Chapter 56: I Am Cursed

“You’re planning to leave, aren’t you?”

There wasn’t much luggage to pack.

He only needed to tend to his horse and set off.

As if he had expected this, Rudhi was already positioned in the stables.

He spoke to Kariel, who had just stepped through the entrance.

“…….”

“If you wish, we will remember you only as Luel. Even if the Central authorities ask about this, we will refer to you by that name.”

If there was a reason why this topic hadn’t been mentioned throughout the carriage ride here…

…then this, too, was a form of consideration.

“Thank you.”

“The night roads are dark; why didn’t you rest properly until sunrise?”

“…I am more accustomed to moving at this hour.”

It wasn’t that his night vision was particularly keen.

But he had spent many nights wide awake.

However, it was different from back then.

Unlike those days, he no longer had to fear the rising sun.

“Are you not going to ask?”

“…You must have your reasons. If it were a problem we could solve by hearing about it, it might be different.”

“…….”

“Thank you. I feel the situation was resolved well thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Just as he had with Baron Roia, he had asked Luke to speak casually with him.

That had been only yesterday, and it was only just now that Rudhi had begun to speak comfortably.

Kariel stroked the grey horse that poked its head out, sensing its owner’s presence, for a while.

“If anyone comes looking for me, please tell them to take the horse. If no one does, please give it to Lady Alessia as a gift when I leave. It would be better cared for by her than by me.”

“Do you plan to leave with nothing?”

“Because I have to cross the mountains.”

He could go on horseback, but that would limit his route.

Fewer options meant it would be easier to be tracked.

Just because it had been safe until now didn’t guarantee it would remain safe later.

It was about time to erase his traces.

“No farewell to the Saintess?”

“…….”

He was contemplating it.

Perhaps.

It felt right to just leave like this.

“If a difficult situation arises because of me, you do not need to defend me.”

“I can’t do that.”

“It would put my mind at ease. Please do not worry about it.”

Kariel spoke in an indifferent tone.

“Then, I shall be going now.”

“Right. Luke will be a bit disappointed… but he should blame his own slow wit.”

“Please give my regards to the Baron.”

“He already knows everything, so stop worrying.”

Rudhi reached out his hand.

Kariel hesitated, then let out a small breath and shook his hand.

[If you lack the qualities of a knight, you should at least be good at paperwork!]

[Look at Luke! Has he not already grown so much?! Why are you in such a pathetic state!]

[Dealing with the Demon Race?! Do you know who your father risked his life to fight! It was them! The Demon Race! Them!]

As if being sucked in.

Many things rushed in all at once.

The Baron was enraged, shouting as if dissatisfied.

And.

[But Father! The world has changed! Am I doing this only for myself?!]

[Luke. I can’t do it like you. I was a failure from the start.]

[Father doesn’t expect anything from me. Why was I even born into this land if this is how it is.]

…….

Rudhi’s self-reproach continued.

And as if to comfort him.

Luke spoke.

[Brother. Please believe in yourself more. Aren’t you fast with calculations and sharp-witted?]

[Ah, I’m the one leaving anyway, and you’re the one staying here, right? So what’s the point of giving up? Huh? That! The position of Lord is a hassle, so you just take it, Brother! I’m going to travel across this vast continent, so you just stay tucked away here comfortably.]

[Whenever Father yelled, wasn’t it always you, Brother, who bore that anger in my stead? I still haven’t forgotten those days. There’s no way someone like me would betray you over something like a position or wealth. That wouldn’t be knightly.]

As time passed.

The young man pushed forward with his work, clashing with his father.

Those few years were truly times where every single day felt like despair to him.

However, lavender fields appeared on the far side of the Lord’s Domain.

He actively cooperated in absorbing foreign slaves as citizens by agreeing with the Royal Court’s policies.

He refined the village, organized and paved the roads, and gathered merchants to compromise on tax issues.

[Yes. You were right.]

The small Lord’s Domain grew until it could be called a small city.

He could have expanded it further, but in a world where the extreme poor emerged even in the heart of the Empire, would the Baronens Territory be any different?

He cast aside greed and thoroughly took care of the people he had accepted.

He focused strictly on internal stability.

It would have been an incredibly precarious sight during war-time.

But since there were no city walls, there was no great difficulty in expanding the city.

[It’s not that the era of knights has ended… but yes. I failed to properly identify what to do during times of peace.]

Baron Roia admitted that fact.

Then, he personally tore off a piece of meat that the attendant had been eating.

He moved it all toward his eldest son’s plate.

[Eat plenty.]

The exchange of words was extremely brief.

To a casual observer, it might have sounded indifferent.

[……Yes.]

Rudhi struggled to suppress the surge of emotion in his chest at that voice.

Then, he slowly chewed the meat in his mouth very thoroughly before swallowing.

Because if he didn’t, he felt as though tears and sobs would burst forth like a flood.

…….

“??”

Perhaps it was because he had been spacing out during the handshake.

Kariel looked up at the slightly puzzled Rudhi and spoke first, as if to dispel the awkward atmosphere.

“I hope to see you again if the opportunity arises.”

“Come visit anytime. As long as Baronen is in this place, we will always welcome you. These are my father’s words through my mouth. And I feel the same way, of course.”

Kariel nodded and left the stables, carrying his increased luggage.

Even though he had unloaded some of what the horse was carrying and selected only the bare minimum of necessities.

That alone made his footsteps feel quite heavy.

He was about to leave the area, leaping through the trees and gliding above them.

Neigh!

With the sound of a horse neighing in the distance, heavy carriage wheels rolled as if gnawing the ground, appearing on the side of the road.

“Wait! Just a moment! Stop right there!”

Even in the darkness, that pale appearance remained the same.

Since those red eyes glowed on their own like a nocturnal beast, it wasn’t hard to recognize him.

“I almost missed you because I was a bit slow!”

He had intended to ignore him and go… but he stopped because of the sincerity shown in chasing him.

“First, get in.”

“…….”

“Don’t you have things to ask? I think you mentioned something last time but then went silent, so I thought you’d ask later. Ah, the Saintess mentioned it, didn’t she?”

……Come to think of it.

The memory of following Alessia and Luke for that purpose suddenly surfaced.

“You’re certainly going to get the ‘Crown Breaker,’ right?”

“…Crown Breaker?”

“You don’t know? It’s Grandeus’s favorite sword. Ah, right. Its name was Elbat, wasn’t it?”

He had heard of Elbat from the Demon King, but this was the first time he had heard the name <Crown Breaker>.

“Why is it called the Crown Breaker?”

“Well, it seems that nickname was given because Grandeus brought all sorts of frustration to the Demon King Candidates. It means that while they wanted to become kings, that sword split the crown itself.”

For example, he crushed the possibilities of those who might become the Demon King.

Hence, the Crown Breaker.

“How about it? There are plenty of other interesting stories besides that. Also, there are parts where I’d like to ask for your cooperation for the sake of the material. It would be a problem to just steal a name blindly, wouldn’t it? I also have things I’m curious about regarding Saint Kariel….”

“…….”

With a sigh, Kariel had no choice but to step through the open door into the carriage.

Before long, he felt a slight vibration as the carriage began to roll.

“I certainly thought the successor to that person? Well, I figured there wouldn’t be one, but if there were, I thought they’d be in the Demon Realm, or perhaps from the Order of Relief Knights here in the Middle Realm. This is unexpected.”

“I am equally bewildered.”

In the first place, he had only heard of such an existence in passing through rumors.

He had thought of it as material to belittle his father, and even that had been quickly forgotten.

“If it’s not too rude, how did you come to continue Grandeus’s progress?”

“…….”

If he said the Demon King told him, what kind of expression would the man make?

“I learned it in a dream.”

“A dream? Uh, then there must have been some magical arrangement… or some trigger or catalyst….”

He took it surprisingly seriously.

After watching him think for a moment.

Kariel asked.

“So, are you going to Lady Alessia?”

“Uh… you figured that out too?”

“Vaguely.”

It didn’t particularly matter.

Whether he left without saying goodbye.

Or whether he left after saying goodbye.

…What did it matter.

“That aside. Besides the report on Saint Kariel, I’m thinking of writing a novel inspired by this. How about I recite the plot to you and you listen to it?”

“…….”

Kariel nodded.

To summarize.

Philbar, inspired by his pseudonym, wrote about someone—the name would change—who went on a pilgrimage after the death of Saint Kariel.

In truth, this person was his distant descendant, who happened to come into contact with a Holy Relic, accessed memories of the past, found the grave, reunited with him, and continued his progress.

And so he became a Hero, or something like that; listening to the content, it didn’t sound like anything particularly grand.

“That’s fine, but… how about doing it like this?”

He briefly recounted his own situation, adapting it slightly.

A failed aspiring knight on a pilgrimage visits the birthplace and Holy Site of a saint who shares his name.

While tracing the traces of the ancient saint there, he encounters his soul and experiences the life the saint lived.

Finally, as a final test, by grasping the sword the saint used in life….

“Oh! That’s great!”

The ordinary sword becomes a Holy Relic or a Holy Sword.

And then it turns out that this failed knight was actually his distant descendant.

In the end, through indomitable will, he overcame all sorts of trials and hardships.

Becoming a great knight and a Hero, he saved the world from evil.

“……It’s a suitable story for a fairy tale.”

“It depends on how it’s written. Now that I hear it, this side is much more romantic. The deficiency of being a descendant of an ancient saint but being nothing himself! That’s plenty for a protagonist’s immersion factor. As a genre, this would be a knight or hero novel… but that’s fine. And as a twist, if it’s revealed at the end that he was actually the descendant of the ancient saint… wouldn’t the emotion be doubled?”

“…I’m not sure, but if you feel that way, go ahead and write it.”

Saint Kariel had no children.

But the children who inherited that name.

Would be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

“Come to think of it, the name Luel you used as a pseudonym was unexpected. Now that I think about it, Lord Lueld also… ah, excuse me.”

“…….”

His father was connected to the boy Saint Kariel looked after?

What were the odds of that?

Kariel gave a bitter smile.

“If that were truly the case… it must have been an extraordinary connection.”

After sharing such small talk and pleasantries for a while.

The carriage stopped.

“…….”

“If you step out, she’ll probably be waiting. She has a good intuition. You don’t have to be too hasty, so take your time talking. Ah, I’ll wait here and organize the conversation we just had. Since the next destination… will likely be there, let’s go together halfway.”

Kariel nodded and opened the carriage door.