Chapter 15

“Kai, are you awake?”

When had he last dreamed of the smell of spring? The blue and clear sky… When he opened his eyes, he felt his mother’s hand stroking his head as if it were natural.

‘Why?’ When he felt such warmth and smelled the scents of spring, his eyes naturally teared up.

“Huh? What’s the matter? Are you sick?” his mother asked, desperately wiping away Kaisen’s tears. His mother was always like that—she always made all kinds of fuss even when her son let out even a small sigh.

She was a mother who smiled like she would die of happiness if her son just smiled even a little. His mother was a blessing in his life.

“What? I just… I think I had a bad dream.”

“A bad dream? Wait! Mom will just scold that bad dream for you and come back.”

“How?”

“Somehow.”

Kaisen laughed at that.

His mother said, “You’re laughing,” and hugged him.

The mother and son rolled around in the spring grass, giggling like children.

Spring was brilliant. Spring, with his mother by his side, his father at home, and his older sister chatting with girls her age, was so brilliant that it brought tears to his eyes.

Why had he not known it?

“Mom…”

“Huh?”

“You have that sword. Why do you always carry it with you?”

His mother’s hands stopped while she was removing grass from his face. A bitter smile followed. “Ah. You mean this? It’s because… someone I rea~lly loved gave it to me.”

“Dad?”

“No, not the love between lovers. If you really have to ask… she was like a younger sister? Like a daughter?”

“I don’t know because I don’t have a younger brother.”

“Are you asking your mom to give you a younger sibling? This dastardly guy.”

“?”

“That’s right. I really hope that child can meet you someday…”

His mother’s smile looked sad. Her hand caressed the hilt of her sword weakly, and her eyes were turning red. “If she sees your mom alive like this, she might blame me. She might hate me.”

“Why?”

“All that burden… I left everything behind and ran away. That child had only me.” The smile on his mother’s face when she said that was unbearably sad.

Kaisen spoke without even realizing it. “Don’t worry, Mom! I’ll tell that person not to hate you.”

The operation was a success because his mother smiled brightly and hugged him. “How… how could he give me such a lovely son…?”

At the very moment when he was laughing happily with his mother, a crack suddenly appeared in the ground, and the world began to crumble.

“Mom! Mom! Mom…!” He stretched out his hand in despair as he watched his mother being dragged into the crumbling ground.

The Balkrush Clan’s emblem flashed across his field of vision, and a single-edged axe struck his mother’s shoulder, causing blood to gush out.

“Aaaaa wwwwwway tttttto ccccccclear mmmmy dddddirtied nnnname iiiiis…”

While Kaisen was screaming, that bastard’s voice swirled in his head.

“ttttttto kkkkkkill you aaaaaafter yyyyyou hhhhave bbbbbbbecome aaaaaa wwwwwwarrior…”

Kill…

He had to kill it.

The moment he raised his mother’s sword toward the voice, he gasped, and his dazzling daydream ended.

* * *

‘A dream…?’ Was it that memory again…? When the dream ended, his whole body was covered in cold sweat. He let out a long sigh and tilted his head back.

Kaisen was in the trenches. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was the last to wake from Setsunen’s space transfer. In other words, it was still just before the ‘Dragon Egg Sacrificial Evacuation Mission’ began.

Kaisen, who did not know the truth of the mission, was surprised by the busy situation, and then Kamila came to visit.

“How old are you that you’re still calling for your mother? Did you pee your pants?” Kamila had the same hair and eyes as his mother, so she reminded him of her, although their personalities were completely different.

“You never called for my mom, though?”

“You did, though?”

“I didn’t,” Kaisen argued. “After living as an old maid for 30 years, are you hearing hallucinations?

“Ha. An arrogant kid is treating me like an old maid. The world is going to the dogs.” Kamila’s gaze went beyond, toward the front, where gunshots were constantly ringing out.

The port city of Aristapo was where the yellow dragon flew over the city, shining waves of sacred light and thunderbolts, and the battle of the Setsunen of the Lightning had already begun.

“I’ll probably die today. If my master had been here instead of me, things might have been different.”

“Your master?” Kaisen asked.

“Yes, my master. You already know, so what are you asking? Raminea Alter Aradamantel. Your dead mother was my teacher.”

“…”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“You’re trying hard to hide it, and you’re doing a good job. If it becomes known that you are the son of a deserter, you’ll lose your head in an instant.”

“…”

“But it doesn’t work in front of me. From the moment I saw this sword, or rather, the moment I saw your face, I vaguely knew that you were my master’s son.”

Raminea was a source of sadness that hung over the lives of both Kamila and Kaisen. Thanks to that sadness, not a single ray of light could shine into their lives. Even when they laughed, it was overshadowed by tears.

“What does that mean? Why are you saying that all of a sudden?” Kaisen asked.

Raminea was everything to both of them, and they lost everything at different times—the most precious treasure in the world.

“As you said, my death is approaching after living as an old maid. I may have become senile.”

Before he could ask what nonsense she was talking about, Kamila took out a shortsword in a pure-white scabbard from her belt.

Kaisen was surprised. Hadn’t she taken it as a guarantee four years prior? Why was she suddenly giving it back?

“I promised to return it after you finished learning swordsmanship. Well, I kept my promise.”

Kaisen hesitated. His mother’s sword, which he touched for the first time in four years, felt unfamiliar. He wondered if the sword had been imbued with his mother’s scent, but neither his mother’s scent nor her smile came to mind anymore.

“Hey, Kaisen.” Kamila spoke in a voice that seemed shaky for some reason. “How did Master wield that sword?”

Normally, he wouldn’t have answered, but something was different that day. Was it because he was confused by the shock that Kamila was his mother’s student and the surprise he felt from suddenly receiving his mother’s sword again?

“She said the sword was given to her by the person she loved most in the world. She treated it like a treasure and carried it with her wherever she went.” After that, Kaisen was speechless. He couldn’t even breathe for a moment because his whole body was filled with embarrassment.

“Really?” The summer wind blew, and Kamila’s collared cloak fluttered, revealing her white face. A smile formed at the corners of her red mouth, and tears were flowing down her cheeks.

“That’s good…” She was laughing and crying. Kamila, who, for four years, had never shown any emotion other than anger and irritation…

That was the first time Kaisen saw her smile, and in that one moment, he realized. Kamila’s smile resembled his mother’s.

Just like that, Kamila spoke the same words as his mother, with a motherly smile on her face. “Kaisen, live.”

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator – Rainypup

Proofreader – ilafy

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* * *

The central army, led by Kamila, became the target of Kishun’s forces.

The high ground was right in front of them. If they went a little, just a little farther, they would reach Rayboro Bridge, where the forest ended and the river began.

If they crossed that bridge and knocked it down, it would be a victory.

‘Fate wouldn’t be called such if it could be so easily defied,’ Kamila thought with a bitter smile.

“Shoot! Kill them all!”

Under the crossfire of the gunmen, the uruks rushed forward, using the corpses of their bullet-ridden allies as shields.

Blood and flesh entangled between the uruks and the spearmen.

“WUHAHAHAHA!” Kishun let out an excited shout. Claws made of meteoric iron ripped from the stars killed Kamila’s soldiers.

“Keuhuk…!”

“Keuuuu…!”

The claws, which slashed through a beastman’s head, immediately struck down another rifleman, shaking the ground.

The opposite set of claws tore off a spearman’s body and threw their corpse into the other spearman, knocking them down.

“Fight harder! Soldiers of the Warrior!”

The soldiers hesitated with instinctive fear.

Kishun was a monster, a monster… Even though three beastmen attacked at the same time, they were killed in one go.

The soldiers’ hands were sticky with cold sweat, and their legs were not responding.

“Tsh!” An urgent shout came from somewhere. “There’s a swordsman using a longsword!”

A bright red flash was met with a clanging sound, and uruk screams rang out.

“Heh… hehehehe…” Kishun burst out in bloody laughter. “Kaisen, there you are!” He ran in that direction, killing all the soldiers that stood in his way. “Shibettera! He’s mine!”

Kaisen was not there. Kamila, the Fake Warrior, whose white hair was caked with blood, was wielding the Great Holy Sword, Aradamantel.

“Huh…?” Kishun tilted his head.

Kishe, the adjutant of Kishun’s unit and his younger brother, approached him, grinning and speaking in the uruk tongue. “That’s it? You want to kill that thing with Kaltake? She killed over 30,000 warriors by herself. It won’t be easy.”

“No, not that one, and I don’t really want to.”

“Because you’re scared?”

“Kishe, are you throwing your life away to eat rotten meat?”

“What?”

“She is already dying. I don’t feel like fighting one-on-one with something on its last legs.” It would have been better to just sneak in among his subordinates and kill her by surprise.

If he fought under Kaltake with something like that, winning was just a matter of course, and if he lost, he would only drag down the name of his clan.

As Kishun assessed, Kamila had already reached her limit.

Kamila gasped and thought, ‘I have no vitality left. My body can’t keep up with my mind.’ If her life were compared to a candle, it would be barely burning, with only a little wax left. Nevertheless…

Spuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrtttttt—!

Kamila’s sword was swift and strong. Thousands of bloody Uruk corpses lay in her path. Not only the Kiranzuki, but also the chiefs of famous clans, were scattered on the ground without even having had a chance to compete.

It was natural to be frightened by such fierceness, but they continued to attack Kamila from all directions.

“Yes, attack. Attack more! I will kill at least one more of you animals and make you a companion on the lonely road to the underworld!” she screamed.

Suddenly, her vision went black for a moment, and when she came to, she was flying through the air. As soon as she impacted against the trunk of a huge tree, hot blood gushed out of her throat.

“See, taste? There is no taste at all. She can’t avoid this,” Kishun mumbled.

Kamila gasped. Through her blurred vision, she first saw a fist-sized hole in her abdomen. Above the hole, a huge Uruk stomped forward, nodding his head menacingly… Kishun.

“Kamila!” A scream of despair erupted. For an instant, the air froze into crystals, and all of them flew toward Kishun.

“Huh, a mage?” Kishun immediately picked up the corpse of a less-dead uruk and blocked the icicles. The uruk’s body shook as he cried out in pain. The sound of crystals tearing through armor and skin was as sweet as music to Kishun’s ears.

“He’s pretty strong.” A bland smile appeared on his lips. That was why he was troubled—he didn’t enjoy dealing with people who weren’t warriors, like mages. Where on earth was Kaisen?

《Ice Ring》Wolf made a hand sign, and ice rose up around Kamila and Wolf as a blue, protective shield. The excessive use of magic put a strain on his body, causing his nose to bleed.

Wolf shouted, shaking Kamila’s body. “Kamila, come to your senses, Kamila!”

Kamila coughed up blood and stretched out a trembling hand to touch Wolf’s cheek. She could barely speak. “Why did you come here, you idiot…?”

‘I’m sorry for everything…’ There was a lot she wanted to say, but she didn’t. She knew better than anyone else that, the more she said, the deeper the wounds she’d leave behind.

“Haha… did I seem so foolish that I would run away from the woman I love?” Wolf laughed weakly.

He loved Kamila, and Kamila also knew it, but the two kept their feelings completely hidden. It was a love that simply couldn’t be. Above all, Kamila did not want Wolf to be tied down to her, who was about to die.

There was no reason to hide it anymore, at least.

“Destroy it!”

“Take it out and slaughter it!”

The uruks’ axes impacting the ice barrier grew louder.

Crack, crack craaaaccc—

Wolf watched with a detached expression as cracks appeared in the ice.

‘It will be soon.’ In just a moment, the ice would break, and Kamila and Wolf would face miserable deaths.

If so, committing suicide would be… Since they no longer heard people screaming in the last throes of death, it was clear that the rest of the corps had been annihilated.

Having the same thought, Wolf pulled out his dagger.

Half of the ice barrier broke away, making the uruks visible.

Just when Wolf prepared to plunge his dagger into Kamila’s heart amidst the uruks’ laughter…

“Get away from them!” A yell of fury came out of nowhere.

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Following the cheers, uruk screams rose up. The sound of the axes stopped all at once as the uruks focused on where the yell had come from.

The barrier of ice had broken in that same direction, and Wolf was able to see the source of the noise.

His eyes trembled as he witnessed what could only be described as a sword demon leaping from the cliff and slaughtering the uruks in his path.

The first uruk was beheaded and killed; the second and third uruks were neutralized when the swordsman cut their hands off; the fourth uruk then rushed in, but the swordsman slid underneath, cutting upward and splitting the uruk apart.

“UHAHAHA!” Kishun, who was staring blankly at Wolf’s ice shield, laughed so hard his whole body shook at the sight.

“Why…?” Wolf muttered in a daze. “Kaisen…?”

It was Kaisen—the boy who’d joined the corps four years prior thanks to his tenacity and who’d learned swordsmanship from Kamila.

“How did that guy get here…?”

“Kaisen?” The dying Kamila trembled.

More than a dozen Uruk warriors collapsed under the boy’s blade in mere moments.

The uruk warriors were astonished. Kaisen, covered in red blood, looked like the incarnation of an evil spirit.

The young demon, out of breath, turned his head here and there. Was he looking for someone?

The very moment his eyes fell on the smiling Kishun, he kicked an uruk’s severed head toward him and pointed with the tip of his sword.

“Ogure wi irishina ro chi Kaisen (I am Kaisen, the son of the Crimson Lotus!”) he roared in the uruk tongue. Everyone there, on that battlefield, could hear and understand him. “Hishime ki KALTAKE ro gimarasu (I request KALTAKE from you)!”

It was the same call for Kaltake Raminea Alter Aradamantel had used to save her son four years prior.

____