Chapter 229
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Northern Walls (5)༻
Alicia was the daughter of a concubine. Throughout her early childhood in the Arden Household, she became fully aware of her position.
The child of a concubine. The outcome of adultery. An illegitimate child.
Because of the background she was raised in… her view on marriage was slightly distorted compared to others.
‘Hmm… Hua Ran-ssi…’
Looking at those suspicious actions just then… Alicia assumed that Hua Ran wasn’t even trying to hide it.
Whatever the case, it seemed evident that Hua Ran was pregnant with Korin’s child.
“That’s a bit unexpected…”
Alicia did think that someone would assault Korin before others. Marie, Hua Ran, Estelle, Miruam, Lunia-unni and Chairman Erin.
She did have the anticipation that someone would be unable to wait out this stalemate and make the first move. However, she wasn’t expecting that to be Hua Ran.
“I thought it would be Marie-sunbae if anyone.”
Although she was on the docile side compared to all the other women around Korin, Alicia knew how indecent she actually was on the inside. In fact, Marie might even be the most un-innocent person in the group.
“Well… Anyway.”
Korin-ssi had done it with Hua Ran.
Alicia found it slightly odd that it was in this specific time and occasion out of every possible situation, but looking at it from another perspective, maybe it meant that he couldn’t hold himself any longer.
“Then~ I won’t hold myself back either.”
Since Hua Ran had done it already, there was no reason for her to hold herself anymore. The first step was always the hardest one to take, and Alicia thought that it was now her turn.
It was quite a strange perspective to hold, but Alicia found nothing wrong with it and sincerely wanted to carry out her plans.
She had no plans of keeping Korin all to herself in the first place. One of her small (?) dreams was to have as big of a family as possible.
First mother, second mother, third mother… Hmm, as long as Korin’s energy could last, Alicia was okay with around ten.
What she wanted was a big family where a hundred sons and daughters could run around a large mansion, laughing and joking, with love for each other. Due to growing up while receiving only the love of her rather-indifferent older sister, Alicia had a yearning for a big family full of love.
‘I have to tell unni to assault him as quickly as possible when she comes.’
It truly was a distorted and strange perception of a family that she had.
“Korin-ssi~”
Sliding open the window of the 3rd floor, what Alicia came across was---
“……Woof.”
“……”
Doggo carrying Korin, as well as Marie giving the orders.
“…”
As well as Hua Ran, who despite her lacking sexual education, was here to basically do the same thing.
****
Ever since she saw Hua Ran going around looking for items for babies, Marie couldn’t calm herself down.
Hua Ran was pregnant with Korin’s baby.
It was a great shock to her, but Marie soon began organizing her thoughts.
‘Then… Is Korin going to marry Hua Ran?’
That would be a horrifying future, which she didn’t even want to see in her dreams.
However, it was a very possible thing to happen. It reminded her of the illusion she saw at the lands of druids beyond the eastern borders; the beautiful wedding dress Hua Ran was wearing while holding Korin’s hand.
The glimpse into that terrible possibility was lingering in her mind.
What had she done after witnessing that, she asked herself.
She waited years upon years, before coming to a conclusion.
That she couldn’t accept any form of defeat.
She acknowledged the filthy and lowly side that was in her. No matter what she had do – whether it included tricks, conspiracies, her money or authority… no matter how dirty it might seem on the outside…
She could never accept defeat as an outcome.
‘Thankfully, Korin still doesn’t know about it.’
Based on the conversation she heard, it seemed that Korin was still unaware of the fact that Hua Ran had bore his child. Which meant…
‘It’s not an official relationship yet.’
What determined who the winner was?
The winner would be the one standing next to Korin.
In other words, it was marriage.
The one marrying him would be the winner.
In that sense, Hua Ran was at a huge advantage, because having his baby meant Korin had a sense of responsibility for it.
And Korin Lork was not someone who would turn away from his own child.
Put in other words, the baby was the only disadvantage she had. With that in mind, her thoughts reached a dangerous conclusion.
“What if I also…”
“Woof?”
Doggo, who heard her mutter from her shadows, voiced out his confusion.
- I might be 2 years old and young, but I still don’t think this is what a normal person would think of.
“Ehem!”
Ignoring Doggo’s opinion, Marie immediately headed to the room Korin was staying in.
A baby, right?
If she had his baby as well, they would be on the same page again.
What did she have to do to have a baby? There was only one answer to that question.
Doing the deed.
It was time… to discard the patience and unleash her bottled-up desires.
“Woof, woof woof…”
- For real? Are you serious? Mom?
“Doggo. Quiet down and just open the door.”
She squeezed her shadow in through the locked door and summoned Doggo on the other side. As soon as Doggo opened the door, Marie walked in large strides towards Korin.
- Kuu…
Korin was in a deep sleep due to the built-up fatigue. Marie used sleeping magic on him just in case.
Officially acknowledged as a Unique Grade mage, she was one of the strongest mages of the continent.
Although most of her strength was in destructive spells, there was still no doubt that Marie herself was a talented mage. Even though Korin’s magic resistance wasn’t bad by any means, he didn’t stand much chance against a great mage with arguably the top mana pool from the entire continent.
After putting him in a deep sleep, Marie decided to move him in case there would be distractions.
She had already commanded the mages to create a secret base so she would head there and---
- Click!
- Creak!
That was when she found two girls who each entered from the window and the door.
“…”
“…”
“…”
****
The room stayed dead silent – so silent that even the sound of a crawling ant could be heard.
The three girls confronted each other in awkwardness.
Why? What is the goal? For what purpose?
None of them had such obvious questions in mind.
They all had an instinctive understanding that their love rivals were all here to fulfill the same goal.
The timer was on for the bomb but not one of them was ready to open their mouth. Surprisingly, it was Alicia who soon broke the silence.
“Uhh… Should we take turns?”
That was immediately when Hua Ran punched the air.
- Kwang!
Her fist of demonic aura smashed through the air. Everything that came across the force of her punch disintegrated into molecules. It took less than 0.3 seconds for a small corner of the 3rd floor of the mansion to literally disappear.
“Doggo!”
Marie reacted in a flash. While retaliating with ice arrows, she ordered Doggo to carry her.
- Kwaang!
Doggo picked her up and kicked off the ground to break through the roof. Korin and Marie were safely being carried in his hands.
“…You!”
Hua Ran glared at Marie who was now floating in the air. She aimed for the moment of her descent and readied herself to similarly kick off the ground, but Marie had no plans of coming back down.
“Over there!”
Marie waved her hand once and froze the air to make it into a momentary scaffold.
“Woof!”
Doggo landed on the frozen panels in the air and raced across majestically, as if running through the night sky.
“Huu… Even Hua Ran shouldn’t be able to fly---”
- Kwaang!
That was when someone flew into the air with the sound of the building crumbling down.
With her sheer strength, Hua Ran kicked off the floor, all the way until she was right before Marie and Doggo!
“Hand him over.”
Hua Ran reached out but was met by dozens of Blood Spears.
Kagagang!
The frozen spears of blood shattered immediately upon contact with Hua Ran’s body. Attacks like those meant nothing before her Unbreakable Vajra Body.
<Demonic Aura – Consecutive Strikes>
- Pababang!
A hole was made in the sky. The pressure of her punches penetrated through the clouds and pushed everything else away, including the ice scaffolds in the air that Doggo was using to run.
“Woof!”
“Doggo!”
Doggo began falling from the sky. He subconsciously prioritized Marie in the midst and ended up dropping Korin from his arms.
“N, no!”
Marie reached her arms out but Korin, forced into a deep sleep, continued his helpless descent to the ground. Hua Ran was also falling due to gravity, but her speed was nowhere near the speed she had when jumping up.
“I got him!”
That was when Alicia shouted out loud while jumping from roof to roof.
“Hoit…!”
After catching Korin in the air, Alicia rolled on the rooftop but did not let go of him until the end.
“Yes!”
Alicia stood up and gazed down at the sleeping Korin with a smile.
“Fuu~. Looks like he’s not hurt.”
She scanned the surroundings in a split fraction of a second. It would take 4.5 seconds for Hua Ran to land back down, and more for Marie and Doggo.
“Trying to take him all for yourself is bad.”
Alicia tried to run away carrying Korin until the two of them were to settle back down. However, a high-pressure punch full of demonic aura stopped her in her tracks.
“Uhk…!”
Immediately before being struck by it, Alicia unsheathed her sword with her remaining hand and turned to the sky.
Eyes of Boundary.
Her eyes were able to read through the gaps of the invisible and shapeless pressure of aura.
“It is certainly a scary amount but…!”
She responded with a horizontal slash of the Demon-slaying sword. A small crack appeared on the shapeless aura, and the pressure was dissolved from a single slash of the sword.
“It’s nothing if it doesn’t land.”
As expected of the new Sword Fiend, her mastery over the sword had reached an artistic level.
<Frost Combination Spell>
“Aht?”
The air suddenly started to freeze as Alicia turned to the roof and found her feet had been frozen down.
“Uhmm…”
And coincidentally, that was right when the following punch had been thrown out by Hua Ran!
- Kwaaang!
****
Erin was on the way back to the mansion after working on runes until late at night.
“Fuu~ I should be able to take a rest starting tomorrow.”
She had to finish the work by today because of the visitors that would be visiting soon. Due to that, ever since her arrival at the border city, Erin had constantly been busy engraving runes on the wall.
But finally, it was over.
‘Korin said he would be taking a break until the Valkyries arrived so… maybe we should spend some time together.’
Excuses were easy to come up with. Even just labeling it a spear practice session would allow the two of them to spend quality time together.
“Kyaak… W, what am I saying… How immature of me…”
Erin felt her cheeks flush just from imagining the time she would be spending alone with Korin. Her heart had been quivering ever since she was made aware of her feelings, and she had no idea how she was able to muster up the courage to kiss him that one night.
“Kuhum… Those young girls are always with him so… I should be able to keep him for myself for a bit…”
That sounded like a great idea. Erin was forming plans about how she should ask him out tomorrow morning to invite him out to practice spearmanship together when…
- Kwang!
- Kwagang!
- Kwaaaang!
“Huh?”
Roars suddenly began to replace the silence of the border city. Thinking that this might be an early invasion, Erin looked around in surprise.
“W, what is going on…!”
She quickly jumped up the building next to up and climbed onto the roof, and heard a scream.
“Kyaaahk…!”
Someone fell on the rooftop next to her and rolled across, whom Erin was able to immediately recognize. It was Alicia.
“Alicia! What is happening?”
“Uhk… Chairman?”
Alicia dropped the person she was carrying in her arms after seeing her.
“K, Korin?”
The person that rolled out of her arms was none other than her favorite disciple.
‘Oh no… How could he look so adorable even in his sleep?’
She was thinking something silly when three more people landed on the rooftop they were in.
“…Hand him over.”
“Doggo…”
“Woof!”
The girls walked forward while giving off a threatening demeanor. Erin gulped and tried to make sense of what was happening.
“U, uhm guys? I don’t know what’s happening but let’s first calm down…”
In the process, she instinctively pulled Korin tightly into her arms.
‘There is a strong curse of sleep cast on him.’
Erin attempted to remove the curse using runes.
“Hmm…”
The curse was so strong that Korin was still having trouble waking up, but that was when a sword pointed at Erin’s neck. It was Alicia.
“Hmm… It would be troubling if you woke him up. I would like Korin-ssi to remain still today.”
“A, Alicia?”
“…Let him go, Erin.”
“Chairman… Please step back.”
The three girls approached her with a frightening look in their eyes. Erin just couldn’t comprehend what was going on.
“C, calm down everyone. What’s gotten into you?”
‘I, is this normal for kids these days?’
Had she fallen behind in the current trends by this much? With such lamenting thoughts in mind, Erin started to dash under the night sky.
****
One of the warriors of the great gods who would open the ‘gates’ and command the legion of the gods in the time of apocalypse, Valkyrie Hilde, was observing the border city of Bifrost under the commands of her oldest sister, Brunhild.
These past few days, Bifrost was clearly suspicious.
They began repairing the walls that had been neglected for a long time, and hundreds of knights and mages were dispatched to deal with the nearby demonic beasts.
Thanks to that, Brunhild and the group were able to escape south from the ‘shadow demons’ without much retaliation from other demons but…
‘Strange. Has there always been such a strong army residing in Bifrost?’
It wasn’t good for them.
Brunhild, the Valkyries and the affiliated Northern Kingdom tribes had to cross the walls to survive.
Of course, their plan was to start off with a conversation to request a way in, but it was highly unlikely for the El Rath Kingdom, with their long history of strife against the Northern Kingdom tribes, to accept them.
That was why they needed force.
If she and her sisters were strong… they could break through the border city. Their plan was to show off their might and make it easier to negotiate peacefully but…
“What the hell is that…”
The skies were roaring; the air was being frozen, and clouds were being dispersed.
Throughout her life, Hilde had encountered countless powerhouses and witnessed their battles.
During the final war, she had fought against the Frost and Flame Giants, and even witnessed the final moments of great gods.
What she saw back then… was truly fitting to be called the war of gods.
Surprisingly, a heaven-defying battle that didn’t fall short of that war in the past was being unraveled before her eyes.
“Uhh… Uhm…”
Can we… show off anything?
……………
…………
………
……
…
The long night finally came to an end. Korin raised his body, which for some reason, ached all around.
“Ahh, kuaahk…!”
What? What was happening? Why was he so tired?
Seeing how it was already morning, it meant that he had taken a long sleep and yet his body was aching all around as if he had bashed up the whole night.
Fighting against the fatigue, he somehow washed himself and came down to the shared cafeteria and found the same usual faces.
“Yo~. You are all here already.”
““…………””
The girls welcomed him with silence. It was strange how all of them had bandages and band-aids all over their body.
“Uhh… what is it? Did something happen last night? Why are you all…”
“Nothing happened.”
“Nothing.”
“…Nothing.”
The three of them returned the same words at once. Before he could dig into that suspicious response, he found Erin off in the distance.
“Master?”
“…”
Erin, who always had a benevolent and generous smile on her face, gave him a fatigued smile with an exhausted gaze.
“Nothing happened…”
W, what was wrong with everyone? It was scary!
This was how Park Sihu was like for a long time in the last iteration when he found out about Miruam’s pregnancy.
‘What is it? I… haven’t done anything wrong recently, have I?!’
It would be harsh to blame him for not being able to predict the misunderstanding that was made from storks.