Chapter 161
Chapter 161
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Dad
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A few days later, the Lion Squad returned to Raheln Academy.
It was because the Hardenharts matter had been settled, and they couldn't stay there forever.
The Raheln Academy they returned to was in absolute chaos.
Charlotte's Lion Squad and Pelai's Vast Sea Squad had brilliantly completed a mission tied to a World Eroder, no less.
Naturally, the fame of both squads soared to the heavens.
It had reached the point where most of the second-year nobles listed Lion Squad as their top choice, while the commoners went for Vast Sea Squad.
But Krash's name, oddly enough, wasn't brought up all that much.
Rina Sena and Haring knew full well what he'd done.
But few had witnessed his feats with their own eyes.
On top of that, Krash himself had no intention of hyping it up.
'Too soon.'
This incident involved far too many factions.
From the Empire and Staron Kingdom all the way to the World Eroder Ixion.
A ton of people connected to Krash were tangled up in it too.
So he'd vaguely hinted at it to those around him.
Luckily, none of them were the type to go blabbing.
With the Hardenharts business more or less wrapped up...
Krash was now facing another massive problem.
"How the hell did things end up like this?"
"S-Sorry. I went ahead and made the report..."
Krash was currently sitting in Raheln Academy's guest waiting room alongside Haring.
The reason was simple.
The Poison King—the man who'd suffered grievous wounds at the Mad Emperor's hands—was coming to see Krash in person.
One of the Ten Heavenly Powers was paying a visit.
Given his reputation, sneaking in wasn't an option. So he'd sent word that he'd be arriving officially under the Lagren family name.
Raheln Academy had erupted into a frenzy as a result.
And Krash, the center of all that commotion, looked utterly drained.
One damn thing after another.
'It's only been a month since I enrolled.'
How many crises had piled up in that time?
He'd figured Evel Ask would need a good while to turn the Mad Emperor into a corpse.
In the meantime, he'd planned to prepare ways to fend off the Black Witch's approach and focus on training ahead of the upcoming midterm evaluation.
But no—a visit from the Poison King out of nowhere.
With events exploding one after another, it was enough to kill a guy.
[Isn't this all just the price for the messes you've caused?]
"Squeak."
Crimson Garden and Evel Ask's corpse rat nodded in unison.
Now he had yet another critic piling on.
"...You had every reason to report it. Don't worry. It's fine."
Krash tossed the words lightly to Haring, who was moping.
The Mad Emperor—the murderer of the Lagren family's heir—had been taken down.
That had to be a grudge her father, the Poison King, had nursed for ages. He'd probably wanted to let him know for his sake too.
'But that doesn't explain why he's coming to see me.'
Truth be told, it hadn't been Krash who'd defeated the Mad Emperor—it was Raider.
Krash alone still couldn't handle a World Eroder.
Even after feeding him the Obliteration Moon Flower, the Mad Emperor had kept moving like it was nothing. That's when Krash had truly felt the limits of his power.
He still had a long way to go.
In any case, the one who'd contributed most to finishing off that Mad Emperor was none other than Sword King Rai Valheim.
'If he's coming to thank my brother, that I could understand.'
So why seek him out?
It had been nagging at Krash this whole time.
'I barely know anything about the Poison King.'
By the time Krash had been active, the Poison King was already dead at Bianca the Hundred Ghosts' hands.
Maybe that's why he felt more on edge than usual.
Something told him whatever happened here would definitely alter the future.
As he waited with a tense expression...
Creeeak—
The door to the reception room swung open.
Krash and Haring's gazes snapped toward it.
Stepping inside was a middle-aged man of average build.
Black hair shot through with purple, just like Haring's.
Cold, piercing eyes that matched hers exactly.
And wafting from his body was a faint, complex aroma of mingled poisons.
Poison King
Hauran Lagren
Another of the Ten Heavenly Powers had arrived.
Thick eyebrows shadowing his eyes, Hauran's gaze slowly swept the room.
The first place it landed was on Haring.
His footsteps carried him straight to her.
Even though he wasn't heading for Krash, the sheer weight of his presence pressed down all the same.
"Haring."
The moment those cold eyes fixed on her, Haring flinched.
She knew what came next, and it terrified her.
Hauran's eyebrows slowly knit together in anger.
"I specifically told you to stay put at home, didn't I?"
His chilling voice filled the room.
Just that alone made Krash and Haring feel like their breaths had caught in their throats.
Indeed, one of the Ten Heavenly Powers.
The aura radiating from him was on another level entirely.
Under that crushing pressure, Haring bowed her head.
Hauran watched her quietly for a moment before letting out a deep, profound sigh.
"I was worried sick you'd get yourself in serious trouble, sweetie."
The instant those words hit the air, Krash blinked.
Because the overwhelming pressure pouring from Hauran's body vanished in a heartbeat.
His face, which had been icy cold just moments ago, softened into something incredibly gentle.
He'd only been upset that his little girl had put herself in danger.
There was no real intent to berate her harshly.
"No injuries anywhere?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"As long as you're not hurt, that's what matters."
Before they knew it, Hauran had closed the distance and was stroking Haring's hair.
The touch seemed utterly familiar to her.
'So this is the Poison King.'
Krash didn't know much about Haring's family.
Which was why he found it so surprising.
And suddenly, he thought he understood why Haring had risked her life to avenge herself against Bianca the Hundred Ghosts.
'Their family was close-knit from the start.'
By Krash's standards, families were always tearing into each other.
He hadn't even considered a harmonious home like this.
Eventually, Hauran's gaze shifted to Krash.
"And you."
"Ah, Krash Valheim."
The moment Krash hurriedly introduced himself...
Zing!
His Sixth Sense flared, screaming for him to bolt right then and there.
Before he could even frown in confusion at the signal...
Krash felt the brush of death against his throat.
Whoosh!
On pure reflex, the energy of Erosion Flame erupted from Krash's body.
As his body heated up in an instant, he instinctively reached for Thunderclap but froze midway.
'Fell for it.'
The thought flashed through his mind, and Hauran's eyes narrowed slyly.
"Not some run-of-the-mill late bloomer, just like they said."
Hauran had deliberately sent killing intent to test him.
Maybe it was all his time rolling in battlefields.
He'd reacted to the killing intent far too easily.
But Hauran didn't pull back.
If anything, he ramped it up, flooding Krash with blatant malice.
Cold sweat trickling down, Krash shot him a puzzled look.
'Wasn't this just a test?'
He'd thought it was a probe, but Hauran still wasn't letting up.
What was he playing at?
As the question lingered, Haring finally caught on—late as usual.
"Father, what are you doing to Krash?"
Her eyes sharpened.
Hauran hesitated, then finally withdrew the intent.
"Ah, ahem. Nothing at all."
As Hauran awkwardly cleared his throat, Haring eyed him suspiciously.
Then she subtly shifted away from her father, positioning herself to shield Krash.
She'd picked up on his subtle disapproval of Krash.
But that only made Hauran's eyes flash even sharper.
Krash half-wondered if he'd end up poisoned before the day was out.
"Father?"
Haring called to him again, and Hauran forced his expression to smooth out.
Watching that, Krash clocked his type.
'This guy.'
Extreme daughter-con.
Like, serious levels.
"...The reason I came today is to discuss the aftermath of this incident."
Hauran cleared his throat again and cut straight to the point.
"The Lagren family will take responsibility and step back from central nobility for the time being."
"What?"
Haring's eyes went wide.
She hadn't seen that coming from her father at all.
"That's ridiculous! We wrapped everything up just fine!"
Haring shouted, unwilling to accept it.
But Hauran had switched back to his work face.
The face of a family head.
"I chased the Night Raven leader, took a grievous wound, and let him slip away. In the end, it's a mission failure."
Haring bit her lip.
She still couldn't fathom why the Empire was doing this.
The Lagren family had been loyal to the Empire all this time, and it had the Poison King—one of the Ten Heavenly Powers.
Kicking out a family like that from central nobility?
She couldn't stomach it.
But the moment Krash heard it, he grasped the real reason.
"...So this is payback for acting on your own?"
That was just the surface excuse.
The Empire's true motive lay elsewhere.
Hauran fell silent at Krash's question.
Haring just looked back and forth between them in bewilderment.
Krash clicked his tongue.
"Classic Empire move."
There had been two people who'd acted independently in this mess.
One was Cizly Epania.
The other was Haring Lagren.
The Empire had planned to haul in Evel Ask over this.
They'd lost their longtime pawn, the Night Raven squad.
Capturing Evel Ask was their top priority.
But those two had stepped in, robbing the Empire of any pretext to stick their noses into Hardenharts.
And the result?
The innocent Mad Emperor got nabbed, but Evel Ask slipped away.
Sure, they could drum up another pretext...
But with the Lagren incident tying into the Mad Emperor, Haring's name had blown up.
The world was buzzing about Haring avenging the Lagren family...
And Sword King Rai slaying the World Eroder who'd grievously wounded the Poison King.
In the end, the Night Raven leader's story got completely buried.
Especially once it came out that the one who'd injured the Poison King was the Mad Emperor, not him.
Which left the Empire without any public justification for a manhunt on the Night Raven leader.
From their perspective, it was infuriating.
The Empire's nobles wouldn't be ignorant of the internal politics.
This could tarnish the imperial family's prestige.
An imperial house that prized face above all couldn't just let it slide.
But they couldn't very well punish Princess Cizly over it.
So naturally, their target became the Lagrens.
'If Poison King Hauran Lagren hadn't gotten wounded from the start and had captured him instead, everything would've gone smoothly.'
With that narrative, they booted them from central nobility...
And made an example of them for failing to carry out imperial orders.
In other words, petty internal squabbling.
"Because of this, Haring's fallen out of the imperial family's good graces."
Her independent action—with the strongest justification—had ruined everything.
The imperial house could hardly view her favorably now.
Krash's eyes narrowed.
He was the one who'd dragged Haring into this.
It had been her choice, sure, but he'd been the one tempting her.
Responsibility came before any talk of preventing war.
"If we leave it like this, she won't have any pull in politics going forward."
Out of imperial favor? Obvious.
Haring panicked as the conversation rolled on without her input.
Krash could judge the situation swiftly thanks to his past life's experience and memories.
But a 15-year-old Haring lacked that insight.
Hauran was inwardly surprised by Krash too.
He hadn't expected the kid to see through the Empire's game from just a few words.
But that's exactly why it worked out.
"I'm grateful for the vengeance for my son. Deeply thankful for easing my daughter's grudge. But separate from that, I believe you'd feel some sense of responsibility hearing about this."
Krash could sense Hauran forcibly suppressing the energy building in his body.
Instead, his teeth ground together audibly.
His daughter's future was looking shaky now, after all.
Hauran had surely realized Krash was the one who'd first suggested she join the squad.
It hadn't been some selfless act to help Haring, either.
"Yes."
So Krash had no objections.
If responsibility meant stepping up, he'd do it.
The Empire was due for an upheaval anyway.
Because of the events that would ultimately topple it.
'By then, there'll be a chance to restore the Lagren family to central nobility.'
If Haring shone in the Generation of the Sky, the Empire would have no choice but to take her back.
"Then take responsibility and get engaged to our daughter."
But Hauran's next words hit Krash like a sucker punch to the back of the head.
Engaged.
An utterly absurd proposal shoved right in his face.