Chapter 360
Chapter 360
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 360
Chapter Title: Side Story 44. Guardian of the Family (3)
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Nebula Klazie.
Over ten years had passed since the great evil that sought to destroy the world vanished.
Once, more than half the world had been laid to waste, but time gradually restored what was broken.
Razed villages and cities rose anew, and vast fields strewn with corpses sprouted mighty trees once more.
By the time children's laughter drowned out the dirges echoing from every home, people finally realized the world they knew had returned.
But regeneration wasn't all good.
The forces that had united against the common foe known as Nebula Klazie slowly drifted apart.
Those no longer facing immediate threats to their lives turned to battling over wealth, land, and various interests once again.
Even petty criminals lurking in the shadows began to reveal their ambitions one by one.
The undead legion rampaging in the south was one such example.
"Kyaack! R-Run away!"
"Get the women and children into the wagons first!"
Despair hung thick under the black sky.
The villagers were fleeing, abandoning their only possessions—their homes and livestock.
The village chief, scouting the opposite direction of their escape with a telescope, let out a sigh.
"......Gods above."
An army of the dead was marching toward them.
The wind blowing from the village carried the stench of rotting corpses.
The undead blanketing the fields were so numerous they resembled not individuals, but a tidal wave of color surging forward.
'Impossible.'
The chief bit his lower lip as he calculated the undead's speed.
He double- and triple-checked, but the result was the same.
The villagers' pace was far slower than the undead, who marched heedless of rivers or valleys.
At this rate, they'd be overtaken in at most thirty minutes.
Even with the best luck, only a nimble few would survive.
As the chief cursed his own incompetence,
"Ch-Chief! The sky! Look at the sky!"
"The sky?"
Screams suddenly erupted among the villagers.
He asked what was wrong, but the young man who shouted merely pointed at the sky, pale as a ghost.
What could possibly shock them more in this situation?
Following the man's finger, the chief's gaze lifted—and he froze.
"......A dragon?"
****
The sky stretched endlessly high.
Ronan and his group, mounted on Orse, reached the skies over the south in mere hours.
Lanse, clinging to the back spike, gaped in awe.
"Whoa......"
It was a sight he'd never seen before.
With every flap of its four wings, clouds and starlit mists trailed away behind them.
Excited, Sechika puffed up proudly.
"What do you think? Isn't my uncle amazing?"
"Yeah. Totally."
She'd ridden Orse once as a snot-nosed kid.
Lanse was so thrilled he'd failed to notice their hands subtly overlapping moments ago.
Gauging his reaction, Sechika leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Hehe, knew you'd like it."
"The sky is so vast......"
Yet Lanse still didn't notice.
Normally he'd freak out and pull away, but the thrill of flight wasn't so easily shaken off.
A sly smile crept across Sechika's lips.
'Men really are all babies.'
It had been planned ever since she heard they'd ride Uncle Orse.
Even her late-night primping—casual yet deliberate—was for this.
- Mom. Ponytail or let it down boldly? Don't guys usually prefer an exposed nape?
- Yawn...... Both look cute, so bedtime, Sechika. You're stronger anyway—just knock him flat...... Or pin him down, right? Didn't I tell you how I reeled in your dad?
- Mom. That was straight-up assault.
It hadn't helped much.
Marya had zero talent for love advice.
Sechika wanted romance like Uncle Schlieffen's, not brute force.
She glanced sidelong at Lanse's profile, murmuring to herself.
"Shoulders got so broad......"
Lanse was a man now.
She'd realized it during the school trip to Adren.
Puberty in full swing, his body felt firmer than before.
He wasn't reacting, so maybe she could get bolder.
As she reached to wrap her left arm around his waist—
"Oppa. Erin cold."
"Huh?"
Erin suddenly hugged Lanse from behind.
Ronan had held her tight during flight for safety, but she'd broken free upon spotting Sechika's schemes.
Finally noticing how close Sechika had gotten, Lanse jolted back in surprise.
"W-What?! When did you get so close?!"
"Ahaha...... Somehow."
Sechika scratched her head sheepishly.
Of all the luck—interrupted right now.
Shaking off her regret, she smiled at Erin.
"Was our Erin cold? Want big sis to warm you up?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"Sechika sis's boobs squish head. Oppa better."
With that, Erin burrowed into her brother's chest.
Her catlike narrowed eyes melted into smiles the moment Lanse petted her head.
"Hehe, oppa~."
"You're too old for this. Stay put—it's dangerous."
"Okay! I'll stay put."
"......Tch."
Sechika scowled, irked by the scene.
Felt intentional, but probably just her imagination?
As she grumbled—
"Tch. We're here."
"Huh?"
Ronan clicked his tongue.
His eyes were fixed on the ground below.
Sechika looked down and gasped.
Far below the clouds, countless undead swarmed the landscape like a flood.
"Oh my god......!"
"W-What the heck is all that?"
Lanse and Erin gaped in horror too.
The corpses devoured beasts and men alike, evoking army ants in a jungle.
Though far more grotesque.
Watching the march of the dead, Ronan spat curses.
"These shit-smeared bastards—I saved the damn world, and they fuck it up again. Should rip their heads off and pickle 'em."
"R-Ronan Uncle?"
Sechika panicked.
At first, she thought it was someone else speaking.
Crude, vulgar talk worthy of backwater mercenaries.
"Uh...... You curse like a pro."
"Hoo...... Sorry, kids. But if you don't curse at that sight, I'd be a temple priest. Regret quitting smokes every time I see crap like this."
"W-Wait, you used to smoke?"
To Sechika, ignorant of Ronan's past, it was shocking.
Anticipating his dad's outburst, Lanse already plugged his sister's ears.
"Oppa. What'd Daddy say? Tell me!"
"You don't need to know."
"Ugh, no fair! Erin too!"
Erin squirmed, claiming she hadn't heard, but Lanse held firm.
She only knew her gentle dad— this would shock her badly.
"Orse. Where's Asel? Not the type to stand by for this."
【No idea. He said he'd wait around here.】
"Then why's he gone? That runt better not gotten eaten."
"W-What?!"
Sechika yelped.
Not the thing to say in front of his daughter.
Realizing his slip, Ronan patted her shoulder.
"Whoops, sorry. Runt's got plenty merits. Smart head, pretty face, five kids means he's got manly chops too......"
"That's not the point! C-Could Dad really have been eaten?!"
"What? That's your worry?"
Ronan chuckled in disbelief.
Like Lanse with his own past, this girl didn't grasp her father's prowess.
Otherwise, she wouldn't look so genuinely scared.
"Don't worry, Sechika. Even ten times that horde couldn't eat him."
"D-Dad's that strong? Even ten times......"
"Yeah. Think what this lil' dragon calls him."
The dragon-acknowledged murder machine without precedent.
Suddenly, Ronan mused how cruel time was.
Not some hack wizard—Asel getting this treatment.
Though praised as grand mage everywhere, at home he was just a henpecked hubby.
"Anyway, can't stomach this filth."
Ronan wrinkled his nose.
The rotting stench had grown nose-stinging.
He'd planned to land after spotting the necromancer, but priorities shifted.
"Son. Remember what I said?"
"Yes?"
"At the memorial. What war's like."
"Uh...... Dogshit."
"Right. Smart like your mom. Dad's cleaning dogshit now."
Apt metaphor.
Ronan's hand caressed the sword hilt at his waist.
Once called Ramancha.
Now the holy sword housing the spirit Lin vibrated, eager to be drawn.
"You kids spectate from here. Follow or pull stupid stunts, I tell Mom everything. You'll marry and start families someday—don't want your wife mocking your swollen ass, right?"
"Eek......!"
Lanse and Erin's faces blanched.
Adeshan was a great mom, but her rare wrath terrified more than anyone.
Lanse reflexively clenched, nodding furiously.
Sechika giggled.
"I'd be fine with a big butt...... Anyway, can I go too, Uncle?"
"Like hell. I'd rat you to Marya too."
"Eeeeng......"
All three sulked.
Pitiful sight, but unavoidable.
Fledglings too green for this foe.
Ronan's chuckling eyes turned serious.
"Take care. Orse."
"W-Wait! How're you gonna— Kyaaack! Dangerous!"
Before Lanse could finish—
Timing the wingbeats, Ronan dove toward the ground.
Erin and Sechika screamed after him.
"D-Daddy!"
"Ronan Uncle!"
Their cries scattered futilely.
Ronan shrank to a dot in seconds.
Orse growled at the fledglings' chorus.
"B-But jumping from this height......!"
"Monster?"
Orse didn't answer.
It wasn't worth it.
He remembered every adventure with Ronan.
Aurora Skal under aurora rains.
The desperate fight in Adren against the mad Dragon King.
Dodging raining spears of light with Ronan aboard, blood boiling hotter than ever.
Recalling the moment Ronan severed Duaru's neck still sent shivers.
Orse chuckled deeply.
In that instant, Ronan landed on the ground and gripped his sword hilt.
Shwaaaaa—!
The silently drawn blade arced through the air, and in the heart of the undead horde, a blood-red crescent moon rose.