N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 556
Raon's mouth hung open as he stared at Sylvia. She had raised both arms to the sky and shouted like a slave who had been freed, exclaiming that she was liberated.
'What the hell is going on?'
He had never imagined that Sylvia, who he thought had been following his training diligently, would cry out like that. It felt like he was having a nightmare.
Nonsense!
Wrath approached with his blue eyes glaring.
You were the nightmare for mom!
He arrogantly tilted his head, surprising Raon. He never expected to hear the words "no sense" from that cotton candy guy. It was so unbelievable that his head couldn't process it.
"M, mom."
Raon raised his trembling fingertips and called out to Sylvia.
"Hooowww..."
Sylvia sighed and turned her gaze to Raon.
"It was really hard. You should moderate the training a bit!"
She had suffered so much enduring the training. Raon had thought she enjoyed it, seeing her skills improve quickly and even making her laugh, but...
"But you liked it, Mom. You even laughed because your skills were improving so quickly..."
Raon was taken aback, addressing her as "Mom" instead of "Mother."
"I wasn't laughing because I liked it, it was a forced laughter from the pain! You, clueless son!"
Sylvia frowned and stomped her foot.
"Uh..."
Raon trembled at Sylvia's stern expression.
"But you clearly said you wanted to train hard..."
"I didn't know it would be this intense! I get criticized by you all day here, and then when I go back to the annex building, I get tortured with night training! I want to train hard, not die!"
She shook her head vigorously, saying that if he wasn't her son, she might have knocked him out a long time ago. She shook her head vehemently.
"What, what? You didn't train only here?"
Burren was so surprised that his mouth dropped open.
"You did that intense training in the annex building too? That guy is really crazy..."
Martha also frowned, as if she didn't know it would be that bad.
"Demon Raon..."
Runaan shivered in fear, shaking her shoulders.
"Ugh, I think poison will come out instead of blood if you prick him."
Dorian also took a step back, looking disgusted.
"Ugh..."
Raon couldn't bring himself to refute the captains and Dorian, and he bit his lip.
"M, Mom. But at least your skills have definitely improved. There's no one in the Six Kings who has improved as quickly as you!"
"It's a skill that I've gained by sacrificing my lifespan! If I had done it a little longer, I would have really died!"
When Sylvia mentioned sacrificing her lifespan, there was nothing more to say.
Kuhehehehe!
Wrath started laughing, holding his stomach.
The King of Essence finally see a day when your mouth is shut! It is a rare sight! It's sweeter than eating mint chocolate!
Wrath patted Sylvia's back, encouraging her to do more.
"Raon. I've been in the annex building for over 20 years. I did housework and gardening with the maids, but I stopped all the training I did as a warrior."
Sylvia raised her eyes with a relieved expression.
“How can I follow your training when I'm like this? It's not that my skills have improved, it's that I'm alive that's important!”
She shook her head wildly. Her blonde hair, soaked in sand, swayed.
“Then say something."
"I did, but you didn't listen!"
“Uh, when….”
"I suggested taking a break, trying different training, but you kept saying that the basics were important and made me repeat the basic swordsmanship endlessly!”
Sylvia quickly pursed her lips as if she had caught something.
"On top of that, you kept criticizing without a single word of praise. Could you endure it if you were in my shoes?"
"Yes, I prefer it that way..."
“What?”
"Nothing."
Raon scratched his cheek and lowered his voice. In his previous life, it was a given, and after learning from Glenn and Rimmer, he hardly heard any praise.
He just did what he was supposed to do, and now that he was getting scolded, he didn't know what to do.
“That's it. I'm really tired now.”
Sylvia lay down on the floor. She closed her eyes, saying she would rest for a while.
The King of Essence always said, no one is as obsessed with training as you are even in Devildom.
Wrath laughed, raising his hand, his mouth curling with amusement.
Mom! Don't worry. From now on, the humane King of Essence will take care of you.
'Ugh....'
It was so frustrating that he couldn't refute the Demon King claiming to be humane while patting Sylvia on the shoulder.
“I knew it would be like this.”
Rimmer came over and snickered.
"You should have given some freedom like this great master. Nowadays, education should balance freedom and coercion."
He shrugged, saying that these days education should be a coexistence of freedom and coercion.
“Ha….”
Raon sighed. He was suffocating in this situation where he was being ridiculed by his laissez-faire teacher. (a teacher who adopts a hands-off or non-interventionist approach in their teaching style.)
“You're too uptight. Sometimes people need to be flexible..."
“Please tell me the mission.”
"Don’t be so impatient. It's not a big mission."
Rimmer smacks his lips and opens the mission document.
“We received a message from the Sinigeon branch office. There seems to be a new bandit camp in the south that looks like the South-North Union, and there have been many reports of people going missing. They're requesting an investigation."
“The South-North Union….”
Contrary to Roman's name, it has been a long time since he heard about the South-North Union. Since they had been quiet all this time, it wasn't unusual for them to increase their strongholds.
"The division leader always makes it look easy, but he always brings difficult missions."
"That's right. It's becoming strangely difficult."
“Shitty hands.”
Burren, Martha, and Runaan frowned, suspicious of Rimmer's choices in missions.
"It can't be helped! All the easy and good ones are taken by those high-ranking executives!"
Rimmer held out his hand, saying that if they wanted good missions, they should be promoted to palace.
“Anyway, we'll leave in three days. It's not an urgent mission, but be prepared. And you, learn some self-control.”
He patted Raon on the shoulder and disappeared leisurely.
"Hoo..."
Raon sighed as he looked at Sylvia, who didn't even get up until Rimmer left. She seemed genuinely intent on resting in that position.
"Now our demon vice division leader will be quiet for a while."
Krein grinned as he looked around the Light Wind members.
"Isn't it a good feeling to think that the monster will be gloomy for a while?"
He shook his head, saying that not only Sylvia, but also their training was too hard.
"Is Encia not here? I want to take a photo of his shocked expression...hmm?"
Krein tilted his head as he spoke. The members stood there without saying a word.
"Why are you all silent? When else should we tease him if not now!"
"Behind, behind..."
"Behind? What's behind...eek!"
He stopped abruptly as he turned his head. Raon, his eyes filled with a red light brighter than the sun, was breathing out fiercely.
"Si, sir Raon! I, I was just..."
Raon grabbed Krein's head with his hand and forcefully turned his head as he tried to run away.
"I have no intention of quieting down, but I do plan to make you all quiet. How about that?"
He smiled eerily and looked at the Light Wind members one by one.
"I can teach you like a mother, you know."
"Ah, t, that's physically impossible..."
Krein awkwardly smiled and shook his head.
"We're not as talented as Lady Sylvia, and we have to prepare for the mission..."
"It only takes an hour to prepare."
"Yes?"
"Starting from now until we depart for the mission, we will engage in real combat training. Of course, the opponent is me, and the beginning is..."
Raon, as if choosing the first opponent, rolled his eyes.
"Ugh!"
"Eek!"
The Light Wind members stepped back, as if it were a matter of course, creating a large space for Krein.
"Krein. I choose you."
Raon waved his hand as if to come in.
"Why always me!"
* * *
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"Hwaaahm."
A woman with slender eyes yawned so wide that her mouth seemed to be torn open as she looked out the window at the early morning breeze.
"Ricia. Are you that bored?"
The kind-faced branch leader sitting at the inner desk smiled lightly.
"Being on night duty is always boring, but the region of Sinigeon itself is too boring. The mountain range in the south is small in scale, and to the east is house Rakion, so they will take care of themselves if we leave them alone."
Ricia yawned again and rested her chin on the desk.
"So that's why you applied for a return at the end of the year."
The branch leader shook his head as he put down the book he was reading.
"The main house is a cold place unlike this branch. If you fall behind even a bit, they won't even look at you. After just one month there, you'll start missing this boring town."
"I came from the main family too, you're ignoring me too much!"
Ricia pouted at the branch leader.
"And the reason I applied for a return is not just because this place is boring."
“Then why?”
“The life-or-death duel between the vice division leader of Light Wind and the Axe King Roman will take place on January 1st of next year, right? I really want to see that duel!”
She looked out the window and clasped her hands together.
“I've seen many handsome men in my life, but Raon's looks are a first. When I think of him using that handsome face to defeat the Roman, it's really….”
Ricia gazed at the moon with a dreamy look, as if she had dreamed of Raon beheading Roman
“It sounds like you're rooting for him, but Roman is strong. He was known as a master of the axe even before the vice division leader of Light Wind was born. To be honest, I think it will be difficult for him to win. A draw is the best he can hope for.”
“But didn't Raon kill the blue dragon Kaibar? He won't lose to a human.”
“Roman is also a warrior who could kill a dragon if given the chance.”
“Whose side are you on, Branch Leader!”
“Of course I want Raon to win. I just want to emphasize not underestimating the enemy."
As the branch leader folded his hands, a warrior who had been guarding the perimeter outside the branch came in.
“Branch Leader? I think you should come and see this.”
The guard bowed his head cautiously.
“What is it?”
The branch leader and Ricia got up from their seats and went outside.
“Oh my?”
Behind the guard stood a young girl with striking red hair, huddled with her shoulders raised.
She was so in a hurry that one of her shoes was missing, and her tattered clothes were in rags.
"Well, wait, aren't you...?"
The branch leader's eyes widened as he confirmed the girl's face.
“Isn't it Shielen?”
The girl was Shielen, the youngest daughter of house Rakion, a vassal family of Zieghart. He had greeted her at the house Rakion head's birthday party last year, so there was no way he could have been mistaken.
"What's going on! Did you get attacked or something?"
The branch leader gasped as if he couldn't understand how Shielen, who was like the golden child of Rakion, could be in such a beggarly state.
“Let's calm her down first and ask her.”
Ricia went into the bathroom to get some warm water.
"That’s right.”
"Please, convey my words to Zieghart!”
Shielen grabbed the branch leader's sleeve as he nodded and sighed.
“Hmm, come this way.”
The branch leader sat Shielen, whose legs were trembling, on the sofa in the center of the branch office.
“I'll listen to everything, so speak slowly.”
“Haah….”
Shielen took a deep breath, clutching her chest. She seemed to have made up her mind and looked up at the branch leader's eyes.
"W-well, re, recently, many people in our family have suddenly disappeared. Even those who were close to me left without even saying goodbye, overnight."
“Hmm….”
The branch leader groaned. It was not a good sign that the family's members were suddenly disappearing, and in large numbers.
“On the other hand, strangers keep coming into the family and filling the places of those who left. Feeling uneasy, I secretly investigated, and those people are..."
Just as Shielen was about to continue with her trembling voice, something happened.
The branch office's main gate was roughly opened, and a red-haired middle-aged man entered the branch office as if it were his own home.
He wore a gold eyepatch over his left eye, and an overwhelming aura was burning from his remaining right eye.
"Si, Sir Bels?"
The person who opened the door of the branch office and entered was Bels Rakion, the eldest son of house Rakion and already named as the successor.
"My younger sister has been rude."
Bels bowed politely to the branch leader.
"She's going through a tough training period lately, and she tends to get a bit unruly. Please understand even if she said something strange."
Unlike his eyes, which were filled with aura, he smiled softly.
"Ugh..."
Shielen trembled like a twig at the sight of her own brother.
"Hmm..."
The branch leader grabbed Shielen's trembling hand and hid her behind him.
"Of course, I understand. However, at the moment, I am having a private conversation with Miss Shielen, so could you please wait a little?"
“…”
Bels did not answer, and his cheerful smile turned dark.
"I see you heard it.
"Sir Bels?"
"Then it can't be helped."
He curled the corners of his mouth and drew out the greatsword he was carrying on his back.
"W-What are you doing! This is Zieghart’s branch..."
"So what."
Bels ignored the branch leader's words and slashed down the raised greatsword like lightning.
"Creak!"
The branch leader pushed Shielen back to avoid her being hit by the sword, and then raising his palm to protect himself. Despite the chaos, his composure did not waver.
Clang!
However, Bels' greatsword cut through the branch leader's aura like a sheet of paper and cut through his neck.
"Ah..."
"B-Branch leader!"
The guards trembled at the sight of the branch leader's fallen neck. They looked as if they couldn't believe this situation.
"Kyaaaah!"
Ricia, who had just come out after hearing the commotion, dropped the tray she was carrying and screamed.
"B-Branch leader...creak!"
Ricia quickly regained her senses and ran inside to send an emergency call to the main family.
Bels, as if to grasp Ricia's thoughts, raised his greatsword and threw it like a spear.
Kugugugugugu!
The greatsword crushed the wall, and behind it, it split Ricia's torso in half. Blood-soaked stone fragments pitifully scattered around.
"Sister."
Bels looked down at Shielen, whose face was pale and her lips were trembling, with dry eyes.
"The reason people here die is because of you."
With those words, all voices in the Sinigeon branch were silenced. All that remained were screams and cries.
* * *
Raon left his room before dawn, when the sun had not yet risen.
As always on the day he left for a mission, Sylvia and the maids were standing in front of the main gate.
"Young master. Be careful."
"You shouldn't push yourself too hard like on the last mission."
"I dried some jerky. Have some when you're hungry."
Helen and the maids bowed their heads and handed him the prepared jerky and snacks, telling him to come back safely.
This was something that had always happened until now when he went on a mission. However, there was one difference.
"Raon. Come back safely."
Silvia's normally pale face, which couldn't hide the anxiety when he went on a mission, now had a faint trembling at the corners of her mouth.
"Mother..."
Raon frowned as he looked at Sylvia's expression.
"Are you so happy that I'm going on a mission?"
"Wh-What are you saying! Of course, it's not!"
Sylvia shook her head violently.
"It's just that my face is stiff because it hasn't been long since it happened."
She awkwardly smiled, raising and lowering the corners of her mouth with her fingers.
"I heard everything in your room."
Raon narrowed his eyes at Sylvia.
'I heard it very clearly.'
Cheers had come from Sylvia's room early this morning. If she had been cultivating her aura, her mana circuit would have been twisted and she would have suffered internal injuries.
"Ah..."
Sylvia sighed as if she had nothing to say, tying her hair behind her.
"We expanded the annex building, but it seems the soundproofing isn't working. Should I call the workers again?"
She awkwardly rolled her eyes as Raon turned his gaze towards her.
"Haa..."
Raon sighed as he looked at Sylvia, who turned her gaze away.
When she used to give him a lot of nagging, he found it annoying, but today, seeing her happy about him leaving made him feel a bit sad.
It’s enjoyable.
Wrath approached him and patted him on the shoulder.
The King of Essence never thought it would be so fun to see your miserable state!
'Shut up.'
Raon pushed Wrath away and clicked his tongue briefly.
"Raon."
Sylvia stepped forward and took his hand. A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"While I was training with you, I had a hard time, but there were also good things."
"Of course, your skills improved quickly..."
"That's not it."
She shook her head firmly.
"How much effort you put in. How strong you've become. I could see that. That's why I could send you off without worrying too much."
Sylvia patted Raon's head, saying it was just a joke.
"Be careful and come back."
"I will."
Raon smiled faintly as he received Sylvia's farewell.
"I'll see how much I've improved when I come back."
"Yeah."
Sylvia clenched her fists confidently.
Raon seemed to be in a good mood now, and he met the eyes of Sylvia and the maids in turn.
"I'll be back."
With that, he left the annex building.
As he passed through the garden, which had turned slightly green with the arrival of spring, he looked at the tips of his fingers, which still had Sylvia's warmth on them.
"Everything else aside, I'm glad Mother is healthy."
When her energy center and mana circuit were damaged, Sylvia's complexion was always dark, and she often collapsed from exhaustion.
The fact that she had regained her health made all the efforts worthwhile.
'Then I'm satisfied....'
"Now I'm really free!”
"Waaaah!"
Just as Raon was about to leave the garden, Sylvia's screams could be heard from inside the annex building.
It was a loud and joyful voice, as if the gentle words from a moment ago were a lie.
"Mom...."
Raon turned back and trembled his lips.
Are you really satisfied?
Laughing slyly, Wrath tapped Raon’s shoulder. With a deep chuckle, he seemed to promise to settle all the scores he had suffered so far on this occasion.
Mom still prefers the King of Essence over you, after all!
"Ugh..."
Raon didn't answer and headed for the fifth training ground. His steps were rough like a storm.
'Whoever the enemy is this time, I'll crush them.'
What do you mean by crush? This is an investigation mission.
'Shut up!'
