Chapter 312
Chapter 312
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.66 – Night with the Knights and Campfire (2)
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...The back of his head stung.
"Mm."
Not in a physical sense.
It would take an electric drill to sting the back of his head these days, so he wasn't likely to feel a simple prick anymore.
But it stung anyway, because of...
'Why are they staring like that?'
...The gazes fixed openly on him.
They weren't sneaking glances. Stares were piercing him from all directions, and Lee Han felt burdened.
He wasn't the type to enjoy attention or others' interest.
Not that he liked loneliness either. He was just an ordinary guy who sought a normal life...
'Feels like four hundred—no, over a thousand people staring right at me...'
Over a thousand gazes converging was bound to be overwhelming.
Even Mordred's familiar troops and the supporting knights were all watching him. Honestly, anyone who didn't enjoy stares or attention would break into a sweat under this pressure.
"Spear guy, lemme ask you one thing."
"My name's Lark, you thug."
"Yeah, I'm Lee Han, spear guy."
"......"
"Not picking a fight. Just got a question."
"A question?"
"Yeah. Why are those guys staring at me like that?"
"......"
"It's not just now. I felt their eyes on me steadily even while wiping out the monsters earlier..."
"......"
"Even people I don't know. Why the intense stares?"
"...You did that and expected no attention?"
"Huh?"
"Blooming flowers that huge and hoping folks would ignore it? Makes me question your conscience, thug."
"...Oh, that. That's what all the fuss is about?"
Sarah-ruhk-.
Lee Han glanced at the lotus flowers still fluttering far away—not just one field of them.
Aquatic plants blooming on dry land. Unreal.
Just lotuses bloomed from his intent. Not real flowers.
But they wouldn't vanish until the grudge ghost's soul fully decomposed.
What was it? Life's return?
Returning the countless lives' power the ghost had stolen back to nature. They'd gradually wilt, losing light eventually.
However,
[Woooong-!]
Until that 'horn' wore down, the ghost's torment wouldn't end.
Just a hunch, but Lee Han doubted the ghost would vanish even if the flowers faded.
The bull's leftover horn and the holy relic called Star's Song would keep its form suffering eternally on this land.
Just a hunch...
'But my hunches are usually spot on.'
Lee Han trusted his instincts and looked away from the lotuses.
Then,
"So, what's that?"
"......"
He tossed out the puzzled question anyway.
So what? What's so amazing about it?
"Rare flower in the south, sure, but that's it? Sheesh. All this attention over nothing."
"...Talking like a real jerk."
"Jerk? C'mon, spear guy, think about it. We've got spellcasters flipping the earth upside down. What's a few flowers?"
"Well... yeah, fair point...?"
"Right?"
As expected from someone who'd shared the 400-year-old rotten spellcaster experience—quick on the uptake.
Spellcasters dropping meteors, upheaving earth, summoning dragons. All he'd done was gear up and exorcise a ghost.
'Strategy guide fully analyzed. Can't do that much and call yourself human.'
What he'd done was basic—anyone with the will could pull it off.
"......"
"Why the glare?"
"Hmph. Makes me reflect on how I'm staring at you. Wonder if others felt this way about me?"
"?"
"Heard of mirror therapy? This is it."
"...?"
Why was this big lug picking a fight out of nowhere?
300,000 monsters annihilated.
Even for the knights, no matter how strong, it'd take not 3 hours but 3 days and nights to barely handle that horde—if they could at all. Heaven's luck—no, inevitability—had made it easy.
Deeng-.
Star's Song purified evil and weakened demons endlessly.
Sarah-ruhk.
With the leader—the grudge ghost summoning and mixing monsters—gone, they self-destructed without knights lifting a finger.
Cannibalizing each other in tangled frenzy...!
-Monsters rarely wave because they can't cooperate. Without a king or overwhelming controller, they're just rabble.
Veteran knights nodded—it was natural.
Even same-species animals turn hostile. Different monsters instinctively try to exterminate each other.
Inanna's grudge, bloom, and mind control suppressed it, but the backlash—or Star's Song's unprecedented power—made infighting brutal.
Soon, they killed each other faster than knights could.
Human hatred should override all instincts, yet...
Chwaaak!
Next instant, they understood what suppressed it.
"Senility? Figures. Demonic power doesn't discriminate."
"Forced amplification and mutation evolution... backlash is natural."
Equivalent exchange—Inanna's mysteries endlessly evolved them, so they bore the full reaction, dying naturally.
Lives simply burned out and popped.
Their mutual slaughter was desperate attempts to extend life by devouring kin or the strong.
Monsters—truly pitiful and pitiable...
"Ah! Don't damage the hides!"
"Mm, those claws and tendons are prime. Waste."
"Grizzly liver and gallbladders—must grab. That alone fortifies you for a year."
"Troll and ogre fresh blood too. All that value."
"Got it, yeah."
...Pitiful enough to bring tears. Literally.
Monsters fully wiped out—victory cheers were fair game, but...
"......"
...Knights stayed silent.
More like gauging reactions.
Whose?
"Uh, w-well..."
"We w-won... right?"
"Th-they won't come again...?"
...Mordred's 630 warriors, still doubting their victory, their reality.
"......"
They looked dazed, unable to believe.
Outside, 5 years since 630 vanished. But Inanna's power warped time here—decades of endless fighting.
Thousands—no, over 10,000 battles. One fight ending decades? Unbelievable.
Felt like prepping for the next any second.
So no joy, no excitement.
Just lost children, bewildered.
"...Heartbreaking."
Veterans' eyes welled up watching.
They knew that lost emotion.
Victory delusions always expecting more fights.
Or emotions worn away, victory unknown.
Too long amid blood and gunpowder.
Would take time to accept reality.
Veterans pitied them.
Their wandering hearts.
...Then.
"Hey, Your Highness."
A clear voice pierced the silence.
"...Calling for me?"
"Crown Princess here too?"
"......You addressing me so boldly feels odd, hehe."
"Just take the courtesy when it's given."
"Hoho."
Light, playful talk unfit for the hush.
No one could nitpick.
One was Pendragon's princess, the other...
"No need for everyone here for cleanup, right?"
The true MVP, victory's hero. Who'd gainsay him?
Even without that, princess and knight chatting casually felt unreal—no room to butt in. Ignoring their daze, the two continued.
"Hm, what's your angle?"
"Just asking. Plenty of bigwigs already; no need for extra on-site bosses."
"...Not wrong."
"Send these folks back quick then."
"Oh?"
"Agree or not."
"......Sounds fun to watch."
"Taking that as yes."
...What cryptic exchange was that?
Overheard up close, still baffling. But knight got permission, so he headed to Mordred's group.
"Hey, gather up—no straggling. Let's wrap this once."
"...Me too?"
"Hurry."
"...??"
Rudely herding even the border lord, but he obeyed like a lamb.
Felt like he should.
So...
"Listen up—no resisting. Sending you home safe. Just accept it, got it?"
"?"
"FYI, thank the baby mage next door, not me. Her gift."
"??"
"Anyway... simply put."
Jiiik.
"Ultra-fast area teleport scroll."
Hwaaaaak!
Knight tore an unknown magic scroll, muttering. Cain and others enveloped in surging water mana, eyes squeezed shut.
Vast—archmage-level mana.
"What...!"
Cain shut eyes against blinding light.
Sudden teleport scroll here?
Absurd. Prank too far—protest...!
-Chirp chirp!
"......Huh?"
...Eyes open, protest forgotten. Cain and all utterly stunned.
Inevitably,
Shoooaaa!
"...Wales... waterfall."
Before them: unforgettable scenery, dreamed nightly—home.
Waterfall waters welcomed them, icy cold soaking like rain. Yet they stood speechless, dazed.
Illusion? Phantasm magic?
Suspicious of the scroll, they...
"Hey, what're you doing there?"
"......"
"Here for flowers too, mister?"
"......"
"Oh yeah. Santa said greet adults first, say your name. Hi, mister! I'm Louise! Louise Ifera de Mordred! What's your name?"
".........Cain."
"Wow, same as my dad! Hair too. Amazing."
"......"
"...Mister?"
"......"
"Why cry?"
"......"
"...Hing, weird. Why so many crying adults today? Weather's perfect."
Girl whined. He wept.
Spitting image of his beloved—his hair, eyes. Or even if not...
He'd know.
Body—no, soul—drawn to her.
Proving no illusion...
"...Haa, thank you, thank you..."
Sobbing endless gratitude.
To heavens, ancestors, or...
"Thank you, thank you......"
...The miracle-working knight.
Endlessly...
"Hehe, should've explained first."
"Surprise gifts hit harder unannounced, no?"
"...Can't argue. But does it count as a gift?"
"You don't get it. Best gift for deployed soldiers is..."
'Family warmth.'