Chapter 99 : Chapter 99
Chapter 99: White Flame (1)
“Lady Haryun has become strange.”
“It’s because of the Mectera. Didn’t you hear? They say that bastard has even scattered heads in Mectera.”
“She caught it from being with him. I can’t even understand the treatment. An outsider, a Mectera no different from a barbarian.”
The knights’ animosity grew even more intense.
They used the expression that Haryun had been contaminated by me.
But on the surface, nothing had changed. Just as they had been careful after Renate Noel’s half-dead incident, the knights were just talking a lot behind my back because of Akarr.
“Even if the West Palace is large, to stay together.”
“I heard the Blue Flame Knight Order is planning an engagement.”
Because they had moved to the West Palace, they couldn't even pull the same stunts they had at the villa before.
The master, Akarr Bahab, had given a blatant warning, and among the knight orders, the Blue Flame even speculated that I would become Haryun’s fiancé.
“It’s not impossible. To be honest, the young lady has fixed her weakness. It’s actually a good thing.”
“In fact, their talents weren’t that different. Now the real competition will begin.”
The ones spreading the rumors were Hejel’s faction.
The ones praising and acknowledging her were a faction that Haryun had a chance to win over.
The more rumors abounded, the more Jeremiah was pleased, yet he was also wary.
“Simurtr.”
The direct descendants’ training ground, at some point, looked like a place for me.
Even on the day of his return from Hella, I had sought out the training ground, and like now, I was swinging my sword inside a white hemisphere.
“Simurtr?”
Swoosh. Though under the same pressure, the sword was faster than the first day. Haryun clearly felt that speed.
He was improving every day. But his expression? There was no sign of joy. Instead, he seemed uncomfortable.
‘It couldn’t be helped.’
A week had already passed since he had retrieved Elder.
But it still felt uncomfortable. I didn't like it. Everything that had happened in Hella was consistently bothering me.
To Herein Remeter, and to Homer Harkinwagen. I had been played by them all.
‘In the first place, I went to Hella for that reason.’
I had foolishly thought it was Haryun’s Bellows-work, and had followed along without knowing it was Akarr’s test.
I had been played from beginning to end. Only bad memories remained from Hella.
Yet, the reason why I couldn't express my anger, was grumbling inwardly and suppressing my frustration, and had been silently swinging my sword for a week was.
‘But I still got it.’
Because there was something I had gained in Hella.
I didn't believe the words Herein Remeter had sworn to her god, and the fact that Homer had found out I was Egna was truly uncomfortable, but.
In return, I had obtained Elder.
‘And Akarr gave me a generous compensation.’
Pagna and Pegna too.
Other mementos were also precious, but among them, Elder held an even greater meaning.
The gatekeeper of the place where my master would be. Elder was the key that could open that gatekeeper.
The reason why I endured Herein’s incomprehensible favor, and even turned Homer’s suspicion into certainty, was because I couldn't let go of Elder.
‘Without this, I can’t go to see my master.’
Though I had been reincarnated, I had the Star-Breaking Style.
There was the affection built between master and disciple in the past. If we met again, my master would recognize me.
I had that conviction. Though I didn't know if he would be pleased, he would recognize me.
‘But without Elder, it’s all useless.’
To go to see my master, to go to the place where my master was, Elder was essential.
Without it, I couldn't even get close.
Of course, the path to reunion would only be possible after my revenge was complete, but I didn't know what the future held.
If Elder flowed into the Black Land, the Sword Tower and Homer would be harmed. The possibility that I wouldn't be able to retrieve it even after my revenge was complete would arise.
I would surely have to waste a lot of time searching for Elder. I wanted to block that possibility in advance…….
“Simurtr!”
It was immersion if you could call it that.
Whatever the distractions, my body was consistently doing what it had to do.
“What. When did you get here?”
I discovered Haryun and Jeremiah.
The surroundings were bound to get dark during training using the Black Hemisphere. I had to use even the mana that should have been used for the Sword Net.
“How long are you going to do this?”
“What.”
“The training.”
“Training is not enough even if you do it every day. You do it next to me.”
“That is correct.”
Haryun glared at Jeremiah.
At some point, Jeremiah had started to treat me sincerely.
“Lies. You’re waiting for my mother, aren’t you.”
After returning.
Akarr had not sought me out separately.
Perhaps she had entrusted it to Haryun.
Akarr knew the full story of Alex Bemal’s death. She must be thinking that my relationship with Haryun was progressing quite well.
“That's also true.”
“Give up. Do you know why my mother isn't looking for you?”
If he successfully completed this Bellows-work, Akarr had said she would show him the Swelling Flame.
I believed those words. I didn't completely believe them, but still.
Even if her personality was rotten, I was just a sixteen-year-old kid. To a kid like that, surely. A person who was a hero, no less.
“She must be busy.”
One might say what was there to be so busy about in an era of peace, but there was surprisingly a lot. Once, I had seen Orde’s schedule.
The only time we could be together was at dinner. Only Arnea, who slept with him, could see Orde for a long time.
Retired Medeoban might be free, but a Duke was a position with no free days.
“No. My mother always makes time for training, no matter how arduous her duties are.”
“Then why doesn't she come?”
“Why do you think. It’s because you’re here.”
Haryun sighed.
Simurtr had always been sharp, but at times, a naive side showed. This must also be what it meant to be a Sword Fiend.
“She’s avoiding me and doing it somewhere else?”
Why? I frowned.
There was a plausible reason behind all of Akarr Bahab’s actions.
Mostly derived from the blue blood of the nobility and the authority of Bahab, they were reasons that were ugly and disgusting to me.
Akarr, who had become a hero, was two-faced. While building up, she also sought to protect what she had built, and as such, she tried to keep her word as much as possible.
“Yes.”
“The promise?”
“There are plenty of excuses. My Bellows-work was Alex Bemal, not the Black Fox.”
“I failed?”
“You caught the Black Tiger but you missed the Black Fox.”
“You want me to catch that? Are you crazy?”
Did she really have to kill Remeter?
Wasn't it a test designed for me to fail in the first place.
“Tell her to try and catch it herself. She missed it too.”
“My mother?”
“She couldn't even catch a tail of it.”
“Lies… no, since you’re saying it, it must be true. I believe you.”
Haryun believed me.
So, she found it hard to believe her mother anymore.
“Actually, I just met my mother.”
Haryun replayed the memory.
***
“Why won’t you show me?”
The 5th floor of the Central Palace.
As soon as she entered the office, Haryun had said so.
“You seem to have gotten closer. You even know how to look out for him.”
That attitude, Akarr did not consider it disrespectful.
“It was a promise. If you don’t keep it, the authority of Bahab will be tarnished.”
“That could be.”
Instead, she was pleased.
She looked upon Haryun's changed attitude favorably.
“You wanted to recruit Simurtr. It’s not even teaching, just showing. If you can win his favor with that, isn’t it a gain?”
To think her second child could express her opinion like this.
No, it wasn't that she could, but that she had learned to. It was proof that she was becoming like Simurtr, and that their relationship had grown closer.
“That is also true. You may be the same, but I also want that child.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“If that child asks, I could say it’s because he missed Remeter.”
Her attitude towards her daughter was benevolent.
With every conversation, she tried to teach something. She was treating her as she treated Hejel.
Haryun found that quite amusing. After all this time.
“What’s the truth?”
“It’s dangerous. Bahab’s will be taken.”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t you know even after seeing it. Simurtr. That child has that kind of talent.”
Sixteen.
At just that age, he had killed a baron-level Doom Species.
That one aspect, Akarr remembered it clearly. It was killed in a single blow.
“It was the first time I knew that such an achievement was possible at that age.”
Such a precedent? At least Akarr didn't know of one.
It wouldn't be found even if one searched through the records of prestigious families.
“Is it hard to understand?”
Haryun looked at the desk.
A report. Akarr's finger was pointing at Simurtr's life story, which she had seen once before.
“There was a child more outstanding than the one lost in Hella. It was my oversight. I should have replaced him sooner.”
The life story had gotten a little longer. A new passage had been added.
“He showed the Black Hemisphere in training.”
“The Black Hemisphere?”
“Haven’t you seen him dominate the space? It’s a secret technique that gave Mectera the expression ‘barrier’.”
Haryun nodded.
Dominating the space. She was talking about the white hemisphere that Simurtr had immersed himself in during training.
She was once again impressed. While some were just about to start, Simurtr had already been recognized enough to be permitted a secret technique.
“Isn’t it strange? No matter how lenient Mectera is with talent, they wouldn't break the traditions of a prestigious family.”
Important things after the coming-of-age ceremony.
It was a tradition that most prestigious families applied. Mectera was also like that. But Simurtr had already learned a secret technique. How?
‘And wasn’t he being discriminated against in Mectera?’
Haryun skimmed through the life story again.
Nothing had changed except for the added content. It meant that Simurtr had grown up just like that.
Exiled at the age of 5, he grew up under surveillance. He was ambushed at the age of 16.
He was dragged to the execution chamber as soon as he entered the castle, and although he was recognized at the Selection Ceremony, he ultimately received no teachings from Mectera.
He was caught up in a family feud and experienced Degrate and the Black Tower. He overcame them all in the end, but in other words, it meant that he had only suffered.
‘Even more than me.’
Who had it harder? Haryun unconsciously compared her life with Simurtr's life story.
At least Haryun had never been exiled, nor had she ever not received teachings from Bahab.
While Simurtr continued his unorthodox path, Haryun's first fight had been with Alex Bemal.
And even then, she had just watched. Simurtr had handled everything.
“You’ll know when you see it. Mectera doesn't particularly cherish that child. Medeoban Mectera and the current Sword Master acknowledged him, and he has the favor of the 6th Head of the Sword, but that's all.”
Akarr said.
“It means they have finally broken away from their foolish ideology and realized the nobility of bloodlines. The information obtained from Arnea Dujeu's side is that. That child has already declared that he will not become the Sword Master.”
That might be why he could remain as an adopted son.
It was a speculative statement, but Akarr's voice was heated.
The life story, the white mana, the Black Tower, and this time, the baron-level Doom Species.
Everything Simurtr showed continued to fuel Akarr's desire.
“Then shouldn’t you have shown him the Swelling Flame all the more?”
Because she felt that heat, Haryun couldn't understand.
If she wanted him that much, shouldn't she have coddled and placated Simurtr as soon as possible, before the gap was filled?
“Don’t you still not get it. Mectera said they never taught that child the secret technique of the Black Hemisphere.”
They had started to obsess over bloodlines and would not have broken tradition.
But Simurtr, an adopted son, knew what even the direct descendants had not learned.
“Based on what the 6th Head of the Sword showed him, he learned it himself.”
“Pardon?”
“If he has that kind of talent. Bahab’s Swelling Flame will probably be taken as well. I think it will be impossible, but there is no reason to take the burden.”
If the risk was great, she ignored it.
She did not do her best on something that was not certain.
Ever since she had failed once, Akarr Bahab had changed like that.
“So you’re saying you’re going to break your promise.”
“I will keep it. But not yet. It will take time.”
If he became Haryun's lover, there was nothing she couldn't show him.
If she was certain that he had become a person of Bahab, Akarr would surely teach him the basics of the Swelling Flame, if not everything.
“That time, you will have to decide. My daughter.”
“There you go again. You want me to seduce him?”
“Though he is of lowly birth, he is not foolish but clever. A child who would have been even more meaningful if he had been born on the battlefield. With that kind of talent, his qualifications are sufficient.”
That white.
Akarr Bahab had already failed once.
“As your partner, as a live-in son-in-law of Bahab, there would be no one better. If he refuses, this mother will step in myself.”
“……”
So.
One failure was enough.
***
“Is she crazy.”
Haryun looked at Simurtr, who had spat out a curse.
I thought you were far ahead of me.
“I’ll show you.”
“What?”
“The Swelling Flame. I promised. Unlike some people, I keep my word.”
He was only 16.
Younger than me, and his limits were also clear.
“Oh.”
He was able to stay in Mectera on the condition that he would not become the Sword Master, and in Bahab, he was just being swayed back and forth by the temptation of the Swelling Flame…….
“But you can’t tell anyone.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll trust you.”
Poor Simurtr.
“But I’m not going to be a live-in son-in-law.”
“…Shut up. I’m not interested either.”
“Oh.”
Oh my ass.