Chapter 306.
I responded in the affirmative. "Yes. But, Father, you lost Grandfather Galak too. Perhaps simply in terms of instincts, Great-grandfather is likely on par with Father, so it"s probably going to be hard to catch him."
Having fought them both once, I would say my father"s strength was definitely superior. It was just a guess, but I thought my father would come out ahead even if my great-grandfather used the Curse of the Giants.
"So?"
"If you can"t do it based on instincts, you can just predict his behavior in real time. Hestia noona and I are the only ones who can do that, but Hestia noona is too weak to join the battle."
In addition, if my great-grandfather used the Curse of the Giants, there was a risk of immediate death on the spot. The Curse of the Giants was as heinous as it was terrible.
"Right. Grandfather has the Curse of the Giants." My father nodded, convinced.
I was surprised. "Oh? Did you know that Grandfather Galak has the Curse of the Giants?”
Due to my great-grandfather’s selfish nature, he wasn’t the type to let others know of such precious things. It was likely that he hadn’t even told his son, Grandfather Zendia. Did that mean my father had also suffered once from the Curse of the Giants, like me?
"Yes. He explained it to me, as if to make fun of me after I got hit with it,” my father explained.
I smiled bitterly, saying, "That"s like Grandfather Galak."
I didn"t know how the serious and thoughtful Grandfather Zendia had been born to my playful and selfish great-grandfather. Come to think of it, though, did all of my grandfather"s children, my father, Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y, and Aunt Talaria have a screw loose?
"For some reason, it feels like you’re having a very insolent thought, Youngest." My father looked at me suspiciously. His instincts were at the level of mind reading.
I smiled lightly and shrugged. "No way. I think Father"s instincts are a little rusty."
"Hmm... Really?" Seeing my unchanged expression, my father nodded with a dissatisfied look.
No matter how good his instincts were, it wasn’t truly mind reading. Also, no matter how much it seemed as if he could read the future, he didn’t have foresight. That being the case, it wasn’t impossible to deceive him.
"So, how did Father come to be chasing after Grandfather Galak? Is it because of Aunt"s request?” I asked.
Personally, I’d thought that no matter how much my aunt asked, or even if my great-grandfather summoned the Demon King, he wouldn’t really care. No, rather, I’d expected that he’d be happy, saying that someone worth fighting like the Demon King had been summoned.
The answer to my question was beyond my imagination, however.
"Your great-grandfather robbed our tribe"s sacred place,” my father said.
"What?"
He’d robbed the sacred place?
Even though it was called the sacred place of our tribe, it was so small that it contained only a small shrine in an empty s.p.a.ce. However, it was such an important place in the tribe that it had its own keeper, called the "Caron."
In the past, it had been such an important place that the Caron was chosen from the tribe chief’s lineage, and had to guard the sacred place for the rest of their life.
"Why did he rob the sacred place?” I asked.
During the reign of Grandfather Zendia, a department that took turns managing the sacred place had been created for the sake of the person appointed as Caron. Of course, the elders had protested to keep the tradition, but I’d heard that my grandfather had made them shut up with his fist.
"And what did he steal?” I added.
At the sacred place’s shrine, symbols and objects belonging to past chiefs had been placed, so there were quite a few good items. Amusingly, about half of them had said they had mastered the heart sword in their later years and left branches, saying they were their swords.
For reference, the symbol of my father was a wreath made of wind flowers, infused with mana so as not to wither.[1]
"Apparently, he stole the horn of the Demon King that was kept in the sacred place," my father said.
The Demon King’s horn was probably an object necessary to summon the Demon King. But when I was still in my hometown, my father hadn’t really seemed to pay much attention to my great-grandfather.
"When did Grandpa Galak rob the sacred place?" I asked.
My father sighed at my question. "Three years ago. It was when you ran away from home."
"What?" I was shocked.
"Your great-grandfather hid and stole it when the village"s security was empty because you were running away from home," my father explained, driving the point home.
* * *
Three years ago...
Den came to Doomstone ahead of the coming-of-age ceremony, saying, "Father, I have a favor to ask of you."
Doomstone warmed up lightly, thinking it was surprising that his youngest son was asking for a favor. The only times he asked for favors were during training, when he asked Doomstone to be gentle on him.
"All right. Tell me,” he replied. As expected, he thought it would be a request for a match, like Den’s brothers. Still, Doomstone was proud that Den wasn’t afraid of confronting him fairly instead of launching a surprise attack.
"I want to go to the capital,” Den said.
"Okay. Let"s fight once... What?” This time, even Doomstone, who had good instincts, didn"t expect what he had just heard. "Huh-huh-huh, I think my ears are going bad from age. I heard a strange sound like ‘going to the capital’."
"You heard it right. I want to go to the capital,” Den repeated.
Doomstone looked puzzled by Den"s sincere words. When Den followed by saying he wanted to settle down and live in the capital, he couldn"t control his emotions and ‘weakly’ called forth his mana.
But when Den wrapped his arms around his face to resist Doomstone’s aura, Doomstone realized his mistake and retracted his mana.
"Okay. Let"s hear the reason,” Doomstone said.
Doomstone recommended the Guard Division and Warrior Force, and even the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which Hestia had said he should never send Den to.
However, the youngest son only refused as if he were in a rebellious phase of p.u.b.erty. In addition, his excuse for refusing was ridiculous.
What do you mean, because you don"t want to fight with the brothers? There was no way the Youngest, who had been throwing dirt in his brothers" eyes and sneak attacking them in the name of making up for the difference in power, would say that.
Even though Doomstone thought so, on the other hand, he was also proud that Den was thinking of his brothers.
"Then, why don"t you succeed me as the head of the village?" he suggested.
"...What?" Den replied blankly.
Doomstone held back his smile and spoke as casually as possible. "Why are you making such a blank expression? I said you should be the head of the village."
"What nonsense are you talking about, Father?"
"It"s not nonsense."
Although it seemed difficult for Den to accept it, at the end of the conversation with Doomstone, he returned, saying he would accept.
Hmm, is this why I"ve been having a bad feeling for a few days? Doomstone thought, even as Den went back obediently.
While Doomstone was lost in thought, Hestia came into the chief’s office with a bunch of doc.u.ments, asking, "The Youngest stopped by?"
Doomstone escaped from his thoughts and answered, "Huh? Yeah. He came in briefly."
"I guess he came here because it’s the coming of age ceremony tomorrow? Don"t worry too much. If it"s Den, he’ll hunt and bring back a large demon in less than thirty minutes,” Hestia said as she put a bunch of doc.u.ments on the desk. "So please focus on doc.u.ments related to the Republic for now."
Doomstone sighed as he saw the ever-increasing doc.u.ments. "As I thought, I should’ve handed it all over to Talaria."
"Oh my, Aunt is quite busy, too. The amount of doc.u.ments she has to deal with while leading the Big Mama Information Agency is likely on a whole different level from this. So Father, please work hard too."
Seeing Hestia"s smile as the doc.u.ments were being pushed toward him, Doomstone shuddered.
* * *
On the day of Den"s coming-of-age ceremony, Doomstone called in the elders to announce that Den had been named his successor. Even though some expressed doubts and concerns, no one opposed the decision, because it was Doomstone’s authority to determine a successor.
However, the problem was that the main character of the coming-of-age ceremony ran away from home on the same day.
Reading the letter Hestia had brought, Doomstone felt his blood pressure start to rise. Hahaha, I didn"t expect my cute youngest son to prepare such a cute event. He wondered if this was the source of the anxiety he felt.
The moment he decided to catch Den himself, he instinctively called on his eldest son. "Guard Division Captain."
"Yes!"
"Send everyone to catch Denburg Blade, except for the minimum needed to maintain village security!"
His instincts shouted furiously. They said he shouldn"t leave the village now, because that anxiety he felt wasn’t about the Youngest running away.
At Doomstone"s order, the eldest son hesitated, but he yelled and began to chase Den.
And just like that, 1,500 pursuers set out to catch Den.
Considering there were two hundred warriors working on cutting up the demons that had been left by Den, most of the young people in the tribe were leaving.
Common sense said that it was an excessive number to send just to one runaway person. Even though he thought so as well, Doomstone forced the young people out of the village.
"Father, are you okay?" Hestia asked.
Doomstone stroked her head, saying, "No. It"s not okay."
He couldn’t tell whether this feeling truly was due to the Youngest running away, or if there was another reason.
Hestia nodded seriously. "But you decided on the chase very quickly. After I found out that Youngest ran away from home, I was thinking about how to persuade Father to increase the number of pursuers." She smiled lightly, saying it had saved her the effort.
Seeing that smile, Doomstone pointed to the outskirts of the village. "You take command of the chase. You can set up a command post there."
"Yes. It would be easier to receive and send messenger eagles from the outside than inside." Hestia accepted and prepared to set up a command post.
When he saw that, Doomstone calmed down. He said, "I"ll go inside and look through the doc.u.ments. Come back in if it gets windy."
"Yes, I understand... What?! Did you just say you"re going to look at the doc.u.ments?” Hestia stared at him, surprised.
Doomstone nodded with an odd expression. "So?”
"Oh my G.o.d! I can"t believe Father voluntarily wants to do paperwork!” Hestia pretended to wipe away tears as if she were moved.
"No, I may hate work, but I didn"t think it was to the point where you need to pretend to cry," Doomstone muttered, fl.u.s.tered, but Hestia tried to send him back to the office as soon as possible before he changed his mind.
Doomstone was pushed by his daughter and entered the office. "I really don"t hate it that much..." he muttered.
* * *
About nine hours after learning Den had run away....
As it became dark outside, Hestia moved the command post into the village hall and looked at the map to track Den"s actions. Doomstone chatted idly with her as he dealt with boring doc.u.ments.
"Chief-nim! Leader-nim! I got a call saying they found a trace of the Youngest Master-nim!" came a report all of a sudden.
"What!" Doomstone stood up excitedly.
"Father, calm down. We haven’t caught him yet,” Hestia said.
"Hmm, hmm. I see." Doomstone calmed down and sat down again.
In response to the diplomat’s report, Hestia gave instructions on when and how to move the troops. As he watched, Doomstone realized again that his eldest daughter was very smart.
As Hestia continued to wrestle with the map, Doomstone stood up, having gotten a bad feeling suddenly.
"Where are you going?" Hestia asked.
"I have some materials to look for, so I"m going to the study,” Doomstone replied.
"Oh, then I"ll go."
Doomstone forced Hestia to sit down again as she tried to get up from her seat, saying, "You don"t know when news of the Youngest will come in. You have to be here to give instructions right away."
Hestia was convinced and nodded. "I guess that"s true."
"I"ll be right back. Don"t move from here,” Doomstone said as he quickly ran to the study.
Bang!
When Doomstone opened the door of the study, which should have been empty, he saw a man wearing a white mask, standing with a book in hand.
"Who are you?!" Doomstone asked. When he saw it was an old man in a white mask, he felt a very familiar sensation. "It couldn’t be... Grandfather?"
"Call me Libra now, my cute grandson." Galak gave off killing intent as he closed the book he was holding.
1. Wind flowers are also known as anemones.