Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Return (2)
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As the Founding Festival came to an end and we prepared to return to the kingdom,
I harbored one quiet worry.
'What if they ask me to stay in the empire?'
Of course, that was normally an absurd notion.
But if the empire's princess was willing to use any means necessary, it wasn't entirely impossible.
I knew Riya wasn't the type to do something like that, but I couldn't help feeling anxious on some level.
She had shown some incomprehensible behavior at times, after all.
'Besides, it's clear she has feelings for me...'
Whether those were romantic feelings or the admiration of a ruler seeking to recruit a talented individual remained uncertain, but it was definite that she felt favorably toward me in some way.
'It certainly wouldn't be a bad thing for me.'
Her beauty went without saying, and she possessed a considerate heart for others.
Who wouldn't develop feelings for her?
If circumstances allowed, I wouldn't be agonizing like this.
'...Just in case, maybe I should prepare a polite refusal?'
A half-hearted rejection would surely cause a huge uproar.
I had no choice but to carefully select my words.
Lost in such deep contemplation, the day to return to the kingdom arrived.
"Then, until we meet again, Count Banheart."
What greeted me was an unexpectedly smooth farewell. She didn't mention anything about staying in the empire.
"Yes. I look forward to seeing you again, Princess."
And that was it.
Riya didn't say anything special to me there, nor did she try to stop me from leaving.
Rather, as things unfolded this way, I felt an inexplicable mix of regret and disappointment.
'Did I overthink it?'
I felt embarrassed for having spun so many scenarios in my head alone.
I didn't realize it at the time.
That the "next time" Riya mentioned was much sooner than I imagined.
* * *
The Banheart territory was located in the southern part of the Talua Kingdom.
It wasn't a particularly large fief, nor did it have any notable features, but it was my most precious hometown.
"Oh, Young Master! You've finally returned!"
As I entered the mansion, Dorian—the father of Mone and the head butler—greeted me with a face full of emotion.
"Daddy!"
Mone rushed over and hugged Dorian as soon as she saw him.
From her perspective, it had been the longest time apart from Uncle Dorian, so it must have felt even longer.
I watched their father-daughter reunion with a warm smile for a moment before approaching Dorian to greet him.
"Uncle, everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. Duke's retainers visited midway and helped us out a lot."
Dorian continued, his face filled with deep emotion.
"I heard from the knights who came from the capital. You made such great contributions in the war that you even attended the empire's Founding Festival."
It seemed he hadn't yet heard the details of what happened at the festival.
Given the distance, that was only natural.
"It just turned out that way."
"You're truly the pride of our family. The master would have loved to see this..."
His reddening eyes conveyed his longing for Father.
Dorian was someone who had remained loyal to the mansion even after Father went mad.
'Father...'
Thinking of Father left a pang in my heart.
'He' was merely someone who had entered my father's body; he wasn't my real father.
But after all this time, it wasn't easy to think of him as a stranger.
Ten years—a not insignificant span.
For that duration, he had undoubtedly been my father.
After a moment of reflection, I asked Dorian,
"Uncle Dorian, could you guide me to Father's grave?"
To tie up my relationship with Father.
* * *
Father's body had been cremated immediately after his death and buried in the cemetery.
The graveyard where successive heads of the Banheart family rested.
Father, too, was laid to rest here, his name etched into the dry stone wall.
"In the end, we never figured out where he came from."
Like when I checked Gransesia's settings, I wondered if I could see his, but no settings appeared.
That was only natural, of course.
He wasn't originally a person from this world with settings in the first place.
"But something I hadn't thought of amid the shock at first... a question arose."
The horse-riding accident ten years ago.
If he hadn't possessed my real father's body then, would Father have survived?
According to the original story, he would have, but there were many suspicious points.
'The doctor said regaining consciousness was a miracle.'
If the doctor was right, Father likely wouldn't have escaped death.
'Even if he had woken up from the fall, would Father have immediately gone to rescue Fabian? No. He would have handled the backlog of work instead.'
In other words, from the moment Father failed to wake from the riding accident, this world's future had already begun to change.
Regardless of the possession.
"I initially thought your possession was the trigger for all events... but perhaps there was some other 'something' even before that."
Otherwise, it didn't add up.
'I need to find out what that is.'
Whatever it was, failing to uncover it would surely become an obstacle for me.
"You probably never saw me as your son until the end."
I slowly uncorked the bottle of liquor I'd brought.
This was the liquor 'Father' had always enjoyed.
The drink he holed up in his room with constantly.
"Still, to me, you were Father. That's how I see it."
Glug, glug, glug.
As I poured the liquor over Father's tombstone, I recalled the last sight of his back.
That lonely figure heading to the battlefield.
"I hope your soul has returned to its original world. Rest in peace, Father."
I sent comfort to the father who had died alone in a foreign land after endless despair.
And I hoped my words wouldn't reach him.
Because that would mean his soul had returned to its original world.
[So, what now? If you return to the territory, won't you lose track of Fabian?]
As I left the grave, Gransesia, who had been silent until then, spoke up.
"Come to think of it, you're a saintess—couldn't you have blessed Father or something?"
[...Sorry. I'm not good at that sort of thing. I've never really prayed for others.]
I'd asked lightly, but her unexpectedly melancholic response flustered me, so I changed the subject.
"Ah, anyway, we don't need to track Fabian right away. The 'Plague Disaster' episode dragged on for several months."
[Oh, so that's why the damage was so extensive?]
"Finding the culprit and making the antidote takes time, so it usually plays out that way. We actually resolved it too quickly."
If I hadn't used Edward's knowledge to make the medicine, it would have taken at least another month. The casualties would have skyrocketed.
[So we still have some leeway?]
"Yeah. And the next episode's starting point was specified, so no need to deduce it."
[Where?]
"The northern kingdom, Aintban."
A kingdom located on land called the winter plains.
[Aintban? That's pretty far from the empire. Why go there?]
"The Aintban Kingdom sent a relief request to the empire."
While the empire was busy dealing with the plague, a letter arrived from Aintban—a plea for aid due to ongoing blizzards.
"Naturally, the empire, preoccupied with the epidemic, couldn't help..."
[So Fabian goes in their place?]
"Exactly."
By the time the incident resolved, there was plenty of time before the relief request.
Of course, I planned to go even earlier. Sending the request meant they'd already suffered significant damage.
[What will you do in the meantime?]
"What else?"
I'd checked this place's synopsis upon arriving at the territory.
"The son will take care of what Father tried to do."
The things Father knew of from the future and sought to obtain.
Many had already been claimed by others over time, but some remained.
And they were quite important.
* * *
The Banheart County is where the novel 'The Sword's Whisper' begins.
Fabian's birthplace and the place of his childhood.
That's why the synopsis entries were plentiful.
And since it was the novel's start, unlike prior episodes, there were no grand events entangled.
In other words, it consisted of very simple matters.
[What? Then there aren't any really important stories?]
"No. The beginning of the story is precisely what holds the utmost importance."
The start of any tale inevitably grants the protagonist their power.
The footholds that allow Fabian to grow as the protagonist.
If I could seize them, the gains would be beyond mere "substantial."
'Though Father failed...'
With the fame I've built now, it should be possible.
Moreover, major events yet to occur—even far in the future—were listed.
"Plus, there's an episode where Fabian returns here later."
[So, content where you can get prior info?]
"Right, exactly."
The episodes I was closely examining now mostly fell into that category.
I reviewed the episodes once more, pondering, then muttered,
"Let's see... The top priorities are two things?"
[What are they? Important?]
"Important enough to regret missing them forever."
There were gains left in the childhood episodes, but those could wait.
Better to handle the ones with looming deadlines first.
'These two outweigh all other rewards available here combined.'
I opened the synopsis again to confirm.
'Timons Merchant Group, and the dungeon in Kitten Forest.'
Timons Merchant Group had little direct connection to Fabian.
But per the synopsis, even if not for Fabian, it would be hugely helpful to me—so I had to secure it.
And the dungeon in Kitten Forest was more valuable than all rewards in Banheart territory combined.
'I must resolve the dungeon-related episode.'
A dungeon in Kitten Forest, known as the fairy woods.
Fabian obtains a fateful encounter there.
The Moon-Severing Sword (斬月劍), heralding the rise of the Seven Heroes, and the hero called the Sword God.
Damian Viet.
He was right there.