Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: The Inheritor of Dawn, Tarhye Rondel (2)
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2.
Tarkiriten's royal palace.
It was the audience chamber.
“What you want isn't cooperation, but aid, isn't it?”
Fairy King Baldemar declared from his vast, towering jade throne.
“Shall we make peace?”
“Yes.”
“This time, I'll do the asking.”
Balerin and Balon craved peace, but their eldest brother Baldemar clearly differed from his siblings.
“Which side was it that seized the holy capital—the very symbol of that peace—by force, human?”
Even the way he rested his fist on his chin exuded grandeur... A heavy silence stretched from his raw hostility.
“It wasn't just the fairies who sealed away the [Forgotten Kings] in the Mythical Age, was it?”
I couldn't hold back and shot back.
The Fairy King silenced the bristling generals with a gesture.
“Are you saying we should ring Tarhye Rondel's beacon?”
Tarhye Rondel.
The symbol of human-fairy harmony, said to have been lit by Liam Talorden in the Mythical Age.
“Yes, exactly!”
“Fascinating. Studied any history, human boy? Those days and now are worlds apart.”
“What's different? The Abyss rages──”
Baldemar shot a taunting glance at Charlotte Chandra's forces.
──Because the continent's Sacred Human Empire stood strong. An era where human-fairy alliances could thrive.
Such...!
Words failed me in that instant.
He was right. Back then... humanity's hero Sharilion led the empire's armies.
“Does humanity hold no value now?”
Charlotte spoke up.
As the empire's princess, she owed the Fairy King no deference.
“None whatsoever. Weigh your plight carefully.”
“...!”
“Cooperation demands balance between friend and foe. You bring nothing. Nothing at all.”
Baldemar rose from his throne with a sigh, summoning the knights with a wave.
“I'll extend hospitality for one day. My mercy ends there. Now leave my lands.”
That's when Park Hyun-su, swept up in Balerin's rhetoric earlier, finally spoke.
“If it were Balerin!”
Yes, exactly!
I balled my fist toward Park Hyun-su.
“Balerin wouldn't have ruled like that!”
Balerin.
That name halted Baldemar—who hadn't stirred at anything else—dead in his tracks.
“He'd have clasped humanity's hand! Just like that distant day in the Mythical Age! Lighting the darkness with Tarhye Rondel's beacon!”
“...”
“Surely you see it? Humanity falls, and fairies follow!”
Baldemar scanned his ministers, then spoke softly.
“You know of Balerin, it seems. He was a sage. Intellect birthed wonders; knowledge stacked golden towers.”
“...”
“But that's where he stopped. Even he never grasped a king's true duty.”
A king's duty...?
Baldemar indicated the map of the Idea Peninsula unfurled behind his throne.
“Do you grasp it? Dark elves teeter on extinction. Half this white elf realm lies in ruins. Blue elves fare little better.”
“I do...”
“Then send my armies to the holy capital in this mess? Who guards my people?”
None of us could answer Baldemar's question.
He had a point.
If Jung Cheol's forces struck here amid the troop exodus...
“As the people's guardian, a king's duty lies not with heaven or earth—but their safety.”
That sealed the accord.
Or lack thereof.
As Baldemar swept into the corridor, he added:
“No human-fairy pact. Begone.”
3.
<Tarkiriten> blended with its surroundings in mystical perfection.
- <Tarkiriten> means "hometown of light," or so they say.
Mountains cradling the city in radiant embrace.
A fjord harbor blazing back the sunset.
- The [Warm Ones] built it first upon arriving in this world.
Had Earth's science evolved from love, not greed, embracing the world—cities like this would dot the globe.
“Haa...”
Staring into that sunset.
We exhaled in stunned defeat.
“Uncle, did Balerin happen to mention Tersia's whereabouts?”
“No...”
Park Hyun-su shook his head, face hollow at my question.
“Just said someone here in <Tarkiriten> would know.”
“We can't quit now.”
Charlotte muttered darkly. I churned my thoughts.
“Hit every religious holy site... <Tarkiriten>'s packed with them.”
Shrine of Mirrors, Moonlight Temple, that sort. Michel countered instantly.
“But we're humans... Er... Think they'll let us in?”
I shrugged helplessly.
“Lucky if they don't chase us with clubs.”
Through this endless trek.
We'd weathered every despair... yet this crushed us.
We'd gained nothing.
Nothing... only piled losses. Amid choking futility, I groaned—
“<Tarkiriten> forbids night passage, strictly enforced.”
Balon returned to us.
“Rest tonight. Scout at dawn. I can assist then.”
One hand clutching a tall lantern.
Balon read our faces, offered an apologetic smile.
“Talks fell through, I take it.”
As Park Hyun-su mustered an awkward grin, I pressed:
“Did you just offer to... help us? Not hearing things?”
“Indeed. You're weary—let me provide meals and beds.”
Crowds murmured, closing in. Balon turned.
“Follow. Tempers run hot; trouble might find you.”
We traded blank stares, then trailed him.
City nights glowed bright.
[Warm Ones]' ultra-futuristic lamps lined the ways.
“Great General Balon.”
Park Hyun-su drew close, probing.
“Why this much aid? You helped at the gates already.”
“Answer my question first, brother, and I'll answer yours.”
“...?”
“Why give that child water earlier? Why?”
“Well...”
Park Hyun-su mulled, groaning, before replying:
“No clue... Does helping folks always need some grand motive...?”
Here, "folks" encompassed all thinking beings—humans, fairies, everyone.
Those words conjured my dad.
My chest ached.
Charlotte and Michel shared knowing smiles. Balon beamed softly.
“Precisely that. You embody Tersia's every lesson in deed.”
“Me...?”
“First off, my apologies for my siblings' cruelty toward you today.”
Apologies...?
Why you, Balon...?
“Their hate is pitiable, truly. Everyone clings to their life's sustenance.”
“Life's sustenance...?”
“Exactly. Lose it, and life's purpose crumbles.”
“...”
“Raising kids' joy. Family meals' warmth...”
Balon eyed street refugees, sighing deep.
“Peacetime favors such positives. War? Not so.”
“...”
“Loved ones gone—children, kin, comrades—where's joy then?”
“...!!”
“So hatred fills the void.”
Balon's reasoning soothed.
Where Baldemar and Balerin cut sharp, Balon warmed gentle.
“Sustenance to endure this nightmare world.”
Thus.
We hung on his every word.
“Their hate? Survival's chosen nourishment. So heartbreaking, it aches endless...”
Balon turned to me, sad smile lingering.
“Brother, forgive their frailty... Not malice within. Mere weakness...”
Why?
The world seemed to halt.
Not evil—weak?
Why did it echo like words for Jung Cheol?
- Edelweiss means [precious memory].
- I've chased that flower all this way.
Was his mother Jung Cheol's sole sustenance?
Unknowable.
Yet understandable.
My own? Father...
4.
Balon ran an orphanage in the hills beyond <Tarkiriten>.
“Holy Father!”
“It's him!”
“Holy Father!”
We'd barely crossed the yard—
Kids mid-ball game bounded over, beaming.
“Playing ball in the dark? You'll get hurt.”
“But Gran insisted!”
“We were winning!”
What... even is this...?
Flustered, I gawked. Plenty lacked the long ears.
“Humans... kids?”
Balon shook his head kindly at Charlotte.
“No races here. All one people.”
“Well said.”
Charlotte's smile brimmed genuine awe.
“Wish the Fairy King saw so clear...”
Balon ushered us inside, presenting us.
“Everyone, meet some guests.”
Orphan refugees, likely.
Wary of our blades at first, they bowed neatly post-Balon.
“Food next. Sit, relax?”
Shock hit there.
Girls handled cooking... clumsily.
Ham, sausage.
Fresh veggies for pig porridge?
Medieval or not, come on.
“Wait...!”
Girls and Balon blinked startled. I spoke soft:
“Mind if I cook? Got a killer recipe from home.”
“But... these meager fixings? Tools are basic.”
Balon's worry got twin thumbs-up.
“No sweat. Great mage here—magic'll handle it.”
No lie.
Taste? Pure illusion spell.
“How many kids?”
“Brought two today... fifteen total.”
“Roger. Everyone out? Uncle Hyun-su, lend a hand.”
He obliged.
Park Hyun-su crammed his bulk into the tight kitchen.
“What's the plan?”
“Cooking.”
“What kind.”
“Guess.”
I grinned wide.
Aspiring chef, once.
“This crowd? Budae jjigae. Ex-soldier, yeah? Know the drill?”
Park Hyun-su wry-grinned—classic vet shade.
“Mobile infantry. Not mess duty.”
“Whoa.”
Mobile infantry...?
Froze solid.
Jung Cheol... same branch.
“What's with the face?”
That why I warmed to Park Hyun-su?
No looks match.
Yet... like glimpsing old Jung Cheol...?
“Nah, nothing. Chop veg, meat. Jjigae portions.”