Chapter 248 - Refining War Tactics (1)

Chapter 248 - Refining War Tactics (1)

Since Dracan was in Charlotte Heights, Henry assumed that Arthus would also be there. He decided not to doubt himself because he had always had good instincts. Moreover, Arthus didn’t have anywhere else to go on this continent other than to Dracan’s Chimera army anyway.

‘Charlotte Heights, huh...’

Henry looked at Charlotte Heights on the continental map. It was located in the southern part of the continent and was surrounded by mountain ranges and vast plains. Also, people were rarely seen there because of the hot, humid climate, and dense, jungle-like forests.

In other words, it was the perfect place for the monstrous Chimeras to sneak around unnoticed.

‘In normal circumstances, we would’ve pushed a siege right away, but...’

As much as Henry would’ve liked to use the army to fight Arthus, none of the soldiers of the imperial army would be of any help, especially since Henry had seen how powerful Pim and Rim and the Chimera that had tried to kill Baeb in Killive were. Rather, if he brought an army, it would only cause more unnecessary deaths.

Therefore, in order to subdue the Chimera army, Henry needed people who were Sword Masters or stronger and wizards who were at least of Archmage status.

‘So the only way is to select a few of the strongest people?’

There was no other choice. Furthermore, since there was a 7th-Circle Archmage like himself on Arthus’ side, Henry had to be extra cautious in this battle.

Henry sighed as he realized that he had only one way of going about this fight against Arthus. He lay down in his bed, trying to get more comfortable so he could organize his thoughts.

The bed was soft, soothing, but even so, Henry wasn’t truly comfortable. He couldn’t be, not when he still had so much to take care of.

Henry closed his eyes and started to think again.

‘Just when did you start becoming so twisted like this, Arthus?’

On second thoughts, when did Henry and Arthus become sworn enemies?

Before thinking of a way to track Arthus down and kill him, Henry decided to think about the more fundamental question of how things had gotten to this point.

Henry went through his memories.

In his previous life, he remembered not having a particularly bad relationship with Arthus. However, Arthus changed after he became a grand noble and gained power.

At first, Henry thought Arthus was just thirsty for more power, and that was why he formed his own forces and slowly grew his power in opposition to the State Contributors.

By doing that, Arthus eventually reached the position of a grand duke and then ultimately succeeded in overthrowing the throne, establishing his own empire.

Arthus’ ascension to power wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He had just acted on greed and built his power until he obtained the throne. However, a few days prior, he had abandoned the imperial palace and disappeared, as if he couldn’t care less about the empire he had spent so much time and effort building.

‘But just why?’

Henry couldn’t understand Arthus’ behavior. He hadn’t expected Arthus to just run away from him and throw all his hard work away.

Even more shocking was the fact that Henry had always assumed Arthus was just another human being like everyone else. However, he had used some sort of unknown ability to evade every single one of Henry’s attacks and ridicule him.

On top of that, even Skall, whom not even the Spirit King dared to interfere with, feared Arthus.

‘Arthus, who the hell are you really?’

This was all a great enigma.

Before killing him, Henry was determined to find out what Arthus’ true intentions were and how he had obtained that kind of power.

Knock, knock...

Just as Henry was concluding his thoughts, there was a knock on his door. He got out of bed and opened the door.

“How are you?”

It was Ronan, wearing casual clothes. Henry greeted him with a smile.

“I was just resting. What’s up?”

“Nothing... I just came to drink some tea.”

“Boring.”

Henry invited Ronan into his room. He prepared two cups of tea and handed one to Ronan.

Slurp...

As Ronan was drinking his tea, Henry called out to him, “Ronan.”

“Yeah?”

“Is there something on your mind?”

“...Is it that obvious?”

“Wouldn’t it be weirder if I didn’t notice? You’re drinking your tea so awkwardly.”

“Ahem, is that so?”

Seeing Ronan’s ambition proved to be an excellent stimulus for Henry’s passion, which had waned greatly over time.

After all, Henry and Ronan were former rivals for the senior and junior positions in the military. So, by giving Henry an unexpected boost of excitement, Ronan brought Henry to a good mood.

Henry agreed to Ronan’s request.

“Okay. My one and only friend is asking me for a favor, so of course I’ll do it. Take this opportunity to get to know the Sword Masters too.”

“Really? Thanks, Henry!”

Ronan expressed his sincere gratitude.

***

“... So, you’re saying that he wants to be taught, but he was too shy to ask us, so he asked you instead?”

“Well, basically yes.”

Henry had summoned Valhald, McDowell, and Von in order to fulfill Ronan’s wish.

As soon as McDowell heard Henry, he burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! I’ve never seen him that way, but he's got a cute side to him. I guess it’s kinda hard for him to get close to us since we’re so much older than him.”

“Does this mean you’ll do it?”

“Well, since it’s you who’s asking for this favor, of course we’ll do it. I heard he’s not only a military friend of yours, but also Kington’s adopted son. The one Iselan took under his wing, right?”

“That’s right.”

“He’s got a complicated background, but if he’s Kington’s adopted son, he’s obviously using the Foram swordsmanship, so is it okay for us to teach him even though we use a completely different kind of swordsmanship?”

“Well... He’s already become an advanced Sword Master, so I don’t think you’ll need to worry about his swordsmanship, but I think the important part is using his decisive skill.”

“Well, he was a bit of a pain in the ass the other day when he got knocked out by Balak. Okay, then, I’ll do as you asked and train Ronan... But what about you, Henry? How are you doing?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I’ve heard you were trained by a guy named Hector until you reached the level of a Sword Master, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And your progress since then? Do you know what the traits of your Aura are?”

“Haha... Unfortunately, my Aura is different in nature compared to ordinary Aura. I know what you’re about to say, but I’ll figure things out about my Aura on my own.”

“Okay, that’s a shame.”

McDowell was genuinely disappointed because there was nothing more fun for a master than to teach a talented disciple.

After McDowell was done talking to Henry, Von, who was stroking his chin, seemingly deep in thought, said, “Training, huh... Come to think of it, I forgot about Hagler. I haven’t paid much attention to him since he became a Sword Master.”

“If it bothers you so much, why don’t you train Halger with Ronan? Since the war in Vivaldi is over, Hagler should have a lot of free time on his hands.”

“Hmm, should I?”

“Sure. I’ll give you teleportation scrolls so that you can instantly get to Vivaldi and then back here.”

Hagler was lucky; if it hadn't been for Ronan, Von wouldn’t have remembered about him.

As Henry was wrapping up the meeting and was just about to leave the room, Valhald called out, “Henry.”

“Yes?”

“If you ever have trouble devoting yourself to swordsmanship, come find me.”

It was a sincere offer, and it was one that Henry hadn’t expected at all because Valhald wasn’t the type to have disciples. In addition, Valhald was the greatest knight on the continent, having even defeated the Punishment King, Balak.

Henry was glad that someone like Valhald offered to train him.

‘Once I reach the 8th-Circle, I’ll have to get serious about my swordsmanship training.’

At this point, Henry realized that it would be a waste to use his Aura just as a helping tool to advance to the 8th-circle. So, after he awakened the 8th-Circle again, Henry decided that he would try to reach his full potential in swordsmanship.

“Thank you, Sir Valhald,” Henry said with sincerity.

As Henry left the room, he kept thinking about the word ‘devotion.’

‘Devoting myself, huh... Come to think of it, I’ve been stuck in the same place for a while. Things are pretty much in order, so why don’t I get stronger before I leave for Charlotte Heights?’

The timing was great.

Encouraged by Ronan, Henry decided to get stronger, since he hadn’t had time to do so in a while.