◈ Episode 514. Though It Is Not a Pleasant Matter (3)
Seriously.
‘Who would’ve thought?’
The quest target would turn out to be Granfell in his childhood.
‘No, I suppose it makes sense?’
Perhaps it wasn’t all that strange. Certainly, if it was the Granfell from my settings……
He had been an important figure capable of changing the history of the Arcana Continent from childhood.
Thanks to that, I could make a guess.
‘Maxima’s Golden Elite Soldiers.’
I also knew who the guy that had joined forces with the head of the Maxima family was.
‘Pride, was it you after all?’
Had you wanted to exclude Granfell from the Cloudy family’s succession struggle ever since this time?
Suddenly, I recalled Ignite Maxima, the current head of the Maxima family.
Yugrik of the Forest.
Cansel of Valor.
Akamond of Trembling.
‘It feels strange to say this with my own mouth, but…….’
Unlike the heads of the other families, who had repented and sworn loyalty to me, Ignite, the head of the Golden Maxima family, was still not in his right mind.
‘Not figuratively speaking. Literally.’
He was unable to fulfill his role because he had lost his mind.
Neither I nor Bellier, the senior mage of the healing school, nor the priests of the Goddess Church who had come in case they could be of assistance had been able to guess the reason, but……
‘It would make sense if it had all been the price of this day.’
Because oaths were weighty things in Arcana.
‘So weighty that even dragons and supreme demon kings couldn’t be free of them.’
Perhaps Ignite, as the head of the Maxima family, was belatedly paying the price for Maxima’s sins.
If so, would changing the past restore Ignite’s mind as well?
‘Well, depending on the circumstances, it might be possible.’
But I had a feeling it probably wouldn’t be.
‘Even so, you crossed the line this time, Maxima.’
Perhaps it was because I had watched my one and only niece, Arang, be born, crawl, and grow up. Thanks to that, I could roughly guess the age of the little Granfell who was the quest target.
Five or six years old at most.
I would’ve been at the age when I was still sniveling with a runny nose. Yet the little Granfell already exuded decorum. Still, that only made him look cuter, since he was so small.
Swish.
He pushed aside the bushes with his little hands and poked his head out. Then he knitted his brows and brushed off his hands. He seemed to be checking whether any dirt had gotten on his clothes……
‘So that obsession with cleanliness was already there from this age, huh?’
But one thing was certain: there was vitality in the little Granfell’s eyes. It was a humanity that couldn’t be found in the current Granfell at all.
‘Because you pretend to know everything about the world now.’
A question suddenly occurred to me.
It must have been because I was an uncle with a niece of the same age.
How had young Granfell ended up exposed to such a threat?
‘Of course, before I could dwell on it…….’
Sssss.
“……?!”
I displayed an elf’s footwork.
I approached the Maxima Golden Elite Soldiers in secret.
Though my face and entire body were covered by the flapping Akshan cloak.
They still seemed startled.
‘They really are the elite of the Maxima family, one of the Four Families.’
After all, you see as much as you know.
Pap!
They must have sensed something unusual in my fleeting movement. But I had no intention of praising their insight. At this moment, I didn’t need some grand weapon like Gwisword.
‘The first walk.’
Isn’t the beginning important, Granfell?
‘It’s not like I plan to give you trauma from the very start.’
Whoosh.
A coordinated attack that pierced the blind spots of my vision came pouring in.
It was a high-level pincer attack aimed at my throat.
But that was unfortunate.
‘I’ve crossed blades with daggers far more vicious than these.’
At the sanctuary of the Shadow Mercenary Corps, the most heinous criminal organization on the Arcana Continent.
‘Too slow.’
Compared to the daggers hurled by the apostle of the Shadow God, the attacks of the Golden Elite Soldiers were dull. In a word, they lacked murderous intent. They couldn’t even graze my flapping Akshan cloak.
Then it was my turn.
I searched for the motes of mana I had released from the moment I discovered the Golden Elite Soldiers. Naturally, compared to those Golden Elite Soldiers, my [Strength] and [Agility] stats were still pathetic.
‘Either way, I only need to be stealthy.’
But there was a trick I could add during the interference process.
Press.
The destructive power of bare-handed combat, propelled by motes of mana, was truly ‘strange’ in its force.
Without making a sound, I dispatched two of the Golden Elite Soldiers in an instant.
……
Thud.
Only one remained.
Perhaps he had sensed the overwhelming difference between us.
The last elite soldier knelt before me and begged.
“P-please, s-spare……?!”
I merely brought a finger to my lips.
[The status ailment ‘Silence’ has occurred on a Maxima Golden Elite Soldier.]
I told you not to disturb that little one.
After silencing the Golden Elite Soldier.
I examined the presence of the little Granfell.
‘He’s sensitive, as always.’
It had only been a fleeting moment. Had he heard something?
The little Granfell was surveying his surroundings with wary eyes.
I swallowed a sigh of relief.
‘See? It was a good thing I paid attention, wasn’t it?’
If I’d been wearing the Jacket of Dawn, I would’ve been discovered one hundred percent by now.
‘Then, as for this…….’
Should I interrogate him once this Granfell lowered his guard even a little?
That Pride was involved was.
After all, only my conjecture.
‘It would be better to make certain.’
I conveyed my intentions through telepathy.
……
Nod, nod.
Judging by the way he could barely nod from fear.
I wouldn’t have to worry about him trying anything foolish.
The Golden Elite Soldiers also seemed to have been obeying an order they hadn’t wanted to follow.
‘In any case, I’m lucky.’
Why? Once Granfell finished his walk, he would presumably return to the Cloudy family’s great mansion. That meant I could clear the Cloudy family’s hidden quest and Mythic quest at the same time.
……
But.
Was this really an ordinary walking route?
The more I looked at it, the less it seemed like one.
For starters, this forest connected to the outside of the Cloudy territory.
That was why the Golden Elite Soldiers of the Maxima family had been able to lie in wait here.
……
Wait a minute.
‘Could “the first walk” have meant…….’
Going outside the Cloudy territory?!
‘Even so, you didn’t run away from home, did you?’
There was no way our Granfell, who valued discipline, would commit such a deviation. Besides, think about his age. No matter how precocious he was, running away from home at Arang’s age was a bit much……
“It is difficult to continue watching this.”
His loose tongue, which had been quiet for a while, was at it again.
‘That’s you, Granfell.’
You’re merciless even toward your younger self?
Granfell looked as though he wanted to discipline his younger self immediately, but.
I firmly kept my mouth shut.
No, I had no choice but to.
‘You really do everything.’
My vision had begun to flicker.
[The skill ‘Natural Enemy’ has been activated.]
A demon’s presence.
As I said, before the Cataclysm, demons were rare on the Arcana Continent. One could tell simply by seeing how Akshan had been treated.
Therefore.
‘……
This is unfamiliar.’
I couldn’t help but flinch.
There were few fears directed toward demons.
And since negative emotions were also weak, it should have been an environment in which demons couldn’t grow strong.
‘Strong.’
Even so.
I sensed a presence potent enough to make the demon hunter’s senses tingle.
I could roughly guess its identity.
It was undoubtedly one of the great evils among the Seven Deadly Sins.
‘The Seven Deadly Sins definitely called the demons of the Demon World mongrels.’
The reason was simple.
The Seven Deadly Sins regarded the demons of the Demon World as nuisances. The total amount of negative emotions was fixed, but the demons of the Demon World rampaged about and stole their share.
Thinking that the great evils had possessed this kind of power before the Cataclysm……
In a way, I found myself thinking it was fortunate.
Wouldn’t it have been horrifying if there had been seven more supreme demon kings?
But that was also why I found this unfamiliar.
‘Then who is it?’
From Greed onward.
All the way to Pride, the last of the Seven Deadly Sins I had yet to hunt.
I had sensed the presence of every one of the Seven Deadly Sins, directly or indirectly.
Yet at this moment.
The presence of this great evil that so intensely stimulated my senses was utterly unfamiliar.
So unfamiliar that I couldn’t be certain it was any of the Seven Deadly Sins I had encountered before.
That was when it happened.
“!”
A tremor came through the motes of mana I had scattered.
I didn’t hesitate.
I interfered with the motes of mana and immediately manifested ‘Absolute Zero.’
[The skill ‘Natural Enemy’]
had activated.
My combat power had risen dramatically.
No matter how vast the mana was.
I was now able to manipulate it even more stealthily.
This time, the battle ended without a sound or a trace.
Crack, crack.
I turned my head and looked at the frozen figure.
The figure that had stiffened like a statue was not a demon.
Had it been flash-frozen while dispelling its concealment?
Thanks to that, I was able to identify it.
It was from the Shadow Mercenary Corps of the past.
‘That day’ when the Cloudy family was annihilated.
Had the ties to my ill-fated relationships truly begun from this moment?
But questions still remained.
『There had been a valid reason Granfell was chosen as the heir to the family at the mere age of seven.』
According to my settings, Granfell should still have at least one or two years before he was chosen as the heir. At this point in time, there should have been no reason for him to be targeted by such blatant murderous intent.
‘If this wasn’t Pride’s doing.’
Then who was it?
The closer young Granfell drew to the outside of the Cloudy territory.
The more blatantly murderous intent poured toward him.
As if the entire world hated that little one.
‘Damn it, my head is a mess.’
The demon that had been strangely pricking at my nerves since earlier.
It wasn’t extending a single claw toward the little Granfell, yet beings that were not demons were sincerely targeting the little Granfell’s life.
‘I don’t know what circumstances lie behind this.’
But one thing was certain.
‘As an adult, it’s difficult to keep watching this.’
Leaving the quest aside, what had that little one done so terribly wrong to deserve being placed in such danger? As Lee Hoyeol, I simply could not accept this situation.
Rooooar.
I had no hesitation.
I wanted to deal with the enemies without the sharp-eyed little Granfell noticing, but considering the number of enemies spread throughout the forest, that was impossible.
‘In that case, let me ask just one thing of you, young Granfell.’
Even if it gets noisy, don’t be too surprised.*
Granfell made up his mind.
He decided to leave the Cloudy family.
It was neither an impulse nor mere curiosity.
For someone only five years old, it was an unbelievable decision.
One he had reached after careful deliberation.
“……
Enough.”
Everything had proceeded smoothly.
In the forest that led outside the Cloudy territory.
That was, until he encountered ‘someone’ blocking his path.
Without realizing it, Granfell swallowed dryly.
……
The mana surging around him was extraordinary.
It differed from the magic he had encountered in the family until then.
A spell so complex and filled with such high-level interference that it could not be copied even after seeing it. The person whose face was hidden by a black, flapping cloak was clearly the caster of that magic.
That person said.
“Bear this in mind, boy.”
The man’s words sent ripples through young Granfell’s heart.
“There is no paradise where you run away to.”
“……!”
Perhaps it was from that moment.
For Granfell, who had possessed an exalted aesthetic eye since childhood.
That one particularly unusual taste began to take root.
Flap—
The repulsion of mana.
As Granfell gazed at the cloak fluttering in its wake, his eyes sparkled. There is no paradise where you run away to. Granfell clenched his tiny fists and turned back.
Toward the Cloudy territory he had run away from.*
……
Hey, Granfell.
Did you really have to put it that way?
That was Granfell’s way of speaking for you.
‘How did you end up being strictest with yourself?’
A kid that age had so much curiosity.
It was natural for him to wonder about the world outside.
In that sense, I, Lee Hoyeol, was honestly a little disappointed.
‘Tsk, I was curious.’
I wanted to see what kind of deviation the little Granfell would commit after leaving the Cloudy territory. But thanks to our old-fashioned……
No, thanks to our most adult of adults, Sir Granfell, nagging him.
‘Maybe it’s because he isn’t seven yet.’
The little Granfell obediently turned his steps back toward the Cloudy territory.
Around then, the flickering of the quest also weakened.
I could tell instinctively.
‘It’ll end once the little Granfell returns home.’
The quest would be a success, and I would be thrown out of this past as well.
Then I should hurry my steps.
Why? There was another quest, wasn’t there?
-Witness the Whole Cloudy Family. (In Progress)
The unfamiliar demonic presence still bothered me, but I had also become genuinely curious.
What had the whole Cloudy family looked like?
Let’s see. If I manifested reversal magic using what I had just witnessed as inspiration……
While I was thinking.
Young Granfell stopped walking.
He had emerged from the forest and reached the meadow where the great mansion was visible.
At the same time, my vision flickered.
[You have fulfilled the conditions.]
My vision rapidly blurred.
Through my hazy vision, I hurriedly engraved the sight of the Cloudy territory into my eyes.
And then.
I regretted it.
‘What is that……?’
Bow.
The little Granfell politely bowed toward the forest where I stood. Behind Granfell stretched a flower garden. Yes, the flowers were familiar to me.
Red.
Flowers as red as blood.
Flowers that grew only from blood containing profound resentment.
[Red Spider Lilies Grown from Blood]
were there.
The vast meadow of the Cloudy territory was covered in Red Spider Lilies Grown from Blood, blooming as far as the eye could see.
Only belatedly did I realize what Granfell had done to himself—to the little Granfell.
You shouldn’t have sent him back, Granfell.
Why did you speak so harshly?
Even if I didn’t know, you shouldn’t have said that……?
‘Why on earth……?’
But by the time I realized it, it was already too late.
……[You have successfully completed the quest.][You have fulfilled the conditions.][Rewards will be distributed.]
For the first time, I grew angry at that ever-straight posture, as upright as always.
I had confessed everything to you, from my darkest history onward.
Why, then, had you……?
‘Are you still hiding your past from me, Granfell?’