Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Farewell, Wesley
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***
After his sparring match with Skevin, Arthur pushed himself even harder.
Watching him, Millerph felt it was ruthless and couldn't quite understand it.
Arthur's growth rate right now was unbelievably fast.
To earn the knight captain's recognition after just a month of training was a massive leap forward.
Of course, part of it was due to Teheran's mana cultivation method, but Skevin was the Julius Count House's guardian deity.
Having reached the pinnacle of Sword Expert, he was someone destined to become a Sword Master one day.
Even though Skevin hadn't gone all out, the mere fact that Arthur had finished the spar unscathed was astonishing.
Yet Arthur, unsatisfied, was putting even more pressure on himself—it was almost awe-inspiring.
'Even so...'
Millerph wore a faintly worried expression.
There was an order to everything in the world.
Some things could only be gained by steadily climbing the steps.
Chief among them was strength.
Acquiring it required long years of effort.
But Arthur was trying to defy that natural order.
Using magic, he minimized rest time while driving his body to the absolute limit.
Sooner or later, the backlash would hit.
It was about time to put the brakes on him, and now seemed like the moment.
"Huff, huff, huff."
Arthur climbed up from below the ramparts, gasping for breath.
Right now, he was wearing roughly 20kg of plate armor and had been going up and down the stairs all day.
His self-abuse was beyond brutal—it was downright horrifying.
Drenched in sweat, Arthur reached the ramparts but didn't collapse on the ground.
He drew a dagger from his lower back and thrust and swung it as if enemies were right in front of him.
Sweat flew in all directions with every movement.
Only after a long while did he stop, approaching Millerph.
"Heal."
"Let's talk."
"If it's about taking it easy, save it."
"You could destroy not just your body, but your mind too."
"That won't happen."
Arthur gazed out beyond the castle walls, old memories surfacing.
To enter America's top Tier 1 special forces, he'd cycled through various units, enduring countless trainings.
Among them, the ones during his Navy SEAL stint still made his teeth chatter just thinking about them.
Fully geared, he'd gone a week without sleep, repeating shooting drills and 20km runs.
Once that ended, he'd dive straight into tactical training that mimicked real combat.
The moment you lost your mind, bullets from all sides would turn you into a honeycomb—an utterly hellish ordeal.
It had truly tested the limits of humanity.
His special forces days' Thousand-Ri March was no less grueling.
Covering 400km in a week, and combining it with tactical drills made it pure hell.
Compared to that, what he was doing now was nothing.
Plus, with Millerph's magic aiding him, it was practically emperor-level training.
"Heh."
Arthur gave a wry smile and asked Millerph,
"Do you know how strong humans can be?"
"You speak as if you've reached the peak yourself."
"Is that so?"
"I never knew you had a talent for piquing people's curiosity, Young Master."
"Talent for piquing curiosity..."
Arthur gazed at the distant sky, his expression meaningful.
Silence fell between them for a moment.
After a few minutes passed.
Arthur spoke up.
"There's something I'd like to ask."
"Please go ahead."
"I'm curious about Wesley. It's been a while since he took the knights to the western mountains."
"True."
"There's about a month left until the territorial war, I'd say. To prepare the territory, he and the knights need to return as soon as possible. It's too much for me or Aild to handle alone."
"You'd thought that far ahead?"
Millerph smiled, realizing Arthur wasn't just lost in training—he was seeing the bigger picture.
"From now on, I'll be changing my training method, so you don't need to stick by my side."
"Understood."
As Millerph bowed his head.
"Millerph, sir!"
Andrew's urgent voice rang out.
Millerph and Arthur turned around.
Andrew came running up the stairs, panting as he continued.
"Wes-Wesley, Young Master..."
"......!"
Millerph quickly cast Feather Fall and leaped down.
A sudden gust wrapped around him, sending him plummeting smoothly below.
Arthur, who'd only seen recovery magic until now, was inwardly surprised by this new spell.
But he quickly composed himself and asked Andrew,
"What happened?"
"He's returned unconscious."
"Hmm."
Arthur frowned and headed down.
***
At the castle gates, the knight order and Wesley had arrived.
Everyone was in terrible shape, and a third of them leaned against the walls or lay on the ground like stragglers, groaning in pain.
Medlin had come out upon hearing Wesley had returned.
"Wesley is back?"
Rusanna approached her, eyes brimming with tears.
"Madam, the Young Master, sob, sob."
"What's wrong? Where's Wesley?"
As Medlin looked flustered.
Millerph landed from the sky and hurried to the knights.
They parted to either side, clearing a path, revealing Wesley lying on a stretcher.
"Ugh..."
Millerph's face hardened.
His body was hideously torn as if clawed by something sharp, and the wounds were a dark brown.
"This!"
He'd been poisoned.
But the wounds were too large and deep for goblins.
'Then who...!'
A flash of realization hit him.
Orcs!
An orc shaman's magic attack could cause wounds like that.
'If it's orcs...'
As Millerph's face grew grim.
One of the knights shouted.
"There were orcs!"
"Just as I thought."
His ominous hunch was confirmed.
That meant the goblins had fled down to the territory from the orcs.
First things first—treat the poison.
He chanted 'Cure', his staff glowing as it enveloped Wesley.
Then he applied recovery magic.
But the light lingered, refusing to fade.
"No way?"
Millerph stopped the spell and closely examined Wesley's wounds.
Corruption was spreading from within.
"Ugh..."
Millerph let out a low groan.
"Wesley!"
Medlin rushed over, collapsing beside him and gripping his hand tightly.
"What happened! Open your eyes!"
Arthur, just descending from the ramparts, approached Wesley.
He grimaced at the sight.
It reminded him of comrades who'd fallen to monsters before.
Wounds that severe offered little hope of survival.
He wasn't deeply attached to Wesley, but as the one person who'd spoken to him kindly, a pang of regret hit him.
"Do something!"
Medlin looked at Millerph, voice breaking.
"...I'm sorry."
"Then Wesley..."
Medlin collapsed in shock, fainting on the spot.
As Millerph moved to cast a spell, Arthur grabbed the arm holding the staff.
"Let her be."
"...?"
"Fainting might be better for her."
Arthur examined Wesley's wounds and asked Millerph,
"I want to talk to him. Is it possible?"
"Briefly, yes."
Millerph chanted in Runes, deploying the 5th-circle spell 'Great Heal'.
A pure white light wrapped around Wesley, and he opened his eyes.
"Ugh..."
Arthur knelt on one knee by his head.
"What happened?"
"Sorry to show you like this..."
"What did this to you?"
"An orc shaman..."
"Hmm..."
Arthur's face hardened.
In the monster food chain, orcs were apex predators above goblins.
The goblins must have fled to the village to escape the orcs.
Suddenly, he recalled that eerie roar from before.
Orcs wouldn't make that sound, so something else lurked in the western mountains.
He'd check that later. For now, questions about the orcs.
"How many?"
"At least five hundred..."
"Hmm."
Arthur's gaze deepened as he clenched his fist, locking eyes with Wesley.
"Leave the rest to me."
Wesley's eyes wavered at the resolute voice.
This wasn't the old Arthur.
The man before him felt as reliable as Skevin.
"I'll protect this place for sure."
At Arthur's follow-up words, the worry and anxiety in Wesley's heart eased, and he found himself smiling unwittingly.
"Thanks."
"Brother!"
Aild came rushing over at the news, collapsing beside him.
"What is this! Get up already!"
Aild wailed loudly, sobbing uncontrollably.
Skevin, who'd been at the training grounds, arrived with the knights upon hearing.
"What are you doing? Hurry and treat him...!"
Seeing Millerph's grim face, he seemed to grasp the situation, his expression turning desolate.
"Y-Young Master..."
No one knew how to react to the sudden bad news.
Only Arthur calmly assessed the scene.
If Skevin was the Julius Count House's guardian deity, Wesley was its mental pillar.
His death would shake the house to its core.
Without someone to steady them now, they might collapse before even facing the territorial war.
"Hmm."
Arthur looked at Wesley. Sorrow and regret crossed his face.
Grieving for the pained people around him, apologetic for failing to protect them.
Seeing him think of them to the very end reminded Arthur of his old comrades.
They'd died in fierce battles, and he hadn't been able to properly see them off.
It had always left a debt in his heart.
That's why he couldn't let Wesley go like this.
Arthur stood and approached Skevin.
"Assemble the knight order."
"Pardon?"
"Escort him properly."
"......!"
Skevin's mind flashed.
He cleared his throat and bellowed at full volume.
"All knights, assemble!"
At his shout, the knights' eyes lit up.
As if sensing Skevin's intent, they swiftly formed ranks before him.
The trainees fell in behind the knights.
Arthur turned to Millerph.
"Wake Mother. Ask Rusanna to help once she's up."
He didn't forget to urge the crying Aild.
"Make sure he goes with a smile."
"O-Okay..."
Aild wiped his tears with his sleeve and said to Wesley,
"Brother, don't worry about Mom. And I'll get revenge on the bastards who did this to you."
"...Yeah, and this..."
Wesley removed the ring from his finger and handed it to Aild.
It was the family head's insignia ring.
"B-Brother, sob..."
Aild nodded, tears streaming endlessly.
With preparations complete, Millerph cast a spell to wake Medlin.
The moment she stirred, she hugged Wesley and wailed.
"Wesley! You can't die! Millerph, don't just stand there—do something!"
"Madam, please calm down."
Rusanna soothed her through her own tears.
'Mother...'
Wesley wore a sad expression, glancing at Millerph and Skevin.
Finally, his gaze settled on Arthur.
Meeting eyes, Wesley poured his heart into that look.
'Protect Grada Territory, and the Julius Count House... And I'm sorry.'
It couldn't be conveyed, but he wished it would somehow.
Arthur nodded, already guessing what he wanted to say.
"Got it."
"Thanks..."
Wesley smiled faintly and closed his eyes.
At that moment, Arthur shouted.
"Attention!"
Snap!
The knight order snapped to position like a blade.
"Salute Wesley Julius!"
Clang!
The assembled knights and trainees raised their swords to their faces in unison.
A single tear trickled from Wesley's closed eyes.
"Wesley!"
Medlin screamed before fainting again, while Aild howled until his throat seemed ready to burst.
"Brother! No!"
Millerph softly chanted Runes, blessing Wesley's final journey.
And.
Arthur glared at the sky, face twisted.
He'd thought the war with those monsters was over...
Rage boiled, blood surging backward.
His teeth truly chattered.
'What a fucking fate.'