N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 456
Raon tried to answer, but closed his mouth again.
'I shouldn't just spit it out.'
The person who asked the question about whether he was interested in the path of the lord was none other than the head of Zieghart. It was a matter that should not be answered without thinking.
Hmm?
Wrath rolled his eyes as if wondering what he was doing.
Why aren't you answering quickly? Answer before that old man gives you Nadine bread! You're not thinking of becoming the head of the house anyway!
He waved his hand, stating that a man who would go to the Devildom and become a demon king would not be fit for the position of the head of the house.
'Yes. I did think that way.'
The last person with whom he had a conversation about the head of the house was Adis Sepia, the owner of the Sepia Merchants Association.
He asked if he had any thoughts about becoming house Zigheart's head before leaving, and at that time, Raon answered that he wasn't sure yet.
'But my thoughts have changed a little.'
He tried to give the same answer to Glenn as he did to Adis Sepia, but when he thought about it, his thinking was different from that time.
'Because I've seen the Arian family.'
After completing the mission at the Arian family, he observed how an incompetent leader could ruin the family and make life difficult for the household members, causing his thoughts to change a little.
'It's not that I want to become the head of the house, but I don't want an unqualified person to become the head of the family.'
The next head of Zieghart will most likely be one of Glenn's childrens.
The four most likely candidates are Glenn's eldest daughter, who is currently not in Zieghart, Karoon, the master of the Central Martial Palace, Denier, the master of the Wise Martial Palace, and Balder, the master of the True Martial Palace.
In addition to these four, there are a handful of grandmasters like Roenn and Sheryl, but they have no intention of becoming the head of the house. They will not reveal themselves unless some crazy bastard comes out to attack Zieghart's main gate.
'Among the four, Denier seems to be the most promising, but in reality, that might be just the tip of the iceberg.'
Denier may show the best side among the direct line members, but that could be just a fraction of the whole story.
Given that individuals like Derus are everywhere, one should not easily trust people.
He also didn't want to see a greedy pig like the head of the Arian family seizing control and manipulating Zieghart.
'I guess I've come to like Zieghart.'
I thought I couldn't feel emotions like affection.
When I first realized that I was born in Zieghart, I planned to leave the house after getting what I wanted.
But as I opened my heart to Sylvia and the maids, regarded Rimmer as a teacher, and considered the Light Wind as brothers, a small affection for this house grew.
The determination to cut off the neck of Derus Robert was firm, but the resolve to leave the house was gradually shaking.
'And there's more.'
He raised his gaze. He smiled faintly as he looked at Glenn, who was quietly waiting for an answer.
'Now I think I know a little about the head of the house's personality.'
Although Glenn's cold gaze and momentum still made my bones shiver, I felt that I knew what he disliked and preferred.
"Hmm."
After organizing his thoughts, Raon cleared his throat.
"To be honest, I'm not sure if my path is towards becoming the head of the house. However, I do think that it's better for me to sit in that position than to see someone who is not qualified become the head of the house."
He honestly told him what he had thought a while ago.
What? The head of the house? Why!
Wrath shouted and thrust his face forward.
You should become the Demon King! Your physiognomy is exactly like that of a Demon King! Go to the Devildom and mock and ridicule everyone there!
Wrath shouted for him to go to the Devildom and make fun of other demons.
'I don't know what a Demon King looks like, but I had no intention of going to the Devildom.'
Glenn stared into his eyes as if trying to figure out his true intentions, then nodded.
"So be it."
He drew a thin smile. It seemed like he had never seen such a smile before.
"It seems that the scope of your thinking has widened a bit."
Seeing Glenn's calm voice, it seemed that his own answer was somewhat satisfying.
"We've wasted some time with idle talk. I think we'll have to stay a little longer today."
“Yes.”
Raon nodded and raised Heavenly Drive again.
Just as he was about to unfold the first move of the Sky Sword, the sound of the back door of the annex building opening could be heard.
Turning around, Sylvia was approaching with a white tray in hand.
“…….”
Glenn, seemingly already aware, looked at Sylvia with an indifferent expression.
"It's getting late, so I thought you might be hungry."
Sylvia said she made the sandwiches herself and placed the tray on the table in front of the lake.
The savory aroma of butter-baked bread tickled his nose.
Oh!
Wrath, who had been scowling, lifted his head up.
Indeed, it's our mother!
‘She’s not your mother!’
Raon pushed away Wrath, who was clinging to him, and approached Sylvia.
“You haven’t gone to bed yet, have you?”
“I haven’t been able to sleep well lately.”
Sylvia smiled with half-closed eyes. Although she didn’t show it, she seemed to be very worried after learning that he was going to have a sword duel with Ayad.
“Um, Lord….”
She glanced at Glenn with her eyes.
Glenn nodded as if to say, “Go ahead.”
“Oh, no! Raon, learn well from Lord Glenn. I just made it, so eat it right away!”
Sylvia bowed to Glenn and quickly walked back to the annex building.
‘Is she still scared of him?’
Raon looked at Sylvia with a bitter expression and then approached Glenn with the tray.
“My mother may not be good at cooking other dishes, but she makes great sandwiches. You won’t be disappointed.”
He presented the tray with a confident expression.
“…Is that so?”
Glenn stared at the sandwich, which was releasing a faint steam, for a long time. He took the sandwich with a trembling hand and took a bite.
Raon also stood next to Glenn and took the sandwich. Seeing Ras swallowing his saliva, he took a bite.
The combination of the crispy and savory bread, the fruit jam spread inside, and the ham and cheese was amazing.
Wow, it's truly delicious! It's on a completely different level than Nadine's bread!
‘We haven’t eaten Nadine bread for a long time.’
Hmph. Don’t be careless! Who knows if that old man has another Nadine bread in his pocket?
‘Surely not.’
When Raon shook his head, Glenn’s voice could be heard.
“It’s delicious.”
He let out a low sigh as he bit off the sandwich little by little, as if he didn’t want it to disappear.
“Yes, it is.”
Raon nodded with a faint smile.
Silence followed. Only the sound of crickets chirping quietly and the sound of the two of them chewing on sandwiches filled the surface of the lake.
"We'll train for an extra hour today."
“Understood.”
"I brought Nadine's bread, but it seems unnecessary."
“…….”
Told youuu!
* * *
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"Ugh!"
Burren bit his lip as he looked at the green tornado that reached from his feet to the sky.
'Damn it...'
It hurts like hell.
The razor-like wind swirling around felt like it could tear his skin apart. He thought he had a high resistance to wind, but it was hard to bear.
'I can't fight back or block it.'
Since Rimmer only told him to endure it with his body and mind, not to block it with the use of aura or to slash it with his sword, there was nothing else he could do but endure it.
'Okay. I have to endure it. Somehow.'
For the sake of seeing Raon’s back, and for the sake of being acknowledged by his father, he could endure this much pain.
'I'm a bit better, after all.'
Burren sighed and looked to his right.
“Unghhh…”
Runaan, dressed in a swimsuit, immersed herself in ice water, letting out a moan. Of course, the water she was soaking in was not ordinary ice water.
The water, created by the vice-master of the magic tower of Zighart at the request of Rimmer, was colder than ice. It was rumored to possess a coldness beyond that of 5th circle magic.
"Huff..."
Runaan bit her blue lips and looked at her face reflected in the water.
'It's so cold...'
Having never experienced coldness since birth due to the blessing of frost, the pain of the cold was more piercing than being stabbed with a knife.
'I can still endure it.'
While the body reached its limits, the mind could withstand more.
To repay even a fraction of the debt to Raon, she needed to overcome this pain and ascend to master level as quickly as possible.
'And about my brother...'
The confrontation with Syria was not over yet. In order to protect her family from him, she had to go further than he was now.
"Ugh..."
When Runaan spat out a white mist, a sound like someone grinding their teeth could be heard from the other side.
*Clack*
It was Martha. She was buried in the ground with only her neck sticking out, scowling.
"Hey! I'm being treated too harshly!"
Martha glared at Rimmer, who was dozing off in a rocking chair, and yelled.
"Why am I the only one buried in the ground! And this keeps pressing down! I feel like my body is going to be crushed!"
Her eyebrows were twitching as if the pain was severe.
"Well, why not? It's because you're an earth attribute," Rimmer said, stretching his neck and yawning.
He scratched his neck and licked his lips.
"Burren is a wind attribute, so he's in the wind, Runaan is cold, so he's in the ice water, and you're familiar with the earth, so you're buried in the ground. I explained it all at the beginning, right?"
"No, you didn't!"
"You didn't!"
"You didn't!"
Runaan, Burren, and Martha all shouted at the same time.
"Oh, really? I forgot," Rimmer said, laughing and scratching his head.
"Well, to make a long story short, your affinity with your attributes is quite high. It's similar to that of elves, but it's not enough to achieve anything. It needs to be raised a lot more."
His eyes were filled with seriousness.
"I've experienced it myself and learned it. You can believe me."
Rimmer shook his finger at the frowning captains.
"If you endure the pain you are feeling now, your attributes and your mental images will be able to evolve one step further."
He himself was able to control lightning by being exposed to Glenn's lightning, and he was able to raise the level of his sword field.
Those kids, who are talented and young, will surely be able to go even higher.
"But this is a bit..."
"It's hard."
"Yeah. It feels like I'm going to die."
"If you want, you can quit. But do you know this?"
Rimmer smiled and continued.
"I heard that Raon is going to train with the head of the house again. Isn't he really out of reach now?"
As he waved his hand, a hot glow appeared in the eyes of the three people.
"This is nothing. I can do it for as long as it takes!"
"That's right. It's no big deal!"
"Yeah."
Martha, Burren, and Runaan nodded with their lips curled up, as if they had never complained.
"Then I'm going to take a nap!"
Rimmer nodded in satisfaction and lay down in the rocking chair again.
"But..."
Runaan looked at Martha, who was only sticking out her neck.
"Untamed woman, You said can do it for as long as it takes?"
She blinked her eyes, teasing Martha for biting her tongue.
"You jerk!"
Martha's jaw was shaking, but she couldn't come out because she was buried in the ground.
"I'll kill you!"
"Come out and say it."
"Yaaaaa!"
"Stop fighting already..."
Rimmer smiled as he listened to the voices of the three people.
"They get along well."
* * *
Raon stood on the lake with his eyes closed.
As his breathing and the lake's texture harmonized, the lake surface, which had been spreading with gentle ripples, began to sink down quietly.
Even though Raon was standing on it and a strong wind was blowing, the lake did not move even a little.
In a small way, the space domination that Glenn had shown before was achieved.
Raon did not pay attention to this amazing achievement, but concentrated only on the flow of the lake and the fusion of his aura.
Goooooooooooooooooooo.
As if the lake and Raon were one, his breath and aura began to melt into the lake.
While Raon was simultaneously meditating and practicing for a long time, a small voice came from outside the lake.
"Young master."
Hearing Judiel's voice, he opened his eyes. She waved her hand with her usual plain face.
"It's time to go to the arena."
"Already?"
Raon raised his head and looked at the sky. The sun was slowly approaching the center of the sky.
'Time sure flies.'
Was it because he only training? The time to have a sword duel with Ayad was passing faster than he thought.
As he training what he had learned from Glenn all day long, it seemed that time passed differently than usual.
You must have gone quickly.
Wrath shook his shoulders and frowned.
The King of Essence who hasn't eaten ice cream in a month is as slow as a tortoise!
'I said I'll set up a buffet with bead ice cream.'
How can the King of Essence believes a man who hasn't kept his promise for a month!
'I'll finish the fight quickly today and go right away.'
Really?
'You can believe me today. I don't have anything else to do now. Just cheer me on.'
Understood.
Wrath nodded and waved his round hands wildly. It seemed that he was cheering in his own way.
Raon smiled faintly as he walked out of the lake. Unlike before, there were no small waves on the surface of the water.
'I'm doing a little bit now.'
It seemed that he had achieved to some extent making this small lake his territory, although not to the extent of Glenn.
"Judiel, what about Mother?"
"Madam was too nervous and couldn't bear it, so she headed to the arena first. She was with Helen."
"Really?"
Raon laughed. Sylvia and Helen seemed to be very nervous, even though they said they would believe and not worry.
"I should get ready too."
As he was about to go to the annex building to get the black dragon coat, he saw a woman with fiery red hair walking across the garden of the annex building.
A gorgeously beautiful female swordsman that one would never forget once seen. It was Serena, the leader of the Void Sword division. She stood in front of him and gave a small bow.
"It's been a while, vice division leader of the Light Wind."
"Why has the leader of the Void Sword division come here?"
"Can we talk for a moment?
Raon looked at Judiel, and she nodded as if he still had some time.
“This way, please.”
He took Serena to the garden.
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Serena, who was expressionless like a mask.
“I’m sorry, but even if the leader of the Void Sword has a friendly relationship with the leader of the White Lotus, I won’t let him off easy in the sword duel.”
“I was his training partner. We started out the same way.”
Serena began her story in a calm tone, without any emotion in her voice.
“We entered different factions in the selection, but we both became captains and leaders at a similar time. I guess you could say we were rivals rather than friends.”
In fact, even before the selection, Ayad and Serena were the first leaders to approach him.
“I sometimes met Ayad to spar, but he stopped showing up one day. He kept going outside the house to carry out missions.”
Raon didn’t know what Serena’s intention was, so he decided to just listen quietly.
“Our Void Sword and White Lotus were rivals, so we knew each other’s members. But at some point, the faces of the White Lotus members began to change to those I didn’t know.
“Hmm…”
“At first, I thought it was an unavoidable sacrifice due to the many missions, but it got worse. The talented ones survived, and the ones without talent died. It might seem natural, but as you know, the actual battlefield is not a place where only the strong survive.”
“That’s right.”
Being exceptionally talented doesn't guarantee survival, and lacking talent doesn't automatically mean death. Various factors, such as the situation and luck, overlap
"Thinking back, I knew about it but seemed to avoid facing that fact. I thought he would come to his senses on his own. I waited, thinking he would return. But the situation worsened. I also bear some responsibility for this incident. After this sword duel, I plan to talk to the head of the house about it."
“There’s no need for that…”
“No, this is something that must be done. It would have been better if it had been a little faster, but…”
Serena smiled for the first time and shook her head.
"You mentioned earlier that you wouldn't spare him, right? Of course, that's the right decision. Originally, I should have been the one to defeat him, but since you've challenged him, make sure to defeat him properly. If you manage to cut off an arm or something, I believe he'll come to his senses."
She bowed her head in a polite manner and said, “Thank you,” before leaving.
“I’m sorry, but…”
Raon looked at Serena's back as she left and gently stroked the sheath of Heavenly Drive.
“One arm is not enough.”
