CH 169

They went somewhere else.

“Brother,” Hakken addressed Siegfried.

He addressed Siegfried as brother rather than asking for Siegfried’s true identity because he had no doubt that Siegfried was one of Shakiro’s disciples as well. Well, it was partly true that Siegfried was Shakiro’s disciple.

“What did you learn from Master?”

“Hmm… I learned how to handle weapons from him,” Siegfried replied.

“Which weapon, to be exact…?”

“A few weapons…”

“Heok!”

“T-That means…!”

“Master finally found a disciple who can…!”

“Ah!”

Siegfried’s response caused an uproar among the Maestros. Their reaction wasn’t strange because Megingjord was in Siegfried’s hands, and he had also activated Torrential Flower Rain, which was a skill that none of them managed to learn.

The fact that he defeated all the Maestros also made it completely plausible that he might be the Weapon Master’s successor.

However, what Siegfried meant by a few weapons was that he learned each weapon’s advantages and disadvantages from Shakiro.

“T-Then that means you’re Master’s successor!” Hakken exclaimed in surprise.

“Huh?” Siegfried tilted his head in confusion.

“The Torrential Flower Rain is Master’s essence! You’re the only disciple who had the privilege of learning that skill from Master, which means that you’re Master’s successor!”

‘I think they are misunderstanding something…?’ Siegfried realized that the conversation had taken a wrong turn.

“No, that isn’t what happened…” Siegfried tried to steer the conversation back in place.

However, Hakken grabbed Siegfriend’s hands and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Senior Brother.”

Then, the other Maestros also started addressing Siegfried as Senior Brother.

It was clear that they had recognized him as Shakiro’s successor.

In other words, Siegfried was the next Weapon Master in their eyes.

“Senior Brother!”

“I greet the Senior Brother!”

“I hope to get along with you from now on, Senior Brother!”

“Senior Brother! I am so glad that you came to visit us!”

Siegfried was stupefied by the sudden turn of events.

“Ah, no… That’s not… Please listen to me first…” he started.

This wasn’t the time for him to revel in their misunderstanding.

‘I have to tell them what happened to Master Shakiro-nim. Ah, how can I say that in this situation? Please, can’t you guys listen to me first…?!’ he inwardly cried out.

He was supposed to break the news to them, but he found it difficult to do so amidst the lively atmosphere.

Eventually, Siegfried managed to find the right timing and said, “I-I’m sorry, but I have some unfortunate news…”

“Unfortunate news?” Hakken asked in response.

“Yes… Actually… Master Shakiro has—” Siegfried paused.

“…?”

“Master passed away a few months ago…”

The faces of the Maestros turned pale at those words.

***

Siegfried tried his best to explain his relationship with Shakiro.

He also told them about Shakiro’s final moments.

“And that was how he passed away. He did not leave any will behind,” Siegfried explained.

“Sniff! So Master has really passed away…”

“Church of Osric…!”

“I will never forgive them…!”

“Master…”

“The last time we met was three years ago…”

The Maestros all had the same reaction.

Anger and sadness, and they couldn’t tell which of the two emotions was currently greater than the other.

“I apologize for the unfortunate news. He was a very good teacher to me as well,” Siegfried apologized to the Maestros before continuing. “And I had mentioned, but I am not his successor. I only spent a short with him to receive his teachings—”

“No,” Hakken interrupted Siegfried and shook his head. “Senior Brother is indeed Master’s successor.”

“Huh? I just told you that I—”

“He had never taught any of his disciples Torrential Flower Rain, and the fact that Master taught it to you means that Master had judged that you were the only one capable of learning his ultimate skill.”

“I do not think so…” Siegfried shook his head and responded, “He passed down Torrential Flower Rain to me because he was on the brink of—”

“You are mistaken. Master never cared whether his ultimate skill will survive or not.”

“…!”

“Master used to mention quite often that he wasn’t going to pass down Torrential Flower Rain unless someone worthy of it appears.”

“No way…”

“It is true. The others probably heard Master mention this a few times as well. Am I right, brothers and sisters?” Hakken asked the other Maestros.

They all nodded in agreement.

“No way…!”

“It is true, and…” Hakken trailed off.

“…?” Siegfried stared at Hakken, urging him to continue.

“Master kept on mentioning how only his successor would have the privilege of learning Torrential Flower Rain.”

Hearing that, Siegfried became sure that there was no way that he could keep on denying that he was Shakiro’s successor. He had no other choice but to accept that he was indeed Weapon Master Shakiro’s successor.

“Would you consider being the Chief Mourner?”

“C-Chief Mourner?!”

“Would you lead the funeral rites for Master?”

“No way! Who am I to do that?!”

“Please. It has to be you. You’re Master’s successor, so you have to be the Chief Mourner. I mean, who else is worthy of that position if it’s not you, Senior Brother?”

The rest of the Maestros also urged Siegfried to agree to the offer. It seemed that it was only natural for them that their master’s rightful successor should lead their master’s funeral rites.

‘Sigh… I guess I’ll have to expend some emotional energy. I received a lot from Master Shakiro, so it’s only right for me to repay him even if this is only a game…’ Siegfried sighed inwardly upon realizing that he had no other choice but to accept the offer.

In the end, Siegfried’s emotional side urged him to accept the position as the Chief Mourner for Shakiro’s funeral.

Siegfried had always been guilty about not being able to host a proper funeral for Shakiro, so he accepted the offer.

“All right… I will be the Chief Mourner.”

Siegfried ended up becoming the Chief Mourner of Weapon Master Shakiro’s funeral, and he also ended up staying for three whole days at the Weapon Academy.

***

Unfortunately, they couldn’t proceed with Shakiro’s funeral because Scythe Maestro, Scarlett and Blunt Weapons Maestro Maxim were currently in another region.

“Huh? Vaxen Mountains?” Siegfried muttered.

“Yes, Senior Brother. We received reports that a group of man-eating titans had descended from the mountain, so we sent Scarlett and Maxim to go check it out. I think we will have to wait until they return…” Hakken replied.

“I will go there personally and bring them back here,” Siegfried said.

‘I have to go to the Vaxen Mountains, anyway, so this would be killing two birds with one stone,’ he thought. He had to collect thirty Titan’s Tendons, so he was planning on going there to collect them while bringing Scarlett and Maxim back with him in the process.

“No, we will send one of our brothers or sisters to bring them back. How can Senior Brother go there personally?” Hakken objected.

“I have some business there as well, so I’ll just bring them back while I’m at it.”

Siegfried decided that it was going to be a much better use of his time if he personally went to do his business and bring the two Maestros back with him rather than sitting around, waiting for them to come back.

“But it is not right for Senior Brother to go personally just to—”

“It’s fine. I’ll go,” Siegfried said and waved his hand dismissively.

“All right then, we will entrust the matter to you,” Hakken replied.

Then, a system message popped up in front of his eyes.

[A Sad Message]

[Go to Vaxen Mountains and look for the Maestros, Scarlett and Maxim, who went to subjugate the titans.]

[Progress: 0% (0/2)]

[Scythe Maestro Scarlett: 0/1]

[Blunt Weapons Maestro Maxim: 0/1]

[Reward: Affinity with the Weapon Academy Maestros +500.]

[Caution: Hurry up.]

“Yes, I will go and bring them back with me,” Siegfried replied and accepted the quest.

“And do you mind speaking comfortably with us?” Hakken asked carefully.

“Pardon me…?”

“Senior Brother is Master’s successor. You hold the highest position among all of us brothers and sisters, so there is no need for you to speak so respectfully to us.”

“But that’s…”

“Please, speak comfortably to us.”

“T-Then, I will…”

Siegfried had no choice but to accept Hakken’s request because the rest of the Maestros were looking at him with pleading eyes.

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“A-Anyway, I’ll go and get them so you guys prepare for Master’s funeral,” Siegfried said, feeling slightly awkward.

“Yes, Senior Brother,” Hakken replied with a smile.

***

‘I wonder why this quest is telling me to hurry up. Is there a reason that the funeral can’t be delayed?’ Siegfried wondered while reading the quest details.

He soon arrived at Vaxen Mountains.

‘The Ranger Corps…’ Siegfried went to the base of the 101 Ranger Corps, which was in charge of subjugating the titans.

“Owner punk!”

“Hmm?”

“What’s the rush? Slow down, will you!”

“You can just become smaller if you’re having a hard time keeping up.”

“Alright! Kyu~ Kyu!”

Hamchi became as small as a rabbit and hopped onto Siegfried’s shoulder.

“But why are you in a rush?”

“I just want to get this over with.”

Siegfried didn’t see the point of explaining what the quest details said, so he gave a vague response, but the quest details message about how he should hurry up was bothering him.

However, he found it difficult to find the base of the 101 Ranger Corps in the vast expanse of the Vaxen Mountains. The Ranger Corps was a part of the army, so their base was located pretty deep within the mountain, which made it challenging to locate.

“Ah, I don’t think I can continue searching today. Let’s rest for now and continue the search later,” Siegfried said as he sat on the ground. He decided to completely give up on looking for the Ranger Corps’ base.

“Hey, Hamchi. Let’s take a nap in this cave for a few hours,” he said.

“Are you tired?”

“Yeah, I’ve been online—no, I haven’t slept for eighteen hours now. Let me close my eyes for a bit.”

“All right, go ahead.”

“I’ll wake up in around five or six hours.”

“Alright, kyu!”

Six hours later, Siegfried descended upon the Nürburg Continent once more after sleeping and eating. He started looking for the 101 Ranger Corps once again.

‘Huh?’ 

Siegfried was surprised to see a prompt suddenly appearing right in front of his eyes.

[Alert: The details of the Quest – ‘A Sad Message’ has changed!]

Siegfried immediately checked the quest details.

[A Sad Message]

[Go to Vaxen Mountains and look for the Maestros, Scarlett and Maxim, who went to subjugate the titans.]

[Progress: 0% (0/2)]

[Scythe Maestro Scarlett: 0/1]

[Blunt Weapon Maestro Maxim: 0/1]

[Reward: Affinity with the Weapon Academy Maestros +500.]

[Caution: Hurry up as fast as you can.]

The quest details had changed. He was supposed to look for both Maxim and Scarlett, but Maxim’s name was struck out. On top of that, the warning had changed from hurry up to hurry up as fast as you can.

‘Huh?’ Siegfried was confused, but it only lasted for a moment. “Hey, Hamchi.”

“Why, owner punk?”

“Run.”

“Kyu?”

Siegfried grabbed Hamchi and kicked off of the ground.