Harun - Volume 3 - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

《Devron’s past, and a new member joins the Gusts of Wind》

 After checking the information of the knives, Haroon visited Devron’s room secretly .

 “Haha! I knew you’d come to me . You must be wondering who I am, right?” Devron welcomed him in .

 Haroon was surprised to see two cups of herbal tea, and it was still hot . Devron really was expecting his visit, although Haroon never talked him about it .

 “Y-yes . I have a few other things to ask as well . ”

 “Well, it’s a lot to go through, so why don’t we start with a cup of tea?”

 Devron gently pushed a cup of tea to Haroon’s side . They each took a sip .

 “Enjoying a cup of good tea with a good person is a very luxurious thing for me . It can’t go wrong . ”

 “Is that so?”

 Haroon couldn’t understand . His position is high enough to call an imperial princess by her name . Just considering that, he would be able to do anything if he wanted to .

 “Then, let me tell you my story first . ”

 As if he was enjoying the warmth of cup, he gently grasped the cup with both hands and closed his eyes . His rough, solid face that represented the suffers he went through, and his deep wrinkles were shaking, which was almost unnoticeable .

 “Ha, I never knew I’d get a chance to talk about my life to someone . It fills me with emotions . ”

 His old eyes were shaking .

 “I will keep it short . I am actually Briella’s uncle . My youngest sister was the current Emperor’s wife . My lineagefamilies have produced key figures in the military authorities of the current empire . Following the tradition of my family, I was sent to a knight academy, and I became a knight bachelor of the Messenger knights when I graduated . But when the Emperor ascended the throne, a whistleblower exposed the scandal of Viscount Fukov, the formal leader of the Messenger Knights . The whistleblower claimed that the Messenger Knights were secretly helping an imperial prince, a violation of the rules of the golden battle . The Messenger Knights were a secret knightage of the Empire, and it meant we had to remain neutral in regards to the battle . Even though I had no idea about it, I was in the same boat, so I had to experience the tragic event . ”

 Devron’s lineage were not high ranking nobles, but they produced talented knights . Devron was born as a legitimate child, and was gifted . With his family’s systematic education and with his own passionate training, he became a member of the Messenger Knights in his early 20s; the knightage that was considered the best of the secret knightages in the Empire .

 But the leader had violated the law by helping a candidate in the golden battle, and it was exposed to the Emperor . To complicate the matter, the Messenger Knights helped the greatest threat to the current Emperor . So as soon as the Emperor had ascended the throne, the Messenger knights were annihilated to its roots . Devron was able to make a dramatic escape with the help of his sister who was working as a royal court magician for the imperial palace at the time .

 “The reasons why I was able to escape the imperial palace were that; I wasn’t officially registered as a member of the Messenger Knights, and I was training in a secret training hall with a few of my friends when the purge was going on, and that only the high authorities knew of my existence, who were killed in the beginning of the purge . Of course, if it wasn’t for the desperate help of Briella’s Mother, I wouldn’t have made it through the guardians of the imperial family’s iron-like defense . ”

 After the purge, Devron wandered around the continent with his family slave Teeno . If the imperial family found out that Devron was a member of the Messenger Knights, there was a chance that his entire family could be destroyed . The imperial family had two secret knightages which traced and destroyed the rebels, and Devron knew how skillful and cruel they were . So he intentionally left the Empire, wandering around the meadows of the northern parts of the continent, becoming a mercenary in another Empire, anything he could do to live on .

 “And as I had never heard from my family, I never knew that my sister became an empress . While I wandered around the world, my parents died and my family became a nominal family . And about two years ago, I came back to the Empire . ”

 Just to realize that he wasted his time wandering around the world, giving up his social identity of a knight, being afraid of the chase that was never going on .

 “I wouldn’t have run off if nobody knew of my existence…… . Come to think of it, life is very cruel to all of us . Who knows, if I lingered in the Metropolis, the information guilds could have found me, then my family would have gotten annihilated, and my sister might not have lived the life she lived . ”

 It was a truly exhausting life that Devron went through . Haroon had nothing to say about it, so he kept silent .

 “I have something else to ask you . I’ve already talked with Briella and Paros after you left the basement . ”

 At that moment, the UI sound went off, displaying a quest window . So Haroon didn’t really need to hear what Devron was saying afterwards .

[You have received a quest!]

Story Quest
Difficulty – C

 Help Imperial Princess Briella to become one of the last four successors! The current force behind Briella is somewhat feeble . Help to strengthening her force, and make her one of the last four successors that will be decided by the Senate in roughly a years time . If you have a force behind you, their contribution towards the quest will be counted as well .

Reward: Award of a noble title with ownership of land . Gear set, spirit stones, cash and Soul Points . The quality of reward will vary on your contribution towards the quest .

 ‘Woah, that’s a tremendous quest . ’

 Of course, the reward would be depending on his contribution, but that wasn’t something peculiar to mention . The reason for it being vast could be considered as an evident of Briella’s force being incredibly feeble . Haroon wasn’t interested in the honor of being a noble in Beyond, but spirit stones, items and cash did interest him .

 “How’s the current situation?”

 It was a quite comprehensive question, but Devron’s nervous eyes relaxed a bit, as he could tell that Haroon was interested in working with him at least .

 “I need to explain this first . The Emperor had lots of interest in women . ”

 Devron’s voice was full of hostility towards the Emperor, who ruined his precious sister’s life only for love that lasted for a few months .

 “He married with five women, and had 10 concubines, not to mention the number of maids of honor whom he had . That’s a first in the Teronn Empires history . Thanks to that, we had 32 of his and her majesties qualified for this Golden Battle . 3 of them gave up, 6 of them were disqualified on the first stage, which was escaping the metropolis, and there is no confirmation on 8 of them, if they made it or not . ”

 “So at least 16, 24 at max . ”

 “You are right . It’s our view that at least 20 successors have made it through the first round . That’s another first in history that this imperial family has made . In history, at least half of the successors were disqualified on the first stage, which also means that this golden battle will be the most intense one we have ever had . It makes sense, because the current Emperor has been ruling for more than 30 years by now, which gave the nobles much longer than usual to prepare for the golden battle . ”

 ‘So basically 4 out of 20? That’s 1 out of 5 . I mean, yeah, the probability is quite high…… . ’

 Haroon thought for a second, and asked Devron .

 “I’ve got a question, though . ”

 “Anything you wish . ”

 “Why is it I that you chose?”

 “Hahaha, you really don’t know how valuable you are . Or are you hiding something?”

 Devron’s words confused everyone in the room¹ and made them look at Haroon out of curiosity, waiting for his answer . But Haroon didn’t really have anything to say .

 “You have shown us¹ your sword skill on Da’in Hills, control of poison in the Saron Wetland, inhuman knife-throwing skills, quick wit and strong responsibility while crossing the river . And yet, we haven’t seen your limit . Do you need any more explanation?”

 Haroon bitterly shook his head .

 Haroon really appreciated Devron’s compliment, but it was more of Brat’s skill rather than his own . He knew there wouldn’t be anyone who would oppose if he claims that a pet’s skill is the owner’s skill as well, but he was embarrassed anyways .

 “We’d like to focus on cultivating our ability . I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can be of great help to you, after all,” said Haroon, after thinking for a long time .

 That was what he concluded . He wasn’t confident enough to jump into the golden battle just yet . He thought it was better to join the Golden Battle after developing his strength .

 “That’s a great choice you made . Your help will be needed when the real battle between the successors begin in about 6 months to a years time . ”

 “Don’t expect too much from us . ”

 “Don’t worry about it . Just focus on cultivating your ability . Briella and I have a few things to do anyways . We’ll head to Tebes county where the Silent Plains are located . It’s right next to Huk’ran Mountains, where you’ll be heading if you do decide to escort Hall . Count Tebes is my cousin, and the stem of our force . The Silent Plains might be bad for farming, but mining businesses are excellent there, so we’ll be building our capital from there . We won’t have enough time to supress all 20 successors, but we could try . ”

 “Since it’s something you and Doran are doing, I think everything will go well . ”

 “Yes, yes it will . ”

 Devron’s face was full of determination and belief . But Haroon could also see worry in his eyes . The other successors have Dukes and Marquees at their backs, when they had to prepare a big event with a count .

 “We will cultivate our abilities and gather mercenaries together . ”

 Saying that, Haroon recalled the mercenaries he’d met during his graduation day .

 “Please do so . The mercenaries will move when the physical battle begins anyways, but if we do recruit good mercenaries first, we do have a chance of winning . ”

 Devron and Doran expected Briella to have the least amount of force among the successors, so as a solution they came up with the mercenaries . Grouping the mercenaries together would theoretically make them catch up to the others in a short time .

 As the outlanders started to appear in this world, mercenaries were losing their jobs . Requests like sweeping monsters were not made anymore, and now they were losing the opportunities to get VIP or merchant escorting requests as Outlanders took them first . Devron and Doran knew this very well, and were planning to hire those jobless mercenaries as a regular army .

 “I’ll talk with Paros about making the secret camp available for your plan . If you do prove that you can gather good mercenaries, we’ll support you financially as long as your money usage is detailed and not too sketchy . ”

 “Great . I will consider it positively . ”

 Haroon had nothing to lose on this deal . It wasn’t like he needed to do his best helping Briella, but just travelling around and recruiting skillful mercenaries .

 Financial support was a good deal, but he wanted to refuse that . If he did get financial support from them, the Gusts of Wind would lose its free will . He did want to participate in the Golden Battle, but he had no intention to go all-in with the Story Quest .

 “By the way, What kind of person is Teeno?”

 “Teeno?”

 Some kind of emotion went through Devron’s eyes when he heard Haroon’s question .

 It was a totally different subject, but Devron closed his eyes to gather words to answer the question . Soon, he opened his eyes and smiled warmly .

 “Teeno is like my own brother . He went through all the suffering which I had to go through . When the massacre happened, he wasn’t even 10 years old . With that young age, he accompanied me starting from escaping the Metropolis . Although he was born as a slave of our family, I already spared him a long time ago and made him a free man . ”

 Haroon guessed so . The will of submission was always in his every action . But it was surprising to hear that Teeno was just over 40 years old . He looked way older, probably because of the rough life he had .

 “He would have gotten a position in rank if he wasn’t born as a slave . Even at his young age, he showed his quick wit and brilliant intelligence . Nobody educated him but he was able to learn just by watching, or hearing someone’s action . When I wandered around the world, he helped me a lot when I got in trouble from the mistakes I made as my mind still couldn’t give up the position of noblility . Silently and firmly . Come to think of it, my life was a lot better from having him around . ”

 His voice was full of trust and love towards Teeno . That said, Haroon felt it was a lot more difficult to say what he wanted to say .

 “To be honest, I want to recruit Teeno to our mercenary guild . ”

 “Teeno? Hmm, that would be fine, I guess . Teeno must be… 43 years old by now . He, too, will be an old man soon enough . He had a rough life because of me, so it must be good for him to live a new life, out of my shadow . ”

 Haroon could easily tell that those few words contained a lot of emotions . He couldn’t imagine how deep of a relationship they had, considering how they both didn’t get to start a family .

 “I don’t think that’s a question I can answer . Do so as long as that’s what he wants . I told you I set him free a long time ago, after all . ”

 “Thank you . ”

 “What do you mean? Everything is about his free will . Persuade him if you really want him as your member . I feel really sorry for him . I have received a lot from him, but I never gave back . I always relied on him, but he was always underappreciated . I couldn’t persuade him to live his own life, thinking of his ability as mine, the one that you saw and decided to recruit him for . ”

 Haroon decided not to cut his monologue . The more Devron talked, the more Haroon could learn about who Teeno was to him, and now he was getting ready to say goodbye to him .

 “I don’t think he would be able to live his own life if he stays with me . It might be a little bit late, but I wish he could experience the joy of living his own life, like starting a family for instance . I hope your choice could grant my wish . ”

 Haroon nodded .

 “To me, I mean to our guild, he really is whom we need . We’ll make sure to treat him well .

 “I appreciate it . I hope it wasn’t too much to ask . ”

 “You are like a master to me . I might be an Outlander, but how could I forget your grace? Please don’t say that . ”

 “Thanks . Briella might be my niece, but it feels like you and I are closer family . ”

 Devron grasped Haroon’s hand with his wrinkled hands . Haroon felt the plethora of emotions that were too much to handle from that grasp . Devron’s eyes were getting wet .

 ‘Devron must have lived a lonely life,’ he thought .

 Haroon held Devron’s hand in silence, waiting for him to get settled . Haroon felt happy about Devron opening his heart up to him .

It was late at night, but Haroon decided to meet Teeno right away .

 Teeno was staying in the shabbiest room of the guesthouse, usually used by servants when guests arrive . Although he was disturbed in the middle of sleeping, when he saw Haroon, he made his bed quickly and welcomed him .

 “Mr . Haroon! What brings you all the way here?”

 “I’m really sorry to disturb your sleep . I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, so I had to take the liberty of visiting you tonight . ”

 “Take the liberty? By all means . I’m listening . ”

 Teeno seemed surprised by Haroon’s polite behaviour .

 “On the trip with you, I got to know you well . You are erudite, wise, and talented . ”

 “M-me? No, No . It’s some tricks I learned . It’s not something that deserves that kind of compliment . ” 

 It seemed he wasn’t used to getting compliments, at all . Did he never get any compliments before? Seeing him all covered with confusion, Haroon felt terrible . Because of his social status, he couldn’t escape living a rough life even though he was talented . Haroon felt awful seeing a man who never got to show their existence to the world .

 “Well, this is official . We want you to be a member of The Gusts of Wind . ”

 “I’m sorry?”

 Teeno’s eyes widened . As if it really was a totally unexpected offer, he was frowning his face in a strange way .

 “We, The Gusts of Wind, might be low-ranking and small, but with someone like you, it would be able to grow bigger and meaningfully . ”

 “Bu-but that’s…… . ”

 Teeno looked towards and away from Haroon’s eyes several times to see if he really meant it, and expressed mixed feelings with his eyes . He didn’t speak for a long time for some reason .

 “I already talked with Devron . He told me you were already a free man, and have free will to do whatever you want, and it would be good for you to live your life . ”

 Teeno’s eyes widened again from his words .

 “Di-did he really…… . Say that?”

 “Yes . He said you are like his own brother, and he hopes you could live your own life, making a family, living in the world in the way a human should, experiencing the world, and asked me to make sure to give you a chance . ”

 Teeno couldn’t say anything . Haroon too, didn’t add any words . Teeno must be feeling the emotions that Devron had to go through . Teeno has lived a life hiding his own identity only to live for Devron, longer than the years Haroon lived, so he must be feeling something that Haroon couldn’t understand .

 For a while, a silent tension filled up inside the room .

 Teeno took a deep breath and duck his head . Large teardrops were falling down from his copper-colored solid face .

 “Did he really say that, Mr . Haroon?”

 A while after, Teeno checked it for the last time . He wasn’t even trying to hide his tears .

 “Yes . ”

 With Haroon’s short and firm answer, Teeno closed his eyes and bit his lips to hold the tears back .

 “If that’s… what he wants…”

 It was a hard answer that he made, but it was against what Haroon and Devron wanted to hear .

 “No, I really want to follow what you want, Teeno . ”

 “Tha-thats…… . ”

 Was he feeling betrayal by Devron, thinking he abandoned him, or was he moved by Devron finally setting him free?

 Haroon realized it was neither . The relationship between Teeno and Devron must be way more complicated than he thought .

 “The Gusts of Wind and I need you, Teeno, not Devron . My dream is not getting a position in the Empire, using the Golden Battle, like how Devron is doing, nor getting any fame out of the mercenary guild using talented people like you . Although we may be called mercenaries, I want a small but skilled mercenary guild who travels the world, seeking for new things . I want a family who could do that with me . ”

 Teeno’s face started to change a bit . His eyes looking in the air were getting deeper and deeper . It was changing from the slave face he used to make, to a face of an old, wise man .

 “Do you really think I can do that? Me?”

 For the first time from the moment they first met, Teeno looked at Haroon’s face directly . Haroon could see that a small fire of passion was lit on his face .

Haroon nodded, looking straightly at his eyes .

 “Your experience and skills will come in very handy . I’ll let you be the leader if you want . ”

 On Haroon’s world, Teeno smiled . It was an awkward smile, but Haroon could tell that the smile was real, not the fake ones he used to make . Teeno’s eyesight was clear and sharp .

 “Huh! No, not the boss . I bet that wouldn’t fit me at all . ”

 “I’ll make sure to treat you well . It’s something awkward to say, but I’ll look for a fiance for you if you really want me to . Well, I’ll greet you again . I’m Haroon, the leader of The Gusts of Wind . ”

 “It’s Teeno . I learned little tricks, but I will try my best with them to not be someone who needs to be carried . ”

After an awkward moment of facing each other, they both laughed out loud .

Translated by Channy_
Edited by Tom and Kmatt

Footnotes:

¹ Yes, I am very confused as well . I double-checked my work several times, but there were no other indication in raw that someone else was present in the room except Devron and Haroon . I concluded myself that this is a mistake made by the author, but feel free to make your assumptions .