[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 73
'My mother was a Healer class?'
As Zeke expressed his surprise, Rufus nodded and said,
"You might not understand what that means. The concept of classes has disappeared these days."
Zeke knew what a class was through his master in his past life, but he pretended not to know.
"This is the first time I've heard the term 'class'."
"As a pure-blooded awakened of Draker, you must remember the blessing ceremony you received at the Cradle."
"Of course. I could never forget it."
"Draker calls it a blessing ceremony, but in reality, it's just a class awakening ceremony. Most Drakers awaken to the 'Swordsman' class."
Surprisingly, Rufus accurately grasped the Draker bloodline's class.
"Swordsman class. Are there other classes then?"
"Of course. In ancient times, people's talents were discerned, and they were assigned classes that matched their talents, systematized to draw out higher abilities. However, with the advent of the age of knights, most people simply divide classes into knights and mages."
"Assigning and awakening classes according to talent. That's quite a rational concept."
"Indeed. Those with talent in swords walk the path of the swordsman, those with talent in bows walk the path of the archer, and those with talent in spears walk the path of the spearman. That's the meaning of classes."
Zeke nodded at Rufus's words.
Just thinking about how he had suffered in the Swordsman clan of Draker simply because he had the talent of a Healer still made him shudder.
'Wait, if my mother was a Healer class, doesn't that mean my father knew about it too?'
Zeke asked Rufus,
"If my mother was a Healer, would Arthur Draker have known about this class concept?"
Rufus nodded.
"He probably would have known."
Zeke was puzzled by those words.
'He would have known that I had a different talent than that of a Swordsman, so why did he expel me from the clan?'
If his mother was a Healer, Arthur would have known the effects of a Healer, so Zeke couldn't understand why he was neglected.
Zeke asked Rufus,
"Do you know anything about the Healer class?"
Rufus slowly opened his mouth.
"I don't know much either. It's such a rare talent that there are hardly any records left, even in the inherited records. One thing is certain, though, my aunt, the previous head of the clan, also had the Healer talent."
As Zeke expected, the previous head of the Agamemnon clan was a Healer class.
Considering that only the previous head of the clan, who had the power of a Healer, and Zeke were able to activate the Golden Mask, it was highly likely that this sacred object was an artifact that could only be used by those with the Healer talent.
"Were there many Healers in the Agamemnon clan?"
Rufus shook his head.
"It was rare. Most were swordsmen with innate bravery, like me and the elders of the clan. But the position of head of the clan was traditionally held by someone with the Healer talent."
"Then my mother could have also held the position of head of the clan."
"She was certainly qualified. But Laura left this castle and went to the Holy Kingdom before she even came of age."
Zeke was surprised by the unexpected words.
"The Holy Kingdom? Why did she go there?"
"Laura didn't tell me the details. She just left, saying that she was going to find a way to save the clan. Later, she left again, saying she was going to marry Arthur Draker."
The more he heard, the more questions Zeke had about his mother.
Zeke looked at the symbol on the forehead of the Golden Mask, similar to the Holy Kingdom's insignia, and fell into thought.
'Perhaps my mother went to the Holy Kingdom to investigate the Healer class. To purify the demonic energy that was eroding the clan with her own power.'
There was only one person who knew the exact truth about this.
It was his father, Arthur Draker.
'Would he even answer if I asked him?'
Circumstantially, it was as if Draker had neglected the cursed Agamemnon clan to consolidate their own power.
Moreover, Arthur Draker in his past life had known Zeke's true nature but still left him alone until he was expelled from the clan. So, in his past life, the Agamemnon clan would have been completely consumed by the demonic energy and disappeared without a trace.
Zeke realized that things were more complicated than he thought.
'There are many things I need to investigate step by step.'
"Zeke, there's something I want to give you."
Rufus unfastened the necklace he was wearing and placed it in Zeke's hand.
Zeke examined the necklace Rufus gave him.
The pendant attached to the necklace could be opened, and inside was an old picture of a woman.
Zeke's eyes wavered as he saw the woman's face.
"Lord, this picture..."
"Laura Agamemnon. Your mother."
Zeke had never seen his mother, not in this life or his past life.
The mother in the picture was around Zeke's age.
With her beautiful, silky long hair swept to the side, she was a beautiful woman with an elegant yet strong impression.
Looking at the picture, Zeke asked Rufus,
"...Were my mother's eyes also black like mine?"
Rufus shook his head.
"No. Laura's eyes were a beautiful emerald green."
"I always thought my eyes resembled my mother's."
"Except for the color of your eyes, you're the spitting image of Laura. When I first saw you yesterday, I thought Laura had come back."
The other elders behind him nodded in agreement.
Zeke closed the locket and put the necklace around his neck.
"Thank you, Lord. I will treasure it."
Rufus looked at Zeke and said,
"After Laura left the clan, one day, she returned after a long time. And then she left again after saying just one thing."
"What did she say?"
"The child with black eyes will restore the clan to its original state."
Zeke's expression hardened.
"My mother made a prophecy?"
Rufus nodded.
"Laura was a Healer class, but she was also an Irregular. She was extraordinary from a young age."
In the Central Continent, Irregulars weren't viewed favorably.
During the Holy Empire era, there were even religious trials and witch hunts for Irregulars.
'My mother was an Irregular...'
Rufus held Zeke's hand and said,
"More than that, you said you needed the support of the clan. What do you need support for, Zeke? You are the sole successor of this Agamemnon clan."
***
"Whew."
Zeke stood in the training hall of Agamemnon Castle, holding Bahamut, adjusting his breathing and swinging his sword.
Because the head of the clan had designated Zeke as the clan's successor, he decided to stay longer at the castle to handle various procedures.
Since there was still time before the martial arts tournament, Zeke decided to follow the head of the clan's words.
And during his stay, Zeke learned the Agamemnon clan's secret swordsmanship, the 'Golden Swordsmanship.'
He first familiarized himself with the sword forms by looking at the Agamemnon clan's inherited swordsmanship records.
As befitting a clan with a long tradition, the Agamemnon clan had a deep history of swordsmanship.
The inherited swordsmanship that direct descendants had to learn was a shield swordsmanship that used both a shield and a sword simultaneously.
While learning the sword forms, Zeke felt that this swordsmanship was similar to both the Paladin inherited swordsmanship and the Imperial swordsmanship.
'Could it be that all three swordsmanships have the same roots?'
In particular, the Golden Swordsmanship, Agamemnon's shield swordsmanship, was created on the premise of wearing full plate armor and wielding a large kite shield.
Zeke thought he understood why the members of the Agamemnon clan were so large.
He recalled something while learning the Golden Swordsmanship.
'The Golden Swordsmanship is a technique with a good balance of offense and defense. If I combine it with the Desperation Strike I learned from my former master...'
He couldn't use the complete Desperation Strike yet because his dragon-related skill, Dragon Language, hadn't been unlocked.
Once Dragon Language was unlocked and he combined the Golden Swordsmanship with the complete Desperation Strike, he might be able to create a new weapon, following the Elemental Sword and the True Dragon Sword Skill.
After familiarizing himself with the sword forms to some extent, Zeke activated Hercyon, wore it in full plate armor form, and held Gelion's shield and Bahamut before displaying the Agamemnon's Golden Swordsmanship.
Whoosh!
He struck with the shield, retreated, stabbed with the sword, turned around, and swung the sword again.
He used Gale Force to increase his agility and Aura to strengthen his attacks.
Wheeik!
Even without creating an Aura Blade, Zeke's attacks were fast and powerful enough that ordinary knights wouldn't be able to easily withstand them.
Thud!
"Whew."
Zeke, who had removed his helmet, smiled with satisfaction at his movements.
He looked down at Hercyon and licked his lips.
"This is really good, but I can't use it properly for fear of being tracked by those Imperial bastards."
If he could just change its form, he would actively use it.
Zeke thought he should make time to meet Gelion in person and modify Hercyon.
Deciding to end his training here, he deactivated Hercyon and left the training hall.
When he went out to the garden, he saw the elders of Agamemnon surrounding Felix and watching his swordsmanship.
Wheeik!
"You shouldn't turn there!"
"Hold your stance better!"
"Keep your center of gravity firm!"
The Paladin inherited swordsmanship and the Agamemnon's Golden Swordsmanship had many similarities, so it was clear that learning from the elders would be beneficial for Felix.
However, Felix, who was actually receiving the teaching, was miserable.
"Ugh, Master, please save me."
Felix looked at Zeke with a tearful expression, but Zeke turned his head away, ignoring the distress signal.
'Work hard, Felix. It's definitely not because I'm too lazy to teach you.'
For the elders who had been cooped up in the castle for 50 years, Felix was a good target for their pent-up energy.
Zeke left Felix to be tormented by the elders and went inside the castle.
Just then, the head maid approached Zeke.
"Young Master, the lord summons you."
The head maid, who had lost the gloomy old woman appearance from their first meeting, became more elegant with each passing day.
'Although it's still a bit scary when she sometimes goes 'hee hee hee' when she laughs.'
Zeke followed the head maid's words and headed to the lord's office.
When he arrived at the office, he saw documents piled up like a mountain on Rufus's desk.
With the Agamemnon clan emerging from seclusion after 50 years, there were countless matters to deal with.
"Grandfather."
Rufus had asked Zeke to call him grandfather instead of lord when they were alone.
Rufus saw Zeke through the pile of documents and got up from his seat.
"Whew, it's a headache to do paperwork after such a long time. Let's go out and have some tea."
As Rufus and Zeke went out to the terrace, the maids brought out tea.
Zeke asked Rufus,
"Then how have you been managing the city all this time?"
Rufus stroked his neatly trimmed beard and said,
"We entrusted it to agents outside the territory and sent important decisions by letter."
"So there were agents."
Rufus put down his teacup and said,
"Actually, that's why I called you."
He looked at Zeke and said,
"The Agamemnon clan has protected this place for a long time as the guardians of Mycenae. At the same time, three clans have helped us manage Mycenae and the surrounding territories."
"You mean vassals."
"Zeke, to become the official successor of Agamemnon, you need to be recognized by them."
It was a kind of safety device to prevent the person in power from becoming a dictator.
Zeke nodded at Rufus's words.
"That's good timing. Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you, Grandfather."
"What is it? Tell me anything."
Zeke's eyes flashed at Rufus's words.
"I would like you to invite the heads and lords of those three vassal clans, as well as all the clans related to Agamemnon, to the castle."
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]