Chapter 185
Chapter 185
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: Shadow of Corin (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Is that druid really someone we can trust?”
Louis Corin asked in a voice that still couldn’t shake off his doubts. Lloyd looked at Louis without answering.
“It wouldn’t do any good if I said anything.”
“…….”
“Not until you experience it for yourself.”
Indeed. Unlike his obedient older brother, Louis, the second son of the Corin family, was a man with a rebellious streak. He only felt satisfied when he did things with his own hands. As his longtime friend, Lloyd knew this trait well. That was why he kept silent without saying a word about Theodor.
“……Lloyd, there must be a reason you’re sticking with him.”
Louis muttered in a voice that sounded hollow, or perhaps frustrated. Lloyd was not one to move without purpose. Hadn’t he abandoned everything the moment the Reinhardt family—which had practically raised him—fell, and left for the cursed lands to protect them? At that time, Lloyd had been on the verge of becoming the commander of the Imperial Knights. Ordinary people couldn’t cast aside such glory and power without regret. He was an eccentric. Or a noble soul. He was a friend worthy of respect.
If such a Lloyd had chosen someone, they must be trustworthy. But some ominous foreboding kept tugging at Louis’s ankles. For example, the unsettling aura he had felt near the druid’s heart…
Those who had reached the level of Lloyd or Louis could wield ‘sword aura’ and read people’s energies. It was similar to how mages could gauge each other’s levels to some extent. A body honed to the extreme and sharpened to its peak could sense many things. Enemies, hostility, and pure ‘power.’
What Louis had read from that druid was a power so immense and grand that no human could possibly contain it. For a human to possess that much strength, they would have to not only ascend to a realm but surpass it, and even that wouldn’t suffice—they’d need to stand at such dizzying heights that they looked down upon the very concept of ‘realms.’ In other words, they were no longer ‘human.’ Something far higher, like a god, a demon, or perhaps a dragon…
‘…What the hell am I even thinking?’
Louis slowly shook his head. No matter how you looked at it, that druid was an ordinary human. Even if it bruised his pride a bit, it made more sense to chalk it up to his own ‘misjudgment.’
“Louis.”
“……Ah.”
“Focus.”
“…….”
“The important thing right now isn’t Theodor.”
Lloyd was right. The druid wasn’t what mattered at the moment. What truly mattered was the lord of ‘Corin’ and his successor.
Louis’s father and brother.
Those two.
“Your father is…….”
“…….”
“Not the kind of man to be shaken by orcs or the like.”
Indeed. Louis’s father was innately bold and strong. Thanks to such a lord, the monster-infested areas around Corin—not to mention the nearest sections of the cursed lands—had been kept clean for decades… With a well-organized army, they didn’t even desperately need mercenaries. The abnormal influx of mercenaries into Corin had only started a few weeks ago.
After Dawood, the successor to Corin, began recruiting mercenaries with generous pay.
Dawood was the firstborn son from the Corin lord’s first wife. Since his mother died giving birth to him, the lord had taken a second wife before the blood from Dawood’s birth had even dried. The son from that second wife was Louis.
Dawood had inherited his mother’s frail constitution. He wanted to become an excellent swordsman like his father, but sadly, that talent had gone to his younger brother, Louis.
The bond between Dawood and Louis was as strong as any brothers’. However, feelings of inferiority were like a thorn in one’s pocket—hard to hide. Louis knew how Dawood saw him. As a threat to the successor’s position.
That was why Louis had left the territory for the sake of his beloved brother and the family’s peace, joining the Imperial Knights. It was there that he met Lloyd, who was in a similar situation, and found much comfort. Fortunately, while Louis was away, Dawood had solidified his own position, which seemed to ease the invisible rift between the brothers to some extent.
‘It was just a misunderstanding.’
When Lloyd left the Imperial Knights for the Reinhardt family, and the weasel-like knight who had always envied Lloyd vying for the commander position took over, the discipline in the Imperial Knights slackened. Unable to endure it, Louis returned to Corin.
Things were peaceful for a while. Louis threw himself into every subjugation mission without sparing his body. All for his father and brother. He had decided to become the sword of Corin in place of the two who needed to protect the territory.
But Dawood seemed to think that sword was aimed at his own neck.
Louis had repeatedly insisted he had no interest in the successor’s seat, but Dawood never let go of his suspicion and wariness. Louis gaining the soldiers’ trust through numerous subjugations only fueled his brother’s anxiety further.
“That druid said to tell him everything without hiding anything, but I couldn’t.”
“…….”
Lloyd quietly gazed at Louis’s face. A faint fear and confusion lingered there. Lloyd had known him for a long time, but this was rare.
“This can’t leak out.”
“…….”
“Not even to you, Lloyd.”
“Then you don’t have to say it.”
“But…….”
“…….”
“I need your help.”
Louis dropped his head and let out a deep sigh. As if making a resolution, he took a big breath, lifted his head again, and met Lloyd’s eyes.
“A month ago, Father fell from his horse in the hunting grounds.”
It was strange. Lloyd furrowed his brow. A novice knight, maybe, but the Corin lord—who had roamed battlefields for decades—wasn’t the type to fall from a horse by mistake. And yet, ‘fell from his horse’? Reading Lloyd’s dubious expression, Louis nodded.
“I thought the exact same thing. Father would never fall from a horse. The horse he rode that day was Ramon. A magnificent steed. Practically Father’s legs. And Ramon threw him?”
“…….”
“Impossible.”
“Then.”
“Yeah.”
There was no one around, but Louis still lowered his voice as much as possible.
“He was ambushed.”
“…….”
“That day, during the hunt.”
“By whom?”
“…….”
Louis said nothing, but Lloyd could infer the answer.
‘Dawood.’
The one closest to the lord above all others.
Thus, the one most easily able to betray him.
“……”
“…….”
The two fell silent. Voicing this suspicion aloud would be treason—enough to cut off not just their tongues, but their heads.
“Now you understand why I couldn’t tell that druid everything.”
“…….”
“This is as good as rebellion. If he gets scared and runs…….”
“Louis.”
“…….”
“He won’t run, no matter the situation.”
“…….”
“If you want his help, you should tell him everything honestly.”
“…….”
“Theodor is the one who can help you.”
* * *
-Caw, caw, caw.
Blackie’s cry came from outside the window. It wasn’t a dawn stroll, but a dawn ‘flight’—Blackie had returned and was cawing to be let in. When I opened the door, he shook off his dew-wet feathers and hopped into his cage, pecking at the seeds.
“Nothing unusual?”
-Caaaaw.
“Good.”
Ayla usually handled patrols, but a massive white wolf wandering a city wasn’t easy. Ayla hid well like a shadow wolf, but concealing herself in a forest was different from doing so in a city—the difficulty was on another level.
So I left the dawn patrol to Blackie, and it wasn’t bad. He seemed to enjoy it too.
“Good work, Blackie.”
-Caw.
Having rested well all day yesterday, it was time to properly check out Corin’s atmosphere starting today.
El was still buried under the blankets, wandering dreamland. It had been a while, so I let him sleep in. I headed downstairs alone, leisurely without waking him.
“Good morning!”
“Good morning, innkeeper.”
“Shall I prepare breakfast?”
“Something simple. I stuffed myself yesterday…….”
“Hahaha! You sure did eat a lot!”
“Your cooking is just that good.”
“You flatter me. Sit at the same spot as yesterday, and I’ll bring the milk first.”
“Thank you.”
I sat at yesterday’s table, yawned once, and rubbed my still-heavy eyelids. Ah, after a long rest, I feel even more tired somehow. It was like this back at the company too. After fully resting on the weekend, I’d feel strangely more fatigued. Sigh, I miss it. Nostalgic.
*Tap.*
“I’ll bring breakfast once you’ve had that.”
The innkeeper brought a glass of goat’s milk boiled with sugarcane. A small plate with a pinch of salt and a few cream beans came with it. I sipped the warm milk first.
“Theo. Me.”
Smelling it, perhaps, Legion poked his head out from under my clothes.
“Legion. I told you not to come out anytime anywhere here.”
“Theo. But. Me. Hungry.”
“I saw you steal and eat El’s pippi figs before we came down…….”
“Theo.”
“……Fine. Fine, so be quiet.”
I picked up a cream bean and popped it into his mouth. Salty stuff isn’t good for kids, so plain it was. Fortunately, he chewed it contentedly. Nom nom, nom nom. He ate so well. If he keeps growing, all my money will go to food.
As Legion finished the cream bean, I saw the innkeeper approaching with a wooden tray. I shoved Legion back into my pocket. I felt him grumbling but curling up into a ball again.
“Enjoy your meal!”
Breakfast was simpler than last night’s dinner, but it still looked delicious. Time to eat hearty and start the day! The moment I picked up my fork,
“Theodor.”
Lloyd’s voice rang out. He had been away all dawn.