Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: New Phase #5
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A man draped in a golden silk cloak sat lost in thought for a long while, saying nothing.
The people around him merely watched his expression.
The middle-aged man, with deep creases around his eyes, stroked his short platinum beard and finally spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“We’ll discuss this tomorrow at the court council. Everyone, you’re dismissed.”
At Prime Minister Reinhardt’s words, the assembly began to disperse back the way they had come.
━Finally getting off work.
━Overtime every damn day. Things were better under the Queen.
━Hey, even then you never knew when you’d get to go home.
As the grumbling voices faded away, the prime minister’s office fell into an almost eerily quiet stillness.
‘Finally, some peace.’
Reinhardt, who had been tapping his fingers on the luxurious ebony desk, had to admit that the endless chatter of those people all day had frayed his nerves.
“Bunch of petty scoundrels.”
For a man who had spent his life on the battlefield, court duties were mostly tedious and boring.
Dealing with ministers who loved inflating trivial matters and lowlifes obsessed with lining their own pockets was hardly entertaining.
Srrk.
To steady his mind, his gaze drifted from the darkened window through the ornate wallpaper of the prime minister’s office to the painting hanging on the wall.
It was a classic family portrait: his grown daughter and still-young son seated, with himself standing proudly behind them.
Even so, looking at it gave him strength.
It meant he could pass on a better future to his children. That was the reason Reinhardt endured his dull days, one after another.
Soon, his son would sit upon the throne.
Richard the First.
No, naming him Lioness XVI after their ancestors who ruled the west wasn’t a bad idea either.
He was still a delicate boy now, but he’d surely grow into a dashing, magnificent young man.
A knight among knights, beloved by the people and popular with women. A king among kings.
Just like Reinhardt in his own youth.
‘No, not quite.’
Reinhardt thought there was a better comparison. He had always been more knight or general than king, after all.
Then, one man came to mind.
A man brimming with the confidence of a young prince—or a king.
“…….”
Confirming no one was around, Reinhardt unlocked a securely locked drawer in his desk and pulled out what was inside.
It was a small piece of paper. A vivid image of people’s faces. One of the rare high-quality portraits taken with that “camera” obtained from beyond the cracks in the barrier wall.
They called it a photograph.
In that square palm-sized photo was a depiction of Reinhardt in his youth—so incredibly young. Beside him stood Sir Alistair, comrade and rival.
Alistair was said to have passed from the world already.
“Weakling.”
Since Reinhardt was the last one standing, could it be counted as another victory in his wager against the Draco family?
As such thoughts crossed his mind, he kept staring at the photo. There were faces he hadn’t recalled in ages.
“Stella.”
Even the elf who found everything bothersome. He’d nearly burst out laughing when he heard she’d become a professor. Not just her—John, Ditto, Irnar, Beldael, Barnes…
The days of youth, dreaming of the unknown and adventure.
Amid them all, a man grinned broadly, arm slung around everyone’s shoulders.
A head like a blazing flame, a face full of arrogant confidence. Broad shoulders and a build rivaling Reinhardt’s own.
Isaiah Gospel.
His old comrade.
Suddenly.
He felt this man’s face resembled someone. But he couldn’t place who.
“Guess I’m getting old.”
Staring at a photo he hadn’t seen in over a decade stirred sentimental feelings.
Drurk.
He tucked the photo back into the drawer and locked it. Sometimes, he had learned, it was best to leave the past in the past.
But there was someone who hadn’t learned that yet.
Srrk.
Reinhardt pulled the letter from his daughter out of his pocket and unfolded it once more.
「Dad. It’s me. I’m doing fine for now—」
The letter started with mundane chit-chat but ended with an unexpected question.
「Is it true you knew about the Angmar prince? Reply soon.」
Digging up something someone had carefully buried in secret.
Was she like him in that way?
No, his daughter had no real interest in such things. Probably the little half-fairy egging her on.
That odd one would surely read his reply too. She was bold enough to speak her mind to his face, after all.
Was this why she’d wanted to go to Arc?
To unearth the past?
Her motives remained as inscrutable as ever.
* * *
I tore open the sealed letter and slowly read its contents.
「My daughter, Erganes, behold.」
The first line already felt stuffy somehow.
“Erganes?”
When I asked, Elga replied lightly.
“That’s my real name originally. What, got a problem?”
“Nope.”
Elga must’ve been a casual nickname. For some reason, it suited her far better than the princess-knight-sounding Erganes, which I’d grown used to.
“I’ll keep reading then.”
The rest was light, fatherly concern.
Are you eating well? Studying diligently? Training daily without fail? The sort of things a father might ask his daughter.
They were ordinary, but they made me realize what a father was like. No one had ever asked me such things.
If I became a father, would I ask my daughter the same?
Further down was something more intriguing.
「Arc has always drawn young, talented men and women. Perhaps there you’ll meet someone to your picky taste—」
“Nothing much here. Skip to the next page already.”
Before I could finish, Elga snatched the front page away and tore it to shreds. I had nothing to say about that.
And so, the next page.
「Now to your question. I don’t know who told you about Isaiah Gospel, but whatever you imagine is likely far from the truth. Don’t jump to conclusions.」
The main point at last.
I focused and read straight to the end.
It confirmed Isaiah Gospel was the son of Solomon Angmar, called the Demon King. That he’d hidden this and studied with them at the church facility Arc.
And that at some point, he vanished.
It didn’t stray much from what I knew.
「Some things are better left buried. What’s hidden in the earth has reasons for being buried.」
Even a plea not to dig further.
Was Reinhardt deliberately withholding info?
Could be, or not. Fifty-fifty.
I’d hoped for more, but it only confirmed what I knew—no new details. If I had to pick meager gains:
「Isaiah said he was heading north. He never showed up again. We graduated Arc and went our separate ways.」
Isaiah Angmar had gone north.
North where? Probably beyond the massive northern barrier of Angmar. Seemed likely. No idea why he went there.
「He was a dashing, bold man, but as his name Gospel suggests, raised in the church learning right from wrong. He was shy around women, so finding descendants might be hard. If none have surfaced by now, probably none exist.」
My probable father, Isaiah Angmar, apparently wasn’t one to chase skirts.
Makes sense—explains why I’m the last Angmar. Wonder how a bold hunk ended up with a nymph making a quarter-nymph.
Timeline-wise, I was born after he headed north…
Should I go north?
As I pondered that,
Elga, scanning the rest of the letter, growled angrily.
“What the hell. He was really sheltering an Angmar remnant…!”
“Seems so.”
“This makes our family look like traitors…!”
By my knowledge, knowingly hiding spies or criminals was itself a crime. Especially remnants of a fallen royal house.
“By the current Tarantara royal law, the Lioness family has committed treason.”
“No way…!”
Elga cried out in disbelief. She knew some of it already, but until confirmed by her father, she’d half-doubted it.
“How could he hide this from me?”
Elga was furious her father knew of a fallen royal survivor and did nothing. From her view, understandably so.
But did she realize she was unwittingly doing something similar?
“Do you hate the Angmar family, Elga?”
“Hate? If they’re alive, they’ll bring chaos to the world!”
“Not all Angmar kings were bad. Except Solomon the Demon King, most were average. Even if someone survived—”
They could just be living normally. As I said that,
Elga cut me off.
“Theo Gospel. Think about it. Even if your father or grandfather was a tyrant who deserved death, imagine them torn apart by others, your house utterly destroyed.”
Think? That’s my exact situation.
It immersed me perfectly.
“Thought about it.”
“If that happened, wouldn’t you crave revenge? I know I would. If my father or grandfather were killed and our house eradicated.”
“Even if the Lioness family rightfully destroyed them, survivors would still seek revenge?”
“Yeah. That’s human nature. They ignore their own faults but magnify others’. That’s people for you.”
True enough.
I was working hard to rebuild my house, after all.
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Name: Theo Gospel Angmar lv. 40
Job: Half-Fairy lv. 7
Lothario lv. 7
Performer lv. 9
Tamer lv. 8
Mage lv. 9
Talents: 《Clairvoyance》 《Calm Thinking》 《Ditch Eyes》
Alignment: Chaotic-Neutral.
You are the sole survivor of a fallen house.
Evade enemies who desire your house’s destruction and restore it to glory.
Fortunately, you brim with zeal for reconstruction.
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Not even my real house, yet here I am striving.
A true vengeful Angmar survivor might want to rip foes apart, sharpening claws in the shadows.
That explained Elga’s anger.
If this Elga learned my identity—and that she’d borne the infamous house’s little quarter-nymphs—what then?
Tempted to test the waters.
Probe her reaction without revealing myself.
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat pointedly.
Then asked Elga.
“Elga.”
“What, spouting more nonsense?!”
What could I even say?