Chapter 238
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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Chapter 238: Reason (2)
***
A smile bloomed on Blanca’s face at the boy’s words. She rushed over in one stride and pulled him into an embrace.
“Gael, weren’t you bored lying in bed all day?”
“Not at all. I was busy watching the other kids train outside.”
The boy replied with a bashful smile. In contrast to his innocent smile, the boy’s complexion was ashen, like someone who might die at any moment.
“But who is that man?”
“Oh, I forgot. They say his name is Damien Haksen. Mom told me before, right? He’s the winner of the Helian Tournament.”
The boy’s eyes widened like lanterns. He was so surprised that he even covered his mouth with both hands.
“Damien Haksen! I never thought I’d get to see that famous man in person!”
The boy reached for the bed with his hand to stand up. However, his frail arms couldn’t lift his body properly.
Instead, they went limp and buckled. The boy couldn’t even perform the simple act of standing up.
“Gael, don’t push yourself. I’m sure Sir Damien will understand your situation.”
“Oh, I understand.”
In the end, Gael had no choice but to give up on standing up at Blanca’s words.
“Sir Damien, would it be alright if you accepted my son’s greetings?”
The atmosphere was such that he couldn’t dare refuse. Damien approached the boy.
“Wow… you’re really as handsome as they say!”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“You won the Helian Tournament even though you’re not from the Empire? How are you so strong?”
Gael grabbed Damien and started pouring out questions. Then, Blanca slipped in quietly.
“Gael, I’m sorry. Sir Damien has something to do. He has to leave soon.”
“Oh, then I guess I can’t help it. If it’s okay, would you please tell me more stories later?”
Gael said shyly. Damien said he understood and then left the ward.
“What happened?”
As soon as they were outside, Damien asked Blanca. She replied with a bitter smile.
“It’s as you see. Gael Rondo is my son. Rondo is my husband’s surname.”
“Where is your husband?”
“He died fighting the dark mage of Pandemonium.”
Blanca said it as if it were nothing.
“That child…”
“He’s got a disease. It’s an incurable disease called ‘Ten Days Thirst’.”
Blanca continued calmly.
“They say that your whole body’s muscles wither away, and in the end, you even die of dehydration. The cause of the disease and the cure are both unknown.”
Divine power had the ability to heal wounds. Depending on how it was used, it could even remove deadly poisons.
However, diseases were an exception.
Divine power could only heal wounds caused by external factors, not diseases.
“The reason he was assigned to Class 13 is because he can’t attend classes properly. He’s basically just enrolled in Class 13 for the sake of it.”
“I don’t understand. If he has a disease like that, shouldn’t he be going to the White Tower or the Alchemy sect instead of the Academy?”
It was hard to find a place as knowledgeable about diseases as those two places.
“I’ve seen them. But there’s no one at the White Tower or the Alchemy sect who can properly treat Ten Days Thirst.”
Blanca’s lips twisted. Helplessness seeped from the corners of her mouth.
“I heard a rumor that someone who can cure this disease has been found. They’re closer than I thought.”
“Who is that?”
“That’s…”
At that moment, footsteps echoed from the corridor. A woman dressed in white approached the two of them.
“Oh my goodness?”
The woman looked at the two of them and exclaimed in surprise. Then she quickened her pace and approached Blanca.
“Blanca! You should have told me if you were coming!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It was an unplanned…”
“I’m not angry. I’m just a little disappointed, that’s all.”
The woman had long, black hair. Her hair was sleek and shiny as if she had taken great care of it.
“Who is this?”
“This is Damien Haksen. You know him, right?”
“Ah! He’s the winner of the Helian Tournament! Oh my! Oh my!”
The woman flustered and grabbed Damien’s hand.
“I’m Miriam! I’m the academy’s health teacher! I used to be an alchemist.”
“Sir Damien. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s our first time meeting, but you feel so familiar! Is it because you’re a celebrity? But you don’t seem like one? All I hear about is you everywhere!”
Despite her calm appearance, the woman was quite talkative.
“Ahem.”
Just then, Blanca cleared her throat and intervened between the two.
“Sir Damien, you asked me earlier, right? Why I’m keeping my son at the academy? Miriam is the answer. She is the only alchemist in the empire who can cure Ten Days Thirst.”
Damien looked at the woman with a curious expression.
He had expected that someone who had been invited to be the academy’s health teacher would not be an ordinary person.
But he never thought she would be an alchemist who could cure an incurable disease that even the White Tower and the Alchemy sect had given up on.
“Blanca, if you say that, Sir Damien will misunderstand. I’m still under research, so I can’t cure it completely yet. All I can do is slow down the progression of the disease.”
Even that was a great thing. It meant that she was getting closer to the answer to curing the incurable disease.
“I’m at the academy with my son because of Miriam. If it weren’t for her, my son would have already lost his life.”
“No-no! I’m the one who’s getting a lot of help from you. I can’t tell you how much easier it is to research because the White Blood Knights gets me a lot of rare medicinal herbs.”
“What are you talking about? I’m the one who’s more grateful.”
“No, I’m more…”
The two of them praised each other without giving an inch. Then they laughed, each with an embarrassed expression.
***
After exchanging greetings, Damien parted ways with the two.
‘I never thought she would approach me because of her son.’
Even though he was only listed in name, Damien was considered his son’s mentor. That’s why Blanca couldn’t just leave him alone.
‘She said the White Blood Knights get her rare medicinal herbs… Was that why they were going out so often?’
It seemed very suspicious, but it turned out that all of his actions had a reason.
Above all, the existence of his son had dispelled Damien’s suspicions.
‘Now I need to focus on what I have to do.’
Damien’s steps led him to the outdoor training ground where swordsmanship classes for other grades were taking place.
Damien hid his presence. It would not be a good idea to be caught snooping on another class’s lesson.
‘Delong Muller, I see.’
The person leading the class was Delong Muller.
Unlike Class 13, which was practicing Imperial Swordsmanship, the other classes were conducting lessons tailored to each student’s swordsmanship.
‘I guess that’s more efficient.’
The sword styles that each family practiced were all different. There was no need to force them to learn the same swordsmanship.
‘Hmm… I heard that the Duke of Borja and the Marquis of Fortina use that sword style.’
Damien watched Gelliver and Emilio’s swordsmanship from the tree.
He observed everything in detail, including their swordsmanship, posture, habits, and the techniques they mainly used.
After finishing his analysis, Damien headed back to Class 13.
And when he arrived at Class 13, Damien couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Haaah!”
“Just a little more! Just a little more!”
All the students in Class 13 were running like they were going to die.
It was completely different from yesterday when they were forced to run away from the club. They were much more active and enthusiastic.
“What’s gotten into you all? Did you eat something wrong?”
Damien was dumbfounded when he walked in. And then he shouted at Class 13.
“Stop! That’s enough, so you can rest now.”
As soon as Damien’s permission was given, the students of Class 13 all stopped running and collapsed to the floor. They were all panting like crazy.
“Penelope.”
Damien called Penelope. Penelope, who had been lying on the floor resting, immediately ran over.
“Hey, hey, did you hit the kids?”
“No.”
“Then did you threaten them or something? Why are they all so obedient?”
“I don’t know either.”
Damien’s grew more puzzled at her unexpected answer.
“Did you all eat something wrong together?”
The strange behavior of Class 13 didn’t end there. The same thing happened during afternoon training.
“Connect the three, four, five, one, and two forms of the Imperial Swordsmanship in order. Swing it 500 times from start to finish.”
After giving the instructions, Damien touched the club.
That’s because he was sure that Class 13 would rebel like yesterday. But Damien’s expectations were completely off.
“Haaah! Hot!”
“Haaah!”
All the students of Class 13 followed the instructions without a word. They all took their places and started practicing the Imperial Swordsmanship as Damien had instructed.
“Why are you really acting like this?”
Damien looked at the students with a strange expression, surprised by their completely different behavior from yesterday. Then, Penelope carefully said to Damien,
“Could it be for the same reason as Oliver and I?”
“The same reason?”
“You took our side yesterday, didn’t you?”
Damien frowned at her words.
“No way.”
“I’m sure. No one has ever taken our side before.”
Penelope said with strong conviction. Oliver, who was standing next to her nodded in confirmation.
“So that’s it…”
Damien looked at Class 13 with a strange expression. After a while, he spoke.
“Nonsense.”
“…Huh?”
“If they were going to change because of something like that, they would have changed already.”
Damien didn’t believe Penelope’s words at all. It was because he knew what kind of kids Class 13 were.
“Alright, pick up your swords.”
“Huh?”
“You said you had an opponent you wanted to beat? If you want to beat them, you can’t train like the other kids.”
Damien said as he took out the club from the subspace.
“I’m going to duel each of you one on one. Don’t expect me to stop even if you beg for mercy.”
At Damien’s chilling warning, the two students’ faces hardened.
But it was only for a moment, and then they responded to Damien.
“Please do your best!”
***
Since then, Damien has poured all his time into training Class 13.
He trained the students during the day and tracked down Sla’s traces at night. Five days have passed in this way.
It was the day of the examination.
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
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