Ending Maker Chapter 7
Ending Maker Chapter 7
Chapter 2 — Dungeon Book
Count Bayel Household.
One of the Twelve Northern Houses that guarded the north of the Saelun Kingdom, and a renowned martial house that had produced powerful knights for generations.
Sir Victor Cromwell, a longtime retainer of the count's household and now a retired knight, felt his eyes grow moist at the sight before him.
"Haaah... hrrgh... ngh..."
Yuder Bayel, once known as the Count Bayel Household's greatest headache—the invalid whose daily life had been crippled by the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage—was running laps around the training grounds.
Though he was gasping for breath as if he might drop dead at any moment.
"Truly, this is Heaven's blessing......."
To think that he had obtained a holy relic in the place where he had eloped with his fiancée at night—no, in broad daylight—and not just any holy relic, but a holy relic of Solari, the Sun God, that would help treat the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage.
It was far too coincidental to be called coincidence, yet it could only be seen as coincidence—a fortuitous encounter in the truest sense.
"O Ascanthor, I thank you for watching over the House of Bayel."
Victor, who had offered a prayer to Ascanthor, the god of war, turned his smiling face back toward the training grounds.
Yuder, his face bright red, was rounding the turn for his final lap.
Ten laps around the training grounds.
For an ordinary knight, it was an amount of exercise that would barely pass as a warm-up, but for Yuder, it was truly a monumental improvement.
Just a week ago, he had not even been able to complete a single lap around the training grounds.
"Haaah... hah... ngh."
Yuder, who had somehow managed to keep his running form as he pressed on, collapsed onto the spot almost as soon as he finished the last lap.
"Haaah..."
The sky seemed to spin.
His head felt empty, as if no thoughts could form at all.
"Guhh......."
In the end, he lay flat on his back. He had sweated so much that his entire body was soaked, as if he had fallen into water.
"Haa......."
How much time had passed since he lay down?
Once his breathing had settled to some degree, he became capable of thinking again.
'I'm dying.'
Ten laps around the training grounds.
If he had to measure the distance, it was probably just over one kilometer.
It was not that short a distance, but it was not that long either.
'Still.'
A smile had begun to spread across Yuder's face before he knew it.
Little by little, he could clearly feel his body improving.
'The Sun's Necklace.'
Even now, the necklace of Solari, the Sun God, hung around Yuder's neck.
Unlike the Sunfire Carp, which injected an enormous amount of extreme yang energy all at once, the Sun's Necklace supplied extreme yang energy slowly but continuously.
The Nine Yin Meridian Blockage meant that the body's meridians were blocked by an immense cold energy.
As the extreme yang energy melted the cold energy little by little, the symptoms of the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage also began to ease.
Moreover, the Sun's Necklace's effects did not end there.
When extreme yang and extreme yin energies met and sought each other, pure and refined energy was produced as a result.
For now, Yuder could not properly cultivate a mana cultivation method—in other words, an internal energy cultivation method—so he could not do anything with the refined energy that was produced, but that did not mean the energy went anywhere.
It all remained inside Yuder's body, so if he fully absorbed it later, he would be able to achieve a great accomplishment in one stroke.
"Young master."
When he shifted his gaze toward the voice, he saw Victor smiling broadly.
Since he was over sixty and retired, he had not accompanied the Count of Bayel on his expedition, but he was still remarkably vigorous.
"I saw you reach your goal without giving up until the very end. The Count will be overjoyed when he returns."
It was not empty flattery.
Yuder had completed every last lap around the training grounds even while gasping like a man on his final breath.
Victor thought highly of Yuder's strong will, as well as the fact that his body was recovering.
'As expected of a Bayel.'
It had simply not shown because of the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage, which was little different from a curse, but the spirit of the Count Bayel Household, the martial house of renown, lived on in Yuder as well.
"Once you recover a little more, you will be able to learn the family's martial arts as well. To think of you, young master, displaying the martial arts of the House of Bayel...... heh heh, old as I am, my heart races."
Victor was not much of a talker, as befitted a martial man.
But since it was a kind thing to say regardless, Yuder smiled back at him.
'The martial arts of the Count Bayel Household.'
As befitted a Playable Character, Yuder had been given his own growth points.
One of them was the martial arts of the Count Bayel Household.
Nowadays, the household barely held the lowest seat among the Twelve Northern Houses, but it had once led the twelve houses and long held the position of margrave.
Naturally, the martial arts passed down through the generations were by no means low in quality.
'Martial arts, huh.'
Not merely physical techniques as in reality, but superhuman arts that used internal energy and could, in a sense, be called magic without exaggeration.
In a world where not only angels and demons but even magic existed, there was nothing particularly strange about it, but it still felt wondrous every time he thought about it anew.
"Now then, young master. Let us stop here for today. It is not good to push yourself too hard. Do not forget that sufficient rest is also part of training."
Yuder took Victor's hand, which was like a pot lid, and stood up. He nodded, then caught his breath once more.
'One week.'
A week had passed since he had obtained the Sun's Necklace from Leisegang of the Red Moon.
In three more days, his grounding would be lifted, so it was about time to prepare for the next step.
'If I were alone, I couldn't have dreamed of it.'
The thing he intended to obtain next after the Sun's Necklace.
Yuder's and Cordelia's ultimate goal was to stop the 'Great Summoning Ritual' and protect this world from the Armageddon of angels and demons, but they could not show large-scale movements already.
'Right now, we don't even have the ability.'
After all, what a weakling who could barely run ten laps around a training ground and a 1-star mage could do together was obvious.
So now was the time to suppress their impatience and lay the foundation for growth.
'Together, we can do it.'
It had not been intentional, but thanks to Leisegang, he had even leveled up. With Cordelia, he would be able to proceed directly to the next stage.
'However.......'
How was he to contact Cordelia?
In truth, it was not that he had no means of contact.
It was simply burdensome.
'Maia will be pleased.......'
After the daytime elopement last time, she had scolded him with her words, but her eyes had been full of satisfaction.
'My beloved Yellow...... no, Lady Cordelia.'
Yuder, who had recalled the first line of the love letter he would send to his fiancée, made a wretched face without realizing it.
* * *
The next morning, at the Count Chase Household.
Cordelia, who had been in the middle of meditation training to grow her mana heart, suddenly shuddered and opened her eyes.
Because she had felt an ominous premonition.
'Wha, what is it?'
Even back when she was Yellow Storm, her intuition had always been sharp enough to rival Outboxer's.
For her to feel such an ominous premonition that her mind snapped awake even in the middle of meditation.
But she did not need to agonize for long.
Because one of the people she considered responsible for that ominous feeling had just entered her sight.
"My lady."
Dahlia Eil, Cordelia's escort knight.
She approached wearing a smile that looked beyond suspicious—no, downright ominous.
"Dah...... lia?"
Why?
Why was she smiling like that?
In truth, she had a rough idea of the reason.
It was a sight she had seen several times over the past week, and whenever Dahlia looked like that, the name 'Yuder Bayel' always came up.
'It was not behavior befitting a proper young lady, but I support your love, my lady.'
Those were the words Dahlia had approached and said to her when she had been sulking after receiving the grounding order.
Those words had been so chilling that she remembered them without a single mistake.
'Why, why is she smiling like that again?'
What strange thing was she going to say this time?
When the anxious Cordelia forced an awkward smile, Dahlia nodded as if she understood everything, then spoke in a gentle tone.
"My lady, you look positively gaunt. I understand."
"Let me say this in advance: it's because I've been training hard, okay? It's not for any other reason, okay?"
"Heh heh...... I'm sure that's the case."
Her words said she understood, but her eyes said nothing of the sort.
It was clear that she was thinking something completely different.
'Ugh, seriously.'
This was all Yuder's fault.
If it had not been for that day, if it had not been for those embarrassing lines, Dahlia would never have misunderstood so thoroughly.
In fact, Cordelia was not the only one who had been scolded for the daytime elopement with Yuder.
Dahlia had also received a pay cut for failing to properly escort her, yet she was still acting like this.
'Well...... she's like an older sister to me.'
If Maia was like an older sister to Yuder, then to Cordelia, Dahlia was like an older sister with whom she had grown up since childhood.
'No, come to think of it, isn't this revenge?'
Just as Cordelia was having that doubt, Dahlia opened her mouth again.
"Anyway, my lady. I have good news for you while you're wallowing in sorrow."
"Good news?"
"Yes, good news."
"Wh, what is it?"
"Heh heh heh. Why, it is news of Lord Yuder, of course."
Dahlia laughed brightly and took a letter from her bosom, holding it out.
"A fresh, piping-hot love letter from Lord Yuder."
A love letter.
A letter of love.
The moment she heard it, goosebumps rose all over Cordelia's body, but at the same time, she was also glad.
Because, regardless of anything else, it was the first news from Outboxer in nearly a week.
"Hurry and read it."
At Dahlia's sparkling-eyed urging, Cordelia opened the letter with a complicated, hard-to-read expression.
To Lady Cordelia, whom I truly adore.
She could not endure it from the very first line.
But even so, Cordelia gulped dryly and steeled her resolve.
Because, regardless of anything else, she had to read it.
Moreover, there was no way it was just a love letter. There had to be a hidden message somewhere.
'There's probably a vertical acrostic, right?'
Or maybe a diagonal one.
Cordelia, who had been reading the love letter—filled with sentences so sweet they could only have been polished by Maia—with an expression of agony, suddenly opened her eyes wide without realizing it.
It was not because she had found a vertical or diagonal acrostic.
At the end of the love letter, which was full of words of love.
One line of Hangul, written honestly without any trickery.
Let's meet at the Temple of Baruna the day after tomorrow at 2 p.m.
'Oh, he used his head a bit?'
After all, the only people in Pleiades who could read Hangul were Cordelia herself and Yuder.
This much could practically be called a perfect cipher.
'More importantly, the Temple of Baruna?'
The day after tomorrow was the day her grounding ended, so the date itself made sense, but the Temple of Baruna bothered her.
Baruna, god of the Silver Veil.
The guardian of secrets and, at the same time, the watcher.
There was one Temple of Baruna in the frontier city where the Count Bayel Household and the Count Chase Household were located.
It was not very large, but as befitted the temple of a god who presided over 'secrets,' it was a place that a fair number of people visited for the purpose of confession.
'What's there?'
If he specifically wanted to meet there, there had to be something.
Cordelia searched her memory for a moment, but nothing came to mind right away.
'Anyway, the problem is.......'
Cordelia folded the now-finished love letter slightly and glanced toward Dahlia.
And, as expected.
Dahlia's sparkling gaze greeted Cordelia.
'I don't want to say it. I really don't want to say it.'
But she had to.
Because whether or not her grounding ended, if she wanted to go out in broad daylight, she had to bring Dahlia along.
"Dahlia."
"Yes, my lady."
"Um...... the day after tomorrow."
"Yes, my lady. Are you going to have a secret rendezvous with Lord Yuder on the day your grounding ends, the day after tomorrow?"
"Uh...... huh? A se, secret rendezvous?"
"Haa...... Lord Yuder must be quite eager as well. To ask for a date the moment his grounding ends. Heh heh, how passionate."
Cordelia's mind went blank for a moment, but she nodded for now.
Because, regardless of anything else, she had to go.
The misunderstanding was a little irritating, but it could not be helped.
"A, anyway. I'm going to the Temple of Baruna the day after tomorrow."
"Oh...... even the location is fitting. To have a secret rendezvous at the temple of the god of secrets. This time, please do not run away. I will tactfully make time for just the two of you."
Dahlia finished speaking with a grin and even gave a wink.
How to put it.
Even though it was clearly helpful, it felt like being strangled.
Cordelia closed her eyes for now and let out a very long breath. It was for the sake of her peace of mind.
But Dahlia, who was watching her, thought differently.
'She must be so relieved.'
At the fact that she could finally meet her beloved Lord Yuder.
After all, had Cordelia not devoted herself entirely to training for the past week in order to suppress the pain of not being able to meet him?
She did not know when their love had deepened so much, but between a man and a woman, a moment of connection was more important than absolute time.
'My lady, I'll help you as much as I can. You can do it!'
Dahlia looked at Cordelia with warm eyes, and Cordelia, who happened to open her eyes at that moment, flinched and thought.
'What the, why is she like that again? What delusion is she having now?!'
But she did not ask out loud.
Because she was afraid of what Dahlia would say.
"A, anyway. It's the day after tomorrow. Just know that."
"Yes, my lady. Two days is not short, but please endure it just a little. Understood?"
She said it cutely, but it was not cute.
Endure what? Who was enduring what?
'Better to die than suffer through this.'
Cordelia nodded half-heartedly and let her shoulders droop.