Chapter 585

Raon blinked while looking down at the baby fox.

“Leave this place?”

“Yes! Right now!”

The baby fox shouted, scratching the ground with its front paw.

‘It’s Merlin, right…?’

Merlin would’ve normally said that she wanted to see him as soon as they met, but she was telling him to leave Seipia instead. Raon swallowed nervously because of the unknown tension.

“Explain to me what’s happen—”

Raon was about to ask Merlin, but he could sense the presence of elves behind him. Their voices were getting louder and louder, implying that they were coming towards him.

“Let’s go in for now… Huh?”

Raon was trying to pick up the baby fox before entering the lodgings but stopped. He couldn’t grab the baby fox possessed by Merlin. It was as if it were an illusion.

‘Now that I think about it…’

He hadn’t observed it properly because he was surprised that Merlin managed to enter the area, but the baby fox didn’t have any presence as a living creature at all. It almost looked like a spirit.

“Oh no, the time is… Anyway, leave right now! Return to Zieg—”

Merlin became faint smoke and scattered away before she could finish what she was trying to say.

“What’s happening?”

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at Merlin, who scattered away.

‘Did she look like that because she had to break through the barrier?’

Raon turned his head to ask Wrath about it.

Blurr…

He was foaming from his mouth, surprised by Merlin’s appearance. He was seriously useless.

‘It must’ve been because of the barrier.’

Both Rimmer and Erian had mentioned that only the ones invited by elves could enter Seipia.

Breaking the barrier would be a different story, but quietly breaching it should’ve been impossible in such a short time, even for Merlin.

Considering the fact that the bush had moved on its own, he could guess that she’d turned an animal into a spirit.

‘She must’ve disappeared because she ran out of energy… That’s amazing.’

Her magic skills and obsession, which allowed her to create a new method to bypass Seipia’s barrier, were frightening and amazing at the same time.

‘But… Why did she tell me to leave? Are the Five Demons attacking?’

That was the only thing he could think of. It was most likely a threat from Eden among the Five Demons.

‘Even for Eden, attacking Seipia would be… Ah!’

Raon bit his lip tightly and clenched his fist.

‘No way, are they attacking because it’s during the purification ritual? No, it must be part of their plan.’

The fact that they were attacking the day after Sterin started the purification ritual implied that they knew the timing.

They were confident in their victory as long as Sterin was out of the picture.

Raon quickly put his thoughts together and headed towards the lodgings of the guardians, where Leiran was staying. He opened the door and entered, and guardians who were about to start eating looked at him.

They were glaring at him sharply, maybe because he’d disturbed their meal or because they were too focused on guard duty.

Hmm!

Wrath recovered from his unconsciousness and poked his head out while sniffing into the air.

Food?

Raon walked towards Leiran and Erian’s table, ignoring Wrath and the glares of the elves.

“Raon. Do you want to eat as well? I can prepare the meal for you since you are the spirit king’s contractor.”

Erian gave him a seat while even calling him by his name.

“That’s not it. Did anything strange happen in Seipia’s outskirts?”

“Outskirts? Are you talking about the great forest?”

“Yes.”

“I went to scout a moment ago, but there was nothing special.”

He shook his head, saying that he’d gone to scout before eating.

“Can you check it out one more time by any chance?”

“Sir Raon.”

Leiran shook her head and stood up. She was glaring fiercely at him.

“We’ve been guarding the protector until he started the ritual properly, even scouted the great forest before we returned. We are finally having a rest and eating for the first time after two days. How could you disturb…”

“Raon, is that an instinct as the spirit king’s contractor?”

Erian put down the fork he was holding and cut Leiran off.

“Sir Erian!”

“Shut up. He didn’t eat or sleep, just like us.”

Leiran glared at him sideways, asking why he was acting like that, but Erian murmured that Raon was in the same situation as them.

“The spirit king…”

Raon weakly bit his lip while meeting Erian’s serious eyes.

‘He’s still going for it.’

Erian was way too single-minded. However, he had to go as far as taking advantage of that because of the urgency of the situation.

“Yes. It’s my instinct.”

“Alright.”

Erian nodded and stood up from the seat.

“We’ll need to check it out since you said that.”

“Sir Erian!”

“Follow me, everyone.”

He bobbed his finger, telling Leiran and the other subordinates that the meal would be saved for later.

The elves stared at Erian for a moment, then stood up from their seats. They weren’t even showing their complaints on their faces, allowing him to guess how Erian usually treated his subordinates.

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at Erian, who was taking the lead in leaving the lodgings.

‘Is he an unexpectedly nice guy?’

Raon had thought he was some crazy guy when Erian started to attack right off the bat, but he seemed to have some good parts about him.

Look at that!

Wrath extended his plump hand, looking at the fruit pie that Erian had put down while eating.

Give it to the King of Essence if you aren’t going to eat it! His belly is reaching his back because he hasn’t had anything for two days!

‘…Of course not.’

If he ate their food after stopping their meal, being called crazy wasn’t all he was going to get. He couldn’t touch it no matter what, even if he was about to starve to death.

The King of Essence will take responsibility! Let’s just take a bite…

‘Follow me.’

Raon grabbed Wrath by his head as he kept struggling and followed Erian.

* * *

“Siyan!”

Rimmer knocked on Siyan’s home and shouted at her to open the door.

“I-I’m going to sleep! You should leave!”

Siyan shouted, leaning her back against the door to prevent Rimmer from entering.

“S-Sir Raon must be hungry! You should go to him and make a meal for him!”

“He’d not a child, he can take care of himself. Open the door!”

Rimmer raised his voice, telling her that he was going barge in if she didn’t open.

“I-I’m taking off my clothes to wash myself!”

Siyan shook her head, telling him that he must not enter.

“Ugh…”

Rimmer stopped moving his hand and stepped away from the door. It would’ve been fine if they were children, but since they’d become adults a long time ago, he couldn’t just open the door.

“Siyan.”

“What’s up…?”

“Don’t mind them.”

Rimmer continued while facing the door, which looked so light even though his sister was leaning her back against it.

“Rambling without thinking is their specialty. I don’t understand why they took after humans in that aspect despite hating them.”

His fist trembled as he ranted that it was regrettable that he couldn’t fight them because Raon was in a trance.

“I know.”

Siyan bit her lip as her back parted from the door.

“But they weren’t exactly wrong.”

She murmured quietly so that Rimmer couldn’t hear her.

A high elf that was even worse than a normal elf. An incompetent person, one born with a flaw.

It made her extremely angry to hear that, but the fact that she couldn’t refute them was even more frustrating.

‘I wasn’t born like this because I wanted to be.’

She would’ve understood if she wasn’t chosen by the world tree because of her laziness and lack of effort, but she simply didn’t have the talent from the moment of her birth. The fact that she was treated that way solely because of her talent, despite it being neither her fault nor anyone else's, was both laughable and awful.

“Siyan…”

“Rimmer, leave.”

“But…”

“I’m really fine. Go make the meal for Sir Raon.”

“Let’s eat together.”

“I have this for me.”

Siyan opened the door slightly and showed him a loaf of Nadine bread.

“Hah.”

Rimmer sighed while looking at the Nadine bread.

“Yeah. You created that so that you won’t have to go outside.”

He briefly nodded and turned around.

“I’ll be back tomorrow with Raon.”

Siyan took off the blanket that was covering her as soon as Rimmer’s footsteps faded away. The part that used to touch her face was slightly wet.

“Haa…”

She shook her head after wiping away the tears around her eyes with the back of her hand.

‘It didn’t work.’

When she saw Raon being enlightened, she got the motivation to practice the resonance. However, the world still didn’t open the path for her. But she wasn’t disappointed or anything.

‘Because reality is different from heroic tales.’

She has liked heroic tales ever since her childhood.

Protagonists of books or tales of heroes always emerge victorious by easily overcoming a crisis and gaining countless achievements. People say that they never gave up and earned their victory.

‘However…’

How much they suffered in the process and how hard they worked wasn’t usually passed down.

The world only focused on the part after their success without caring about their efforts and suffering. That was what she’d learned from comparing Raon inside the book and Raon in real life.

The Biography of Raon Zieghart stated that he easily defeated every enemy he encountered, but Raon’s hands and arms were covered in scars. She couldn’t even imagine what kind of pain he’d been fighting against to reach his current position, and how much effort he’d made to become a Grandmaster.

‘I don’t want to say anything cringy like ‘I won’t give up no matter what.’ But… I want to try as much as I can, at least.’

She wanted to strive as much as she could, to see the people who had been criticizing her kneel before her, to borrow Raon’s words.

Siyan closed her eyes while sitting on the ground. Warmth and coldness were flowing from her breath, just like a breeze spreading deep into the underground.

* * *

“I’ll check the area to the west.”

Raon turned towards the right side as soon as he left Seipia’s barrier.

“The great forest has complicated paths. You might be unable to return.”

Erian furrowed his brow and expressed his concern.

“I’ll be fine. I remember the path I took before.”

“As expected of the spirit king’s contractor!”

“......”

No matter how Raon thought about it, he couldn’t understand how it was related to the spirit king.

“Anyway, I have a bad feeling about this, so let’s send a signal as soon as a problem occurs instead of fighting.”

“Alright. I’ll check out the east. Leiran, you should head to the south.”

“Understood.”

Leiran briefly nodded and immediately left to the south. She seemed full of complaints, but she was focusing on the work once she was outside.

“I’m leaving now.”

Raon said goodbye to Erian with his eyes and used the Supreme Harmony Steps to the right. He stopped his advance once Erian and Leiran’s presence completely disappeared.

“Merlin. Merlin!”

Raon quietly called Merlin’s name since she should’ve been in the area. However, she didn’t appear for a long time even though he’d thought she would pop out right away.

‘What’s going on?’

Raon furrowed his brow while walking to the west.

‘Did she really overexert herself?’

Considering her usual actions, Raon thought that she most likely fell unconscious because she went too hard on sneaking into the barrier.

‘Then I need to find it myself, I guess.’

Raon sighed briefly and activated the Ring of Fire and Glacier at the same time.

Whir!

His aura perception, which had further improved upon becoming a Grandmaster, spread around in all directions through the Perception of the Snow Flower.

His senses, capable of feeling the movements of animals, insects, and even plants, were engulfing the great forest, but he didn’t notice any ominous energy or the presence of humans.

‘Wrath.’

There’s nothing!

Wrath shook his head.

Our meal was disturbed for no reason even though there’s nothing around here!

He violently ground his teeth, complaining that something always happened when they were about to eat.

‘Really?’

Have you ever seen the King of Essence lie about anything? Go back and eat already since there’s nothing here!

Since Wrath was practically an automatic detector, there really shouldn’t be anything threatening in the area.

“But let’s continue a bit more…”

Raon thought that he must’ve grown to trust Merlin a lot.

He believed in Wrath, but he even checked the north before he returned to Seipia’s entrance, just in case enemies appeared through teleportation.

Erian, Leiran, and the guardians had already returned and were waiting for him.

“You came back early.”

“Elves are connected to the forest, and the forest tells us about the issue even if we don’t examine everything.”

Leiran shook her head, saying that it was as simple as breathing for humans.

Raon nodded while looking at her.

‘I guess that’s true…’

When he’d arrived in the great forest, Leiran and the guardians were waiting for them. That was why Raon could guess that she wasn’t wrong about it.

“How was it? Did you find anything?”

“There was nothing.”

“Your expression doesn’t look good.”

Erian gave a small nod at Raon.

“Do you really have such a bad feeling about it?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

He shifted his gaze towards Leiran and gestured with his finger.

“Enhance the exterior defenses as well.”

“What? But it’s already been enhanced enough. Moreover, we are missing lots of members because they are guarding the world tree…”

“They will get there in no time anyway if they manage to break through this place. Just do as you are ordered.”

“Sir Erian. No, brother!”

Leiran couldn’t withstand it anymore and grabbed Erian’s sleeve.

‘Brother?’

Raon blinked while looking at them.

‘Now that I think about it…’

The names Leiran and Erian were quite similar, and he’d noticed some strangeness in their conversation. It must’ve been because they were siblings.

“I told you to not call me that while we’re on duty.”

“But you are going too far. Why do you trust that human so—”

“Regardless of him being human, there’s nothing for us to lose from fortifying our defenses. It’s just a bit painful. Accept it.”

He shook his hand, saying that he would take responsibility and be the first one to keep watch.

“Tsk.”

Leiran clicked her tongue while looking back at Raon. The other guardians following her didn’t seem to be in a good mood either.

Raon licked his lips while looking at Erian’s back as he returned to Seipia.

‘His first impression was the worst, but he’s perfectly fine inside. He’s unexpectedly solid.’

Leaving Seipia was even less an option after seeing him act like that. He wanted to help him no matter what if a huge problem was about to occur.

The King of Essence’s stomach isn’t fine at all! Go back already and start to eat!

‘Hmm…’

Raon briefly licked his lips while looking up to the sky, which was growing darker.

‘I should send a message to Lady Aries at least.’

Even if Merlin was wrong, Aries would still come for sightseeing. Raon decided to ask Dorian to send a message as soon as he returned.

Filling the King of Essence’s stomach takes priority!

‘......’

Stop ignoring him!

* * *

The golden glow of the evening was seeping into the training ground in the Wise Martial Palace.

Denier was watching Martha, Burren, and Runaan’s training with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Martha, I applaud your courage for always taking the initiative, but it’s meaningless if you don’t think about what happens afterward. The enemy isn’t a training dummy.”

“Yes!”

Martha accepted Denier’s teaching in an instant and raised her sword towards the direction where the enemy’s counterattack could come from.

“Burren, you have a well-balanced attack and defense. You are an all-rounder who isn’t biased to any side. However, that’s not always an advantage. You should create a weapon that can finish off your opponent for sure.”

“Understood.”

Burren pricked up his ears so that he wouldn’t miss anything from Denier’s advice.

“Runaan, you are the opposite case from Martha. You are too focused on defense, and your attack is weak. Since not all battles consist of protecting people, you should try out a more offensive sword stance.”

“Yeah.”

Runaan gave out a cheerful response with a serious tone and added sharpness to her thrust.

“Martha. You should lower your upper body a bit more when you use that technique. The enemy might counterattack…”

It was when Denier returned to Martha and fixed her posture…

Whaam!

The training ground’s door opened up while swaying violently, to the point of breaking, and Aries made her entrance.

“I heard you are training. Let me join.”

Aries quickly came in between the four like when she was joining a gamble.

“Lady Aries! You are always welcome!”

Martha went to Aries and looked at her with her eyes sparkling like black pearls.

“A-are you really going to guide us, Lady Aries?”

Burren was also surprised and dropped his jaw.

“Aunt.”

Aries wrinkled her nose while looking at them.

“I told you to call me auntie…”

“Auntie.”

Runaan was the first one to follow her instructions instead of Martha and Burren. She jumped into Aries’s arms and shouted auntie again.

“Y-yes.”

Aries swallowed nervously while looking at Runaan.

“You should just call me aunt as well.”

She smiled awkwardly and patted Runaan’s head.

“Anyway, I’m also going to help you a little since it looks fun.”

Aries went next to Denier and bobbed her finger as if she didn’t really care about other people’s opinions.

“Hmm…”

Burren, Martha, and Runaan turned their heads towards Denier, who had been teaching them so far.

“Try it.”

Denier blinked, showing that he was fine with it.

Burren, Martha, and Runaan demonstrated the swordsmanship that they’d been practicing, and Aries calmly watched them, unlike her violent entrance.

“Martha. You have a similar personality to me. You are the type of person who impatiently draws the sword, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

Martha nodded happily.

“That wild personality can be disadvantageous, but you just need to overcome the shortcomings, so don’t worry about it.”

“How do I overcome them?”

“Spar with me.”

“Err…”

She widened her eyes because of the unexpected suggestion of sparring against her.

“Next.”

After Aries advised Martha, she looked at Burren.

“Your issue is that you think too much. You also need lots of experience to fix that. It’s decided. You are sparring with me!”

“Ah…”

Burren also dropped his jaw.

“Runaan is too kind. Your swordsmanship puts others before you. You need to become a bit more selfish. Therefore, you are sparring with me!”

Aries smiled cheerfully, saying that all three of them were going to spar with her.

“We are going to start sparring right away, so prepare yourselves as if you are facing a real battle.”

“Yes!”

“Alright.”

“Yeah.”

She bobbed her finger, and Burren, Martha, and Runaan ran to the changing room in order to put on their equipment.

“Aries.”

Denier walked up to Aries and narrowed his eyes.

“What are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t normally take care of youngsters. You even neglected your son…”

“I neglected him because he’s my son. My niece and nephew are cute.”

“What kind of nonsense is that…?”

“That’s enough about me. What are you thinking?”

A frightening glow sparked from Aries’s smiling eyes.

“Because you aren’t the type of person who takes care of youngsters either.”

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