Chapter 243

“You failed?”

Tyler Sayton slowly turned his head. The pirate with a long scar on his cheek shamefully lowered his head.

“Why?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

The pirate’s head went even lower.

“I didn’t ask whether you were sorry or not. I asked why that happened.”

Tyler smiled. His bright smile was brimming with malice.

“You had enough time to sink the ship before those Zieghart bastards arrived.”

They had attacked the ship at that hour in order to show the villagers and the Zieghart insects the sight of a sinking ship and drowning crews. Since it was a perfect plan, he was irritated that it had failed.

“Th-The Blue Lughs suddenly stopped moving while attacking the ship.”

“They stopped moving?”

“I don’t know the exact reason, but th-they stayed still underwater instead of destroying the ship.”

The pirate’s hands were trembling while being unable to meet Tyler’s eyes.

“Th-The Blue Lughs started moving again soon after that, but the Zieghart bastards arrived in time because of the delay and saved the crew.”

“Did it break or something? They are seriously imbecilic.”

Tyler smacked the cheek of a Blue Lugh who was kneeling on the ground. Even though they were beaten until they bled, the Blue Lughs weren’t even groaning in the slightest.

“Rimmer must’ve acted from Zieghart’s side.”

“I-It wasn’t Rimmer. It was Raon.”

“What?”

“Raon jumped on the water and froze the Blue Lughs in an instant to save people.”

The pirate explained that Raon pushed back the Blue Lughs and saved the crew.

“His level of martial arts shouldn’t allow him to float on the water. Did Zieghart have a water walking technique?”

“I don’t know about that…”

“It’s okay. It’s completely possible. However, it’s strange for Raon Zieghart to have learned it, since he’s been living on the ground so far…”

He frowned for the first time in displeasure.

“How did the villagers react?”

“I heard they were astonished to see him create an ice island in the middle of the river, on top of floating on the water. Th-They were saying that the god of water and ice has descended. Some of them must’ve become really fond of him.”

“Haa, what a son of a bitch. Is he seriously trying to lick the candy that someone else has claimed? He deserves to have his eyeballs pulled out. Don’t you agree?”

“I-I do.”

“I didn’t like him anyway from the first time I saw him. I wanted to tear his tongue out because of how arrogant he was just because he got some fame despite being a child.”

Tyler’s evil smile looked completely different from the polite appearance he had in front of the Light Wind squad.

“Everything is that bastard’s fault. We would’ve already taken over the Gazel River if only he was still with us.”

He sighed in irritation while saying that it was a shame.

“Are you talking about the talking Blue Lugh?”

The response came from behind him. He was a middle-aged man whose pressure was as magnificent as an iron tower. It was Haeckel, the vice-captain of Tyler’s warship, the White Spear. 

“Yes. I thought that all of the Blue Lughs would become like him once I educated them, but that wasn’t the case at all.”

Tyler clicked his tongue. No matter how much he taught them, the Blue Lughs were incapable of speaking or reading the human language.

Since he couldn’t communicate with them, it took too much time to make a simple waterway. The Blue Lugh who had learned human language on his own was a special case.

“All of them are idiots with smooth brains.”

He raised his feet to step on the head of the Blue Lugh kneeling on the ground. The Blue Lugh’s head was dragged on the ground and started bleeding, but he couldn’t put up the slightest resistance.

“If I had let him live, we would’ve already finished all of the waterways on the rivers branching from the Rable River downstream.”

If he hadn’t killed that talking Blue Lugh, Gazel river’s waterway would’ve been already perfectly completed, allowing them to take over Doran Village and even Yuin Village. The Blue Lughs other than him were all morons that were only useful in combat.

‘I would’ve spared him if I knew this was going to happen.’

He had killed him because he thought he had no more use for him, but he shouldn’t have done that. He regretted making that decision on an impulse.

“I’ve always been curious about this. How did you even convince that Blue Lugh to tell you the secret? He must’ve refused at first.”

“That was simple.”

Tyler smiled brightly after kicking away the Blue Lugh he had been stepping on.

“I arranged it so that I would be the only one that existed in his world. I visited him every single day, then stopped visiting him for a week so that he would be filled with worry and anxiety.”

If the only person one can talk to, the one capable of understanding them, ended up disappearing… the anxiety was bound to overflow and engulf the entire body. He didn’t show himself in front of him for a week so that the pain from that would gnaw at his heart.

“The rest was even easier. I gave that monster a gift and made him feel even more sorry. Because he was afraid of the pain he’d feel once I disappeared again, and thankful and sorry for me at the same time since I gave him an unexpected gift, the monster was bound to open his mouth.”

“Huh…”

“He was even smarter than a human, but his emotions were even worse than a child’s. It was a piece of cake to control his feelings.”

He set it up in a way that the Blue Lugh would meet no one other than himself in order to control his feelings. It was extremely easy to take advantage of such a naive monster’s psychology.

“I knew the captain was the worst villain.”

Haeckel grinned, holding onto the ship’s handrail.

“I’m not being evil, just efficient. Villains and heroes die at a young age, but being efficient never fails you.”

Tyler rested his chin on the handrail. His calm eyes were reflecting a village being destroyed. It was the fishing village where Belga met his friend.

“But do we really need to annihilate that place? It feels like a waste…”

“We are trimming a dead branch. We need to do that for the other branches to grow up clean.”

He smiled cheerfully while watching the village being crushed.

* * *

Raon returned to Doran Village after making Flumen wear a robe. Since he’d previously told the Light Wind squad to wait for him, they were waiting for him at the lodging.

“Why are you so late?”

Burren frowned and asked what he’d been doing to be so late.

“It’s obvious. He must’ve been training again.”

Martha shook her head, saying that she was already sick and tired of it.

“Raon.”

Runaan blankly stared at his face after simply calling his name. The way she was blinking looked like she was about to collapse and fall asleep.

All three of them were breathing heavily. They must’ve been training all along.

“By the way, who’s that behind you?”

Rimmer pointed at Flumen behind him. He was the only one whose breathing was relaxed, to the point that he looked drowsy. He apparently felt the energy of water, since he was tilting his head in bewilderment.

“Did the vice-squad leader bring someone?”

“Who is that?”

“Is that a villager?”

The other swordsmen also poked their heads out, since they didn’t expect him to bring someone at such a late hour.

“Sit down, everyone. I have something to tell you.”

Raon created an energy barrier to stop sound from spreading out, then looked at Flumen.

“I-I’m ready.”

Once Flumen nodded, Raon took off his robe.

“A-A Blue Lugh!”

“Why is a Blue Lugh here?!”

“I-Isn’t he dangerous?”

The swordsmen’s eyes widened as they brought their hands to their swords around their waists.

“Uhh…”

Flumen stepped back in surprise.

“You guys, look at his eyes.”

Rimmer pointed at Flumen’s eyes.

“They are clear and transparent. He doesn’t look hostile, unlike the other Blue Lughs.”

“Th-That’s true.”

“His eyes aren’t red.”

“Is that what a real Blue Lugh looks like?”

The swordsmen nodded upon seeing his clear eyes, which they’d heard that Blue Lughs were supposed to have.

“So, who is this kid?”

Martha examined Flumen. Her expression suggested that she was still being cautious of him.

“That’s what I was about to tell you. His name is Flumen. I met him for the first time when we were saving people at the river earlier…”

Raon explained how he met him to everyone and told them the story that Flumen told him.

“What fucking trash!”

Burren ground his teeth while saying that he wanted to tear off the mouth that had praised Tyler. Since he liked noble behavior, it was an extremely rare occurrence that he swore at someone.

“Shit! That motherfucking bastard…”

Martha looked like she was about to run outside with her aura bursting out from her. Since she had lost her mother because of the White Blood Religion, she was bound to be even more affected by his story.

“Hmm…”

Even Runaan seemed to be angry as she bit her lip. Cold light was glowing from her eyes, which used to be blank.

“Kuh!”

Dorian was shedding tears while covering his mouth.

“You worked so hard.”

He went to Flumen and took out crackers and candies from his belly pocket.

“You should eat those for now. Yes, just like that.”

“Ah, th-thank you.”

Both of Flumen’s hands became full of the crackers and candies he’d received as he nodded. His awkward response implied that he didn’t exactly know what those were.

“Come on, boy!”

Dorian couldn’t stop himself and hugged Flumen tightly.

Yes, you should hug him in the King of Essence’s stead!

Wrath clenched his fist, praising his response. Raon realized once again that those two had the softest hearts among the people around him.

“You were the one who stopped the Blue Lughs from attacking the ship, right?”

“Ah, yeah…”

Flumen nodded.

“He stopped the Blue Lughs?”

“They said that the Blue Lughs were staying still for a few minutes before we arrived. I thought it was strange, and I figured that it was his doing.”

“I can stop my tribe. Though, I can’t do it for a long time because it drains my strength…”

He said that he had gained that ability when he returned from death from being stabbed by Tyler’s spear.

“You were trying to save humans, when a human did all that to you…”

“How can life be so harsh?”

“Suffering isn’t enough to describe it.”

“But his mistake was too huge. He shouldn’t have told such secrets…”

“Haa, I don’t even know how I should be comforting him.”

A few people blamed Flumen for his mistake in revealing his tribe’s secret, but most people simply felt sorry for him.

“Regardless of what happened to Flumen…”

Raon started talking while meeting everyone’s gazes.

“Tyler from South-North Union is targeting our domain. We are obviously not letting him get his way, and that means war.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

Martha grabbed her sword as if she were about to fight them right away.

“This is intolerable even for me.”

“Mhm.”

Burren and Runaan also nodded in agreement.

“I know how angry you are, but we can’t simply make our move.”

Raon shook his head.

“They are holding the Blue Lughs hostages.”

Since they found out the truth, the Blue Lughs were hostages instead of enemies. They couldn’t attack recklessly unless they had a plan to rescue them.

‘We need to find the Water God Stone first.’

There was nothing they could do until they found the Water God Stone in Tyler’s possession.

“Do you know the Water God Stone’s location?”

“I’m sure it’s inside the ship, but I don’t know the exact location.”

Flumen shook his head.

“Wait, you said that the Water God Stone had the ability to command the Blue Lughs, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you also have the ability to stop the Blue Lughs temporarily.”

“Huh? Yeah.”

Flumen tilted his head because he was asking a question that he already knew the answer to.

“Do you know where the Blue Lughs are staying?”

“They are hiding at the intersection between Gazel River and Rable River.”

“Why are they staying there?”

“Gazel River isn’t the only place Tyler is using the Blue Lughs. He made their shelter next to the Rable River, so that they can reach anywhere.”

Raon nodded while listening to Flumen’s response. His fluent answer made him guess that he had prepared a lot by himself in order to resolve the incident.

“What does the Water God Stone look like?”

“It’s round and transparent, just like a jellyfish.”

“Hmm…”

Raon used Glacier to create a spherical bead on his hand.

“Like this?”

“No, it’s bigger.”

“Then how about this?”

“Yeah.”

Flumen finally nodded once Raon made the bead as big as a person’s head.

“White beads move inside like smoke, and it incorporates the mana of pure water.”

“That’s not difficult.”

Raon inserted Glacier’s pure coldness inside the ice bead that he had created.

Pssh!

The coldness flew inside the bead like a stream, creating smoke just like Flumen had mentioned.

“Oh, that’s it! It looks exactly like that.”

Flumen nodded.

“I think we can do this.”

Raon smiled faintly. If things went as planned, Tyler was going to tell them the Water God Stone’s location personally.

“Are you saying that we can save the Blue Lughs?”

Burren’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I have a plan to take away the Water God Stone.”

Raon turned to look at Dorian.

“Dorian. Ask the village chief to call Tyler tomorrow. Pick an hour when he has enough time.”

“Already? Aren’t you being too hasty?”

Martha narrowed her eyes, telling him to calm down.

“Don’t worry. We can save them for sure. However, the squad leader has to play a big part in this…”

“Hmm, I see.”

Rimmer raised himself up with a smile on his face.

“It’s finally my turn. I just need to beautifully behead that trash bastard, right?”

“No, I’m the one who is going to slay him.”

“Huh? H-He should be too difficult to handle for yo…”

“I’m slaying him.”

Raon firmly shook his head.

“S-Sure.”

Rimmer awkwardly nodded upon facing Raon’s burning, passionate eyes.

“What am I supposed to do, then?”

“It’s a really important job.”

Raon grinned, raising his finger.

“You are the protagonist of this mission.”

* * * 

Since they decided to call Tyler in three days, Raon climbed the mountain to practice swordsmanship in the meantime. It could be considered his daily routine, but one thing was different from usual.

You idiot! Your sword is too slow! You shouldn’t do that right there! The illusion sword needs to be changed even later! The sound is too loud!

Wrath was enraged by Tyler’s wrongdoing and was going out of his way to point out the incomplete parts in Raon’s swordsmanship.

Do you really believe you can slay him in your current state? You need to tear his limbs apart and freeze his body to make him face a slow death!

“You sounded like a real demon king just now.”

Raon chuckled. He sounded like a human when he was extremely saddened from hearing Flumen's story, and he turned into a demon king when he talked about killing Tyler. He was such a mysterious guy.

Stop laughing and swing your sword instead!

“I’ll do that a bit later.”

He shook his head and looked at the mountain path. Belga and Morin appeared from there in a moment along with a rustling sound.

“S-Sir Raon!”

Belga was still covered in bandages as he knelt, since his injuries weren’t completely healed yet, and Morin was also limping his leg as he bowed.

“Why, all of a sudden…?”

Since they had already thanked him enough, he couldn’t understand why they were bowing at him after coming all the way there.

“M-My friend. The village of my friend, who told me about the South-North Union, has been massacred.”

“What?”

Raon’s eyes widened.

“It’s a small village called Peren located next to the Rable River, and the news said that everyone has perished…”

Because he put too much strength in his teeth, his lip tore apart and the blood trickled down his chin.

“Th-They said that it was from the Blue Lughs’ attack, but that can’t possibly be true! I’m sure they made an example out of them because they told Belga about the South-North Union!”

Morin’s hands were trembling as he gritted his teeth.

“Th-They should’ve just killed me. Why did they attack there instead…?”

Belga was coughing blood while grasping his chest. He must’ve been thinking that it was his fault that all of that had happened. However, that wasn’t his fault at all. It was simply bound to happen as long as they were under Tyler’s influence.

“P-Please! Please stop them!”

“I beg you!”

The two of them lowered their heads while scratching the ground until they bled.

“Haa…”

Raon exhaled heavily and closed his eyes.

‘It’s a relief.’

Relief? You crazy bastard!

‘That’s not what I mean. I’m saying that it’s a relief that I didn’t immediately kill Tyler.’

What?

‘People like him shouldn’t be given an easy death. They need to be thoroughly trampled and destroyed.’

Raon suppressed his boiling anger and walked up to the two.

“Don’t worry.”

Raon smiled coldly while making Belga and Morin stand.

“I’ll drag him down from his position of hero to the trash where he belongs before getting rid of him.”

* * *

Two days later, Raon was sitting in front of Tyler in Doran Village’s conference room.

“I heard that you’ve saved people with your godly abilities recently. You are really amazing. I think the rumors aren’t enough to describe your skills.”

Tyler smiled brightly, just like when they met for the first time.

“No, it was a drop in the bucket compared to Sir Tyler’s prowess.”

Raon humbly shook his head.

“You are also good at praising people. So, why did you want to see me today?”

“Before we start, I’d like to apologize for calling you here when you must be busy.”

“No, I was free today since there was no work.”

Tyler shook his hand to tell him that it was fine.

“That’s a relief.”

Raon smiled faintly and continued.

“The reason I called Sir Tyler is because I managed to find the Blue Lugh’s hideout.”

“H-Hideout? Did you really manage to find their hideout?”

Tyler’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“I certainly did.”

Raon nonchalantly nodded.

“Where’s the location…?”

“They were hiding between the Gazel River and the Rable River. I’ll tell you the exact location as we go.”

“Hmm…”

Tyler hesitated without responding.

“You don’t look like you are satisfied with it. Is something the matter?”

“N-No. I’m just feeling glad that we can finally put an end to it.”

“That’s a relief.”

Raon smiled faintly, raising his finger.

“Since you mentioned that it’s the end, shall we make a bet?”

“Bet?”

“Yes. How about having the side who slay more ‘monsters’ today stick the flag in this village?”

“Haha, using the village for a bet doesn’t sound too good for me. We aren’t too interested in tha…”

“In that case, are you fine with us protecting the village?”

Tyler’s smile turned stiff like a plaster upon hearing what Raon said.

“We’ve only been here for a short time, but the village chief and the other villagers liked us quite a lot. If Sir Tyler is okay with that, we’d like to set Zieghart’s flag in Doran Village. Since Yuin Village right next to here is also our domain, it shouldn’t have any issues or consequences.”

“Haha, that sounds a bit inconvenient.”

Tyler bit his lip very slightly, turning his head towards the chief and the executives of the village.

“I also got rather close to the people here, but it would be difficult for me to see them again if it became Zieghart’s domain.”

“Ahem…”

“Hmm!”

“That’s…”

The village chief and the executives averted their eyes instead of answering Tyler.

“Hmm?”

Tyler furrowed his brow. His face was saying that he didn’t expect the village chief and the executives to react that way.

Raon snickered while looking at Tyler and the village chief.

‘It was the right choice to show them my footwork.’

The village chief and villagers became extremely favorable to Zieghart after witnessing the Watery Blossom.

Thanks to Rimmer and Dorian’s friendly attitudes on top of that, the villagers’ opinions were currently divided in half between South-North Union and Zieghart.

“It won’t be difficult to see them. We don’t have any regulations, so you can visit them whenever you want.”

“Hmm. Even then, I won’t be able to freely visit this place.”

“No, it’s really fine. You can visit whenever.”

Raon smiled faintly while looking at Tyler’s trembling mouth.

‘Yes, I know you aren’t going to simply let it go.’

Tyler was trying to take over the different river streams in order to accumulate enough power and money to compete with the other disciples of the South-North Union’s boss. Since he’d put an exceptional amount of effort into the Gazel River, he wouldn’t let it go no matter what.

‘And taking over this place has a symbolic meaning.’

Half of Gazel River was Zieghart’s domain. He must’ve been trying to gain fame for taking over Zieghart’s land and river.

“By the way, our squad leader isn’t going to participate in this battle because he has other missions.”

Raon threw another bait.

“This is really troublesome.”

Tyler rolled up the corners of his mouth. He was smiling just like a moment ago, but the atmosphere around him was completely cold instead.

“Regardless of killing the Blue Lughs, I think it would be better for us to protect this village for various reasons. Zieghart is pretty far away from here, after all.”

“That problem can be solved by simply setting up a branch here.”

“Hmm…”

“I personally don’t like having a long argument, so let’s quickly conclude it. Are you going to accept it? Or are you going to give up?” Raon asked while tapping the table with his finger.

“Haa, you leave me no choice. I’ll take on that bet for the sake of the village.”

Tyler added that it was for the village’s sake, not showing his true color to the end.

“I knew you would accept. Though, I didn’t expect you to drag this out with unnecessary talks.”

“You…”

Raon snickered while implying something with his words, and Tyler’s face turned frighteningly stiff for an instant before returning to normal.

“I didn’t expect Sir Raon to be so…”

“Let’s get going then.”

Raon interrupted Tyler’s mumbling and pointed outside.

“R-Right away?”

“Yes, we should be able to finish it today, since it’s not even noon yet.”

“But we need more time…”

“You mentioned earlier that you were completely free today, though.”

He couldn’t give any time to Tyler and South-North Union. That was the reason he’d asked the village chief to call Tyler when he had free time.

“Let’s go.”

Raon smiled while looking down on Tyler like a savage beast looking at his prey.

“Let’s annihilate all the ‘monsters’ today and put an end to this.”

* * *

While those two were in a fight without swords…

“Ah, damn it…”

Someone’s mumbling slowly sounded from under the floor of the White Spear, Tyler's warship.

“How is this even happening? Why do I have to hang on here while being completely wet?”

Rimmer was grinding his teeth while sticking to the ship’s floor.

“I’m the squad leader, and he’s the vice-squad leader. Why do I have to do all the hard work? Hey, you also saw how he was glaring at me, didn’t you?”

“B-Be patient.”

Flumen shook his hand from the water to comfort the angry Rimmer.

“This is not how a protagonist should be!”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]