Editor : Amethyst00



"That Dinette Smith… Seems he had a son."

Chelsea, who had been waiting for Leo outside the cemetery, said this to him as he returned after paying respects at the memorial.

It was something she heard from the head of the weapon workshop who had guided them here.

"A son, huh."

"What are you going to do?"

When Chelsea cautiously asked, Leo replied calmly.

"For now, let's focus on the mission."

"Okay."

At this moment, there wasn't much Leo could do for Dinette's son.

'At the very least, I can express my gratitude.'

But that was all.

They didn't have much time left.

Even if they changed actual history, that didn't mean these people would continue to exist.

'Still, I should go see him.'

Thinking of Dinette's son, Leo returned to where the party's tents were set up.

By then, it was around midday.

Seeing the scene in front of the tent, Chelsea widened her eyes.

"Who are they?"

Their group was facing off against someone.

Leo recognized the beastkin girl facing off against Duran and muttered, "Those are the kids we saw yesterday."

"You know them, Leo?"

"Not really—just saw their faces."

Right before the battle, they had shown their fighting spirit, saying they wanted to go to the battlefield too.

Of course, they weren't qualified, so they couldn't fight.

"What's going on?"

Leo approached and asked. Duran curled up one side of his mouth.

"They said they want to spar with us."

Crack—

Duran cracked his knuckles.

"So I thought I'd oblige."

"You look happy."

"They're warrior trainees from Ivaldi."

Though around the same age, they lived in different times.

He was curious to see how warrior trainees from 5000 years ago would fight.

There was no sense of disdain.

Duran was competitive to begin with, but more than that, he tried to absorb anything he could learn to make it his own.

Eliza, who had a similar personality, was filing her nails, seemingly uninterested.

'Probably because there's no summoner here.'

Even now, summoners were a rarer class than knights or mages.

In the Age of Calamity, they were even more scarce.

"You're their leader, right? Fight me."

The beastkin's innate aggressiveness was showing.

At those words, Aina, who had been observing from behind, stepped forward.

"What?"

"If you want to fight Leo-sunbae, prove yourself first."

"And what does that mean?"

"Beat me, at least."

The beastkin girl frowned.

Seeing that, Leo gently pressed Aina's head down.

"Don't provoke them unnecessarily."

"I didn't provoke them…"

Leo pinched Aina's cheek.

Aina looked up at him.

She seemed expressionless, but her eyes were full of discontent.

Leo chuckled softly, then sent her over to Luke and stood before the beastkin girl.

"Why do you want to fight us?"

"You joined the battle yesterday, right?"

The beastkin girl lowered her head.

"For that, I'm grateful. Even though you're outsiders, you fought for Ivaldi. Thank you."

After expressing her gratitude, she looked up again.

"But for us, it's humiliating. You're our age, and you're outsiders, yet you fought. We weren't even allowed to set foot on the battlefield."

The beastkin girl clenched her teeth.

"So we want to prove ourselves to Lord Dweno."

"That you're qualified to fight?"

"Yes."

Looking into the eyes of the girl burning with resolve, Leo spoke.

"I don't underestimate you. But there's no one here weaker than you."

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"You know that better than anyone, don't you?"

At those words, the beastkin girl bit her lip hard.

She knew very well that she couldn't even beat Aina, who had stood in her way earlier—let alone Leo.

"Ivaldi's situation is dire. Normally, you should've been on the battlefield too. But Dweno didn't allow it. You must know why."

The cat-eared, brown-haired girl hung her head low.

"What future?"

It wasn't the beastkin girl who snapped—it was the dwarf boy beside her.

"We're going to die anytime anyway! What's the point of a future?!"

The dwarf boy spoke with eyes filled with deep emptiness.

"What matters is now! The warriors fighting for us have families too! Them returning safely—to their families, to us—is what's important! We can help with that!"

Dweno wanted to give these kids a chance to live, even if just a little longer.

He wasn't the only one.

Those born before the Age of Calamity pitied those born during it.

A generation that only had things taken away from them.

A generation so deep in nihilism they couldn't even see a future.

The warriors of Ivaldi, including Dweno, wanted to show them light.

And after regaining the starlight, that desire grew even stronger.

But for the kids, the present was far more urgent and precious than an unreachable future.

'They're not wrong.'

But…

'Unless they're like Velkia or Bihar… they won't be much help on the battlefield anyway.'

Thinking of his students who exceeded all standards, Leo clicked his tongue.

"Just like Deet said! And what do you even know?! You're around our age! So what if you're a little strong?!"

The beastkin girl pointed at Leo.

"Leo's not just a little strong."

'Actually, by this era's standards, he's an adult.'

Chelsea shook her head.

"Wow, seriously impressive."

Watching the situation, Carl commented in awe.

Seeing him, the beastkin girl flared up.

"Even that weakling went out to the battlefield yesterday! So why can't we?!"

"Huh? Me?"

"We want to go to war too! We want to fight! If that weakling can, so can we!"

"Hey now, calling me weak over and over… That hurts, you know."

Carl grumbled.

"But you are weak."

"You're pathetic."

Chelsea and Eliza teased him.

"Hmph—so noisy for people who haven't even been recognized as heroes."

Their faces turned grim at that.

Carl quickly hid behind Luke.

"I like that fire."

Then Duran smirked and stepped forward.

"Alright. I'll fight you."

As Duran stepped forward, Leo said, "Wait, Duran."

"Is that an order?"

"A favour. If you fight her, she won't learn anything."

"What do you mean?"

Duran frowned.

Leo gave him a smile and turned to Carl.

"Carl."

"What?"

"You'll fight."

"Me?"

Carl looked flustered.

Seeing that, the beastkin girl shouted, "Wait! Why do I have to fight that weakling?!"

"Carl's the weakest among us. If you can't beat even him, you won't be recognized. You're not qualified to be on the battlefield."

Leo smiled. The beastkin girl snorted.

"I'll beat that weakling mage easily and fight you."

"That won't happen."

"What?"

"You won't beat Carl."

bl

"Something interesting's happening."

In front of the tents.

As Carl and the Ivaldi warrior trainee prepared to duel, Enniha returned.

"Ms. Enniha…! This is…"

"Yeah, Deet. You don't have to explain."

Nodding at the dwarf boy's words, Enniha turned.

"Ms. Enniha! Look at this!"

Then Drianna appeared, eyes sparkling.

She held a drawing in her hands.

Seeing it, Chelsea said,

"Yesterday you looked like you were dying under Dweno's training. But today you're full of energy."

"Today I learned drawing from Ms. Enniha! The dumb cat and the dumb human are still knocked out!"

Hearing that, Deet looked shocked.

"Ms. Enniha. What is she saying? Training under Lord Dweno?"

Enniha scratched her cheek at his question.

"She's learning smithing from Dweno."

After the short answer, Enniha looked at Drianna's drawing and her face twisted.

"So, so original."

"Right?! You get it!"

"That's not a compliment, dumb dwarf."

Chelsea coldly remarked, but Drianna didn't hear.

Seeing the drawing, Deet exploded.

"Wasn't I supposed to be Lord Dweno's apprentice?!"

"Well… You might still become…"

"I can't accept this! Someone with such terrible skills becoming his apprentice before me?!"

At that, Drianna's face suddenly turned deadly.

"What did you just say?"

"I said your skills are awful!"

"You damn dwarf!"

"You're a dwarf too! And who are you calling damn dwarf?! You draw cursed crap!"

"You insulted my art!"

"Art?! That's art?!"

"What's the commotion?"

Leo approached, frowning. Chelsea replied, "That dwarf cowardly attacked Drianna with facts!"

"Chelsea Lewellin!"

Drianna lunged at Chelsea.

Chelsea fled, eyes wide, as Drianna chased her down.

Watching this, Deet shouted, "Hey, human! Let me duel that dwarf! I'll fight for Lord Dweno's apprentice spot!"

Enniha sighed and said,"Better not."

"Why not?!"

"You'll end up with more than a few broken bones."

There's nothing more infuriating to an artist than an insult to their work.

Drianna would definitely fight seriously.

As she calmed Deet, Enniha looked at Drianna's drawing with a grave expression.

"You regret it, don't you?"

At Leo's words, Enniha forced a smile.

"I can teach her. I can teach…"

"Nope."

Leo said flatly, then looked at Drianna.

"Her hands and artistic sense are definitely cursed."

There was a reason Dweno had told her to forget art altogether.

Meanwhile…

Carl had finished preparing for the duel.

Seeing that, Leo spoke.

"You guys."

Everyone looked at him.

"Watch carefully."

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"That beastkin girl has something none of you do."

"What is it?"

Luke asked curiously, and Leo replied,

"A readiness to die—anytime."