Chapter 82
—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Cluna and Clara were tasked with tracking the monster.
Though it was said like this, when you looked closely, it was almost no different from Cluna doing it alone.
However, why was Clara included there?
It was because of Cluna’s educational policy.
The Royal Knights in their prime were undisputedly the strongest knighthood, but now their glory had faded considerably.So they had to replan everything from scratch, and among those plans, Cluna and Clara were assigned the roles of reconnaissance and rear support.
Cluna immediately began their education.
Methods of tracking, how to shoot arrows well, and so on.
“Clara, didn’t I clearly tell you?”
“S-Sorry.”
“You should use polite speech outside, right?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“…”
But from my perspective, it seemed too strict.
Putting everything else aside, I wanted to intervene, thinking it was too much to scold her so harshly for just one mistake.
“Cluna, teaching her so strictly is…”
“No, it’s alright, Commander.”
“Clara?”
“Mother’s skills are real. I want to be helpful as soon as possible too.”
No, you’re already being plenty helpful.
Belying their status as low-ranking members of the Royal Knights, Ruby and Clara’s growth rate, though not at Helia’s level, was very fast.
Recently, they even succeeded in subduing Bayard in a 2-on-1 fight!
Of course, Ruby and Clara expressed dissatisfaction at having to cooperate with an unpleasant rival, but surprisingly, the two had been obediently following along so far.
But they were already doing well enough now.
It seemed like their enthusiasm might be a bit excessive.
At that moment, Clara spoke up.
“And, if I learn a lot, I can replace Mother’s position, right?”
“My, a little chick like you wants to replace me?”
“There’s no reason it can’t be done, Mother. Why don’t you stop working now and spend your retirement traveling, which you like?”
“I simply can’t leave you, who is still so lacking, behind. The Commander would weigh on my mind~”
“Ha! There must be another reason!”
Why were they suddenly fighting?
They were clearly a close mother and daughter until recently.
But now, with sparks flying from their eyes, it looked like a battle of wills between rivals.
“Teacher, are you perhaps troubled?”
“Yes, very much so.”
“I have a solution.”
“What is it?”
Just as I was groaning, unable to intervene in the sudden war of nerves between the two, Helia, who was unchangingly by my side, tugged at my sleeve.
I was a bit uneasy, but I decided to listen to Helia’s opinion.
Honestly, in the past, she used to go berserk unable to control her emotions, but recently she had improved a lot.
Maybe she had some good idea…?
“We just need to kill them all.”
“Okay, you go stand next to Bayard over there.”
“Yes, understood, Teacher.”
I immediately sent Helia, who was making a gesture of slitting her throat with her thumb, to stand next to Bayard.
Fortunately, Helia obediently followed my words.
Only then could I feel relieved.
“I thought she had definitely improved.”
Was that just my imagination?
No, she had clearly shown signs of improvement.
After separating Helia from the mother and daughter, I immediately intervened to break up Clara and Cluna.
Their fight was calmed, but small conflicts of nerves continued afterward.
That is, until a monster suddenly appeared.
But when the monster appeared, didn’t they cooperate like family?
In the end, I gave up trying to understand.
They’d probably handle it well on their own.
Although the monster had flown away and disappeared into the sky, Cluna easily found traces of it.
“Are there traces?”
“Yes, traces of where it rested, magical power left in the air, and so on. There are countless things to track.”
“I see, that’s fortunate.”
I had been worried about what we’d do if we couldn’t track it, but that worry was unfounded.
The monster flew without rest and was resting somewhere.
That was the conclusion Cluna drew from the traces, and finally, we were able to discover it.
It was resting, hanging from a tree with its giant wings folded.
I clicked my tongue as I looked at that sight.
“A being about to die soon. It seems unaware of its fate.”
“Commander, what should we do?”
“First, we need to block its means of escape. Clara, Cluna.”
“Yes, Commander!”
“Leave it to us!”
It would be troublesome if it used its wings to escape freely from here.
So, I asked them to aim for the wings, and our two excellent archers accomplished it without difficulty.
Three and four.
A total of seven arrows pierced both wings.
Quite large holes were made, and thanks to that, although it noticed the attack and tried to escape, it couldn’t take off into the sky.
“Finally, the stage is set.”
“…Thank you!!”
“Huh?”
What are you on about now?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Finally, the stage is set.”
That was probably the Commander speaking to her.
Ruby, who believed this without a doubt, grabbed her hammer in one breath and rushed forward.
There was no hesitation there.
Because she had been waiting only for this moment.
In the past, from childhood until now.
That worthless thing had taken everything – her mother, the happiness of her family.
She had cursed it continuously without rest.
‘Why is someone like you my father?’
‘Why was I born with such misfortune?’
‘If only I had been born in an ordinary family like others.’
‘Couldn’t I have been happy?’
As if to deny that thought, Ruby’s giant hammer struck down on its head.
Bang!
Along with the explosion, it let out a terrible scream.
It was a sound Ruby had never heard before.
“Ugh?!”
Ruby’s movements were momentarily paralyzed by the unexpected attack.
It didn’t miss that opening.
It brought out thick, sharp claws and swung them wide towards Ruby’s head.
She could have blocked it sufficiently, though surprised, she had that much ability.
But, inevitably, there was one person who intervened in such a situation.
Ruby bit her lip and called out to that person.
“What are you doing, Commander?!”
“…”
The one who arbitrarily intervened in the fight was none other than the Commander.
Honestly, his first impression wasn’t that great.
He wore pathetically shabby armor and hid his face with a helmet.
For such a person to act like he was going to be the Commander, naturally, it was ridiculous from an observer’s perspective.
However, he effortlessly proved his skills and accepted them.
The Commander always had some hidden meaning, and there were those who realized that meaning and were saved.
Then, could there be a hidden meaning this time too?
Ruby soon realized it.
“Don’t give in to anger, fight calmly.”
“How can I do that? This boiling anger…!”
“Keep your head cool and your heart hot.”
The Commander finished with those words and stepped back.
It was easy to say, but how could one do that with the enemy of one’s mother right in front of them?
In the past, she was born to Ruby, one of the four gems supporting the Dwarf Republic, but that name was virtually meaningless.
Although she had nothing, there must have been happy times, but as time passed, things started to go wrong little by little.
At first, it was simple requests.
Things like fingernails, hair.
Things that could be given without much difficulty, but as time passed, the demands gradually became more intense, and eventually, it came to that.
When she came back from playing outside, her mother was gone.
Instead, the person who called himself her father was refining weapons.
Unable to find her mother no matter how much she looked, Ruby asked her father.
[Father, where’s Mother?]
[She’s not here.]
[What?]
[Look at this beautiful form. Isn’t it amazing?]
Anger welled up inside of her.
Indeed, thinking of that time, there was no way she could give that trash an easy death.
Anger certainly gave strength, but it was also a double-edged sword that simultaneously gave weakness.
Thanks to that, her movements became wide open again, and she nearly received a fatal wound from its attack that seized that opening.
If the Commander hadn’t intervened, that is.
Although it was something to be grateful for, Ruby instead shouted with misplaced anger.
Of course, she knew.
That it was herself who was talking nonsense.
That the Commander had simply saved her.
“Stop saving me!”
“…”
“Anyway, if I can’t win… my life has no meaning…!!!”
Slash!
🚨 Important Notice 🚨
› This text was ripped off from arcanetranslations.com.
› Please only read it on the official website.
); }
She had been thinking all along.
If she couldn’t win anyway, then it would be better to die.
She had thought she could win easily.
Although he had become very strong after turning into a monster, aside from being difficult to deal with, it wasn’t that strong of a monster, and yet, she had nearly died twice already to such a monster.
If it wasn’t for the Commander, she would have received a fatal wound and lost her life by now.
That fact made it unbearable for Ruby.
So, unknowingly, she had burst out with unreasonable anger.
At that moment, Ruby’s head turned.
“Even brushing against someone’s clothes can form a connection. How much more so with the bond we’ve shared through thick and thin until now.”
“…”
“Say it again.”
And Ruby could see it.
“Whose life did you say has no meaning?”
For the first time, she saw his appearance angry not at an enemy, but at a comrade.