I failed to upload Chapter 43 on time. There were no PC rooms on the highway, so I hope you’ll understand……
It’s late, but here it is.
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Every word in Damon’s voice became a dagger and lodged itself in Benitez’s heart.
“Though I have lost my strength, I still possess the pride of a martial artist. So do not make me
any more unsightly than this—grant me a clean death. If you have even the slightest bit of conscience
for making me this way, then kill me here and now.”
Having finished speaking, Damon began to sob bitterly. Hot tears continued to wet his face.
For a while, Benitez could not open his mouth. Though Damon was a foreigner, the plight of a man who had fallen from the status of an absolute being to that of a mere
guardsman struck deep in his heart. Only after a long while did he let out a lengthy sigh. Benitez’s gaze as he looked at Damon had softened somewhat.
“Hoo.”
Slowly moving his feet and approaching Damon, Benitez’s face flushed.
“First, as one of those who brought you here, I feel sorry. But
once an order was given, there was nothing I could do.”
Damon did not move an inch. With bloodshot eyes, he merely glared at Benitez. After meeting that gaze for a moment, Benitez nodded as if he had no choice.
“I will try to find a way. So for now, return to your post.”
“……….”
“It is impossible for me to teach you magic personally under any circumstances. In other words,
even if I wanted to, it could not be done. But do not worry. I will find some way, no matter what…….”
“R-really?”
Benitez nodded silently. He even smiled as if to reassure Damon. After staring into Benitez’s eyes for a moment, Damon shook the arms held by the guardsmen.
“Let go. I’ll go on my own feet.”
When the hesitant guardsmen released his arms, Damon straightened his disheveled clothes.
Then, as if he had never shown such an unsightly state, he cupped his fist toward Benitez with a composed manner.
“I have caused you much discourtesy. Then I shall await good news.”
Leaving Benitez somewhat bewildered by the unfamiliar form of greeting, Damon turned around. Benitez watched Damon’s back as he strode away with a bitter expression.
After returning to his post, Damon devoted himself to duty on the castle wall for a time. Aside from his turn at the watchtower, which came around once a day,
he focused solely on asking the other soldiers to help him learn the language fluently.
‘In order to study the discipline called magic, I must at least learn the language in depth.’
But word from Benitez did not come easily. Even so, Damon did not grow impatient in the slightest. He was already used to enduring and waiting……
On the day one month had passed since he met Benitez, word finally arrived. The senior soldier,
McMillan, came to find Damon while carrying something. A somewhat bitter expression—yet, on second glance, one that seemed to say this was fortunate all the same—had appeared on his face.
“An order has come down from the court.”
“……….”
“It’s an official document assigning you to the palace guards. This is truly something to congratulate.”
At McMillan’s words, the defensive soldiers working with him all could not hide their surprise. The position of palace guard was by no means a place to which one could be easily assigned. Unless one was the child of an influential noble house or a wealthy family, it was almost impossible to be assigned to that post. Of course, there were not no palace guards from commoner backgrounds,
but in such cases there was the prerequisite that they either possessed exceptionally outstanding swordsmanship or excellent physique.
However, in their eyes, Damon was by no means someone who met those conditions. No,
even setting aside his small and hideous appearance, they had never once heard a rumor that a mercenary from another country had become a palace guard. That was how elite a unit the palace guards were, receiving special treatment.
But the soldiers’ commotion did not last long. Instead, they sincerely congratulated Damon for being assigned to such a good position.
“Congratulations, Damon.”
“Even after you go, don’t forget us.”
Having worked together for more than six months, the defensive soldiers thought of Damon as a close comrade.
A faint smile appeared on Damon’s expressionless face. Even his extremely withered heart had been touched by the soldiers’ simple sincerity.
“I-I won’t forget. Any of you…….”
The defensive soldiers held a modest party for the departing Damon. Each of them brought out food without stint,
and Passat ran home in one breath and brought back the moonshine he had hidden away deep inside, then opened it. Soon, the 57th Guard Unit’s humble farewell ceremony was held. When the harsh moonshine had gone around once,
the faces of all the soldiers, without exception, were flushed with intoxication.
McMillan, the senior soldier, patted Damon on the shoulder.
“Once you go, we probably won’t see each other again. Judging by the war situation, we’ll likely be assigned to the front soon. Wherever you go, make sure you don’t forget us…….”
“I-I won’t.”
Damon was somewhat dazed by the unexpected warm reception. In truth, through Shrekheimer’s explanation,
he had come to hold a certain amount of contempt for the lords of this place. That notion was melting away like snow because of their attitude.
In other words, his prejudice toward the people of Truvenia as a whole was changing. He had not been here very long,
but from dealing with the defensive soldiers, the people of Truvenia had relatively simple and honest natures. Though Damon possessed a hideous appearance,
once they became close to him, they showed an indescribable warmth.
“Take care, Damon. I hope we meet again.”
“I-I’d like that too.”
With his face red from drink, Damon nodded repeatedly. Thinking about it, he did not recall ever becoming this drunk even in the Central Plains. When he had possessed martial arts, that is,
in the Central Plains, there had been no occasion for him to get drunk.
The only times he drank were when he held feasts with the warriors of the Guardian Demon King Army. Of course, back then,
he had been in a position responsible for hundreds of subordinates, so he could not get utterly drunk like this. Before he knew it,
the faces of his subordinates, who were already dead and no longer in this world, surfaced dimly in Damon’s mind.
Along with the face of Sa Junhwan, the chief culprit who had killed them.
‘Sa Junhwan! I can never forgive you.’
The more he thought about it, the more his desire for revenge against him surged up on its own.
“What are you doing? You have to take a cup.”
At Passat’s words urging him to drink, Damon awoke from his thoughts and accepted the cup.
“A-all right.”
It was unfamiliar, harsh moonshine, but to him, at that moment, no drink could have been more delicious.
In that way, the watchtower guarded by the 57th Guard Unit sank into the atmosphere of a party.
The next morning. After bidding farewell to the comrades he had grown attached to, Damon left the watchtower where he had stayed for six months.
Since he had almost no personal belongings, he walked down the castle wall empty-handed.
He did not know why Benitez had appointed him as a palace guard, but he would soon find out once he went to the palace,
so he moved in silence, keeping the letter of appointment as a palace guard tucked deep inside his clothes.
After walking for a little over an hour, the palace came clearly into view. He immediately headed for the palace’s rear gate. When he presented the letter of appointment to the guards,
this time they guided him to Benitez’s office without a word of objection. When he opened the door and entered, Benitez was waiting for him with an anxious look.
“Welcome.”
“Have you been well in the meantime?”
Barely acknowledging Damon’s polite greeting, Benitez approached the palace guard who had entered with him
and gave him some instructions. Only after the guard saluted and left did Benitez look at Damon.
“You must be very curious as to why I placed you in the position of palace guard.”
“To be honest, I am.”
At his speech, which had become far more fluent than one month ago, Benitez tilted his head. As far as he knew, Damon seemed to be the only one who had learned the Truvenian language this quickly. But since there was little time,
he soon began his explanation.
“In truth, there was no other way besides this. I mean, no other way for you to have the chance to learn magic.”
“……….”
“Not long after your visit a month ago, I went to see Duke Sergei.
That was because he oversees all affairs of the court. And I proposed to him that you should be appointed as a palace guard.”
“I don’t know for certain, but I doubt he thought very positively of it.”
Of course, because of the attitude he had shown Sergei, Damon roughly guessed the situation.
He was by no means someone who held good feelings toward him. As expected, Benitez wore a bitter smile.
“As you say, the duke found it very displeasing. But once I laid out the reasoning I had prepared,
he had no choice but to yield in the end.”
Benitez smiled and continued speaking.
“I emphasized to the duke the fact that you had defeated a troll and an ogre. In other words,
I pointed out that such medium-sized monsters might, in the unlikely event, infiltrate the palace through teleportation,
and proposed appointing you as a palace guard as a countermeasure. In any case, you are the only soldier who has fought and defeated medium-sized monsters alone.
Aside from the knights, of course.”
Only then did Damon understand the reason he had been appointed as a palace guard and nodded.
“But why appoint me as a guard when I want to learn magic……….”
“Palace guards are currently stationed in every part of the palace. Naturally, guards are also stationed within the Faculty of Magic without exception.”
Damon’s face brightened. At last, he understood Benitez’s intention.
“Then…….”
“That is correct. Other than that, there is no way for you to learn magic. Sending you to the faculty’s guard detail is fully within my authority. So you are to serve there while observing the course of instruction.”
Damon expressed his gratitude with genuine sincerity.
“Thank you very much.”
“I have opened the path for you, so learning will depend entirely on your own aptitude. Then, I am busy, so I must…….”
Benitez, who was about to turn around, seemed to think of something and turned his head.
“Ah, follow the guard who brought you here earlier. He will issue you armor and weapons.”
Benitez dismissed him as if he had no further business with him. Damon bowed his head once more to express his thanks, then followed the guard out of the office. Benitez’s gaze fixed on Damon’s back as he strode away. A moment after they left,
Benitez let out a long sigh.
“Will he truly be able to learn magic?”
But Benitez had already concluded that it was something close to impossible.
Magic was, by its nature, a discipline in which one needed a solid foundation for it to be easy to move on to the next stage. Of course, most of the students currently being educated at the Faculty of Magic were carefully chosen, talented students,
and the majority had been brought in after mastering the basic course.
Because of that, the education being conducted for them was currently at an advanced level. In such circumstances,
to learn such advanced material without any foundation in magic whatsoever was, quite literally, nothing more than absurd nonsense.
“Hoo! It cannot be helped. I have at least opened the path for him, so the rest is for him to handle.”
At last, Benitez set aside his thoughts and rose to his feet.
“There’s no time.”
Because the tasks he had to resolve were piled up like a mountain, his heart was exceedingly pressed.