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"Yeah! I have to work hard to feed my daughter!"

He was a brave soldier.

A citizen of Carpe who loved his country, and a soldier who revered the sword.

He was also a father of a daughter, same as Callius, and his wife had passed away a long time ago, so they had quite a lot in common.

"I\'ll guide you."

"You don\'t have to escort me anymore."

"No, no, I do have to. If I don\'t give someone of your station an escort, Count, I\'ll get a pretty harsh scolding."

"I see."

"This place gets very few visitors, so just one person is enough for security. The monthly salary is pretty good and the job is easy, too. Although it\'s a bit boring, I like it."

"If it\'s so boring, why are you doing this? If you volunteer, there should be a lot of other jobs available."

"Even though it\'s boring, that has its own value."

"Because of your daughter?"

The daughter of a foolish father.

"Yeah. If I die for nothing, who’s going to raise my daughter? We two are the only ones in our family, so I have to take care of her by myself."

"You love your daughter a lot."

"She’s the apple of my eye[1]. She’s really cute, you know? Whenever I go home, that little kid jumps at me and sticks to me so hard that I think I might fall over. She’s so pretty, too, like a splitting image of my wife…"

Peter\'s smile held a bitter edge. He seemed to be reminiscing about his dead wife.

"How old is the child?"

"She\'s twelve this year."

Coincidentally, she was the same age as Emily.

Naturally, Callius also thought of Emily and smiled.

"What do little girls like these days, do you think?"

"Do you also have a daughter, Count?"

"That\'s right. She\'s also twelve this year. She’s always a bit curt with me, though."

"I see. It\'s kind of nice to hear. But unfortunately, knowing my daughter’s likes and dislikes might not help you."

Why?

“Unlike other kids her age, my daughter is only interested in swords…"

The little girl was apparently a sword fanatic.

As she was a child of the Carpe Kingdom, where the Order of Valtherus was the state religion, it wasn’t that big a surprise.

Callius, too, knew another little girl who was only interested in swords.

Rather, this was interesting.

"Tell me more."

"It\'s because she grew up without a mother. She quickly learned that I depend on my sword to live, and became interested in swordsmanship. She wants to become a knight…"

He’d gone through a lot of trouble as a result.

Peter naturally didn’t want to raise his only daughter as a knight, but she was so stubborn that he gave her a wooden sword first to play with.

"What about becoming a pilgrim?"

"Ugh… It\'d be hard to even see her face if she becomes a nun. Besides, a pilgrim’s life is still dangerous. Don’t pilgrims wander around all year without any trace? Absolutely not!"

Callius swallowed his words and shook his head.

To be honest, being a pilgrim wasn\'t a job that most high-ranking people, let alone high aristocrats, preferred. Because it was a path full of thorns, and the casualty rate was worse than even knights.

In addition, now that the reputation of the Church had fallen so low, if you were unlucky enough, you might even get stoned to death.

Who would choose such an occupation in such a situation?

"Are you planning to raise her as a knight, then?"

"Yeesh, I don\'t know. She wants to go to the Royal Academy, it seems, but… that’s beyond my ability."

The Royal Academy.

Literally, a school under royal authority that nurtured children to become knights.

“If you successfully complete your education, you’ll be awarded a knighthood and given a life sword. Not only that, the three top students each year are also given a choice. Either to join the Royal Knight Order, or to become a paladin of the Church.”

Callius never knew there was such a benefit.

It wasn’t useless information, either.

"It wouldn\'t be a bad idea to send her there, then?"

“Hey, forget about it. My daughter takes after me in using a sword, but to get in the academy, she’d need a recommendation. And even then, the waiting list is far too long, so I can’t even dream of it. Besides, how expensive is the registration fee… There’s no way I could pay that with my monthly salary. I can only feel sorry for her. I\'m incompetent as a father."

The Royal Academy.

‘Emily would love that place.\'

It might not be as good as the actual battle experience she’d accumulated in the North, but Callius thought it might be a good experience for her.

If it was Callius, he could definitely write a letter of recommendation.

‘That kid, even if she has talent in swordsmanship, she doesn\'t seem to have any friends.\'

The last time he’d seen her, he’d told her that he’d bring a sword for her next time, but she’d said that she didn\'t need one, so a gift like this wouldn’t be bad either.

‘Is she doing fine, I wonder?\'

Two months had passed since he’d left the North.

How was she doing, left in that cold white hell filled with pure snow?

Was this the reality of becoming a father?

After being reborn in this world, this might be Callius’ first time missing someone.

Of course, he still didn\'t have the heart of a proper parent.

"We\'ve arrived. I’ll wait for you here, so please feel free to come back once you’re done."

"Alright, then."

While chit-chatting about this and that, they’d already arrived in front of Beatrice\'s house.

No, rather, it should be called her laboratory.

Rap. Callius knocked on the door, and heard a faint voice telling him to come in.

"Excuse me."

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a mess, made up of cluttered piles of documents, various artifacts and research materials.

"You\'re here."

Beatrice was leaning against a leather sofa, with her long dark purple hair hanging down. The sight of her with her legs crossed, reclined into soft leather, was quite alluring to say the least. Because Beatrice was wearing shreds of fabric that could hardly even be called clothes.

A black silk slip.

A nightgown so flimsy that the slightest breeze would bare the insides to the world.

"Are you an exhibitionist?"

"I wore this because you were coming, Count. I’ll take it off when it’s time for research. I get nervous and frustrated when I\'m wearing anything. If you want, would you like to do an experiment together?"

It was quite an embarrassing piece of information, but Callius refused without even changing his expression.

He had no interest in having another child, that too with a commoner.

"I\'m headed for Count Artemion’s place. If I tell the Church or the royal family, he might catch wind of it and squirrel away the demonic beasts, so it\'s better to make a surprise attack."

"Okay, then let\'s go right now."

"Are you going to go dressed like that?"

"Wait."

Beatrice quickly put on a hooded robe that covered her whole body.

Outside the window, the sun was starting to set.

The last light burned with an intense vermilion hue. The shadows lengthened, and darkness slowly filled the world.

Within that overflowing darkness –

Bop-bop-bop-bop.

A screeching noise pierced the ears.

"This noise is gonna kill me."

In the quarters Callius had taken over –

Orcal, who was quietly polishing his spirit sword, the Worm Soul, frowned at the persistent scratching noise at the door.

Callius had gone out some time ago, alone.

Which was fine.

What really stuck in his craw was how a high-level manpower, an inquisitor-captain, had been left to babysit a pup of a demonic beast.

Bruns hadn\'t come back from wherever he’d wandered to, so Callius had ordered him to take care of Vivi.

"I\'m not even house-sitting, I\'m dog-sitting. This is ridiculous. How did I end up like this?"

Bop-bop-bop-bop.

Either way, the pup kept scraping at the door. Maybe it was because it’d seen Callius disappear through it.

It’s been scratching that door all day.

"Ugh! Noisy! Stop it, you bastard!"

Callius might look like he loved it, but not Orcal.

Not in the slightest.

The scars he’d received from its mother, the thunder wolf dragon, still remained on his body.

Besides, it was a magic beast.

Orcal naturally held a strong hatred for their breed.

He’d lost his parents and siblings in a magic beast attack, so it was even more intense than others.

– Kieeeeeng! Kieeeeeng! Crooooooon!

"You trying to mess with me, you son of a bitch!?"

Well, he’d been thinking there was nowhere to vent, but wasn’t this good?

As they said, animals with fur had to be beaten with a stick if one wanted to educate them.

Whip!

On an impulse, Orcal unsheathed the Worm Soul, held it like a club and approached Vivi.

Feeling some kind of premonition, Vivi suddenly cried and tried to run away.

"Let me see, where can you run…"

Crash– clang–!

It smashed through the window and jumped out.

"Eh! No, you crazy, what, wait!"

The hotel room they were in was on the third floor.

Even if it was the pup of a magic beast, if it fell from such a height, it’d die!

Even if it didn\'t die, it\'d be severely injured!

Callius loved Vivi quite a bit.

At the thought of his superior’s anger when he returned, Orcal shuddered.

He realized once again that it was him who was being educated with a stick.

"Please, please be safe!"

Orcal immediately jumped out of the window himself.

Thump!

Landing on the ground, the sword back at his waist, Orcal looked around.

"Eh, why can’t –?!"

But Vivi’s figure was nowhere to be seen. All he could see was a dark street at night.

A few street lanterns were scattered here and there along the way.

Orcal understood.

‘I’ve fucked up.\'

He’d lost Vivi.

"No, it fell from that height, how could it already disappear like this?"

Although, Callius had been feeding it something strange.

And it wasn’t an ordinary pup, it was the child of a thunder wolf dragon.

But if it could’ve done this any time, why had it been scratching the door like that all day?

Still, this wasn\'t the time to analyze something like that.

"I’ve got no choice but to find it before Sir Callius returns."

And he got beaten again. Shuddering, Orcal pulled out the Worm Soul halfway from the scabbard.

Worms materialized with a buzzing sound.

"Find Vivi."

Step!

Climbing up to the roof of a tall building, Orcal closed his eyes and focused.

After a while –

Orcal\'s eyebrows furrowed as he opened his eyes wide.

"Why go there?"

The place where Vivi had gone to, was a count’s mansion.

It was the mansion of Count Artemion.

At the mansion of the Artemion family, in the underground basement.

"Do you want to eat it? Lick it like a dog."

"Hey, I\'m not your plaything! I\'m the servant of Sir Callius, the future great Master of the North!"

"If you eat this, I\'ll give you another steak."

Unfortunately for Bruns, the meat was too good to refuse.

Chomp, gulp!

To be honest, it was in a bowl, so even though it’d been thrown down at the floor, that didn’t really matter.

The meat was great, and the taste was amazing.

‘Maybe this kind of life is good, too.\'

It came with three meals full of meat, you could sleep when you wanted to, and shit when you wanted to.

Because it was an iron cage made to hold magic beasts, it was wide enough to live in.

Being a noble\'s pet didn\'t seem so bad.

"Do you want to be my pet?"

"W-, what nonsense!! A glorious job awaits me, to serve the one who will become the future Lord of the North!! Release me now, you godless crazy idiot!"

"What? Are you calling me an idiot?"

"Yeah, that\'s right! Damn! How could you do this if you aren’t an idiot! The biggest idiot in the whole kingdom! You cowardly bastard! If you\'re a real leader of men, take up your sword and fight! Don\'t hide behind demonic beasts and do stupid things!!"

“You worm, you dare…!”

"What’re you going to do? What’re you going to do!? Don’t you have to keep me safe to get my boss here? You idiot! You can\'t do anything to me, right? Just stand still and stew, you bastard!"

Bruns raised his fist and shouted a curse, but he immediately flinched at Viole\'s face, which had distorted into something creepy.

"I was wondering why I kept you alive. I don\'t actually care if I kill you. Callius will die here anyway."

"Um…"

Was that so?

"I’ll just kill you. Originally, I was going to make an example of you in front of Callius, but I’ve changed my mind. You arrogant servant, you just handle his chores but don’t even know your place. Just die, and free up some air for me to breathe."

"Hey! Please, help me! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Clang! Claaaaaaaaaaang!

When the magic beasts all hit the iron bars like it was a toy, they started to shake like a ship meeting stormy waves.

Bruns, rubbing away the tears and snot from his face, cried out for his life, but Viole’s lips only curved up at his plea.

"Boss!! Something\'s wrong!"

"What?"

"Someone’s here!"

"Ahhhhh!!"

Claaang–!!

The underground space shook violently, with the sound of a huge explosion.

At that moment, while Viole was trying to stay focused –

Once again, the walls burst, and someone appeared along with a small pile of sand and dust.

Black hair as dark as pitch.

Gray eyes without any emotion.

A rosary on his neck, and a stigma of God on the back of his hand.

And on his chest, a brooch symbolizing the Lord of the North.

It was Callius von Jervain.

"Boss!! You finally come to save me!! I, Bruns, am here! My faith in you never wavered!"

"Bruns? Why are you here?"

"Eh?"

Bruns, who’d been so moved that he was about to tear up, found his eyes welling up from a different emotion.

Editor\'s Notes:

[1] 눈에 넣어도 안 아플, be the apple of somebody’s eye.