341. Childhood Ep – Constable

“Haha. You look full of complaints. What’s wrong? Is Brother Eric not treating you well?”

“…Just sit down, okay?”

Reb was making a face that clearly showed he was annoyed. Lean, with a sneaky smile, sat down on the sofa.

“What about Leah?”

“I don’t know. She said she was going outside and hasn’t come back yet. But seriously, if you change the topic, I won’t let that slide.”

“Got it. Let’s get to the point. You have to go to the Aisel Kingdom and participate in the war.”

Silence. Reb blinked in confusion.

“…Me?”

“Yeah. Whether you persuade Count Hermann Forte or threaten him, just make sure he stays in the battlefield for as long as possible. You know he wants to end the war and go back quickly.”

“I know. But why?”

“Because Astroth needs to lower his guard.”

Lean said, his eyes sparkling.

“While you keep Count Forte occupied on the battlefield, I’m going to lure Marquis Benard Tatian out of Oberg. Actually, we have already arranged to meet.”

“What?! Are you crazy?”

Reb shouted in excitement.

“What will you do if you call him out? You don’t know, but Marquis Tatian is not an ordinary person…”

“I know too. Marquis Tatian has been watching Astroth, right? That’s why we’re calling him out. With the Swordmaster gone, Astroth will be completely free.”

“But if that happens…”

“If that happens what?”

Lean smiled mischievously as he asked. Reb, while anticipating he might say something wrong, couldn’t hide his worry.

“What if Astroth descends? Catching him would be impossible.”

He shuddered slightly as he recalled.

The descended Duke Astroth. How colossal and blasphemous that ‘beast’ was.

He leaped over Toritum, one of the most formidable fortresses on the continent, in a single bound. The fear he radiated even made the brave Lera tremble and unable to compose herself. To capture him would be as impossible as slicing the night sky with a sword and turning it into day.

Thus, Reb thought he had to catch Astroth before his descent. By surprise or whatever means.

“I knew you would think that.”

But Lean confidently replied with a grin.

“Don’t worry. Astroth will never descend. He can only descend if he gets his hands on me and my sister. I’ve seen the ending more than twenty times, and Astroth only descended when I and my sister were caught.”

“…Are you sure?”

“Almost.”

Lean shrugged his shoulders irresponsibly.

“If not, in the next round, we’ll have to proceed without calling Marquis Tatian like Minseo originally planned. But I think this adventure is worth it.”

Why? Reb, tired of asking, leaned back in his chair, urging with his eyes for an answer. Lean pointed his finger at a spot in the left lower air.

“Because of this.”

There lay [23/24], the round limit glowing in red. He was pointing at what was fixed in Reb’s field of vision.

“We’ve wasted too much of our rounds. What I mean is… for example, you can’t unleash your aura, right? Neither can I. Because we couldn’t do it in the ‘last round’ either.”

“…That’s right. The monster hunting achievement ended without being renewed. So I need to catch monsters this time, don’t I? So that Ray in the next round can use his aura.”

“Exactly. But I’m completely wrong about using my aura. Even if I catch monsters now… the achievement won’t be renewed. I’m not a ‘player,’ and only Minseo has the privilege to view or renew achievements.”

“Aha. So you’re saying you won’t be able to help catch Astroth?”

“That’s true, but… listen. This is just an example, and the problem is more than that.”

As Lean spoke, he fumbled around his neck and pulled out a ‘pretty necklace.’

It was still broken.

“It’s not fixed. I broke it when I was young, and do you know what that means? No, the broken part is my childhood memory, and it signifies that we’re short one life line.”

This necklace had once blocked an attack from the descended Astroth. Reb, fidgeting with his ‘fixed pretty necklace,’ realized.

“Ah… everything is one short. The aura is, the necklace is, and…”

“Even the ‘King’ achievement is short. That could also become short by two. Depending on what you do in this round.”

Reb understood. He grasped what Lean was worried about. We ended up being caught by the round constraints.

Minseo’s plan was like this.

In the previous 22nd round, they utilized it to fix the necklace and for this 23rd round, they were using it to secure the ‘King’ achievement, and in the final 24th round, they would select a scenario of an engagement involving the strongest Lena and Leo to attempt to catch Astroth.

Of course, since Astroth was so strong, they planned to get help from the other two scenarios as well.

In other words, three Leos and three Lenas would gather in Oberg and challenge Astroth. But Lean pointed out something Minseo didn’t suspect.

[ Achievement: King 4/6 ]

[ Achievement: Monster Hunting – ‘0’, weak mana clings to the body. ]

It wasn’t guaranteed that all the Leos could even use their aura, and they were short on necklaces. While they would earn something with the ‘King’ achievement, Lean couldn’t have it. If they didn’t achieve it in this round, Reb couldn’t use it either.

Lean thought that this ‘raising Lena’ was a test given to them, and catching Astroth would be the last practical evaluation, meaning everything was tightly tangled.

They were going in with 60 points of preparedness to achieve a perfect score. This was the last chance. With life also being limited, the moment they lost and died, Minseo would die too.

So, he racked his brain.

“So we have to trick Astroth. Since we can’t prepare anything more, we need to weaken the enemy.”

Lean continued.

“As I said before, Astroth cannot descend without me and Reriana. And if he can’t descend, he’s just like other gods. If he’s caught by the Holy Woman, he would disappear without a trace.”

“Of course the Holy Woman wouldn’t intend to catch Astroth… but Astroth would think so.” ─ Lean added.

“Then Reb, what do you think Astroth would do if both Count Forte and Marquis Tatian clear out of Oberg?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“He wouldn’t miss such a good opportunity. There’s no one watching, and the guy who was wandering around with a sword isn’t here? How do you think he’d feel?”

“Um… he’d be excited? Thrilled… oh!”

He would likely seek to gain more divine power.

Reb’s mind flashed to King Caroman de Tatalia’s room.

The king’s heart, densely inscribed with red characters. Astroth was holed up in that room, gathering his strength.

It was similar to when Malpas once drew a shrine, yet the scale was on an entirely different level. Malpas had drawn a gigantic altar targeting the capital Barnau.

Perhaps he had been forced to hide away due to the pressure from Marquis Benard Tatian.

Not because he was afraid of the Marquis, but because of the Cardinal and the Cross Church behind him, and the Holy Woman. Moreover, Astroth was patient.

He had waited for thousands of years; a few decades were nothing for him. Astroth could wait until the day he kept his promise with Leonel.

“That’s right. Astroth would probably want to expand what he has drawn in his room. In the absence of Count Forte and Marquis Tatian. He’s raised a war using the Princess and even touched Toton Tatian… but he wouldn’t expect the Marquis to kill his own son.”

“He killed him?”

“Yeah. We’ve done that too.”

“Right. He’s dead. Why didn’t you stop it? You could have completely blocked it.”

It was just fall, so it was quite recent. Lean avoided Reb’s gaze.

“…Just because. Anyway, Astroth will focus on expanding the altar. It’s a form of investment, meaning half of the divine power he has accumulated so far would get divided. At that time, we…”

“Because of Ksenia?”

“…No.”

“Not at all.”

He tried to change the subject, but it was all too obvious to Reb. He could see the restlessness in Lean for not meeting Ksenia.

Lean must have known that Ksenia and Toton Tatian had gone on a blind date.

“What are you planning? Even if you killed the competitor, do you have a way to meet Ksenia?”

“I’ll handle it myself.”

“Of course, that would be the case. Then what about Gilbert Forte? Did he also go on a blind date with Ksenia… oh? He’s still alive.”

“What do you take me for? I didn’t kill Gilbert. I didn’t stop him from kissing the Princess, but I did prevent him from being sent to the Monastery Church. Because he shouldn’t cross paths with Leah… right now, he’s probably heading to the Aisel Kingdom with Aunt Iina de Isadora.”

It seemed Gilbert had been made to follow his mother. If it was exile, then it was exile, but how did he persuade Prince Vivian? He must have been furious, kissing the Princess in front of him.

When asked, Lean chuckled.

“You really don’t care who I am, do you? I’m the prince of this country. Vivian is my cousin. I’ve already warned that Princess Chloe would behave strangely.”

“Prince? What? The beggar who was dripping with scum is here. You’ve made it. Congratulations.”

“…Do you want to go to jail like Ray? If you want, I could put you in a room that’s nicely furnished with a lot of comfort…”

“Uh? Right! Comfort!”

“Yeah?”

“Astroth and comfort! Don’t you remember? When Astroth descended!”

A torrent of black moss had covered the fortress tinted with the red moonlight.

The blanket of the death row inmate that presented ‘fear.’ The comfort had engulfed the world as if welcoming the descended beast. It had definitely showered black spores generously toward the descended creature…

“Ah!”

Lean must have realized something, as he jumped up and ran. Reb chased after him, and Lean rushed into his room, rummaging through his desk until he pulled out a stack of documents.

“I found it. Caroman de Tatalia, no, Astroth was planning to expand the prison. He meant that there was an overflow of prisoners, so an expansion was needed…”

“What about that?”

“Marquis Benard Tatian ignored him. It seems Count Forte wasn’t pleased either. But why? If it’s inadequate, wouldn’t it be reasonable to expand?”

“Why, indeed? I think I know.”

– “What position did the Hopfenheim Baron have before his family was destroyed?”

– “He was the ‘Lictor’ of Oberg. For generations. I was a bastard, so I became a servant in the royal palace.”

The answer from the beggar with a broken arm, Javard Hopfenheim. Astroth had annihilated the Hopfenheim family using Javard, the Princess’s dedicated servant, as an excuse and left the position of Lictor, responsible for Oberg’s security, vacant.

That happened a whole 16 years ago. Not long after Caroman de Tatalia ascended to the throne. Oberg’s order quickly descended into chaos, and thugs began to swarm every alley.

It was because the king was running the state like a mess that he opposed the expansion. Reb said with disgust.

“That’s why there were so many thugs and scoundrels in Oberg. This is what Astroth intended. The ‘fear’ god probably wanted the streets of Oberg in chaos. Throw the thugs into prison to gain ‘comfort’ too.”

He felt he grasped why Astroth had densely drawn characters in his room.

He was accumulating divine power through the chaotic Oberg and the black moss he had sown in ancient times. He had likely started a suitable {war} to avoid the overly powerful Asran Kingdom for that reason.

“What a bastard.”

Lean summarized in one sentence. However, he soon sighed.

“Then Astroth will… be much stronger than I expected. Oriax had been feasting for about eleven years, thanks to Brother Eric. Since Astroth ascended 17 years ago, I’d assumed he was only slightly stronger than Oriax… We need to clean the prison immediately.”

Lean exited the room with heavy steps. Reb followed him, trying to comfort him, but they could never know.

Boris Ainar. That clueless barbarian had discovered a ‘brass goblet’ at the ruins of Badobona a whopping 60 years ago.