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After the conversation with Judith was over, Airn and his party stayed overnight at Khun’s house.
And the next day, after having their breakfast, they left for the Llyod Estate.
“Thank you for letting us stay.”
“Of course, you should be thankful. It's been ten years since I let someone sleep here. I have to practice now, so hurry up and get out already.”
"You have a bad personality, unlike school master Ian."
“Unlike him? You people should have met that guy when he was young…”
Khun grumbled a little. None of the members of the party cared about it, though.
Airn turned to Judith and said.
“See you again.”
“Right. I don’t know when it will be… but I will see you.”
Judith nodded and replied. They were normal words, but they had a different weight in them. Perhaps, the next time they met her, she would be much stronger than she was now.
“Kirill.”
“Yes, sister.”
Judith called Kirill. Over the short time they had been together, they had formed a nice relationship with each other and were looking at each other warmly.
The two shook hands and shared a brief hug, and Kirill had a soft smile as she said.
“I will keep cheering for you.”
“Cheer for me? If I end up doing great, your brother will lose.”
“It is fine. If brother and sister work hard, you will win and lose to only each other. It is fine if he loses like that…”
“I plan to win all my life, but… since you are like my younger sister, I’ll just close my eyes at such remarks.”
Judith smiled and looked away. Lulu jumped up, knowing it was her turn to be hugged.
“Can I come here and play with you next time?”
“No. For a while, I will have to focus on my training.”
“But I will only look at you and go, is that also not fine?”
“That is fine, but wouldn’t it be boring for you?”
“It is fine. I will come to see you when Bratt comes. I think it will be fun seeing you two talk…”
“Don’t come when Bratt comes.”
“Uhh? Eh?”
Hearing Judith say that, Lulu felt shocked. Airn grabbed the cat and said with a smile.
“The letter…I will hand it over safely.”
“… I get it, so get out already. Ah shit, my language is changing…”
Judith looked at him with a grim expression, but Airn didn't hate it.
After shaking hands, he climbed onto the Griffin.
“I will get going, Mr. Khun! Thank you for teaching me.”
“Go.”
“Yes.”
Wooong!
Flap! Flap!
Airn and his party flew away with the help of the Griffin.
And they were gone in the blink of an eye. And once they disappeared, Khun stopped staring.
And like yesterday, he was back to training himself.
“…”
Judith looked at the spot where they disappeared a little longer, and then she too went back to her training.
Woong!
They were all determined to follow their own ways.
Woong!
To catch up with their goals.
Whong!
Judith’s flames burned more strongly as she thought about it.
As they flew to Lloyd’s estate on the Griffin’s back, Airn was deep in thought.
He had had two battles in one day, but… yesterday’s experience gave him great stimulation.
Most of all, it made him think about his own path and the direction he had to take in his future as a swordsman.
‘I am not like Judith.’
She was someone who preferred to sharpen herself to the limit, thus covering their other shortcomings.
It was something that could break easily, and yet, it could pierce anything too… but Airn knew that pursuing such extremes was for Khun and Judith.
And Airn wasn’t like that either. As mentioned earlier, his direction was to overcome and supplement his shortcomings through experiences, teachings and interactions.
Just like the five spirits created a synergy through coexistence and mutual prosperity.
In the same sense, the journey they were on to the Lloyd estate was meaningful. It was because Bratt Lloyd was the closest to the ‘water element’ among all of Airn’s friends.
‘The problem is that my mind’s distracted….’
He remembered what Judith said last night.
Although he had spoken bluntly, Khun had acknowledged him in the end. So if he wanted, he could deliver the letter to Bratt and join the subjugation squad right away.
Before leaving, Khun had tossed an old coin to him as proof of it. He didn’t know the meaning of it, but he was convinced that Julius Hul would let him join the squad if Airn showed that to him.
But…
‘Is it okay for me to join the subjugation squad?’
Airn was questioning himself because now, he wasn’t sure of his qualifications.
Back then, after escaping from the clown devil in the dungeon, he had been completely confident.
He thought that he could go after each devil on the continent and completely annihilate them. But not now.
He had met Ian and then the clown devil again.
And then came his meeting with Khun and Judith.
Even though Airn had learned a lot through these meetings, he also strangely felt as if he was lacking compared to before.
Earlier, he had thought that just joining the group was enough, but now he wasn’t sure whether he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Paladins and Ignet.
‘… then, what do I do?’
Airn’s expression turned serious. As a result, his thoughts deepened.
He wanted to make the world a better place. He wanted to create a world where everyone was happy, and a world where there was no one suffering.
That was his goal, will and belief.
And he had to subjugate all evil to achieve it. But if it was asked whether he could create benefits to the world in any other way…
It was difficult to answer.
“… Hmm.”
Airn woke up from his thoughts and quietly opened his eyes.
The landscape above the sky, which was now quite familiar, came into his view, and he looked at his sister.
Who then asked,
“Are you fine?”
“I am.”
“I feel like there is something complicated in your mind.”
“There is. A lot of things are actually. But on the other hand, I feel like my abilities are too lacking to deal with all my problems.”
“Well…”
Upon hearing that, Kirill too, had a serious expression.
However, it wasn’t as bad as when they headed to Krono. At that time, Airn was more anxious and nervous than now.
Despite being worried, Airn looked much better now.
Knowing that the barrier he had been in, must have helped this, she nodded and changed the subject.
“Since you have to go through something like this every day, let’s just put it aside for now and talk about something else.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“About my brother's friend.”
“Ah…”
“What kind of person is Bratt Lloyd?”
Kirill’s eyes were twinkling. She had met Ilya and Judith.
And it wasn’t like she had just met them now. She had already met them through Airn’s words and stories in the past, and currently, she had met two of them face to face. And now she had more or less come to realize how her brother had become so reliable.
‘Maybe Bratt Lloyd… must have also influenced my brother.’
In a good way.
Thinking that he was someone who captured the heart of the powerful Judith, her expectations grew.
“Hm, Bratt… is the most mature and calmest friend I’ve had. He is always calm, wise and relaxed, no matter the situation.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Bratt is smart. And he reads books to me too!”
Lulu joined in, but Airn's words were stuck in her mind. And her expectations for Bratt grew greater.
“I want to meet him.”
“Yes. I miss him too.”
“Me too! Kirill, can you speed this thing up?”
“Usually, I wouldn’t. But because sorcerers are people whose abilities improve when their hearts are moved...”
“Sorcerers are not just people! Some sorcerers are cats too!”
“Anyway, shall we go faster then?”
“Wait, we are already going past… euk!”
Swosh!
Airn groaned at the sudden swift movement of the Griffin, which was now twice as fast as before.
A strong wind hit his face. Despite the spring weather, he was now feeling cold.
“Ah, this is so exciting!”
“Fun! So fast! Let’s go a little more faster!”
“Nice, okay, a little more…”
Swosh!
“Uaaahhh!”
“Wow! I want to shout too! Can I?”
“Okay!”
“Yahooooo!”
“Ahhhhh!”
“…”
Lulu and Kirill screamed, and seeing the both of them, Airn smiled quietly.
Thanks to speeding up, Airn and the party arrived at the Lloyd’s estate far earlier than they predicted.
They were looking at the mansion gate, which seemed more grandiose than they thought.
“This…”
“Right. It’s more than I thought… What should I say? Is the air different? Like another city?”
Kirill asked with round eyes.
It was huge.
Except for the Holy Kingdom, the largest nation was the Gerbera Kingdom.
And among the nobles of the nation, the Lloyd family was part of the highest-ranking nobles, so it wasn’t surprising that this place was much more developed than the Pareira estate.
However, that wasn’t what the party focused on.
As he saw the expressions of the people around him, Airn thought.
‘They are all so bright and happy.’
Airn had been to a lot of places in the past two years.
So, he knew. How many people had hard and difficult expressions on their faces.
Even the central continent was the same despite the good security in those places.
Whether the city was wealthy or not, the people living there still seemed to be in a tough state.
The most pleasant would be Eisenmarkt, but then, the people there weren't really friendly with others.
Because the streets were overflowing with addicts.
But the Lloyd’s estate and the region around it wasn’t like that.
Most of the people seemed happy. So did the guards and the merchants around. Even the workers seemed happy.
Without a sense of surprise, Airn entered the estate.
‘Everyone seems happy.’
There were people who were selling things everywhere. And there were small boys who kept trying to bring in guests to their Inns.
From the musicians on the street to the people who were walking, everyone seemed fine and happy.
“It seems like the Lord is a good person.”
“Yes.”
Kirill responded. But she wasn’t too impressed by it.
Lulu was the same as she turned around and looked at other stuff. However, Airn wasn’t like that.
With deep eyes.
And with more thoughts, he put all his attention on the people of Lloyd's estate.
“Great. Let’s head in.”
“Uh? Huh, right.”
Of course, he couldn’t keep watching forever.
They reached an Inn which Kirill had led them to, and it had quite a luxurious and high price.
But that was not a problem. Airn and Kirill and Lulu. They were all rich. They opened the door without any hesitation and tried to walk to the counter. But they couldn’t.
Airn went still.
“What is the matter?”
“…”
“Is it someone you know?’
At Kirill’s question, Airn frowned slightly.
It was a noble.
A noble in his 40s, with grey-brown hair and a mustache. There were tears welling up in his eyes as if something had happened.
But oddly.
It felt strangely familiar.
“…”
There was a wine bottle on the table. And along with that, there were five bottles of strong whiskey, but the man didn’t look drunk.
Even as he stood there watching that man, he kept pouring a cup of alcohol and drank it with a sad expression.
No one could imagine that a man could drink so much.
But.
‘The aura… feels very similar.’
Airn’s aura seeing eyes.
Airn's unique ability, which others didn't know of.
Although his appearance had been camouflaged by magic, he was someone Airn knew.
“I miss you…”
As if unaware that Airn and his party were approaching, the man continued to drink.
In the middle, he said he missed someone, but Airn knew it.
He pulled out a chair from the table and sat beside the man with a smiling face.
And looking at his friend, who was shocked, Airn Pareira said.
“Bratt.”