Chapter 100 - EPISODE 100 – GATHERING (1/2)
Terms used in this chapter:
Gap moe – Japanese slang for a person/character who does something completely contradictory to their usual habits, personality, character, or appearance, which then makes them look cutely attractive.
The two men from the Bayer family and the two women from the Chase family gathered inside Jude and Cordelia’s love nest.
T/N: Puns are back. ‘Love’ can also mean ‘guest/reception room,’ while ‘nest’ can also mean ‘home.’ Combine the two and it would also mean the house’s reception room.
‘Why are we seating like this?’
‘Well, just trust me. Just think like it’s part of our act.’
Anyway, the group had sat down.
The Great Storm tribe had a culture of sitting on the floor using cushions and not on chairs, so the two pairs were sitting while facing each other with a fire pit in between them.
‘This isn’t strange.’
Because Jude and Cordelia sat beside each other and Gaël and Adelia sat next to each other.
Jude and Cordelia were still in a shoulder hug even when they were seated, while Gaël and Adelia sat side-by-side but were not that close to each other.
They were just at a proper distance from the other.
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
Cordelia leaned her body on Jude’s side as she mischievously looked at Adelia and Gaël.
She had already forgotten the series of actions Jude had done earlier that made her heart pound as she had now focused all her senses on Adelia and Gaël.
And it wasn’t really strange.
‘Because I’m used to it.’
Cordelia had been carried by Jude on his arms or his back almost every day since they entered the barbarian lands, so she was accustomed to it already.
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
The Cordelia who was afraid of Adelia’s arrival was nowhere to be found.
The only person sitting here now was a younger sister who had a cat’s mouth and mischievous eyes as she let out strange sounds that seemed to say, ‘I see, so that’s what it was.’
“Ueueueu…”
She was indeed Cordelia’s older sister.
Adelia was still blushing and groaning while she sat. She couldn’t even look at Gaël’s side and just kept staring at the ground.
‘She’s shaking.’
Her heart and mind were shaking.
Jude’s guess was right. The events that had just happened were playing over and over again in Adelia’s mind in a beautified manner due to being blinded by love.
‘Is there…nothing between us?’
His gloomy eyes had looked sad and heartbroken, yet his voice and expression seemed to say that he didn’t want to give up expecting.
‘Why are you like this, why are you doing this to me? Uwaaa…’
She did not let out a voice, but her reactions were really like Cordelia’s.
‘Adelia Chase.’
Cordelia’s older sister.
One of the seven heads of the Royal Guards Magic Corps.
A genius wizard who fully inherited Count Chase’s talents.
She was high-handed, hot-tempered, and even had violent tendencies, but-
‘She really is Cordelia’s older sister.’
She was absolutely pretty.
Unlike Cordelia’s vivid red hair, her golden hair that seemed to shine even if it was not fluttering, was beautiful in itself. And her fair complexion and fierce eyes gave her a sharp and urban beauty.
Furthermore, her cheeks were red from embarrassment and she was at a loss on what to do.
Thanks to her unusual appearance, she was now exuding on what was called ‘gap moe.’
‘Hmm, but Cordelia is still better.’
Because Cordelia was more beautiful than Adelia, and she was even lovely.
Jude gave a subjective opinion that was completely unobjective. He then nodded a few times to himself before turning his gaze towards Gaël.
‘Did he…overcome it?’
The reason why the eldest son and undeniable heir of Count Bayer was still not married in his late twenties.
He didn’t know it when he was Outboxer009, but he now knew when he was reincarnated as Jude Bayer.
The incident that happened to Gaël.
The incident that made Gaël stop thinking about marriage and devote himself to training for some time.
It was an incident that he could not overcome in the original story. No, perhaps he was ready to overcome it, but the tragedy of the barbarians’ great invasion in the north robbed him of that opportunity.
‘Older brother.’
He was Jude Bayer’s own brother and not just a supporting character of Legend of Heroes 2.
He was looking at the embarrassed Adelia with a warm smile.
He was sitting calmly, but Jude could tell.
Gaël’s earlobes were slightly red. He was somehow embarrassed like Adelia too.
‘But still.’
The way he looked at Adelia was really that of love.
Do I have such a loving look when I gaze at Cordelia?
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
Jude quickly looked back at Cordelia who was still giggling and letting out a silly snicker as she watched Adelia.
In any case, they had to proceed with their conversation now.
“Ahem, ahem.”
When Jude cleared his throat, Gaël and Cordelia shifted their gazes to Jude.
Adelia was still staring at the ground, but she seemed to have heard him given that she had flinched.
“Moving on…let’s continue our conversation.”
Because they had a lot of things that they really needed to talk about.
“You’re right, Jude. Let’s start with you. Did you become Iron Man Landius’ disciple? And I heard that you became involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross. Can you tell me when it all began?”
Because the two were not involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross until the time they had left Langesthei.
At Gaël’s calm comment, Adelia also stared at Jude and Cordelia after having recovered to some extent, and Cordelia also looked back at Jude.
‘Are you going to tell them that?’
‘Yes, I am.’
After their eye conversation, Jude cleared his throat again and began talking.
“It all started when we met the Fairy Queen.”
To summarize, Jude’s story was as follows.
The Fairy Queen warned them of the demon followers’ attack at Langesthei, and also informed them of the witch.
After the incident in Langesthei, they headed to the witch’s forest to meet the witch’s soul. They then heard a warning about Landius and the demon followers’ atrocities that were happening across the northern borders.
On their way to Count Hræsvelgr’s territory, they met Landius and Jude became his disciple. They finally made a decision at that time too.
“Did you mean about your decision to go north and stop the demon followers?”
“Yes, brother.”
But it was a story with very little evidence.
Moreover, Count Hræsvelgr was trying to prevent Jude and Cordelia from leaving Vedrfolnir.
Therefore, Jude and Cordelia were forced to escape Vedrfolnir using a honeymoon trip as an excuse.
“After that…”
On their way to the north, they headed to Frost Anvil to cure Jude’s illness, and while obtaining the Sunflower there, they ended up facing the demon followers.
“Because of that, I was convinced that something was going on in the barbarian lands – no, the wild lands.”
They crossed the border via Lankebuste after that, and in the middle of that, they met the Ghostblade Kamael.
“I’m sure you already know what happened after that.”
They became the guardians of the wild lands who busied themselves in stopping the plot of the group of demon followers called Devil’s Eye from undermining the wild lands.
“As expected…it wasn’t a simple runaway…no, I mean, an elopement.”
“I was immature and couldn’t come up with other excuses. Like you’ve said, we’ve troubled a lot of people.”
When Jude made a sad expression, Gaël felt sorry for him while Cordelia stealthily nudged him in the ribs.
‘Do you think it worked?’
‘Of course.’
He was the one who created this story after all.
With a very faint smile that only Cordelia could see, Jude spoke again as he looked again at Gaël and Adelia.
“Older brother and Lady Adelia. Once the demon followers seize the wild lands, there will be a big war between the north and the barbarians again. That alone must be stopped.”
“You’re right. Moreover…as I traveled around this land myself, my thoughts changed a little. Perhaps we were too prejudiced against the barbarians.”
But that was just it.
The Sälen Kingdom and the barbarians in the barbarian lands have already confronted each other many times in the past, and all of those confrontations were not the plots of the demon followers.
It was clear that those who lived in the wild lands were not beasts in human form but were humans too like those who lived in the northern part of the Sälen Kingdom themselves, and as such, the kingdom’s citizens did not harbor wild fantasies about that fact.
In the first place, the Argon Empire were humans too, but they were at odds with the Sälen Kingdom too.
“I will help Lady Cordelia and Jude. What about you, Lady Adelia?”
Gaël clearly and decisively revealed his intentions and then asked Adelia, who replied after taking a deep breath.
“I will help too. Because it is for the defense of the kingdom.”
After all, she was one of the seven leaders of the Royal Guard Magic Corps.
The current situation had changed from a personal matter of catching a runaway younger sister while on her vacation to a public one for the defense of the kingdom, so it was natural for her to step forward as she was a public official of the kingdom.
“Thank you, Unnie.”