Chapter 87
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Waiting
Lete could no longer stand the current state of Lundna City.
“Esir… you bastards.”
The handsome, slender man named Lete cursed as he swept back his brown hair.
“Right… I guess this is to be expected. This is Roverland, after all. Things were only different when Lord Harun was here.”
He muttered, trying his best to rationalize the situation…
“But this is still ridiculous!”
In the end, Lete couldn't hold it in any longer.
It was collapsing.
The elite warriors who had protected Ailun, and Lundna, were crumbling far too quickly.
“I'm sorry, Commander… The front line is in such dire straits… and I'm just…”
Lete could only sigh as he looked at the younger warrior, whose head was bowed and voice trembled.
“A man who's lost his leg has nothing to be sorry for. I'll make sure to squeeze some compensation out of those Esir bastards, so go home and rest easy.”
“I'm sorry…”
The borderlands weren't what they used to be. The magical beasts had become unusually ferocious and were multiplying rapidly.
Because of this, warriors were deserting for various reasons, one after another.
“Hah… Buddy. I'm sorry.”
The mercenary captain, who had fought alongside him for a long time, brought up the bitter subject while lighting a cigarette.
“I tried to stick it out for your sake, buddy… but there's no way we can handle these battles for this kind of pay. I think this is it for us.”
“Yes… I understand.”
An entire company of skilled mercenaries had pulled out.
For Lete—that is, for the commander of the Lundna Beast Subjugation Regiment—it was a devastating blow, but he couldn't even think of trying to stop them.
Because every single word the mercenary had said was true.
Things like that kept happening.
“I heard our performance bonus was cut…? I was going to buy a proposal necklace with that…”
It pained him to see the dejected rookie,
“How could you do this too? Huh? Someone has to protect Lundna!”
and when even a long-trusted comrade turned his back, even Lete found it hard to maintain his composure.
“Commander. I saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“The monster from the rumors.”
Lete flinched.
“That's just a baseless rumor. You know that. No such beast exists.”
“No. It's real. I saw it with my own two eyes. That thing… it's not a beast we can fight. I'm… I'm leaving Lundna. I'm sorry, Commander, for running away like this.”
And so, Lete could only watch as countless warriors left his side.
With their numbers dwindling, the fighting grew even harder.
After a truly desperate struggle, Lete managed to rally their morale and use a clever strategy to push back the beasts and complete their mission.
By the time he returned to the city, a week had passed.
He first washed up and rested a bit before heading to the tavern where his men were already having a drink.
But then,
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
he witnessed a scene of his men being beaten.
His men, who had fought to the death for the city and had just returned to rest, were being beaten like dogs.
“Ghk… Krrk…”
One of them was being choked with one hand, lifted into the air, and was struggling desperately.
Enraged, Lete was about to step in immediately, but,
*The Esir family's… Experts?*
he had to hold back when he saw the crest on their clothes.
Of course, inside, he was boiling with twice the rage.
The Esir warriors, who never showed their faces on the battlefield, were beating up the very men who'd risked their lives for the city. What kind of nonsense was this?
Still, he suppressed his anger, approached, and mediated the fight.
“That's enough, isn't it?”
He first took care of the subordinate who was being choked.
He grabbed the Expert's arm and pulled it down.
Judging by his strength, the man seemed to be a mid-level Expert, but that was no problem for Lete.
“Who are you?”
Lete replied nonchalantly to the Esir warriors who were shouting at him menacingly.
“Me? I'm Lete.”
“L-Lete?!”
“A peak-level Expert…!”
Only then did the warriors gulp and back away.
At twenty-nine, Lete had a youthful face, which made it easy for others to underestimate him at first glance.
“Go on. Stop fighting. We just got back today. Give us a break.”
Honestly, he wanted to beat them all to a pulp, but the Esir family wouldn't stand for that. Instead, he had to placate them while letting them save face.
“Kh-khm. We'll back down out of respect for the commander.”
Arrogant bastards, right to the end.
Lete couldn't help but sigh.
“C-Commander… They started it… They told us we stink of beasts and should wash up…”
Hearing his subordinate's words made him sigh again. No, it made him furious.
Just how much more was the Esir family going to ruin this city?
He really didn't know anymore.
*At this rate… should I have pledged myself to Lansen? He's a bigger man, isn't he? Still granting tariff exemptions to a place like Lundna.*
That day. The day Harun died.
Lete had been there too.
At the time, he had knelt in accordance with Harun's will.
But… in the end, he was a man who loved his hometown, Lundna, too much.
He had chosen to stay with Lundna.
But the more time passed, the less sure he was.
The Esir family was the only one with the capacity to rule Lundna City… but did they truly deserve that right?
Lete's eyes were the color of fallen leaves.
Lete, lost in thought.
Those autumn-leaf eyes deepened, like the fall season itself.
And a few days later,
he saw it.
The absurd monster his comrade, who had turned his back on him that day, had spoken of… the one from the ghost stories.
That monster… no, two of them, leading countless magical beasts, were heading toward Lundna City.
His judgment was swift.
*This… I can't stop this. The Esir family… they can't stop it either. No way.*
The destruction of his beloved hometown, Lundna, was now imminent.
***
I wait.
Will he come?
Or will he not?
Ahead lies a sort of boundary line, classifying the territory as Lundna City's.
Standing upon it,
I wait.
If he does come, what will he look like?
Will he have fled in a hurry? Or carved a path through blood?
This operation was based entirely on the information Sea had brought.
*Lete.*
A warrior who loves his hometown, Lundna.
Though young at twenty-nine, he is a man supported by countless citizens and warriors.
Yet, he is an ill-fated hero who could not overcome the stronghold of the Esir family, who have reigned as local lords for a long time.
He knelt before me over Harun's body that day, but when his hometown refused to join hands with me, he slyly sided with them—a cunning man.
In a way, he's a contrast to the straightforward and unyielding Kashmir… but in truth, this is the Roverland way. Kashmir was the strange one.
If anything, Lete was more like me.
That's how precious his home is to him.
Haven't I also lived a life where I could cast aside promises like old shoes and betray anyone if it meant protecting my siblings?
That's why I believed.
That Lete,
would make a move.
Because that red tiger was a monster Lundna would find difficult to handle.
No.
To be precise, they could handle it.
If Lundna gathered all its strength and countered in an organized and tactical manner, it would be enough.
Lundna was that strong of a city.
United Experts could readily kill a Sword Master, and a united army could do the same… so the two Anomalies I had pushed toward Lundna were manageable.
*But can you actually do that?*
The debauchery of the Esir family had weakened all of Lundna and shattered the unity and trust of its warriors.
When faced with a crisis, could such a family truly concentrate all of the city's power?
And when you realize that's impossible… Lete, what choice will you make?
I,
want Lete to come to me of his own accord.
In fact,
there is an easier way.
I could simply appear like a comet and save Lundna when it's in crisis.
Then, I could exterminate the pig-like Esir family and rule Lundna with the citizens' support.
But I was far more ambitious than that.
I didn't want a picture where I solve everything for them.
I want the people of Lundna to move of their own will.
Only then can they become 'my' forces, trustworthy in the truest sense.
I want them to open the city gates and welcome me themselves.
It was that kind of waiting.
Standing on Lundna's border, hoping for an invitation from within.
Waiting, perhaps, is synonymous with believing in fate.
It's me believing you will come, and you believing I will be here.
It's believing that we can meet under a single destiny.
But that belief might be wrong.
Lete. You might have already been beheaded and your head put on a spike.
Or you might have been devoured by the monsters, with not even a finger left to find.
I took out the Book of Fate and checked the [Search] page.
There was still time.
The two red dots remained stationary, a short distance from the city.
They were acting much more cautiously.
They were probably pushing the beasts they'd gathered toward the city and observing the reaction, wondering if another guy like me would suddenly pop out.
If neither Lete nor anyone else came to me by the time these two Anomalies started to move, then I planned to move first.
I didn't wish for the destruction of Lundna City, after all.
When that time came, I would cut down the Anomalies and the magical beasts with my own hands.
And after that, I'd have to kill the entire incompetent Esir bloodline, right?
At that point, I'd abandon my ambitions and just rule by force.
Right.
Not everything can go as planned.
Forget inspiring loyalty and trustworthy retainers; I'd just have to dominate them with power then.
And yet, the reason I'm still standing here looking pathetic…
is because, in the end, I believe in fate.
That there will be someone who forges their own destiny with their own hands, by their own will, not by another's.
That there will be at least one person who will change things themselves, before someone else forces them to.
The belief… that I would without a doubt meet such a person.
It felt like he would come,
then it felt like he wouldn't,
and just when I was about to give up and charge in.
*Clop-clop—*
He came.
He was covered in blood.
His white Ailun horse was foaming at the mouth, having been pushed so hard.
The man, who had clearly fought his way through a horde of beasts, had eyes the color of fallen leaves.
He seemed startled for a moment.
Because I and my cavalry were lined up at the border of Lundna.
But he quickly concealed his surprise and approached me.
He dismounted and stared straight at me.
I, too, studied his face.
*Well, aren't you handsome.*
Lete. This man, said to be two years my senior, was exactly as Sea's information had described.
A man who knew how to act when it was time to act.
I asked him.
“So, can I come in?”
In response, he threw the head of the Esir patriarch at my feet.
*Thud— Roll…*
The ruler who had, however briefly, governed Ailun's second-largest city, rolled pathetically in the dirt, his body nowhere to be seen.
“Please.”
Lete said, bowing his head deeply.
I didn't ask what had happened.
In a city facing an overwhelming monster, there must have been an incredible, unspoken story between two factions that despised each other.
The twists and turns of that story weren't what was important right now.
Lete had personally executed the city's ruler and come to me for help, betting everything he had.
Therefore,
what I had just received was not the head of an Esir, but the hearts of Lundna's warriors.
I vaulted onto my horse,
“Cavalry.”
*Clack—*
and took one step across the border.
“Charge.”
To cut down the monsters and make a triumphant return to Lundna City.
“Hah!”
My cavalry let out a thunderous cry and charged forward as one.