《Devron"s past, and a new member joins the Gusts of Wind》
After checking the information of the knives, Haroon visited Devron"s room secretly.
"Haha! I knew you"d come to me. You must be wondering who I am, right?" Devron welcomed him in.
Haroon was surprised to see two cups of herbal tea, and it was still hot. Devron really was expecting his visit, although Haroon never talked him about it.
"Y-yes. I have a few other things to ask as well."
"Well, it"s a lot to go through, so why don"t we start with a cup of tea?"
Devron gently pushed a cup of tea to Haroon"s side. They each took a sip.
"Enjoying a cup of good tea with a good person is a very luxurious thing for me. It can"t go wrong."
"Is that so?"
Haroon couldn"t understand. His position is high enough to call an imperial princess by her name. Just considering that, he would be able to do anything if he wanted to.
"Then, let me tell you my story first."
As if he was enjoying the warmth of cup, he gently grasped the cup with both hands and closed his eyes. His rough, solid face that represented the suffers he went through, and his deep wrinkles were shaking, which was almost unnoticeable.
"Ha, I never knew I"d get a chance to talk about my life to someone. It fills me with emotions."
His old eyes were shaking.
"I will keep it short. I am actually Briella"s uncle. My youngest sister was the current Emperor"s wife. My lineagefamilies have produced key figures in the military authorities of the current empire. Following the tradition of my family, I was sent to a knight academy, and I became a knight bachelor of the Messenger knights when I graduated. But when the Emperor ascended the throne, a whistleblower exposed the scandal of Viscount f.u.kov, the formal leader of the Messenger Knights. The whistleblower claimed that the Messenger Knights were secretly helping an imperial prince, a violation of the rules of the golden battle. The Messenger Knights were a secret knightage of the Empire, and it meant we had to remain neutral in regards to the battle. Even though I had no idea about it, I was in the same boat, so I had to experience the tragic event."
Devron"s lineage were not high ranking n.o.bles, but they produced talented knights. Devron was born as a legitimate child, and was gifted. With his family"s systematic education and with his own pa.s.sionate training, he became a member of the Messenger Knights in his early 20s; the knightage that was considered the best of the secret knightages in the Empire.
But the leader had violated the law by helping a candidate in the golden battle, and it was exposed to the Emperor. To complicate the matter, the Messenger Knights helped the greatest threat to the current Emperor. So as soon as the Emperor had ascended the throne, the Messenger knights were annihilated to its roots. Devron was able to make a dramatic escape with the help of his sister who was working as a royal court magician for the imperial palace at the time.
"The reasons why I was able to escape the imperial palace were that; I wasn"t officially registered as a member of the Messenger Knights, and I was training in a secret training hall with a few of my friends when the purge was going on, and that only the high authorities knew of my existence, who were killed in the beginning of the purge. Of course, if it wasn"t for the desperate help of Briella"s Mother, I wouldn"t have made it through the guardians of the imperial family"s iron-like defense."
After the purge, Devron wandered around the continent with his family slave Teeno. If the imperial family found out that Devron was a member of the Messenger Knights, there was a chance that his entire family could be destroyed. The imperial family had two secret knightages which traced and destroyed the rebels, and Devron knew how skillful and cruel they were. So he intentionally left the Empire, wandering around the meadows of the northern parts of the continent, becoming a mercenary in another Empire, anything he could do to live on.
"And as I had never heard from my family, I never knew that my sister became an empress. While I wandered around the world, my parents died and my family became a nominal family. And about two years ago, I came back to the Empire."
Just to realize that he wasted his time wandering around the world, giving up his social ident.i.ty of a knight, being afraid of the chase that was never going on.
"I wouldn"t have run off if n.o.body knew of my existence……. Come to think of it, life is very cruel to all of us. Who knows, if I lingered in the Metropolis, the information guilds could have found me, then my family would have gotten annihilated, and my sister might not have lived the life she lived."
It was a truly exhausting life that Devron went through. Haroon had nothing to say about it, so he kept silent.
"I have something else to ask you. I"ve already talked with Briella and Paros after you left the bas.e.m.e.nt."
At that moment, the UI sound went off, displaying a quest window. So Haroon didn"t really need to hear what Devron was saying afterwards.
[You have received a quest!]
Story Quest
Difficulty – C
Help Imperial Princess Briella to become one of the last four successors! The current force behind Briella is somewhat feeble. Help to strengthening her force, and make her one of the last four successors that will be decided by the Senate in roughly a years time. If you have a force behind you, their contribution towards the quest will be counted as well.
Reward: Award of a n.o.ble t.i.tle with ownership of land. Gear set, spirit stones, cash and Soul Points. The quality of reward will vary on your contribution towards the quest.
"Woah, that"s a tremendous quest."
Of course, the reward would be depending on his contribution, but that wasn"t something peculiar to mention. The reason for it being vast could be considered as an evident of Briella"s force being incredibly feeble. Haroon wasn"t interested in the honor of being a n.o.ble in Beyond, but spirit stones, items and cash did interest him.
"How"s the current situation?"
It was a quite comprehensive question, but Devron"s nervous eyes relaxed a bit, as he could tell that Haroon was interested in working with him at least.
"I need to explain this first. The Emperor had lots of interest in women."
Devron"s voice was full of hostility towards the Emperor, who ruined his precious sister"s life only for love that lasted for a few months.
"He married with five women, and had 10 concubines, not to mention the number of maids of honor whom he had. That"s a first in the Teronn Empires history. Thanks to that, we had 32 of his and her majesties qualified for this Golden Battle. 3 of them gave up, 6 of them were disqualified on the first stage, which was escaping the metropolis, and there is no confirmation on 8 of them, if they made it or not."
"So at least 16, 24 at max."
"You are right. It"s our view that at least 20 successors have made it through the first round. That"s another first in history that this imperial family has made. In history, at least half of the successors were disqualified on the first stage, which also means that this golden battle will be the most intense one we have ever had. It makes sense, because the current Emperor has been ruling for more than 30 years by now, which gave the n.o.bles much longer than usual to prepare for the golden battle."
"So basically 4 out of 20? That"s 1 out of 5. I mean, yeah, the probability is quite high……."
Haroon thought for a second, and asked Devron.
"I"ve got a question, though."
"Anything you wish."
"Why is it I that you chose?"
"Hahaha, you really don"t know how valuable you are. Or are you hiding something?"
Devron"s words confused everyone in the room¹ and made them look at Haroon out of curiosity, waiting for his answer. But Haroon didn"t really have anything to say.
"You have shown us¹ your sword skill on Da"in Hills, control of poison in the Saron Wetland, inhuman knife-throwing skills, quick wit and strong responsibility while crossing the river. And yet, we haven"t seen your limit. Do you need any more explanation?"
Haroon bitterly shook his head.
Haroon really appreciated Devron"s compliment, but it was more of Brat"s skill rather than his own. He knew there wouldn"t be anyone who would oppose if he claims that a pet"s skill is the owner"s skill as well, but he was embarra.s.sed anyways.
"We"d like to focus on cultivating our ability. I"m sorry, but I don"t think we can be of great help to you, after all," said Haroon, after thinking for a long time.
That was what he concluded. He wasn"t confident enough to jump into the golden battle just yet. He thought it was better to join the Golden Battle after developing his strength.
"That"s a great choice you made. Your help will be needed when the real battle between the successors begin in about 6 months to a years time."
"Don"t expect too much from us."
"Don"t worry about it. Just focus on cultivating your ability. Briella and I have a few things to do anyways. We"ll head to Tebes county where the Silent Plains are located. It"s right next to Huk"ran Mountains, where you"ll be heading if you do decide to escort Hall. Count Tebes is my cousin, and the stem of our force. The Silent Plains might be bad for farming, but mining businesses are excellent there, so we"ll be building our capital from there. We won"t have enough time to supress all 20 successors, but we could try."
"Since it"s something you and Doran are doing, I think everything will go well."
"Yes, yes it will."
Devron"s face was full of determination and belief. But Haroon could also see worry in his eyes. The other successors have Dukes and Marquees at their backs, when they had to prepare a big event with a count.
"We will cultivate our abilities and gather mercenaries together."
Saying that, Haroon recalled the mercenaries he"d met during his graduation day.
"Please do so. The mercenaries will move when the physical battle begins anyways, but if we do recruit good mercenaries first, we do have a chance of winning."
Devron and Doran expected Briella to have the least amount of force among the successors, so as a solution they came up with the mercenaries. Grouping the mercenaries together would theoretically make them catch up to the others in a short time.
As the outlanders started to appear in this world, mercenaries were losing their jobs. Requests like sweeping monsters were not made anymore, and now they were losing the opportunities to get VIP or merchant escorting requests as Outlanders took them first. Devron and Doran knew this very well, and were planning to hire those jobless mercenaries as a regular army.
"I"ll talk with Paros about making the secret camp available for your plan. If you do prove that you can gather good mercenaries, we"ll support you financially as long as your money usage is detailed and not too sketchy."
"Great. I will consider it positively."
Haroon had nothing to lose on this deal. It wasn"t like he needed to do his best helping Briella, but just travelling around and recruiting skillful mercenaries.
Financial support was a good deal, but he wanted to refuse that. If he did get financial support from them, the Gusts of Wind would lose its free will. He did want to partic.i.p.ate in the Golden Battle, but he had no intention to go all-in with the Story Quest.
"By the way, What kind of person is Teeno?"
"Teeno?"
Some kind of emotion went through Devron"s eyes when he heard Haroon"s question.
It was a totally different subject, but Devron closed his eyes to gather words to answer the question. Soon, he opened his eyes and smiled warmly.
"Teeno is like my own brother. He went through all the suffering which I had to go through. When the ma.s.sacre happened, he wasn"t even 10 years old. With that young age, he accompanied me starting from escaping the Metropolis. Although he was born as a slave of our family, I already spared him a long time ago and made him a free man."
Haroon guessed so. The will of submission was always in his every action. But it was surprising to hear that Teeno was just over 40 years old. He looked way older, probably because of the rough life he had.
"He would have gotten a position in rank if he wasn"t born as a slave. Even at his young age, he showed his quick wit and brilliant intelligence. n.o.body educated him but he was able to learn just by watching, or hearing someone"s action. When I wandered around the world, he helped me a lot when I got in trouble from the mistakes I made as my mind still couldn"t give up the position of n.o.blility. Silently and firmly. Come to think of it, my life was a lot better from having him around."
His voice was full of trust and love towards Teeno. That said, Haroon felt it was a lot more difficult to say what he wanted to say.
"To be honest, I want to recruit Teeno to our mercenary guild."
"Teeno? Hmm, that would be fine, I guess. Teeno must be… 43 years old by now. He, too, will be an old man soon enough. He had a rough life because of me, so it must be good for him to live a new life, out of my shadow."
Haroon could easily tell that those few words contained a lot of emotions. He couldn"t imagine how deep of a relationship they had, considering how they both didn"t get to start a family.
"I don"t think that"s a question I can answer. Do so as long as that"s what he wants. I told you I set him free a long time ago, after all."
"Thank you."
"What do you mean? Everything is about his free will. Persuade him if you really want him as your member. I feel really sorry for him. I have received a lot from him, but I never gave back. I always relied on him, but he was always underappreciated. I couldn"t persuade him to live his own life, thinking of his ability as mine, the one that you saw and decided to recruit him for."
Haroon decided not to cut his monologue. The more Devron talked, the more Haroon could learn about who Teeno was to him, and now he was getting ready to say goodbye to him.
"I don"t think he would be able to live his own life if he stays with me. It might be a little bit late, but I wish he could experience the joy of living his own life, like starting a family for instance. I hope your choice could grant my wish."
Haroon nodded.
"To me, I mean to our guild, he really is whom we need. We"ll make sure to treat him well.
"I appreciate it. I hope it wasn"t too much to ask."
"You are like a master to me. I might be an Outlander, but how could I forget your grace? Please don"t say that."
"Thanks. Briella might be my niece, but it feels like you and I are closer family."
Devron grasped Haroon"s hand with his wrinkled hands. Haroon felt the plethora of emotions that were too much to handle from that grasp. Devron"s eyes were getting wet.
"Devron must have lived a lonely life," he thought.
Haroon held Devron"s hand in silence, waiting for him to get settled. Haroon felt happy about Devron opening his heart up to him.
It was late at night, but Haroon decided to meet Teeno right away.
Teeno was staying in the shabbiest room of the guesthouse, usually used by servants when guests arrive. Although he was disturbed in the middle of sleeping, when he saw Haroon, he made his bed quickly and welcomed him.
"Mr. Haroon! What brings you all the way here?"
"I"m really sorry to disturb your sleep. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, so I had to take the liberty of visiting you tonight."
"Take the liberty? By all means. I"m listening."
Teeno seemed surprised by Haroon"s polite behaviour.
"On the trip with you, I got to know you well. You are erudite, wise, and talented."
"M-me? No, No. It"s some tricks I learned. It"s not something that deserves that kind of compliment."
It seemed he wasn"t used to getting compliments, at all. Did he never get any compliments before? Seeing him all covered with confusion, Haroon felt terrible. Because of his social status, he couldn"t escape living a rough life even though he was talented. Haroon felt awful seeing a man who never got to show their existence to the world.
"Well, this is official. We want you to be a member of The Gusts of Wind."
"I"m sorry?"
Teeno"s eyes widened. As if it really was a totally unexpected offer, he was frowning his face in a strange way.
"We, The Gusts of Wind, might be low-ranking and small, but with someone like you, it would be able to grow bigger and meaningfully."
"Bu-but that"s……."
Teeno looked towards and away from Haroon"s eyes several times to see if he really meant it, and expressed mixed feelings with his eyes. He didn"t speak for a long time for some reason.
"I already talked with Devron. He told me you were already a free man, and have free will to do whatever you want, and it would be good for you to live your life."
Teeno"s eyes widened again from his words.
"Di-did he really……. Say that?"
"Yes. He said you are like his own brother, and he hopes you could live your own life, making a family, living in the world in the way a human should, experiencing the world, and asked me to make sure to give you a chance."
Teeno couldn"t say anything. Haroon too, didn"t add any words. Teeno must be feeling the emotions that Devron had to go through. Teeno has lived a life hiding his own ident.i.ty only to live for Devron, longer than the years Haroon lived, so he must be feeling something that Haroon couldn"t understand.
For a while, a silent tension filled up inside the room.
Teeno took a deep breath and duck his head. Large teardrops were falling down from his copper-colored solid face.
"Did he really say that, Mr. Haroon?"
A while after, Teeno checked it for the last time. He wasn"t even trying to hide his tears.
"Yes."
With Haroon"s short and firm answer, Teeno closed his eyes and bit his lips to hold the tears back.
"If that"s… what he wants…"
It was a hard answer that he made, but it was against what Haroon and Devron wanted to hear.
"No, I really want to follow what you want, Teeno."
"Tha-thats……."
Was he feeling betrayal by Devron, thinking he abandoned him, or was he moved by Devron finally setting him free?
Haroon realized it was neither. The relationship between Teeno and Devron must be way more complicated than he thought.
"The Gusts of Wind and I need you, Teeno, not Devron. My dream is not getting a position in the Empire, using the Golden Battle, like how Devron is doing, nor getting any fame out of the mercenary guild using talented people like you. Although we may be called mercenaries, I want a small but skilled mercenary guild who travels the world, seeking for new things. I want a family who could do that with me."
Teeno"s face started to change a bit. His eyes looking in the air were getting deeper and deeper. It was changing from the slave face he used to make, to a face of an old, wise man.
"Do you really think I can do that? Me?"
For the first time from the moment they first met, Teeno looked at Haroon"s face directly. Haroon could see that a small fire of pa.s.sion was lit on his face.
Haroon nodded, looking straightly at his eyes.
"Your experience and skills will come in very handy. I"ll let you be the leader if you want."
On Haroon"s world, Teeno smiled. It was an awkward smile, but Haroon could tell that the smile was real, not the fake ones he used to make. Teeno"s eyesight was clear and sharp.
"Huh! No, not the boss. I bet that wouldn"t fit me at all."
"I"ll make sure to treat you well. It"s something awkward to say, but I"ll look for a fiance for you if you really want me to. Well, I"ll greet you again. I"m Haroon, the leader of The Gusts of Wind."
"It"s Teeno. I learned little tricks, but I will try my best with them to not be someone who needs to be carried."
After an awkward moment of facing each other, they both laughed out loud.
Translated by Channy_
Edited by Tom and Kmatt
Footnotes:
¹ Yes, I am very confused as well. I double-checked my work several times, but there were no other indication in raw that someone else was present in the room except Devron and Haroon. I concluded myself that this is a mistake made by the author, but feel free to make your a.s.sumptions.
Kmatt: Please tell me I"m not the only one who thought of the Harry Potter "Dobby is Free!" scene when reading this.
Tom: What a nice chapter. Sorry, Matt. I didn"t get it before you said it.
Channy: "Teeno is Free!"