I’m the Madman of This Family

Chapter 400. If You Want to Die, You Live (5)

Keter’s tombstone was modest.

It suited Keter, who disliked extravagance in life, arriving empty-handed and leaving the same way. The short funeral service also reflected Keter’s personality.

“……”

The atmosphere was somber, but no one shed tears. It had already been three years since Keter’s death.

Time hadn’t dulled the sorrow. The war wasn’t over yet.

Though Demon King Rukan and his backer, Grand Duke Alkione, were dead, remnants like Chimeras and monsters from the Demon Realm still lingered. Even if the war ended, the economy and public sentiment wouldn’t recover immediately.

The same went for Ruquer’s fog. Though it had lifted significantly, it hadn’t completely disappeared.

The world was still at war. Desperately and urgently. Even today, Keter’s funeral was a result of squeezing out time and resources from a life that had none to spare.

The guests left one by one. Their hurried steps proved how busy they were.

The cemetery, once crowded, quickly became desolate. Only five people remained.

Lord Hisop.

Elder Basil.

Head Butler Jacques.

Catherine, the Grand Commander of the Magical Palace Guards.

Daat, the leader of the secret organization Arkana.

Hisop’s face was filled with bitterness as he looked at Daat.

“Seeing you here makes it real. Keter is truly dead.”

“If he could kill a god and still live, he would have been the god, and the god would have been him.”

Only the kings of each nation, who were gods, knew what had happened that day.

And why would they spread rumors that Keter had saved them? They kept their mouths firmly shut.

But there was another. A third party who had witnessed everything in the frozen universe.

The Imperial Princess Vina revealed the truth to the world. That Keter, the Divine Archer of Sephira, had saved them all. That he had sacrificed himself to save everyone from Alkione, the Demon God who surpassed the Demon King.

Thanks to that, the House of Sephira and Keter became known to everyone in this world, but there was no particular trend of worshiping him as a hero.

People just accepted it as it was, as if saving the world didn’t necessarily require any reward.

“It’s frustrating. Why was such a fate given to Keter?”

Basil, the former Lord and current Elder, clutched his chest. Even now, just thinking about Keter made his heart ache unbearably.

“Looking back, the young master gave everything for us. We should have repaid that debt……”

Catherine, kneeling, clasped her hands in prayer. Believing in reincarnation, she prayed that Keter would be born into a peaceful and happy family in his next life.

The four of them also closed their eyes in sorrow, reminiscing about Keter. Though the time they spent with Keter in their lives was less than a year, the insane things he had shown them in that short time were so intense that they couldn’t forget even if they tried.

Then, Keter’s voice came from behind them.

“Where did everyone go? You’re all here!”

Head Butler Jacques immediately shed tears upon hearing the voice.

“Sniff, I guess it’s my time to go too. I can hear the young master’s voice……”

Hisop and Basil were startled by Jacques’ words.

“I heard it too.”

“So it wasn’t just me?”

The three of them opened their eyes in confusion and looked at each other, but Keter’s voice came again.

“Whose funeral is this? Don’t tell me it’s mine?”

It wasn’t an auditory hallucination. At the clear and distinct sound of Keter’s voice, everyone finally turned around.

And there, Keter stood perfectly fine.

“……”

But everyone denied reality.

It happened occasionally. People who saw Keter’s widely circulated portrait and imitated his appearance to impersonate him.

But-

“Oh, it really is my tomb. Hahahaha!”

The sight of him staggering, checking the tombstone inscription, and then bursting into laughter. That was Keter himself.

“Brother.”

“Hey, Maknun. It’s been three years.”

“Did you enjoy your vacation?”

“Creepy. Have you been stalking me all this time?”

“How could I deceive and stalk you, Brother? It’s just intuition, intuition.”

“Scary guy.”

After a brief conversation with Maknun, Keter turned around and locked eyes with Hisop, Basil, Jacques, and Catherine.

Then he grinned.

“I told you I’d come back.”

“You never said that!”

What did the dignity of a Lord, Elder, Head Butler, or Grand Commander matter? Everyone embraced Keter with one heart and one mind.

*

Seven years passed since then.

Keter ran away. Leaving only a note.

– I’ve done what I needed to do, and there’s someone I need to find. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll return someday.

Sephira was no longer just a family. It had become a nation. Though a city-state, it was a powerful country that even the great powers couldn’t ignore, where all races were equal.

Surprisingly, there was no uproar even though Keter had left. Keter had no official position.

Even though he was the primary contributor to building Sephira into a nation and a hero who saved the world, he was just one of the many people of Sephira.

They also knew this: Keter always kept his word. If he said he’d return someday, he would. Just as he always had.

And so, 50 years passed.

The first king, Hisop, died young from overwork, and his eldest son, ‘Regi,’ became the second king.

The Kingdom of Sephira, originally a nation that valued peace, was a military powerhouse. This was due to Basil’s firm belief that peace came from military strength.

But the peace lasted too long, and as generations changed, the national policy and public opinion naturally shifted.

“Too much of the budget is being wasted on military power!”

“There are no countries hostile to Sephira, so why should half the national budget go to defense?”

Most of the ministers expressed these opinions, and the second king, Regi, born in a peaceful era, agreed with them.

“We will reduce the military and use that budget to support the people.”

Coincidentally, it was a time when the country was in turmoil due to a severe drought and a major earthquake, so Regi’s rule was very appropriate and praised.

But as the memory of the disaster faded, discord began to creep into the Kingdom of Sephira.

This was inevitable, as Sephira was a multiracial nation.

The High Court of Sephira.

“Stop cutting down the forests!”

“We need firewood to light the forges! Do you think bricks for building houses fall from the sky?! And you beastmen, do something about your molting! Do you know how much we dwarves suffer because of you?!”

“What do you expect us to do about it falling out naturally? And why are beastmen banned from the bathhouse? This is racial discrimination!”

Elves, dwarves, and beastmen raised their voices and argued.

At first, they only shouted and fought in the High Court, but in matters involving their own race’s interests, the loudest voice doesn’t win. Eventually, one side had to yield.

Previously, figures like Keter or Panir would clearly define what was right and wrong and bring them to heel, but those two were no longer here.

The second king, Regi, was an extreme pacifist and would only say, “Please work it out among yourselves.” But this wasn’t something that could be resolved through dialogue.

When dialogue fails, only one thing happens next. The once peaceful Sephira began to see internal conflicts.

At first, it was just fistfights, but it didn’t take long for it to escalate to murder.

Regi belatedly realized the seriousness of the situation and tried to resolve the issues, but it was too late. The central authority couldn’t control the factions.

Part of it was due to Regi’s pacifist nature, but the decisive factor was the earlier military reduction.

Non-human races are inherently much stronger than humans. To control them, knights are essential, but the knights, who had the highest training and maintenance costs, were the first to be drastically reduced, leading to this downfall.

As the Kingdom of Sephira showed signs of internal division, the surrounding nations, who had been watching, began to salivate.

“Sephira is shaking? So Keter really is dead or gone.”

“It’s first come, first served.”

As everyone began to make moves against the Kingdom of Sephira, the country began to decline rapidly.

Regi, originally very healthy, aged and fell ill rapidly over the past year due to various hardships. In his emaciated state, he spoke to his son, Fran.

“Fran. The fate of Sephira rests with you.”

Fran, Regi’s son and the Crown Prince of Sephira, received a top-secret mission from Regi. To go to the Vina Empire and request support.

The Kingdom of Sephira and the Vina Empire were not allies. There was no reason for them to provide support. But Regi had heard something from the first king, Hisop.

“If a great calamity befalls the country and there’s no one like Keter to solve it… go to the Emperor of the Empire. He will definitely help at least once.”

And so, Fran disguised himself as a commoner, slipped out of the palace, and boarded a carriage heading to the Empire. Normally, he should have arrived at the Empire without any major crises.

But this underestimated the non-human races.

Regi had been cautious enough. Knowing that non-humans were far superior to humans, he thoroughly hid his plans and concealed Fran’s movements. But the non-humans were far more capable than Regi thought, and they noticed Fran leaving in a carriage.

Of course, they didn’t figure out the purpose, but sending the Crown Prince, Fran, in secret was an obvious move.

“They plan to request support. Since we elves control magical communication, they must be going to ask for help directly.”

“But which country are they going to?”

“Does it matter? If there are no humans, it’s our world.”

The situation was more serious than Regi knew. The non-human races, who had been fighting each other, had already united and agreed to drive out the humans.

“It seems like something unfortunate will happen to Crown Prince Fran. Like being attacked by bandits.”

Fran had set out alone without any guards to conceal his tracks. In other words, there was no one to protect Fran.

And as they said, it happened.

Sephira’s territory was famous for being safe. Naturally, there were no bandits. Of course, since bandits and thieves ran rampant in other countries, Fran planned to travel only along the main roads until he crossed the border.

But for some reason, before he even crossed the border, bandits ambushed the carriage.

The bandits were cruel and ruthless. Without asking or questioning, they shot the coachman dead with an arrow and dragged Fran out of the carriage.

Fran was a robust adult, but he hadn’t learned martial arts. Thus, he couldn’t handle the rough bandits.

“That uniform, you guys. You’re from the Rakan Kingdom.”

Even in a life-threatening situation, Fran spoke calmly to the bandits.

“You knew who I was and came for me. And you plan to kill me.”

“If you know, then stick out your neck. I’ll kill you in one stroke.”

“I’ll give you ten times the reward. And I swear on my ancestors’ names that there will be no retaliation.”

“Keh keh keh. If you can give it to me right now, I’ll consider your offer.”

“Right now is impossible. At least until the Infinite Bank……”

“Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Thud!

A bandit kicked Fran in the stomach.

Fran knelt in pain but didn’t let out a groan.

‘I’m going to die.’

Fran sensed his death.

Then regret flooded in.

‘…Peace isn’t free. I should have remembered the ancestors’ words that peace is maintained through strength.’

There were no excuses. It was all his fault.

‘I’m sorry, Father. And ancestors.’

At least to die with dignity, Fran closed his eyes and prepared to accept death.

But then.

“Has this old man gone mad? Why don’t you just leave?”

“Are you really bandits? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen any.”

Judging by the voice, it seemed like an old man passing by.

But the old man’s voice was quite unique. It was powerful and annoyingly smug.

“Must be senile. If you want to die so badly, then die.”

They were bandits, but former soldiers. They had no hesitation in taking lives, even if the opponent was a helpless old man.

Even if he was about to die, Fran couldn’t stand that.

“Stop! Leave the innocent citizen alone, just kill me-”

Whoosh! Crash!

A bandit who approached the old man flew into the sky and crashed into a distant rock, dead.

“……?!”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

The old man, unfazed, leisurely walked over and stopped in front of Fran.

“Did you all gather here just to kill this one brat?”

The old man looked at the bandits with disdain.

The bandit leader bowed respectfully.

“Sorry. You can pass.”

He realized the old man was no ordinary person. So he intended to let him go, but the old man ignored him.

“You. What’s your name?”

“F-Fran.”

“Judging by your demeanor, you’re a noble. Tell me your full name.”

“Fran Con Sephira… sir.”

“Keh, I thought so. Even from a distance, that big head of yours screamed Sephira.”

“Sir. I’m fine, just ignore them and go. It’s dangerous.”

Fran knew the old man was strong, but there were over twenty bandits here. No matter how strong the old man was, it was impossible to take on twenty vigorous bandits exuding killing intent.

But the old man picked his nose.

“That’s a phrase I haven’t heard in a while. Heh heh heh. Oh, it’s Wang Geon.”

As he rolled a big booger with his finger, the bandit leader tightened his grip on his sword.

“Sir. If you plan to interfere, we have no choice.”

Swoosh!

An aura rose from the bandit leader’s sword.

Fran was horrified.

“A-Aura! Sir, it’s not too late. Please leave!”

“I was planning to. But you’re coming with me.”

Seeing the old man momentarily glance to the side, the bandit leader signaled his men.

The bandits all charged at the old man at once. No matter how skilled the old man was, he couldn’t handle all of them at the same time.

‘When he leaves an opening, I’ll strike.’

The bandit leader prepared to deliver a fatal blow when the old man attacked his men.

And as soon as the old man moved, the leader’s eyes widened.

“Now’s the- huh?”

A deflating sound came from his previously confident mouth.

He couldn’t help it. All twenty of his men had fallen backward.

He didn’t even know what had happened. It was like a play.

“Now is indeed the moment you’ll die.”

The booger on the old man’s finger had killed twenty men.

Overwhelmed by the sheer difference in power, the bandit leader’s body went limp, and he collapsed.

“W-Who are you?”

“Me? I have countless titles, but I like this one the most.”

Swish.

The old man raised his thumb, showing a wicked smile.

“I’m the madman of this country.”

[The Madman of This Family is Me] Main Story End.

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