Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Wheel of Patalite
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Pwaaaaaah—
Wheel of Patalite.
The horn signaling the start of the hunting competition reverberated through the North.
Emily and I.
Along with Brans and Emily's two attendants.
The five of us headed toward the White Forest.
The beginning was smooth.
We rented a sled, loaded it with food and camping gear, and Brans and Emily's attendants pulled it together.
I was riding atop that sled.
"Young master. You're too heavy..."
"It's for your training."
"You're just too lazy to walk, aren't you?"
His eyes were full of suspicion, but I shook my head.
"I'm just expanding my senses to find where the magical beasts are. Don't suspect me unnecessarily and just pull the sled."
"...Yes, sir."
His rogue-ish eyelids brimmed with doubt, but Brans said nothing more. And what I said was true. I could have searched for presences without sitting on the load atop the sled, sure.
"Really?"
"Really."
It wasn't a lie.
My sharpened senses from illusory bud cultivation easily detected the magical beasts' presences.
And I found where the magical beasts were and steered us in the opposite direction.
"You sure? Then why haven't we seen a single magical beast?"
"They must have run away."
The task Bernard had asked of me was to protect Emily, not to hunt magical beasts.
Unlike the kid in front of me, our goals were similar but different, and I just had to carry out my mission without going out of my way.
'In a few days, things will blow up on their own.'
No need to waste energy hunting magical beasts right now.
So, what I had to do now. Just one thing.
Preparation for danger.
Cultivation.
Sitting on the sled, I cultivated my illusory bud in my lower abdomen.
One bud slowly entered the path to full maturity. The divine power and purity dwelling within it grew day by day.
But now, the size and purity of the first bud were reaching their limit.
The time had come. I needed to forge a new path and create the second bud.
Of course, it had to be larger and more refined than the first, so the required divine power and purity would double.
Forming the first bud had taken years, but it wouldn't take that long for the second.
Thanks to the momentum, it seemed like it wouldn't take long.
'Still, it's tough in a short time.'
I'd formed one bud in my dantian, but when trying to make another beside it, it strangely gathered then dispersed.
It gathered, but wouldn't solidify, so to speak.
It wasn't working like when I made the first bud.
It felt like forming the second bud was being hindered by the first.
'Am I rushing it?'
Maybe.
The quality of my divine power was only grade 4.
It could be that it wasn't meeting the required quality for forming the second bud.
With that thought, my gaze naturally turned to the bracelet.
[Vivi’s Bracelet] Grade - Epic
-A bracelet gifted by an elf from the Shaking Forest. It minimizes divine power and stores reduced holy power.
Stored divine power: 37,556
It had been just over a month since I took it off, and this was all it had gathered.
It had been more before. But as time passed, the divine power inside the bracelet kept increasing and decreasing repeatedly.
The reason was purity.
Vivi’s Bracelet circulated the holy power it gathered on its own, discarding impure holy power in the process.
That's why, despite the long time, it only had that much divine power stored, but its quality had improved.
'Releasing this might give me the breakthrough for the second bud.'
But that was just a guess.
Too bad to test it now.
Wheel of Patalite.
Who knew what might happen.
And of course, besides the bracelet, I also had a holy stone in my pocket. Whenever I had a moment, I took out the holy stone to sense the saint's divine power, so with a bit of time, there would be progress in my illusory bud cultivation.
[Wheel of Patalite]
-The shadow of death from fate looms over you.
-Survive.
'Patalite.'
Its meaning is fate.
In the North's White Forest, "fate" fit better than "destiny."
Moreover, there were only two beings in this place suited to the word "fated one."
One was Jerban.
The other was across the White Forest.
At the very end of the North...
"What's this? A half-baked nobody who can't even use holy power showing up here with what face?"
"Yeah, right? But look, he at least brought a knight? Who are you? Don't you know escorting Emily will get you blacklisted once our dad becomes family head?"
In front of them wasn't a magical beast, but annoying gray-eyed twins chattering away.
"Rivan, Rini."
Emily's eyes, which had been fuming about not finding any magical beasts, cooled sharply.
Rivan and Rini.
Fraternal twins with dark black hair, gray eyes, and similar faces but different genders.
"The children of Killaban, who's tipped as the next family head."
"...I see."
One of Emily's attendants approached and whispered to me.
Not that I was curious, but why bother telling me?
A quick glance showed the attendants' expressions weren't great either.
Wondering why.
"Haha! Rini! Look at Emily's attendants. Not a single magical beast in tow? They clearly haven't caught even one all the way here."
"Right? Emily, is it true? Not one in the beast-infested White Forest? Or maybe no time to catch any while running away."
"Hahaha! Well, it'd be weirder if half-baked Emily caught any."
Their tone was utterly grating.
"The Rivan and Rini twins are Emily's sworn enemies."
The brown-haired attendant whispered beside me without being asked.
From their tone and expressions, the attendants didn't like them either.
Of course, I didn't care, so I just watched quietly.
'Orphin is there too.'
Orphin, one of the knight captains, was escorting the twins.
He glanced at me and gave a slight nod.
Had he changed his mind a bit since trying to kill me last time?
Or just basic courtesy.
Either way, didn't matter.
"Wanna see our catch?"
The girl with the ponytail, Rini von Jerban. Beside her was the obnoxiously cute boy, Rivan von Jerban.
They looked about fourteen.
"No, I'm good."
"I said see it? Don't you need to know what magical beasts look like to catch them?"
Rini and Rivan dragged Emily's hand to show her the unwanted magical beast.
Proof of catching magical beasts was the nose or ears.
Or severing the head, which Rivan and Rini had done, loading the heads on their exclusive sled.
"Ta-da! What do you think! Awesome, right?"
"Me and bro caught them with so much trouble? It was so fast, nearly got eaten in one bite."
The magical beast heads on the sled were quite large.
Big enough to swallow Emily in one bite, with tough jawbones and sharp fangs—a wolf magical beast.
"You could never catch one of these, right? You're lucky if you don't freeze and piss yourself the moment you meet one? Right, Rini?"
"Bro's right. I froze up too and couldn't move. If it was you, Emily, you'd have wet yourself."
The twins snickered, watching Emily's rotting expression.
But Emily's reaction soon grew boring, and the twins' gazes turned to me.
"But who are you?"
"A wandering knight?"
Rivan and Rini asked, but I didn't bother answering.
There were many reasons not to reply, but the biggest was laziness.
No matter their status as Jerban kids or the situation, I basically didn't like children.
Especially arrogant noble brats like them.
'Kin hatred?'
Maybe.
A wastrel's trait ironically spots fellow wastrels well.
"Emily, your group's too arrogant? Not answering when we ask!"
"Yeah. Rude."
A child's patience was shorter than I thought, and Rivan drew his sword from his waist first.
A longsword suited for a child.
'Caught a magical beast with that?'
Without a drop of blood on his clothes?
It was absurd, and I chuckled, distorting the twins' faces.
"Mocking? That guy's mocking my sword right now?"
"Bro's honor is sullied. You're in big trouble now."
As if a kid had any honor worth the name.
I could only snort.
"Get down. How dare a wandering knight look down on us?"
"Yeah. You came North to get ahead, right? But escorting Emily of all people? So stupid. No prospects guarding a nobody... Idiot?"
Emily was quiet.
Just watching me to see what I'd do.
Even Brans, who should have jumped in noisily by now, stayed silent.
Hiding his identity as an escort, he was holding back his itching mouth.
With no choice, Kallias got off the sled and stood before Rivan.
"Arrogant fool. I'll make you pay for dragging my honor through the dirt!"
Quite the belligerent kid.
Probably acting tough relying on Orphin and the knights behind him.
Plus, backed by his status and the Jerban name, swinging his sword recklessly.
Kallias clicked his tongue and pulled something from his pocket, gripping it in his hand.
"A fork?"
It was his favorite fork.
"Pfft!"
"You bastard! Insulting me?!"
Emily couldn't hold back her bursting laughter and turned away, while Rivan bellowed, feeling insulted.
"It's the smallest thing I have."
"You dare humiliate Rivan von Jerban and think you'll survive?!"
"Bro! Show him! Just beat him, that's all!"
"Fine. If you're mocking me with that trash, you should've been prepared to lose an arm!"
Rivan's sword flew at him.
'Hmm.'
Boosting physical abilities with innate divine power from childhood, maximized by Jerban's holy power cultivation method.
Thus, Rivan showed swordplay beyond a child's.
As expected of a sword clan's heir.
Strength, speed, and divine power all surpassed a normal child's.
Jerban's signature nimble yet heavy greatsword style.
Light feet, heavy blade—it fit perfectly as Rivan swung.
"I'll take that arm of yours!"
Kallias's arm.
The fork in his hand.
Rivan had no doubt the man's arm would be severed by his blade.
Soon as the sword met the fork.
Whirrl! Screeech!
'Huh?'
Clang—!!
By the time he came to, Rivan's face was planted in the snow.
Startled, he jumped up.
Whirrl—Thud!
His own sword was broken, flying through the air before crashing down.
"What..."
And before him stood the man holding the fork. Kallias looked down at Rivan with calm eyes and said.
"Still just a brat."