CH 210

EPISODE 210 – WOLF OF THE WIND (4)

Scarlet burst into laughter without realizing it.

Someone said that people could only do nothing but laugh when faced with such a ridiculous situation, and it seemed like those words were true.

‘What the hell.’

She knew that he was strong.

Scarlet herself wasn’t confident that she could beat Jude.

So she thought that he would show an overwhelming performance in this competition. Even if a dozen underage knights, who still had some room to grow, would fight Jude, they wouldn’t be able to defeat him.

However.

‘Ha, seriously?’

She won as she had expected, but the way he did it was beyond her imagination.

What the hell? Is he a human? Why do people fly when he throws them?

She could understand if he was a huge giant over 2 meters tall, but Jude wasn’t.

He was tall, but was just tall enough to look good, and he had a good build, but didn’t look that threatening.

Therefore, it was more shocking.

It was really astounding.

‘Pink Bomb, you’re dating someone like that?’

Wouldn’t your whole body be crushed if he hugged you tightly?

Scarlet was mixed among the spectators, and she turned to Cordelia in the VIP seats. She then had a bitter smile as she looked on with a warm gaze.

‘She really likes him.’

She likes him so much that she covers her face with both hands.

Scarlet giggled before she looked back at the stadium. Immense cheers continued to be heard.

‘It’s history… no, it’s a scene from a legend.’

The birth of a hero who only appeared in myths and legends, a person who could defeat more than 50 knights alone.

It was natural for people to be enthusiastic. Even Scarlet herself who knew the true colors of Jude was feeling thrilled.

‘Well… Lucas also performed well.’

He also defeated many knights just like Jude.

Scarlet smiled a little differently than before, and she looked back at the stadium. She gazed at Lucas and saw Jude approaching him.

And it was at that time.

Jude raised his hands high and responded to the cheers of the audience before he made a hand gesture.

It was signal to be quiet for a moment, and the enthusiastic crowd gradually quieted down.

Thus, it became silent.

Jude took a deep breath as he looked toward Cordelia and spoke calmly in a voice loud enough to reach the entire colosseum.

“I will dedicate today’s victory to my beloved fiancée, Cordelia.”

“Uooooooh!”

In that instant, cheers erupted from the audience, and people’s attention shifted from Jude to Cordelia. And Cordelia, who was hiding from the world as she covered her face, became even more restless at everyone’s gazes.

“Miss, it’s okay.”

“Please wave your hand a bit.”

Maja and Dahlia spoke from the side, and Cordelia stood up with a tearful face and waved her hand to the crowd.

‘Why am I the one who’s always being embarrassed?’

She was really, really embarrassed and was in tears, but everyone who saw her completely thought differently.

To them, it seemed like she was moved to tears at Jude’s dedication of his victory to her.

And amidst such countless misunderstandings, Cordelia made eye contact with Jude and was really about to cry.

‘I can’t tell what he’s thinking!’

Their distance was too far.

All she knew was that he was smiling evilly, but she couldn’t figure out what he was thinking inside.

‘What? What is it? What the hell are you going to make me do? Why are you smiling so much?’

She obviously couldn’t read his eyes because he was too far away.

But unlike Cordelia, Jude knew very well what she was thinking.

‘She’s thinking about me making a wish later.’

Cordelia fidgeting is the cutest in the world though.

Does she know how cute she looks when her imagination is running wild?

With a dark smile on his face, Jude once again responded to the spectator’s cheers before he returned to the waiting room together with the knights from the north.

And twenty minutes later.

Jude had changed into casual clothes much faster than the other knights because he was wearing light armor in the first place. He then sat next to Cordelia and she stared hard at him.

Because she was scared on what Jude might say, but her want of looking at his eyes to know his thoughts was much stronger.

But people said that it was possible to attack anything if one knew the pattern to it.

So after Jude figured out Cordelia’s thoughts, he stared at her instead of avoiding her gaze.

‘I just don’t have to think about it.’

Because their eye conversation wasn’t really telepathy.

There was nothing for her to read unless he thought about something.

And if he applied those words, it also became possible to attack her.

Just like this.

“Eueueu…”

Cordelia made eye contact with Jude and flinched. She then began to hit Jude after seeing his thoughts.

Her slaps naturally didn’t hurt Jude.

What Jude had thought of was simple.

Cordelia is cute.

As he filled his head with that thought only, it was natural for Cordelia, who had met his gaze, to be that embarrassed.

‘How sweet, how sweet.’

Those who looked at Jude and Cordelia’s quarrel with the eyes of a third party simply smiled with happy faces because they did not know on what was actually happening.

[Anyway, Cordelia.]

[Why! Why! Why!]

[What about my brother and Adelia?]

At Jude’s question, Cordelia took a deep breath and pointed to the stadium.

[Waiting room. It’s about to start soon.]

[Hmm, I’m looking forward to it.]

How strong have my brother become?

Surely, he must have become strong enough to be one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

“It’s starting.”

As the trumpets loudly sounded, the knights from the north, center, and south finally entered the stadium.

***

Thirty people for each group.

It was the same number of people as the previous game, but the feeling of pressure was different when they stood on the field.

After all, they were real grown-up knights unlike the prospective knights earlier who were still physically growing because they were minors.

There was also the difference in experience.

There was a gap that could not be filled between those who had experienced real battles and those who had not.

The central and southern knights.

At the forefront of each group were Richard Galleon, the Lion’s Sword, and Calix Ophand, the Sea Serpent Slayer, who were considered as candidates for the Ten Great Swordmasters position.

The Lion’s Sword was covered in golden armor and was so huge that he seemed to be over 2 meters tall at first glance. And Calix, the eldest son of the Ophand family who inherited the blood of beasts, gave off a deadly energy that just standing there silenced everyone around him.

Richard and Calix stared at each other.

Because both sides had a feeling that the other would determine the victory or defeat of their group, especially now that Aios Lain, who was known to be the fastest swordsman among the Jackdaws, was absent.

Obviously, there was one more candidate for the Ten Great Swordmasters position.

Gaël Bayer.

Jude Bayer’s older brother who showed an amazing performance.

But he was seriously injured in the battle on the royal capital. Moreover, he only managed to hold back a high-ranking demonic human, and did not make any particular noticeable contribution.

‘And.’

Richard and Calix have both met Gaël.

In Richard’s case, there was a time when they had crossed swords at the Banquet of Swords.

That was why both knew.

‘He’s too restrained.’

One could say that he was ordinary.

Gaël’s sword was a model student’s sword.

Faithful to the basics without anything unique to it.

It was not that he didn’t have the talent, but he just didn’t make a strong impression. He was a bit strange, but he was just a knight who was plainly strong.

So Richard and Calix didn’t care much about Gaël.

The two just stared at each other.

But at some point.

Richard’s experience, which had been refined by numerous practical battles, made him turn his eyes away.

Calix’s instincts began to sense an immense danger.

Why?

The two people reflexively turned their heads and flinched unknowingly. They looked at the northern knights with a perplexed look.

***

Adelia defined the Gaël who rose from the battle on the royal capital into one word.

‘Beast.’

Beast, monster, wolf.

His personality didn’t change.

Gaël was still a good, honest, and sincere man.

But something definitely changed.

To be exact, something woke up in him.

The Essence of the Silver Moon that was created by Druid Fran had explosively strengthened Gaël’s physical abilities. His internal energy had also more than doubled.

But it wasn’t those things that really mattered.

‘The Sword of Wind.’

Count Bayer’s sword.

As Count Bayer had shown in his fight against First Sword, the essence of the Sword of Wind was the gale.

A wild, unrestrained, and raging wind.

Gaël took a deep breath. He slowly exhaled and looked straight ahead.

His blue hair shined in the daylight.

His left arm that was replaced with a prosthetic arm could freely move, but he could not feel any sensations on it.

But he was smiling.

Because he knew now.

What his father had meant.

What the gale, the essence of the Sword of Wind, was.

Gaël no longer restrained himself. He completely liberated the wildness that woke up in the process of his resurrection.

And at that moment, everyone in the stadium looked at Gaël. They couldn’t help it.

But it was only the beginning.

Gaël took a step forward.

He looked straight ahead without hiding his fierce smile.

“Adelia.”

Gaël whispered low and drew his sword. He showed the knights of the center and south, as well as the spectators at the colosseum, the true Sword of Wind, his Sword of Gale.

***

The fighting competition ended successfully.

The result was a one-sided victory for the north in both the minor and adult divisions. But despite the defeat of the central group, the entire royal capital was engulfed in a grand and festive atmosphere again.

“It’s a huge success.”

Prince Dion, the person who planned and pushed for the fighting competition, smiled brightly for the first time in a long while, and upon seeing her younger brother’s smile, Princess Daphne was also happy as she filled her glass with wine.

“The birth of a new great swordmaster.”

They couldn’t fill all the vacancies in the Ten Great Swordmasters, but it was enough for them.

The residents of the royal capital were exhilarated by the birth of a new great swordmaster, and they no longer worried about the vacancy left by First Sword.

Sword Wolf.

The wolf of the sword.

The sword of the dominating gale that defeated the beast of the south, Calix Ophand, and the Lion’s Sword, Richard Galleon from the center.

“For the Bayer family.”

Prince Dion raised his glass together with Princess Daphne, and was sincerely grateful.

After all, they were able to reverse the atmosphere of the royal capital because of the Bayer family.

The Sword of Wind replaced the Sword of Light.

The Sword Wolf – Gaël, who now held the Sword of Gale, became one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

And even Jude Bayer, the Swordless Swordsman, showed an overwhelming performance.

“Their family are really great swordsmen.”

It was clear to them that Jude would also become one of the Ten Great Swordmasters in the future.

In one family, three great swordmasters were born in the same time period.

It was a tremendous feat that couldn’t be found anywhere.

At Princess Daphne’s words of admiration, Prince Dion nodded and cheerfully smiled, saying as he touched his chin.

“But my dear sister.”

“Yes, my dear little brother.”

“Is Jude a real swordsman?”

They had never seen him use a sword.

Even in the fighting competition, he only pretended to pull it out.

“I don’t know, but I think he’s a swordsman. After all, we’ve never seen the Iron Man use a sword too, right?”

“A swordless swordsman.”

How could a swordsman be a swordsman if they didn’t use a sword?

But that didn’t matter to them.

What mattered was the fact that new heroes were born from this fighting competition.

“Two people of destiny.”

Just as Princess Darianne and Prince Dion each had their own unique abilities, Princess Daphne also inherited a special ability from the Founder King.

A heavenly voice.

Whispers from above that she could hear from time to time.

That being had said.

The two people of destiny would determine the fate of Princess Daphne and Prince Dion, as well as the entire Sälen Kingdom.

“Then, when are those two getting married?”

“They haven’t held an engagement ceremony yet, right?”

It was an arranged marriage from the time they were still in their mothers’ wombs, and now, they were both 17 years old.

“Hmm, should we do it for them then?”

“What? The engagement ceremony?”

“Yes, with the blessing of the royal family.”

The two had already done a lot of favors to the royal family to the extent that they could be called royalists, but the royal family needed to be more certain that the two were on their side.

‘No, I just want to be nice to them more.’

Because they really owed the two a huge favor.

“Hmm… I think that’s a good idea? Shall we go ahead with it?”

“Let’s go ahead with it.”

The siblings laughed without worries after a long time and bumped their glasses again as they continued to discuss their plan in more detail.

But unfortunately, the siblings’ wishes wouldn’t come true.

***

“Hey, are we really going like this?”

“Because our feet will keep getting tied down. I even participated in the competition, but we really have to go now.”

The night after the competition.

Jude suggested to Cordelia that they take a honeymoon trip to the south, or to be exact, to escape at night.

“If we continue to stay at the royal capital, we will not be able to leave for the south even after a month.”

“Hmm… I agree.”

There were so many people who wanted to meet Jude and Cordelia. Furthermore, it was not easy to refuse them since they were all high-ranking nobles.

‘It’s a pity that I couldn’t stop by the Medb’s auction house in the end… but it’s not a big deal.’

The Medb’s auction house was hit hard in the chaos that occurred when the royal capital was attacked.

Because of that, the auction house wouldn’t be holding an auction for a while, so they couldn’t help it even if they thought that it was a pity.

“What about our fief then?”

“My father and brother will take care of it.”

The fief that they were supposed to receive had already been confirmed.

Although they had yet to receive the official documents, it was not a big problem since they wouldn’t be able to do anything to it yet.

‘Because we’re not in a situation where we can just sit back and manage our fief.’

Black Dragon Malekith’s attack on the south was drawing near.

Due to the butterfly effect, the event could go a bit faster or slower than the original storyline, but in any case, they couldn’t just wait for it to happen.

“Ultimate One.”

It would be perfect for Jude who was called the Swordless Swordsman.

It was a weapon that he must obtain before their final battle against Malekith.

“I see, then it’s fine. We can’t help it.”

Cordelia nodded her head, and Jude immediately placed the prepared letter on the bed.

The letter wrote that the two were going on a romantic trip to the south, so they shouldn’t look for the two.

“But Jude.”

“Yes, Cordelia.”

“That…”

“That?”

“Wi…”

“Wi?”

Jude grinned and tilted his head as if he didn’t know what she was talking about, and Cordelia bit her lips and pulled on Jude’s arm as she said.

“The wish! What’s your wish!”

“Hmm… What kind of wish should I make? I’m worried because I have so many wishes to make.”

“M-many?”

“Yes, there are so many, so I’m really worried on what to wish for. So it will take some time. Hmm, perhaps at least a few days.”

Jude smiled and said before he packed their luggage. And Cordelia’s imagination began to run wild in the meantime.

“Anyway, Madam, I think we should get going.”

When Jude said that, he showed her his back as if telling her to ride on his back, but Cordelia suddenly clapped and said in a quiet voice.

“Yes, yes, if Jude’s wish is a piggyback ride… should I allow it then?”

Because her ban on skinship had yet to be lifted.

At Cordelia’s words, Jude grinned and said.

“What the… are you saying that’s my wish?”

“No, well… it is.”

When Cordelia smirked and said, Jude snorted before nodding his head.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yes. If you want me to wish to carry you on my back instead of saying my real wish, I can’t help it then, right?”

Cordelia flinched at Jude’s words.

Her conscience was stabbed because she felt that she was somehow cheating him, but the ‘real wish’ that Jude had said was also bothering her.

What is it? What kind of wish is it?

Cordelia began to imagine again, and her face blushed as always before she finally made up her mind.

“Okay. Just for this time, I’ll ride on your back.”

“Should that be my wish?”

“No. Just tell me your real one later.”

Cordelia averted her eyes for no reason, and Jude began to laugh in a sly way.

“Why are you doing that?”

“Well, I just thought that my princess is really an angel.”

That was it. Instead of teasing her more, Jude showed her his back, and Cordelia pouted her lips before she carried the bag on her back and got on Jude’s back.

“Are you not saying those words today?”

Her usual lines of merging with Jude.

“Uh, not for now.”

Cordelia responded with a slightly sulky voice as she hugged Jude’s neck, and Jude quietly smiled as he arranged Cordelia’s position.

To stop the attack of Black Dragon Malekith.

The two began their trip to the south.