Chapter 166
Chapter 166
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Old Tale, Knight Commander and the World (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“What’s going on?”
I asked slowly in return, exchanging glances with Nori and Yvonne.
It was probably a summons from the Emperor.
As I waited for my subordinates to speak, guessing at the reason, Nori said,
“His Majesty calls for you.”
“I see. He didn’t say why?”
“No.”
“I’ll go right away.”
I patted Nori’s shoulder and gave a faint smile.
“Thanks for letting me know.”
It was probably because of the spreading contamination.
Lately, the pace had quickened. Even Kisis’s unit, now proficient in purification, was struggling. This was no issue to overlook, but unfortunately, the imperial family wasn’t paying as much attention to the contamination as we’d hoped.
It was because the struggle for the throne between the first prince and first princess had intensified.
It all started when the Emperor suffered a severe wound from a contaminated magical beast. The World Tree’s blessing granted us eternal youth, but not immortality. Even the nobles, knights, and mages who received the blessing fell ill, and severe injuries didn’t heal easily.
Sometimes, they died.
The Emperor’s wound wasn’t something that should have healed, really.
He’d held on this long only because Ray, Kyle, I, and the other children of the World Tree had taken turns transferring nutrients to him.
Gloomy rumors were already spreading among the imperial citizens.
Ah.
While receiving the order, I’d transfer some nutrients as a bonus.
Thinking that, I started walking, and Nori and Yvonne followed me.
“Captain.”
“What?”
“Is your wound okay?”
I grinned at Nori’s steadfast gaze.
“What wound? The shoulder one?”
“Yes.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry.”
“You’re just going to let that baron get away with it?”
Yvonne stared sullenly at the ground.
“He’s spreading rumors about you.”
Well, maybe it was fine to just let it slide?
A few weeks ago, I’d gotten into a bad tangle with a border noble whose reputation wasn’t great to begin with. He’d tried to execute my knights under my command. It seemed like he was venting his usual frustrations on the lowly ones. He’d mobilized beast tamers and attacked a group of rookie knights with some flimsy excuse.
That was when I’d drawn no sword to save the rookies and gotten wounded.
As a swordmaster and Knight Commander, I couldn’t move carelessly.
To avoid any talk of drawing a sword on a noble, I’d intervened unarmed, but while watching out for the green rookies, I got slashed on the shoulder. It wasn’t a serious wound, but my subordinates who saw it got so fired up that it took a bit to calm them.
In fact, Yvonne, who’d been caught up in the baron’s antics at the time, still couldn’t hold back her anger.
“Don’t worry too much. We won anyway.”
“We should’ve at least gotten compensation for medical expenses.”
“It’s almost healed. I’ll be swinging a sword again soon.”
“What?”
Nori, who’d been silently following behind, raised her voice.
“What do you mean by that?”
This short-haired archer was as straight as an arrow.
I’d rescued her when she got mixed up with a noble during her wandering mercenary days, and apparently, she’d made some resolve on her own then. After that day, she’d stuck to me like a baby bird following its mother. I thought saving her from execution and letting her go nicely would be the end of it, but I was shocked when she showed up at the capital and poked her head into the knight order.
My subordinate, still keeping her mercenary short hair, narrowed her eyes and asked again.
“You haven’t fully recovered yet.”
“It’s fine now.”
“It’s not. Don’t work until you’re completely healed.”
Kyle called Nori “your gum sticker.”
Ray called her “your chick,” since she was blonde.
This exceptional archer was too opinionated, so Kyle grumbled that she was “too much hassle to keep around.”
I grinned at Nori’s expression, like she’d whip me if I swung a sword before fully recovering.
“First, take me to the palace. It’s an urgent summons, right?”
“…Go carefully.”
“Go safely.”
Nori replied grudgingly, and Yvonne stopped walking to give a proper salute.
I waved them off casually and kept going.
A cool breeze blew, caressing my cheek.
The wind was still so refreshing and crisp.
When I smelled the flowers and earth carried on it, it felt like the world had no problems. That was probably why no one fully grasped the severity of the situation.
Breathing in the cold scent, I walked toward where the Emperor was.
Thinking of the World Tree’s rotting roots.
***
“Sir Hildebert.”
I turned at the low voice.
A man with dark circles under his eyes approached slowly. The owner of the voice.
I gave a wry smile to the man who clearly looked exhausted from overwork today as well.
Yoo.
The Emperor’s strategist. He’d been appointed during the rebellion, and since that day, he’d been ground down without a break.
Every time I visited the palace, I watched this already cynical man grow even more cynical in real time.
Deltei, standing behind Yoo, walked over too, sighing and shaking her head.
The saintess with her curly red hair tied back in a single ponytail.
She stopped behind Yoo and let out a big sigh.
“You’ve been summoned?”
“Yes.”
I answered politely when Yoo asked.
I still couldn’t quite read what this strategist was thinking.
“You seem as busy as ever.”
“The contamination has spread a lot.”
Yoo murmured in a voice like he wished the world would just end.
“With the World Tree sick, the world’s temperature is rising, magical beasts are spawning from the contamination, and all sorts of unknown anomalies are appearing. The world’s done for.”
“Oh dear.”
“But before that, don’t be surprised if I blow it up myself.”
Yoo muttered while clutching his stack of documents.
“I wish it would all just go to hell.”
Poor guy.
I smiled bitterly and patted his shoulder.
I’d heard he’d been trained as a pretty skilled spy before becoming a strategist. They said his潜伏 skills were outstanding. Maybe because of his slender, thin frame—he had a talent for stealth.
But his even sharper mind was the real culprit.
The Emperor wasn’t the type to treat people gently, after all.
Deltei, standing behind Yoo, sighed too and lamented.
“I wish morning never came.”
“That bad?”
“I’m sick of even looking at the World Tree’s branches now!”
The saintess threw a fit.
“I have to go purify again tomorrow!”
“With Sir Kisis?”
“With Sir Kyle.”
“Then it’s not so bad, right?”
Surprisingly, Deltei still held a favorable view of Kyle.
The problem was that she still hadn’t gotten close to him because of it. Ray and I had become friends with her through countless purifications—we were at the point where formal speech felt awkward.
But Kyle and Deltei still used polite honorifics with each other….
Deltei nodded shyly, her face flushing.
“He’s my one consolation.”
“Shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Will you do a transfer today too?”
I turned at Yoo’s question.
I nodded slowly, looking into his deeply sunken eyes.
Deltei and Yoo’s expressions darkened. They knew that using the World Tree child’s unique ability caused seizures. Deltei had found out long ago, and Yoo recently.
Since then, these two hadn’t liked me doing “absorption” or “transfer.” Kyle and Ray were plenty for nagging.
Ah.
Never let Nori find out.
This seizure—it was about time it improved, but there was no change.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Yoo said, eyeing me with his hollow gaze.
His black hair, reaching to his shoulders, covered his pale neck.
“You’re busy enough as Knight Commander. There are plenty more World Tree children, after all.”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”
“Sir Kyle and Ray arrived in the capital this morning too.”
Deltei added in her unchanging, alluring voice.
She covered her mouth with the clear sleeve of her priestess robe and looked at me.
“If you don’t want to, just tell the head maidservant. You can make them do it.”
I nodded silently with a smile.
After thanking them for their concern, I parted ways with the pair.
I continued on my path. A grand, spacious hall. People moving through the palace greeted me as I crossed it.
Now, I recognized more faces than not.
I returned their greetings and quickened my pace.
That Emperor, who never showed emotion, hated waiting.
Still an existence with eerily unchanging feelings.
I walked without stopping toward the place with that opponent whose depths I couldn’t fathom, even with his grave injury.
***
I did the transfer.
And received the order. Find Kisis, who hadn’t returned to the capital in over ten years, and go with him to where the World Tree was.
I kissed his ring as I pledged to obey.
After leaving his sickroom, I went to the bathroom and emptied my stomach several times.
Then, while resting on a garden bench, bent over at the waist.
“Hilde.”
A voice fell over the back of my head.
A welcome voice I hadn’t heard in months.
“You did a transfer, didn’t you?”
I lifted my head.
I’d known who was approaching even before hearing it. But seeing them with my own eyes was even better.
I smiled at Kyle and Ray looking down at me with stern expressions.
Many things had changed since we first met, but their core hadn’t.
My old friends. Now, no one in the Empire didn’t know them. Even people outside the Empire knew Kyle and Ray’s names.
Kyle, who’d been a conqueror yet surpassed his status to become the youngest Knight Commander.
Ray, not to be outdone, claiming the title of youngest swordmaster.
As Deltei said, they’d arrived in the capital this morning.
I answered Ray’s question readily.
“Just finished.”
“Still having seizures?”
Kyle asked, eyebrow arched.
His displeased tone was obvious.
“I thought it’d gotten better lately. Don’t tell me you left your shoulder wound as is because you hate absorbing.”
“Correct.”
I replied boldly, and Kyle let out a hollow laugh.
Ray closed his eyes and sighed.
After a long exhale, he furrowed his brow and nagged.
“Hilde. The Emperor doesn’t consider stuff like that.”
“True. He’s not in a position to worry about such things.”
“They send World Tree children to dangerous places because we can absorb.”
My friend grumbled.
“And since we can absorb, they don’t even assign proper healers.”