Chapter 49

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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The negotiations with the Dwarf Republic were over.

After that, time passed relatively smoothly.

Of course, the overall situation was by no means comfortable.

But thanks to the information Commander Yuren had, at least for now, we could spend some leisurely time.

“We fought a life-or-death battle with the demons. Some died in the middle, unable to overcome their fear and ran away. But more died bravely fighting to the end.”

“Was the enemy that powerful?”

“They were the elite forces of the demons. All 7 of the highest-ranking demons were gathered. Under them were over 50 blood demons. And the low-level ones were too numerous to count.”

“Thank you. Thanks to that, I can decide on a policy.”

Perhaps because of her trauma, Bayard couldn’t recall the details.

But Commander Yuren, who was in charge of command at that time, remembered the situation in quite detail.

Well, they weren’t just some ragtag group.

They were the ones who annihilated the Golden Generation of the Royal Knights.

Naturally, the demons must have put in their full effort to push them back.

In other words, it was an all-out war.

Although the Royal Knights were defeated and annihilated, they inflicted just as much damage on the demons.

Thanks to that, the demons’ activities had greatly decreased for now.

Now I started to understand a little.

During that golden opportunity, instead of cleaning up, they tried to survive on their own, and ended up being pushed back by the demons who had recovered their strength.

That would be the original story situation.

But I had no intention of letting that happen to us like in the original story.

Unlike the original story, four members of the Royal Knights miraculously survived.

Moreover, one of them was Yuren, the strongest member of the Royal Knights, a dragon.

With this much, we should be able to rebuild the Royal Knights somehow before the demons’ power recovered.

Moreover, for some reason, the other members started training even more intensely.

Some even collapsed in the middle.

I didn’t know why, but it was definitely a good thing.

Voluntary training would surely become a great stepping stone for their growth.

I also devoted myself to what I had to do. And that was Helia’s education.

“Don’t look down on your opponent based on their appearance. Respecting each other is the basics of martial arts.”

“I will engrave it deep in my heart.”

“...”

Seeing Helia kneeling and listening to my words, I felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

But I had no choice.

It’s not like I’m going to teach her the morality that appears in ethics class.

Decisively, I don’t know much about the subject of ethics.

Just being told to live kindly is all there is to it.

That can’t be all there is to ethics.

So I quoted a few lines from martial arts novels.

With power comes responsibility, respect your opponent, mercy is the foundation of martial arts, etc.

I said the best things I could.

Helia was still young.

We had to teach her properly from now on.

That way, she’d at least stop swinging her sword at her allies.

In fact, it seemed the education was working.

Recently, she’d been seen interacting with other members.

“Come to think of it, Helia. Have you seen a pendant?”

“You mean the pendant?”

“Yes, it’s a trophy I got from Comprachico.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”

I wanted to become strong.

I wanted to become stronger than anyone else and escape from that nightmare.

From the beginning, we were never in that trash’s mind.

Dwarves blindly pursue.

They believe that their skills represent their value.

And in severe cases, even the dwarves themselves become possessed by madness and delusion to the point of being criticized.

And very unfortunately, my father was like that.

In the Dwarf Republic, there are four jewels that support the republic.

Emerald, Ruby, Diamond, and Sapphire that encompasses them all.

They were passed down as families, but among them, the weakest was the Ruby family.

Once, they even surpassed the Sapphire family and reigned as the king of the Dwarf Republic.

But as time passed, the family’s decline began, and as a result, they handed over the kingship to the Sapphire family.

Even their remaining position as a jewel family became precarious.

In order to somehow prevent that, the family chose that man.

In fact, he succeeded in protecting the position of the jewel family.

By sacrificing his beloved family.

I hated that.

I was disgusted by the people of the family who were happy that they had protected their position.

So, I tried to become stronger than anyone else.

But look at me now.

Unable to say anything to that man in front of me.

Just trembling and being led away by the hand of an elf who was no different from an enemy.

It was truly pathetic.

“It’s okay now.”

“Don’t pretend to be strong. Your hands are still shaking.”

“I’m not pretending.”

“Ruby, you...”

The bitter taste of blood came from my lips that I had bitten hard.

I could feel Clara looking at me with a surprised expression.

I only felt sorry for her.

But still, I had no choice.

If I ran away here, it felt like I wouldn’t be able to come back.

I forcibly put strength into my arms and legs to stop the trembling.

I forcibly turned my head away from the fear welling up deep in my chest.

I can’t leave it to someone else.

I have to do it.

That guy is trash, but he’s not stupid.

He’ll be up to something using a request as an excuse. And the commander has no choice but to accept the request.

Because the situation was not good now.

The Royal Knights were already staggering after their downfall.

Moreover, the other party was a jewel of the Dwarf Republic that had regained its reputation.

Naturally, it was a place with enough money to rot.

I also didn’t want to cause harm to the knight order by being swayed by the circumstances of a mere member.

But I couldn’t just tuck my tail and run away like this.

Because it would be no different from when I was a little kid.

So, at the very least, I didn’t run away.

I’ll face and fight with all my might.

That was my first act of resistance. And with my hands still slightly trembling, I opened that door.

And...

“Oops! My hand slipped and I smashed my head!”

I saw the commander smashing the trash’s head with a mug.

...Huh?

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