After much persuasion, the son ran off with the Lagras woman.
“No, no. I was the one who drove him away, so I have no right to say he ran away.”
When the son returned, he said he had something important to tell me, and he was carrying a bottle of wine that he could barely drink.
He was a playful boy, so when he said he had something important to say, Caris could easily guess what it was.
‘It must be about that woman of Lagras, whom my dear son loves.’
Maybe it’s the alcohol.
Every day he thought of his wife, who had died at the hands of Lagras’s soldiers.
— “Father, in fact, my lover…”
— “Rud.”
A flash of realization flashed through Karis’s eyes as his son Rud began to speak.
“The moment you bring a Lagrasian before me, I will pick up the sword I put down. I will kill her, with my own hands.”
I should have seen the look on my son’s face then.
He vaguely remembers his son’s face contorted, and he seems to have been crying.
After that day, his son disappeared, but he wasn’t too worried.
He chalked it up to youthful ambition.
He believed that if life became difficult for him outside his family, he would return.
That’s how he lost his son.
Over time, his resentment toward Lagras faded. But at the same time, regret grew.
“What was the sin of being born in Lagras, to push away the woman my son loved so much?”
The war was only a few years over at the time.
My hatred of Lagras was unimaginable at that point.
But time has a way of changing people.
Now, here I am, treading the soil of Lagras, where I had sworn I would never breathe air again, even in death.
He shook off the thought of his past mistakes.
“I don’t know where Miss Arena is, or what the hell that is.”
He hadn’t planned to come to Lagras to see his child participate in the competition.
But instinct led him here.
His instincts, the same animal senses that had saved his lifetime and time again on the battlefield, were telling him he had to go to Lagras.
Caris grabbed a passerby to ask where the tournament was being held.
No, he grabbed the man.
But before he could capture anyone, people were sneaking past him.
After a long time, the person he caught apologized, banged his head, and ran away. He hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Ahem…”
It was an awkward situation.
It had been a long time since anyone in the Abascanthus Empire had been treated like this, as everyone was in awe of him.
“It’s been a long time.”
On the other hand, it was funny.
Even though this was the Lagras Empire, he didn’t recognize the person he’d been so eager to kill.
Well, it would have been more awkward if I did.
“…I shouldn’t have come to Lagras after all.”
Displeasure spread through Caris’s body.
It was then.
A voice, clear as a jade marble, yet still young, caught his attention.
“Is something wrong, Grandpa?”
Caris gulped in surprise and turned to look at the voice’s owner.
It was too much for a normal person to handle.
Was the child who spoke to him not aware of his existence?
There was no fear in the eyes that looked up at me.
‘Black eyes…’
He realized that she had black hair and black eyes, like himself.
Unlike the colorful hair of the Lagras, most of the people of Abascanthus had dark hair.
Black hair and black eyes were an especially rare combination.
Caris opened his mouth to ask.
“Are you from the Abascanthus Empire?”
“No. I’m a native, born and raised in Lagras.”
A small twinge of disappointment swept through Caris’s heart at the answer. He didn’t know where it came from.
Leen scratched her head at his reaction.
“More than that, you’ve been standing here since earlier. What’s wrong?”
“…I’m looking for directions.”
“Where are you trying to go?”
“I heard that my grandchild is in Miss Arena or something.”
“Oh!”
Leen let out a small laugh at the mention of Miss Arena. Caris stared at Leen distantly.
Seeing her smile made me feel a pit in my stomach.
My son used to make that same face and smile brightly.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t help but laugh when I hear that word these days.”
“There you go. Laughter is the best thing to do at your age.”
Leen relaxed, thinking that this person was kinder than he looked.
“I see your grandchild is at Miss Arena, which is a wonderful thing. I’m sure you can’t wait to see it, but unfortunately, Miss Arena doesn’t start until late in the afternoon.”
“I see.”
“In the meantime, the Academy is hosting several booths, so you might want to take a look around.”
Leen raised her hand and pointed to one of the Academy buildings.
“If you want to see your grandchild, you can enter the building you see over there. It’s well labeled, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding your way around.”
“Thank you… Miss.”
Only after she had solved Caris’s problem did she ease up and turn away.
“I’ll be off then, have a good time… Grandpa?”
But just as she was about to take her leave, Caris groaned and collapsed.
Leen’s eyes widened, and he hurriedly bent down to help Caris up.
He clutched at one leg, gritting his teeth in pain.
“Grandpa, are you okay?”
“…No, I’m fine, go on your way. I’m used to it.”
The pain he was experiencing now was phantom pain.
Caris had been wounded in battle many times before.
He may have been a war hero with a mastery of the sword, but he was also human. He couldn’t block all the attacks that were directed at him.
Likewise, he wasn’t just a knight with a sword. He was the very symbol of Abascanthus.
As such, Caris could not die, nor could he be injured.
Each time Caris’s body was slashed, the Empire summoned the highest-ranking wizards and clerics of the war and had his body seamlessly stitched back together.
The body that followed was immaculate, with no trace of having been cut.
The pain was unforgettable, and the memory of it triggered a flashback when he least expected it.
There was no way Leen could leave Caris like that behind.
She quickly searched her bag.
The pain seemed familiar, like something she’d experienced only once or twice.
Luckily, Leen’s bag contained some painkillers that Hans had given her for the launch.
At the time, she had refused, saying that she was a developer and didn’t need them.
Little did she know how much it would help her when Hans insisted that it was a token of his appreciation and slipped it into her bag.
Caris broke out in a cold sweat and shook his head as she handed him the vial.
Leen calmly convinced him, “I know you’re reluctant to take this medicine from a stranger but trust me, it’s just a painkiller.”
But if Caris didn’t take Leen’s medicine, it wasn’t because he didn’t trust her.
“Ugh… better to take a narcotic painkiller and hold on to the bottle.”
Even phantom pain could be controlled with painkillers.
But he had been through the war and knew the side effects of narcotic painkillers better than anyone.
What started as a way to dull the pain had turned into an addiction.
He had a strong will to live.
Somehow, he had survived, and he would not let a few pains ruin the rest of his life.
Leen was somewhat puzzled by Caris’s stubborn refusal.
Taking painkillers once or twice doesn’t cause addiction.
But he was refusing painkillers too much.
As if he had seen countless people whose lives were ruined by addiction.
People rarely swallow painkillers repeatedly, knowing that they are going to become addicted in the end.
Unless the pain was so severe that it was better to live with it for the rest of your life.
…Ahh!
Leen realized as she saw the deep scars on Caris’s body.
‘So you fought in the Imperial War.’
“This painkiller doesn’t contain narcotics, so you won’t get addicted if you take it for a long time, and it has few side effects.”
Caris’s eyes widened in disbelief.
There was no way such a painkiller existed. No, it did exist.
But it was a potent drug that diminished divine power, and it was not something that could be easily obtained, even with money.
“Are you deceiving me?”
“Do you think I’m lying?”
It wasn’t a lie. The child’s eyes held nothing but truth.
Caris accepted the vial as if mesmerized.
He doesn’t know why. He gulped it down, willing to accept whatever ridiculous sum the child demanded of him in return.
Gulp. His throat clearing moved up and down, swallowing the liquid.
“You know how to manipulate mana?”
When he nodded slightly, Leen looked relieved.
“If you can circulate mana through your body, you can make the medicine take effect faster.”
Wordlessly, Caris drew on his mana and circulated it through his body.
It was an easy spell for the auror.
Shortly after the mana circulation, he felt the pain fade away.
The pain didn’t completely disappear, but not to the point where he had clenched his teeth to get through it.
Caris couldn’t believe how quickly it worked without narcotic painkillers.
“…Where did you get this?”
Leen was about to tell him that she happened to buy it in a store, but decided to be honest. It was a whim.
“It’s a painkiller I developed, and since it’s officially released, I can guarantee its quality.”
He looks back and forth between the empty vial and Leen in disbelief.
“You developed it?”
“It’s a herb with the ability to heal.”
Caris blinked languidly.
A herbalist.
‘Yes, the woman my son had brought with him had called herself a herbalist.’
“This favor shall be returned. Will you tell me your name?”
“I don’t need anything in return, I didn’t help you to expect anything in exchange.”
It was just my stupidity.
Leen smiled wryly and pointed to where her name tag was located.
“My name is Leen.”
“…From your name, I’m guessing you’re a Lagrasian.”
A typical Lagrasian name, uncomplicated and easy to pronounce.
Suddenly, I felt like I could hear my son’s voice in my head.
“If I have children in the future, I want to name them Lagrasian name, because, frankly, Abascanthus is too hard to remember.
I used to rant and rave back then.
The bridge of his nose flared.
‘I wonder why I’m thinking about him so much today.’
It was a strange feeling.
“It’s a very fitting name for you. Your parents must have given it a lot of thought.”
Leen felt a strange emotion at the words.
‘I’d heard it before from Fjord’s older brother, Lou.’
But for some reason, the words seemed different this time.
Leen smiled, trying to hide the strange emotions that were brewing.
“…I— I think so, too.”
