Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Witch's Guardianship
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Sein was exchanging blows with swords.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your sparring."
Perio burst into the training ground with a slightly different expression from his usual one and said.
Clang!
As the clashing swords spat sparks.
"A guest has arrived."
Perio continued.
Tang!
Sein deflected the opposing sword and lowered his stance to close in.
It was a spar using only their bodies, without employing any mana.
Clang!
Even so, their movements were so fast and sharp that ordinary people couldn't follow them.
Clang!
In that place filled only with sparks.
Sein lifted his heel, shifting his center of gravity.
With that perfect balance, his body slid as if unaffected by gravity.
In the next instant.
"I lost."
The Third Force member sparring against him admitted defeat and stepped back.
Sein's sword was perfectly pressed against his throat.
"Hoo."
Perio approached and handed Sein a towel.
Sein wiped away the sweat pouring down like rain.
Even though he had heard Perio's words, he gripped his sword again.
"Next."
Another Third Force member stepped forward.
"Lord Sein."
Wondering if he hadn't heard, Perio cautiously spoke again.
"A guest has arrived."
"Perio."
Sein assumed his stance and steadied his gaze before speaking.
"Aren't you used to it by now?"
It had been quite some time since he started sparring with the Third Force members.
Ever since the day he left the forge.
"Send them away."
Those seeking to meet Sein had lined up in droves.
Rumors of his special connection to the forge and the equipment he had personally crafted.
And just recently.
-Sein Demorus is with the rumored saintess!
Even the confirmed identity of Cecil.
Some who had maintained neutrality until now, and those looking to switch sides, were requesting meetings with Sein every single day.
However, Sein had refused them all.
Whoosh.
Even without drawing on mana, the atmosphere shifted.
As Sein focused, the surrounding air seemed to be sucked toward him.
He didn't want to lose this feeling.
Runner's high, was it?
They said that when a human runs until reaching their limit and surpasses it, an enormous amount of dopamine is released, granting greater joy than any artificial means.
Sein felt like he finally understood what that meant.
Clang!
Sein clashed swords once more.
"Lord Sein."
Perio, who would normally accept that and leave, called out to him again without departing.
Swish.
Finally, Sein lowered his sword.
"Let's call it here for today."
"You've worked hard, Captain."
The attitudes and gazes of the Third Force members had changed in many ways.
They had certainly sworn loyalty to Sein, but some among them had only pretended to on the surface.
Those who swore loyalty, those who feigned it.
"You've worked hard, Captain!"
All of them now looked at Sein with eyes deepened by layers upon layers and bowed deeply.
It was because, before being family of Demorus, they were warriors.
One who hadn't acknowledged him had now proven himself with his own strength.
Respect and reverence for that.
"For you to go this far, it must be a guest I can't refuse."
Sein said to Perio.
"Yes."
The immediate reply came.
"It's not someone we can keep waiting long."
It was then.
Heh.
Sein, who had somehow formed a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"I suppose so."
He fully understood Perio's sentiment.
"After so long apart, your ability to read presences has dulled a bit."
At the entrance of the training ground, bright light was streaming in.
Standing beside it, the red-haired Roberta was acting as the guest's guide.
Her face flushed red, pupils dilated.
Yet her lips pressed tightly together.
She was clearly holding back her excitement.
It made sense.
"I was a bit focused."
The guest who had come to see Sein was the very being Roberta dreamed of reaching that place.
"Long time no see."
"Long time no see."
Heh.
"Partner."
"Guardian."
Arin Segmore had entered Pitiful Castle.
*
*
*
Sein had been holed up living in Pitiful Castle.
Meals were brought regularly even if he just stayed put, and due to the Zegar incident, the mission regarding successor candidates had been paused for the time being.
"When did you arrive?"
Sein, shirtless, drank ice-cold water and said.
"Yesterday."
Arin had returned to the main house yesterday.
"I reported to the family head and took care of some business."
Arin said, as if making an excuse.
"I've been hearing about you nonstop. A lot has happened, hasn't it."
Their last meeting had been in Contra.
He had heard about the events after that through Demorus's intelligence network.
"You've secured simultaneous support from Rasiel and Dante."
An achievement that would go down in Demorus history.
The two largest organizations under Demorus had declared their support for a single candidate.
"That's the bare minimum."
But Arin didn't find it all that surprising.
Because she knew better than anyone what the being before her eyes was.
"What the hell did you do at the forge to cause such a commotion."
Arin asked.
"I heard Zegar came under you."
Arin continued relentlessly, like a bloodhound.
Sein, who had been staring at her silently, let out a smirk.
"Take it slow."
Only then.
Whoosh.
Arin's cheeks flushed slightly red.
For Arin, who was as white as a corpse, even that small change stood out prominently.
"You've changed."
Arin, somewhat composed now, said to Sein.
"Why? Disappointed?"
"No."
Arin shook her head.
"Now you finally look like the 'him' I knew."
"......"
"I met him once as a child."
Back when the Empire was still intact.
-This is the one...
The guest who had come with her grandfather.
That day's memory was seared into Arin like a brand, remaining vivid even after over a hundred years.
-Cute kid.
The upturned mouth and voice from back then.
It was like a curse that would never fade.
"Now you look like the 'him' I knew."
The him she faced again was different from the one she remembered.
It was natural for his appearance to have changed, but as a necromancer, she could see it.
"You've grown."
That his soul had wavered.
"Are you finally going to act like a proper guardian now? Why the creepiness."
"Exactly."
Arin rose to her feet and said.
A beauty so radiant it hurt the eyes.
"Before being your partner, I am Demorus's acknowledged guardian."
Arin stated.
"Sein Demorus, from now on, I intend to fulfill that role for you."
*
*
*
The Three Witches.
One in each dark underworld, they were treated as absolute, transcendent existences.
Even the family heads who ruled their clans couldn't treat them lightly.
"Good grief."
Lately, Demorus didn't have a single quiet day.
And the name always at the center of that storm was one.
-Sein Demorus.
It was Sein Demorus.
It started with the simultaneous support from Rasiel and Dante.
Then the incident with Sein at the main house.
Not only did he break the unwritten rule in the territory war by annihilating the opposing lord's forces.
Despite being a successor candidate, he received the Third Force as a reward from the family head.
"Really, I don't even know what to say."
He solved the Gandarick disease and won over Sienzin's heart, didn't he.
What surprised them especially was how he had captured the hearts of those notoriously difficult Demorus blacksmiths.
Even the family head could only command them, not earn their true loyalty.
-The Dark Steel prioritizes Sein Demorus's requests above all.
What on earth had he done to make those stubborn blacksmiths act like that.
They heard he made equipment and earned recognition, but that seemed unlikely.
No one believed a twenty-something successor candidate could have learned skills worthy of the Demorus blacksmiths' approval.
There was only one recent event where Sein's name hadn't come up.
-The Holy Sword Debacle.
Zegar Demorus had failed his mission regarding the holy sword and faced great peril.
They thought Sein's name was absent from that one too.
"Zegar has fully recovered?"
"Is she really... a saintess?"
Yet Sein's name, which seemed unrelated, was being mentioned there as well.
Zegar's recovery, deemed impossible.
And the saintess.
Finally.
"Is it true that successor candidate Zegar went under Sein Demorus?"
Even Zegar's oath of loyalty.
No one gave a definitive answer, but given Zegar's actions and attitude, it seemed quite plausible.
Sein was involved in every storm.
And.
Rumble!
Another massive storm engulfed Demorus.
"Is that really true?"
"It's real?"
"No way!"
News that shocked most of Demorus's retainers.
-Sein Demorus is the witch's guardian!
It was another unconfirmed rumor floating around.
That the witch, who could be called the most special existence aside from the family head, was actually Sein's guardian.
However, no one dared confirm it.
But a few days ago.
"The witch entered Pitiful Castle three days ago."
The witch, returning to the main house after a long time, met the family head and headed straight to Pitiful Castle.
The rumor was true.
"Hah."
The high-ranking executives who already knew merely let out sighs.
"Insane. Completely insane."
For the retainers who had dismissed it as nonsense, it was nothing short of shocking.
The witch, who had never interfered in Demorus politics, had finally chosen her first guardian.
And that person was at the center of the storm.
"A successor candidate really could become the heir."
It was enough to uproot even the foundations of Sein's lacking lineage.
"Once the witch leaves, I should go see successor candidate Sein."
Even the hesitant ones were starting to move.
While Demorus was in such turmoil.
"Attack with full force."
Pitiful Castle was under strict control, barring anyone's entry.
A space with only Sein and Arin.
"Sein Demorus."
Arin and Sein were clashing once more.