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273. Engagement Ep – Pyrite

In the backyard of a tidy little home, a small vegetable garden was arranged neatly. A boy wielding a small wooden sword proclaimed boldly, “I will become a brave knight, just like Dad, and bring honor to my name!”

“Indeed, Lei. You will surely become one. But first, you must defeat your mother, right?”

Ibera Ainar smiled gently. The five-year-old boy grinned brightly as he gripped the wooden sword. Just then, a man appeared at the gate. Covered in blood and with his cheekbone stark white from a sword strike, the knight looked at Ibera, then collapsed in relief.

“Mom!”

Ray Dexter abruptly sat up, startled from his dreams. The sound of Dehorman’s snoring echoed in the tent where they were resting.

Ray lingered a moment, releasing white breath into the cold air.

It was… a dream. No, rather, he had just been dreaming. Gathering his thoughts, he splashed some water on his face to wake up.

It was still early dawn. As he peeled back the blanket, the cold winter chill seeped into his body. Looking around, he found that his father was missing from the spot where he should have been sleeping, just neatly folded blankets lay in his place.

Ray carefully rearranged the blanket so as not to wake Dehorman and stepped outside. When he opened the flap of the tent, snow that had piled up overnight cascaded down. Right in front of the door, a large lump was soundly asleep.

It was his summoned black horse, Kus.

Perhaps due to the cold, it wasn’t lying down properly. It was in the same position as before, kneeling in the typical resting posture of horses.

Ray brushed off the dew from Kus’ mane and took a roundabout look at the carriage. They hadn’t made it to the next village and had to sleep outside, so he checked whether their companion, Leira, was sleeping soundly to ensure no thieves had bothered them through the night.

As expected, Leira was sleeping well.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes. You got up early.”

At that moment, Noel returned, his back laden with firewood.

He poured the wood from his shoulder and began rummaging through his belongings for flint and tinder. Ray discreetly retrieved the flint from beneath the coachman’s seat; technically, it was a container containing tinder.

Keeping tinder prepared in winter and stored properly to avoid dew was important.

Tinder was used to catch the sparks created by striking flint against brushwood, and the drier and finer it was, the better. In the north, it was common to use a powder made by roasting the leaves of a plant called ‘Daner’ for tinder.

Ray chose a log and took some tinder from it. He took brushwood and flint from the pouch his father had given him and struck them together, creating sparks.

The fire caught quickly. Ray blew into the tinder, nurturing the embers, and gradually added dried leaves and firewood to the aromatic smoke.

“Definitely, your father’s is much better than mine.”

Ray said as he returned the pouch. Noel Dexter shrugged, “It’s because it’s provided to the kingdom’s knights.”

There are many types of flint.

Generally, brushwood used for striking flint was made from some form of dark iron everywhere (which contains a lot of carbon), but flint varied greatly by region.

Translucent white chert is the most common, and when people didn’t have any proper flint, they used this (though chert is very hard and difficult to spark). Typically, sharp and easily chipped stone known as ‘Flint’ was utilized as flint.

The flint Ray had was Flint.

In contrast, the flint Noel Dexter had was pyrite, naturally occurring in a hexagonal shape and often mistaken for gold because of its appearance, thus referred to as ‘fool’s gold.’ Nonetheless, it was deemed the best for fire-starting.

Compared to Flint, it sparked three to four times better, making it easier to ignite a fire even in the bitter cold. Thanks to that, the bonfire blazed brightly. Ray Dexter set a tin pot over the flames to start boiling water.

Crackle, crackle…

Listening to the sounds of the firewood burning, the father and son sat in silence for a moment. Just as Ray thought they might need more fuel, Noel Dexter quietly spoke.

“We’re not far from Barnau now.”

“Yes. We’re almost there.”

“To be honest, I didn’t really believe it. Prophecy, huh… But as you say, war is coming soon.”

“…”

“You know, I’ve killed a lot of people. It didn’t matter if they were innocent. If they were a nuisance, they were killed, and at some point, having different thoughts than mine became a reason to execute them.”

Before dawn, the light of the bonfire cast a bitter glow on Noel’s face.

“I regret that time. If I had just declared neutrality and kept my family safe, your mother wouldn’t have left like that. No matter how many times I regret it, I can’t turn back time.”

“…”

“However, I must correct it now. The Evil God, right? Malhas. I want to ask specifically. Once we arrive at the capital, what should I do, and how can I help? Is it enough to let Lord Arpen Albasete know this as I mentioned before?”

“…Maybe.”

“Nothing more needed? Your father knows many people in the capital, apart from the First Knight Order. Plenty of nobles from whom we can ask for help.”

“Will they believe me?”

“Who knows? It seems unlikely they would… But we must try our best. Don’t worry. I have no intention of shouting that the king isn’t human. Let’s go assess the situation and prepare.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

“Thanking me is…”

Noel Dexter smiled brightly.

He ruffled his son’s hair, which had grown larger than his own, then changed the subject. If Noel had some light-hearted topic to bring up…

“How is Leira these days?”

There was no one else but Leira Ainar.

She had quite notably brightened the mood, and Ray proudly exclaimed, “She learns fast. I bet she could take out any squire on her own. She may not know this, but I think she could go toe-to-toe with a knight.”

Thanks to her mana body.

Leira’s movements had improved beyond comparison with before. She was filling the gaps in her strength, which had been her weakness, and without realizing it, she was correcting her habit of relying on counters while conceding step by step.

One cannot become an exceptional swordsman if one gives up on strength contests.

‘That Deros guy, who wouldn’t leave Katrina’s side, can now be handled by Leira alone. In just a few months, she’ll utterly wipe the floor with him. But… she’s still slow.’

If Noel’s brother, Elson, had heard this, he would have been furious. In just two months, if Leira could surpass a squire and face off against a knight, it could easily be called a genius level of growth.

Yet Ray deemed this slow because they were up against very strong foes.

Time was also tight.

[ Raising Lena ] had a limitation of three years at most.

It wasn’t explicitly stated.

But the playtime had to be around that length; the childhood friend scenario had Leira becoming a priest almost immediately, while the engagement scenario had Leira, at the correct age, eager to become a knight and marry Ray.

Regarding the timing of the ending, the beggar siblings scenario was peculiarly distinct; although not so different.

As long as Reriana wasn’t married off or confined in a room without taking any occupation, there was no way to delay the ending. Roughly two years.

Furthermore, now that they were on their way to subdue Malpas, there was essentially no time left for her growth.

Malpas was the God of War, the herald of victory. He waged war to power up through his divine energy and grew massively stronger with each victory.

The last round showed that.

He had been unable to utter a word against Astroth, who had devoured the beggar siblings; the sight of the fiend unfurling its five steel wings was spectacular. Due to the victory of the Austin Kingdom, he had garnered substantial divine energy from the war.

They had to capture him before the war hit full swing. Preferably before the knights’ order departed.

Thus, the opportunities for Leira to shine here were minimal. To avoid a bad ending, I too had to keep my skills under wraps.

That’s why I had asked my father.

This body is a Swordmaster, and to move Lord Arpen Albasete and the knights without taking the lead myself, I required his former prominence as a member of the First Knights Order. That caliber was enough to deal with Malpas.

Of course, priests and holy knights were needed too, so I had to look into that… Ray’s expression darkened.

I had thought of a method. It merely reminded me of the past knot I had to untie, which soured my mood further.

“It’s boiling. Time to start cooking. You should rest a bit, Dad.”

“Alright. You’re a better cook than I expected. Then… Should I wake this friend Dehorman? Haha. Seems like the father and daughter both sleep soundly, unaware of the world.”

Noel Dexter headed toward the tent.

Moments later, the tent swayed as the giant Dehorman awoke from sleep and stumbled out, tripping over the sleeping Kus at the entrance. Startled, Kus kicked the carriage, and the secured latch loosened, causing it to roll away on its own as Leira yelled,

“Earthquake!!”

She burst out in pajamas, creating a commotion from the dawn itself at the edge of the winter forest, just five days away from Barnau.

*

“Wow!! Is this the capital?”

As Leira’s exclamation lingered, they entered Barnau. In a city bustling with thousands of citizens, it seemed Leira was the only one awed, as the group walked past the city gate nonchalantly.

As they entered with the carriage, there was a checkpoint, which was quickly cleared by Noel showing his retired knight’s insignia. The soldiers were unable to hide their astonishment upon seeing the engraved name.

Noel Dexter.

In Barnau, even the cries of a crying child ceased upon the return of the notoriously infamous knight. The soldiers, being citizens of Barnau, had expressions twisted with blame, fear, and reverence mixed.

Noel paid no mind to their expressions while hurrying along. He navigated the unchanged streets of Barnau this way and that until he arrived at his family home.

However, quite a few things had changed, namely,

The inscriptions carved like tombstones on the streets and the curses etched densely on the walls of the Dexter family estate. Noel had become the symbol of blame for the citizens of Barnau who lost their families due to the infamous Nine-Day War.

The war had been equally brutal for everyone. With no one else to blame, they must have needed to vent their frustrations somehow, but few knew that he too lost his beloved wife to that very war.

“Hahaha! It seems you’ve lived a long life, haven’t you? With all this blame, you might gain immortality!”

Just then, Dehorman clapped Noel on the shoulder and burst into laughter. At that hearty laughter, Noel Dexter shrugged and approached the wooden door of his childhood home, still as sturdy as ever, adorned with five metal hinges.

He knocked on the door with the metal ring.

– Knock, knock, knock.

As he did, a man opened the door. Noel was expecting his older brother, Elson, but the man who greeted him was a stranger he had never met.

“Who are you…”

Yuan stared at him blankly.
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