peddlers, who would have stopped by often for exchanges, would have run away in surprise at the sight.
And after that, for many years, it must have been hit by rain and wild animals, and in the end, it must have been a mess.
I couldn’t bear to show that to Kane, who had finally returned to his hometown.
“I don’t know who they were or what their characteristics were.”
So I told Alkaido. Just want to make this place tidy.
I’m afraid that if I clean up the whole house, there’s nothing left, and all of Kane’s memories will be ruined.
Just clean up those terrible traces and ask for a funeral.
“Time passed… There are many bones that have been lost, and there are also bones that have gone out of town. I couldn’t match each one.”
Even if I take a little risk, that much I can do. It’s polite to show you
Kane silently approached the tombstone, knelt down, and gazed at it motionlessly.
He thought maybe he would shed a tear, but Kane just stared at the grave with sunken eyes.
Until the shadow of the tombstone cast by the setting sun passed slowly as if caressing Kane’s knee.
Until the sky, which had been dyed orange, gradually became purple.
Luna and I didn’t say anything to Kane, just staring at his back.
* * *
There was such a saying in a book I read in Adelian’s library.
It is said that oblivion is a blessing from God.
But why are the memories not erased?
Kane could still vividly recall it.
The feel of the air that day. the weight of the wind. The pungent burnt smell and bloody smell seemed to enter my head before my nose.
Even the touch of a sharp stone beak that touched my toes if I made up my mind to recall it without closing my eyes.
I couldn’t forget that day.
“Brother, let’s play.”
“Kane. They baked apple pie.”
“I’ll teach you how to set a trap tomorrow, Kane.”
A voice in my memory that is vivid as if whispering next to me.
The acrid smell of blood mixed with the sweet smell of apple seems to linger in the nose.
On that day when everything he could see was burning with blood overlapping with the happy past, Kane slowly closed his eyes, opened them, and let out a light breath.
The family he couldn’t take care of, the villagers. In front of the grave where Adelian gathered all of them and held a funeral instead of me.
Kane is more merciful to Adelian than any other god he will look down upon. I thought so.
“I am.”
Cain stood up slowly and turned to look at Adelian.
An arrogant, high-handed face of nobility itself.
However, his tone and actions are lighthearted.
That’s why some people would think that Adelian was a fool who had no real possessions, but was full of bravado, full of loopholes, and unlike his good looks, he was a thoughtless fool, but Kane knew that the reality was different.
“I don’t think you are incompetent.”
While he was with Adelian, rumors about him were heard both inside and outside the castle.
Dirty, filthy, greedy, incompetent scum.
A stain born in the Kruger family.
But Kane now, the Adelian I see.
“Wouldn’t that be the way to receive your future?”
Kane also slowly raised the corners of his mouth at those words that he laughed out loud as if they were just throwing words playfully.
“I swear on this spot.”
As the sun is almost setting, the moon is just rising into the sky.
At the moment when two stars, called the eyes of God, appeared, Kane swore.
“I will become stronger than anyone else.”
A passing wind wrapped around Kane and blew it towards Adelian.
A small leaf of grass runs past Adelian’s cheek.
“So equal to you.”
Kane’s golden eyes meet Adelian’s blue eyes.
“no. We will be more than a business partner.”
Monotonous and calm, but the ripple effect of the words is powerful.
Adelian muttered a single word that came to his mind in those intense eyes and stared at the thing that appeared in front of him as if it were nailed to it.
[Kain Rainus – The One Who Moves]
Representative Traits: [Unfortunate (SS)] [Genius (S)] [Appearance (A+)] [Body (S+)]
Hidden Traits: [Toughness (A+)] [Almighty (C+)]
“The one who advances.”
The one who advances on the path of the monarch.