Chapter 200
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Reaping What You Sow (3) ༻
Not a single place around the city was exempt from the recent rise of excitement. Certain stories were being shared even at a small street-food restaurant where people were talking over shots of soju.
- I heard the Saintess is attending this time!
- Wasn’t Marie Dunareff also attending this year’s contest?
- This year is gonna be on fire.
Naturally, the topic of their conversation was the popular event of the Harvest Festival.
Lady of Autumn.
The contest marking the climax of the Autumn Festival was gaining even more popularity due to its extravagant lineup of contestants.
“Everyone’s talking about the Autumn Festival,” said Alicia.
“I hope they instead put all that effort into studying for their yearly exams,” replied Korin, “Studying is what students are supposed to do.”
Late at night on a Saturday, Alicia and Korin were out for snacks.
“Here you are! Four servings of spicy rice cakes, four bowls of oden soup, and a deep-fried combo!”
“Can we add some blood sausages on top?” asked Korin.
“Of course,” the owner replied, “would you like some organs as well?”[mfn]TL Note: Sundae (Korean Blood Sausages) are usually served with cooked liver or lungs.[/mfn]
Turning to Alicia, Korin asked her the question instead.
“Alicia, do you like organs?”
“I’ll pass.”
“There you go. No liver, but can you add more sausages instead?”
“Sure thing~”
When the owner returned to her post, Korin sneaked a glance at Alicia and hinted at something by pretending to drink a glass.
“No drinking.” replied Alicia after seeing through what he was suggesting.
“A glass or two can’t hurt, right?”
“I have to go to Unni’s room after this so… she will tell me off if I go there drunk. Besides, we are still underage. You know that, right?”
“Haa~”
Korin sighed at her orthodox yet boring comment. Although he was underage right now, he was more than double Alicia’s age if he were to add up all the years he had lived, so the prohibition of alcohol was a huge deal for him.
“An oden soup without soju…?!”
He lamented as he blankly looked at the bubbling pot of oden soup, which seemed closer to the J-style of making it rather than the K-style.
“You are getting much better these days,” said Alicia, pulling him out of his grief, “Ah, I’m talking about your control over the Domain. I have no right to comment on anything apart from that, after all.”
“You’re being too modest. I’m on a loss streak thanks to you.”
Korin replied while carrying his fork over to the soup. He scooped up a piece of konnyaku from the soup, brought it to his personal bowl, and used a ladle to pour the soup into his bowl.
“But I will still lose in a real fight. I just… can’t imagine myself beating you, Mr. Korin.”
“We don’t know about that.”
He sipped the soup while reflecting on the spar they had moments ago in the training room.
Recently, Alicia was on fire.
Ever since her fight against the Sword Fiend, she was on a rampage. Although the Heavenly Sword she demonstrated during that fight was still far from being within her reach again, that life-or-death fight had enhanced her overall potential.
“I should have practiced more. I was afraid of swords for a foolish reason.”
“What matters is not the amount of experience, but the quality.”
Korin himself was a great example of that.
The amount of time he spent wielding the spear was 3 years from the last iteration, added to the 2 years he had in his current life.
Quantitatively, he fell short compared to other knights who spent all their lives polishing themselves, but the reason he was on par with Lunia, the Sword Master, in terms of his mastery over the spear, was because of the density and quality of each and every experience he had.
Overcoming the threat of death numerous times, he fought against and defeated the strongest powerhouses of this world, so it was safe to say that he had reached his full talent even before the regression.
“Ugh… Maybe I should beat up Grandpa or something.”
Alicia let out a tremendously unfilial comment while casually biting off a piece of oden. Surprisingly, she looked very serious.
“I feel bad for that old man.” said Korin.
“He deserves it.”
Sword Emperor, Garrand Arden.
In the game, he simply appeared as an NPC empowering Alicia or Lunia. Although he contributed quite significantly to the final war, it was a story that wasn’t covered in the game.
“How about we instead force Grandpa to fight Tates, that scary old guy? He’s… frighteningly strong but grandpa is not weak himself either.”
“It will be a good battle.”
It was a set of events that did not happen in the game. Korin tried to make it happen in the last iteration but…
“That old man has other things to attend to.”
There was a reason why he wasn’t the main character of the final battle, and a big shot like the Sword Emperor not showing up during the final war had a reasonable explanation behind it.
“I see.”
Alicia didn’t ask for more in spite of his short explanation. Unlike Marie and Estelle, Alicia didn’t really intervene in the process of coming up with the overarching strategy.
She was in the mindset that there was no reason to bother chiming in when everything was already going decently well… and only asked about what she had to do.
“Mr. Korin.”
‘Huu~. Huu~.’
After carefully blowing on a piece of oden, she brought it over to his mouth.
“Ahh~”
“...This is a bit—”
“Quick. My arm’s sore.”
“Kuhum…!”
It was a corny thing that new couples would do, but as the grave sinner, he had no choice but to eat it.
“You know, about the ribbon.”
“Mhmm…”
The food almost went down the wrong pipe. It was a sudden shift of topic into a rather sensitive one.
“What are you going to do? There are five in total including the chairman.”
“Kuhuhum…!”
Alicia didn’t show it on her face, but she actually found the whole situation quite funny.
Even though everyone else was hoping that they would be the one being chosen, Alicia had a slightly different perspective. It was something she realized after submitting her application.
“Fuu…”
“Alicia?”
She deliberately fidgeted with her fingers, before gazing up into his eyes. Then, she floated a bitter smile and re-confessed her feelings.
It was a little prank.
“You know I like you, right?”
“U, uhhm… Y, yeah.”
Korin failed to see through the mischievous tone.
Meanwhile, Alicia was feeling rather satisfied after seeing Korin lose his usual composure from just a few words.
“I like you. I really do. I really like you, Mr. Korin.”
“T, thank you.”
“So…”
Please choose me. Choose just me.
That was the last thing she would ever say. Because it would be troubling for him, and because she didn’t have the right to say something like that…
“You don’t have to give it to me.”
“Huh?”
She said words that were in complete contrast to her real feelings with a bitter smile.
She liked him.
She was certain that she wouldn’t lose to anyone in terms of the depth of her feelings.
However, she was still afraid of how she would feel after being rejected, so she decided to give up from the start. Instead of competing with everyone else, she was demonstrating the virtue of conceding to others.
Although in reality, it was an escape to protect her pride, she took a step back while telling herself that she was giving the opportunity to others.
“...No.”
Despite his usual denseness, Korin picked that up from her tone.
“I’m giving you a gold ribbon.”
“Huh… What?”
“You might call me a coward and unfair… but I’m giving a golden ribbon to everyone.”
“B, but…! You need to win five contests to do that though?”
“There’s no other option, is there?”
“I, I’m okay. I’m fine so—”
“Stop right there.”
Korin put a firm stop to her words. Having him stare at her with such a serious gaze in his eyes, Alicia felt her pride being filled up to the brim.
“You have the right to receive it. Full stop.”
“Htt…”
Alicia couldn’t find any words to say in response.
***
After a late meal, the two of them returned to the guild office.
The 10,000 square meters of land that Marie had built the headquarters on, was filled with all sorts of convenience facilities.
An example of such was the accommodation, tailoring to the needs of hundreds of men from the Warsky Mercenaries and the Sword Squad elites. On top of that were the caretakers and trainers of the wyverns and the Hresvelgr.
There were a lot of people working for the guild.
“Welcome back, Boss.”
“Did you enjoy your meal, Captain?”
Sentinels affiliated with the Warsky Mercenaries and the Arden Sword Squad welcomed them from the entrance. As expected of the top elites among elites, they were doing a spectacular job keeping the office safe.
“Oh actually, Boss. You have a guest.”
“A guest? Who is it?”
“They wanted to surprise you and didn’t want to be known.”
“...”
“...”
Korin and Alicia turned to each other and immediately realized who it would be.
“Why do you think she’s here?” Alicia asked.
“Not sure. Lunia… won’t be there to help us because she goes to bed early.”
Unfortunately, there were no reinforcements available. Left with no choice, Korin headed to the guest room.
However, suddenly, soft hands covered his eyes from behind.
“Guess who~?”
Her signature energetic voice and the soft strands of her hair tickled his ears.
“Est—”
“Surprise! The answer was the most beautiful person in the world, Estelle-noona!”
“It’s interesting how you can come up with these silly lines every time you show up.”
Korin shook his head, while Alicia cleared her throat a few times before being as respectful as she could.
“G, greetings to Her Highness…”
“You are always so rigid, Ms. Junior Alicia. As I’ve been saying, you can relax a little bit more around me, okay?”
“Y, your servant is deeply… appreciative? Of your benevolence, but please have mercy…!”
“It’s all mixed up now. Just be normal.” Korin suggested from the side.
“Ugh…”
Alicia grumbled, saying that only someone like him would be able to do that.
The monarchy was still standing strong in this country, and yet in some ways, you could even argue that Estelle was even loftier than the king himself.
Even though Alicia had not a single grain of faith – especially after realizing the truth of the Danann – that didn’t mean she could treat the royal family like friends considering all the time she spent viewing them as a higher-up.
“You don’t have to force yourself,” Estelle said, “I’m fine as long as I’m close to my dear Korin~”
She unhesitatingly wrapped her arms around him as she said that. Korin frowned but Estelle dug in closer with a bashful smile.
“Come on…!”
“Why? Are you embarrassed? We’ve done more, haven’t we?”
“...”
Alicia didn’t feel very happy seeing her flirting with Korin.
My dear Korin...
Those words constantly echoed in her ears, as she wondered when the princess suddenly started being around Korin.
She was taking a break from the Academy, right…?
Estelle had been taking a break from the Academy due to her busy life as the Saintess. She was turning 22 this year, which meant—
“Four years older than Mr. Korin, huh…?”
Alicia unconsciously blurted those words out.
“...”
“...”
It was a shocking remark that no one saw coming. Korin and Estelle looked dumbfounded and appalled at the same time.
“Y, y, you…! Are you insulting me for my age?!”
“Huh? Sorry? Ahht…!”
Only then did she realize what she said. Her face quickly started to lose color.
“A, a four-year difference is not even that much, okay?! That’s nothing! Youuu…!”
“N, no! That’s not it! That’s not what I meant! It’s fine! My sister is also ten years older than Mr. Korin!”
“...Hoh.”
Suddenly, a voice intervened in the conversation, “This little sister of mine must have been finding me laughable this whole time.”
“...!”
Alicia turned stiff like a statue. She slowly turned around and found Lunia Arden – age 28 – standing behind her.
“U, unni… W, what I was trying to say is…”
“Forget it. You are attending the Tournament, correct? Let me personally help you train for that.”
She then turned around with a flick before walking off into the distance. Alicia chased after her while screaming, “Unni~. That’s not what I meantttt!” but Lunia kept walking off.
“...”
Meanwhile, Estelle’s shoulders were still shivering from the shocking comment about her age.
“Umm…”
With her head turned away from him, Estelle fidgeted with her fingers, which was very rare for her, and carefully raised a question.
“A, are you perhaps not fond of… older women?”
“Uhh… Not really? I put more importance on appearance than actual age.”
He himself was an old man over 40 years of age if he were to combine all the years he had lived, so he didn’t really care.
“More importantly, can you contain yourself a bit more? You always try to get so close that it’s troubling.”
“What’s wrong with being affectionate with the person you like!? And you don’t hate it either, do you?”
She truly was a confident lady.
“There’s no way a guy would hate a beautiful lady like me hugging them, is there?”
That was the objective truth. In fact, Korin didn’t necessarily hate it either.
“You are right but… I’m just asking you to hold yourself back a little in front of others. Do you know what people are saying behind our backs these days?”
“I saw the newspaper, so yes.”
“Wait, it’s in the newspaper?”
Korin yelled out in shock. He thought it was just a rumor going around the campus, and definitely didn’t expect it to hit the newspaper!
“Well, I won’t be able to get married anymore, so you have to take responsibility, Korin-dongsaeng~”
Estelle giggled with a brilliant smile. Added on top of her flushed cheeks, she looked stunningly beautiful.
It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t appealing.
“Phew… Anyway, what brought you here?”
“To tell you about Miru.”
“...What is it?”
“Technically she’s the victim on the outside, so she will probably spend the Autumn Festival in the palace, even after Ku Shee’s trial is over.”
“A break from the Academy, I suppose.”
“Well… It seemed that there were a lot of things going through her head, so it’s best to leave her be for now. On the other hand, everything is sailing smoothly with Mound so far.”
Korin was relieved to hear that Miruam wasn’t taking any strange actions after the last incident at Mound. If she were to take her stance and politically make it difficult for them, the paperwork for Mound would have taken much longer to process.
“How are the beastmen fairing and how are they being treated? You know as well as I do that not all of them are innocent.”
Even though Ku Shee had taken all the blame, there were undoubtedly some criminals among the beastmen.
“Nothing so far, but there are people against the idea of letting them stay under your wing. They seem to be finding it a little threatening that you’re getting even more manpower.”
He immediately understood what she meant.
It was all about “safety” and “politics”.
Korin already had more than 400 mages from the Tower of Mages. On top of that, now Mound was serving Korin as the Fairy King, Finvarra, which made them appear as his subordinates.
That was definitely dangerous.
It was inevitable that there would be people dissatisfied with an individual possessing that much power.
Besides, their worries weren’t unwarranted either, because Korin Lork now had a history of going against the royal court’s orders and committing treason.
“That’s annoying. It was obviously coming, but still.”
“Fufu… You don’t have to worry about it.”
Her slender fingers grabbed onto his chin, and she gave him a smile with her seductive emerald-colored eyes.
“I, the Saintess, am on your side.”
It was such an attractive and absorbing smile. Estelle found it adorable how Korin tried to conceal his embarrassment by clearing his throat.
“I am the Order, and the Order is always on your side. You can make use of that however much you want.”
“Let’s call it… cooperation.”
“Hehe, so don’t frown every time I cause a little bit of trouble! If you can’t let me off for something so small, I will be sad.”
“Kuhum! But still… please hold yourself back in front of others.”
“I have to do it to show them who you belong to! I can tell it’s going to be rough just from seeing that girl called Alicia.”
“Mhmm…”
“Seems like you already knew that she likes you.”
“Haa… I am receiving a lot of undeserved love.”
Estelle slightly changed the topic. Her lips were still forming a smile, but her eyes were a little bit stiffer this time.
“By the way, that girl just then is attending the Tournament, right?”
“Ah. Yeah… I asked her if she could get me the Winner’s prize.”
“I see. I can get that for you.”
“Pardon?”
“I will attend the Tournament.”
“You don’t have to… And are you even eligible?”
In Korin’s eyes, Estelle had to be a semi-Unique Grade at the very least. Although there was a stronger image of her being a supporter than a member of the party, that by no means meant that she was weak.
Her ability to tweak reality with prayers was immensely powerful and had few limitations.
“I have never officially, or unofficially, taken any evaluations yet. It was just because of a political reason that I entered the Academy, after all.”
She had taken a break after spending 2 years at the Academy, and the Academy didn’t force any of their activities on her during that period of time either, because they knew how busy she was.
Her campus life was supposed to end with just an honorific certificate that only society viewed as important.
“I will give it to you. You don’t need that Alicia girl.”
Seeing her say that with a rather serious look on her face, Korin revealed his doubt.
“...You’re being too immature just because she mentioned your age.”
“That’s not it…!”
Estelle banged him on his chest with a yell. Her punches were so soft that it was hard to imagine her overpowering others by force but…
This is bad.
As someone who knew first-hand how overpowered Estelle’s ability was, Korin couldn’t help but feel troubled.
“How are you even going to move back and forth?”
“I will ask Professor Clara for a favor! We will have to make a lot of markers ahead of time!”
She was saying that she would teleport here just for the matches. Normally, it would be hard for even Lady Josephine to teleport so often but…
I guess it would be possible. If Estelle were to bless her with her prayers, then it would definitely be possible.
It seemed that the Tournament would turn out to be more challenging than expected.
“Haa…”
Unfortunately, he had too many things at hand to worry about that.
He had to get himself prepared as soon as possible if he wanted to acquire more than five golden ribbons during the 5 days of the Harvest Festival, which would happen a month from now.
“Let’s do it. I have to do it. Let’s go…!”
He had to do it.
To at least show that he was trying to reap what he sowed.