Chapter 357

Chapter 357

“Cough, huff… Damn beasts…”
Lethe gasped.
A long pole served as his walking stick.
His left leg, completely crushed, looked hopeless.
“How dare you have mercy on me?
Lethe had left the fortress and was heading toward the village.
He lost almost everything, but somehow managed to get back on his feet, if only to save his life.
Whatever the winds were blowing, Jaifa didn’t destroy the village, and he didn’t kill himself.
How dare you show mercy against me.
Yuck.
Lethe’s mouth made the sound of a molar breaking.
“I will have my revenge—I will make you regret ever letting me live!”
“Dae, boss?!”
Then I heard a woman’s voice not far away.
I turned my head and saw a familiar face.
Lethe furrowed her brow.
“——Vesper?”
“What’s going on?! What’s with the–what’s with the scar?”
Vesper, one of the chapter leaders of the North Winds.
She was stunned by Varen’s blow to the nape of her neck, and only came to when it was all over.
The woman who, in a way, started it all.
Lethe’s face contorted.
“Because of you—.”
“What?”
“You’re to blame, Vesper, you’ve ruined the North Winds, that pig you brought in ruined everything!”
Lethe bellowed.
If she hadn’t fallen for Varen’s handsome ways, the North Winds would not have fallen.
Unlike the other members of the group who had been cut to pieces, Vesper’s body was unharmed.
The evil Lethe unleashed a barrage of words about what she had done wrong.
Vesper, who had been listening, clapped his hands over his mouth.
“Uh, so everyone in the gang is dead? Even Blantha?”
“Yeah, it’s over! Decades of planning have been thrown out the window! How am I supposed to be responsible for this?!”
“Haaaa–thank goodness.”
Lethe was in the middle of a tantrum.
Vesper abruptly interrupted him, reaching for the dagger at his waistband.
I couldn’t resist.
Pook.
The dagger plunged into Lethe’s abdomen.
“Huh—!”
“My eyes are not wrong after all.”
Vesper muttered incoherently.
Lethe’s body lurched forward as she removed her hand from the hilt.
I wondered if I had severed an aorta or something.
A cracked voice escaped Lethe’s lips.
“Uh–why—?”
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this day.”
Vesper was smiling.
She didn’t just grant Varen’s request because he was handsome.
She’d had good eyes since childhood, and she could see the power pulsing through Varen’s body.
“He was brought here on purpose. If he’s shady and powerful, his purpose is obvious. What else could he be doing but infiltrating to save his colleagues?”
“You, you—.”
“I knew that pig wasn’t part of the organization, because we haven’t had any new hires in the last two months. Of course, I didn’t expect him to be such a big shot.”
Vesper was a disappointment.
I knew he was hiding his power, but I never realized it was Varen Panasir in human form.
Lethe still didn’t understand what had happened.
She ran a hand through her hair.
“Lethe. My stepfather was a Wearfox.”
“What the—.”
“I was kidnapped by the North Winds three years ago. I joined the organization in the first place to find my father, but when I searched for him, I found him dead in the arena. The North Winds’ proudest champion. Torn to shreds by Blantha.”
Vesper’s voice lowered.
It was not uncommon for Sioux to adopt humans in the north.
Unable to claim her father’s ashes, she remained active in the North Winds, waiting for the right time for revenge.
“From the day I found out, I went to the arena every day. To remind myself of the hatred. By the time I became chapter leader, do you know how I felt?”
“That, that—!”
“Lethe. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this organization.”
Grasping the hilt again, Vesper twisted the dagger.
Blood gushed out of him as he felt his guts being sliced open.
Vesper brought her mouth to his ear and whispered softly.
“Anyone can be an animal if they set their mind to it, regardless of race.”
“Big–billion.”
“Goodbye, boss.”
Drawing his dagger, Vesper turned his back.
The vengeful woman disappeared into the moonlight.
Gasping for breath, Lethe fell to the floor like a piece of trash.
I was getting cold quickly.
One by one, my senses were being cut off as the pool of water beneath me grew wider.
“——!”
I tried to plead that I was a victim too, but I couldn’t find my voice anymore.
****
“It’s almost time for me to get back—.”
“Why—.”
Nemea bit her thumb nail.
Marpez, sitting on her shoulder, sighed.
They were waiting for her husband, who had gone on a diet with her.
Tomorrow was already the first day of school at Phileon Academy, and Varen was still in the dark.
‘I hope I’m not in trouble. Should I contact Kratyr?
Dark shades lay beneath his large eyes.
He hadn’t slept well since leaving Varen.
I was so worried about his health that I kicked him out, but I wonder if it was too extreme.
If I had known this would happen, I would have used a different method.
She was petting Marpez when she had an anxiety attack.
“Whoa, it’s been a while since I’ve been home, this nostalgic smell.”
Suddenly, the front door opened.
A familiar wearable barged in.
Nemea and Marpez’s eyes widened.
Varen grinned when he spotted them.
“Oooh, Mrs. Marpez, how have you been?”
“——!”
“It’s only been two months, but you look tired, did something happen while I was gone—”
“Oh, my God, baby!”
“Huh!”
Nemea interrupted, lunging at him.
Varen sucked in a breath, choked by the intense embrace.
They stood on the porch for a long time, hugging.
Varen patted her on the back.
“I’m back, just a little late.”
“You could have at least called me once, instead of making me worry about people—! I hope you’ve lost weight!”
“Haha–sort of, but I tried.”
“Wait a minute. Come to think of it, that seems a lot different.”
Nemea, who was holding Varen, snickered.
The joy of reunion was so great that I barely noticed the change.
His body, once as soft as pudding, had become harder than rock.
I even took two or three steps back, looked Varen up and down, and saw a completely different body.
“Huh?”
His jawline was sharp as a knife.
There was no longer any meat on the chunky ship.
The muscles that burned through his clothes were like a master’s sculpture.
It was better than when I was in love with myself a decade ago.
Nemea’s eyes widened to the point of bulging.
“My God, what the hell happened?! How did it happen in just two months—!”
“So much–so much has happened, I don’t even know where to begin.”
Varen smiled a complex smile.
He has been training 1:1 with Jaifa for the past month.
It was a special map of the Squadron Sword Castle, the kind of map every uninitiated person dreams of, but Varen wasn’t an uninitiated person, he was just an old man trying to lose weight.
– You’re already begging, Fluffy. If you don’t get up here, there’s no dinner!
– Kahhhhhh, help!
Varen’s eyes narrowed at the memory.
I tried to escape again and again, only to be caught immediately.
The only thing that kept him going through the armed Gestapo training was the need to stay alive and see his family.
“By the way, Jaifa told me to say hello.”
“What is it, boss, did you two get together?”
“Yes, sir. In the north—you’ve made a great correction, and I’m afraid the sword crowning battle may be held again soon.”
Varen shook his head, fed up.
Having reached the point of transmogrification, Zaifa has become a monster that even he fears to speak of.
The sight of him carving out an island-sized glacier to use as a special training ground is something I’ll never forget.
“What a strange thing for a man who is so nonchalant about everything. So, are you going to change your sword form again? I thought Nabiroze was studying it too.”
“I don’t know about that, because it’s not a weird situation where it doesn’t matter who wins.”
“Sure. I guess it’s only exciting for the people who have more to see.”
Nemea snarled.
The sword battle was her favorite thing to watch.
Varen snapped his fingers as he thought of something.
“Oh, ma’am. We’ve got one big expense coming up, do you mind?”
“Huh? Well, it’s your money, so I guess it doesn’t matter. What are you going to spend it on?”
“It’s not a big deal–I just want some shade.”
“Hmm?”
Nemea scowled.
This also required an explanation.
“This trip made me realize that there are still a lot of people in the world who are struggling, so I’m going to buy land in the north and create jobs for them.”
“Ohhh, that’s so you, and that’s good. But who doesn’t have enough on their plate?”
“Professor Sekrit will help us, for no one knows the North better than he does.”
Sekrit remained in the north with Jaifa.
There were still many curses unexplored, many knots of hatred to untie.
He would go on to lead a contingent sent by Varen to explore what remained of the Shadowlands in the north.
“It was a miraculous compromise, but he’s a great guy.
On second thought, it was amazing.
Some time after the events of North Wind Dan, Sékrit dramatically succeeded in convincing the villagers below the fortress to leave.
Now, instead of relying on the North Winds for their livelihood, they would learn to work together with the Sioux in a new way.
Washing away the old hatred.
‘My countrymen will get along just fine.’
Jaifa was in charge of the men held in the fort.
I don’t know how he did it, but in less than a week, Zaifa converted a group of Sioux who had gone mad with hatred of humans.
Well, who can argue with a squadron swordsman.
Exceptions were those who sold out their countrymen and played with the Northern Winds, whom they purged without mercy.
Nemea said.
“Whatever it is, it’s fine, because you’re a knowledgeable person, and I trust you.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, ma’am.”
“Of course. Yeah, you want some cookies? I baked some in case you were coming over.”
“Oh my God, your wife baked cookies?”
“Yeah. I was lonely, so I tried a few times, but I realized I couldn’t make anything like you, but I tried my best.”
Varen’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Nemea, who has never had a sweet tooth, bakes her own cookies.
Next thing I knew, the whole house was smelling sweet.
Soon she was in the kitchen and held out a plate of cookies.
“Uh, are you sure I can eat this?”
“Of course. I’ve been through all that.”
Varen picked up the cookie with shaky hands.
It certainly didn’t look great, but I could tell right away that they had worked hard on it.
“—Yes.”
Wasak.
Varen took a bite out of the cookie.
It crunched and a sweet flavor spread across my mouth.
It was a sweet sensation that I hadn’t tasted in two months.
Varen’s head drooped in disbelief.
“Cough… Ughhh… Gulp.”
“What, what’s wrong, did you break a tooth or something?”
Nemea blinked away her embarrassment.
Varen’s shoulders were heaving.
“Oh, was I too hard on you again? I’m sorry, honey. I won’t call you fat from now on.”
“No—no, it’s just, it’s just–.”
Varen raised his hand to indicate that he was fine.
The journey of the past two months was flashing before my eyes like a headlamp.
Swallowing the last of it in his mouth, he clutched at his mane.
“It was so good it brought me to tears—yes.”
Varen wiped away a tear.
He huffed and puffed and ate the cookies his wife had made.
Jaifa was told to eat only meat for the next half a year to train, but he didn’t care.
“What the hell.”
Nemea smirked.
He gently hugged his grizzled husband.
The eventful diet ended with such success.
The still-warm, transitioning-to-fall sun enveloped the two of them.