CH 276

EPISODE 276 – INTERLUDE (1)

To strengthen the already completed Sword Origin.

The Sword Origin that had become one with Jude.

At the question of how she would do it, Cassius brightly answered.

“It’s like an enchantment. First, I’ll add the power of the Ancient Black Dragon to Sword Origin while also changing its composition. And if I add the horns, claws, and scales, your body when Sword Origin is activated will be sharper and stronger than it is now.”

‘Then how will you do that?’

Because Sword Origin was one with Jude himself.

It was absurd to completely smelt Jude’s own body.

“Huh? Nope. I will indeed be completely smelting your body.”

Cassius cheerfully said as if she had read Jude’s thoughts from his expression.

“But instead of melting you into molten iron and hammering you, I will magically smelt you. Though, to be honest, the smelting part requires the skills of a wizard rather than a blacksmith.”

“Uuuh… I see.”

He still didn’t have a good feeling about it, but what mattered was that he could be strengthened.

[My successor is quite simple-minded.]

“I’m intentionally thinking simple because…”

I don’t like infusing Malekith’s body parts on my body!

Just thinking about it already stresses me out so it’s better to keep it simple.

”How long will it take?”

“How long? Hmm… Around 3 months?”

“Really?”

“As I’ve said before, it requires magical smelting. It’s like transforming your body into an Ancient Dragon, so it’s going to take a long time.”

“Uuuuh… okay. Then during those 3 months, will it be difficult for me to move and do activities?”

“Oh, of course not. If it makes you feel better, just think that you’ll be living in a half-vegetative state for the next 3 months.”

Cassius cheerfully smiled again as she patted Jude on the back and continued.

“Oh, and I forgot, you’ll need a Dragon Factor to properly handle it just like all weapons that uses a dragon’s body and soul. But it shouldn’t be a problem since you already have it, I guess.”

Although the condition of ‘having Dragon Factor’ was added to Sword Origin like that of Ascalon, Jude took it in stride.

Jude himself didn’t know if it would become impossible to use in the future since he had already met the conditions for use, but it was an excessive luxury to trouble about if it could be passed on to another person.

‘Well, that’s not my problem in the first place.’

Or rather, it’s fine because I’m the only one who can use it.

It was the moment Jude had this slightly selfish thought.

[My successor, are you going to make me usable by only you? Can I no longer be used by anyone other than you?]

“Eh? Uh… do you perhaps not like it?”

[No, it’s fine as long as you take responsibility. Don’t be a two-timer.]

“Umm… yes. I understand.”

Though he was planning to use two or three swords in case of a real emergency.

‘This doesn’t sound right though.’

Because it seemed like her choice of words made more room for misunderstandings.

But Jude quickly cleared his thoughts.

As he had said over and over again, what mattered now was the reinforcement of Sword Origin itself.

“Then I will be in your care.”

“Yes, I will smelt you properly.”

Cassius’ response seemed much livelier than in the game, perhaps because she was offered a lot of Ancient Dragon materials, or because the witch was with her.

‘Moving on, Cassius is a demon. So who is the enemy Cassius is trying to defeat? Generally speaking, it should be an angel, but the witch said that Cassius is good… It’s strange to use the word ‘good’ for a demon, but if there really is a demon like that, is her enemy an overlord of hell?’

That thought made a lot of sense.

It also explained the fact why the demon Cassius was in the human world and not in hell.

‘Because Hell is the realm of the overlords. So she’s building up her strength by hiding in a place that is far from the overlords’ reach. Everything makes sense if that’s the case.’

Then, would it be possible to build a stronger relationship with her in the future since the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

Jude continued to think at that time. On the other hand…

“By the way, Witch-nim.”

“Tell me, baby bunny.”

Cordelia was startled when the witch breathed in her ear and spoke. She suppressed her desire to escape and asked carefully.

“Uh… after you parted with us in the forest, what happened then?”

Now that I think of it, that was almost a year ago.

At Cordelia’s question, the witch gently laughed and whispered again.

“I was hiding and recovering my strength. Thanks to you, I can now even touch this baby bunny.”

Cordelia flinched again when the witch stroked her belly, but she continued what she wanted to say.

“Witch-nim. Then from now on…”

“I need to get my power back. I also need to make a new body. I still have a long way to go.”

The witch was stroking Cordelia who was sitting on her lap, but she still did not have a body.

Her soul was very powerful so it could maintain a shape, but it was essential for her to have a body if she wanted to continue maintaining her intelligence and exert greater power.

‘Uuuuh… anyway, it should be fine, right?’

She couldn’t ask the witch for help at this moment, but the witch in the game was originally hostile to the overlords of hell.

So one could say that they now had a powerful ally.

‘Maybe we can get her help to prevent the Great Summons.’

Or rather, the witch would definitely help because of her personality.

“Helena!”

It was then.

Cassius who had been talking to Jude for a long time looked their way and loudly shouted.

“Pack your luggage! We’ll be out for a while! We’re going to this little kid’s house and eat and live there for several months until my work is done!”

Having said that, Cassius chuckled like Landius and patted Jude on the back.

And upon seeing that, the witch had an elegant smile.

“She’s really a good person. Don’t you think so?”

“Uh, yes. I think so too. But Witch-nim. About Master Cassius…”

“She’s one of the demons I’ve made a contract with. She’s the only demon I have left.”

It seemed like a long story judging by the look of her eyes, but the witch was not the kind of person who talked about their own life story.

She just closed her lips as Cordelia felt sad for her, and slowly stood up from her seat afterwards.

“Now then, let’s go too, baby bunny. That idiot Cassius often forgets things like me not having any luggage.”

In any case, it was clear that she and Cassius were best friends, so Cordelia didn’t think about it anymore. In the first place, thinking was Jude’s job.

‘That’s right, that’s right. Jude does the thinking and I do the action. The right person for the right job, right?’

Cordelia shrugged and looked around Cassius’ workshop again before smiling.

‘Anyway, it’s a power-up.’

It’s good that we’ll be getting new equipment.

It was good that Jude’s Sword Origin would be strengthened and that Cassius would get a lot of materials to work with it, and it was also good that Cordelia would be getting new equipment and be taught by the witch.

[W-wait a minute. Don’t tell me you’re going to forget about me more… That won’t happen, right?]

When Melissa questioned them in a low voice as Moonlight could possibly be replaced soon, Jude and Cordelia left Cassius’ workshop.

***

Three days had passed since Jude and Cordelia returned.

Large ships were busily coming and going from Argon Port, carrying a huge amount of valuables inside.

“This will aid in repairing the damage for the 7 southern families… no, the 6 southern families.”

There were dozens of Adult Dragon corpses.

“Then what about us?”

“How many castles would you like to build?”

Cordelia giggled at Jude’s playful reply.

Because Jude and Cordelia had really become super rich. There was no teenager richer than the two throughout the entire Sälen Kingdom.

‘Still… most of it will be used to make equipment.’

They could certainly fund magic towers from all over the world with their money, but equipment was more important than money.

There were a lot of equipment that even money couldn’t buy.

‘I’ll only give funds to my future father-in-law.’

Because there were so many stuff he was given to eat these days, just like in the past.

Like eels, oysters, and wild ginseng.

Though for some reason, it seemed like the efficacy of the stuff he was given recently was biased towards a certain direction.

T/N: In short, Daddy Chase wants to have grandchildren already.

“Ahem, ahem.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing. Don’t mind me.”

Jude shrugged and kissed the happy Cordelia’s forehead a few times before looking at the pier again.

The crew were unloading their cargo under the supervision of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, and most of it were the body parts of Ancient Dragon Malekith.

“Are we going back now?”

“Yes, let’s go home.”

To the mansion of their fief that they had never been to before.

Jude and Cordelia’s own house.

‘Well, it’s not just the two of us going there.’

Not only Cassius and the witch, as Landius, Lena, and Kamael would also be going with them.

‘There are also the dwarves.’

Their fathers also said that they would be there for a while to help them with territorial management, so it seemed like it would be noisy for at least two months.

“By the way, Jude.”

“Yes, Cordelia.”

“About unnie and brother-in-law. It would be four months from now, right?”

The marriage of the two.

And the next one that their fathers implied.

Cordelia leaned on Jude’s chest instead of saying more, and Jude tightly hugged her.

And the next morning.

Near the north gate of Argon Port.

“Bye-bye! Let me know if you need any help! I’ll run even if it’s at the ends of the world! I’ll train hard too, okay?”

So that they could stand shoulder to shoulder next time.

So that she could help them and not just receive help.

When Kajsa saw them off and shouted as she waved her hand, Cordelia who was riding in a huge carriage also shouted as she stuck her head out the window.

“Bye, Kajsa! See you later!”

“Okay! That’s a must! Let’s have fun with that young girl Scarlet again!”

“Yes! Okay!”

Their conversation was too childish for late teenager girls, and it sounded like a boys’ conversation, but Kajsa and Cordelia couldn’t help it.

“Cordelia! Don’t forget it! Just do what you see in the book! Just what you see, okay?”

“Yes! Thank you, Kajsa!”

For a moment, Jude recalled the book in the paper bag and tried hard to have known nothing, but Cordelia was unaware of that fact as she continued to wave her hand.

And in the other carriages.

Helena, the Witch of the West Forest, sat opposite Cassius who was already sleeping. She lit a small pipe and took a puff of it. Her soul that acted like a living person then looked out the window.

Around a year.

Unlike what she told Cordelia, she didn’t just hide and recover her power.

Because she had a sense of discomfort.

A small doubt.

She felt that something was strange.

And finally, the witch was able to understand some of the discomfort she felt over the past months.

Landius and Lena.

The witch herself.

Sebastian Leguin and many others in the south.

A faint smile spread across the witch’s face. After exhaling the pipe smoke, she looked at the sky and the earth alternately before smiling again.

“As I thought.”

It’s different.

It has changed.

When I first met Jude and Cordelia almost a year ago.

I couldn’t understand it at that time.

How Cordelia knew about the seal and me, but didn’t know about my power.

Likewise, Jude whose knowledge was imbalanced.

But I know now. I can guess why.

‘But should I check a bit more?’

Is my own hypothesis correct?

And if the answer is yes, how could such a thing happen?

The witch puffed out a long white smoke again and turned her gaze. With her mysterious green eyes, she looked at the St. Crute Monastery far away, at the land where the young goddess Atalia slept.

***

Time went by quickly.

Winter passed and spring thawed the cold, and the earth also changed its clothes along with the changing seasons.

The Sälen Kingdom also faced many changes.

In the south, a new order was established with Marquis Ophand at the center, and in the north, trade began between the inhabitants of the wild lands and the northerners.

Henry II worked energetically. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had changed since the rebellion of the Lord Traitor, and the central region became much stronger than before under his leadership, leaving no room for the empire to penetrate.

And a month passed again.

When three months had passed since the decisive battle against Malekith.

A letter arrived to the eighteen year old Jude and Cordelia.

It was a wedding invitation for Gaël and Adelia’s marriage.