Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Sword Training with Mother
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“I want to learn the sword from Mom. Wanna join me?”
Rachel was certain. Deyner would absolutely say yes.
And her prediction hit the mark.
“Sure!”
“See? I knew it. Amazing! Learning the sword with me to protect the family!”
Praise costs nothing. After Rachel tossed out a few compliments, the boy crossed his arms and puffed out his chest.
“Ahem. Of course it’s amazing—it’s only natural. But does Mom really know how to handle a sword well?”
“Of course! And since you’re so strong, once you learn swordsmanship, you’ll crush even a Black Sorcerer with ease.”
In three years, Deyner’s physique would become overwhelmingly impressive. Even without sword training, just slamming into opponents would probably break their bones somewhere—assuming they weren’t monsters.
“You think so?”
And so, Rachel successfully lured Deyner into joining her for physical training.
It was the first physical training session of the 18th round.
Rachel figured she’d do better than Deyner since she’d already trained for a week and had 1 stamina point. But…
“See? Just like me—he’s got talent!”
“Impressive! It’s a shame you didn’t start earlier, but it’s not too late.”
Deyner was what people commonly called a genius.
“Sis noticed it first.”
Buoyed by Evelyn and Enoch’s praise, Deyner preened while giving credit to his big sister.
Rachel’s feelings grew complicated.
‘At least I’ve secured one ally.’
He was still young and simple-minded, so if she cared for him with affection, he wouldn’t pull his usual stubborn stunts from the original story.
“See? Told you I was amazing.”
The mood was great, but her body was screaming.
In the previous round, everyone had gone easy on Rachel because her body was weak. But now, with her little brother keeping up like this, the vibe was more like, “If he can do it, surely you can too, big sis.”
Before, she couldn’t do anything at all, so they’d treated her like a baby. Now, thanks to that 1 stamina point letting her keep up a little, they kept pushing her with cries of “Just one more!”
“I can’t do any more.”
“No, you can. Just one more.”
“That ‘one more’ will make it ten.”
Rachel teared up at the guaranteed muscle pain to come. Born with a blessed body, Deyner eagerly followed Evelyn’s lead.
“This is fun! Sweating like this feels great.”
“You’re truly gifted.”
After finishing the gymnastics and conditioning course, Rachel collapsed in exhaustion.
Deyner sat on a tree stump, watching Evelyn and Enoch spar with sparkling eyes.
“Sis, Mom’s incredible!”
Rachel knew just how incredible Evelyn was from the previous round’s experience. She was an Aura User, after all.
Rachel didn’t know much about swordsmanship, but she knew this one thing for sure.
Aura Users were insanely strong.
Their bodies were reinforced with aura, making them hard to injure and slow to age.
The fact that she looked like she was in her twenties despite being in her late thirties was largely thanks to her aura.
‘That face is straight-up cheating. Who’d believe she’s a mom with two kids?’
Even more shocking was that Henri was in his mid-thirties.
A couple just four years apart, yet Henri looked older…
‘Not common in noble society.’
Still, if her parents were happy, that was all that mattered.
The real issue lay elsewhere. How had her enemies killed an Aura User?
In the previous round, while hanging out with Enoch, Rachel had asked about it, and he’d said curses alone couldn’t kill an Aura User. The same went for the carriage accident in round 11.
—Lady Evelyn wouldn’t even take much damage from a carriage crash. Falling off a cliff? She could probably climb right back up.
At that point, Rachel had wanted to ask if she was human or a mountain goat.
Either way, she’d learned that a carriage accident alone couldn’t kill Evelyn.
In round 16, she’d apparently ingested an extreme poison that even priests couldn’t purify, suffering internal injuries that let the knights capture her—or so Rachel theorized.
‘That means the baron has a Black Sorcerer or someone strong enough behind him to kill Mom. Not Crowe, though.’
No matter how careless he’d been, Crowe had died by Rachel and Deyner’s hands. No way someone like that could take down Evelyn.
Considering the dropping danger level and other circumstances, there had to be another enemy backing the Emporus baron.
‘The third prince is suspicious too.’
Despite the odds, he’d overtaken the second prince to become king.
If a Black Sorcerer was pulling the strings, cursing the second prince’s faction to death, it was entirely plausible.
Before ascending the throne, he’d distributed food to win the people’s hearts, but once king, he raised taxes, souring public opinion.
In that climate, the king pushed for war with the Hass Kingdom—a move that revealed his aggressively belligerent nature.
The people were swayed by his rhetoric.
Evelyn’s father—Rachel’s maternal grandfather—Viscount Heros had opposed the war but was executed for alleged treason.
In round 12, upon hearing the news, Evelyn had vanished from Rachel’s side. And soon after, Rachel returned to round 13.
“That was a good spar.”
“I enjoyed it too—it’s been a while.”
The match ended. The two boys’ cheeks were flushed with excitement.
“Will I ever get that strong?”
“Yeah.”
Rachel handed Deyner the towel and canteen she’d brought.
“Pass these to Mom and Enoch for me.”
She wanted to do it herself, but her body wouldn’t cooperate.
“Can I even make it back to the mansion from here?”
Pushed to her absolute limit, she couldn’t even twitch a finger.
Lying there, she overheard the conversation drifting over, including Deyner’s shy voice.
“Um, is it okay if I call you big bro?”
“Of course.”
“Big bro, wipe off your sweat. Here, have some water.”
“Thanks.”
‘Are you two dating or what?’
Their exchange was so sweet.
This was a different development from the previous round. In round 17, Enoch and Deyner had been distant with each other.
But now, they looked ready to wipe sweat off each other.
“Ow!”
Evelyn, who had sneaked up unnoticed, grabbed Rachel’s calf and pressed down.
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“Yes.”
“You take after your father…”
Rachel tuned it out—it was the same old story she’d heard endlessly in the previous round.
“Enoch, carry Rachel back down.”
“Sure.”
At Evelyn’s words, Enoch approached without complaint.
He crouched in front of Rachel, offering his back. She awkwardly dragged her upper body up and clung to it piggyback-style.
“Thanks.”
“No problem between friends.”
“You get along so well with the kids at our house.”
“I guess I take after you, Lady Evelyn—everyone’s got such great personalities.”
“Oh, flattery!”
She called it flattery, but her lips curved upward.
“Anyway, we’ll need to watch her diet from now on.”
From that day, meat started appearing on the table more often—especially poultry. In the previous round, Rachel had mostly eaten breast meat.
‘This time, I’ve got Deyner with me!’
No more solo-processing that new poultry breast. Rachel shrugged happily.
Enoch, carrying her on his back, asked,
“Is being carried by me that exciting?”
“No.”
“Then why are you grinning like that?”
“Curious?”
“Yeah.”
Rachel leaned in and whispered softly into Enoch’s ear.
“Secret.”
Enoch flinched, shrugging one shoulder at her breath on his ear. Rachel clung tighter to keep from slipping.
“That tickles.”
“It was just a whisper, but Enoch’s ears are sensitive, huh?”
“Not really…”
“Really?”
“Let’s just say my ears are sensitive.”
That was his response to her teasing. Otherwise, she looked ready to blow in his ear.
Deyner, who’d caught up and overheard, scampered to his mother.
“I think big bro and sis are dating!”
“I can hear you. That’s rude to Enoch.”
“Right? He’s obviously into her.”
“You really my brother?”
As Rachel and Deyner bickered, Evelyn and Enoch laughed. It was a truly peaceful moment.
***
A week passed. That day was when Paris Emporus visited the mansion.
“Don’t tell Mom.”
Otherwise, it’d end up like the previous round.
They just needed to find proof of his demon contract, but without knowing where he’d hidden it, they were going in circles.
Killing him in secret wasn’t an option either, thanks to the Black Sorcerer. This time, she had no choice but to let him go.
After physical training, Rachel bathed and got dressed with the maid’s help.
As she finished primping, the maid announced Paris Emporus’s arrival. Rachel stepped out of her room.
But Enoch was standing in front of the door.
“Enoch, why are you here?”
“I heard we have a guest.”
As the first guest to arrive, he’d greet the visitors alongside the hosts.
Rachel clapped her hands.
“Perfect timing! There’s something I want you to check, but don’t say anything weird even if you notice it.”
Instead of answering rashly, he blinked his golden eyes at her request.
“You’re not gonna answer?”
“But what—”
“You’ll see.”
“Even then…”
“So, what’s your answer?”
“Fine. Whatever it is, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
With Enoch’s agreement, Rachel headed downstairs with him.
From the second-floor railing, she spotted Paris Emporus at the entrance, handing his luggage to a servant.
Rachel felt zero joy at the sight, but she plastered on a happy face and trotted down the stairs.
“Hello!”
Her voice echoed through the hall. The baron smiled brightly and spread his arms.
In the old days, when she knew nothing, she’d hugged him. This time, pretending to mind Enoch’s gaze, she grabbed the hems of her dress and curtsied.
The Emporus baron withdrew his arms to his sides.
“Rachel, I heard you tumbled down the stairs, but you look healthy and unharmed—such a relief.”
“Thanks to Uncle’s concern, I’m fine.”
Her bright smile and welcoming demeanor didn’t hint at seeing him as an enemy.
Rachel intended to lower his guard.
Evelyn emerged from the inner hall with the maids to greet the guest.
“You’ve arrived, Baron. I hope you’ve been well?”
“Yes, quite all right. But you look as beautiful as ever today, Madam. My wife keeps asking about those cosmetics you use.”
“Thank you. Your silver tongue gets sharper by the day.”
“It’s my stock in trade. Deyner, you’ve been well?”
“Yeah.”
The atmosphere was warm and cordial. He finally noticed Enoch standing behind Rachel and turned his gaze there.
“And who’s the young man behind you?”
“He’s a priest. Rachel had that bad incident, so we contacted the temple.”
“I see.”
The baron didn’t react much. Deep down, he dismissed Enoch.
He’d called him a youth, but the late-teen Enoch looked even younger.
Typically, mid-level priests who could wield Divine Power were around thirty. High-level priests were born into it.
The temple ran an orphanage with donations, raising orphans who mostly became low-level priests unable to use Divine Power.
They handled miscellaneous tasks to keep the temple running—like selling holy water or staging prayer ceremonies for show. That included schmoozing donors among the nobility.
Evelyn might have ties to the temple, but Henri’s wealth was merely better than a commoner’s—bottom-tier among nobles.
Paris Emporus assumed their donations were paltry, so the temple had sent some novice priest lugging holy water.