Reunion (5)
Even though she knew it was wrong.
Even though she knew they were not at fault.
The hatred within Cornelia only grew stronger with each passing day.
At first, she had no way of knowing what kind of life Eugene lived.
A wounded man.
A man who had no choice but to become more blunt in order to hide his wounds.
Even so, she only knew that he was a man who was kind enough to let his affection flow through the cracks.
The Eugene that Cornelia first met was in a very precarious state.
At the time, Cornelia herself had barely escaped death and was in a state of panic.
She got to know the man who had saved her, who at first glance seemed strong, perfect, and flawless, and she felt his wounds.
This was clearly a wound inflicted by someone.
The wound may never be healed, but it could be covered up by someone else.
Cornelia made up her mind.
I will be the axis of this man who is shaking every moment.
I will be a home to return to.
Eugene accepted this and swore to Cornelia.
I will never forget that you are on my side.
Even if I lose my way, I will return to where you are.
······And Eugene did not return.
“They say that meetings are valuable because there are partings. It’s definitely true. Cornelia, if I hadn’t been encouraged by your words, I wouldn’t be here now. Your wish, and your connection, brought me here.”
“Ugh······. Did I say something like that······?”
She had a vague idea of Eugene’s relationship with the Saintess.
But she later learned that not only the Saintess, but also the Witch and the Frost Lord were involved.
Eugene had a lot of women.
At first, she wondered if he had time to be in a relationship with so many women physically, but it seemed possible if it was Eugene.
Even after hearing their stories, Cornelia never once sympathized with them.
They were the ones who once drove Eugene, scolded him, and even hurt him physically.
And then they say they love Eugene?
I’m sorry, and I wish you would come back?
How can people be so shameless?
How can they be so selfish?
The women who had hurt Eugene, whom Cornelia had cursed and hated so much, were right before her eyes.
Cornelia felt like crying.
“But I······. What should I do······? I still can’t forgive your women. If Eugene had forgiven them, it would have been over. But······. My heart still can’t forgive them. I hate the people who hurt you so much and ruined you······.”
Eugene finally returned.
He reconciled with his old women and reunited with them.
But Cornelia still couldn’t understand.
Eugene gently caressed her tearful cheek and smiled faintly.
Eugene himself could think of all these things as trials and experiences that had helped him grow.
But it was impossible to force it on someone who felt like their heart was being torn out while watching it.
There was only one reason why all this had happened.
Because Cornelia’s love was too great.
The commotion was caused because Cornelia’s love for Eugene was much greater than Eugene’s love for himself.
That’s why Eugene didn’t hate this situation so much.
“I won’t force you to forgive them.”
“······.”
“They won’t beg you for forgiveness either.”
“I guess······.”
“So, take it slow. Why don’t you start by getting to know each other?”
“What?”
“I’m not going to ask you to be friends all at once. You don’t have to force yourself to get along. Let’s just start by getting to know each other as people.”
Eugene left.
Even though the Alliance was founded and the city of Cologne joined, Cornelia did not have much interaction with the Saintess, the Witch, and the Frost Lord.
She had no chance to, and she had no thought or will to do so.
She didn’t even try to understand.
That’s why the crack appeared.
Eugene diagnosed it that way.
Why don’t we start by getting to know each other and trying to understand each other?
He didn’t know if Cornelia would forgive the three of them in the end.
But that was a story for later.
Eugene decided not to worry too much.
“I understand······. I’ll try it once.”Now, I just found this woman who cares about me more than I do myself adorable.
As Eugene was holding Cornelia in his arms and enjoying the warm comfort in peace.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves broke the peace.
The one who appeared on horseback was none other than the white-skinned murderer, Transylvania.
“My friend! I had no doubt that you would return alive!”
“Your nature tells me that’s a lie······?”
“Well, the truth is I thought you were dead, but what does that matter! Now that I see you again after so long, there’s something I should do, right? Huh?”
Transylvania ran up to Eugene and hugged him tightly.
Cornelia’s expression twisted as she watched her ample breasts crush against Eugene’s.
“Shall we fight? I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can control my strength properly right now. I haven’t gained enough strength to stabilize it yet.”
“hahahahaha! Are you worried that I’ll get hurt! Don’t worry! No matter how strong you get, you won’t be able to keep up with my sword-“
Cuckoo cuckoo!
Eugene, who judged that it would be faster to show than to tell, immediately began to gather his will in his hand.
As someone who had experienced the misunderstanding, Transylvania understood that the will was gathering at his fingertips.
However, the fact that the will was compressed and compressed again to the point of having the same intensity as a real object, and also forming the shape of a sword, was already far beyond the realm of her understanding.
“Huh?!”
The will, which was rippling like a sword wind and had the appearance of a transparent sword.
Gradually, it was being compressed and compressed again, and it began to glow red from within like a hot sword.
What was completed was a sword-shaped object with a transparent will wrapped around it, as if the gold inside was about to burst out.
When Eugene swung the sword horizontally as a demonstration, the ‘will’ stretched out endlessly.
At this, the vast lawn was overturned in an instant.
When he struck it down vertically again, the ground split open, and the cracks spread all the way to the mountain in the distance.
Transylvania’s mouth hung open.
A blow that could not be achieved by conventional swordsmanship.
That said, it was not that he had poured in an enormous amount of magic power, but that he had simply given it a little strength.
No magic or sorcery could produce such efficiency.
Transylvania quickly prostrated herself and bowed her head.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Senior! Your unworthy junior greets you!”
“No, do you have no shame? You call me a friend······. And you’re much older than me and have been training for a much longer time, so what kind of senior······.”
“Hey! If your enlightenment is deeper and broader, aren’t you a senior! Don’t be so picky!”
Eugene’s face was filled with embarrassment.
Clearly, up until the last time they had faced each other, Transylvania had been a formidable opponent, like a huge wall, overwhelming Eugene with her overwhelming swordsmanship skills.
Suddenly, seeing her prostrating herself as if she were licking his shoes made his head spin.
It seems like she’ll be obedient for the time being, so should I make her do everything I’ve always wanted to do?
How about making her wear a maid’s uniform and making her a maid with Belphegor, with black and white contrasting on both sides?
Eugene imagined the scene in his mind and exclaimed, “Oh······.”
“Well, if you still think of me as a friend, please share a little bit of the secret of enlightenment for the sake of old times!”
“First, there’s a prerequisite. You’ll be able to enter the next realm easily if you gather at least three mysteries.”
“I’ve already mastered over 10 mysteries of swordsmanship?”
“······?”
Eugene’s face was once again filled with embarrassment.
“Then you should have achieved the ultimate technique long ago?”
“What! What are you talking about! Are you saying that I have already met all the conditions! That can’t be! It’s because of my meager talent that I’m being held back again! Uwaaa! Heavens!!!”
Eugene turned his head away, ignoring Transylvania, who was looking up at the sky and howling.
There, a small woman was standing with her head bowed, her hood pulled down.
A woman who turned her head away as if she didn’t want to show her face.
The anger and magic that she usually couldn’t control were now calmly subsided.
“Hood. Don’t take it off······.”
“Why.”
“It’ll be ugly. Just talk like this.”
“I wanted to ask how you’ve been. I guess I can’t do that.”
“······.”
Her speech was still condescending, but her attitude was clearly different from usual.
As a former governor, Kwiho was the one who never lowered his tail no matter who came.
In front of Eugene, Kwiho just looked infinitely small, like a pitiful fox.Although he hated to show his scarred face, it wasn’t to that extent.
If necessary, he would show it and talk while making eye contact without any problem.
However, he couldn’t show it to Eugene.
“I’ve been well. Thanks to you, I’ve raised Sogong well. Sogong is now at the highest level as a warlock. His reputation has spread far and wide, and now there are so many children in the neighborhood who want to become warlocks. It seems that it’s not just a dream anymore for witchcraft to come out into the open and secure a position equal to magic.”
It was a matter of pride and conscience.
Eugene was the one who forcibly brought out Gwiho, who had been living in the basement of the casino for decades and centuries, longing for a futile restoration.
And it was also Eugene who made him realize the fun of getting disciples and training juniors.
“It’s all thanks to you, human.”
Thanks to that, he gained numerous relationships and enlightenment.
Compared to the decades he spent grinding his teeth alone, dreaming of revenge and resurrection, what he had gained recently was much more dazzling and precious.
It would have been a good story if it had ended just like that.
He wanted to show Eugene, the mastermind behind getting Gwiho out, only the good side of him.
He didn’t want to show him his miserable appearance, as if he had been thrown into the abyss.
He didn’t want to be caught with his burns, his magic core, his self-esteem, and his twisted personality.
He just wanted to pretend not to know and pass by.
“So······ So······.”
Leave an old man like me behind.
He wanted Eugene, who had returned, to receive the glory and praise he deserved.
He didn’t want to burden Eugene’s mind because of him.
“Don’t worry, I’m doing well······ Ugh?!”
“Let’s talk while looking at our eyes.”
Whoa!
As the hood was pulled back, a desperate scream burst from Gwiho’s mouth.
But it was too late.
Gwiho was already being held in place by Eugene, who was holding both of his shoulders.
“Ugh······.”
Drooping fox ears and tail.
Pale skin that looked like a vampire due to lack of blood.
And the red cracks that stood out even more because of the white skin.
The cracks started from Gwiho’s forehead and went down mercilessly, crossing his eyes and down to his cheeks.
Gwiho’s left eye, which had turned white from the fire, met Eugene’s.
Eugene’s lips curled into an inexplicable smile as she met his eyes.
For some reason, Gwiho felt as if Eugene was looking not at the symbol of this eye, but at the inside of it.
He also felt something like a warm light seeping into him.
“You’ve suffered a lot. I heard you were badly injured while sacrificing yourself for Sogong. It’s really impressive to see you still using magic and standing up with such a tattered body.”
“I couldn’t······ stand up······. I’m a bad teacher······. Everyone finds me annoying······ and uncomfortable······.”
“That’s not true. Who would hate such a beautiful prince?”
“······.”
Whoa.
Gwiho’s face turned red, and his hands, which were holding onto the hem of his clothes, clenched into fists.
Shame washed over him.
In front of this guy, Gwiho felt like he was completely naked.
“Is that so······. In your eyes that see the essence, I didn’t look much different from before······.’
He had forgotten something important, no, something basic.
How could I have cared about my appearance while walking the path of witchcraft?
Was I going to cry and laugh at such a superficial change?
Wasn’t the inside really what mattered?
No matter how my appearance changed, wasn’t that all that mattered?
Was I the one who had been belittling myself while nothing had changed?
As Gwiho realized this, his ears and tail gradually came to life and rose above his head.
His eyes regained their spirit and looked up at Eugene, and at the same time, a sense of admiration for him arose.
‘I just said that his burned face was pretty······.’
Eugene decided that she would have to keep this unspoken forever.
Sometimes, it was better not to know the truth.
Eugene stroked Gwiho’s fox ears, who was sobbing with emotion, and looked away.
“That monster you were chasing after was actually Eugene.”
“Oh my, really? I thought the situation was strange······.”
“It’s a good thing we missed each other. We almost had a big problem.”
Alicia smiled as she agreed with Yerina’s words.
Eugene felt a sense of違和感 at that sight.Alicia was now hiding herself tightly and intentionally concealing her thoughts.
She had just done it.
Alicia was definitely sincere when she said she was glad to see him and that she was really happy that he had returned alive.
She was radiating genuine sincerity.
But it didn’t seem like she was showing all of her sincerity.
What on earth was she hiding?
The moment Eugene extended the light of the Extreme to Alicia.
“Ugh?!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing······. I just suddenly got goosebumps······.”
Alicia flinched in surprise and avoided the light.
She could sense the Extreme even though she hadn’t reached this level yet?
Animal instinct, something like that?
Eugene laughed in frustration.
He didn’t know what she was hiding, but her willpower was considerable.
Eugene’s gaze, which had been persistently caressing the deep inside of the trembling fox’s ears, now turned to the other side.
“Nameless. Come here. You see, I taught that guy sorcery too. He was so untalented that it was frustrating······.”
“······.”
“Nameless! Where are you going! Your master is calling you!”
“······.”
Nameless avoided Eugene’s gaze, turned his back, and slowly walked away as if he was running away.
Eugene smiled a little bitterly at this.
That guy was a problem in his own way.