CHAPTER 17 – RETURN

Tl/n: Changed rhino/rhinoceros to unicorn… Now it makes more sense xD I’ll change it in the previous chaps too.

The previously planned unicorn hunt was canceled.

A single unicorn was a demonic beast that could be caught easily just by one knight, but it was not an easy enough opponent to try hunting with severe injuries.

The three remaining knights could not even try, because either one of their arms and legs was broken, they were too young, or had bled too much.

After a good day’s rest, they returned to the looters’ den and searched the inside of the cave, but Lenock’s armor could not be found, and only the bodies of the dead suffocated looters could be seen.

There were quite a few things to take, but as the expedition had few people left, they only brought some of the most precious things.

Afterwards, the expedition decided to stay in the fortress for about 10 days and return to the territory after recovering from their injuries.

The preparations of the expedition leaving the fortress and returning to the estate were shabby.

One knight died, more than half of the squires died, and only three soldiers remained.

In the end, more than half of the remaining food, water, carts, and camping equipment had to be hidden in the basement of the castle.

Fortunately, thanks to that, the formation became smaller, the speed increased, and the number of encounters with demonic beasts decreased.

Arsene, who was riding a Jin, threw a stone up.

The stone rose slowly, as if he had thrown a balloon, then sank again.

It wasn’t just the stone that was slowing down.

Other people walking around, swaying leaves, everything was moving slowly.

As he received the stone and relaxed his concentration, the flow of time returned to normal.

Genovia, who was watching it from the side, asked.

“Are you practicing again?”

“Yes. It’s strange… I think I’ll have to do it more often to get used to it.”

“Well, at first, I was going crazy about eavesdropping everywhere. It would have been nice if my specialty was like yours. If that was the case, the last time I fought the demons… Sigh, I know it’s useless to say something like this, but it’s a pity.”

As a result of checking and analyzing several times, Arsene’s specialty was to maximize the speed of thinking.

The moment he was extremely focused, or when he was surprised or felt a crisis, he perceived time slowly.

It was a kind of specialty that was very helpful in combat, which was quite rare.

“There are a lot of knights who don’t have specialties, Dame Genovia. What would these people feel if they heard you?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Palato, who gently scolded Genovia, quietly advised Arsene.

“I don’t think you would, but just because you have a special skill, doesn’t mean you can neglect your training. In the end, the most significant thing is a trained body and technique.”

“Yes, Sir Palato. I’ll be careful.”

Palato smiled at Arsene, who shook his head politely, and turned his head.

“We finally arrived.”

Down the hill, brown earth, straight trees, and wheat fields in full swing stretched out to the village in the distance.

A sigh of relief and fatigue erupted from the entire expedition.

They returned after 21 days.

Naturally, the Beluan estate was turned upside down after the return of the expedition.

The death of more than half of the squires and soldiers was a significant blow, but the death of one of the only dozen knights in the territory was far more of a loss.

Fortunately, the weapons, armor, and Jin were completely recovered.

The expedition was disbanded in front of the manor, and Arsene and other knights went to report the situation to the lord.

The lord’s office, even after a long time, had not changed from last time.

The difference was that Palato and Genovia, who had been guarding the lord in the past, were standing next to Arsene, and two other knights were guarding the lord.

“So… It’s almost certain that Sir Lenock lost his life, and now even Sir Entir?”

Nut, the lord of Beluan, rubbed his temple, feeling his head throbbing.

Since Lenock could not protect the fortress, he foresaw that there was a demon, and although they were rare, he dispatched three knights in case there were more than one.

There have been quite a few issues for knights to be dispatched recently, so sending three of them to Krata Fortress was a big investment, with the security of the territory as a guarantee to some extent.

But he didn’t expect this kind of sacrifice.

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“I’m glad there’s no problem recovering the equipment. Sir Entir’s ax and armor should be sent to Sir Luden to melt into ingots, and Sir Lenock’s greatsword… In principle, the knight’s equipment should be given to the territory, but it is Sir Arsene’s own spoilage and even belonged to his father, so it would be right for him to inherit it.”

“Thank you for your consideration, my lord.”

“Sir Arsene, go rest now. You had a hard time at such a young age. I’ll listen carefully to the rest from Sir Palato and Dame Genovia.”

Arsene, who gained free time after completing the report, went straight to the wizard’s tower using crutches.

As he knocked on the door, he heard Luden’s voice from inside.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Arsene.”

When the door opened, Luden’s bandit beard, which he had not seen in a long time, stood out.

Perhaps because he’s been outside for so long, even that face felt friendly.

Seeing the figure using crutches as support, Luden frowned and asked a question.

“What’s wrong with your leg?”

“It has been broken during a fight. Still, it heals quickly enough. It’s a little uncomfortable to stand, can I get in?”

“Come in at once.”

Arsene limped into the tower, limping with his hurt leg.

Perhaps thanks to his young age, but this was a very fast recovery rate compared to the gravity of his injury, even though he still felt a tingling pain every time he walked.

Even more so compared to Sir Palato, whose arm was broken, and yet he couldn’t even move his arm properly.

Luden sighed as he watched Arsene sitting on the chair.

“I don’t think Elise will stay quiet when she sees this.”

“Isn’t the lady here?”

“She’s practicing magic underground. Since the day you left, she’s been studying magic and blacksmithing skills very eagerly. I wish I had a fiancee this sincere.”

“What do you mean, a fiancee?”

“Then you aren’t going to marry Elise? I don’t think she’ll ever marry a man unless it’s you. A man shouldn’t be like that. Even if you take ten more concubines, wouldn’t it make sense to accept Elise?”

“I think that’s even worse.”

Listening to Luden’s ridiculous words, Arsene gently put his hand in his pocket and touched the broken statue.

He wanted to ask Elise in detail about this, but he was embarrassed because there was only Luden.

Should he openly take out the item they exchanged in secret from Luden and ask?

“More than that, where did you put the gift that Elise gave you?”

“She told you?”

“You didn’t know? It’s a powerful enchanted object, so I could tell if she’s carrying it or not. When I asked where she left it, her eyes became wet. She confessed shortly thereafter.”

Luden said with a look of despondency as if he were dumbfounded.

“Anyway, Elise has such a personality, that she would have been robbed by a wicked man later if she wasn’t a wizard. I’ve told her to always carry it around because it’s important.”

“Exactly what effect did it have?”

“If the owner is attacked by a deadly attack, there is a spell that prevents it. One of the last things my teacher made in his life.”

At Luden’s words, Arsene felt embarrassed and coughed in vain.

Now he had to say that he smashed it, but he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable hearing how precious it was.

“Here it is.”

Arsene placed the remains of a broken statue on the desk.

The original wave pattern was smashed to the point where it was hard to identify.

Luden said, raising his hand and sweeping away the rubble.

“You’ve blocked quite a powerful attack. Did you get attacked by a knight?”

“It’s similar. It was a demon, who was using a knight’s sword.”

“You’re lucky, if it weren’t for this, you’d definitely be dead.”

Luden, who snorted in excitement, put his hands on the broken statue and concentrated.

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The blue light that gently flowed from his hand permeated the statue, and gradually the statue began to fit together.

As soon as the statue was finally completed again, with a cracking sound, it collapsed in two again.

“Damn it, I tried, but I can’t.”

Luden threw the statue into the corner as if he had completely lost interest.

“You can’t restore it?”

“That’s right. I’m a wizard as good as my teacher, but this is a matter of lineage rather than ability. Maybe Elise can fix it later.”

Luden yawned with his mouth wide open, and rolled his foot a few times on the floor.

After a while, a door opened from the floor, and Elise climbed up the ladder.

“Why did you call me? Lu- Arsene?!”

Elise left the ladder behind and ran down to the basement, then spun rapidly to shake down the dust all over, and quickly brushed her hair.

She quickly pulled out a handkerchief, wiped the soot off her face, and cleaned her clothes again before coming back up.

Elise asked in an exaggeratedly cheerful voice.

“Welcome! Do you want something to drink?”

“Heh, drinking. Of course, since the husband who can give you both his liver and gallbladder has returned.”

Elise flinched at the rough grumbling and looked into Luden’s eyes.

Apparently, he was more upset than expected that she handed over the statue.

Luden, who was glaring at Elise for a moment, told Arsene.

“Then I think I’ve told you everything, so I’ll go sleep upstairs and finish taking a nap. Have fun.”

After calmly speaking, Luden hurriedly went up to the second floor.

Once the two of them were left alone, the mood became more cheerful, and it became easier to talk.

“How was the expedition? Was it dangerous?”

“Um… I would be lying if I said it wasn’t dangerous. It was dangerous. And our losses were also great.”

Arsene hesitated for a moment, thinking whether he should lie that he was okay or not, but soon confessed frankly.

Even if Elise lived in isolation, it’s a story that would spread so widely that she would have definitely heard about it.

To reassure the worried Elise, Arsene smiled as softly as possible and expressed his gratitude.

“Still, I survived thanks to the statue you gave me. Thank you so much, my lady.”

At Arsene’s sudden words, Elise covered her face with her hands.

“Something happened?”

“…Ehm, nothing. Nothing at all.”

For a moment, silence and awkwardness filled the room.

“I heard you’re studying magic and blacksmithing these days.”

“Yes. I’m going to study hard and make nice armor so that Arsene doesn’t get hurt.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“It’s okay. I’m doing it because I want to.”

Elise’s hands, saying so, had calluses, unlike before.

Arsene gently stroked Elise’s palm, proud that she had worked really hard.

Elise blushed, embarrassed.

“My hand is weird, right?”

“No. There’s nothing more beautiful than calluses from what you want to do and what you have to do. My hands aren’t pretty either.”

“Luden says I’m talented. If I work hard, I can become a better wizard than him. I will work really hard.”

“I’ll cheer for you. I hope you’ll become a great wizard.”

Upon hearing that, Elise suddenly went silent and took several deep breaths.

She opened her mouth a few times, hesitating, and finally whispered in a small voice.

“Ellie.”

“What?”

“Ah, from now on… Call me Ellie, not Lady. They say that close friends use nicknames.”

As Elise said so, she rubbed her red hot ears.

Arsene looked at her and burst into laughter involuntarily.

He had no intention of ridiculing the fresh-heartedness of a ten-year-old girl, but she was so cute he couldn’t contain his laughter.

“Don’t laugh!”

‘I think this has happened before.’

Arsene nodded quickly as he saw her face turn red.

He didn’t want to hurt the heart of a young lady who was at the most sensitive age.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you, I just laughed for a moment because it was so cute. Okay. Lady Ellie. Alright?”

“S-speak comfortably.”

“Okay, Ellie.”

Upon hearing that answer, Elise turned her head to the back and whispered, “Okay, I succeeded!”

It seemed she thought he wouldn’t be able to hear it, but of course, the sound was loud enough for Arsene’s ears.

She continued to chat for some time afterwards – mostly Arsene listening to chatter about the magic and techniques Elise was learning – and as they were spending time together, the evening bells rang in the distance.

Surprising her by standing up on crutches, Arsene left the tower, trying to stop the insistent Elise from supporting him.

Tl-n: Elise is so damn cute~ q(≧▽≦q)