CH 171

“…!”

Siegfried froze when he saw Scarlett close her eyes.

“Scarlett! Scarlett!”

“…”

“Hey, Scarlett! Get a grip! Wake up! Scarlett!”

However, there was no response.

“Don’t tell me…”

Siegfried placed his ear on her chest.

Badump… Badump… Badump… 

Fortunately, he could still hear the faint sound of her heartbeat.

“Ah… That scared the hell out of me… Phew…!” Siegfried let out a sigh of relief after confirming that she was still alive. He had no idea how he was supposed to face Shakiro if Scarlett died as well after Maxim.

‘Master Shakiro… I couldn’t save Maxim, but I will definitely save Scarlett.’ 

Siegfried clenched his fist before carefully carrying Scarlett on his back.

“Hey, Hamchi! Are you done?!”

“All done! Here are the tendons!” Hamchi handed over the Titan’s Tendons to him.

[Alert: You have obtained 44 ‘Titan’s Tendons’!]

Siegfried obtained forty-four tendons because it was possible to obtain a tendon from each limb of the titan’s limbs.

[Titan’s Tendon: 44/30] ✓

Siegfried finally gathered two out of the five materials required to complete This Is All You Need!

However, he still had another quest to complete.

[A Sad Message 2]

[Go to the Weapon Academy and convey Scarlett’s words.]

[Type: Time Attack Quest]

[Progress: 0% (0/1)]

[Time Remaining: 03:59:59]

[Rewards: Affinity with the Weapon Academy Maestros +9,999]

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

The quest ‘A Sad Message’ changed into ‘A Sad Message 2,’ and the difficulty of the quest went up a notch along with its name.

Four hours was nowhere enough for Siegfried to go back to White Town and warn the Weapon Academy Maestros even if he used a Warp Gate. He was also currently deep within the Vaxen Mountains, so it would take quite a while for him to reach a Warp Gate.

“This is driving me crazy, I will need at least two more hours…” Siegfried cursed his rotten luck.

Scarlett’s life was hanging on by a thread, so there was no way that he could simply abandon her. However, it would be too late by the time he arrived at White Town if he were to prioritize Scarlett’s treatment.

“Hey, Hamchi,” Siegfried looked at the hamster.

“What is it, owner punk?”

“Let’s go our separate ways.”

“K-Kyu?! What are you saying right now?! Are you abandoning Hamchi?! You made it impossible for me to live without you, but now, you’re abandoning me?!”

“This is not the time for jokes. Can we please be serious?”

“All right, owner-nim,” Hamchi replied with a serious look this time.

“I’m going back to the Weapon Academy. You take her to the Ranger Corps’ base and get her treated as soon as possible. Afterward, come to the Weapon Academy.”

“Leave it to me!”

“See you, then.”

Siegfried bid goodbye to his hamster and rushed toward the nearest Warp Gate.

***

Farming did not usually go according to how one wanted it to. There were times that the harvest would be abundant, while there were times that the harvest would be sparse.

Farming wouldn’t usually go according to one’s whims. There were times when the harvest would be abundant, and there were also times when the harvest would be sparse.

Raising children was the same.[1]

A parent could shower their child with as much love and affection as they could, but there was no guarantee that the child would grow up to be an upright individual.

Shakiro’s first disciple possessed genius-like talent, but he had a rotten personality.

“Master, I will succeed you one day and become the next Weapon Master.”

“All right, you will become the next Weapon Master as long as you work hard.”

“I will become powerful enough to rule over everyone else.”

“Rule over everyone else…”

“I heard that a Master would receive treatment as if they were a duke no matter which nation they decided to visit, but I am not going to be satisfied with becoming equal to a duke. I wish to become a king and grow further to become the emperor!”

The heart of Shakiro’s first disciple contained an extreme ambition, and the ambition in his heart grew even bigger after he witnessed his master using Torrential Flower Rain.

“Master, please teach me how to use Torrential Flower Rain.”

“No, it’s too much for you.”

“How? I’m extremely talented. I’m certain that I can replicate Torrential Flower Rain if you teach it to me!”

“You will have to understand each and every weapon if you wish to learn Torrential Flower Rain, but you have only learned how to use Lightning.”

“That’s because you’re not teaching me! Master! Why are you not teaching me how to use other weapons?! Why?! I am stronger than any of your other disciples! I’m confident that I can handle their weapons better than they do!”

“That is not the problem here…”

“Shall I prove it to you? Will you acknowledge me and teach me how to use Torrential Flower Rain if I beat that bastard Hakken with a sword?!”

“You won’t be able to beat Hakken with a sword.”

“I can do it!”

“You don’t seem to believe me.’

“I can absolutely beat him! I’ll show you that I can beat Hakken with a sword!”

And that was how Shakiro’s first and second disciples dueled against each other with the sword.

Rather than dissuading them, Shakiro allowed the duel. He could have stopped the duel, but he didn’t do that because he wanted his first disciple to know his limits.

However, the decision to allow the duel ended up being one of the biggest mistakes Shakiro had ever made in his life.

Hakken one-sidedly crushed Shakiro’s first disciple.

There was no way that the first disciple could defeat Hakken with a sword. He was extremely talented in various weapons, but Hakken had been training with the sword his entire life.

“I refuse to accept this. I refuse to accept this…!”

“Senior Brother!”

“I lost to someone like you? Me? I lost? I could have learned Torrential Flower Rain, but you made me lose! You’re the reason why I lost!”

“Senior Brother, calm down!”

“Dieeeeee!”

The first disciple couldn’t suppress the rage boiling inside of him. The rage soon took over his reasoning as he grabbed his spear and rushed at Hakken with the intent to kill.

Shakiro stepped in and blocked the spear, but tragically, his first disciple ended up falling off a cliff from the impact.

The name of Shakiro’s first disciple was Gerard.

***

“Gerard…?” Hakken muttered in disbelief while looking at the man who had dragged Velkanto’s corpse into the Weapon Academy. The man was Shakiro’s first disciple, who was presumed to have died a long time ago.

“It’s been a while, Hakken,” Gerard said with a smug smirk.

“H-How? We thought you were dead…!”

“I almost died—no, I would have died if that person hadn’t saved me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The one who found me at the foot of the cliff was none other than the man I once served as my master!”

“…!”

“I would have died that day if it hadn’t been for him, but he immediately expelled me after saving me.”

“Expelled…”

“That day—he had abandoned me that day, and I had abandoned him as well.”

“That doesn’t excuse what you have done! You’re rubbing dirt on Master's face right now!”

“He should have taught me Torrential Flower Rain! I was the only one capable of learning that ultimate skill, but he ignored and cast me aside!”

”I was his first disciple, but now, I know—he must have been scared of me. He must have been scared that he would lose his title as the Weapon Master if he had taught me Torrential Flower Rain.”

“Bullshit! You’re delusional! There is no way you could land even a single blow on Master, even if you used Torrential Flower Rain!” Hakken retorted furiously.

“Do you really think so? Why do you think someone who calls himself a master wouldn’t teach me his ultimate skill? The one and only explanation is that he was scared of my growth!” Gerard exclaimed with absolute certainty.

“You are insane… Your words only make sense to you because you are truly evil and rotten. Master is not someone who would be scared by the likes of you…” Hakken drew his sword and said, “You are truly an evil being, Gerard. Are you not satisfied belittling our master that you are now killing your brothers and sisters?”

“Kill? Haha! I’m not killing anyone here. No, no, I’m only collecting the fragments and combining them into one. This Rune of Plunder is going to absorb all of your abilities and techniques!” Gerard said. He flashed his left hand to Hakken and said in a low voice, “I will gather all of the fragments and complete the Torrential Flower Rain!”

Shwiiiik!

A black aura emerged from Gerard’s hand, and it turned into a sharp scythe.

“This is called a Shadow Weapon. It’s extracted from the Demon Lord’s shadow, and it is a weapon that can transform into any weapon out there.”

“Are you relying on dark artifacts now?”

“Let me show you something even more amazing!”

Shwiiik!

When Gerard’s words fell, the weapons of the Weapon Maestros—a scythe, a mace, and a shield appeared and orbited him. It seemed that he had the ability to control these three additional weapons on top of the Shadow Weapon he was using.

“Today, I’m going to gather the fragments that the man who had abandoned me had left behind and become the Weapon Master. Ah, It’s a pity that he’s already dead. Otherwise, he could have witnessed my success.”

Gerard smiled as he walked toward Hakken and the other Weapon Maestros.

***

“So weak,” Gerard said while pressing his feet on Hakken’s chest.

Hakken was reduced to a bloody mess and was now lying on the ground.

“K-Keuhk!”

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“How does it feel? How does it feel to be trampled by the one you used to trample?”

“I-I have never… trampled…”

“Really? Was there really not a time when you buttered up to that so-called master of yours and tried to undermine me, your Senior Brother?”

“You rascal…”

“…!”

“Master, me, and everyone else… nobody looked down on you… why are you stubbornly insisting on living such a crooked life when all of it is just in your head? You’re simply projecting your insecurities onto others, you poor thing…”

“Poor thing? Me? Kekeke! You have finally gone insane! I will soon become the Weapon Master! He had abandoned me, but I will show the world that I am his rightful successor!”

“Pffft!”

“Hohoho…”

“Haha… Hahahaha!”

All of a sudden, the Maestros on the floor started laughing.

“Keuk…! Kekeke!”

Of course, Hakken was laughing as well.

“You dare laugh at me?” Gerard muttered in disbelief. Their response astonished him, and he couldn’t quite grasp why they were laughing.

Why were they laughing? How could they laugh when they had lost all of their abilities and techniques in addition to losing to him?

“I’m sorry, but—Pffft!” Hakken laughed before continuing. “Master chose his rightful successor before passing…”

“His rightful successor?”

“Senior Brother has already learned how to use Torrential Flower Rain. You still don’t get it? Let me explain, you’ve failed, but someone out there has learned how to use the ultimate skill that is the amalgamation of Master’s lifetime experience!”

“Stop lying! Torrential Flower Rain is an ultimate skill that only those with genius-like talent in all weapons can use…!” Gerard refused to accept Hakken’s words.

“I know that it sounds like a lie, but it’s true… Senior Brother… He has already learned it, and he is going to plunge you into despair once he comes back. Just like how you lost to me that time…!”

“Stop spouting nonsense! I am the rightful successor—”

“You’re the one spouting nonsense.”

Someone suddenly interrupted Gerard.

“Hey, you know me, right?” asked the one who had interrupted Gerard.

Gerard looked toward where the voice was coming from and saw Siegfried standing there with a flushed face.

Siegfried downed a Stamina Potion and said, “What did you say back then? You will rip my throat out the next time you see me?”

It turned out that Shakiro’s first disciple was the tall man who had threatened him back then in the Bavarian Workshop.

1. Koreans refer to raising children as ‘farming or cultivating children’, which is the comparison that the author used here. ☜