Chapter 4: The Spring of Seventeen (2)
TL: Jonny16
Swoosh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh━
Heavy rain is falling.
The horizon was shimmering in the distance, signaling that the rain would last until the evening.
Cain strolled through the rain, clothed casually and armed simply with a sword on his left hip.
Vanderbilt followed him silently .
“……?”
People in the castle couldn’t take their eyes off Cain.
A lone successor wanders in the rain.
Everyone knew what would happen to him today.
It was the day he would battle Edmund’s youngest son, Abel, who had been brought back from the northern front. Today is the day Cain is anticipated to lose.
Abel hadn’t been here long, but word had spread about his exceptional talent.
━ This is the true Lord Count’s son!
━Abel is a genius. A genius with the sword!
A rare genius who can learn ten things from a single instruction.
The knights who had trained Abel in swordsmanship applauded him wholeheartedly.
It was openly stated that the only one capable of defeating Edmund, the kingdom’s strongest swordsman, was the future Abel.
On the other hand, evaluations of Cain, the legitimate heir, were ambiguous.
━While Young Master Cain is not a horrible character…
━ He’s OK, however…
Cain was better than most knights, but he was being compared to Abel, a talent that only appears once in a thousand years.
Naturally, Cain’s position as the heir who would inherit Count Ethelred’s domain was bound to be shaken.
━It seems like his maternal family has also severed ties.
Furthermore, the Count of Lamaring, Cain’s mother Chloe’s family, started drawing a line.
Cain was left with a single sword and an elderly knight.
All of this was designed by the Ross Marquis.
They deliberately brought Abel and Arna and swayed public opinion to create today’s duel.
━As Ethelred’s heir, please teach your younger brother how to use a sword, Young Master Cain.
Philip, the cunning Black Fox, Vice Captain of 〈Los de Kaerot〉, with his charming smile, was sly.
Abel also has Edmund’s blood in his veins, so why should the weak Cain head the family?
Why not promote the promising Abel and have him fill Edmund’s vacant seat?
He also underlined that they could receive assistance from the Ross Marquis.
He understood what his plan was, but he had to follow it.
Because Cain lacked power.
“I feel like I’m surrounded by ogres.”
Cain murmured, staring toward the knights’ training site, which was getting closer.
Vanderbilt nodded.
“I apologize. If only I was stronger…”
It was unavoidable for Cain as Ethelred’s successor.
And he knew.
He couldn’t defeat Abel with a sword, no matter how old he was (he was seventeen, and Abel was fifteen).
Rumble-rumble-rumble━.
The moment lightning struck through the clouds, shaking the sky and the earth,.
“That’s okay. I am good at catching ogres.”
Cain entered the training grounds.
The knights of Ethelred and Los de Kaerot, who were waiting, turned their heads.
None of them bowed their heads.
They did not even greet him.
The knights of Ethelred clicked their tongues as if they couldn’t help but reject him, while the knights of Ross smiled oddly.
Thud━.
Cain stood still.
Some of the knights were perplexed when he stopped, believing he would continue.
“Cloyd.”
Cain softly addressed Cloyd, the commander of Ethelred’s knights.
Cloyd, a middle-aged knight who appeared feeble, walked forward and bowed lightly to Cain.
“Did you call?”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“……?”
Cloyd glanced up at Cain, his head cocked in curiosity at the unfamiliar words.
It was bizarre.
He obviously resembled the Cain he knew, but something had changed.
He had the strangest impression that he had changed utterly.
“Y, Young Master.”
Furthermore, Vanderbilt, the knight who had always guarded Cain stoically, appeared astonished, as if he had realized something.
Cain lifted his hand to stop the elderly knight and proceeded to speak with Cloyd.
“Does a knight of Ethelred dare to choose their master?”
“……!”
“And to those outsiders who are eyeing this land?”
Whoooaaaahhhhh━!
For a time.
Cain’s killing intent was partially released, and it fell on him.
Cloyd felt that he and Cain were the only ones in the world.
Cain was a behemoth so big that he could cut through the clouds, but he appeared to be warning him gently, despite the fact that he might kill him instantly.
Commander Cloyd’s instincts shouted at him.
He is going to die.
If he goes up against Cain, he will only die.
All the years he had spent as a knight warned him.
He couldn’t fathom it with his mind, but his heart knew Cain’s will.
“That’s━.”
He attempted to speak quickly, however.
“I will say it again. There will be no next time.”
Cain interrupted him and moved past him.
However, Cloyd was immobilized and unable to move. He could hardly turn his head to see Cain’s back.
‘He’s different. He’s too strange!
Cloyd’s entire body was covered with goosebumps.
Not because of the chilly rain, but because he saw him so unlike the Cain he had known before.
‘Did he change when he was cornered, or was he always like that?’
He did not know.
But one thing was certain: he needed to quit his equivocal attitude, which had driven Cain over the edge today.
At the same time, he wished for such a Cain.
Because he acted so much like Edmund on the battlefield.
“Aren’t you getting too excited before the duel?”
The knights separated.
A sluggish voice broke out from among the knights with orange bands on one side.
“Philip Ross Francis.”
The cunning fox with a bushy tail.
One of the knights who was permitted to use ‘Ross’ as a middle name.
He was the deputy commander of 〈Los de Kaerot〉, overseeing all of them in Ethelred County.
He shrugged and smiled.
That was a sarcastic smile.
“Well, since you’ll be defeated by Abel-Nim today, you should enjoy it while you can.”
Clap, Clap━.
Cain suddenly began clapping.
His harsh clapping pierced the raindrops, reaching Philip’s ears.
“Amazing.”
Philip wiped away his stinging smile and asked again.
“……… What do you mean?”
Cain took a quick look around the training area before responding.
Knights from both sides watched, and Abel, dressed in armor and holding a sword, stood in the center.
He looked at Abel for a while before opening his words.
“You’re better suited to being an official or a strategist than a knight, as your nickname, Black Fox, implies. It was a perfect scheme to shake Ethelred.”
“You mean you’re not going to wear a mask anymore?”
Cain shrugged and grinned, just as Philip did.
“Cloyd won’t have a next time, but you don’t have one now.”
Philip’s eyebrows twitched.
He didn’t understand why Cloyd flinched during his chat with Cain, but now he does.
“You’ve changed.”
The Cain who had been helplessly dragged around by the situation Philip created was gone.
What he saw in front of him was a young beast baring its teeth.
“I had to change in order to overturn the game you set up.”
“I’ll cheer you on, even if it’s too late. But the end will not change, you understand.”
He had no doubt that Abel would win.
Because of Abel’s genius talent and the sword he had taught him, the outcome of today was predictable.
Furthermore, he kept Abel on a leash, so Philip decided to ram the wedge of victory into Cain’s chest today.
It was something he had to do in order to control Ethelred Count in the future.
“Well.”
Cain gave a peculiar smile and walked into the center of the training ground.
“Oh, and thank you, Philip.”
“……?”
“To the knights who came to welcome me. Thanks to them, I was able to loosen up a bit.”
Philip felt a bitter winter wind blowing down his back.
He got the suspicion that something irreparable had occurred somewhere he didn’t know.
“What do you mean?”
Whoooaaaahhhhh━.
The rain became increasingly heavy.
Cain left him behind and headed into the center of the training area.
━If you go back in time, please. Please scold the naive me, who was only used.
Kaboom-ka-ka-kang!
The lightning grew even stronger.
Despite the bright glare, Cain pulled his sword without blinking.
Abel, who was a little smaller than Cain, did the same.
Swish━.
They drew swords together.
Cloyd, the judge in this duel, rushed up and stood between the two.
“Then let’s begin.”
━Please save my mother. Please, brother.
Cloyd signaled the start, but neither Cain nor Abel moved.
The raindrops fell viciously on their foreheads and chins.
“Abel.”
Cain called out to him.
Abel nodded briefly.
“Bite your tongue hard. I need to teach you a lesson.”
Nobody anticipated Cain saying anything like that.
Silence fell across the training ground.
“……… Yes.”
Furthermore, Abel’s innocent response.
It began to feel more like a brotherly sparring match than a battle between half-brothers competing for Ethelred Count’s future.
Whoooosh━.
The wind blows.
The sea breeze from the Ethelred shore always had a mild, salty odor.
It smelled like the wind that the Cain of the Future smelled fifteen years later.
As the combat between the two approached, the old picture frame reappeared in Cain’s eyes, translucently.
+
『Annihilator of Destruction Ⅰ』
The return of ‘Cain Ethelred’ has fractured the world line. Please alter the branching point of destiny and safeguard the new world line.
World Line Fixation: 0%.
Clear conditions: Abel’s defeat.
Success: partial unlocking of 『Four Seasons』 and increased world line fixation.
Failure: The return was canceled.
+
A declaration that his life, which he had reclaimed by traveling back in time, would not be simple.
It was similar to the request from the quest hall.
Cain smiled wryly.
‘Miracles come with a price, I guess.’
But he was accustomed to it.
The world he lived in always had a price.
“What are you daydreaming about?”
Abel saw Cain’s slightly misplaced gaze.
Cain shrugged his shoulders.
“I can do that.”
Abel was speechless at his audacious response.
The knights who were watching were the same.
The training ground was rapidly becoming moist with rain, and raindrops began to fall from Abel’s sword.
Instead of charging forward, Cain grasped the ends of his sword.
Snap━!
He crushed it in two with his knee and tossed it behind him.
Abel did not panic and simply pointed to the corner.
Swords were heaped up in the corner, where Ethelred’s knights practiced.
“Get a sword.”
“There’s no need. This fist is sufficient for you.”
Abel frowned.
A genius like him sensed Cain’s strength.
If he had a sword, he could still fight, but if he was bare-handed, he would easily win.
He was certain of it.
That’s why he mentioned it again.
“If you don’t hold a sword, it will end too quickly.”
“Yeah, it’ll end quickly.”
Cain used odd words.
Abel felt it intuitively.
His words were not a bluff.
“……Fine.”
Philip smiled as the situation was favorable for him, whereas Cloyd was disturbed since he didn’t comprehend Cain’s behavior.
Thud, Thud.
Regardless of their surroundings, the two started moving slowly in circles.
They looked like two animals looking for an opening.
Cain observed Abel’s level simply by following his footsteps.
‘He is too conventional.’
The stiff way he spoke and the way he held his sword was so predictable that Cain felt like yawning.
Swish━.
He lowered his arm purposefully.
It was a natural gap caused by experience.
Abel’s eyes gleamed.
At the same instant, the point of his flickered wavered.
‘Now!’
The instant Abel flinched, preparing to lunge.
Cain tightened his entire body.
His muscles tensed so much that his bones creaked, and anguish rushed through him.
But.
Bam━!
Cain kicked the ground as is.
Cain’s speed, which had blown aside hundreds of knights in a single assault, caught Abel off guard.
He missed.
He attempted to turn his head to see where he had gone.
Whoooosh━.
At that point, his battle instincts were screaming at him.
Abel instinctively dodged to the side.
Swish━!
Cain’s right hand went by where his head had been.
Slash━.
The wind alone cut a few strands of his brown hair.
Overwhelming power.
Abel’s body froze at the fist he had never felt before, and his mind understood why Cain had stated it was enough.
“I’m hungry.”
Cain’s purple eyes shone through the showers.
Cain, who would seize every opportunity that presented itself.
Clank━!
He kicked Abel’s abdomen armor as is.