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chapter 57




(TL: So you might notice some changes in this chapter. These are explained in the notes below.)
Beniang went back to her residence, saying that she had something to think about, and Frey was escorted to a room where he would be staying, which turned out to be a small house on the outskirts of the village.
After he’d washed himself and changed his clothes, he heard a knock on the door.
It was Gisellan, a Force Honor of the Trowman Rings.
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.”
Gisellan walked in and sat on a nearby chair.
He appeared a bit disheveled as though he had not been able to clean up before arriving.
Gisellan looked down at himself and smiled bitterly.
“I couldn’t wash up because I was in a hurry.”
“It’s fine.”
“That’s a relief. I’ve embarrassed myself before you.”
He was talking about what had happened before.
Frey did not think too much about it.
“I have a few questions that I’d like to ask.”
“Please go ahead.”
“What exactly is Relic Battle?”
For a moment, their gazes met.
Gisellan hesitated for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.
“It’s exactly that. It is a duel where the winner takes one of the Heroes’ relics from the loser. Originally it was organized as a way to promote and foster friendships between the circles…now, the meaning has changed a great deal.”
“Can’t you refuse?”
“We have a few tricks up our sleeves but…the way things are now…”
At that moment, Frey realised that the circles weren’t really getting along with each other.
They called themselves the Circle, but in truth, they were like a group of individual forces who were forced together and were more preoccupied with keeping each other in check than actually helping.
‘…’
His eyes sank faintly but Gisellan just gave a bitter laugh without realising it.
“I understand it roughly. So, a circle called Basilisk Tails is fighting for the Trowman Rings’ artifacts?”
“That…”
Gisellan hesitated for a moment, but Beniang’s advice resounded in his head.
‘She said it was better to tell him everything in an honest way than hide it from him.’
He was a man who still came personally to check out the Trowman Rings despite their desperate situation.
It was better to be honest than to get caught lying and appear deceitful.
Gisellan nodded.
“You’re right. It has happened many times already and it’s not over yet. It’s not as though the Basilisk Tails are the only jackals.”
“What do you mean?”
“Relic Battles between circles can only happen once a month. The small and medium sized circles near to us have already joined forces. They are taking turns every month to fight for artifacts. And they will only do it when Master Beniang and the other executives are away from the circle.”
Gisellan looked at Frey, who was speechless and spoke bitterly.
If they fought 1 on 1 they might win, but when the groups joined forces then it wasn’t so easy.
Since they had no allies to rely on, the Trowman rings were completely isolated.
“You know that the situation of the Trowman Rings is not very good right?”
“Yes.”
“In fact, it’s a lot worse than it seems. Our scale is less than a tenth of when we were at our peak and our talented members are all on long term missions to build results. Otherwise, our circle might break apart and be absorbed by other circles.”
Frey was also surprised.
This was because he had so simply and honestly told him about the extremely precarious situation that they were in.
He was well aware of the fact that the Trowman Rings was desperate for talent.
For them, even if they had to lie, they would want to do everything they needed to attract them.
Gisellan, who guessed what he was thinking from his expression, answered his unspoken question.
“It was Master Beniang who told me to be completely honest with you.”
“…Master Beniang.”
“A young hero who managed to become a 7 star Archmage and defeat an Apostle. All the major forces in the Circle are watching you. I heard that you were scouted by all three of the major circles. Is that true?”
Dugenjar hadn’t been there for that purpose, but Frey still nodded because Mikel from the Phisfounder Armlets had made him an offer before.
“That’s right.”
“Hoo.”
Gisellan’s attitude experienced a slight change.
He really wanted to attract Frey somehow.
But with the little bit of composure that he still had, he realised how pointless his thoughts were.
Even if he managed to attract him with a lie, it wouldn’t be difficult for Frey to leave the circle if he was really determined.
Gisellan knew this better than anyone.
It was an incredibly painful feeling when the Circle Master Osel Argento left and many of the Force Honors and even the most trusted Circle Rounders, left the Trowman Rings.
It was a lie to say that he wasn’t hopeful at all.
If it was Frey, who was said to have defeated an Apostle, then he would not find an opponent in the Trowman Rings.
If he did enter the circle, that fact alone would be enough to prevent those small and medium circles from appearing whenever they felt like it.
Everyone knew how powerful a 7 star wizard was.
But it would literally take a miracle.
‘It’s impossible for things to go so smoothly.’
There was no merit for Frey to join the crumbling Trowman Rings.
From this little conversation, Gisellan realised that this young man in front of him was truly worthy of the name Wizard.
He was the type of man who did not blink even once when he tried to appeal to his compassionate side.
This wasn’t to say that Frey was wrong.
Instead, he should be considered wise.
After all, there was no person who would decide to climb onto a sinking ship.
“That’s all I have to ask.”
“…right. Then I’ll take my leave. Have a good rest.”
“If it’s no problem, I’d like to take a look around the village. Would that be okay?”
Gisellan nodded.
“There’s no problem. But don’t snoop around Master Beniang’s house on the far west end. That might lead to unnecessary suspicion. If there’s anything you need, come to my house. It’s the one directly opposite.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Gisellan left the room, and after a while, Frey followed him.
Although it was supposed to be the headquarters of a circle, Frey couldn’t help but be reminded of a normal village.
Frey walked slowly down the street while looking around.
Then he stopped.
“…”
There was a statue.
A very big statue which didn’t seem to fit in at all in this little village.
The statue was off a man, who appeared to be in his thirties, wore a blue robe, and seemed to be looking into the distance with a lonely expression.
On his left shoulder sat a small Phoenix and in his right hand was a crooked, old, wooden staff.
His name was written below the statue.
[Lukas Trowman] (TL: this is in English)
“Do you admire Mr. Lukas too?”
When he heard the voice, he turned around to see a young man.
He was a handsome young man with a gentle expression and a smile in his eyes.
He bowed his head politely when Frey turned to look at him.
“I’m sorry if I startled you.”
“It’s fine. More importantly. I wonder why you think I like Lukas.”
“Because you look captivated. Well. It seemed to me that you had many thoughts about Lukas.”
Frey turned back to look at the statue of Lukas.
“I don’t like him that much.”
“Ah…I see. I’m sorry.”
He bowed his head again while apologizing.
“My introduction is a bit late. My name is Fianne. It’s not much, but I hold the position of Force Honor in the Trowman Rings.”
Force Honor.
He didn’t expect that this young man would actually be an executive in the Trowman Rings.
Was it because they lacked talented personnel?
No.
Frey could see that Fianne was actually quite outstanding. He seemed to be at a similar level to Gisellan, with whom Frey had just been speaking.
‘Is it because they’re numbers are too small that they lose to the small and medium sized circles?’
Frey had this thought while introducing himself.
“I’m Frey Blake.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s said that you defeated an Apostle. That’s an amazing achievement. I was so thrilled when I learned of it…I would like to express my sincere respect to Mr. Frey for your achievement.”
“Thank you.”
Frey politely bowed his head as well.
And the conversation ended there.
Fianne gave an embarrassed smile at Frey’s reaction which was much calmer than he’d anticipated.
“It seems that I am in the way. I will take my leave.”
Then Frey stopped him just as he was about to turn around.
“One minute, can I ask you something?”
“Ah. Of course.”
“I apologize in advance for my rudeness. Honor Fianne, why are you staying in this crumbling circle?”
“Yes?”
Fianne’s face stiffened for a moment.
But Frey’s eyes remained firm.
This was the most important problem to him.
“With your skill, wouldn’t you be able to get into another circle easily? Not just you. Master Beniang, Honor Gisellan and all the other members here. I don’t understand why you all are bailing(2) water out of a sinking ship.”
If it stayed the way it was, then the Trowman Rings would disappear someday.
Their actions were nothing more than delaying when it actually happened.
“…you are a very reasonable person. Truly the model wizard.”
Fianne gave a bitter smile.
Frey knew it wasn’t a compliment but did not say anything about it.
“A sinking ship. That is an appropriate analogy. It is true. And we all know the most realistic outcome. To be distributed among the other circles together with our remaining artifacts.”
It was true.
In the end the purpose of the Circle was to overthrow the Demigods.
The collapse of the Trowman Rings didn’t mean that someone had to die or live a miserable life.
So he didn’t understand.
“But we can’t be so cold.”
“Why?”
“Because that would mean that the Trowman Rings disappeared.”
“What does it matter?”
“The Circle is an organization connected through the will of the heroes of old, Mr. Frey. If we break apart, then Lukas’ name will also be cut off.”
“…”
“I know it sounds stupid. I have no intentions of forcing others to understand either. But Frey. In the first place, the Circle began because of our respect for those great legends.”
Fianne gave a soft laugh.
“Do you know why Lukas is the only human in history to be given the name Great Mage?”
Frey didn’t answer.
Fianne continued to speak, perhaps thinking that he didn’t know.
“It’s because he is the pioneer for everyone walking along the path of magic. 4,000 years ago, it’s not enough to say that the relationship between the wizards and the magic warriors was the worst.
Ignoring or despising each other, there would even be fights to the death happening every day. It is the same for witches. They were treated like heretics instead of comrades who followed the same path.”
“…”
“Lukas wasn’t like that. As long as they used mana, then they were the same kin. He said that they were all comrades who also shared the purpose of pursuing the long road known as magic.”
Fianne laughed again.
“It was a small start, but someone had to do it. It was Mr. Lukas who made the first step. At that time, there were many who were unconvinced. Many who were hostile towards Lukas. Even wizards just like him. But…Lukas overcame it.”
“…”
“Mr. Frey, I…no. Our circle is a simple group. We admire Lukas, who was able to embrace even those who wanted to take his life and lead them along the path of magic, more than anyone else in the world.
And if possible, we all wish to be able to imitate that sublime spirit, even a little. We never want his traces to disappear from our world.”
Frey thought of Shepard and Peran again.
He thought of the smiles that came across their faces when they talked about the heroes they admired.
‘Ah.’
Frey realised at that moment how they really thought of the heroes.
It wasn’t simply about respect or paying homage to the great people who lived in the past.
To them, Lukas was like their soul. He was a spiritual pillar that was more important than even their own lives.
At that moment, Frey truly understood their hearts.
“I understand.”
Frey turned his head away from Fianne and scratched his cheek like he was embarrassed.
“Lukas must be happy.”
“Yes?”
“He’d be very pleased to have successors who have inherited his spirit.”
“Haha. I sincerely hope so.”
Frey was grateful for their respect. As much as they respected and admired him, Frey respected and admired them.
He hadn’t thought about joining the Trowman Rings, but Frey wanted to at least give them something in return for their appreciation.
And that was not something difficult to achieve.
Frey’s footsteps lead him toward Beniang’s house.
(Note:
1. The name ‘Lucas Traumen’ has been changed to ‘Lukas Trowman’ because the author actually put the name in English.
I feel like it is my duty as the Translator to keep the author’s desires for their novel in mind, hence in situations like this where English is used, I will stick to the author’s desires. Even for those cases where I find the choice to be strange.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that I will go back and change all the ‘Lucas Traumen’ in the chapters before, this change is only for the chapters going forward. And in the event I encounter another similar situation, e.g. ‘Schweiser’ being ‘Schwezer’, I will also change those according to the author’s decisions.
2. To bail is to clear (water) from a boat by dipping and throwing over the side.
The ‘Mr.’s that I use are my way of portraying ‘님’ but it always feels a bit odd because ‘Mr’ doesn’t quite cut it, in my opinion.
This was such a heartwarming chapter…do you think it’s enough for you to forgive my delays?)