Chapter 262
Chapter 262
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 262
Chapter Title: Not a Blessing, But a Curse (3)
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Eastern Third Front, Hafreion.
The front line under Destel's command, the Craven.
As one might expect, Lania had no intention whatsoever of heading there before she arrived. There was nothing good to come from getting involved, only a sour mood.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "The Eastern Third Front, Hafreion. I believe that's the most suitable place."
Yet here she was, clearly naming the front line under Destel's watch. Why?
'I don't know either, damn it...'
Lania muttered a curse under her breath.
She'd blurted it out, but even she couldn't understand why she'd said it. No matter how she looked at it, it wasn't a rational choice.
Not rational. Not reasonable.
It was an emotional outburst.
"......"
Galahal respected her choice with silence. The Knight Commander gave her a puzzled glance but said nothing more.
Everyone had their own thoughts, no doubt.
His expression seemed to say as much.
Lania appreciated the consideration, yet felt a lingering unease. Anything she created felt hollow inside. She knew full well it was an emotional decision.
Lania hated Destel.
Not just disliked— she loathed him, to the point of disgust.
And it wasn't just Destel. Lania despised everyone who made choices like his. People like the Sword Ghost Draka.
'Those who treat sacrifice lightly.'
And.
'Those bastards who survive on someone else's sacrifice, then scream that it was worthless.'
She hated people like that down to her bones.
The idea that someone's sacrifice could be rendered meaningless made Lania sick, pathologically so.
That's why, back then, she'd acted the same way.
"Get out of the way. I'll go."
The conclusion of the Latenail Defense Battle.
Destel's title of "the Craven."
After hearing the full story of the incident while bedridden, Raniel donned her robe and headed to the battlefield. She dragged her barely functional body there somehow.
"It's dangerous, Ashen Mage."
"That place has already fallen. The plan to retake it is for later......"
Brushing past the knights trying to stop her, Raniel headed to the occupied Latenail Fortress. She pierced through the heretics left behind single-handedly and successfully recaptured it.
The Armored Dragon had already left, leaving few heretics, but Raniel's condition wasn't normal either. In the end, she suffered another major injury.
It wasn't a rational choice.
She could have assembled a force slowly, planned properly, and retaken it without issue. But Raniel didn't. She pushed the operation through, battered and broken.
"You called it worthless, didn't you, Destel?"
She had to show him.
"Sure, it might be worthless. Before a calamity, we're just humans, and a front held by calamity's whim might be meaningless. Maybe."
She had to show him.
"But that doesn't make those sacrifices meaningless."
"The knights who bought time without fleeing to save you. Galahal's comrades who took responsibility for the battlefield you abandoned. Those who died in the process."
"Their sacrifices weren't worthless."
Countless sacrifices.
"Because you're standing here now. They succeeded in saving you, after all."
Lives discarded.
"Do you know who made them worthless?"
She had to prove their sacrifices weren't meaningless.
Raniel had to show him.
Grabbing Destel by the collar, Raniel raised her voice.
"You, you worthless scum."
Recalling the past, Lania grimaced.
There were a few things that touched her reverse scale. One was belittling others' sacrifices.
She could understand despair.
She could despair before an impassable wall.
But she could never give up.
If your life was sustained by another's sacrifice... you must never give up, no matter what. That was Lania's conviction, her reverse scale.
'If you give up, if you run, it all becomes worthless.'
A reverse scale planted in childhood.
Lania clearly remembered when her hometown burned. The paladins from the Delorim Church had driven beasts into the village and burned it wholesale.
They sacrificed one village to stop the beasts.
But the paladins failed.
The flames couldn't burn all the beasts, and when survivors crossed the fire, the paladins fled. Lania saw them clearly from within the blaze.
"Run!"
"The plan failed! Fall back further."
"Abandon it!"
The village burning away.
Villagers reduced to ashes.
Breath blocked by searing heat.
And beyond the haze, fleeing paladins.
Thus, deaths rendered meaningless.
Lania could never forget that scene etched in her eyes. Because she didn't, she scorned—truly loathed—anyone who treated sacrifice lightly.
"...Tch."
Lania clicked her tongue briefly.
Galahal watched her silently.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
After shaking off the travel fatigue and agreeing to discuss details later, the moment she left the Knight Commander's office behind.
"Do you want to humiliate Destel?"
Galahal suddenly asked.
I snapped my fingers lightly. A bluish mana enveloped Galahal and me. To keep voices from leaking out.
Chloe, following behind, tilted her head but sensed nothing amiss. Confirming that, I answered his question with one of my own.
"What are you talking about?"
"Exactly as I said. Do you wish for Destel to feel humiliated?"
It sounded like a sermon at first, but Galahal's tone was even. Just asking, nothing more or less.
"...Why do you ask?"
"It wasn't a rational choice. And you seem to think so too, Lania."
I shut my mouth.
Galahal didn't.
"I don't think you meant to humiliate him. Nor to repay the insult Raniel received... You just don't like it, do you?"
"...What."
"Destel's way."
I shot Galahal a glare.
He gave a wry smile and continued.
"Do you know what led to Destel being called the Craven?"
"I do."
"Then you know what I did that day too."
Of course.
I nodded slightly.
"...You beat Destel half to death?"
"Haha. The rumors are exaggerated. I only punched him in the face two or three times."
"Still sounds like plenty."
"Yes, I was too emotional then."
Emotional. That's how Galahal put it.
"I don't fail to understand Destel's feelings at the time. I feel it every time myself. Isn't everything meaningless? Does my existence even matter...?"
His voice carried a bitterness.
"But I couldn't bear him saying it in front of the knights. It bothered me. I just... hated it."
"...Because it made the discarded lives worthless."
"Yes. It felt like an insult to the knights who died then, my comrades."
"I get it."
I nodded.
I just didn't like it. I wanted to say it was wrong, unjust. Even if I could understand Destel's way, I didn't want to.
'I know.'
I knew it was mere stubbornness, youthful folly.
"Folly."
"Stubbornness too."
But.
"A hero needs that kind of stubbornness."
Someone had to have it.
I glanced at Chloe wordlessly.
If Chloe became the hero.
If she stood on the battlefield someday.
I hoped she'd be more like Galahal than Destel. That's why I'd chosen his post, perhaps.
But...
"...The choice is yours."
I patted Chloe's head.
What she became was ultimately up to her. Chloe just stared at me with wide eyes.
"Professor Lania?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have something to say?"
"Hm..."
I pondered, then said softly.
"Let's do our best, okay?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
Night had deepened.
Chloe tossed and turned, unable to sleep. They were staying at Cateron Fortress tonight, but who knew about tomorrow.
From tomorrow, she'd head to the front lines.
She was prepared, but a restless bed was unavoidable. Eventually, Chloe got up and stepped out. The fortress corridors were quiet.
Thinking of a walk, Chloe strolled the halls.
She passed knights occasionally, but knowing she was the Knight Commander's guest, they only lightly warned her off restricted areas without sending her back.
Chloe kept walking.
Then, endlessly up the stairs.
Cateron Fortress's watchtower. An open view spread before her. Gazing at the torches burning under the night sky, Chloe let out a long sigh.
"Hoo..."
"Great view from up here, huh."
"Kyaa! Kyaahh... Mmph!"
A voice from behind right after her sigh made Chloe shriek in fright. The scream didn't last. An unknown figure clamped her mouth shut.
"Mmph! Mmmph...!"
"Someone might think I'm eating you. What bold fool in Cateron Fortress would touch the Knight Commander's guest? Don't worry. I'm not that brave. The opposite, really."
"Mmph...?"
The figure released Chloe's mouth. Then removed the deeply pulled hood. Gray hair swayed under the moonlight.
"...Lord Destel?"
"Whoa, long time no see. You're the first outsider who doesn't call me Craven."
Destel chuckled and stepped back.
"I wondered who climbed my watchtower, and it's the next hero candidate. What brings you here so late?"
"...Um, my thoughts aren't sorting out."
"You haven't even apprenticed yet, right?"
"Yes, I haven't received my trial..."
"No wonder it's complicated. I lost sleep my first time on the front too."
Hoo, Destel exhaled shortly.
He turned from gazing below. Then dragged a chair from the watchtower and placed it before Chloe.
"Want to talk a bit?"
His impression differed from the man she'd seen earlier.
Chloe hesitated briefly, then nodded.
"I won't dump negativity on a new hero. Being righteous and idealistic is cool. Even better if you have the power."
Destel said, leaning on the watchtower.
"But what I want to say is this."
He raised a finger.
A tick, tick—starlight flickered at his fingertip. Not Chloe's brilliant starlight... but a subdued one.
"This starlight isn't just a blessing."
He spat it out bluntly.
"It's a curse. This is."
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