Chapter 30 : Chapter 30
Volume 1
Chapter 30 : It Ended Before It Even Began
“Father, you were looking for me?”
After crossing the vast courtyard of the Duke’s estate, Muen finally arrived at the mansion gates, where he saw Duke Lorne Campbell, and...
“Hm? Mother is here too?”
“Little Muen, how are you feeling?”
Muen’s bargain-bin mother, Noyas Campbell, was also standing at the gate.
The moment she saw him, she rushed over and pulled him into her arms with a pained expression.
“The healing spell from before did not leave any side effects, did it? Sigh, I told you not to get too close to that princess. She is a husband-killing omen. Look what she’s done to our little Muen.”
“Mm... Mother, there’s no need to worry. I’m already fine.”
Enduring his mother’s suffocating embrace, Muen replied with a bitter smile,
“Although if you don’t let go soon, I really am going to suffocate to death.”
“Hmph, what is wrong with me hugging my precious son?”
Noyas pouted like a young girl, then finally let Muen go with visible reluctance.
“You really do spoil Muen too much.”
Lorne Campbell stepped forward from the side and put on a stern face.
“As a man, he ought to endure a few hardships. Otherwise, how will he ever grow?”
“Hardships? Hardships? Do you even realize that because of your so-called hardships, your son nearly lost his life?!”
The moment she thought of that incident, Noyas felt a lingering fright in her heart. Her eyes immediately reddened again as she held Muen’s hand and said,
“Little Muen, promise me you’ll stay away from that woman from now on, all right?”
“...I will.”
Muen’s mouth twitched.
Of course he also wanted to stay away from Selicia for the time being.
He still did not even know how he was supposed to face her.
But was that engagement not something the two of you arranged in the first place?
As long as the engagement still existed, where exactly was he supposed to run?
“Hmph, this is all your useless father’s fault.”
As if she had seen straight through Muen’s thoughts, Noyas shot Lorne a glare.
“You couldn’t even cancel an engagement.”
“Ahahaha, well, Selicia is His Majesty’s beloved princess after all. If I brought that up to His Majesty, I might well be rewarded with poisoned wine on the spot.”
Lorne scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
“Heh heh.”
Muen gave two dry laughs along with him, then changed the subject.
“By the way, Father, why did you call me here?”
Looking past the two of them, Muen noticed that an ornate carriage was already waiting there and the thing pulling it was not an ordinary horse, but a majestic griffin.
“You’re going out? And you even brought out a griffin carriage. Are you going somewhere far away?”
“That’s right. That is exactly what I wanted to tell you.”
Lorne let out a sigh and said,
“Your mother and I are going on a long journey. I’m afraid we probably won’t be back for quite some time.”
“For quite some time? How long is that?”
The moment he heard Father’s words, Muen’s head began to buzz.
I only just built an entire plan with Father as the core of it. If you leave, what am I supposed to do?
“Well... I’m not sure either. There are simply too many factors involved. But in the short term, I definitely won’t be coming back.”
Perhaps knowing that leaving in such a hurry made him feel somewhat sorry toward Muen, Lorne gave an apologetic smile.
“It all happened too suddenly. There was nothing I could do.”
“When you say it happened suddenly, you mean...?”
“The Abyss along the western front. Those damned demons have started stirring again.”
“The Abyss...”
Muen went blank.
The so-called Abyss referred to a special realm occupied by humanity’s mortal enemies, the demons—a place filled with chaos, death, and indescribable horrors.
Now that the Demon God was sealed away, the demons of the Abyss still used it as their stronghold, launching constant attacks against the human continent in an attempt to counterattack and rescue the sealed Demon God.
And among the human nations, the Leopold Empire was the country with the largest stretch of territory bordering that Abyss.
Naturally, that was inseparable from the Empire’s own power and vast lands, but it also meant the Empire bore an immense amount of pressure from the demons.
So once the Abyss made any major move, the Empire had to treat it with the utmost seriousness.
Otherwise, if the front lines were breached, who knew how many imperial citizens would be swept into catastrophe?
And in turn, if the disturbances in the Abyss were serious enough that even the vast Empire had to go on full alert, then it certainly would not be something that could be resolved in a short time.
“That’s right, I remember now.”
A flash of lightning seemed to strike through Muen’s mind.
“The original novel did mention this part. The demons’ invasion—but it was only a feint. Their real purpose was to confuse the human world and lay the groundwork for some plan three years later.”
“And that point three years later was exactly when the protagonist officially entered the Savior arc.”
“Wait, three years?”
Muen’s face turned pale.
That meant Father would be staying on the front lines for at least three years?
Then what about my plan?
My teacher?
My safety?
My grand dream of hiding at home until the end of time and then emerging to astonish the world...
With Father heading for the front...
Gone with a smack?
It had not even started yet, and it was already ruined?
“D-Do... do you really have to be the one to go?”
Muen stammered. “Wouldn’t someone else work?”
“I know you’re worried about me.”
Mistaking Muen’s panic for concern over his safety, Lorne patted him on the shoulder with a gratified expression.
“But this time, I have no choice. I must go.”
“Why?”
“Because of this.”
Lorne showed Muen the emblem on his chest.
It was the Campbell family crest.
A sharp sword slaying a dragon.
The Campbell family, Sword of the Empire, had represented the Empire’s sharpest blade ever since the founding of the Empire itself!
So when war began, he, Lorne Campbell, had to stand at the very front line!
“I see...”
Muen knew there was no point saying anything more.
“Then what about Mother?”
He turned his puzzled gaze toward his mother, who was clearly preparing to leave as well.
“Mother, are you going to the front lines too?”
“Of course not.” Noyas shook her head. “Your father is only giving me a ride part of the way.”
“A ride? Where are you going?”
“Back to our fief, Campbell Territory.”
“Huh? Why? Mother, why are you going there alone...?”
“Because...”
Noyas’s expression suddenly grew a little shy.
“There’s something we still haven’t had the chance to tell you, little Muen.”
“What is it?”
“Actually...”
Noyas placed a hand over her lower abdomen, her face filled with happiness.
“You’re going to have a little brother.”
“Or maybe a little sister.”
At her side, Lorne clasped Noyas’s hand and spoke with the same tender expression.
“Well? Aren’t you happy?”
“Huh?”
Whether he was happy or not, Muen did not know at the moment.
What he did know was that he was definitely shocked.
(⊙o⊙) Huh?
A little brother or sister?
You two aren’t joking?
Hasn’t the Campbell family always passed down through a single heir?
“Sigh, I never thought it would be in my generation that the Campbell family’s curse of single inheritance would finally be broken.”
The ever-bold and iron-willed Duke Campbell now had tears of tenderness in the corners of his eyes.
“Heaven truly has eyes. Once the ancestors learn of this, they’re sure to be overjoyed.”
“So,”
Noyas continued,
“In order to take better care of the pregnancy, I’ll be returning to the countryside in Campbell Territory for a while. After all, little Muen will be starting school again soon, and if I stay in the Duke’s estate, I’ll just be all alone. I may as well go back to the countryside instead. At least there I can avoid those bothersome noblewomen and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.”