Chapter 456

Chapter 456

Raon was about to respond but shut his mouth once again.

‘I shouldn’t reply thoughtlessly.’

It was none other than the head of house himself that had asked him whether he wanted to become the head of house. It was a question that he shouldn’t respond to without thinking it through.

Hmm?

Wrath narrowed his eyes and glared at him, asking what he was doing.

What are you waiting for? Just answer him already! Answer before that geezer gives you the Nadine bread! You don’t want to become the head of house anyway!

He shook his hand, asking why he would become the head of house when he should become a demon king in Devildom.

‘Yes, that’s what I used to think.’

The Sephia Company’s president, Adis Sephia, was the last person he’d talked to about becoming the head of house.

He had asked Raon whether he wanted to become Zieghart’s head of house or not before left the company, and Raon had responded that he wasn’t sure yet.

‘But my opinion has changed slightly now.’

He was about to respond to Glenn’s question the same way he’d done to Adis Sephia, but he realized that his mind had changed.

‘Because I saw what happened at House Arianne.’

During the mission at House Arianne, he’d witnessed how an incompetent leader could ruin the house and make their members suffer. That was why he’d changed his mind slightly.

‘I don’t exactly want to become the head of house myself, I just don’t want anyone incompetent to become the head of house.’

One of the palace masters was bound to become the next head of Zieghart at the rate things were going.

Glenn’s first daughter, who was outside the house, Karoon from the Central Martial Palace, Denier from the Wise Martial Palace, and Balder from the True Martial Palace were the biggest candidates to become the next head.

Other than them, there were an extremely small number of Grandmasters—like Roenn and Sheryl—but they had no intention at all of becoming the head of house.

They weren’t going to show up unless some madman crossed Zieghart’s gate and started to attack.

‘Denier seems to be the best among the palace masters, but the truth might be different.’

Even though Denier was the most decent choice among the direct lines, it could’ve been just the tip of the iceberg.

He couldn’t easily trust him since he’d seen people like Derus.

He didn’t want to see a greedy pig becoming the head of house just to do whatever they wanted with Zieghart.

‘I must’ve grown attached to Zieghart at this point. I thought I would never feel anything like attachment.’

When he’d realized that he was born in Zieghart, he’d planned to leave the house after getting what he wanted.

However, he’d opened his heart to Sylvia and the maids, Rimmer became his teacher, and the Light Wind division became his brothers and sisters. In the end, he’d developed a significant amount of affection towards the house.

His goal to cut Derus Robert’s throat was still unchanged, but his decision to leave the house was faltering.

“Well...”

He raised his gaze. He smiled faintly at Glenn, who was quietly waiting for his answer.

‘I think I can now understand the head of house’s personality a little.’

Glenn’s cold gaze and pressure still chilled his bones, but Raon had begun to grasp his likes and dislikes.

“Hmm.”

Raon put his thoughts together before he cleared his throat.

“To be honest, I’m not too sure whether my path is headed toward becoming the head of house or not. However, I do think that it would be better for me to become the head myself than to watch an unqualified person become the head.”

He honestly told him what he’d been thinking.

Huh? Why would you do that?!

Wrath barked and shoved his face onto him.

You need to become the demon king! Your face is already screaming that you should be one! Toy with everyone in Devildom and make fun of them!

He shouted at Raon to turn the other demons into his playthings in Devildom. Raon didn’t know what he meant by his face being that of a demon king, but he didn’t really want to go to Devildom.

Glenn quietly stared into his eyes to figure out his true intentions before he nodded.

“I see.”

His lips curved into a faint smile. Raon felt like it was his first time seeing that kind of smile from him.

“It looks like you’ve broadened your horizons.”

Glenn seemed satisfied with the answer considering how peaceful he sounded.

“We’ve lost too much time from the random talk. We will have to continue for a bit longer today.”

“Yes.”

Raon nodded and raised Heavenly Drive once again.

Just as he was about to use the first technique of the Azure Sky Sword, he heard the sound of the back door of the annex building opening.

Raon looked around and saw Sylvia bringing a white plate towards him.

“......”

Glenn was calmly staring at her. He must’ve been aware of her presence.

“I-I prepared them because I thought you might be hungry at this late hour.”

Sylvia placed the plate on the table in front of the lake while saying that the sandwiches were made by her personally.

The nutty flavor of the butter bread was tickling the nose.

Ooh!

Wrath had been frowning, but he suddenly raised his head.

You are the best, Mom!

‘She’s not your mom!’

Raon slapped Wrath away as he kept clinging to him and walked up to Sylvia.

“I thought you were sleeping.”

“I couldn’t fall asleep today.”

Sylvia smiled with her eyes half open. She wasn’t showing it on the outside, but she must’ve been worried ever since she’d learned about his sword duel against Ayad.Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

“Err, my lord...”

She furtively rolled her eyes to look at Glenn.

Glenn nodded, showing that he was listening.

“I-it was nothing! Raon, good luck with your lesson. Please eat it right away since I just made it!”

Sylvia bowed to Glenn before she hurriedly returned to the annex building.

‘Is she still afraid of him?’

Raon bitterly watched Sylvia before he went to Glenn with the plate in his hands.

“My mother is great at making sandwiches out of all food. You won’t be disappointed.”

Raon confidently held out the plate.

“...I see.”

Glenn stared at the slightly steamy sandwiches for a long time. His hand seemed to be trembling slightly as he picked it up and took a bite.

Raon also picked up a sandwich while standing next to Glenn. He took a bite while looking at Wrath, who was drooling.

Inside the crunchy and nutty bread, the fruit jam, ham, and cheese were forming a perfect harmony.

Wow, it’s as delicious as always! It’s the complete opposite of the shitty Nadine bread!

‘But you haven’t had any Nadine bread in a long time.’

Hmph. Don’t let your guard down! We never know when that geezer might be hiding Nadine bread in his clothes.

She blinked her eyes to make fun of how Martha had bitten her tongue.

“Screw you!”

Martha’s chin was trembling violently, but she was buried in the ground and couldn’t come out.

“I’ll kill you!”

“Say that again once you are out of there.”

“Heeey!”

“Please stop fighting...”

Rimmer rolled his lips into a smile while listening to their voices.

“They are such good friends.”

* * *

Raon was standing on the lake with his eyes closed.

The small waves on the surface of the water started to subside as Raon’s breath harmonized with the lake’s flow.

Even though Raon’s feet were touching the surface and a powerful wind was blowing, the lake didn’t waver in the slightest.

Raon had achieved the space domination that Glenn had previously demonstrated, even if it was still weak.

Raon didn’t pay attention to his amazing achievement and only focused on assimilating his aura with the lake’s flow.

Whir.

His breath started to melt down into the lake as if he were combining with it.

He continued his meditation and training at the same time for a long time, and a small voice could be heard from outside the lake.

“Young master.”

Raon opened his eyes upon hearing Judiel’s voice. She was waving her hand with a plain expression just like always.

“It’s time to go to the arena.”

“Is it already time?”

Raon raised his head to look at the sky. The sun was slowly approaching towards the center of the sky.

‘Time passed by so quickly.’

The date of the sword duel against Ayad was approaching a lot faster than he’d thought, probably because he’d been training all along.

The time must’ve flowed unusually fast because he’d been practicing what he’d learned from Glenn all day long.

It must’ve been fast for you.

Wrath frowned with trembling shoulders.

It was as slow as a snail because the King of Essence still didn’t get his ice cream!

‘That’s why I promised that I’d make you a buffet with bead ice cream.’

How is he supposed to trust you when you didn’t even keep your promise for a whole month?!

‘I’m really going to the shop after today’s battle. It’s true.’

R-really?

‘You can trust me today. Just cheer for me from behind, since nothing else should happen.’

Alright!

Wrath nodded and frantically shook his round hand. It seemed to be his way of cheering.

Raon smiled faintly and walked out of the lake. Unlike before, there wasn’t even the slightest wave on the surface.

‘I can finally do it a little.’

It wasn’t as good as Glenn's but he seemed to have somewhat managed to turn that small lake into his domain.

“How about mother?”

“She went ahead to the arena because she was too nervous to wait any longer. She carried Lady Helen on her back because she was trembling too hard.”

“Is that so?”

Raon chuckled. Sylvia and Helen had previously told him that they believed in him as if they weren’t worried about him, but they must’ve been extremely nervous in reality.

“I also need to get ready now.”

Just as he was about to go to the annex building to fetch his Black Dragon Coat, he saw a woman with hair as red as fire walking towards him through the garden.

The beautiful swordswoman with that unforgettable flashy appearance belonged to the leader of the Void Sword division, Serena. She stood in front of Raon and greeted him with her eyes.

“It’s been a while, Light Wind vice division leader.”

“What brought you here, division leader?”

“May I have a word?”

Raon looked at Judiel. She nodded to him, implying that they still had some time.

“Please come this way.”

He brought Serena to the garden.

Raon narrowed his eyes while looking at her face, which was as expressionless as a mask.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to go easy on the White Lotus division leader, even if you are on friendly terms with him.”

“I became a trainee at the same time as him. We started together.”

Serena started to tell her story with an emotionless voice. Raon couldn’t understand what she had in mind.

“We joined different divisions during the Selection Ceremony, but we became team leaders and vice division leaders at around the same time. We were more like rivals rather than friends.”

In fact, Ayad and Serena were the first division leaders who’d visited him before the Selection Ceremony.

“However, our differences started to gradually grow after we both became division leaders. I managed to surpass the wall before him.”

Raon was also aware of that fact, even though most of the house’s swordsmen had already considered Serena to be better than Ayad even before she’d become a Grandmaster.

“We met each other from time to time to discuss the sword, but he stopped showing up at some point. He kept staying outside the house to carry out missions.”

Raon decided to quietly listen to her since he couldn’t determine her intentions.

“Since our Void Sword division and the White Lotus division were rivals, we knew the faces of each other's members. However, their members gradually switched to strangers at some point.”

“Hmm...”

“I thought, at first, that the sacrifice must’ve been inevitable because they were carrying out so many missions...but it became worse and worse. The talented ones survived, and the others ended up dead. It could be called a natural outcome, but the powerful ones aren’t the only ones to survive in an actual battlefield, as you should be aware.”

“That’s true.”

An excellent talent didn’t guarantee continued survival, and having no talent didn’t imply that they were going to die.

Since it depended on various factors like the situation and luck, it was impossible for the weak to be the only ones to die.

“Now that I think about it, I think I didn’t want to accept that fact even though I was aware. I kept waiting while thinking that he would regain his senses and eventually return since he wasn’t a bad guy. However, the situation kept becoming worse and worse. I’m also at fault for this incident. I’m planning to tell the head of house about it after the sword duel.”

“You don’t need to go that far...”

“No, I need to do this. I wish that I’d realized it faster...”

Serena smiled for the first time and shook her head.

“You said a moment ago that you had no intention of going easy on him, right? You should definitely do that. I would normally be the one to beat him to death, but you challenged him before me. That’s why you should thoroughly defeat him. He will learn his lesson if his arm gets cut off or something.”

She politely lowered her head to Raon, asking him to teach him a lesson before she left.

“I’m sorry, but...”

Raon stroked Heavenly Drive’s scabbard while watching Serena’s back as she left.

“A single arm is far from enough.”