Chapter 751: Those Who Remain (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 751: Those Who Remain (1)
July 1st, 1803. Ten days had passed since the final battle between the Temporary Alliance and the Evil God.
The world was gradually returning to its former state.
A blue sky and an earth untainted by Chaos, sparkling beaches, fishing boats gliding across the sea, bustling shopping districts, and a daily life where people no longer trembled in fear of the Evil God…
Fortunately, the recovery of these once-commonplace sights wasn't limited to the Lutero Magic Federation and the Viment Empire.
Even the Huphester Alliance, where the entire continent had been steeped in Chaos, was beginning to regain its old appearance.
Not every human in Huphester had been used as a sacrifice for the Evil God.
When the Chaos covering the continent finally lifted, far more people remained than the Temporary Alliance had ever anticipated.
"I never knew checking reports and numbers could be so enjoyable. These figures, these names… they’re really the survivors from each region, right?" Mary asked.
Her face was gaunt, as she hadn't had a single night of deep sleep since the war ended, but her eyes were sparkling.
"Good grief, sister. Have you spent your whole life being deceived? Tikan and our people are constantly sending personnel to verify this in person. It’s all real."
"So please, go get some rest. Sleep a little. We’ll handle our duties as flagbearers. Stop asking the same question over and over."
The Tona brothers replied in turn. Like Mary, both had thin faces but bright, alert eyes.
"I check a couple of times and you two act like you're going to eat me alive. Have you lost your minds?"
"Hah! What, are you going to hit us? Go ahead, try it!"
"That’s a bit—ack!"
Thwack! Thwack!
Mary left fist marks on both of their foreheads.
"Ha! We… We have our dignity as flagbearers too, you know."
"We’re adults now. Ugh, my forehead."
"No one saw. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let it slide with just that. What about the youngest? Is he still not awake?"
"How many times have you asked that… Ah, put your fist down."
"Sister. You heard it directly from the Holy King just an hour ago. The youngest is recovering smoothly."
"I can't help but worry since he hasn't regained consciousness."
"She said it wasn't… what was the word? Medically, it’s not that he’s unconscious; he’s just in a very deep sleep. She emphasized that he will definitely wake up, so there's no need to worry."
"We know you want to reduce his workload for when he wakes up, but your own health is going to fail at this rate."
"Just go bring me that teapot."
"Good heavens."
The siblings were unaware.
From the moment their conversation began, Jin had already opened his eyes in another building.
Because everyone had gone to see off Rani, who had just visited, there was no one in the room where Jin lay.
Jin stared blankly at the ceiling for a long while.
This place is…
A ceiling both familiar and strange. It wasn't Tikan.
…The Garden of Swords?
It was the very room he had used during his time as a reserve flagbearer.
Even though he could move his body, Jin lay still, staring up at the ceiling as if bound.
He was afraid that this might be a dream.
Since Jin’s return to the human world, the Garden of Swords had been destroyed several times. He had personally witnessed its destruction during the first general offensive, and the site where the Evil God’s massive castle had been built was the very ground where the Garden of Swords once stood.
Therefore, he thought it was impossible for the Garden of Swords to remain so intact.
Jin calmed his racing heart and replayed his final memories.
He remembered the moment he settled things with the Evil God and plummeted toward the earth.
I think I saw the Garden of Swords was safe back then, too.
He sat up and pinched his cheek.
It hurt. He pinched harder, then picked up a nearby glass and took a sip of water. The sensation of cold water flowing down his throat was clearer than ever.
"Young Master!"
He heard Gilly’s voice.
"Lord Jin!"
"12th Flagbearer!"
"My Lord!"
"Sir!"
"Jin!"
"Darling!"
The voices of his other comrades followed. They had all just returned after seeing off the Holy King.
Gilly rushed forward and hugged Jin tightly, wiping away tears. The eyes of his other comrades were also moist. Jet, in particular, slumped to the floor and wailed, repeatedly crying out that his lord had finally woken up.
If one only heard Jet’s wailing from outside, they might mistakenly think Jin had died rather than woken up.
"Young Master, are you all right?"
"Darling! You aren't hurting anywhere, are you? Why were you asleep for so long? Do you know how much Sandra’s heart ached?"
"Young Master, you’ve been asleep for ten days. And as you can see… you did it. You saved the world and Runcandel. You’ve reclaimed the Garden of Swords."
As his comrades threw various words at him, Jin was suddenly seized by a mischievous impulse.
"...Who are you people?"
"...Young Master?"
"And where… is this…?"
"What?"
"Sir!?"
"Yo-Young Master?"
"Darling? No, wait, this can't be!"
His comrades' hearts sank as their eyes went wide.
Jin intended to add one more thing—Who am I?—but he was caught when Valeria entered the room.
"You have a surprisingly cruel streak. Don't you think a prank like this is a bit much for people who waited for you to wake up with their hearts in their throats?"
Though her tone was scolding, Valeria wore a broad smile. For the past ten days, she had been monitoring Jin’s status through a record window whenever she wasn't sleeping. The record window currently described Jin waking up and playing a prank.
"Was that too much? I’m sorry, everyone."
"That was very mischievous, Young Master. I thought my heart was going to stop."
"I almost threw a punch."
"Darling, your head is really okay, right!?"
"Yeah, it’s fine. Though it feels like my body needs more time to recover. Gilly, are all our comrades safe?"
"Yes, Young Master. No one from the Barmul Alliance died."
The atmosphere alone suggested as much. In this war, the Barmul Alliance had suffered the least damage. In fact, it was more accurate to say the Barmul Alliance had become far more powerful and wealthy than before the war.
Gilly and the comrades spent some time explaining the current situation to Jin.
They told him that most of the allied families and civilians in Huphester were safe and that approximately three thousand knights, a hundred scholars, and numerous servants had survived within Runcandel.
It wasn't something to be purely joyful about.
The entire population of the city of Kalon had been used as sacrifices, the number of knights who fell to corruption was beyond counting, and on a global scale, the death toll easily exceeded a million.
Even though the Evil God was dead, those who had vanished would not return.
However, the fact that so much remained when they thought everything was lost allowed hope to bloom, and the emotion of it all filled his heart. The survivors were left with a foundation upon which they could build a tomorrow.
This was why his comrades had been so excited. They had to be; only by doing so could they push aside the sorrow of war and move forward.
"The reason so many survived in Runcandel is the result of the Evil God’s obsession with the clan until the very end. Even as the Evil God intended to destroy the world, she truly tried to leave the Garden of Swords and Runcandel behind," Valeria said, opening a record window to confirm the details.
They were records of a contradictory heart that even the Evil God herself hadn't fully realized.
Before the final battle, the thing the Evil God had focused her power on most wasn't building that massive, horrific castle, but reconstructing the Garden of Swords. She had placed a barrier over the entire restored Garden of Swords and built the castle on top of it.
And all the clan’s retainers currently alive had been trapped inside it, never once corrupted by Chaos.
"She became the Evil God and corrupted most of the clan's knights with that power… yet she preserved a portion of it without defiling it."
"Yes. The Evil God didn't leave behind the Garden of Swords she had defiled, but the Garden of Swords that the human Rosa Runcandel remembered."
At those words, Jin recalled the final battle—the white, lonely landscape that had resided in the deepest part of the Evil God’s inner self.
"...Perhaps she left a final stronghold in case she was defeated. Because if she died, you would have to lead those who remained."
It grew noisy outside. Jet had gone out and announced that Jin had woken up. The heavy footsteps of the clan's knights lining up created a vibration. They were preparing to greet Jin. Gilly opened the wardrobe and pulled out a coat Jin had never worn before.
"Young Master. You can receive a more detailed report later. For now, it would be best if you went outside."
Jin stared blankly at the coat. It was similar to a flagbearer’s uniform but featured different embroidery.
Ten black swords embroidered on the collar…
In Cyron’s Runcandel, the only person who had owned that coat was Luna before she turned nineteen.
It was the coat that symbolized the 'Young Patriarch' of the sword clan.
Even when Joshua had performed the role of Young Patriarch externally, Cyron had never permitted him to wear this coat.
"...By any chance, has Father returned?"
"The Patriarch has not yet returned."
"Then who could have permitted me this coat? I can't just wear it because I achieved great deeds. I am still the clan’s 12th Flagbearer, Gilly."
Instead of answering, Gilly simply bowed her head, as if urging him to put it on.
After standing still for a few seconds, Jin stood up, washed his face briefly, and donned the coat.
As he stepped out of the room, the knights waiting in the hallway offered a sword salute and followed behind him. Jin wanted to look at each of their faces, but it seemed he needed to head to the garden first.
In the garden, all the surviving retainers of Runcandel were lined up.
Mary and the Tona brothers stood at the front, holding the clan’s flags high.
Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it in person was another. Jin felt a lump in his throat as he looked at the assembled knights.
As Jin approached, the knights parted to both sides and offered a sword salute.
At the end of the path stood people Jin had never expected to see.
[You’ve come, 12th Flagbearer.]
[You’re finally awake.]
Alphen and Tasha were the first to speak.
And the one-armed former patriarch standing between them had a face that bore a striking resemblance to Cyron.
[Welcome, great-grandson.]
The one-armed former patriarch, whom they had rescued during the final battle, spoke with a smirk.
He was the 57th Patriarch of Runcandel and Cyron’s grandfather.