Chapter 18
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 18. Will It Be the South After the North?
Although an opportunity for growth has come, I cannot just accept it readily.
Everything requires warm-up exercises.
Elise took a light deep breath and prepared for breathing exercises.
‘The stage of Transcendent Peak, huh….’
Elise, who is struggling at the First-Rate stage, does not yet know the stage of Transcendent Peak.
To be exact, she has not learned the enlightenment of Transcendent Peak as the life of this Elise Blaze.
When she reached Transcendent Peak in her previous life, the feeling that it suddenly came and suddenly happened was strong.
While she was still immature, she gained enlightenment and gathered her thoughts to step onto the stage of Transcendent Peak, didn't she.
‘That is really, how should I say it…. Enlightenment comes even through trivial triggers, not grand ones.’
To reach the stage called Transcendent Peak, some massive enlightenment is not strictly necessary.
To compare it to a key and a lock, it feels like needing the right key, not simply a massive key.
Needing a key suitable for the existence called a martial artist named Elise Blaze.
Numerous masters of the Murim talk.
Then where can one gain that enlightenment.
Someone talks about catching clouds.
Someone gives a concrete tale of experience.
Each speaks what they think, but among them, one opinion aligns.
[Actual combat is the best.]
That is so.
For a martial artist to gain enlightenment, actual combat where the blade brushes the tip of the nose is the best.
To the extent that from masters called the sky of the Murim to third-rate martial artists placed down below all speak in unison….
Ultimately, one must experience it directly to reach a conclusion.
However, right now Elise is less prepared to jump into that actual combat.
So she must finish preparing before going out to the battlefield.
“The heart of the Drake King….”
Touching it with my hand, I feel a slight Yin energy.
As expected, since it was in the cold North, it must be right that it absorbed such energy.
If I were to define this more specifically, I wondered if it might not be the heart of an Ice Drake King.
“Good.”
If so, I can just do it like last time.
Elise nodded.
I'm already in a lotus position too.
There is no reason to hesitate.
Nom—.
The heart of the Drake King was smaller than I thought.
Should I say it's a bit larger than a human's heart.
Elise carefully took a bite of the heart.
“Mm….”
The phrase of a Ducal House's Young Lady tearing and eating the heart of a monster is a quite destructive image, but….
Elise did not care.
Hearing stories of Northern people, they say they even take out the heart of a caught monster immediately and eat it on the spot….
Compared to that, Elise was nothing.
“Done.”
Elise, who finished eating the heart of the Drake King before she knew it, wiped her mouth and immediately entered breathing exercises.
‘I feel it.’
She feels the energy flowing through the minor vessels of her whole body.
‘I won't be able to head towards the Transcendent Peak stage, but I can prepare sufficiently.’
Elise nodded, albeit inwardly, and began breathing exercises.
The internal energy flowing in her acupoints starts to move actively.
***
After finishing her bath in the bathhouse.
Elise quietly exhaled a breath.
“Phew….”
The bathhouse was truly spacious.
Come to think of it, here is where the female protagonist of the past, Alicia Shudroy, talked with Ravia.
‘Come to think of it, Alicia…. Is older than me.’
If I count up to my two previous lives, wouldn't Elise, a reincarnator and possessor, be older than the regressor.
If she insists on being the older sister, I should firmly refuse.
While Elise was feeling languid from the warmth a little while ago in front of the bathhouse door, Luna carefully approached.
“Miss.”
“Yeah. Luna.”
“Shall we go?”
“Mhm….”
It's a moment to become languid.
The corners of my eyes unnecessarily become drowsy and I want to rub my body on the blanket.
While Elise was having such thoughts, Luna asked.
“Miss. Miss. Your skin seems to have gotten even better.”
“Really?”
“Yes. No matter how I look at it, you are like a peach.”
A peach, huh.
Elise wanted to hear that she was like a plum blossom if possible.
Are there no plum blossoms in this world?
“Luna.”
“Yes? Miss?”
“In this world. By any chance, is there no flower called plum blossom? It blooms on trees.”
“Mmm….”
Luna pondered for a moment and shook her head.
“No…. I've never heard of it.”
“Is that so….”
“Ah. Please don't be too disappointed. Miss. I have only lived in the Ducal Territory, so I don't know much. There might be!”
“Mm…. Where would there be a lot of flowers?”
“Wouldn't it probably be the South?”
“The South?”
“Yes. There is a lot of fertile land in the South. But…. Because there is the Kingdom Union.”
“Kingdom Union?”
“Yees. Their relationship with our country, that is, the Latensio Empire, isn't very good.”
Ah.
I remembered.
Kingdom Union.
Definitely….
‘A proper war will break out. With the Empire.’
I remember clearly.
I know an unprecedented hero appears in the Kingdom and aims a sword at the Empire….
The problem is….
‘In my memory…. It was that. One of the main male leads, the First Sword of the Empire, muttering that he ended the war with the Kingdom Union while making his first appearance.’
That was definitely after the story had progressed a bit.
Until then, only news of the First Sword was heard occasionally, and starting from that point, he revealed his explosive appearance and appealed his presence to the readers.
The war with the Kingdom Union wasn't even properly revealed in the work.
As expected, it's an aspect befitting a Romance Fantasy.
‘Wait a moment.’
Elise realized.
If so….
‘The heart of the Dragon of Eternity. Shall I head to the South after eating that.’
I think there was something important, but….
Mm, it must be a misunderstanding.
Anyway, the heart of the Dragon of Eternity is strictly speaking a temporary measure.
Even if I eat this, I won't easily be able to shake off the curse of short life possessed by the Heaven's Mandate Great Yin Severed Meridians.
There's no way these Yin energies filling my whole body's minor vessels will disappear so easily.
Several methods come to mind, but the most probable one is….
‘Rebirth/Metamorphosis.’
The phenomenon that makes the entire body suitable for martial arts.
To speak frankly about Rebirth….
It's difficult.
It's a really difficult problem.
Because the basic prerequisite sets Transcendent Peak as the standard.
‘When will I achieve the stage of Sword Qi Forming Aura.’
I feel the stage of Transcendent Peak, where one gains so-called Sword Aura, is still far away….
I wonder when I will step on the stage called Profound Realm, a stage beyond that.
I would only be able to undergo Rebirth when I reach about the stage of Profound Realm….
Smack.
For now, it's distant.
“Miss?”
“Ah. Luna. No. Just, it's a pity.”
“Yees…. Somehow the relationship between the Empire is not good. So if you, a Young Lady of the Blaze Ducal House, go, you might get tangled in bad things.”
“It's a pity. Right?”
“Yees.”
“Let's go see the flowers in the South next time.”
“…Miss. Somehow it seems you have no intention of returning to the Ducal Territory!”
At Luna's sharp point, I pondered for a moment and then uselessly scratched my cheek and beamed a smile.
Hehe—.
“Not hehe. Miss! His Grace the Duke must be worrying….”
“It's fine. Since he knows the circumstances, he will understand.”
Of course.
It's a situation where I'm traveling around the continent this way and that because his child is in danger of dying.
There's no way our Duke, whose heart is as wide as the ocean, wouldn't let it slide.
Elise shrugged her shoulders.
“Shall we go. Luna? The moon rose beautifully today.”
“Gasp. Let's watch it together. Miss.”
“Yeah yeah. Let's call Ravia too.”
“Gasp! May I dare to join?”
“Of course.”
The night is getting deeper.
***
“….”
Adian Valterich.
He, called the disgrace of the Valterich Ducal House, had been stuck in his room for several weeks.
Just blankly.
He, who was secluding himself with the focus gone from his two pupils, turned his head at the sound of someone moving the doorknob.
“Pathetic bastard.”
“F…Father!”
The one who appeared was none other than Duke Riven Valterich, who leads the Valterich Ducal House among the 5 Great Ducal Houses of the Empire.
Even inside the room, the appearance of wearing a military uniform stands out.
At the appearance of the Head of the family and his father, Adian immediately got up from the bed and stood in a straight posture.
In the meantime, Duke Riven walked to Adian.
“Adian Valterich.”
“Yes!”
“Adian Valterich!”
“Yes!!”
“Adian Valterich!!!”
“Yes!!!”
“Are you only able to let out a sound of that level!”
“No!!! I can let it out louder!!!”
A brief silence.
Duke Riven looked at Adian with eyes mixed with complex emotions.
“…Pathetic bastard. It's understandable that the youngest daughter of the Blaze family would leave.”
“….”
“I have prepared it.”
“…Yes?”
When Adian asked back with an absentminded expression, Duke Riven frowned.
“Do you not know? Adian Valterich? While being stuck for several weeks, couldn't you catch a sense of what your use will be?”
“…Father. Don't tell me?”
The moment Adian finally caught a sense, Duke Riven spoke.
“Go to the South, to the frontline unit of the Kingdom Union front. Enlist!”
“Father! Father!!! That is!!!”
“Where are you talking back? Did I not clearly state your use?”
Duke Riven spoke while grabbing Adian's collar.
“Have you forgotten who Duke Denar Blaze is? The influence he sprinkles in the political world? The power of the merchant group he possesses? Above all, have you forgotten the military force he possesses in the meantime? Adian Valterich?”
“Th…That is.”
“Duke Denar Blaze. The master of Visuhel Mervinar, who is called the First Sword of the current Latensio Empire. Besides, the Duke himself has also reached a whopping 7th Rank, the stage of a Sword Master.”
Riven shakes Adian's body while holding his collar.
“You gnawed and ate up all those connections. Thanks to that prenatal engagement, no matter how much you acted like a wastrel, they left you alone!”
Thwack—!
Duke Riven, who roughly let go of Adian, glared at him and spoke.
“Pack your bags right now and leave within today. It is my final mercy.”
He took out an order stamped with a seal from his bosom and placed it on the table.
“Go and establish merit. Somehow establish merit and elevate the honor of the family. Adian. It is my final mercy.”
Duke Riven left the room along with the sound of clicking his tongue.
***
2 weeks later, in front of the Iron-Blooded Wall of the North.
“Hyaaaaam—.”
Elise uselessly let out a big yawn.
In the meantime, she covered her mouth a beat late.
“Pfft. Young Lady.”
“…Did you see?”
“Yes. I even saw the Young Lady being cute.”
“Gasp.”
Elise slightly flinched her body.
The Wolf beside her, Kalix, chuckled.
“Young Lady. Young Lady. By the way, why does the Young Lady have such a fragrant smell?”
“Ah. That is a characteristic of the training method I learned.”
“…Good heavens. Is there such a training method?”
While the two were chatting, the military force of barbarians slowly reveals its appearance in the distance.
Barbarians running like the movements of beasts along with dust clouds.
It was the moment the barbarians' attack towards the North of the Empire began again.
***
Seven Wild Monsters.
The barbarians continuously knocking on the wall of the Empire.
Their threat was endless.
Among them, the seven barbarian warriors competing for the pinnacle are each vying for supremacy.
Believing without doubt that a Great Warrior will emerge among them someday.
Among them, the one running towards the place where Elise is this time is exactly.
“Ragna. If by any chance you see the red-haired woman, be sure to face her.”
“Yes. Master.”
“Right. It will probably be a good match.”
One of the Seven Wild Monsters, Derac.
He, called the Seven Wolves Killer and Wolf Hunter, was approaching the side of the wall where Elise is.
Along with that, even his disciple Ragna revealed his appearance.
“….”
The gaze of Ragna with blonde hair heads towards the wall.
As if previewing the battle that will happen soon.
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