108. Great Competition (3)
What is it?
As Xian blinked his eyes, Craston spoke to his retainers.
“Take a good look.”
Craston began to put down the clothes that were covering his whole body.
As the clothes became loose, the people in the audience frowned.
It was because I could see the bloody bandage wrapped around his right hand.
When Craston finished unwrapping it without hesitation, the retainers who had been watching quietly were in awe at once.
“What’s with that arm?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
The disfigured arm was astonishing.
Because the man in front of him was none other than Earl Creston.
The reason why he is called the wall of Alteon is simple.
Because it is in charge of the border adjacent to the Roman Kingdom.
“Are you hurt by a monster?”
It wasn’t because they invaded the Peronto Kingdom from the Roman Kingdom.
Even so, the border area was always in an unstable situation, because monsters came over from the Roman side to the Peronto Kingdom without even trying.
Thanks to the barren climate, there was no food to eat, so a huge number of monsters often threatened the border for survival.
Thanks to that, the Countess of Creston, who blocked it and presented peace to the Alteon territory, was called the wall of Alteon.
However, there was a big wound on his body, which is a solid castle wall. It was amazing.
“It’s not a monster attack.”
“then… ?”
The eyes of the vassals all turned toward Xi’an.
While talking about Sarah’s son, out of nowhere, he showed me his injured arm.
The man who thought the two were related quickly shouted.
It was because it was something that shouldn’t have happened if you consider Kraston’s inaction.
“It’s clear that the two of you made it!”
Craston is a high-level slayer.
A young man who hadn’t even reached the age of contract inflicted such severe wounds on Craston?
I couldn’t believe it.
However, Kraston’s answer was negative.
“There was no such thing with Craston’s honor. I was interested in his rumors and requested a sparring, and this is the result.”
“You must have been careless! Must!”
“I admit, I was careless, but even if I had given my all, the results would have only changed from my arm to my shoulder. It was such a fierce blow.”
While listening to the story somewhere, Xian felt embarrassed for nothing.
It is also burdensome to see the gaze of the vassals who look at them in surprise.
‘Anyway, that wound… .’
I thought I hadn’t been treated for this.
I didn’t know at the time.
The thought that he had been foreseeing this situation.
“Princess Sara’s becoming the head of the household means that a young master with such talent will be able to lead Alteon in the future. How can this not be Hongbok?”
There is nothing more difficult than child farming.
The reality is that children do not grow up according to the will of their parents, and it is rare for descendants to be born with full inheritance.
Only in this generation does Sarah exist.
But what next?
If the worries that could of course exist were completely resolved, it was a sign that an era of unprecedented glory would come to Alteon.
Certainly, the persuasive argument made the audience quiet.
It was clear that each of them was making mixed calculations.
“Earl of Craston.”
Rugrant, who had been watching all this time, spoke.
“Yes, my lord.”
When the count responded with a bow, he opened his mouth.
“Now go and get your arm healed. It’s not comfortable to see that your body, the wall of Alteon, is damaged.”
“Thank you for caring, sir.”
Rugrant withdrew his gaze and spoke to his vassals this time.
“Today’s tournament will be discontinued here. Sarah Alteon will be watching for half a year as a candidate for the head of the household. I will finish today by discussing the suitable person for the next family head at that time… .”
Lugrant rose from his seat.
“You guys go away.”
* * *
The chairman’s retainers followed one by one as Lugrant escaped.
As Xian looked at him, there was someone slowly approaching him.
“mother… !”
I was quiet earlier because of the situation, but when I saw her approaching, tears welled up in my eyes.
I thought that if I saw it, I would only be able to see it later when I returned to the village after all my travels were over.
It was more like a dream because I had never imagined that we would meet in Alteon.
“He’s my son, but he’s really grown up wonderfully?”
“is that so?”
“then… .”
The warmth of her lightly hugged mother was welcome.
It had grown too big to fit comfortably in my arms now, but the feeling of being filled was still there.
“I wanted to see you.”
“That was just like me.”
I thought that when I saw Sara’s fresh smile, away from her arms.
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My mother said she would wait for my father when he left town…
It’s nice to see it, but I wondered what the reason for her being here was.
It was when Xian was about to ask about it.
A hesitant lady-in-waiting approached. Sarah saw it and said.
“What happened?”
“The head of the household gave the order to go into the study.”
Anyway, since the same thing happened a while ago, I had no choice but to follow the instructions.
“What? The rest of the story… .”
“are you okay. Bye.”
Yes, whatever the reason, neither Sarah nor herself would ever leave this place for the time being.
Originally, he was prepared to be kicked out of Alteon in return for disobeying the tournament, but judging by the atmosphere, that was something he was not interested in.
‘Did things go better than expected?’
It was a time when Xian was quite satisfied with the result of this work, which was somewhat fortunate.
Count Creston approached.
“I never thought you would have such thoughts.”
“Have you not gone to treatment yet?”
Count Craston replied that he was going to be treated now, and then spoke.
“I knew you were going to follow the head of the household without fail… .”
“If that’s the case, neither does the Count, because you didn’t tell me anything about your mother.”
Apparently, the two auras I felt inside the carriage at that time.
The level wasn’t normal, but the only thing I was interested in was the energy of my mother, not anyone else.
“hahahaha… Let’s call each other mutual. Young master.”
Since they didn’t reveal what they saw to each other anyway, there was nothing to argue about in the first place.
First of all, it seemed like an ally.
“Rather than that, since when did you think of using that arm?”
“Would you believe me if I said from the beginning?”
“hmm… .”
“I had to use anything, because I need at least one more satisfying thing to turn the Duke’s heart around.”
In short, I was looking for something that might help, and I was lucky enough to come up with something like this.
“It helped, but it will leave scars.”
I left the wound for two days.
Of course, first aid was not delayed at that time, and it seems that they have been steadily managing it since then, so there will be no aftereffects, but some scars will remain ugly.
“What’s the point of having a wound or two on a man’s body? More than anything… .”
“Ah, I said it was a medal. really.”
Xian laughed as if it was absurd.
* * *
When Earl Craston finished the conversation and went to receive treatment, Xian also moved out of the empty venue.
The atmosphere in the empty venue was quite different from when I entered.
Sian said to Stein, who sneakily caught up with him.
“What? Why are you pretending to be friends all of a sudden?”
Stein winced and said.
“It’s not like I like it in the first place.”
“Wielding a sword? What would you have done if I died?”
“I knew I would stop that, of course.”
Well, Xian knew that. Because Stain’s black murderous intention was missing.
But at this point, I was curious.
What Stain had intentionally avoided in the past few days was something Xian knew.
“Would you like to hear why?”
“I don’t like it.”
“Then walk about 30m away from there. If someone sees you, they will misunderstand you as friendly.”
The guy who used to growl as if he’d jump in if he said something he didn’t want to hear shrank like a wolf in the rain for some reason.
“If you think about it, this is all because of you.”
“Is it because of me? Did you avoid it?”
Stain nodded his head with a face that looked like he was chewing sh*t at Xian’s question.
“What kind of bullsh*t is that… .”
“Since you say you left Alteon on your own… !”
Stain, who was talking, closed his mouth and wrinkled his expression.
When I actually said it, it was a look that hurt my pride. It’s because I wasn’t the type to say sorry to others.
However, that was enough to infer the approximate situation.
‘So, to sum it up, this is it, right?’
He was disappointed when he heard that he was leaving Alteon for Ferreira.
I’ve been attached to him for a while, but it’s embarrassing that he made a decision on his own without saying a word.
It must have been something like that.
‘And now that I think about it, I’m sure… .’
Stein’s words were right.
He is from the Alteon family.
If he abandons Alteon and heads for Pereira, he is in no position to follow him.
“But even if we come from different families, we can still be friends, right?”
“It wasn’t like that. I wanted you to lead Alteon, not anywhere else.”
Xian thought for a moment and said.
“So you wanted to serve me?”
“… … .”
I never dreamed that I was thinking like that.
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Maybe it’s because I’ve been feeling more like a comfortable friend than a loyal feeling.
However, if you think about it, this may be the fate of the vassal family.
To find a master to devote one’s heart to.
‘But it’s embarrassing… .’
This was the exact feeling of Xi’an.
Of course, it means that Stein Tanye rated himself highly, but…
“Thank you, but I’m not interested in things like family heads?”
I didn’t say it at the chairman earlier because it wasn’t necessary.
But now that Stein has shown his sincerity, it was only right for Xian to tell the situation.
Stain said, as if he had never imagined that such an answer would come back.
“under… But what about Sarah? Are you going to oppose Sarah becoming the head of the household?”
“Can it be?”
Xian intends to fully cooperate with Sarah becoming the head of Alteon.
but…
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to take over as head of household. My brother might be born.”
Well, honestly, if it were a normal case, it would be right that Xian would inherit his mother’s family line later, but Xian wasn’t.
That would also be true, Cyan is a Dragonian.
It doesn’t matter now that I’m young, but even after 10 years, I’ll come out one by one.
You’ll think it’s strange that you don’t grow old.
‘Of course, that part could be disguised as magic, but… .’
You can change your appearance using illusion-type magic that manipulates you to look old according to your age, or reverse magic.
However, the reality was that there was no desire to stay in Alteon at this point.
“Why?”
Because it’s a dragonian.
But answering is a lie.
Xian, as usual, moderated it.
“It’s annoying.”