There stood a giant man. The rangers of Lehainjar and Aman Ruhr, the Beast King, were all well over two meters, but the man towering on top of the cliff looked to be a head taller than them.
He wore fur over his shoulders, though it was hard to tell whether it had once belonged to an animal or a monster. In addition, his left arm was covered in what seemed like a bracer made of an unknown material, and that was all the armor he had. Even in such harsh, freezing weather, the man was without any thick winter clothes, and his large, firm chest and arm muscles were exposed.
Yet, despite the freezing weather, he seemed completely unfazed, his breaths coming slow and steady though his chest was bare. His thick, enormous muscles made the man appear even taller and bigger than he already was.
The man also had an axe slung over his shoulder; appearance-wise, the rugged weapon resembled a woodcutter's axe. Moreover, it looked large enough to fell a giant tree with one strike. In fact, the man had decapitated the head of the Nur, a giant monster, with a single swing, and there remained not a single drop of blood staining its blade.
The wind scattered the man’s hair in front of his face, and his gaze slowly fell downwards through the curtain of hair. There was no way Eugene and Anise would fail to recognize the man — Molon Ruhr. Although he adorned a shaggy beard, unlike three hundred years ago, it didn’t matter. Even if Molon grew a beard, he was still Molon.
At least, that’s how it was supposed to be.
Eugene and Anise stood frozen on their spot for a moment.
The two stood there in place, staring up at him. Although Eugene had called out his name, he couldn’t follow up with anything else. Was it because Molon was taller than he had been three hundred years ago? Or was it because he was bigger and larger? Was it because he was covering his left arm with a strange bracer, or was it because he had grown a shaggy beard? Even so, Molon was still Molon, right?
Eugene and Anise saw the eyes that peered down at them. The eyes belonging to their old friend were frigid, and they contained no emotion. It was almost impossible to think such eyes belonged to Molon. Was it because he had not heard Eugene call out his name? It was definitely possible since Eugene had barely shouted loud enough due to his immense shock.
Eugene couldn’t understand why Molon was exuding such an atmosphere. Eugene could perhaps understand if he were the only one here since it wouldn’t be strange for Molon to be wary of unknown outsiders. However, Eugene wasn’t alone. He was with Kristina, who looked exactly like Anise. Even if Molon failed to recognize Eugene as Hamel’s reincarnation, he couldn’t possibly fail to recognize Kristina, or rather Anise. To boot, Anise was even spreading all of her eight wings.
“Hey, Molon,” Eugene called out once more after quenching his emotions. There were too many things he couldn’t understand.
He wasn’t completely certain whether that monster had been the Nur , the subject of the rangers’ warning and the main character of Bayar’s old legends. What Eugene and Anise had felt from the monster was the same ominous, repulsive sensation they had felt from the Demon King of Destruction, and it had not been a simple illusion either. They had felt the visceral ominosity right down to their bones, and it was something they had felt only from the Demon King of Destruction among all the Demon Kings and demonfolks they had encountered. Of course, this sensation had paled compared to one given off by the Demon King of Destruction, but the monster had successfully evoked the memory of three hundred years ago with its presence alone.
Eugene couldn’t understand why such a monster was on this mountain and why Molon was here after entering seclusion 100 years ago. There was so much he didn’t understand.
“You moron,” Eugene breathed out.
But truth be told, what did such things matter? His comrade from three hundred years ago was alive and well. He didn’t know what Molon had experienced, but he appeared just fine standing on the cliff. He had not faked his own death like Vermouth, nor been sealed with a hole in his chest like Sienna, or killed himself like Anise.
So Eugene kicked off the ground and jumped high. The cliff was tall, but Eugene managed to reach its end with a single leap. Molon’s gaze followed him upwards, and their gazes met in the air. But what Eugene saw were cold, distant eyes.
Eugene did not remember Molon’s eyes as being like this. They were dull and murky, as if Molon had been weathered and destroyed by the three hundred years he had experienced, and Eugene couldn’t help but wonder what Molon had been through in the past three hundred years after Hamel’s death. He looked tired and exhausted, just as Vermouth had appeared in the chair in the Lionheart’s Dark Room.
Eugene was about to set foot on the cliff when Molon shook his head, and just before he landed, Molon waved his hand. Although it was a gentle wave of his hand, it caused a strong gust of wind like a storm. The snow lining the cliff soared under the huge pressure and scattered. Not expecting this development, Eugene was immediately thrown backward, never having imagined that Molon would push him away. He was carried back quite a distance by the wind.
“Oi!” Eugene shouted. He was dumbfounded and immediately gave orders to the spirits of the wind and stopped himself. Then, he pushed himself forward with an even stronger gust of wind and approached the cliff.
“Go back.” The lips centered between the shaggy beard parted, and Molon continued while staring directly at Eugene’s face, “Hamel.”
It seemed Molon recognized Eugene, even though he looked completely different from his past life. Was it because of how Eugene had addressed him?
Go back? Eugene’s expression contorted with annoyance. He was reunited with Molon after three hundred years, after climbing this damned mountain. There was so much he wanted to ask Molon, but the moron was telling him to go back?
“Fuck off.” Eugene had no intention of complying with Molon’s words. Eugene once again descended to the cliff after returning, and Molon’s beard twitched as he grinned. He raised his axe above his shoulder, then grabbed it with one hand before swinging it into the air.
The strike contained absolutely no hostility, but it created a tremendous force that was impossible to resist from the front. Eugene reflexively grabbed Wynnyd from inside his cloak and called Tempest’s wind.
Kwaaaaahh!
A storm erupted behind Wynnyd’s trajectory. Even though the sword and the axe never clashed directly, the full brunt of their strikes collided midair. Eugene immediately realized the massive difference in their power, even though he was sure they both had swung without any preparation. Molon’s brute force was extremely powerful, just like three hundred years ago. Although his eyes and appearance had taken the full brunt of the passage of time, the strength contained in his grossly large muscles had not faded at all.
‘No, in fact, he’s even stronger than three hundred years ago….’
The clash of storms collapsed, and Eugene was thrown backward. The power contained in the force pushing him back was massive, and Eugene couldn’t tell how far he would be sent flying if he didn’t resist. As such, Eugene once again called upon the wind and stopped himself in midair, then descended.
“That moron,” spat Eugene while pushing against the blizzard. He saw Anise’s back when he returned to the bottom of the cliff. She was standing in place after putting her eight wings away.
“Anise, are you all right?” Eugene inquired.
“I’m fine,” she answered without looking back. Instead, she slowly raised her finger to where her gaze was headed — the top of the cliff. Eugene followed suit and looked up at the cliff once more.
“Where did that moron go?” Eugene asked with a deep frown. He couldn’t see Molon or the corpse of the monster.
Anise shrugged and looked back. “I don’t know. He suddenly disappeared in the snowstorm.”
“That stupid idiot disappeared with that stupidly big corpse? What, did he grab the corpse and hop away?” asked Eugene.
“No. Although I don’t know much about magic, Molon disappeared with the body like it was magic. They disappeared in the blink of an eye,” said Anise.
“I’ll take a look myself,” grumbled Eugene, approaching Anise.
“I’ve already put away my wings,” said Anise.
“Well, you can take them out again. And since when did you have to take out your wings to fly? I know you can do it without your wings. Or you can just jump. You can jump that much, can’t you?” Eugene continued with his grumbling.
Although the cliff was relatively high, Eugene had no doubt that Anise was more than capable of hopping to the top.
“Kristina lacks the physical abilities. And I need my wings to look sacred, don’t I?” replied Anise.
“It’s not like anyone is watching right now.”
“Oh, right. I guess it’s just you and me right now, Hamel,” Anise said with a smile.
Kristina would have screamed out of embarrassment if she were awake, but unfortunately, she was still unconscious inside her mind. Anise had hoped for Eugene to blush with embarrassment, but he looked nonchalant. In the first place, Eugene wasn’t embarrassed by what he had said during the fireworks, so why would he feel embarrassed now?
“Then I guess there’s no helping it,” Eugene said before taking giant strides up to Anise. After stopping in front of her, he suddenly placed his hand on her waist.
Anise’s brain short-circuited by Eugene’s unexpected, sudden action. However, Eugene brought her into his embrace and carried her without caring for how she had stiffened.
“Stay still,” said Eugene.
It was a reasonable choice by Eugene’s standards. Although he couldn’t see Molon on the cliff now, wasn’t it possible that he was hiding somewhere? Moreover, Molon could well swing his axe once more like before. Of course, Eugene knew Anise was strong enough to protect herself, but he judged it would be safer to carry her as he flew up.
‘P-p-princess carry….’
In fact, Anise had been secretly looking forward to something like this happening. However, she had hoped Eugene’s face would be dyed red, and he would hesitate when she suggested he do this rather than him taking the initiative. In other words, Anise had not been prepared for Eugene to carry her like this. So she could not poke fun at him but quietly allowed him to carry her in his arms instead. She was certain she could regain her composure and tease him if she were in his arms for a while, but… unfortunately, the tall cliff took only one simple leap for Eugene to climb.
“He’s not here,” grumbled Eugene after landing on the cliff as he put Anise down. No, to be exact, he attempted to put her down. After belatedly coming to her senses, Anise wrapped her arms tightly around Eugene’s neck. Even though he had already released her from his arms, she held on to his neck by squeezing her arms tightly. The strength Eugene felt in her arms made it quite hard to believe she was physically lacking.
“What are you doing?” asked Eugene.
“Hmm.” Anise didn’t have a good answer, so she cleared her throat instead while slowly loosening her grip. She descended, then looked around before commenting, “It’s clean.”
“I know,” replied Eugene.
The Nur had been a monster as big as a giant. It wouldn’t have been strange for its black blood to dye all the snow on the cliff, but strangely enough, the ground was spotless and white. Moreover, there were no traces of a body being dragged away.
“You’re right. It’s like magic,” muttered Eugene with a scoff. Was it possible that Molon had learned magic during the three hundred years? It wasn’t an impossibility.
Eugene turned his head and looked at Anise. She had said that Molon had disappeared with the monster’s body like magic . Yes, it was true that Anise didn’t know much about magic. But just because Anise herself didn’t know how to use magic didn’t mean she couldn’t recognize it. This phenomenon had not been caused by magic but by something similar to magic.
Eugene looked around once more. Even while holding Akasha in his cloak, he couldn’t figure out how Molon had disappeared with the body.
“Did Molon not say anything to you?” Eugene asked.
“He said nothing, Hamel. He just looked at me for a moment before you came back,” answered Anise.
“How did Molon disappear?” asked Eugene.
“Suddenly. Just like magic. I don’t know exactly how, and although I said… he disappeared in the blink of an eye, I didn’t actually close my eyes, just that he disappeared that quickly and suddenly. He disappeared in the snowstorm as if… he had never been there, to begin with,” replied Anise.
“There’s only one explanation I can infer from what you’re saying and the traces here,” said Eugene.
“A barrier,” said Anise, nodding.
It was likely that the cliff itself straddled a boundary as a barrier. Molon and the Nur’s body had been on a different cliff that paralleled this one. For barriers like these, there was bound to be a totem that powered it. However, no matter how he tried, Eugene could not see through the barrier, even with Akasha, and he couldn’t blindly search for the totem, not knowing what lay beyond the cliff and the barrier.
“Let’s go down,” Eugene said with a deep frown. “That’s what Molon said. To go back.”
“And since when were you so obedient to what Molon said?” asked Anise.
“Molon is older than me,” replied Eugene.
“He was also older than you three hundred years ago,” countered Anise.
“At that time, Molon was older than me by only three or four years,” said Eugene.
“Five years,” Anise corrected.
“In those days, a difference of five years was nothing. We were all just friends anyways. If we’re talking about specifics, Anise, you were two years older than me,” said Eugene.
“Three years,” she corrected once more.
“At that time, we were all equal regardless of our ages and when we were born. But it’s been three hundred years, and that bastard Molon had aged by three hundred years. I’m sure he didn’t tell me to get lost just because he doesn’t like me, so let’s go back down and figure things out,” said Eugene.
“How cute,” commented Anise.
“What?”
“Regardless of your reason, you’re showing respect for Molon’s will. Hamel, are you afraid of being pushed back by Molon again while stubbornly searching this place…?” asked Anise.
“Stop saying weird things. Molon is alive, and I’m sure he has his reasons.”
“That’s what we call respect,” sniggered Anise before turning away. She jumped down from the cliff, thinking that Hamel looked incredibly cute with his shy face, mumbling like an idiot.
“Ah.” It wasn’t until she reached the ground that she belatedly came to a realization. She could have asked him to help her down, saying it was too high. If she had, she could have made him carry her like a princess once more…!
Anise hurriedly turned her eyes upward with regret. Eugene was looking down at her with narrowed eyes and an absurd expression.
“Ehem.” Anise cleared her throat while soothing her disappointment.
Abel was waiting for them with droopy ears when they returned to the tent. The ominous feeling similar to the Demon King of Destruction had disappeared with the death of the Nur, or the unknown monster. Thanks to that, Abel didn’t appear as scared as before.
A little while later, Mer gently poked her head out of Eugene’s cloak, and Kristina also came to her senses.
Kristina felt ashamed of herself for fainting without managing to put up any resistance and blamed herself.
[It’s only natural for you to have fainted, Kristina. After all, you’ve never experienced anything like that before, right?] Anise consoled her.
Eugene did the same. “We almost fainted three hundred years ago, even though we had been through all sorts of things.”
“But that wasn’t the Demon King of Destruction,” Kristina said, gathering her breath.
“But it was similar. Don’t let it weigh too heavily on your heart. It’s like an instinctive fear, something you can’t really resist without experience,” Eugene reassured her as they finished their meal from before. The porridge had gone cold, so they boiled it again. The taste was worse than usual.
Two days later, Eugene and Kristina crossed the boundary of Lehainjar and arrived at Lehain’s training grounds. It was a fortress protected by high walls but shaped like a village attached to a castle. The knights of the Kingdom of Ruhr mainly used the training grounds, but the people of the Bayar Tribes resided in the village. The ones who had not left the snowfield had been managing the fortress since it was built while living in the village.
Most of Lehainjar’s rangers were natives of Bayar who were born in the village, and many young warriors dreamt of someday going to Hamelon, the capital, to become chosen knights of the king.
“It’s big,” mumbled Eugene after entering the fortress.
He wasn’t just referring to the fortress, either. The native residents of the village were tall and big, just like Molon, the King of Ruhr, and the rangers of the snowy mountain. Eugene was also quite tall, but he couldn’t see any men in the fortress who were shorter than him. In any case, the fortress itself was enormous as well.
It was for the Knight March. As soon as the site of Knight March had been confirmed, the Beast King had ordered for the Lehain’s fortress to be expanded extensively. Eugene didn’t know exactly how many knights and mercenaries were coming to the Knight March, but the expanded fortress looked big enough to accommodate all visitors.
“The Burning River,” said Eugene.
A hot, steam-breathing river flowed through the outskirts of the village. Perhaps thanks to it, it didn’t feel very cold despite the snow.
“You are not allowed to enter without washing up and not allowed to enter wearing anything other than a bathing suit,” answered the villager responsible for showing them around.
“I’m not going in.”
“We don’t see many visitors here normally, and many outsiders who are here seem quite mistaken. This is the end of the northern snowfield, and the natives of Bayar have resided in this place for a long time. Unfortunately, that means they like to think we are ignorant and barbaric,” continued the villager with a shrug. Like the other natives, he was tall, an entire head taller than Eugene.
“But we are not as ignorant or barbaric as they think us to be. The Burning River…. Indeed, it feels great to go in there when it snows, but that doesn’t mean we enter it without first washing up. If you really want to do something like that, you can use the private hot spring at your own house. The river belongs to the village, so you shouldn’t make your neighbors uncomfortable. Everyone here respects the rule,” said the villager.
“Is that so?” said Eugene.
“But the Lionheart clan is a friend of our founder. Although three hundred long years have passed, the Lionheart clan is still a friend to the Ruhr family. So, Sir Eugene Lionheart, if you would like to jump into that river right now,” the villager said hesitantly.
“Has someone already jumped in?” asked Eugene. He felt his heart drop slightly.
“No, they didn’t jump in. Rather, they walked on the hot spring saying it was amazing, without even removing their shoes,” the villager answered.
“It must have been Lady Carmen,” muttered Eugene.
“How did you know?” the villager asked with surprise.
“Lady Carmen is the only one who enjoys such… eccentric behavior in the Lionheart family. I apologize on her behalf as a member of the family,” said Eugene.
“We have already heard enough apologies,” the villager answered.
The other members of the Lionheart family had departed a few days ahead of Eugene and had arrived in Lehain earlier.
However, Cyan, Ciel, Dior, and Princess Scalia had yet to arrive. Eugene felt inwardly worried, but he did not rush to search for them, partially because of what Anise had said to him before. He couldn’t continue to treat them like they were children.
“The guests from the Lionheart clan are staying at this mansion,” the villager said as they arrived at a large mansion close to the castle. “It is the mansion with the largest hot spring, except for the castle and the town’s public baths.”
The kings and royal knights of different nations were staying at the castle. There were still four days until the beginning of the Knight March, but the kings of each country, except Ruhr’s own king, had already arrived.
Aeuryus, the Pope of the Holy Empire.
Straut the Second, the Emperor of the Kiehl Empire.
Alabur, the Sultan of Nahama.
Daindolf, the King of Aroth.
The leaders of the empires and the equivalent nations were present, as well as King Rigos, King of the Flayvour Kingdom and the Director of the Anti-Demon Alliance, and other kings belonging to the alliance. Most of the continent’s rulers, apart from those of Helmuth, were currently staying in this fortress.
“Well, please enjoy your stay,” the villager said before returning.
Eugene stared up at the castle for a while. He could already feel a few gazes, gazes belonging to arrogant people who had no desire nor reason to hide their eyes. Eugene could feel the gazes coming from different heights. It was quite obvious. Not all kings stood on equal ground, and empires were superior to kingdoms, while kingdoms could be divided into large and small kingdoms.
He was the second coming of the Great Vermouth. Even though he wasn’t set to be the next head of the family, he was a young lion of the main family of the Lionheart clan who would surely lead the next generation.
The rulers of royal authority were paying keen attention to Eugene.
“Sir Eugene.”
“I’m not going to be rude. I’m just looking up, that’s all,” said Eugene with a smirk. He then turned his head before walking into the mansion with light steps.
“They can look all they want from up there.”