Chapter 10: Spring Comes Forth (3)
TL: Jonny16
Arna used to bake apple pies as a hobby.
Despite the curse that had steadily corroded her, she had flour on her face and adored apples, Ethelred’s sole specialty.
So much so that even Cain, who was blunt at the time, wondered why she liked apples so much.
Arna responded in a sloppy manner while making the dough.
━They are red. There was no red in the woodland.
Her response was unfathomable.
At the moment, he had to sit next to Abel, who was uncomfortable, and eat her apple pie.
It was an amazing experience, regardless of how much time passed.
‘The apple pie I ate that day tasted awful, and Abel had fled while I was eating it.’
But Cain continued to eat.
Not even once.
Because he had never tasted his own mother’s pie.
🔹🔹🔹
“Young Master!”
Cloyd was astonished by Cain’s order.
He knew Abel had recognized as his younger brother, and they had grown close.
However, he couldn’t understand why Cain wanted him to teach Abel swordsmanship, which was endangering his own position.
After all, it was a decision that may disrupt the count’s familial succession at any time.
“Cloyd, you know my father’s sword, don’t you?”
“That’s……”
Edmund chose Cloyd as his commander because he was an excellent listener and had taught him the first half of his swordsmanship.
“Teach him. Abel is also a Ethelred.”
Cloyd couldn’t respond and hesitated.
Then he kneeled and spoke again.
“Please rethink. Ethelred’s symbol is ‘Ardvark’.”
The Mad Sword Ardvark.
The swordsmanship passed down in the Ethelred family, which became the best swordsmanship with Edmund becoming the strongest swordsman in the kingdom.
Even though it was only the first half, the fact that Abel would learn it meant a weapon would be added that could strike Cain in the back.
“Abel.”
Cain spoke out to the perplexed Abel and motioned toward Cloyd.
“I’m giving you a chance. Can you learn ‘Ardvark’ and get rid of trash like ‘En Zauer’?”
“Brother!”
“I can’t give you much time.”
“……?”
“Ten days. Within those ten days, you have to learn Ardvark.”
“What?”
This time, he directed his focus to Little Mother Arna, who appeared confused.
Cain, who had refused to take Abel, was now ordering him to teach him the family’s swordsmanship. She didn’t grasp the issue.
“The deal was quite good, but I turned it down because there was something better.”
“Something better……..?”
“Not a little mother with a time limit, but a little mother who has overcome a curse.”
Arna frowned.
Abel was likewise astonished and stared at Cain.
Philip, the Ross Marquis family’s black fox, had already taken advantage of Abel by using Arna’s curse.
But back then, he had tricked a naive Abel.
It is different now.
Cain knew Arna, whom Abel didn’t even know, and there were Cloyd and knights quietly watching from afar.
In other words, Cain couldn’t and should not have deceived him.
“B, Brother, said that we require the assistance of the Holy See to lift the curse. Then, in the Holy See… “
“Those people are such a pain.”
Cain shook his head instantly.
The cardinals or saints of the Holy See, which is located on a large peninsula in the south of the continent, would never travel all the way to the island kingdom of Airian.
In addition, Arna’s health prevented her from traveling to the distant Holy See.
‘Even if she went, they’d just chase her away for having no money.’
Cain laughed inside.
To meet a cardinal or a saint, one must donate at least three years of the Ethelred territory’s budget.
“If not the help of the Holy See, then what?”
Arna inquired in a slightly shocked tone.
There were simply two options.
Abel also recalled what Cain had said.
━We must either seek assistance from the Holy See or eliminate the witch.
“Negotiations with the witch…….”
Without the assistance of the Holy See, they would have to find the witch who had cast the curse.
Cloyd didn’t fully understand Cain’s words when he told Abel to teach him Ardvark, but he was well aware of how dangerous witches are.
“Young master. Despite many forays to the north, the expeditionary force was never able to occupy a single forest.”
Arna spoke after Cloyd.
“Besides, it was Glumiêm who cursed me. She’s a witch, and the queen of all elves. To find her…….”
“We’ll just cut off the necks of any elves who get in our way.”
Cain spoke gently.
The young knights knew it was absurd in their heads, but they felt their hearts pounding with his boldness.
Others, on the other hand, stared at him with concern, thinking that Cain didn’t seem to know how dangerous the elves were.
Cain looked at them and smiled.
“I’m only kidding, and there’s no need to go see the witch who cast the spell. If it is the same witch, she is capable of lifting it.”
Arna instantly retorted.
“It’s even tougher. To lift another witch’s curse at will, you must first engage in combat with her. And I doubt there is a witch capable of lifting Glumiêm’s curse, which has lasted hundreds of years.
“Do you believe in fate?”
“……?”
Arna frowned and tilted her head in response to Cain’s sudden question.
When Cain noticed this, he rose from his seat and placed his hand on Abel’s shoulder.
“Fate is something you sometimes realize after it has passed. Of course, if fate approaches and you lack the strength, you will undoubtedly miss it.”
“Brother?”
“Abel, it would be tough for the average individual to get rid of En Zauer, but you can. This time, you must save your mother with your own hands.
Click.
Abel straightened his posture and knelt down on one knee in front of Cain, raising his head.
“You mean fate is coming?”
Cain nodded, glancing at Arna and Cloyd in turn.
“Definitely.”
At that point, Abel bent his head before Cain.
It looked like a knight swearing devotion to his master.
“Then I will definitely do it, brother.”
Cloyd could no longer argue when he saw Abel’s heartfelt sincerity.
Arna said with a sardonic smile.
“I’ve already lost my son.”
“That’s why I said it’s not a good deal.”
Cain patted Abel on the back and pushed him to immediately follow Cloyd.
Abel instantly followed him, and Cain poured tea into Arna’s empty teacup while continuing to speak.
“By the way, Family members do not make deals.
“……!”
Arna turned her head, surprised.
Her lemon-colored hair fluttered.
Cain chuckled.
“Helping each other is what family is all about.”
“I…… No, becoming Young Master Cain’s family is…….”
Arna was born alone, drank blood, and lived on a battlefield.
She couldn’t help but choke up at the warm and fuzzy sensation that suddenly raced through her chest.
Cain nodded quietly.
“But now, let us do it, let’s be family.”
People only realize certain things after time has passed.
One of them is remorse for the past that has already passed.
‘I will not miss anything.’
Cain had made a promise to Abel while planning the regression.
He had promised that he would seize everything in his second life.
That included young Abel and Arna, who he had lost to the curse.
[You have twisted the turning point of fate.]
[World Line Fixation Rate: ▲5.5%]
[‘Winter’ wishes you happiness.]
The 『Four Seasons』, who had traveled through time with Cain, also supported his choice.
Perhaps it was a piece of spring he should have enjoyed long ago.
🔹🔹🔹
Thud—clatter, thud.
The blue waves crashed relentlessly.
A modest home on an unknown coast.
An ancient, worn-out chair was positioned beneath the long ceiling.
A woman with long white hair sat contentedly wearing a straw hat.
She grumbled as she glanced at the sun, which was gradually heading westward.
“Is it time for ‘lamentation’ to be born?”
Whoosh━.
The sea wind blew violently, and her hat sailed through the air.
Her eyes could be seen.
Her white hair made her look younger but also made her appear older.
She held out her hand.
Click.
The straw hat had flown far away and was caught.
It was magic.
She gently reapplied the hat, hiding her face, and opened her mouth.
“Ninety-ninth young witch, will you be able to reach the horizon?”
The minute a lonely smile formed on her lips, visible behind the hat, she and her house vanished like a mirage.
Thud━.
All that was left were the waves that constantly raced into that location.
🔹🔹🔹
Clank━!
Cain’s small rapier diverted Vanderbilt’s massive broadsword to one side.
A red spark flew when their forces intersected.
Woosh.
Cain took a step more inward at that point.
He was clutching the rapier in his right hand, leaving his left hand unoccupied.
He stepped down and extended his left fist.
It was the same move that had made Abel kneel.
Swish.
Unlike Abel, who was hit straight on, the elderly knight, Vanderbilt, reacted normally.
He used the weight of his broadsword to move faster sideways, evading Cain’s fist.
Gugu Gung━.
He then contracted the muscles in his entire body, which he had trained for decades.
The broadsword that had been soaring away formed a lovely arc in the air before plunging down onto Cain!
Crack━.
Cain’s purple eyes lit up with pure white lightning at that very moment.
At the same moment, Cain’s world started to slow down.
Not as much as when he confronted Philip.
However, it was slow enough to see sweat trickling down Vanderbilt’s rough skin and the swelling of his nostrils as he breathed deeply.
Pow━!
Cain was the only one who saw victory coming.
Cain evaded the broadsword and hurled the rapier like a javelin toward Vanderbilt’s face.
At the same time, he lowered his body and dashed in, aiming for his lower torso with his bare hands.
Click.
He squeezed against the floor and briefly disappeared from view.
Thump━.
Like a single snake wrapping around its prey, he grabbed Vanderbilt’s muscular right leg.
“Who wins?”
Cain inquired, raising his head.
Pow.
The elderly knight, who grabbed the powerless rapier flying toward his face with his bare hands, chuckled bitterly.
“Young Master has won again this time.”
Cain released the constraint and stood up.
If it had been a life-or-death battle, he would have covered the rapier in aura, and when he clutched his leg just now, he would have bent his knee in the opposite direction.
Knowing this, Vanderbilt humbly accepted defeat.
“Vanderbilt is strong enough. But you’ve just encountered too many stationary opponents.”
“I am more curious about Young Master. How did you learn so many different techniques overnight?”
The elderly knight was perplexed by Cain’s change.
It was nice that he had grown stronger, but he wasn’t completely happy when he saw Cain using tactics that he shouldn’t have been able to master without prior training.
It felt as if the Cain he knew had vanished forever.
“From a book.”
“Swordsmanship can’t be learned from books.”
“It worked for me.”
Cain shrugged his shoulders shamefully.
Vanderbilt, as a knight, instinctively knew his words were a lie, but he laughed it off.
It implied that Cain, who would later become Ethelred’s master, possessed the ability to conceal information.
“Now, let’s go over it again.”
The two of them took up positions slightly apart, as they had at the start, and gently repeated the battle they had just had.
At the same time, Cain’s advice persisted.
Vanderbilt, the defeated one, accepted it readily.
They were gentle explanations that even Edmund couldn’t provide.
However, as he listened, the elderly knight became increasingly fascinated.
“Why are all of your attacks aimed at my chest?”
Cain smiled bitterly and responded.
“I dreamed that Vanderbilt died with his chest pierced.”
“…….”
The elderly knight was dumbfounded for a minute.
He couldn’t say anything about what he had seen in his dream, but it was true that the gap had been filled.
He deliberately shifted the subject.
“Young Master Abel said ten days, didn’t he?”
Because he shouted it aloud, everyone in the castle knew.
“Yeah.”
“Today is the tenth day.”
“Right.”
“……Is something going to happen?”
Cain’s eyes narrowed.
He hadn’t stated everything on purpose, but Vanderbilt appeared to notice, possibly due to the power of experience.
However, he couldn’t declare that he knew because he had arrived from the future.
He was thinking about how to get through it.
Ding━ Ding!
A deep, massive bell rang in the distance.
Two knights could be seen running towards the training ground where Cain and Vanderbilt were.
The first knight was out of breath and said,
“Gasp, Young Master. Something terrible has occurred.”
Vanderbilt walked forward and inquired.
“Knight Asher, what’s the matter?”
“The k…….”
“The king?”
“The first princess has just arrived at the castle!”
Asher, the young knight, spoke quickly, and Vanderbilt froze in response.
Cain, on the other hand, shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to the castle.
Then he smirked mischievously at the confused elderly knight.
“For a princess to come to such a rural area, something must be happening.”
“Is it possible that the ten days you were talking about………”
Cain shakes his head.
Ordinary Cain would never have predicted it.
“It’s a coincidence.”
It was a ‘coincidence’ that would not have been difficult for the current Cain.