Chapter 87 : Waiting

Chapter 87: Waiting

Lete could no longer stand the current state of Rundna City.

“Esir… those bastards.”

The slender, handsome man, Lete, brushed back his brown hair and finally spat out a curse.

“Yeah… I guess that makes sense. This is Roberland, so this is normal. The time when Lord Haarun was here was the unusual one.”

He tried murmuring to himself, attempting to rationalize….

“But this still doesn’t make any sense!”

In the end, Lete exploded.

They were collapsing.

The elite warriors who had protected Ailun, and Rundna, were crumbling far too quickly.

“I’m sorry, Captain… The frontline is in such a dire state… and I’m here alone…”

Seeing his junior warrior, head bowed and voice trembling, Lete could only sigh.

“What’s there to be sorry for when you’ve already lost a leg? I’ll make sure to squeeze compensation out of those Esir bastards, so just go back and live in peace.”

“I’m sorry….”

The Border was no longer what it used to be. Strangely, the demonic beasts had grown fiercer, multiplying at a frightening pace.

Because of that, warriors were leaving in droves for various reasons.

“…Haa. Brother. Sorry.”

The mercenary captain, who had fought by his side for so long, lit a cigarette and voiced his bitter truth.

“I really tried to hold on, out of respect for you… but there’s no way we can keep up these battles with this pay. This is as far as we go.”

“Yes… I understand.”

An entire skilled mercenary company withdrew.

For Lete, the commander of the Rundna Demonic Beast Subjugation Regiment, it was a devastating blow—but he couldn’t even dream of stopping them.

Because the mercenary’s words were all true.

And such things kept happening.

“I heard the performance bonuses got cut…? I was going to buy an engagement necklace with that…”

It hurt when he saw the despair of the recruits,

and when even the comrades he had long trusted and relied on turned their backs, it became nearly impossible for Lete to maintain his composure.

“Captain. I saw it.”

“What?”

“That monster from the rumors.”

Lete flinched.

“That’s just a baseless rumor. You know it too. There’s no such demonic beast.”

“No. I really saw it. With my own two eyes. That thing… it’s not a beast we can handle. I’m… leaving Rundna. Sorry, Captain. For running away like this.”

And so, Lete could do nothing but watch as countless warriors left his side.

With fewer numbers, the fights only grew more grueling.

After desperate struggles, Lete barely managed to rally their morale, devise clever strategies, and push back the beasts to complete their mission.

When he finally returned to the city, a week had already passed.

He washed up first, rested a bit, then headed to the tavern where his subordinates were already drinking.

But then—

“Urgh!”

“Argh!”

He witnessed his men being beaten.

The warriors who had fought desperately for the city, now back and just trying to rest, were being thrashed like dogs.

“Guh… g-grrk…”

One of them was even being choked by the neck with one hand, lifted high into the air and kicking helplessly.

Overcome with rage, Lete was about to intervene—

‘House of Esir’s… Experts?’

—but upon noticing the emblem embroidered on their clothes, he had to restrain himself.

Of course, inside, his fury boiled over twice as much.

The Esir warriors, who never once showed their faces on the battlefield, were instead beating up those who had risked their lives fighting for the city. What kind of absurdity was this?

Still, Lete suppressed his anger and stepped forward to mediate.

“That’s enough, isn’t it?”

He first went to his subordinate, who was being strangled.

He grabbed the Expert’s arm and pulled him away.

Judging by his strength, the man was probably around a mid-grade Expert—but for Lete, it was no problem at all.

“Who the hell are you?”

Snarling, the Esir warriors glared menacingly, but Lete replied lightly.

“Me? Lete.”

“L… Lete?!”

“A Peak Expert…!”

At once, they swallowed hard and stepped back.

Because Lete, despite being twenty-nine, had such a youthful appearance that he was easy to underestimate at first glance.

“Go. Enough fighting. We just returned today. Cut us some slack.”

Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to beat them all bloody, but then House of Esir would never let it go. Instead, he had to pacify them while saving their face.

“Hrmm. Since it’s the Commander asking, we’ll withdraw.”

Even as they left, their arrogance lingered.

Lete let out a sigh without meaning to.

“C-Captain… they started it. They said we reeked of demonic beasts, told us to wash before coming around people…”

Hearing that made him sigh again. No—it made his anger flare.

Just how much more was House of Esir planning to ruin this city?

He no longer knew.

‘If it was going to be like this… maybe I should have sworn allegiance to Ransen instead. He’s generous, isn’t he? He even continues granting tax exemptions to a place like Rundna.’

That day. The day Haarun died.

Lete had been there too.

Back then, he had followed Haarun’s will and knelt.

But… he was someone who truly loved his hometown, Rundna.

He had chosen to remain with Rundna.

Yet the more time passed, the less certain he became.

Only House of Esir had the power to rule Rundna City… but did they truly deserve that right?

Lete’s eyes, colored like fallen leaves, wavered.

Lete was lost in thought.

Lete’s leaf-colored eyes grew even deeper, like autumn itself.

And a few days later,

he saw it.

That absurd monster his comrade—who had turned his back on him that day—had spoken of, the one that had been whispered about like a ghost story.

That monster… no, two of them, leading countless demonic beasts toward Rundna City.

His judgment was swift.

‘This… I can’t stop this. Not even House of Esir… absolutely not.’

The destruction of his beloved hometown, Rundna, was now right before his eyes.

*         *         *

I wait.

Will he come?

Or will he not?

Ahead lies a sort of boundary line, classified as Rundna City’s territory.

I stand upon it,

and wait.

If he does come, what state will he be in?

Did he flee in a panic? Or did he carve his way through with blood?

This operation was entirely based on the information Seah had brought.

‘Lete.’

The warrior who loved his hometown, Rundna.

Though only twenty-nine, he had earned the support of countless citizens and warriors.

Yet he was also a tragic hero, unable to surpass the long-standing stronghold of House of Esir, which had lorded over the region for ages.

That day, before Haarun’s corpse, he had knelt before me—but when his hometown refused to join hands with me, he slyly aligned himself with the other side.

In some ways, he was the opposite of Kashimir, who had been upright and steadfast… but truthfully, that had always been Roberland’s style. Kashimir was the strange one.

If anything, Lete was the one more similar to me.

Because to him, his hometown was just as precious.

I, too, have lived a life where I could discard promises like old rags, betray without hesitation, if it meant protecting my siblings.

That was why I believed.

If it were Lete,

he would act.

Because that crimson tiger was a monster too much for Rundna to endure.

No—

to be precise, they could endure it.

If Rundna gathered all of its strength into one, and resisted with discipline and strategy, they were more than capable.

That was how strong Rundna was.

When united, their Experts could slay even a Swordmaster. When united, their army could do the same. And so the two monstrous anomalies I had driven toward Rundna were not beyond their ability.

‘But… can you really do that?’

The decadence of House of Esir had weakened Rundna as a whole, shattering the unity and trust of its warriors.

When faced with crisis, could such a House truly rally the city’s full strength?

And when they realized it was impossible… what choice would you make then, Lete?

I wanted…

for Lete to seek me out on his own.

Of course,

there was an easier way.

I could simply appear like a comet when Rundna fell into peril, and save them.

After that, I would annihilate the swine-like House of Esir, and with the people’s support, rule over Rundna.

But I was far more ambitious than that.

I didn’t want a picture where I swooped in and solved everything for them.

I wanted the people of Rundna to move by their own will.

Only then could they truly become a force I could trust as mine.

I wanted them to open their gates themselves and welcome me.

That was the kind of waiting I endured.

Standing at Rundna’s boundary, hoping for an invitation from within.

Waiting, in a way, was the same as believing in destiny.

I believed you would come, and you believed I would be here.

That we might meet under one shared fate.

But perhaps that belief was wrong.

Lete. You might already have been beheaded, your severed head displayed.

Or perhaps the monsters had already devoured you, leaving not even a finger behind.

I took out the Book of Fate and turned to the [Exploration] page.

There was still time.

Two red dots lingered just outside the city, unmoving.

A sign of greater caution.

Most likely, they were pressing their gathered demonic beasts toward the city, watching for a reaction. And perhaps wary that someone like me might suddenly appear.

If neither Lete nor anyone else came to me before those two monstrous anomalies moved, then I would make the first move.

Because I didn’t wish to see Rundna City destroyed.

When that time came, I would personally strike down the anomalies and the demonic beasts.

And then, I would kill every last clansman of the incompetent House of Esir.

At that point, I would abandon my ambitions and simply rule by force.

Yes.

Not everything could go as planned.

Forget the Stratagem of Moral Influence, forget trust and faith in gods—when it came down to it, I would rule through sheer power.

And yet, the reason I was still lingering here in this pitiful state was…

because, in the end, I believed in destiny.

That there would be at least one person who, not by coercion but by choice, would carve their own fate.

At least one who would change things by their own hand before someone else forced them.

I believed I would meet such a person.

I believed that… he would come.

At times it felt like he would,

at times like he wouldn’t,

and just when I was about to abandon it all and march forth myself—

Clop-clop—

He came.

Covered in blood.

His Ailun White Horse foamed at the mouth, having been pushed far beyond its limits.

At a glance, it was clear—this man, who had fought his way through hordes of demonic beasts, bore eyes the color of fallen leaves.

For a moment, he seemed startled.

After all, before him at Rundna’s boundary stood me and my cavalry lined in formation.

But soon he masked his surprise and stepped forward to face me.

He dismounted, standing firm as he stared straight into my eyes.

I too gazed quietly at his face.

‘Well now… he is handsome.’

Lete. This man, two years older than me, was exactly as Seah had described him.

A man who knew when it was time to act.

I asked him,

“May I enter?”

In response, he threw down the head of the Patriarch of House Esir before me.

Thud—roll…

The ruler who, for a short time, had governed the second-greatest city of Ailun, now tumbled helplessly across the dirt, his body left who-knows-where.

“Please.”

Lete spoke, bowing his head deeply.

I didn’t ask what had happened.

Between two rival forces that despised each other, in a city about to be struck by monsters too great to bear, there were surely countless stories too tangled to explain.

But that wasn’t what mattered now.

Lete had executed the city’s ruler with his own hands, and come to me seeking aid—staking everything upon it.

Thus,

what I had just received was not the head of Esir, but the hearts of Rundna’s warriors.

I leapt lightly onto my horse.

“Cavalry.”

Clop—

I stepped across the boundary.

“Charge.”

To strike down the monsters and return in triumph to Rundna City.

“Ha!”

My cavalry roared, spurring their horses all at once.

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