N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 547
“Haaa….”
Karoon let out an irritated sigh as he left the audience chamber. His sharp eyes turned even colder as he frowned deeply.
"You look like you could kill someone with that expression.”
Balder approached Karoon and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“Do you hate that Raon kid that much?”
“Hate? Such trivial emotions are not important.”
Karoon moved his lips without looking at Balder.
“Have you ever seen Father praise someone like that before?”
“Hmm….”
Balder scratched his chin and shook his head after thinking for a moment.
"No. Father is not stingy with praise, but he never displayed it so openly.”
"That's correct. Not even his own children have ever received such explicit praise. When I became a Grandmaster, all he said was 'good job.'”
Karoon raised his eyes slightly as if recalling an old memory.
"But Father then and Father now are different, and this event was undeniably remarkable. He crushed the plans the Eden bastards had been building for decades!”
Balder, with his simple nature, congratulated the achievement with a pat on Karoon's back.
"You seem at ease. Do you remember what I said before?”
“Hmm….”
He tilted his head as if he couldn’t remember what Karoon had said.
“I said that it seems like Father is trying to make Raon Zieghart the successor.”
“Ah!”
"It's confirmed today. Father intends to make Raon our competitor.”
Karoon spoke with conviction, unlike before.
“That kid is just a brat who just passed his coming-of-age ceremony! How can he be our competitor!”
“Being young is not important. What matters is whether you can do it or not. Raon Zieghart has accumulated enough achievements and strength.”
"But he's not even a Grandmaster yet…”
“His hand is already beyond the wall. It wouldn’t be strange if he became a Grandmaster tomorrow.”
He turned to Balder for the first time and continued.
"Don't be complacent. If you foolishly relax, you might be the first one to be caught. Like your son, who was devoured by Raon.”
Karoon brought up the story of how Raon had defeated Balder's son during their trainee days, narrowing his eyes with a hint of threat.
“Are you comparing me to Raden now?”
Balder’s face contorted savagely as he recalled Raden, who had become a cripple.
"Moreover, that kid is not even a direct line!”
"It's just a matter of time. Right now, we can oppose him just by standing against him. But if he accomplishes the feat of defeating Roman next year, nothing will stop him.”
“Roman….”
"By some coincidence, you've been given your own authority this time. If you don't want to be overtaken by that colt, you'd better start holding him back now.”
Karoon delivered his final words and walked away without looking back, heading towards the direction of the Central Martial Palace.
“Sigh….”
Balder sighed in annoyance, placing his hand on his waist.
"He always acts like he's so superior."
When Balder cast a disdainful glance at Karun, Denier quietly approached from behind.
“Big brother has been like that since he was a kid. Why are you getting upset all of a sudden?”
Denier stood on Balder’s right side and smiled.
“Did you hear it?”
Balder frowned at Denier.
"I was curious about what you were talking about, so I eavesdropped a little bit.”
Denier waved to Karoon, who was getting farther away.
“I don’t think you need to worry about it that much.”
“What?”
“It’s just that Raon did a great job and Father praised him more than usual, that’s all.”
Denier leaned against the wall and folded his arms.
“You’ve always been worried about trivial things. It’s ridiculous for our nephew, Raon, to become the successor.”
“Hmm….”
“Of course, there’s no one who doesn’t have some dirt on them, but restraining that child seems a bit excessive, don't you think?”
He said that he would rather dig through the Black Tortoise’s Den than hold back Raon and left.
“Dirt….”
Balder clicked his tongue as he watched Denier’s back. Denier’s calm words rather than Karoon's warning made him feel a sense of crisis towards Raon.
“Should I just test him a little bit?”
* * *
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Upon receiving the request from Rokan Sullion, Raon headed to a small meeting room inside the lord's manor.
“Vice Division leader of the Light Wind Division.”
As soon as he opened the door of the meeting room, Rokan bowed at a right angle.
“Thank you. All I can say is thank you and I am grateful.”
“Lord?”
Raon blinked his eyes quickly and grabbed Rokan’s shoulder.
He knew he would hear words of thanks, but he didn’t expect him to greet him so excessively, like he did with Glenn.
“Thank you for saving Runaan.”
Rokan continued to speak with his back and head bowed.
"I don't mind dying. No, I should have died. But I wanted to save that child at all costs, and the vice division leader made it happen. I'm truly grateful.”
He seemed relieved that Runaan had survived safely, more than his own and his wife’s lives.
“I feel the same way.”
Clara approached Rokan and bowed her head.
“Thank you for saving our child.”
“She is your daughter as well as my subordinate. You don’t have to do this.”
Raon shook his head at Rokan and Clara.
As expected…”
Rokan raised his gaze and nodded.
"Runaan told me that the vice division leader would say such things, and it's true.”
He chuckled and slapped his own cheek.
“I don’t know what I’ve been looking at all this time. I was really blind.”
Rokan clenched his lips and then knelt down as if he had made a decision.
“Lord?”
"From today, I will honor the vice division leader of the Light Wind Division as a benefactor of the House Sullion. Whatever request you have, I will dedicate the entire family to fulfill it.”
He placed his hand on his chest, demonstrating the oath that Zieghart's swordsmen took.
Raon's lips trembled as he looked into Rokan's sunken eyes.
'Is he serious?'
The statement that he would comply with any request indicated that he would follow my instructions as if he had become my vassal. It wasn't an easy thing to express as the head of a house.
"Lord. It may be a bit awkward for me to say this, but please consider it carefully…”
"As of yesterday, Clara, Runaan, and I are no different from being newly born. You gave us that life, so it is only right that we do this."
Rokan shook his head, saying that he wanted to do more.
"Not just the two of us, but everyone in the remaining House Sullion has thought about it together. Please don't feel burdened.”
Clara, instead of dissuading him, held Rokan's arm and smiled.
Ugh! The King of Essence is bored! Just ask for some delicious food or something!
Wrath shouted, rubbing his belly as if it was empty.
"I understand."
Raon nodded his head to Rokan and Clara.
"I will cherish the will of the lord, no, the House Sullion."
He accepted the two's words of gratitude, as it would be rude to refuse excessively.
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
Only then did Rokan and Clara raise their heads.
The two of them seemed to have lost their strength, and they collapsed onto the chairs behind them.
Their faces looked 10 years older, perhaps because they had brought up the painful incident with their own mouths again.
"Then I'll be going."
Seeing that Rokan and Clara might need some time, Raon closed the door quietly and stepped outside.
As he was about to turn around to return to the annex building, he met eyes with someone leaning against the wall.
"Runaan?"
Runaan came off the wall and approached him.
"The words spoken in there..."
"My dad told me, so I already knew.”
She nodded as if she knew everything.
"Hmm...."
Raon scratched his head awkwardly and looked up.
"Is the family okay? Can I help?”
It had only been a day since the incident occurred, so Runaan and her parents would all be in a difficult state. If he could, he wanted to help.
"I'm fine."
Runaan shook her head quietly.
"You've done all you can, Raon."
Her eyes were still clear, but her personality seemed to have changed.
She knew exactly that it was something she, not anyone else, had to do.
"I see...."
Raon smiled faintly and took out a gray box from his spatial pocket. It was the ice cream that Wrath had made a fuss about and bought this morning.
"This is...."
"We still have the dinner appointment left. Let's just eat this for now."
"Yeah."
Runaan nodded her head, responding somewhat vigorously.
"Then."
Raon patted Runaan on the shoulder and stepped out of the lord's manor.
Ugh….
Wrath looked back at Runaan and rubbed his red nose.
You've grown, little girl! Ice cream girl!
'I thought you were crying because of the ice cream, but that wasn't it.’
Raon chuckled as he looked at the sniffing Wrath.
Don't disrespect the King of Essence! Do you think he would care about food in this situation!
He warned him not to be funny.
'I see. I'm sorry. I misspoke…’
But isn't that mint chocolate? It might be a bit regrettable if so…
'…….'
* * *
One week later.
"Sigh….”
Burren sighed as he put the crumpled documents on the desk.
"Does this even make sense? They're going to find fault no matter what we do."
He frowned, saying that Balder, who had become the leader of special inspection unit, would definitely find fault on purpose.
"We still have to do it."
Raon nodded as he checked the documents that Burren had brought.
"Even if he forcibly points out flaws, it will likely end annoyingly. But if he starts raising issues based on actual problems, it could get much more troublesome.”
"That guy will cling to even the problems he finds on purpose."
Burren pounded on the desk as if to say he knew Balder's personality.
"I know. I'm well aware.”
Right now, Balder was literally wreaking havoc throughout the entire family with the absolute authority of special inspection unit.
If he didn't like something even a bit, he would nitpick all day long, causing daily distress for the armed groups, information groups and various groups affiliated with the family.
'He's even more problematic when he's so ignorant and hardworking.'
Balder was the worst type of boss who was stupid but hardworking, so Zieghart was currently on alert for him.
"Moreover, the True Martial Palace's master dislikes you.”
"Of course he does. I made his son a cripple."
Raon signed the documents and put down the pen.
Balder has been keeping his mouth shut at the lord's manor lately, and sometimes even sides with him, but that's just because of his simple nature.
He would never forget the grudge of his son being ruined.
"But if you think about it, Raden was the one who started it first," Burren frowned, realizing.
"That kind of trivial thing is not important to that person."
"I see."
"Focus on your work. With Martha and Runaan absent, it's just you and me handling everything.”
Raon sighed as he looked at the pile of documents on the desk.
Hmm?
Wrath tilted his head as he looked down at the messy desk.
You haven't been home for a while, and you took a vacation as soon as you got back.
'That's right.'
Why are there so many documents piled up here?
‘Because the owner of this place doesn't do his work.’
Raon twisted his lips as he pointed to the nameplate of the leader of the Light Wind Division placed on the desk.
As expected of shitty-ears...
Wrath shook his head in genuine admiration.
"Oh, you damn elf!"
Burren also slammed the table, his anger at Rimmer boiling over.
"I'm telling you, he's openly shirking his duties. That's even more infuriating!"
As he gnashed his teeth at the thought of Rimmer, who had declared that he was going to run away yesterday, the door opened and Dorian came in.
"Uh, something bad happened! That person, no, the Special Inspector is coming this way!
Dorian's lips trembled as he covered his forehead with a bandage.
"Already?"
Raon's eyes widened. He didn't expect him to come so soon, when the sun had just risen. He was really diligent, if nothing else.
"What do we do? We haven't finished organizing yet!"
"Just shove things around and come out.”
Raon shook his hands and walked out of the office.
"Isn't he coming too quickly?"
"I heard that the Warring Steel Division was completely destroyed yesterday."
"Warring Steel? There are a lot of direct lines there."
"We'll probably be ripped off even more than that..."
The Light Wind members sighed deeply, as if they were worried about what would happen next.
"......"
The only one who stood with a calm face was Mark Goetten.
Kwaang!
As Raon stood in front of the Light Wind members, the door of the training ground burst open with a rough gait.
Balder's figure could be seen behind the creaking door.
He was wearing a newly tailored crimson uniform, but it was too small and seemed like it would burst at the shoulders and legs.
The golden letters on the badge on his left arm sparkled, indicating his position as a Special Inspector. He seemed pleased to reveal his status, like a child excited to show off his achievements.
"Ahem!"
Balder walked up to the Light Wind members with heavy steps and raised his chin.
Since he was already a big guy, he looked like an ogre when he raised his head.
Raon clicked his tongue briefly and stepped forward to bow his head to Balder.
"Greetings, Special Inspector."
He deliberately emphasized the word "Special Inspector," and the corners of Balder's mouth went up long.
He had a look on his face that said he had won. He was a simpler man than he thought. With luck, this might be resolved without major issues.
"Where is the division leader of the Light Wind Division?"
Balder rolled his bear-like eyes and looked for Rimmer.
"He's in the middle of personal training."
He couldn't say he didn't know where he was, so he said he was in the middle of personal training.
"Personal training?"
Balder's gaze narrowed sharply.
“Is he the only one training while all the other members are here? And he’s the leader, at that?
"From dawn until morning is designated for personal free time, he can do whatever he wants during that period."
"No matter how much personal free time he takes, the division leader should be looking out for the members!”
He raised his voice as if he had caught a good fish.
"Hmm!"
An elderly man with a goatee, seemingly from the Special Inspection Unit, began jotting something down in a booklet he had. It looked like he was deducting points.
"It's very suspicious that the leader is moving alone, leaving the members behind."
"The leader trains with us during the day. Other divisions don't even have dawn training..."
"What does that matter! The problem is that the division leader is not here right now!"
Balder started finding fault from the beginning, just as he had heard.
"The dawn training is just a light warm-up, so it doesn't matter much if the division leader is not here."
"That doesn't matter! The problem is that it doesn't meet my standards!"
He gestured with his hand, as if he didn't want to engage in an argument, and swept the sand on the ground.
"Huh? Why are there so many pebbles in the sand? Is maintenance not done properly?”
"The soil laid here is the finest sand brought from the South. There can't be many pebbles..."
"But they are here!”
Balder pointed to small rock fragments that were hardly different from grains of sand.
"Haah..."
Raon sighed as she watched Balder, who seemed to be forcibly nitpicking from the start.
'It's as expected.'
As Burren had said, Balder was finding fault from the beginning. He seemed determined to repay the humiliation he had suffered.
"I don't understand why you're neglecting to clean the training ground properly. What if the members get injured? Is the division leader or the members not paying attention to something so unusual?”
Balder frowned and looked down at the Light Wind members one by one.
"Ugh..."
The members seemed overwhelmed by Balder's momentum and retreated back, their shoulders shaking.
"You!"
Balder walked up to Dorian, who was shaking the most, and glared at him.
"Why are you shaking? I haven't done anything yet, but you're sweating so much it's strange."
"No, I originally sweat a lot..."
Dorian gulped and replied.
"It's natural for a thief to be nervous. Interrogate this guy..."
"Special Inspector."
Raon interjected, blocking Balder's path and bowing his head.
"He got injured while protecting the head of the House Sullion during the recent incident involving the House Sullion. He's sweating simply because his wounds haven't healed yet.”
"Is, is that so?"
Balder scratched the bridge of his nose as if he thought it was a big deal, then raised his chin.
"Even so, we can't leave anything suspicious alone! Put him on the list for special interrogation!”
He said, lifting his head, asserting that there were no exceptions.
'This isn't going to be easy.'
Raon frowned. Dealing with someone who ignores logic and forcefully imposes their authority is challenging.
He was simply stupid, ignorant, and annoying.
‘I feel like I know how Heukgeumje feels.’
He was amazed by her patience in putting up with his nagging until the end.
"Hmm!"
Balder walked past Dorian and approached the battle dummies set up on the outskirts of the training ground.
"Why are these equipment so dirty? Is it because you don't manage them properly that they're covered in dust!"
He touched the dummies with his hands, which were covered in sand from examining the ground earlier, and kept talking about how dusty they were.
"To treat the sacred training ground so roughly! It's clear that your minds are elsewhere! Who is in charge of this place! What kind of brat dares to treat the training ground like this!"
Balder kicked the dummies and stomped his feet roughly.
'I can't help it.'
As Raon clicked his tongue and was about to approach Balder, an old man with a large build ran from behind him and slapped the back of Balder's head.
Paaak!
Balder seemed to have never thought that someone would hit him on the back of the head, and he was hit straight on. The sound of a watermelon bursting echoed through the training ground.
"What, what is it!"
"He hit him on the back of the head..."
"What the hell is..."
An eerie silence descended over the entire training ground. Both the Light Wind members and the special inspectors were open-mouthed.
‘G-gambling monster?’
Raon realized that the person who hit Balder on the back of the head was the Gambling Monster and blinked his eyes. He suddenly didn't understand why the man was doing this.
"W-who the hell!"
When Balder turned around, exploding with murderous energy, the Gambling Monster standing in front of him frowned.
"It's me."
"I-instructor. No, Sir. Herrian!"
Everyone thought Balder would explode, but instead, he seemed taken aback when he looked at the Gambling Monster.
"How did you get here..."
"I came out because you asked for the person in charge. What do you have to say?”
The Gambling Monster gestured for him to speak.
"Eum..."
Balder stepped back. He made a face that clearly showed he was uncomfortable with the Gambling Monster and barely opened his mouth.
"I am currently a special inspector. Please treat me accordingly.”
"Oh, I see. You've become an inspector. Then I'll have to say it again.”
The Gambling Monster nodded, as if apologizing for being rude, and then slapped Balder on the forehead again.
"Shut up. You brat.”
