Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Chapter 128
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Chapter 46: The Princess (4)
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Bain couldn't comprehend what had just happened to him. A horrific shockwave devouring his body. Massive flames searing his skin.
It had all stemmed from the sword of a single boy who appeared out of nowhere.
To fall to a mere ambush like this—what a disgrace to his family.
Yes. This was carelessness. Had he not let his guard down, he never would have allowed such a cheap shot.
He summoned his aura to envelop his body, heightening his senses to their absolute limit.
He locked onto the opponent's form. His staggering body thrust his right leg backward to keep from toppling over.
Having taken such a heavy blow, launching the first attack was out of the question.
He would counter whatever came his way.
"It's already over."
The voice of a young boy.
Bain wanted to shout back, No.
He hadn't honed his blade to obsession, hadn't served that repulsive Viscount Ivan, just to go down like this.
"Close your eyes peacefully. It'll hurt less that way."
Jamie said this to the charred lump sprawled on the floor.
Bain felt eyes looking down at him. Why is he looking down at me?
Right now, he was supposed to be shifting into a counterattacking stance...
'Huh?'
He had clearly dragged his leg back to maintain his balance and stay upright. He had pinpointed the opponent's position and braced for the next strike.
But now...
None of it registered. As if it had all been a fleeting illusion, his limbs felt utterly numb.
"The shock must've fried his brain. Tsk, tsk."
Jamie clicked his tongue and splayed his hand.
A fireball plummeted down.
Bain tried to scream for him to stop, but every means of voicing it had been obliterated.
His limbs no longer existed.
And so Bain vanished, leaving only a pile of black ash.
"W-Who... are you?"
Alex had witnessed the overwhelming spectacle but had no words for it.
He had felled an Expert knight—one at a fairly advanced level—in a single blow. Ambush or not, the feat defied reason.
Especially given the boy's childlike appearance. By Alex's reckoning, no kid could possess such power.
Yet one name sprang to mind: the genius boy who'd been turning the world upside down since last year—Jamie Welton.
'Come to think of it, that hair color...'
Emerald.
The iconic hue of House Welton.
The boy's soft locks gleamed just like flawless emeralds.
His thoughts snapping into place, Alex's eyes bulged wide.
"Jamie Welton!"
"No need for the hysterics."
Jamie brushed off Alex's shock with a wave.
Then he turned to Vena.
"Take them and get out."
"What about you, Master?"
"Gotta clean up the rest of the trash. Good thing it's the burnable kind—no cleanup required."
The noble-looking man and his two knights.
The knights' skills were downright pitiful compared to the one he'd reduced to cinders.
"Then I'll head out first."
"...You gonna be okay?"
"Quit yapping and follow. You'll just get in the way."
Vena grabbed Alex's arm and headed for the exit.
Jamie watched them go before shifting his gaze back.
The two knights stared at him, faces taut with tension. Behind them, the scrawny noble shuffled backward step by step.
"W-What do you think you're doing! Do you even know who I am?!"
"And who might you be?"
"I-I'm Viscount Roberto Ivan—one of the pillars of the Rock Alliance! Surely you've heard the name!"
"Oh? Rock Alliance."
"That's right, that's right. Flee now, and I'll let it slide. So..."
"But didn't you catch what I said earlier? Fat clogged up your ears too?"
Jamie sneered at Ivan with utter contempt.
"V-Viscount... that boy's from the We-Welton house..."
"...Huh?"
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Viscount Ivan. I am Jamie Welton, eldest son of Count Welton, lord of Haise in the kingdom's eastern reaches."
Jamie delivered the line with mock gravity, his tone dripping with playful mockery.
"Folks might hush it up, but enslaving other races is a capital offense under national law—even for nobles. Quite the bold move on your part."
"Th-That..."
Ivan couldn't muster anger, not against a kid who looked half his age speaking down to him so formally.
Not when...
House Welton. One of the twin peaks of Seldam Kingdom's eastern nobility—and a world-renowned swordsmanship dynasty. Its patriarch, Count Welton, was one of the realm's five Sword Masters. His wife's lineage? None other than the illustrious House Bell.
And this year-old heir to the Weltons? A magic prodigy of unprecedented talent.
'Th-The brat right in front of me...'
Viscount Ivan wielded considerable sway in the kingdom's south as a member of the Rock Alliance—but he was barely scraping by at the fringes.
He was no match for the Weltons.
If this kid truly was Jamie Welton, "headache" didn't cover it. His very position hung in the balance.
So he steeled himself.
"L-Lies!"
"Hmm."
"That brat's tricking you! Kill him! Erase him! Dead men tell no tales!"
Utter babble.
Jamie smirked at Ivan, who rambled in blind panic, oblivious to his own words.
"Burning trash is the best kind."
"Kiiiill himmm!"
Ivan shoved at the knights' backs.
They didn't budge an inch.
"Lucky you two have a brain."
Jamie gave the knights a benevolent smile and a nod.
One swallowed hard and rasped,
"Thank you."
With that, he dragged his companion backward in retreat.
"Hey! You lot! I'm the one paying you—what the hell!"
"We won't breathe a word of today."
The knights shook off Ivan and shot Jamie a parting don't worry glance.
"Appreciate the thought."
But they couldn't unsee what they'd seen.
He had no desire to harm the knights. Altering memories would suffice.
Jamie snapped his fingers. The knights halted abruptly, their pupils dilating.
"You were never here. Not in this place. Not in your memories. Only Viscount Ivan's crimes linger in your minds. Do your duty as witnesses."
"...Yes."
"...No worries."
The knights nodded and turned to leave.
"Hey! Hey, you! You fucking traitors!"
Viscount Ivan lunged after them, but his flabby, untrained frame stood no chance against battle-hardened Experts.
"P-Please... don't abandon me..."
"You're on your own, trash."
Ivan turned slowly.
Darkness slithered through the narrow corridor like living ink.
"Was gonna burn you myself."
From the shadows, Jamie's purple eyes flashed, his lips curling into a long, wicked grin.
"Haven't fed this one in ages."
Luckily, it wasn't picky.
Burning trash was burning trash—guts or no, it'd gobble it right up.
"Be honored. You're my nourishment now."
"S-Spare me!!"
"Devour it."
"Kyaaaaaaaack!"
The scream never escaped the underground passage.
After wrapping things up, he emerged to find Vena and Alex waiting, elves laid out before them.
"There you are?"
"What the hell happened?"
Jamie arched one brow at Vena, silently demanding an explanation. No matter how he sliced it, her presence here made zero sense.
"Master vanished somewhere... so I was heading back to the inn. Then I heard screams from afar."
Vena gave a quick rundown: how she'd rescued the elves, how she'd crossed paths with Alex.
Once he'd heard it all, Jamie said,
"So you're with Frontier?"
"Frontier?"
Vena's eyes rounded at the word as she glanced at Alex.
Jamie had pegged his identity on the spot—Alex couldn't mask his fluster.
"H-How...?"
"Nothing impressive. Call it intuition."
"Intuition?"
"Kidding—no need to freak. You were with your comrades."
"My comrades? Where are they?"
"Probably en route."
Tracking them was child's play; Vena was registered with Gremia.
Right then, Alex's communication orb chimed.
-Alex! You okay?
"Fine as can be. More importantly, boss."
Alex eyed the boy grinning right in front of him.
Then he sighed heavily.
"I'm with Jamie Welton right now."
-Head straight there.
Moments later, Frontier's crew arrived—along with a visibly annoyed Zikfried.
Bracha bolted to her fallen kin the instant she spotted them.
"...Vile bastards."
She brushed the forcibly sedated elves' faces, her expression sour. Their appearances alone painted a grim picture of their ordeal.
She knew exactly how humans broke elves like this. The realization deepened her despair.
They'd suffer long and hard.
Izaya glanced between Alex, the unfamiliar pink-haired girl, and Jamie Welton before querying Alex.
"What went down?"
Alex's brow twitched at Ramu slung over Izaya's shoulder, but he didn't pry.
There had to be a reason. He recounted the events.
"You got lucky."
"Yeah. But... why are you here, Han? Weren't you holding at Conversation Volcano?"
"Things just... snowballed."
Han flashed an awkward grin, ruffling his black hair.
Alex had been deep in the elf-tracking op and out of the loop on the bigger picture.
Meanwhile, Jamie had mentioned "your comrades."
"I'll fill you in later."
Alex nodded at Izaya's words, no arguments.
He was a man who followed orders.
Mission over—no more meddling in the small stuff.
Zikfried, standing a step back observing, turned to Jamie beside him.
"By the way, young master."
"...Yes?"
"Who's the girl?"
He nodded toward the pink-haired girl standing primly next to Alex—Vena.
"Looks like she's got deep ties to you."
"Later."
"You've got a lot to fill me in on, young master."
Zikfried beamed.
Jamie returned an awkward smile, slowly averting his gaze.
A twinge of regret—he should've come clean from the start if he'd known it'd unravel like this.
Bracha, somewhat composed, turned to Alex with a quiet sigh.
"You did well."
Alex shook his head and pointed at Vena.
"Saved the elves thanks to her, not me. Solo? I'd probably be a corpse back there. Thank her."
"I don't know who you are, but thank you—for my kin."
Vena blinked in surprise at Bracha's gratitude and shook her head.
"N-No, I barely did anything. Without Master, I'd have been the one stuck."
Truth was, without Jamie, Bain the knight likely would've overwhelmed her.
[You wouldn't have folded easily, but winning? Tough.]
Even Phillion conceded as much.
The guy had been that strong. Sure, Jamie one-shot him—but Jamie was a freak.
"No. Just stepping up for our kind... that's thanks enough."
Bracha's faint smile froze solid the moment her eyes settled on Vena's face.
Vena, flustered by the abrupt shift, patted her own cheeks.
"H-Huh? Something on my face?"
"No, it's... are you...?"
"Huh?"
"A Valkyrie...?"
Forest folk recognized their own, races aside.
Bracha was a pureblood elf from the deepest woods. Vena's face? Instant giveaway.
"Why's a Valkyrie here?"
"Uh, umm..."
Vena's fluster drew every eye.
Even Jamie's.
He moved to defuse, but Bracha's follow-up floored him.
"No way... Your Highness?!"
Jamie scowled. Phillion let out a low chuckle.
[Knew it. That reddish tint in the hair gave it away. Vena—you're of the queen's blood.]
Standing in the middle, Vena had zero clue how to react.
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