“Never again… to co to this world again!”
The Great Man’s body, which was presud to be the first Setiria, had been purified by Leo. The scene of the Great Man’s body being severed was still vivid. Currently, the Great Man could not co to this world due to so restrictions. Was he implying that to break those restrictions, he needed his original body?
‘No. Does this even make sense?’
If this were true, what would happen?
“Child.”
As Ruel began to sweat profusely, Jan cautiously shook him.
“The Great Man knew us better than anyone.”
The words Jan had slowly brought up began to resonate now.
Ruel finally understood what that ant. Intense flas flickered in his eyes as he stared blankly at Jan. “Jan, you know the identity of the Great Man! You knew, yet… How long have you deceived ?” Ruel glared fiercely at Jan, his anger boiling within. “Is the one imposing this restriction a king? Or a being akin to a god? Whoever it is, why… Why create such a damn restriction?”
At Ruel’s sudden outburst, Cassion, who was honing his sword, and Leo, who was playing with spirits, both approached him simultaneously.
“I’m sorry. This restriction is intended to suppress the power he possesses.”
Jan’s expression revealed regret and discomfort, aware yet unable to disclose the connection to the Great Man’s power.
“Why? Why can’t you speak about it?” Ruel was extrely frustrated.
Was it even possible that he couldn’t ntion the fact that the Great Man was aiming for his original body, which is in Leponia? The first thing he did was to disrupt the balance of the world. Jan said that maintaining that balance was the duty of a ‘king.’
‘The Great Man must have focused on weakening the ‘king’s’ power. After all, he would have been the most botherso existence.’
Since no humans with the ability to commune with spirits had been born anymore, it seed that the task progressed very smoothly. Next, he expanded the influence of the ‘Red Ash,’ waiting for the devotee of darkness who would soday be born in Setiria. He dread of proudly entering Leponia possessing the body of a descendant of Setiria to find his own body and take revenge.
‘Insisting on this constraint even in such circumstances?’
There must be a reason for it. Ruel gradually cald his anger and slowly moved his gaze.
“No way. Is it related to the power of the hero he possessed?”
Jan smiled silently. That ant it was true, but Ruel was filled with doubt.
Didn’t he possess that power himself? Undeniably, it was a precious gift that bestowed him with life and magic, but it didn’t seem grand enough to be terd the power of a hero.
“I have that power.”
“You…?”
“Yes.”
Jan appeared relieved and took a deep breath, saying, “I don’t know whether to call this fortunate or not.” Jan added with a solemn attitude, “He still has that power. A unique power cannot be taken by anyone.”
“Unique power?” Ruel sank deep into thought, not even feeling Leo’s paw tapping against his thigh.
‘He can’t ntion the identity of the Great Man, even though he knows the true na. No, it’s because of the unique power.’
Why can’t he speak about it? Why shouldn’t it be ntioned?
‘And what the hell is that unique power?’
Thinking in terms of what it ans to be a hero, many things ca to mind. Even in defeat, could he not revive with his comrades’ support? Doesn’t a hero draw strength from his allies’ cheers and calls?
‘Surely… not everyone possesses such a power, do they? That would be unfair.’
Tap, tap.
—Ruel, Ruel, Ruel!
When Leo whined like that, Ruel finally snapped out of his reverie.
—Why did you shout? Did Jan do sothing wrong? This body will scold him on your behalf.
“No. I just had a bad dream.”
As Ruel glanced at Jan, who still wore an apologetic expression, he realized that Jan probably wasn’t intentionally keeping silent. He acknowledged that he had been overly sensitive.
“Did you discover sothing else? Or did you et him in your dream?” Cassion approached Ruel and asked.
“I can’t say for certain yet. I’m not even sure if it’s accurate.”
Even if this dream was shown to him by the first Setiria, he didn’t have confidence that it was real. No, he desperately wanted to hope it wasn’t. That horrible bastard was a Setiria. The thought of sharing the sa blood as him disgusted him.
Damn it.
Ruel inhaled Breath to compose himself before offering an apology to Jan. “I apologize for raising my voice, Jan.”
Jan shook his head in response, “No, the one who should be apologizing is . I…” Jan paused and then moved his fingers. A freshly baked at pie appeared, looking as if it had just been made from flower petals sprouting from the ground. Carefully, Jan offered, “Would you like one?”
“Of course.” Ruel accepted the at pie without hesitation, feeling guilty.
—Ah! This body wants to eat so too…
Ruel quickly handed the at pie to Leo, who was eager to pounce on it.
Munch, munch.
In an instant, the at pie vanished, and Leo’s cheeks puffed up.
—It’s delicious!
Leo’s tail wagged excitedly.
Crunch.
Ruel took a bite, experiencing a delightful taste that made him regret his earlier outburst.
Gulp.
Jan swallowed dryly, silently asking with his eyes how it tasted. Ruel chuckled and confird, “It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s delicious.”
—This at pie is tasty, but Cassion’s is definitely the best!
As if he knew Ruel was going to grab his tail, Leo was already beside Cassion.
‘So, he’s gotten a little smarter, huh?’
Amused by Leo’s evolving behavior, Ruel chuckled and then burst into laughter at Cassion’s expression, slightly smug as he observed Leo. Perhaps starting to cook with the intent of killing him, Cassion now seed to take pride in his culinary skills.
Munch.
While munching on another at pie, Leo perked his ears up.
—Shiny!
Leo eagerly gazed at the gleaming light coming from Ruel’s ring.
It was Ganien. Ruel infused mana into the ring to establish a connection.
“Seems like everything is settled now?”
-Well… it concluded sowhat anticlimactically. He wishes to seek your forgiveness.
“Who?” At Ruel’s question, Ganien let out a wry laugh.
-You can’t believe that he said such a thing, right? I can’t either, but this is the truth.
“Ganien, if you’re bored, you can just cut down a building.”
-I’m not joking; I really an it.
Thud.
-When I tried to intimidate him by splitting a building in half, he was so frightened that he imdiately wanted to beg for rcy upon seeing , lying flat on the ground.
Thud.
-Do you hear that noise? He’s banging his head waiting for your arrival.
“…Hah. I really don’t know what kind of trick this is.”
-Yeah, I’m baffled too. I put a knife to his throat to scare him, and he says he’ll tell you everything before dying or sothing like that. What can I do? I have to contact you. It’s your business, so you decide.
Ruel smirked slightly, intrigued by this novel approach.
“Tell him I’ll go see how badly he’s banged up his forehead.”
-Sure. I’ll relay that exactly.
***
Thud.
Ruel looked down at Nehils Praha with a flat expression. When Ruel arrived, Ganien had already turned the ceiling into a skylight with the building-cutting technique he had honed while in Setiria.
In a snowy mountain area blanketed with snow, not within a city or the countryside, Ruel stumbled upon the dilapidated little house where Nehils was hiding. Who would recognize him as a mber of the Red Ash? Who would even suspect that he held an executive position?
“Cassion, isn’t this all made up on purpose?” Ruel opened his heavy mouth.
“No. He’s been here for four years.”
“Hey.”
Ruel kicked him. Despite Nehils being elderly, Ruel felt no sympathy. He was simply exasperated by the absurdity of the situation. Nehils raised his head.
“Haha…” Ruel chuckled. All he saw was a pitiful, ragged old man.
“You marked ? You?”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Despite so hesitation, Nehils responded with a guilty expression.
Ruel felt a wave of nausea rise in him. “Are you out of your mind?” Ruel’s hand, clutching the cane, trembled fiercely. His words were far from gentle. Wasn’t this man responsible for the deaths of Ruel’s father and guardian?
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. After that, you can end .” Nehils seed as insignificant as a dried-up anchovy, barely registering in Ruel’s presence. Ruel scoffed.
“Fine. You’ll spill everything? What is the Great Man after?”
With each word Ruel spoke, white breath rose in the air along with the blowing wind.
“I believe it was sothing said to have been received from a god when he was a hero.”
It seed he didn’t know the specifics. The Great Man didn’t trust anyone, so this was clearly the best answer Nehils could give. However, it was unclear if Nehils intentionally referred to the Great Man as ‘that bastard.’
“Why bring up a god all of a sudden?” Ruel frowned.
A god in a world without divine power?
“I don’t know either, but it is said that a great war broke out in this world because of beings that ca from another world several hundred years ago. He was the hero who ended that war.”
“How do you know this?”
“Only through my grandfather. He t him in person and relayed the tale to .” Nehils lowered his voice suddenly, casting anxious glances around as if fearing eavesdroppers. “No matter how much you press , I don’t know his true na or face, but I do know that his na must never be spoken.”
“Why is that?”
“That’s his power. The more people who are aware of him, the stronger that power becos.”
Ruel frowned. There was no evidence to prove that what he said was true.
“How do you know that?”
“From your guardian…” Nehils cautiously glanced at Ruel. Ruel’s expression soon hardened.
“Go on.” Ruel’s tone was sharp. He had only encountered two guardians. He was unaware of their total number, whereabouts, or activities. Ruel purposely avoided dwelling on it, as the outco seed too bleak.
“Speak!” Impatiently, Ruel shouted, prompting Nehils to finally speak.
“I heard it through your guardian…”
“Did you kill them?”
“Yes. All the guardians I captured… I killed them all.”
“Why?” Ruel’s voice cut through the air, chilling Nehils to the core. It felt like a spear had pierced him; Ruel’s stare was so intense that the biting wind seed secondary.
“The guardians wiped out all traces of his existence. That’s why he commanded their deaths.”
In the silence that followed, Nehils tentatively t Ruel’s gaze. The weight of Ruel’s stare left Nehils speechless.
“If he was such a great hero, why doesn’t anyone rember him? The guardians deliberately erased all connections to him to weaken his influence.” Nehils retrieved sothing from his pocket and extended it to Ruel. “Here, this is a record I kept about the nas of the guardians and what they did.”
Ruel laughed suddenly. It was a cold laugh, as if a part of his heart ached. As he briefly glanced at Cassion, he swiftly seized the docunts from Nehils.
Ruel inhaled Breath.
The guardians were the heroes who had defeated the Great Man. If the unique power that the Great Man possessed was truly tied to a hero and their companions, then there would have been no reason to kill the guardians. But he had given the order to kill them, and perhaps even at this mont, his own guardian was dying. Ruel laughed again.
‘If he’s only looking for his original body, then the guardians would be an obstacle.’
It also showed that the soldiers of the present were qualitatively different from those of the past. It was a ti of peace now.
“Fine. Let’s assu it’s all true. But why disclose this to ?”
Nehils bit his lip and replied, “I understand that to you, anything I say might sound like an excuse. But what more can this old body, which has nothing left but death, hope for?”
“Go on.”
“Yes?”
“I told you to present your excuses.”
Ruel stared down at Nehils, curious to hear the old man’s defense.
“I… I have lived my life in subservience to him. I did that to preserve the pride of being a descendant of the heroes my family has protected.”
Suddenly, Nehils let out a hollow laugh.
“I killed Trino Setiria, I killed your guardians, and I marked you to beco his next vessel. And eventually, that brought to this point. But…”
Snow began to fall.
“But my circumstances remain unchanged. Instead, as ti passed, your younger self occupied more and more of my thoughts. You haunted even in my dreams. Again and again.”
“…Hah.”
Ruel let out a hollow laugh. How disgusting were those words? But Nehils continued to speak.
“At that mont, I realized. That I was the evil one. My eyes, blinded by his indoctrination, couldn’t distinguish between good and evil, and my ears were devoured by his temptations!”
Nehils began to sob slowly.
“I’m sorry. I know that whatever I say will only horrify you. But I want to sohow repay you for what I have done to you…”
“What can you do?”
“I will do anything! If you tell to beco a dog, I will beco a dog! I would et my end willingly if you chose to take it now.” The shabby old man cried out as he looked at Ruel.
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