Chapter 97 : Chapter 97
Chapter 97: Bellows-work (3)
‘Homer doesn't want to believe in the Young Master's death, but he accepts it. He knows of Gerehk's atrocities, but he doesn't know that I killed him. He doesn't know the truth about the Young Master's death.’
‘You didn't tell him? I thought you were close.’
‘What good would it do to tell him. When the 6th Sword Order was looking for the Young Master, Homer wanted to find his body.’
‘Really? You hid it well. It’s better that he doesn't know.’
‘…But Egna Harkinwagen. Because the Young Master used that name, Homer thinks that the Young Master raised a disciple.’
‘Are you saying it’s my fault?’
‘Wouldn't it be? Anyway, as long as that fact isn't revealed, he won't suspect the Young Master.’
‘But does that make sense? He believes I'm dead, but he thinks I have a disciple?’
‘He probably thinks you raised one in your spare time during the war.’
‘As if I had that kind of time.’
‘You took in a lot of orphans. He probably thinks you raised one in secret.’
‘In secret? There was probably no information easier to obtain than mine at that time. To the point where even the damn Doom Species knew everything I was doing.’
‘…But things did quiet down after Nurmakan died.’
‘Did they?’
‘Yes. Anyway, it's not good for it to be revealed that Egna Harkinwagen is the Young Master.’
Before opening the door to the slaughter room.
I recalled my conversation with Aran. We had talked before I came to Bahab as a guest.
‘I'm dead. Homer knows that too.’
Elder.
Homer desperately wanted my beloved sword from my past life. Why? It wasn't because he felt sorry for the scrap that Elder had become. Homer and Lete Dujeu knew Elder's specialty.
‘They know no one but me can use it. The reason they still want Elder is for the purpose of remembrance.’
The Unsetting Sun was a group of swordsmen who honored Exa.
The Head of the Sword Tower, Lete Dujeu, embraced them. Harkinwagen of the Empire also maintained a close relationship.
‘That's possible.’
It was hard to understand why the group called The Unsetting Sun continued to exist, but I could nod at Lete Dujeu's actions.
I remembered Semenu's words. Unlike Semenu, the other unit members were not doing anything foolish.
She said they did not deny Exa's death. Lete Dujeu was honoring Exa in her own way. And Harkinwagen as well.
‘There isn't even a body in the tomb. It's worth sticking a single sword in there.’
Perhaps my tomb existed somewhere in the Sword Tower as well.
Having seen how they treated mementos, they wouldn't trust the memorial ground managed by the Empire.
‘Or, if Egna Harkinwagen really is a disciple, they might be thinking of finding him and handing Elder over.’
But in my opinion, that possibility was not high.
Even assuming The Unsetting Sun was a very noble group, Lete Dujeu would not allow it.
‘No. She's not that kind of person.’
Even if he was a disciple, he was still a stranger.
She would think it better to stick it in a tomb rather than hand it over to a stranger named Egna.
Lete Dujeu was that kind of person.
‘If I had been a disciple and not the person himself, Semenu wouldn't have even glanced at me. She's similar to Semenu.’
Semenu and Lete did not get along, but they resembled each other. They were obsessed with Baperr.
The fictitious being Egna Harkinwagen was Exa's disciple, but not a Baperr. Lete Dujeu would surely not welcome Egna.
‘Still, she would think she had to find him. She would have judged that Egna must be related since it was a name only I knew.’
Egna and Harkinwagen was a combination that couldn't have come about by chance.
Perhaps, from their perspective, they might have mistaken it as a signal to come and meet them…….
“You got your sword in the meantime.”
As soon as he opened the door to the slaughter room, Homer looked at my waist.
‘Hiding Elder is not a difficult task.’
Right now, Elder looked exactly like the sword I had handed over to the guards.
Elder followed my will. If I decided to hide it, there was no way others would recognize it.
“I got it right away.”
“Weren't you hit by the Evil Eye?”
Herein Remeter.
Had suggested that she be the one who stole Elder.
Though it was the words of the trash of the Black Land, it was a proposal that couldn't help but be tempting.
If Akarr had questioned me about Elder, I would have answered that way. I didn't care what kind of crap Akarr pulled on the Black Land.
‘But.’
What about Homer, Lete Dujeu's Sword Tower.
The Unsetting Sun, who liked my past self?
‘These bastards are serious.’
He disguised himself with Koral's mask and sent Kanan as a transport. He used Harkinwagen because it was difficult to enter the Empire.
‘Of all people, that bastard.’
The foolish Homer accepted it gladly.
Of all places, he was in charge of the border with the Black Land. He might even infiltrate the Black Land to retrieve the stolen Elder.
‘He said he would overturn it if he couldn't win the bid in the first place. It's a must. Using Herein Remeter is not an option.’
Not only would The Unsetting Sun make unnecessary sacrifices.
I didn't want Homer or Lete Dujeu to go through any unnecessary trouble. It was pointless.
‘It’s right to give it to them, but…….’
So.
It was right to tell the truth here and hand over Elder…….
“It was an illusion-type Evil Eye. The moment of greatest desire. Kanan, what did you see?”
Homer asked suddenly.
He asked Kanan, but his gaze was on me.
“They recognized me. They said the sword suited me well. In the stables.”
Kanan seemed embarrassed to say it.
“Haha. I see. That's you alright. Were there other children too?”
“Yes.”
“Your magician friend must have gotten a good scolding.”
“What about you, Sir Homer?”
“It was similar for me. But it was from the past. Perhaps because I'm older, I think it felt that what was unresolved in my heart was greater than the future.”
Homer.
At some point, had stopped looking at Elder. He was looking at my eyes, and I did not avoid Homer's gaze.
“That young lady, Haryun Bahab, was the first to wake up, wasn't she? Did she have a resistance to the Evil Eye?”
“Is it possible to develop a resistance?”
“Of course. The more you encounter it, the more resistance you build. Of course, an individual's mental strength is the most important, but if you try, you can develop it to some extent.”
It wasn't Haryun. The one with resistance was Homer.
A mere baron. Homer was not a man who would lose consciousness for a long time to an Evil Eye of that level.
“As expected of a Hero Family. Even in an era without war, they don't let their guard down against the Doom Species.”
Homer, whom I met in Hella, had changed, but he hadn't changed.
Just like in my past life, he was direct, and if he had something to say, he said it without hesitation.
“Is it the same for you, Young Master? Does the Hero Family Mectera also adopt such early education?”
But the Homer now was different.
He was beating around the bush. He wasn't the Homer I knew.
‘Kanan.’
I immediately found the reason.
‘The Unsetting Sun, the Sword Tower.’
Kanan, Homer was conscious of those two groups now.
Why? That was a question to be figured out from now on. But it was favorable. I thought, receiving Homer's smiling eyes.
“It's a Phantasmal Ability.”
“From where was it an illusion?”
“From after Baekhwa was turned off.”
“The baron was split in half and died. In the illusion of the Evil Eye, and in reality.”
“It must be a coincidence.”
A Doom Species died in the same way?
Talk about bad luck. No, perhaps Homer was already halfway out of the Evil Eye.
“I thought I was dreaming of the past, but it was slightly different.”
“If it had been exactly the same, it would have been a count, not a baron.”
“Is that so? Hmm. My mouth is itching. This kind of conversation is quite awkward.”
Tsk. I clicked my tongue and raised my hand. I cast an illusion on Kanan. It was the same kind as the one I had used on the magician at the auction house.
“There? Now talk.”
Homer wanted to have a conversation with Kanan excluded.
He wanted to hide me from The Unsetting Sun and the Sword Tower.
“What kind of illusion is it?”
“Just keeping my mouth shut.”
“It seems like it would be awkward.”
“Shall we talk?”
“That would be nice.”
“The topic. What should it be?”
“How about Egna Harkinwagen?”
Homer's eyes curved.
“…I believe I said I didn't know.”
From the moment I followed Homer's intention.
I had expected Homer to bring up that name.
“I promise to keep it to myself. Is deceiving Kanan now not enough to earn your trust?”
Even if my past life wasn't revealed.
The name Egna was ultimately a trace of my past life.
Homer Harkinwagen was trying hard to find Exa's body, and he wanted to reach anything related to Exa.
…I didn't like that. I wanted others to stop being captivated by the name Exa.
“Trust or not, I really don't know.”
Homer and the remaining unit members.
I wanted everyone related to my past life to live their own lives, just as I had once wished.
I didn't want to see them stop and try to go back because of some memento. I had no intention of doing so either.
“I don't trust what I've been deceived by once. That's why I don't trust the Imperial family or the Hero Families.”
“For someone like that, you're living well with a count's title, aren't you?”
Just keep living well like that.
“It's not for me, but for my future family.”
“What are you trying to say. That you can't trust me because I've already deceived you?”
That was what I wanted.
If I didn't want to be involved, I just had to distance myself from the start. I could accept such a relationship with a smile.
“No. Strangely enough, I don't feel like I was deceived by you, Young Master. It's possible.
That's the only thought that comes to mind.”
“What?”
“So if you want, I'll continue to be deceived. As much as you want, Young Master.”
But Homer didn't seem to want to distance himself. He held some kind of conviction.
“Herein Remeter. The Black Fox that the hero Akarr Bahab couldn't even catch a tail of. If it's a powerhouse of that level, it's beyond my abilities. It was inevitable that Elder would be taken.”
If it was a big shot on par with Akarr Bahab, he wouldn't be reprimanded.
Homer's gaze, which had been on my eyes for a while, now reached my waist.
“Oh dear. Remeter has managed to obtain Elder after all. I don't know his purpose, but I'll have to find out. He wouldn't think of destroying it. If he did, there would be no need to win the bid or steal it, he could have just broken it on the spot.”
Elder does not break.
So, he would take it and find a way to break it.
From the perspective of the one who had it stolen, that would be a normal line of thought.
But Homer forcibly did not think that way.
“This is a big problem. Although it declined due to the Doom War, the Black Land is still the Black Land. Forget an expedition, just infiltrating it would be difficult.”
He was a terrible actor.
That was why he had wanted to cast an illusion on Kanan. If he had asked for a private conversation, it would have seemed suspicious.
“So for now, it would be right to use Degrate's crows and observe the situation. I don't know how long that ‘for now’ will be. I want to find Elder quickly, but……”
Aran. Next, Semenu.
This time, Homer Harkinwagen.
So, everyone I met.
I received their favor. Fate was making me rely on the connections I had built in my past life.
“How much time do you think it will take, Young Master? For me to figure out Egna Harkinwagen and find out the possession of Elder in the Black Land?”
“…Two years. Three at most.”
That time.
Was the deadline for me to reach a level where I could face the Head of the Sword Tower, Lete Dujeu.
“Is that too long?”
“No. It's ridiculously short.”
Compared to the time that has passed.
Homer smiled brightly.
***
“Could you roll up your sleeve? Preferably a place that isn't bare.”
Hiss. I did as he said.
My right arm. The Pagna that Mectera had possessed.
“I see. Mectera has already given up Pagna. Unlike Bahab, they must have a conscience.”
I was already indebted. Homer was already convinced that I was Egna.
I really didn't like it… but for now, I had to rely on this favor.
If it had been Pagna or Pegna, I would have just passed it over with some regret.
‘Of all things, it had to be Elder.’
I had hesitated for too long.
I had given Homer time to think. Perhaps it was the price for misjudging him as the Homer of the old days.
In the old days, he would have simply nodded.
“I'm going to smoke this for a moment.”
Homer took out a case from his pocket.
I guessed the contents from the smell. A cigarette.
“You smoke that stuff? Since when?”
I frowned.
A swordsman was willingly letting his body rot?
“It's been a while. I use it often. As I live, I find things I want to lean on.”
A while. Often.
If that were the case, the smell should have clung to his body. I relaxed my face. A normal person might not, but someone with mana couldn't be deceived.
“Now it's time to give Kanan some time too. Isn't this the first time you've met since Huit? He may look quiet, but he's been looking for you a lot, Young Master.”
Homer smiled and left the Butcher Shop.
His steps were quite light.
Lighter than when he came to Hella, lighter than when he had retrieved Elder. It was natural.
There were no clues to find Exa in Elder.
‘Instead of vaguely waiting for Sir Exa to return, it would be faster to wait for that young master's mouth to open.’
He had wanted to prepare Elder in advance.
That was the reason he participated in the auction. It was for Exa, who would one day surely return.
But Homer did not have the confidence to wait for that ‘one day’. Lete Dujeu, The Unsetting Sun, Baramant, Semenu, and Aran.
All of them were the same. They had tried to find him themselves and had waited for 20 years with no results. And now they were to prepare Elder and wait even longer?
‘I’d rather win his favor.’
If they knew the truth, the East would not forgive it, but.
Homer had no intention of going back on his word.
‘This is the answer. The way to see Sir Exa sooner.’
Homer Harkinwagen.
Called himself Exa's disciple. He had been scolded a lot by the Baperrs for it, but still.
Swordsmanship, mana training methods, the battlefield, survival, experience. Homer had received everything necessary to become stronger from Exa.
If this wasn't a disciple, what was?
‘I’ve received so much.’
If he could just call back the disappeared Exa, he was willing to gladly offer his life.
If he was told to die, he would die. His daughter? His wife? He loved them. But they were incomparable. An emotion beyond comparison.
‘Sir Exa will take care of them.’
He would marry Ruina and have a grandchild.
It didn't matter if it was a son or a daughter. He wanted to see his grandchild's face, but if necessary, he didn't have to.
He would be satisfied if he could just use the name he had already chosen.
‘Egna.’
It was a name with a truly nice ring to it.
It was more than enough for the name of his beloved grandchild. In fact, it should be considered more than he deserved.
‘To think the answer was right in front of me. I must thank Sir Aran.’
Egna Harkinwagen.
The name of his future grandson, which only Exa would know, had suddenly popped up in Bahab. At the underground banquet in Pakun to select a partner for Haryun Bahab.
‘The partner of Haryun Bahab who accepted Hejel Bahab's duel. The quality of mana. The presence resulting from it…….’
…The Star-Breaking Style.
Though he called himself Exa's disciple in his heart, and had surely learned a lot.
Among them, there was no Star-Breaking Style. Because it was like Exa's symbol, Homer did not dare to utter the words that he wanted to learn it.
He revered it, but that was it. It was not something he should try to reach. That was why he was so certain.
‘I was not defeated by the Evil Eye.’
He was, but he came out of it quickly.
The one Exa in the Evil Eye had cut down was the Doom Species of Hella. The one who had cut down that baron was Elder.
The one who had taken back Baekhwa and asked for Elder was Simurtr.
‘Elder is only transformed by the Star-Breaking Style.’
Elder was a sword for the Star-Breaking Style.
It was a gift from a master to his disciple.
Exa had said so once.
‘The reason is none of my business.’
Exa and Simurtr.
Their timelines didn't match? Homer did not enjoy making his own assumptions and deductions.
He would look at the answer sheet in that time. He preferred to ask the person directly or those around them.
‘Two years. Or three.’
Compared to 20 years, it was extremely short.
Moreover, this waiting was not a process of deduction without an answer. It was the time until the answer sheet was opened.
If so, he could wait with a willing heart…….
“Aren't you going to smoke?”
The voice was heard when Homer was looking at the sky and smiling from ear to ear.
When he looked to the side, Jeremiah was making a strange expression.
It wasn't obvious due to the Bahab's features, but to Homer, Haryun seemed to be the same.
To put it metaphorically, it was like looking at a pervert.
“Do you have a light?”
“You're not talking about the Swelling Flame, are you?”
“The Swelling Flame? You mean Bahab's flame? Why would that come up here.”
“Don't pretend you don't know. You know everything.”
“Oh dear. Since when did you know?”
“It would be strange not to recognize it. After all the idiotic things I've done.”
“You have a foul mouth for someone who looks like you.”
“I'm trying to become like that.”
“It was puberty.”
“No, it's not.”
Homer felt a familiarity in Haryun's tone.
“But aren't you going to smoke?”
Haryun pointed at what Homer was holding.
Homer had a cigarette between his fingers to show Simurtr.
“Is it because you really don't have a light? I'll do it if you want.”
In the old days, no, until just a little while ago, he wouldn't have even thought of lighting a fire with the Swelling Flame.
Jeremiah looked at Haryun with a complicated expression once again.
“No, no. It's fine. I'm not going to smoke. A swordsman who smokes is no swordsman.”
“Then why are you holding it?”
“It's just for avoiding a situation. You should take note too, my lady. Smoking is a pretty good excuse to get away.”
“Why are you avoiding the situation?”
“Because the business inside is over?”
Homer looked at Haryun.
Egna Harkinwagen's, Simurtr's partner.
“So. Since when did you know?”
“What. My identity?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm? I heard it from the Young Master.”
“From Simurtr?”
“He called the young lady Haryun Bahab.”
“When?”
“At the auction house. Didn't you know because he told you?”
“He didn't.”
“I've made an idiotic mistake too. Let's pretend this never happened.”
“I don't want to.”
“Then let's do this. I'll tell you my identity too.”
“You're Koral.”
“No.”
Homer looked around and took off his mask.
“I am Homer Harkinwagen.”
Two years. Or three.
It was really short compared to 20 years.
But in fact, even that was long for Homer's temperament.
“Pardon?”
“I apologize for ignoring the young lady's letter. Since we both did it, let's pretend that never happened either.”
And because the person who knew the answer was right in front of him.
“What are you talking about.”
“So. That young master is Egna Harkinwagen, right?”
“Get lost. I don't want to see you.”
“……”