Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Become My Dog?
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093
"Will you become my dog?"
It was Jagar, who would normally have thrown a fit.
He would have jammed a dagger into his temple, calling it nonsense.
"......"
But the guy had proven himself to be a candidate for Demorus's successor.
He listened attentively.
It was one of the essential virtues for anyone who sought to stand above others.
"Become my dog, like your subordinates. Jagar."
Sein said.
"I'll save you."
"Save... Do you know what that means?"
Jagar's voice changed.
Everything had been shattered for him.
And in that ruin, he had found a single thread of hope.
"Stripping your successor candidacy might be inevitable, but I'll block it as much as possible. If you rack up merits from now on, it's entirely feasible."
"Bullshit."
"Or you rack up the merits yourself."
"Bullshit—!"
Jagar shouted.
Even Demorus's potions and priests couldn't heal it.
"In this state? You're ultimately here to humiliate me...."
"I cured Gandarick's disease."
"......!"
"And that rumor wasn't baseless."
He would know.
It was just that the secret lay with Sein's guardian witch, or it was temporary, or so he thought.
"That alone isn't...."
"Forgot?"
Jagar quietly stared at Sein.
"That I was there that day, too."
"......!"
Sein was right.
The day the lightning bolt fell and the giant soldier burned.
Sein had been there.
"Me. You. And...."
Another person who had been with Sein.
"The Saintess, too."
Sein revealed another secret.
'The family head knows anyway.'
He would have figured it out by the time the rumors spread.
Some retainers knew as well.
*Information loses value if not sold in time.*
He had learned that back in his glory days in Otolomeo.
"I'll restore that dog-like state of yours. Myself."
That alone shook Jagar.
Jagar, who had lived his whole life gripping a sword.
Being unable to hold a sword was tantamount to losing his entire life.
Sein was now offering to save Jagar's life.
"Above all, are you just going to take it lying down?"
Sein said.
"You came at me like a dog, too, didn't you?"
What was he talking about?
"Are you not going to get revenge on that white-masked bastard after what he did to you?"
"......!"
"Go ahead and get your revenge. I'll heal you. Give you power."
And.
"I'll let you live, see?"
That was the credible offer Sein could make.
Anything more, and he wouldn't believe it.
"......"
A brief silence followed.
And finally, Jagar spoke.
"Lady Tempia is strong."
Tempia, one of the successor candidates.
"Brother Kolan goes without saying. He's the closest to the family head."
Jagar tried hard, but he was ultimately overshadowed by them.
That day, throwing himself at Sein had been their will.
"You were already a dog bastard."
"Yeah. I was a dog bastard. One last thing...."
Jagar said.
"Barze, that guy has something, too."
All the successor candidates.
Jagar must have sensed it.
That he was the most lacking.
"Can you trample them and become family head?"
Jagar said.
"He asked if you had the confidence to become a shining sun."
What an idiot.
But the guy was a Demorus, too.
"You think it's impossible?"
"I'll believe."
That was Jagar's answer.
"If I'm going to be a dog bastard anyway, better a master who can reliably feed me. Should I bark or something?"
The deal was struck.
"No."
Sein had come today to propose this deal to acquire Jagar and his forces.
But before that, there was something more fundamental.
"I'm the same as you."
"......?"
"I can't live taking it lying down."
The biggest dog bastard he had seen that day.
"The white mask. Tell me everything about what happened with that bastard. That's my first order as your master."
Heh.
Finally, a smile spread across Jagar's lips.
*
*
*
Jagar's wounds were critical, so Cecil had to pour in a long time to treat them.
If Sein stepped in, it would speed up, but there was no need for Jagar to recover quickly, nor for Sein to unnecessarily reveal his power.
Clang!
Jagar was a new beginning.
Until now, Sein had charged ahead, but he had lived cautiously in many ways.
Clang!
Countless calculations.
Clang!
But this time, he realized that could be a problem in some aspects.
Whoosh!
Sein had been looking too far ahead.
It was what he had mulled over repeatedly from the start of the final round until escaping Chichiron.
Clang!
It had been seared into his mind like a brand, controlling everything about him at some point.
*A grand purpose.*
Sein's ultimate goal.
Claaang!
But this time, he realized.
'Can't just look too far ahead.'
He had unknowingly restricted his own actions for it.
'Must acknowledge it once more.'
This place was different from Sanctuary, where he prided himself on knowing everything.
'Don't forget.'
Claaaang—!
That he was a cheat player.
A being with greater potential than anyone, superior talent beyond all.
That's why he had advanced toward distant goals, but not anymore.
"How many hours has it been?"
Right now.
What mattered was right now, immediately.
He couldn't even handle Tezera at present.
"Thirty-two hours... in."
If Tezera suddenly felt like killing him in a bad mood, he would fight with all his might but die.
"Thirty-two hours of hammering...."
What about Arin?
She was his partner, but she too was a monster in Sein's eyes.
He couldn't beat her as he was now.
What about Demorus?
What about the Immortal?
Claang!
Weak.
He moved calculating to buy their favor, avoid their wrath.
Claang!
That wasn't who he was.
"What on earth are you trying to make?"
He was one who advanced as he pleased, acted freely, and enjoyed the game Sanctuary itself.
So now, he had to decide.
'What this world is.'
The boundary between reality and game.
He had to admit he was wavering between them.
"Will you eat?"
"No."
So he decided.
The current world was both game and reality to him.
Both, without choosing one.
Claaaang!
The fires in Demorus's forge didn't go out.
Word spread that Sein Demorus had entered the dark steel forge and not emerged.
And finally.
"Extinguish all furnaces."
The master smith, Pargen, gave the order.
It had been seven days and five hours since Sein Demorus entered the dark steel forge.
Snore, snore.
Sein lay sprawled where he had been hammering, snoring loudly.
*
*
*
"Ha, fuck. Finally feel alive."
Nothing cleared the mind like hammering.
The heat of the blazing furnace, the roaring flames.
Feeling them was like taking a rough drug, forgetting everything.
Sein's appearance had changed.
He still casually swept back his long-grown hair, but his clothes and the sword at his side were different.
These were what Sein had forged in the smithy all this time.
"Lord Sein. A gear fabrication request has come in."
Sein had hidden his abilities.
Both his personal prowess and his talents.
To avoid excessive attention.
And suspicion.
"Decline it."
But it was futile.
He had to do everything he could.
He had to retract what he thought were useless investments, thinking of the gear he would gain later.
He must not fear his talents shining one by one, making others wary.
No matter what suspicion they brought.
'Still incomplete.'
The gear he wore was unfinished.
But he knew what to do.
In a little time, there would be results.
"Everyone gathered?"
The 3rd Combat Unit was assembled in Bitong Castle's training grounds.
"Are you alright?"
The rumor of Sein holing up in the smithy had spread throughout Demorus.
The 3rd Combat Unit worried about such a Sein but couldn't pry.
"What?"
"Wondering if something happened."
"Ah, my head was a bit messed up."
Heh.
"Feels better now."
At those words, Sienjin let out a sigh of relief.
"Still a bit complicated, though."
"If there's anything I can help with, I will."
"You should."
Seeing that, Sienjin smiled.
"You look good."
The old Sein always wore a smile.
Mocking or ridiculing others.
But Sienjin, from the East, took deeper interest in human eyes than others.
He remembered that Sein's eyes had been indescribably complex.
"Cut the useless talk."
Sein's eyes now looked much lighter.
And somehow firmer.
"Give your orders. Captain."
Thud.
Sienjin caught the flying sword.
"We've never properly sparred, right?"
He had taken over the 3rd Combat Unit but never fought them.
Only the bout between Roberta and the unit's youngest.
"You don't know me, I don't know you."
Sein said.
"So we get to know each other. That's love, isn't it?"
Heh.
"Forget all that, let's clear our heads."
What he gained from the smithy wasn't just gear.
The smiths' hearts.
And a glimmer of something shining.
"Fighting till we drop will clarify something."
Sein had no intention of letting it slip.
"Come at me. One by one for now."
That moment.
Clang!
The iron sword Sein held clashed with the iron sword Sienjin held.
"Just what I wanted."
Sienjin charged without hesitation.
"Nice."
Sein found the sight pleasing.
Watching their fight, the 3rd Combat Unit was shocked again and again.
'This level?'
They thought not only they, but no one knew the true face of Sein Demorus.
And soon their hearts burned hot.
After all, they were ones who lived by the sword.
"A guest has arrived."