Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Protecting Sister
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“What are you doing?”
Natasha swatted the child’s hand away harshly.
“Ouch…”
As the child made a pained face, Helm’s eyes turned icy cold.
In that instant, a chill ran down Natasha’s spine.
She tried her utmost not to show her alarm, but she couldn’t withstand the pressure emanating from the empire’s ninth-ranked powerhouse.
Just as her face stiffened and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
The child narrowed his eyes and glared at Helm.
“Captain Grandpa, don’t look at my sister like that!”
“What!”
Helm’s face took on a slightly puzzled expression.
Natasha’s eyes also widened in surprise as she looked at the child.
The child grabbed Natasha’s hand tightly and said.
“Sis, I’ll protect you! Captain Grandpa can’t do a thing when I tell him not to, hee hee!”
The child grinned up at her.
The moment Natasha looked at the child, a lump formed in her chest. Then, against her will, her eyes began to heat up.
She quickly tensed them and whipped her head to the side.
When her eyes met Meteor’s, she snapped at him.
“What are you looking at!”
“The captain was looking at me first. But why are your eyes like that all of a sudden?”
“It’s nothing, just some dust got in.”
Natasha shook off the child’s hand and rubbed her eyes furiously with the back of her hand.
Helm watched the scene and grinned before saying to the child.
“Grandpa was wrong. I won’t do it again.”
“Promise!”
“Alright.”
Helm hooked his pinky with the child’s and continued.
“Grandpa has some business to discuss with your sister. Could you give us some space?”
“Aw, but I wanna play with sis.”
The child looked at Natasha with a face full of disappointment.
Natasha found this unfamiliar situation utterly bewildering.
“Your sister will play with you later. Go hang out with your friends for now.”
Helm patted the child’s head and sent him off toward his friends.
Then he said to Natasha.
“Follow me.”
The place Helm led them to was the western wall.
She had come up here several times following Arthur, and each time, she had loved the view of the territory from this spot.
That was why she often climbed up here.
Helm gave an awkward look as he apologized.
“Sorry. I thought you were a man.”
“What, I hear that all the time.”
Natasha waved it off as she gazed out at the territory.
Seeing the vast fields stretching out made her stuffy chest feel wide open.
And with the cool breeze blowing, her bad mood lifted in no time.
Above all, the little girl’s words kept echoing in her mind.
-I’ll protect you, sis!
-Aw, but I wanna play with sis.
Hearing those words from a child had touched her heart.
It was the first time.
The first time she felt human, not a monster, through someone else.
This really was a strange place.
Natasha had reflexively viewed all the goodwill from Arthur and the people here negatively.
But now, with the children’s faces in her mind, she couldn’t help wondering, *Why go to such lengths?*
That was when Helm’s voice came.
“You look lost in thought.”
Natasha opened her mouth heavily.
“It’s… not easy to trust people.”
“Wounds inflicted by people don’t heal easily. Ironically, though, the cure is also ‘people.’”
“What do you mean?”
“Wounds from people can only be healed by people. I believe His Majesty will heal your wounds.”
“Jeez, how is it that everyone here worships Arthur Julius like a god…?”
“He’s more than worthy of it.”
“What exactly have you all seen to make you say that?”
Curiosity bloomed across Natasha’s face.
Helm turned around with a warm, kindly smile.
“You’ll have to see for yourself.”
“Can’t you just tell me?”
“I’d love to, but words alone can’t capture even a fraction of who he is.”
“You’ve got a real talent for being annoying.”
As he passed by, Helm gripped her shoulder firmly once and added.
“I’ll tolerate your recklessness and arrogance up to this point. But if you insult His Majesty while you’re here, you’ll pay the price.”
***
Arthur returned to his office with Tarun and decided to plan the relocation of the “Hermits’ Gathering.”
It wasn’t a large-scale move like with Count Daemor, but since they weren’t ordinary folk, it required careful attention in many ways.
Arthur sat across the table from Tarun.
“What do you need from me?”
“If possible, I’d like them to stay inside the castle until they’ve adjusted to the people here.”
“Anything else?”
“What should we do here?”
“What can you do?”
“I’ll be honest. Everyday activities like normal people are difficult for us. But if battle breaks out, we’ll support the knight order.”
“Support how, exactly?”
“With buffs or healing magic.”
“Good.”
Arthur nodded in satisfaction, though one thing piqued his curiosity.
“No one who can cast attack magic?”
“The Hermits’ Gathering has none. They’re all in Chaos. If you need their power, you’ll have to persuade their leader, Natasha.”
“Hmm…”
Arthur thought of Natasha.
From what he’d seen so far, unlike Lord, her reactions were strongly negative.
It would be best to soften her resentment toward people first, then gradually close the distance.
To do that, he needed to learn more about her.
“What kind of person is she?”
“Your Majesty.”
Tarun gave a meaningful smile as he replied.
“Natasha is a woman.”
“What?”
“The side effects of mana nearly erased her femininity and amplified her masculine traits instead. And she lost one arm during her mercenary days.”
“Ah…”
He had made a huge mistake.
The blunders he’d committed toward her and her reactions each time flashed through his mind.
“I’ve made a grave error.”
“She’s used to it by now and brushes it off, but if Your Majesty wishes to embrace Chaos… well…”
“I need to apologize.”
Arthur grinned and began asking Tarun for specific details about the Hermits’ Gathering.
Tarun answered his questions, sharing everything he needed to know.
“There are more children than I expected. Should we start mana affinity tests at a young age?”
“Not necessarily. Ideally, it’s best when they can already handle some mana. So we’ve done it around thirteen or fourteen.”
“And?”
“Your Majesty.”
Tarun’s face grew serious. He suddenly rose from his chair and knelt before Arthur.
Seeing this ominous reaction, Arthur tilted his head.
Tarun bowed his head low and said.
“I, Tarun, have something to tell Your Majesty.”
“What is it?”
“The truth is, I wasn’t abandoned by the Magic Tower. I was a disciple of Altros.”
“...!”
“When Altros was summoned to the palace by the emperor, I managed the tower in his stead.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“If you give me a chance, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Speak only the truth.”
“Thank you.”
Tarun kept his head bowed as he explained why he had gone to Sellom and formed the Hermits’ Gathering.
After Altros left for the palace, he continued acting on his instructions.
Early on, there were no worries about the tower’s operations faltering in his absence.
It was after a year had passed.
That was when mana’s blessing descended upon him.
He had reached 6th Class.
But something was wrong with his body.
Mana boiled endlessly, and his head throbbed as if it might burst.
At first, he thought it was a side effect of reaching a new realm.
Contrary to his belief that it would fade with time, the symptoms worsened.
Then he realized the truth.
One of his formed circles was utterly different from the others.
Though he hadn’t received the World Tree’s blessing, his mana was just as bright and pure—yet the new one was pitch-black and dark.
Something impossible had happened.
To investigate, he spent days in the underground library where the magic tomes were kept, uncovering the reason.
It was formed from dark mana, and since a body couldn’t contain two opposing energies, the side effects followed.
“And that’s how I learned why I had taken in dark mana.”
“Was it from the mana affinity test?”
“How did you—!”
Tarun’s head snapped up in shock.
At the same time, Arthur sensed he knew something about Altros.
Arthur suspected Altros had used the mana affinity tests to find those who could accept dark power.
If so, he planned to turn them into his minions…
Altros’s personal guard likely all harbored dark power, regardless of their own will.
Arthur decided to test his theory.
“Was it Altros who tested your mana affinity?”
“...Yes.”
“Hm. And the others in Sellom now, including Altros’s personal guard—did they all undergo his tests?”
Tears streamed from Tarun’s sunken eyes.
“Y-Yes…”
Rage trembled in his choked voice.
“You’re a late-onset case, then.”
Arthur asked one final thing.
“Why go to Sellom and form the Hermits’ Gathering?”
“You could call it a sense of guilt.”
“Guilt, not revenge against Altros?”
Arthur’s face hardened.
That meant Tarun had also conducted the tests alongside Altros.
Of course, as a high mage managing the tower, he wouldn’t have left Altros to test everyone alone.
And Tarun hadn’t realized what he’d done until his own dark mana circle formed.
But too many had suffered.
Suppressing his boiling anger, Arthur asked.
“Why did you do it?”
“Until recently, I had no answer. But after hearing from Millerph that the Demon King has revived, I began to suspect a connection.”
“Is Altros possibly the Demon King?”
“In my view… no. The Demon King wouldn’t have set up that barrier in the palace.”
“What barrier?”
Tarun recalled when he had gone to the imperial palace at Altros’s summons.
There was a barrier underground said to exacerbate dark power.
But its glow was a pale gray.
Looking back now, Altros had been gathering power through dark magic.
A normal barrier would have shone brightly, not pale gray.
And if it were the Demon King, the darkness would have been incomparably stronger.
Blinded by blind loyalty back then, he had believed Altros without question.
Hearing this, Arthur’s gaze deepened as he sank into thought.
*Not Altros, then…*
That left the emperor.
Ingenium had said his behavior changed suddenly.
From anyone else, Arthur might dismiss it, but it was from his own son.
*Then what about the Artisan of the Nanshar Empire?*
This severed any link to the Oscar Empire.
The more he thought, the deeper the maze grew.
“Hmm…”
“There’s someone desperate to meet Your Majesty. A child born under mana’s misfortune.”
“Why that child?”
“They begged me to relay this: Soon the world will be dyed in blood, and only Your Majesty can stop it.”
“...!”
In that moment, the three omens before the Demon King’s emergence flashed in his mind.
The Demon King’s familiars appear, and the next stage is…
Arthur’s face twisted as he muttered lowly.
“A river of blood…”