Chapter 252
Chapter 252
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 252
Chapter Title: Conditions for Happiness
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Kirhas Hearttaker was staring blankly at the night sky.
Vulrang Castle was an ancient fortress of great renown, a work of art built with the empire's distinctive fortification techniques. And cat beastkin favored high places.
Thanks to these two factors aligning perfectly, Kirhas could sit at the castle's highest point and gaze at the moon.
To other beastkin, the sight of their Great Chieftain occasionally appearing on that balcony symbolized their dominion over this massive, magnificent castle. It was an opportunity to satisfy personal desires while reaping political gains.
It was also a chance to hide her expressions—a time to be alone, free from all attendants.
Politics and diplomacy, military affairs and governance.
It was the only time she could set aside her duties as Great Chieftain and spend in solitude.
"Hoo...."
Thick cigarette smoke lingered at her lips. The golden mask, returned to her upon her reinstatement as Great Chieftain, rattled faintly at that moment.
[He's here.]
Kadan's voice echoed in her mind. The Jackal God chuckled.
[Your master has arrived.]
"......!"
Kirhas's tail shot up high, then drooped limply. With a cold expression, she lifted the mask and set it on the table beside the window.
"The Great Chieftain sees to her subordinates after they seek her out."
[The smoke's thicker, huh?]
"That's undignified. And my benefactor will come find me himself."
[Patience has grown, too.]
"My benefactor still needs me......"
[Self-loathing's grown as well.]
Kadan grinned as he parried her words. Kirhas shot a sharp glare at the mask, making it rattle.
[Why not just knock him down? You're the apostle of the God of the Hunt. One of the mightiest warlords in the material world, and the first beastkin to conquer a castle in history. How long do you plan to act like a good housecat waiting patiently for the prey to drop?]
"What have I accomplished?"
[What?]
"I'm asking what I've achieved on my own, Kadan. The titles attached to my name... most of them are medals my benefactor pinned on me himself."
[Defeatist.]
"No. This is called loyalty."
Kirhas stepped down from the balcony and into the room. She sprawled on the sofa and stroked the surface of the golden mask.
"Apostle of the God of the Hunt? No. Kadan, you and I are partners. I don't submit to you, and you don't demand my submission. We joined hands for the same reason: 'freedom for the beastkin.'"
[So?]
"If I had a religion, it wouldn't be the halls of the pantheon or the Scales of the Hunt offered to you. My religion is named Cerned. My master is Fernandez. From that distant day that now feels like ancient history... in the sewers beneath 'that' city...."
-I will not submit to the Inquisition.
-I pledge my loyalty to you, Duke Fernandez Cerned.
From that moment of conversation. To the young man who had taken in a powerless girl from her slave days, even if only as a tool. That was enough.
She poured liquor from the table into a crystal glass. Amber, viscous whiskey flowed down the sides. She swirled the glass once and called toward the door.
"Is no one there?"
"Yes, Great Chieftain!"
"If Sir Fernin enters the city looking for me, bring him straight here—no matter the hour."
"......? Yes, Great Chieftain!"
She would wait until needed. Even so, impatience was inevitable. Kirhas sipped the liquor and closed her eyes.
From now until he came, she intended to count every second.
* * *
Around that time, Fernandez was meeting an unexpected guest. Piel, the Great Archangel of Wisdom and Truth. She stood in the middle of the road leading to the city center inside the castle walls, waiting for him.
A glint of surprise lit Fernandez's eyes. He knew the beastkin were advancing quickly, but Piel's growth was astonishing. Was this the manifestation of a Great Archangel?
With ebony hair cascading long and a pristine white dress draped neatly over her, she gazed at him with sparkling golden eyes.
"Were you waiting for me?"
"I knew you'd come today."
"I advised against peeking into the future as much as possible."
"Not the future—I read the past."
Piel's gaze briefly touched Fernandez's abdomen. She fidgeted with her fingers and cautiously handed him a vial.
"It's good for wounds."
"Demonica bodies don't respond to medicine."
Potency and toxicity are a paper-thin line. Any artificial influence on the flesh was suspect. Demonica were immune to nearly all toxins in the material world, which meant resistance to almost every medicine as well.
Well, everything had pros and cons. Fernandez smirked and kept walking. Piel walked beside him.
"I read your past."
"Nothing good, I imagine."
"Not just this life, but your previous one too."
At those words, Fernandez halted. Could information reflection span dimensions? By his knowledge, it should be impossible. But a Great Archangel reading the past of a reincarnated being across dimensions... he couldn't dismiss it outright.
"What did you see?"
"Your birth to your death."
"I see. You've realized."
"Yes. I read everything—my sisters' situations, this world, all of it."
"And the price?"
"My lifespan. I have less than ten years left now."
Piel said it nonchalantly. Fernandez studied her face, then chuckled softly.
"Ten years is plenty."
"You mean you can achieve your goal before then?"
"If you read my last two years, you saw it. I've eliminated two great demons, redeemed two Great Archangels, and half of material civilization's societies are cooperating with me."
"......Indeed. I understand now why you were so troublesome to deal with in your past life."
Piel smiled faintly. Their conversation, once filled with mutual attempts at killing in their previous lives, flowed warmly under the summer night's stuffy heat.
"You were a bit unlucky."
"Sure. The fools saw me that way."
"That's why you were unlucky."
Piel stopped walking. She looked up at Fernandez with gentle eyes and slowly spoke.
"That was true in the past life. Not anymore. Do you know? You've already changed."
"......What are you getting at?"
"What do you want?"
Piel glanced at Fernandez's abdomen, where red flesh still peeked through. It wasn't a minor wound. It had barely missed his organs, but it wasn't something to ignore.
No matter a Demonica's durability, they were still flesh and blood. Piel looked at Fernandez.
"Your actions. Your ideology. It's not the black mage's mindset solely for a goal. People change, but yours borders on a complete transformation. So, are your desires truly the same as before?"
"I don't want to answer."
"Do you still want to save your son's soul? Do you pity that child's life? What of your late first wife? Do you want to be her beacon once more?"
Fernandez's eyes blazed. It was anger—like a dragon struck on its reverse scale. But Piel met his gaze steadily.
Finally, Fernandez looked away.
"I don't deserve it."
"Why?"
"I don't deserve a peaceful, serene old age to end my days. I don't deserve to drag Aria into that life again. Aria must be happy. Unlike those days when she had no choice but to choose me, she deserves a simple, fulfilling... warm life."
"You're unlucky."
Piel chuckled softly at her own words. As Fernandez glared, she soothed him.
"It's so you. That habit of judging others' feelings won't change. Feizashi Wildcast. You've never known happiness. Who are you to decide someone else's?"
"What?"
"Do you know happiness? Were you happy with Aria? Guilt, debt, duty, pity—that's not happiness. But unlike you, she was happy back then."
Piel shrugged and slowly walked toward the alley's end.
"After all this is over. Find your own happiness then. Don't just run—walk sometimes. The world isn't just ahead; it's under your feet, above your head, behind you too."
And next time, hear from the person themselves before deciding. You unlucky bastard. Piel said with a warm smile.
"I'm glad. You've fully shed Feizashi's shadow. You're Fernandez Cerned now."
"That repentant-villain face is annoying."
"I'm actually glad. My sisters were right. I was half-doubting it."
Piel shrugged and vanished. Fernandez didn't pursue. He let out a "ha" laugh and headed toward the city center.
* * *
"Great Chieftain, Sir Fernin has arrived."
"Let him in."
At the guard's words, a languid voice came from beyond the door. Fernandez slowly opened it and entered the room. Even with the balcony windows open, cigarette smoke filled the air.
Ashtray piled with remnants, empty bottles lined on the desk. Fernandez felt a heavy pressure as he slowly approached her.
"Kirhas."
"......"
Kirhas gave no reply. Her tail twitched, drooped, stiffened, drooped again—repeating.
"Kirhas?"
"7,314."
"What?"
"7,315."
Kirhas's voice was icy. Fernandez approached cautiously. With each step, her tail flicked.
"7,316."
"What are you saying?"
"Two hours, one minute, fifty-seven seconds. The time since you entered the city until now. Based on the last day, it's five days and fourteen hours. Benefactor."
-Creeeak.
The chair creaked as it turned. Her turquoise eyes sparkled.
Fernandez stood still, looking down at her.
Soon, a soft "pfft" laugh escaped him. Kirhas looked at his face and smiled like a flower. Seeing her, Fernandez smiled back.
"I'm back."
"You've worked hard. Benefactor."
Kirhas strode forward and hugged him. Blood still fresh, Fernandez started to push her away but smirked at her twitching ears.
The Great Chieftain title was something he'd forced on her, closer to it. Unlike her past life, she hadn't risen to rule the beastkin herself.
Day by day, it must have felt like wearing ill-fitting clothes.
Day by day, she endured the pressure and burden.
A twenty-year-old maiden suddenly head of a race. No matter her heroic qualities, she was different from her past life's Kirhas.
'Just like me.'
Different from the past life. To Fernandez, it was a phrase bordering on terror and burden. Events diverging, unforeseen variables, uncontrollable factors. Strategies constantly refined amid tension.
But setting all that aside. Being different from the past life... might mean salvation. Even if the future was dark, enemies unpredictable, war always unfavorable.
Different from the past life. The world wouldn't end. Different from the past life. He could be saved.
Different from the past life. Perhaps he deserved to pursue happiness.
Maybe someday. He could earn that right.
Selfishness? Arrogance? Hypocrisy? Self-justification?
Even setting those aside.
"You've worked hard too, Kirhas."
I want to be happy. In that moment, Fernandez thought it for the first time.
Kirhas shuddered under his thick hand on her head, then gasped sharply.
Their gazes crossed briefly.
After a short silence, Kirhas's tail wrapped around Fernandez's leg.