Anagin Chronicles

Chapter 080. The Second Ruin (1)

Three days.

Anagin, true to his word, did nothing but sleep for three solid days.

He filled those three days to the brim without a single break.

It might have seemed overly relaxed, considering he had even accepted a request from Chiron Tower, but Anagin could confidently say that it wasn’t.

After not sleeping for fifteen days, he needed at least three days of proper rest to function properly. It was a necessary recovery.

It was true that Gigants had better stamina than ordinary people, but that didn’t mean they were immune to fatigue.

If anything, that endurance could make things more dangerous. Gigants dying from overworking their bodies wasn’t uncommon for no reason.

Anagin learned that fact through training with his master.

After sparring for an entire month without proper rest, he couldn’t move properly in the next bout and ended up getting beaten twice as badly as usual.

‘Rest is also part of combat! It’s the same logic as sharpening your blade in times of peace. And yet you couldn’t even rest properly, pathetic fool!’

‘You don’t really have the right to say that, considering you attacked me while I was resting?!’

‘I was teaching you the lesson that you mustn’t let your guard down even during rest. Two lessons in one go, how efficient is that? If you don’t like it, then you be the master.’

‘I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you!’

…Yeah, recalling his master had probably been a mistake. Now he was just pissed off again.

In any case, after sleeping soundly for three days, Anagin stepped out of his room and began preparing to leave.

To head to the Ruin Chiron had mentioned, and gather Orichalcum.

The Ruin was located near the border between northern and western Hellas, so it wasn’t that far.

Good news for Anagin.

And that wasn’t the only good news.

‘All preparations are complete.’

Sphinx was already waiting for Anagin, fully ready to depart.

During the three days Anagin slept, Sphinx investigated the Ruin where Orichalcum had been found and prepared the supplies needed for the journey.

Not only that—she had also spoken with the siblings Kori and Pais in Anagin’s stead. The topic of that conversation was—

‘U-um… could we stay here?’

The question of Kori and Pais’s future.

‘It’s not that we’re tired or anything, but if we follow you, we’ll probably just get in the way.’

‘It might be better for us to train here instead.’

‘Ah! They said it’s okay for us to train here if we want.’

Kori and Pais expressed that, if Anagin allowed it, they wanted to stay behind at Chiron Tower and train rather than accompany him.

Not because following Anagin was exhausting or annoying, but because they felt they would be a hindrance.

It didn’t sound like a lie. At least, not to Anagin.

In fact, thinking about it, it was a natural reaction. When they encountered Erysichthon, the reason Sphinx revealed her true form in the first place was because of Kori and Pais, so it wasn’t strange for them to think they were a burden.

Even so, Kori and Pais watched Anagin nervously, as if they had committed some sort of sin.

It looked exactly like abandoning a benefactor after finding a new nest.

So Anagin—

“Yoo-hoo—!”

He raised both arms and shouted in triumph.

As if he were thrilled to finally shake off the troublesome brats.

The guilt-stricken expressions on Kori and Pais’s faces instantly turned into a trio of confusion, hurt, and anger.

They had endured Anagin’s brutish training without complaint, helped diligently with cooking and washing dishes, and yet this reaction stung far too much.

Just as their expressions reached a peak, Anagin brought his hands down from high above and roughly ruffled both of their heads.

Leaving them with a casual “I’ll be back.”

With their hair in disarray, Kori and Pais watched Anagin’s back as he walked away.

It wasn’t bad.

With his revenge against the Forest Brotherhood more or less finished, he could leave the kids somewhere appropriate.

No matter how reckless Anagin was, it would have felt wrong to part ways by abandoning the kids he’d traveled with for days on the roadside.

Of course, Chiron Tower had its petty and shady sides, but what could he do? That was their fate to deal with.

What mattered was that he parted ways with Kori and Pais at the right time—and thanks to that, he could head to the Ruin without wasting time.

“We’re almost there.”

Ah, right. The good news didn’t stop there.

They say good news comes in threes, don’t they?

One is too few, and two feels a bit cold.

The third piece of good news was none other than Sanchonius joining them.

“Yes, right here. It’s a wreck, but it has a roof and keeps out the wind. We’ll stay here tonight, and if we leave tomorrow, we’ll reach our destination.”

* * *

After finishing the travel preparations with Sphinx, and parting ways with the siblings Kori and Pais.

Anagin tried to head straight for the Ruin where Orichalcum had been found.

That was when Sanchonius followed him with a pack on his back.

‘I will accompany you as well.’

‘Why?’

‘You are exerting yourself for the sake of Chiron Tower. I cannot send you off alone. Though I am lacking, I will do my utmost to attend to you, so please make free use of me.’

It wasn’t for Chiron Tower, but simply to use the forge—yet Anagin didn’t bother explaining.

There was no reason to correct someone who thought well of him.

More importantly, Anagin could instinctively tell that no matter how honestly he explained it, Sanchonius wouldn’t truly understand. They were cut from different cloth, but this man was stubborn in his own way, too.

If he wouldn’t listen anyway, speaking was just a waste, wasn’t it?

So Anagin readily allowed Sanchonius to join them.

Because…

“The meat is burning! The stew is boiling over!”

He wanted to shout at Sphinx and Sanchonius, who were preparing dinner, while lying on his side with his head propped up on one arm.

Freeze.

Sphinx, who had been diligently cooking, abruptly stopped at Anagin’s bark.

Just as one might wonder if she had realized her own laziness after hearing Anagin's dignified rebuke, Sanchonius asked worriedly.

“Are you all right?”

“Ah.... Yes, I’m fine.”

“You look unwell somehow....”

“I was just startled. I should be getting angry when I hear something like that, but I realized I was accepting it far too naturally.”

“Ah.......”

Sanchonius let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

He had heard of this in Chiron Tower’s lectures—the stages by which slaves come to accept their condition.

The stage where even all manner of absurdity is accepted as natural.

“Ever consider that you accepted it because I was right?”

"Brother, please just be quiet."

“Don’t be so cold. You’ll hurt my feelings.”

Despite Anagin’s shameless display, Sphinx sighed and stirred the pot briskly so the stew wouldn’t stick.

Sanchonius cautiously offered,

“If you’d like, I can take over.”

“No, it’s fine. I intend to preserve my conscience.”

“That makes it sound like I’m the bad guy.”

“Brother, if you want to eat, be quiet.”

Since he wanted to eat, Anagin shut his mouth, and soon after, the meal was served.

A stew made from the rabbit family they’d caught during the day, a whole roasted pheasant, and fresh bread.

“Wait. Fresh bread?”

“Yes. I brought it along. Since we’ll reach our destination tomorrow, I thought I’d take it out as a commemoration.”

Since fresh bread was hard to come by on the road, Anagin was impressed.

“I appreciate it, but is it really okay to bring something like this?”

As a Gigant, Anagin wasn’t especially knowledgeable about camping, but even he knew that fresh bread wasn’t ideal travel rations.

Soft bread spoiled easily and was quick to lose its shape.

“There’s no need to worry. This bread was made by the mages working at Chiron Tower.”

“Mages make bread?”

“Magic can be applied to any field.”

“Ohhh....”

Tearing the fresh bread apart with both hands, Anagin glanced at Sphinx.

She blinked silently as she inspected it, and Anagin dipped the bread into the stew and took a bite.

“There are also magical tools that keep food fresh without needing to enchant the bread itself.”

“Ah, I’ve seen something like that. I’ve even got one.”

Anagin was referring to the magical tool Fresh Wrap he’d received from Spanich Dolos.

After he captured the Harpy Witch and presented her head as a gift, Spanich had given it to him—though they ended up fighting later.

‘Come to think of it, the Dolos Family had a mage too.’

Recalling the past, Anagin asked,

“Are there a lot of mages working at Chiron Tower?”

“I wouldn’t say there are few. In a sense, Mr. Grumbal could also be considered a mage.”

That made sense to Anagin. Someone who repaired magic weapons and magical tools certainly qualified.

“Are there usually a lot of mages under practitioners?”

“There tend to be.”

Sanchonius replied affirmatively.

“Magic is certainly convenient, useful, and powerful, but individual differences are severe. Even the Yeom required for magic is based on a person’s will and mind, so innate disposition plays a huge role.”

He roughly understood.

Even if someone could use magic, the spells they could handle might be limited, or their power and effectiveness might have clear ceilings.

Even a skilled mage could be poor at certain schools due to disposition, while someone who handled many spells might lack depth.

“In such cases, rather than standing alone, they place themselves under a practitioner family or a specific organization. It’s more stable, both financially and in terms of personal safety.”

“So there are a lot of people targeting mages?”

Anagin inferred from the mention of safety.

His guess was correct.

“Yes. Most people assume mages are wealthy, and even if they aren’t, there are those who aim for kidnapping, or even their corpses. If a mage can’t use attack magic, survival itself becomes difficult.”

Considering the value of monster corpses and practitioner corpses alike, it was a plausible story.

Now Anagin felt like he finally understood why mages all seemed a bit unhinged.

“Of course, there are mage groups that protect such mages as well.”

“Like who?”

“Magno. They call themselves the protectors of mages and seekers of magic.”

“At the same time, they’re magic supremacists and troublemakers.”

Sphinx added, as if she knew them well.

Seeing that Sanchonius didn’t deny it, it seemed to be true.

“There are those who do good, but it’s also true that there are suspicious rumors. Especially that they’ll stop at nothing in the pursuit of knowledge.......”

Knowledge.

“Do they show up at places like Ruins, too?”

“It’s certainly possible. Ruins hold many things mages would covet—artifacts, blessings, knowledge, research funds, and so on. Still, there’s no need to worry too much.”

“Why not?”

“Unless it’s an extreme case, they don’t usually act recklessly in open places like Ruins.”

“Haha, if the Ruins we’re going to turn out like that, it’d be pretty funny.”

“Haha, how could that be? Even if Orichalcum is rare, unless there’s a lot of it.... Still, if it really were like that, it would be funny.”

* * *

“Doesn’t seem so funny now that I’m seeing it in person.”

Arriving at the border region between northern and western Hellas, their destination,

Anagin spoke frankly as he looked at the Ruin in the distance—along with the mages and armed troops who had fortified the area around them, and the many mercenaries and practitioners surrounding those armed forces.