17 – 【Sometimes, Intentionally Squandering】
Two days passed quickly.
Lucia, whether out of genuine affection or some attachment, showed no inclination to leave Tritan’s side.
“I have to leave.”
“But, this lake, we created it!”
Sia seemed to want to stay longer in the forest.
Play with the rabbits, play with Harold, let the birds play.
Although they came to practice camping, there was a lack of tension, more like a leisurely visit.
No, they were genuinely having fun.
“But we can’t live here forever.”
Lucion didn’t really care where he stayed. He just wanted to save time. In the past, he dug the ground and slept in it, or put planks on top of trees to sleep. The border guards… they did a lot of strange things, more than he thought.
“Don’t you miss people?”
“Well…”
He did wonder what it would be like if it was just him and Lucion. But he also thought it would be nice to have at least one more friend to talk to… or so he thought.
“Do you miss them?”
People have to live among other people.
Humans aren’t a species that can live in the wild, right?
Anyway, they have to clean up and live in groups.
There are quite a few inconveniences to living in the wild.
Like physiological issues, for example. Repeating meals, unprocessed clothes. Everything necessary for life was lacking.
Of course, you could eat grass if you wanted.
But once you’ve experienced civilization, you can’t forget its taste.
“Soon, we’ll have to buy clothes too, right?”
Lucia bows her head and examines her situation.
Tattered clothes.
Although they were clothes imbued with sacred power, they would eventually wear out if worn for years on end.
Indeed, she would have to go to the town to buy clothes.
But…
“It’s not like I’m leaving!”
How does she see me, anyway.
Lucia was rather angry with Lucion.
Lucion smirked.
“Living in the wild has made you quite good at getting angry, Sia.”
“Or maybe I’m just not intimidating enough?”
It seemed somewhat childish.
While she wasn’t interested in hierarchy, it still felt like it might be a good idea to instill a bit of fear.
In case of a future conflict.
“Sia.”
“Yeah?”
“【Aren’t you disrespecting me too much?】”
When you infuse authority into your words, you can do various things.
You can prevent the other person from lying. You can even temporarily blank someone’s mind. In this case, it’s possible to incapacitate a person with just one command, though it requires quite a bit of authority.
This time, what Lucion did was “Intimidation.”
A technique used on the battlefield to establish dominance.
It’s nothing more than raising one’s own presence to suppress the opponent.
A commander on the battlefield must act like a commander.
So, he mastered this technique.
People, like animals, can sense danger instinctively. Even if that instinct has degenerated, it still lingers a bit.
With just a glance, one can judge someone as dangerous. Conversely, they might feel that someone is extraordinarily formidable and beyond reach.
Lucion was the latter.
They had done it in order to prevent Sia from getting scared or feeling respect to an extreme degree. They had cast all sorts of enhancement buffs on themselves through their divine power. Did it work? Sia frowned. “Don’t ignore me. More importantly, it’s blinding.” “What?” It seemed like it didn’t work. Instead, Sia retorted. “[Turn off the light. Didn’t Lucion say that? Don’t waste divine power like this.]” hehehe. Lucion took a direct hit from Sia’s mentally aggressive words. Mainly, in terms of self-esteem. I had taught them how to infuse divine power into their words. That they could exert influence through it. And even that they could cast buffs on others. I had taught them the basic things that a priest needs to get involved in a party. But, apart from what was necessary for the party, “I had never taught them.” What Lucian said just now is not a simple chant. It’s not even the diversification of chants that increase the efficiency of divine power consumption. Rather, it’s an act that is extremely inefficient, close to using violence with divine power. Lucian’s growth was faster than Lucion had thought. “It’s really unpleasant. That’s why geniuses are like this.” Lucion had known from the beginning that Lucian was amazing. However, revealing just one thing was like adding fuel to the fire.
Sending them to the moon for training was one thing, but I never expected it to be this intense.
“I didn’t choose to be a saint for no reason.”
And yet, she would be chosen as a saint once again.
“Sigh.”
The immediate conclusion was that Shia was not susceptible to intimidation.
In the end, Lucion decided to reveal his back.
“Cowardly? No, not cowardly. Lucia is even more cowardly.”
As he turned around, Tristan’s elf was waiting.
An elf with a meaningfully smiling face.
The meaning of that smile.
“So it is.”
Tristan seemed to know how he saw Lucia.
#
I tried to maintain my composure, but it wasn’t genuine.
It was an issue of the heart.
Lucion wanted to set Lucia free.
Moreover, deep within Lucion’s abyss, there was a [feeling of cherishing Lucia].
If he wanted to enforce through intimidation, he could.
The reason his techniques didn’t work properly was that he exerted his power [weakly, with the certainty that Lucia could stop it].
He couldn’t treat Lucia harshly.
Sure, for Lusia, being alive is already a fortunate existence in Lucion.
‘I must catch it.’
It cannot be raised as a mischievous child.
‘For now, there’s no need to try to control her. Even if I say it, Lusia won’t follow. It might be better to feed Howard with the remaining sanctity. If we’re going to leave together, raising Howard will be helpful.’
Still, a little bit,
Just a little, he wanted to scold her.
‘Someday, I hope there will be a day when I scold you enough to bring tears. Sia.’
Whether such feelings were conveyed or not, Lucion didn’t know well.
Somehow, Lucion felt as if he heard Lucía’s voice from behind.
“Thank you.”
From Noble mtl dot com
However, Lucion didn’t turn around.
#
An elf approached Lucion step by step.
However, Lucion knows. The elf’s intention is not to face him but Lucía.
In the elf’s hand was Tritan’s treasure.
As expected, the elf passed by Lucion and headed for Lucía.
ㅡ I entrust a part of me to you.
Thorn bestowal ceremony.
It may sound like thorns, but it’s a magic staff harder than a sword.
As a staff that can embrace sanctity, magic, and the sharpness of a sword, Tritan’s thorn also served as a symbol of the hero who gripped the era.
Lucia had to lift her head considerably to face the elf. The elf tried to bestow her thorns upon the girl, as if presenting a sword to a knight. But Lucia turned her head sideways.
“I think it would be more useful to Lucion than to me.”
Lucion still did not turn around.
Well, he is the owner of the staff.
“No, it’s yours.”
“The author has already obtained what he wanted.”
“What?”
“Will you take it?”
“Well….”
Lucia looked at Lucion’s back, unable to understand the situation. But she couldn’t find an answer. Could Lucion answer all the questions in the world?
Sometimes,
No,
Almost always. Lucia’s choices had to be made by Lucia herself.
Lucion’s silence was well conveyed to Lucia.
The staff belongs to Lucia.
“Alright.”
Lucia politely accepted Tristan’s thorns.
Tristan’s elf, disassembled into branches, melted into the ground as if dissolving.
Lucia held Tristan’s thorns in her arms as if they were something precious, and whispered softly.
“Thank you, Tristan.”
– Gratitude is something I should express.
– May your path be prosperous.
– I hope there won’t be only sad days.
Lucia tilted her head, a small smile playing on her lips.
But soon, she nodded.
It seemed Tristan had experienced too many sad days. Lucia could only empathize.
After the elf disappeared, Lucion turned around and revealed his front.
Approaching Lucia, he gently stroked her head.
“Shall we go?”
Lucia chuckled and pointed her staff at Lucion’s chin.
“No. Not with a child.”
More than he thought.
Lucia might have grown stronger than he realized.
#
As they emerged from the forest, the two hardly exchanged any words. They simply absorbed the passing scenery, storing it in their eyes and minds. Who knew when they would return here.
Every landscape held significance.
In a straight line, after half a day, the road to the kingdom finally appeared.
Only then did Lucion relax.
From now on, it was a path they could tread without a map.
The well-trodden road was quite wide.
Depending on the time, the road can be long, with thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers moving, leaving only flat land except for the tracks of carriage wheels.
“If we keep going like this, we’ll reach the village,” Lucion said.
Before reaching the village, there were a few things that needed to be addressed.
It was to avoid things that didn’t need to be experienced firsthand.
“If we go to the village and strange men approach us, just like they did to me, push them away with a tree trunk like Tristan.”
Lucia sighed.
“Me? A child?”
Well, according to the laws of the kingdom, she was sixteen and had the freedom to choose as an adult.
But she still wasn’t fully mature physically or mentally.
A child.
“Don’t go to strange places, Lucion.”
How did she know that?
Lucion tried to recall.
Was there someone to teach her?
Come to think of it, there were a few red books in the orphanage director’s study. Although she had doubts about whether the director, as a person, was allowed to have those books, they were masterpieces of the century. Suaspeare’s “Little Ham” had a fairly explicit story about the red-light district.
Anyway.
To argue with a priest about that.
“Sia.”
“Yeah.”
“I hope you have healthy thoughts. That too is a form of training.”
“Well… I’ll think about it. But… come on, seriously?”
Yes, I am an adult.
You’re doing well.
When Lucion talked to Lucía, he felt himself becoming childish as well.
It wasn’t a bad feeling, but somehow it felt embarrassing and like a side of himself that couldn’t be shown in front of others.
“Well, during the time I spent apart from Sia, I lived in a harsh hierarchical society.”
Lucía, who had been following behind Lucion, ran a little and took his place next to him.
Walking in sync, she looked at Lucion’s profile and asked.
“But… Lucion. Why do I have to have this?”
Lucion shrugged his shoulders.
Isn’t it obvious?
Drawing his sword, Lucion spoke.
“From now on, I will take the lead and you will take the rear.”