Chapter 646

Killuane, the vice head of the Council of Elders, narrowed his eyes as he watched Sylvia walk down the stairs.

‘She looks like a completely different person.’

Sylvia had been constantly intimidated since she’d returned to the house. Her shoulders and back crouched like a rat, and her eyes were always turned downward. She couldn’t even meet people’s eyes, and she quickly ran away even if she did.

However, this Sylvia was different.

Zieghart’s noble spirit radiated from her, her shoulders as straight as an iron spire. Her appearance in her black martial uniform and the way her blonde hair was tied behind her was reminiscent of a peerless sword. He even felt like her sharpness was hurting his skin.

Her gaze had changed the most. Her red eyes always used to tremble anxiously, yet they weren’t wavering in the slightest anymore—they were as steady as the abyss.

Crack.

Killuane gritted his back teeth.

‘Is that really Sylvia?’

Even before Sylvia left the house, she hadn’t radiated such a powerful pressure and atmosphere around her. It almost felt like her soul itself had been switched.

‘I did hear that she had received an artificial energy center, but… Is it really possible to change so much?’

Even though not much time had passed since Sylvia had gained the artificial energy center, her prowess had already reached the highest level of Master. It was an impossible feat no matter how he thought about it.

“S-Sylvia?” Krisen stuttered, also noticing Sylvia’s change. The warriors from the Council of Elders even stepped back, terrified by her pressure.

“It’s been a while, vice head of the elders.” Sylvia ignored Krisen, lowering her head in front of Killuane.

“What brings the Council of Elders here?”

“Ahem.” Killuane showed his displeasure by clearing his throat.

‘She is acting so damn confident.’

He thought it was extremely unsightly how arrogant she’d become just because she’d received a new energy center. After all, she was still a sinner who’d abandoned the house and ran away.

“Tsk.” Killuane clicked his tongue towards Krisen instead of responding to Sylvia. “What insolence!”

Upon receiving the signal, Krisen stood in front of Sylvia.

“How dare you speak to the great elder when you are just a collateral?”

“I never knew that a collateral wasn’t even allowed to speak to an elder.” Sylvia smiled coldly, still looking at the vice head of the elders instead of Krisen.

“You don’t know your place.” Krisen twisted his lips into a smile while glaring at Sylvia. “Do you think your sin disappeared just because you gained an energy center?”

“I am not a sinner.” Sylvia peacefully shook her head. “I already returned what I received from the house when I left, and the head of house simply bestowed his mercy upon me when I returned. There’s no sin remaining at all.”

She proudly straightened her back. Her unshakable pressure pushed Krisen’s malice back, free of any shame.

“Shut up! The stain you’ve left in Zieghart will never disappear!” Krisen turned his head while violently grinding his teeth.

“If Zieghart is tainted by my stain, it will simply mean that Zieghart is too small. However, I don’t believe that Zieghart is such a small house.” Sylvia didn’t hesitate to mention Zieghart’s name, unlike in the past. “Moreover, I don’t want to hear that from people who like to bully the weak, forgetting Zieghart’s old spirit.”

“How dare you!” Krisen swung his sword, infuriated by Sylvia’s change because she hadn’t even been able to meet his eyes in the past.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Sylvia clenched her right hand. Her fist erupted like lightning and smacked Krisen’s chin.

Whack!

Krisen was punched on the chin while trying to slap Sylvia’s chin and fell on his ass like a marionette with broken strings.

“Kuh…”

He didn’t faint, but the impact to his brain made him unable to stand despite his efforts, which only made him shake his legs.

“Huff!”

“S-Sir Krisen!”

“How could this happen?!”

The warriors from the Council of Elders started to approach Krisen in astonishment.

“It was self-defense. He was the one to strike first.” Sylvia shook her head, dusting off her shoulder where Krisen’s hand had touched.

“You’ve changed a lot. I don’t think you had that personality even before you left the house.” Killuane stared at Sylvia, fury hiding behind the silence in his eyes.

“I had no other choice than to change. I could not be ashamed in front of my son.” Sylvia shook her head with a faint smile on her face.

“Kuh!”

As expected of a Master, Krisen quickly returned to his senses and stood in front of Killuane again.

“Y-you don’t need to take action, vice head. I’ll take care of it!” He glared at Sylvia while biting his lip to the point of bleeding.

“So what business do you have here?” Sylvia casually nodded her chin.

“We’ve received intel that illegal activity was witnessed inside the annex building. We’ll have to check it out!”

Krisen headed towards the annex building’s stairs, unleashing his fiery pressure.

Cring!

Juvel appeared from the shadows behind the stairs and blocked his path, stating, “You aren’t allowed to enter.”

“How dare you interfere with the council’s activity, you lowly servant!” Krisen swung his sword towards Juvel, out of his mind from being humiliated by Sylvia. He wasn’t trying to kill, but he was about to cut his arm off.

Sylvia raised her left heel. She glided as if she were folding the land in her path and stood in front of Juvel. She smacked the side of Krisen’s blade with her palm as it fell towards Juvel’s shoulder.

Thud!

Krisen’s body faltered, and she took a step forward to smack his chin once again.

Whaack!

Krisen was hit again in the same spot, floating into the air before he fell upside down to the ground. White teeth popped out of his mouth like corn kernels.

“Kuh…”

Krisen’s eyes had rolled back. He seemed to have lost consciousness.

“Do you even realize what you’re doing right now?”

The vice head of the elders watched Krisen tremble on the ground for a moment, then directed his frightening glare at Sylvia.

“I am simply protecting my people as the master of the annex building. I also have no intention of allowing anyone entry if they haven’t received permission.”

“Permission?”

“I’m well aware that the Council of Elders has the right to inspect inside the house. However, it still requires authorization. If you have no authorization with you, you are no different from a robber or a thief to me.”

Sylvia confidently shook her head. The Council of Elders had the inspection rights so that they could prevent the head of house’s dictatorship, but it still required authorization in order to carry it out.

“You should be well aware that all I need is to ask to get that authorization.”

“Then you should just do so.” She nodded, telling him to do whatever he wanted.

“Hmph.”

The vice head of elders gestured with his finger, and a warrior hurriedly ran towards the main building.

He returned before long, and he was holding a certificate in his hand, mentioning that the inspection of the annex building was allowed.

“Are you happy now?”

“Yes.” Sylvia stepped aside from the path with serious eyes.

“You will regret what you’ve done today.” The vice head narrowed his eyes and went ahead into the annex building.

“There is no way to know that until it happens.” Sylvia shook her head while following him inside.

* * *

Raon took a large bite of the mint chocolate ice cream he was holding in his hand. The bitter yet slightly refreshing taste filled his mouth.

Ehehehehe!

Wrath laughed like an innocent child like he was completely healed as soon as he ate the mint chocolate.

That’s the mint chocolate for you! Cough! This is how mint chocolate should taste! Cough! The King of Essence missed it! Cough!

However, he clearly didn’t look fine with the way he kept coughing nonstop.

‘I should feed him well for a while.’

Since it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Wrath had saved his life, Raon decided to eat everything Wrath wanted.

“Bitch Princess.”

Runaan was eating mint chocolate next to him, and she quietly raised her finger to point at the right side.

“Hmm?”

Raon shifted his gaze, following her finger. He could see a female magician walking while reading a thick tome with large glasses covering her eyes. She wasn’t even taking her eyes off the book, showing how focused she was.

‘Is that really Jayna?’

Princess Jayna had always been dripping with luxury and hung around with many of her subordinates. However, her face was entirely bare of makeup. She wasn’t wearing any accessories, and her subordinates were nowhere to be seen.

He would’ve thought she was just an ordinary magician if he didn’t know in advance that she was Jayna. Probably because of that, she seemed to have reached a whole different realm from before.

“Wow…” Dorian also gasped while looking at Jayna. “Is she really the same bitch princess from before…?”

He couldn’t hide his surprise. After all, he’d also seen Jayna in the Black Market.

“She’s completely different from the first time we saw her. Should I call her over? She would love it if we told her about the ring.”

“No, forget about it.” Raon calmly shook his head. He didn’t want to disturb her since she was so focused on reading.

‘People really can change.’

In his previous life, Raon had believed that people would never change. However, he was constantly being shown that it wasn’t true during his new life.

‘However, you will never change for your entire life, Derus Robert.’

Since he was fully aware that Derus was never going to change, he could plan for vengeance with the slightest hesitation. Thinking about his revenge against Derus reminded him of his family in the annex building, even though they were the complete opposite from him.

“Haa…”

Raon shook his head after finishing the remaining ice cream.

‘I want to rest in the annex building.’

The King of Essence wants to eat more in the annex building.

‘......’

Seriously, the demon king was so skilled at breaking the mood.

* * *

“My lord.” Chad, the leader of Shadow Agents fell on his knees and lowered his head. “We’ve received news about Sir Raon.”

“News?”

Glenn was staring outside the window as if he weren’t interested in anything in the world, but he slowly turned around and sat on the throne.

“I’m listening.”

His quiet voice sounded like he didn’t really care, but his eyes were wavering like a constellation, urging him to speak quickly.

“The warrior who obtained the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy in his grave is none other than Sir Raon!” Chad shouted loudly. After all, it was surprising news.

“R-really?”

Glenn briskly stood up even though it hadn’t even been three seconds since he’d sat down on the throne. The corners of his lips started to slowly rise like snow piling on the roof.

“Yes!” Chad nodded, saying that he was certain.

“Huhuhu.”

“Did he really get the Sword and Saber Sovereign’s legacy? That’s amazing.”

Roenn and Sheryl smiled, their eyes widening in surprise.

“Ahem!”

Glenn’s shoulders started to dance, his chin protruding slightly. He seemed to be enjoying their reactions.

“It’s too early to celebrate.” Chad swallowed nervously and energetically raised his gaze. “Sir Raon found out that the Sword and Saber Sovereign is actually one of our ancestors, and the location of the grave also belonged to Zieghart!”

“What?” Glenn’s eyes widened, showing that even he hadn’t expected such news. “Did you just say that the Sword and Saber Sovereign was one of Zieghart’s ancestors?”

“Yes! It’s confirmed to be true. Not only the Light Wind Division and the Void Sword Division but also all of the neutral factions that came out from the grave gave the same testimony.” Chad rapidly nodded.

“That’s completely unexpected,” Sheryl gasped in bewilderment.

“Huhuhu, Sir Raon really made a great achievement.” Roenn clapped his hands, his usual smile deepening even further.

“It’s not just an achievement at this point. History has changed!” Chad was also excited as he shook his hand.

“Ahem!” Glenn cleared his throat and rubbed his chin, which was becoming redder and redder. “Th-that’s not too shabby.”

His lips kept curving into a smile as Roenn, Sheryl, and Chad’s reactions intensified.

“If that land belongs to us, we should dispatch people to manage it. Since it’s slightly away from our domain, we should clearly mark it as our own.” Sheryl stroked her chin, saying that they should start the management already.

“Of course. That’s the right thing to do… However, it doesn’t require any haste.” Chad shook his head with a faint smile on his face.

“Why not?”

“Actually, after Sir Raon left the grave…”

He told them about how he founded Blade’s Rest by breaking hundreds of people’s heads.

“Are you saying that it’s being treated as a sanctuary now?”

“Indeed. He broke the skulls—I mean, the heads of hundreds of people on his own, but the fact that he didn’t kill anyone in the process gained even more fear and admiration from the people who’ve heard about it. That’s why people admired his actions while treating it as a sanctuary called Blade’s Rest,” Chad gasped, showing his bewilderment as he spoke.

“Roenn!” Glenn shifted his gaze and shouted Roenn’s name.

“I’m writing right now. ‘This land belongs to Zieghart from now on. I’m giving you ten seconds. Put down your weapons or disappear. Decide between those two.’”

Roenn started to write the line Raon had shouted in front of the Sword and Saber Sovereign's grave down in the gospel.

“He really made a big mess this time.” Sheryl couldn’t hide her wholehearted smile, glad about Raon’s remarkable performance.

“Why are you praising him so much?” Glenn turned his head, pretending he’d never asked to write it down on the gospel. “It’s only natural for him to act that way since he figured out that it was Zieghart’s land.”

However, his earlobes were turning completely red despite saying it was natural, and the corners of his lips were reaching his cheekbones at that point, making it visible even from behind that he was smiling.

“So, when are the little ones coming back?”

Glenn couldn’t hide his excitement, and even called them little ones instead of the Light Wind Division. His voice was clearly shaking.

“They went to Balkar, but they should be back soon.”

“…I see.” Glenn sighed, disappointed by the fact that they weren’t returning right away. He started to shake his legs before he knew it, and the entire lord’s manor started to tremble.

“My lord! Don’t worry about them. They should be back soon.”

“Yes. A slight delay isn’t anything special since they are bringing gifts.”

Sheryl and Roenn smiled faintly while watching the dust falling from the ceiling.

“Who’s worried about them? I was just curious!”

The trembling of the lord’s manor was further intensified despite his claim.

“And I have another matter to report.” Chad lowered his gaze, completely removing the smile from his face. “I’m sure you are fully aware, my lord, but the Council of Elders is currently occupying the annex building to carry out an inspection. I heard they are blatantly bullying them.”

He furrowed his brow, showing his displeasure at the actions of the elders.

“They must be trying to use Lady Sylvia as a means to control Raon.” Roenn furrowed his brow, which was quite rare coming from him.

“Hmm, shall I take care of them?” Sheryl casually swung her shoulder. She looked like she was going to eliminate them all as soon as she was given the order.

“The inspection right of the Council of Elders has existed ever since the first generation. Even the lord’s manor can’t force them to stop since it’s an important measure to separate the authority.” Glenn calmly shook his head.

“But we can still do it if we really want to.” Sheryl furrowed her brow.

“Yes, it’s possible to stop them. However, they will take advantage of that fact and pick an even nastier fight with a different method.”

Glenn shook his head as if he already knew what the elders were thinking.

“In the end, the annex building has to overcome it on its own.”

Roenn calmly nodded his head.

“However, the annex building has no authority whatsoever. They will have a hard time just defending themselves.” Chad swallowed nervously, expressing his worries.

“That’s true. However, since the Light Wind Division has gained a great achievement this time.” Glenn’s eyes sparkled in a frightening light as he gazed down upon Chad. “It doesn’t seem to be a bad idea to grant one of his wishes.”

Chad understood the meaning behind his words and immediately stood up.

“I’ll quickly let them know!”

* * *

Ten days had passed since the Council of Elders started their inspection.

“I think they’re hiding something under this floor. Open it up!”

“The window’s frame is tilted! Break it!”

“There’s a gap on the ceiling! Tear it off!”

The warriors from the Council of Elders destroyed the perfectly fine floors, walls, and ceilings, then immediately proceeded to find the next faults.

“What are you waiting for? Take away that dirty stuff!”

“You didn’t even clean properly. I’ll write down that this place has the worst hygiene.”

“How can you even think about cooking food and eating in a place like this? Do you think you are in a den of beggars?”

They didn’t even clean up the debris after they tore things apart, and they laughed at the maids who were trying to clean up while bullying them.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll clean it up right now.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The annex building’s maids cleaned up the mess inside the house and personally repaired the broken ceilings and floors while enduring the vicious actions of the council’s warriors to prevent harming Raon and Sylvia.

Blue bruises could be seen on their hands and feet because they’d been working nonstop for ten days. Sylvia had also been helping the maids to repair and clean the annex building.

Even though Krisen and the council’s warriors had been bullying her the most, she endured everything with the exact same attitude as in the beginning.

“Ma’am.”

As Sylvia was cleaning up the debris of the broken wall, Helen walked up to her and lowered her head.

“Please have some rest. You’ve been working since daybreak.”

“I’m fine. You should rest first, Helen.” Sylvia patted Helen’s shoulder with her lips curving into a smile.

“I’m fine, but the others are having a hard time,” Helen sighed while putting down a blackened mop. She bit her lip, saying that some of the maids were going to start collapsing soon.

“I think so too. However, there’s no other way right now.” Sylvia shook her head. “They want us to resort to violence.”

The vice head of the elders was only using legal means to bully the annex building. If they resorted to violence, it was going to be extremely detrimental to Raon, which was exactly what the elders wanted.

“You are well aware.”

A quiet voice could be heard from the right. She shifted her gaze and saw that the Gambling Monster was sitting on a broken window frame.

“The Council of Elders is full of sly old men like them. The reason I left the council was partly because I didn’t want to see them anymore.”

The Gambling Monster furrowed his brow, saying that unsightly old men were more numerous than nice old men.

“I’m even losing my appetite for drink because I kept hearing your sighs.” He threw away a small piece of paper from his hand as he spoke, disappearing right after.

“Ah…”

Sylvia clenched her fist after checking out the paper that the Gambling Monster had left behind. She nodded in determination, then headed outside the annex building.

“Dig more over there! Don’t stop moving your hands!”

Krisen was ordering the maids to dig out the garden, his chin covered in bandages.

Their hands were shaking because of how exhausted they were. Judiel and her brother, Juvel, were the only ones who could continuously move their hands, allowing the other maids to rest.

“Aah, it’s enough in that direction. Dig the opposite side now.”

Krisen ordered them to dig another location with his lips curved into a mocking smile directed at the maids. As a result, the garden that used to be brimming with flowers had become devastated like a battlefield.

The vice head of the elders was enjoying some refreshments at a luxurious table placed at the center of the garden.

“Vice head of the elders.” Sylvia peacefully walked up to him and lowered her head.

“What is it?” The vice head elegantly put down the teacup and nodded his head.

“How about stopping this now?”

“Stopping?” He raised his gaze with a sneer. “Ten days have passed, but you still haven’t given up on that haughty attitude. That’s so arrogant of you.”

“......”

Sylvia didn’t say anything. She simply stared at the vice head of elders with calm eyes.

“I’m the one who can finish this situation, not you. You shouldn’t forget who has the right to decide.”

The vice head of the elders twisted his lips into a smile, watching the maids who were digging the ground with bloody hands.

“You should be well aware of what you need to do if you don’t want to see them suffer any longer. What you are doing right now isn’t the correct attitude.”

“Bowing to a nasty human being just to have an easier time isn’t a good method either.”

“You are still insisting…” He twisted his lips. “Don’t tell me, are you counting on the permit ending? You are gravely mistaken. It’s extremely easy to extend the permit.”

The vice head of elders raised his voice, asking if she wanted to see the end of it.

“You are the one who is gravely mistaken, vice head of elders.”

“What?”

“I was advising you solely for your sake. I’ll say this one last time. You’d better return now for your own sake. I won’t blame you for what you’ve done so far if you do that,” Sylvia declared confidently, as if she had the upper hand.

“You must’ve gone insane. Alright, let’s see the end of it!”

The vice head of elders ordered Krisen to get a new permit.

“Do as you wish.”

Sylvia turned around from the vice head of elders and walked up to the maids, who were still digging.

“Ma’am, we are fine.”

“Y-yes, don’t worry about us.”

“We can endure it, no problem!”

Judiel and the maids shook their heads, telling her to not worry about them.

“I’m really sorry.”

Sylvia smiled faintly and dropped the Gambling Monster’s letter into the hole in the ground from her hand.

[Raon Zieghart’s return is confirmed to be this evening. He will be given the right to stop the vicious actions of the council of the elders. -Swallow]

Judiel and the maids widened their eyes upon seeing the information from the Shadow Agents, which had been delivered by the Gambling Monster.

“Just put up with it a little bit longer.”

Sylvia smiled faintly while burying the piece of paper in the ground.

“You’ll see their heads—I mean, their skulls breaking soon enough.”

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]