A sigh escaped Isaac’s lips.
He realized he needed to make one thing clear.
"Merlin, I don’t care about people or the bonds. It’s not me who broke the bonds between us. It’s them. They threw me away, and I have no intention of coming back."
He turned and walked toward the door.
"Even if it’s them who broke the bonds, you can still be the one who ties them back! Isaac!" Merlin shouted from the back.
Isaac didn’t listen to him.
He opened the door.
Outside, he saw his sister, and Hazel, standing stiff.
Amanda’s eyes were swollen and red from crying. She looked thin, as if she hadn’t eaten in days.
Both women flinched and lowered their gazes, too guilty to meet Isaac’s eyes.
Amanda gathered her courage.
She raised her head, looked at Isaac in the eyes.
"B-Brother, I—"
Was it a momentary weakness that made her come to him for a shade?
Did she want the warmth of the family after losing everything?
Isaac didn’t care. He walked past her before she could utter a sentence.
"Brother, wait! P-please!"
Isaac didn’t stop or acknowledge her words.
After returning to his mansion, he absorbed himself in training.
His interactions with Merlin decreased after the incident at late Wright family’s mansion.
Merlin never brought up his sister or Wright family whenever they met.
Maybe Merlin had given up. Or, maybe Merlin didn’t want to hurt Isaac by bringing up the past.
Isaac didn’t care enough to find out which of the two it was.
Six months passed.
Isaac’s growth speed was still explosive.
He was improving at terrifying speed, but he understood this speed would soon slow down to a crawl, and he would have to work hard to reach Awakened (Advanced) or First Layer (Advanced).
The training for Weapon Element had become simple and monotonous.
He only needed to damage his internal organs and wait for them to heal. This process was called tempering.
It took a lot of time, and due to the nature of process, he could do it while focusing on other stuff.
Isaac decided to train his other Elements to make use of the extra time.
In his last life, he had awakened Sand Element, and Poison Element.
He had made good progress in Poison Element, since Elves had a lot of knowledge about it.
He started training Poison Element again.
[Poison: Unawakened → First Layer (Beginner)]
One thing Isaac was surprised to find out was that Merlin also practiced Poison Element.
’In the novel, he looked down Poison Element and anyone who used it.’
’He believed only weak would use it.’
’But he is using it himself now?’
This fact made Isaac realize Merlin’s growth speed was far lower here, than it was in the novel.
He was already at the level of Ten Stars, but in the novel, he would’ve been far beyond by this time.
’Why is he so untalented now?’
Despite such thoughts, Isaac knew Merlin would have plethora of knowledge.
However, his and Merlin’s relationship had become awkward, and they only met to talk about business.
It was impossible for Isaac to ask about insights of Poison Element from the protagonist.
’Forget it. I remember the information on Poison Element from Royal Elven library. That’s enough for me.’
Six months passed, and their merchant company InstantSpeak now stood on same level as big merchant companies.
It was the fastest growing merchant company in the kingdom’s history.
Isaac was now earning more money than he was spending on his resources.
Instead of letting the money collect dust in treasury, he decided to open an orphanage.
The war was close. Many children would lose their families. And when time reset, he would lose all his money anyway.
So saving it made no sense.
When he told the protagonist about his decision, he received a stunned gaze.
"You... would... what? But I thought you didn’t care about people...?"
Isaac ignored his ramblings and opened a huge orphanage.
He hired nannies to look after the children while he focused entirely on training.
More months passed.
The flames of war had begun to rise.
Noble Houses were alert, and Merlin was being called by countless Nobles.
Everyone was hoping to pull him to their side. Merlin was officially a Ten Star now, and with him, their safety would be guaranteed.
War began officially.
Marquis Belikas’s estate and territory were ravaged, leaving no one alive.
The horrific death count forced all nobles to join hands against the Four Knights and their leader who called himself Human King.
Noble Houses faced defeats after defeats.
Merlin had to stop focusing on business, and he joined the front lines.
Isaac didn’t follow in his footsteps.
Joining the war would work against his goals. He intended to live until the old age, and use all of that time to train.
Risking his life in the war was stupid when he knew everyone would be revived after time turned back.
Isaac kept training.
Six months later, the Knight of Death—the man who killed his father—came to meet him.