CH 12

The kingdom of Sälen, which is competing for supremacy with the Argon Empire for the position of the continent’s most powerful nation, had three major territories.

The north, connected with the unexplored northern region, a land of severe cold and barbarism.

In the center, the Cilates Plains which was called the continent’s breadbasket.

And the southern region extending its influence on both the inland and foreign seas.

The north was like another kingdom that existed within the Sälen Kingdom, which protected the kingdom and the entire continent from the barbarians beyond the unexplored regions for many years.

For generation, the king of Sälen entrusted the rule and defense of the north to the northern margrave, and the northern margrave cooperated with the famous northern families in protecting the borders.

Just as the Margrave seat was transferred from Count Bayer to Count Hræsvelgr, the northern families also differed in number or organization from generation to generation, with twelve families occupying seats at the present time.

‘Count Bayer, the famous family of warriors.’

Now that the power of the house had declined, he has handed over the Margrave position to Count Hræsvelgr, but it was still a family whose power cannot be ignored.

In particular, the Count Bayer family head was one of the Sälen teenage swordmasters and a member of the Northern Sagang (사강, Four Rivers), a strong man with the title ‘Sword General’.

‘Count Chase, the famous family of wizards.’

Count Chase had the smallest manor out of the 12 northern families.

T/N: Manor as in landed estate, not a mansion.

Red Dawn Tower.

One of the five magic towers in the north.

At that time, Count Chase was one of the three 7-star wizards in the north and served as the Tower Master of the Red Dawn Tower.

’10 other families.’

It was too long to list each one.

In any case, Count Chase, who was practically without land, built a mansion and settled in the frontier city of Bailon. Then, Count Bayer, who had stepped back from the margrave position, returned to his hometown of Bailon. Thus, the present situation of two families residing in one manor was created.

“Haa…haa…haa.”

Jude, who was breathing fast and loudly, ran through the training courtyard.

His entire body was sweaty, and his face was red, but he didn’t stagger or breathe like a person who was about to die.

10 laps around the training field.

Just ten days ago, it was almost a life-threatening challenge, but now it was different.

‘Just, it’s just f*cking hard.’

My mind had gone blank.

I was sweating so much that I felt like I had fallen into the water.

But my breathing was regular.

My limbs were sore, but they didn’t look like they were going to break.

‘Kuhaa…’

Once Jude stopped running, he breathed loudly.

Instead of lying down, he bent his upper body, took his breath, and slowly stabilized his breathing.

‘There’s a result.’

His stamina increased.

A lot of it.

‘Because he was so weak at the beginning.’

But still it was that.

His visible growth was enough to inspire motivation.

‘This one too.’

Jude stabilized his breath to some extent and sat upright, as he closed his eyes and focused on his consciousness.

Mana training method.

In other words, it was to operate the Inner Qi cultivation method.

Legend of Heroes 2’s Inner Qi cultivation method was somewhat different from the Inner Qi cultivation method that usually appears in martial arts.

It was the same in its use of the three Dantian, but there was no need to move or stick to a specific posture during training.

(T/N: Dantian, loosely translated as ‘sea of qi’ or ‘energy center’, are the Qi focus flow centers, important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong and martial arts. It has three categories: the upper, middle, and lower dantian.)

Source: Wikipedia

Should I say that it is close to practically the same if I pick it out?

Jude tried to use the basic F-rank cultivation skill he learned from Victor.

‘Feel it.’

I felt the warm and lively energy that was as big as a bean.

Moreover, it was pure.

It was not an exaggeration to say that the pure energy created by the combination of Yin and Yang energy was the crystallization of purity.

‘But it’s still tough.’

The Gueumjulmaek hasn’t been completely healed yet.

There were still many blocked or cramped places in the big and small meridians, so it was difficult to cultivate properly.

But Jude was not in a hurry.

Just as his stamina was increasing, his Gueumjulmaek was steadily improving. His stamina was the initial proof that his Gueumjulmaek was being treated.

‘I’m looking forward to it.’

When you use the right mugong.

Though it was a little childish, I honestly wanted to try using mugong at least once properly.

You’ll be able to fly halfway using Qinggong or use Neigong to shoot powerful air waves.

T/N: Qinggong and Neigong are common skills in wuxia stories.

In wuxia, Qinggong allows you to circumvent gravity to fly, cover tremendous distances in a single stride, run across surfaces of water, mount trees, and jump over or scale high walls.

Neigong is building up and cultivating the qi/energy and use it to attain skills such as superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability and healing as well as the ability to project energy beams and elemental forces from their bodies.

Source: Wuxia-Skills and abilities

Wouldn’t it be like those superhumans in a hero movie?

‘I mean, it’s amazing.’

Not only mugong (martial arts) but magic too.

And the world itself, where all that is possible.

There are levels, and there are level ups.

There is no status window, but titles exist.

But this is not a game.

This is reality.

Even at this moment, Jude himself is alive and breathing.

‘Yes, that’s the most important thing.’

The fact that I am alive.

The fact that I am trying to live.

It was not a matter of consideration such as the reason for entering the world of Legend of Heroes 2, and the reason for the existence of a real world like that of Legend of Heroes 2.

Therefore, Jude decided to focus on the immediate reality.

“Good job.”

Hearing the voice full of satisfaction, Jude opened his eyes and turned his attention.

Victor Cromwell, the old knight in charge of Jude’s physical training, stood with a smile on his face.

“Your physical strength is increasing every day. If you keep going…by the time the Count returns, you’ll be able to learn the Bayer family’s mugong.

Victor said with joy, as if it were his own business.

In fact, it was only natural. He was the one who had been watching the whole process of Jude growing up from Jude’s birth up to the present moment.

The child who had always suffered and been frustrated by the curse of Gueumjulmaek is now growing up day by day, so why would he not be happy?

‘The tiger cub is a tiger.’

Victor also liked Jude’s attitude.

In terms of Jude’s standard, which are much weaker than the average person, the training itself was conducted faithfully without any tricks.

‘It’s a blessing for the Bayer family.’

It really was.

Because the sincere and faithful Jude had outstanding talents.

It had only been twenty days since he began to treat the Gueumjulmaek with the Sun’s Necklace, but it wasn’t only Jude’s physical strength.

Almost all body functions such as muscle strength, agility, flexibility, etc. have changed beyond recognition.

‘That’s because I leveled up.’

Level 1 became level 11 now, so it was natural that it would be different.

But anyway, whatever it was, what was good was good.

I mean, Victor’s gaze of admiration also felt pleasant.

“Young master is talented. So, you don’t have to be disappointed or frustrated to your late initiation to Mugong. You know what I mean, don’t you?”

“Yes, Sir Victor. I will keep that in mind.”

When Jude answered positively again, Victor smiled with a mixture of joy and sorrow.

It was a fact that Jude was now seventeen, and that he was too late to begin his training.

‘Even so, you look so bright… I didn’t realize it will come so soon… No, have you forgotten the reality in the joy of being able to learn mugong?’

Dark emotions were back in Victor’s deep blue eyes, but the concerned party, Jude, was thinking simply.

‘Having Cheonmujiche is naturally awesome. Age doesn’t matter.’

Cheonmujiche (Heavenly Martial Body).

It’s a cheat talent that makes the main character into a hero.

“Young master, please cheer up. Young master, you’ll definitely be able to do it.”

“Yeah? Ah, yes. I’ll do my best.”

It was the time when Victor and Jude were working together but having different thoughts.

“Young master! Young master Jude!”

At the urgent call, Jude’s and Victor’s eyes turned at the same time.

It was Jude’s exclusive maid, Maja.

However, the atmosphere was different from usual. She was always cold and calm-looking but was now approaching at a pace with a face that reminded me of when I was running.

“Maja?”

Jude, as well as Victor, were surprised.

Maja’s quick steps meant that much.

“What happened?”

At Victor’s question, Maja picked up her breath first before looking at Jude and saying.

“Young master, a letter came from Count Chase.”

“Oh, from Count Chase. Did our cute lady send you a letter?”

Victor asked with an openly sparkling face.

The rumor that the love between Jude and Cordelia had deepened has even reached the Count.

‘Hehe, our young master is good at it too.’

Cordelia Chase was an absolute beauty that everyone had to admit.

Victor’s face, in which he imagined Cordelia shyly writing words of love while thinking of Jude, was filled with a delighted smile.

But it was not.

There can be no such thing that Yellow Storm is thinking about Outboxer009 and worrying about writing words of love.

“It’s not Lady Cordelia.”

It wasn’t Cordelia who sent the letter.

In Maja’s words, Victor’s eyes flickered, while Jude frowned.

At this point, there were only two people from Count Chase that will send a letter to Jude himself.

One was, of course, Cordelia Chase.

And the other one was…

“It’s a letter from Count Chase.”

Arthur Chase.

The present Count Chase.

It was the summons of his (future) father-in-law.

***

“Young master, please don’t be too nervous. He’s Cordelia’s father. And the engagement was decided by Count Bayer and Count Chase together, so your relationship with her is literally approved. So, a slight deviation will be fine.”

Slight deviation.

The daylight runaway where Jude and Cordelia said that they needed to spend some time alone together.

Jude swallowed his saliva unconsciously.

‘I’m nervous.’

Very much.

That’s strange enough.

In fact, it was natural.

How will he not be nervous when the son-in-law is going to see his father-in-law?

Moreover, the daylight runaway incident was enough to make even Maja, who was called the Ice Queen of the Bayer family, talkative.

It was natural to be nervous.

“Huu, huu, huu.”

In a carriage that rattled faster than usual, Jude gathered his breath to stay calm.

I closed my eyes and focused on my thoughts.

‘Arthur Chase. Count Chase.’

Cordelia’s father.

He is one of the Northern Four Rivers and is one of the best battle wizards in the Sälen Kingdom.

In fact, his role in the original scenario wasn’t that big.

In ‘Cordelia’s main scenario’, there were few appearances, and in ‘Jude Bayer’s main scenario’, his presence was also small.

‘Because Jude and Cordelia’s engagement eventually fizzled out.’

In Cordelia’s main scenario, the two had become estranged because of Jude’s struggle with Gueumjulmaek.

‘Because the two rarely met.’

Although the two started in the same city, but when you followed their main scenarios, the areas where they were active were in opposite directions.

To be precise, both were active in the north, but when one was in the east, the other was in the west.

‘In Cordelia’s story, it became out of hand.’

There was nothing else that came to mind in other respects.

‘Well…why did he call for me? Is it because of the daytime runaway?’

But then, why now?

Over ten days have passed since the ban on going out was lifted.

‘Calm down, calm down, Outboxer009.’

It was unusual.

My head did not work properly because I was strangely nervous.

No, why are you so nervous in the first place?

It’s not a problem…right? Isn’t he Cordelia’s father?

‘Hmm…father-in-law.’

It was a time that I screamed silently at the strangeness.

“Young master, we’ve arrived.”

When Jude opened his eyes to Maja’s words, he saw Count Chase’s mansion when he looked out the carriage window.

The wall that I promised to cross over someday was alas…high and was too high.

If Count Bayer’s mansion was the knight’s castle, Count Chase’s mansion was the wizard’s model garden.

After arriving at the front door of the mansion past the well-decorated spacious garden, Jude swallowed down.

The reality that I’ve visited the house of my soon-to-be “wife” dawned on me.

“We welcome your visit. Please come this way.”

Following the butler’s guidance, Jude admired the atmosphere of Count Chase’s mansion, which was clearly different from Count Bayer’s mansion.

It was bright, radiant, and splendid.

The direction itself felt different from that of Count Bayer’s mansion, which was plain and somber that it was reminiscent of the castle on the border.

But it was just when I entered the long hallway.

Cordelia and Dahlia, as if they had been waiting in advance for a long time while standing restlessly in the hallway, approached Jude.

“Butler Norton, please give us a moment.”

Dahlia smiled and pressured Norton, and Cordelia pointed at the corner of the hallway with an urgent glance.

Her eyes suggested that before going to the boss room, they should have a little operational meeting.

Jude was also in a situation where he desperately needed information, so it was not something to refuse. Quickly following her, Cordelia suddenly opened her mouth when the decor hid them from sight.

“What are you going to do?”

“Give…please give me your daughter?”

When Jude replied reflexively without thinking, Cordelia covered her face with both hands.

“What is this crazy b*stard saying?”

“No, why did you call for me in the first place? Do you know anything?”

“No. It was just a sudden call.”

“After all, is this because of the daytime runaway?”

“I don’t know, do you think he’ll mention it?”

“Ha, why did you overdo it…”

“Crazy b*stard, you ordered it! You!”

“Anyway, now’s not the right time to argue what’s right and wrong.”

“I want to argue, I want to argue like mad.”

But it wasn’t really the time to argue what’s right and wrong. If you think about it, the father-in-law only called for his son-in-law, so maybe he didn’t have much purpose.

“Regardless, I’ll do my best.”

“Okay, I don’t know what to do but good luck. Figh-fighting!”

After receiving Cordelia’s timid cheering, Jude nodded and approached Butler Norton, and asked to be guided again.

And so, in what briefly felt like a minute.

“Mr. Jude Bayer has arrived.”

Butler Norton raised his voice.

The boss room – no, Count Chase’s drawing room door was opened.