Chapter 49
Chapter 49
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: A Special Circumstance
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The Council of Elders… The name rang a bell.
“They said that you, young master…”
“What about me?”
“…that after thwarting the cult's plans in the mountains and single-handedly subjugating the Jewel Beast, you said this when they demanded an explanation.”
“What did I say?”
I had a bad feeling about this.
“[I could take down the entire Council of Elders by myself.]”
I muttered, my face blank.
“That sounds about ten times more exaggerated than what I said.”
“I knew it.”
Keian sighed.
“But most of the Bednickers believe that nonsense.”
“Let them believe it. My reputation is already at rock bottom. It can't get any lower.”
“Even if I told you your reputation is worse now than it was right after you sold the treasured sword?”
“…That’s a bit much.”
So there was a bottom beneath the bottom.
If my reputation had plummeted even further than back then, this was serious.
“So what? Are the esteemed elders going to ‘educate’ me themselves?”
“Not exactly. A member of the Iron-Blooded Knights or the Fang Knights will likely be your opponent.”
Keian glanced at me and cleared his throat.
“Young master, the skill levels of the knights vary greatly.”
“I know.”
“A newly inducted knight and one with over ten years of experience… even if they’re in the same order, the gap between their skills is as wide as heaven and earth.”
“I said I know.”
“…The important thing is that the Council of Elders will decide which of them will be your opponent.”
I was starting to understand what Keian was really trying to say.
“There’s no need to be hasty. With your talent, it would only take two years—no, even just one year to catch up—”
“So you’re telling me not to fight now?”
He was beating around the bush, but that was the gist of it.
Keian closed his mouth and nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked at Keian with a newfound sense of appraisal.
I’d heard my mother was greatly indebted to this man, but regardless, I didn’t fully trust him.
At my core, I believed that people who suddenly acted friendly couldn’t be trusted.
Besides, wasn’t he the one who’d severed my tendons before I regressed?
But now, Keian was offering some rather harsh advice.
Telling me to hold back because I’d only embarrass myself by fighting… that wasn’t an easy thing for a subordinate to say.
“It’s fine.”
Even understanding the situation, my answer didn’t change.
I wasn’t looking down on the knight orders.
I knew it well.
Among their ranks were monsters on par with the Iron-Blooded Duke’s own children.
That’s precisely why I had to fight now.
“…I understand.”
Fortunately, Keian didn’t press the matter and simply backed down.
Just then, Arjan spoke up as if she’d just remembered something.
“Ah. I have something to report regarding the third daughter of the Goodspring family.”
Seren?
“What is it?”
“First, let me explain the situation from three days ago. Lady Seren returned to the banquet and immediately reported that you were in danger, young master.”
I nodded.
I had hoped she would keep quiet, but considering the personality I’d witnessed, that was a wish unlikely to come true.
“Sir Keian and I began a search immediately upon hearing the news, but we were stopped midway by Sir Asad.”
“Asad?”
The grand mage stopped them?
Did the Iron-Blooded Duke ask him to?
Keian and Arjan were formidable in their own right, but compared to Asad, they were bound to fall short.
“Just as we were trying to figure out another way, you returned. The problem arose the next day. It seems Lady Seren spent the entire night searching for you.”
I was surprised by Seren’s actions, but also confused.
“Why? Couldn’t they have just told her I returned safely?”
“The Council of Elders didn’t give a definitive answer regarding your whereabouts. And even when I told her you were safe, she didn’t seem to believe me.”
“Showing her in person… hmm.”
I trailed off.
No matter what, Seren was a Goodspring.
I, having now seen her true nature, trusted her to some extent, but Keian and Arjan’s position was different.
Showing my unconscious self to a member of the Goodspring family would have been an unwelcome prospect for them.
This has gotten a bit complicated.
Grrr…
Just then, my stomach, starved for three days, churned, demanding food.
“I will prepare a meal at once. Please wait a moment.”
I nodded at Arjan’s words.
* * *
After I ate, washed up, and changed my clothes, my mother came to see me.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“Yes. I’m perfectly fine now.”
“Good. You must have been very tired.”
My mother didn’t seem overly concerned, even though I had slept for three days and nights.
I heard from Keian that people who receive a Blessing sometimes suffer such side effects.
‘Could that be it for me too?’
Was the reason I was out for three days not accumulated fatigue, but the process of accepting the Blessing?
I wasn’t sure.
I didn’t feel particularly different from before I fell asleep, and I still had no idea what the Blessing even was.
It didn’t matter.
My main strength was, and always would be, the Flame Arts of the Greatest and the White Sun Eclipse.
Even if I had received some incredible Blessing, I would only use it as one of many tools, not train it as my primary skill.
“…During the hearing, don’t say a word.”
My mother said something similar to what Keian had.
Her expression was similar, too.
“I heard a guardian is allowed to attend. I will do the talking, so just leave it to your mother.”
“Will that be alright?”
“Of course, it will. Who do you think I am?”
My mother’s lips curled into a crooked smile.
I nodded.
True.
Though her influence had waned, my mother had once been a noble of a territory called Colland.
Her political maneuvering skills were surely superior to mine.
“Of course, I know the Council of Elders is not to be taken lightly. I’m not going in without a plan.”
“Mm. I understand, for now.”
“For now…?”
She let out a disbelieving laugh at my words but didn’t press further.
Perhaps she felt there wasn’t enough time?
Keian checked his pocket watch and spoke.
“It is time. We should be going.”
I rose from my seat and followed Keian.
Walking down the unusually quiet mansion hallway, I muttered to myself.
“Now that I think about it, there’s a reason it’s so quiet. The Blessing Ceremony is over, so all the troublesome guests must have left.”
“Not all of them have returned home. Those who wish to undertake the Bednicker curriculum have remained. There are quite a few.”
“Really? Are they not in the main house right now?”
“Not in the main residence, no. They have moved to a separate annex a short distance away.”
“Hmm.”
The Bednicker curriculum was notoriously infamous.
They called it training, but in reality, it was a grueling course that required one to risk their life.
It was so harsh that people jokingly called the training period the [Six Weeks of Despair].
‘Still, they say your skills are guaranteed to improve if you complete it.’
It wasn’t often one had the chance to be taught by so many heroes, and anyone with great ambition would choose to participate.
‘If Seren were here, it would be a good chance to clear up the misunderstanding.’
Of course, the chances were slim.
Not because of Seren’s personality, but simply because her family was the Goodsprings.
She could receive training just as good from her own family, so there was no reason for her to stay and be an awkward guest in another’s.
“You must be the first person to visit the [Room of Judgment] twice in less than a week, young master.”
Perhaps thinking the atmosphere was too heavy, Keian spoke in a deliberately joking tone.
I chuckled, recalling the scene in the [Room of Judgment] from last time.
Would the Iron-Blooded Duke be there today, too?
More importantly, had the Iron-Blooded Duke really not intervened at all when the Council of Elders summoned me for questioning?
The probability was high.
Aside from his curiosity about me, he wasn’t the type to offer a warm hand to a child in crisis.
“We have arrived.”
The distinct, large doors of the [Room of Judgment] came into view.
The difference from last time was that someone was standing in front of the room.
There were two of them.
I recognized them at a glance from their attire.
‘Collectors?’
And both of them were quite skilled.
Keian, who was walking ahead, paused but didn’t say anything to them.
The man on the left looked at us.
He was a handsome man with a gentle impression, a natural smile playing on his lips.
“What business brings you to the [Room of Judgment]?”
“I was told there is a hearing for this child this afternoon.”
The man’s gaze then shifted to me.
“Are you Young Master Ruan?”
“That is correct.”
“Confirmed. You may enter.”
The moment my mother nodded and stepped forward.
The two men each took a step, closing the gap between them.
The result was that they blocked my mother’s path.
“What is the meaning of…”
“Pardon me, my lady, but only Young Master Ruan has been granted entry today.”
“But I was told a guardian is permitted to attend a Council of Elders’ hearing…”
“That is generally the case. This is a special circumstance.”
“…I cannot accept such a vague explanation.”
“…”
The man on the left gave a troubled smile, and the one on the right spoke.
“Of course, the laws of the Bednicker family are strict and must be applied at all times, without exception.”
This one had a much sterner impression.
“With the exception of one person.”
“...!”
My mother flinched.
Naturally, there was only one such person in the Bednicker family.
‘An order from the Iron-Blooded Duke?’
It wasn’t strange, but something felt off.
As I’d thought before, the Iron-Blooded Duke wouldn’t help me.
But he wouldn’t hinder me either.
He should have no reason to prevent my mother from attending.
“Young Master Ruan, please enter.”
“…”
It seemed time was short.
I looked at my mother and said,
“I’ll just go in by myself.”
“Will you be alright?”
“Of course.”
In fact, this might be more comfortable for me.
As I approached, the two Collectors made way. They even opened the door for me.
Step—
And once again, I stepped into the [Room of Judgment].