Chapter 302: Found You!
Time rewinds by 1 hour.
Kurei followed Alna to Jade Edge Bridge.
At this time, hardly anyone would be out, and the two leaned against a nearby house waiting.
Silence lingered for a while.
“Miss, do you think… there could be someone who can learn a master’s unique skills and still use them flawlessly?”
Kurei suddenly posed this strange question.
Though a bit puzzled, Alna nodded, “There should… be, I suppose.”
“Is that so…” Kurei closed his eyes, appearing somewhat lonely.
For Alna, her interactions with this officer were not many.
Kurei was thrown back home by Aijue.
At that time, the little boy was only 4 years old.
Not just Kurei, but more than a dozen other children around the same age as him.
They all lost their families due to the war.
Aijue had taken these children in.
“You can stay here until you turn 10, but if you want to stay after that, you must learn useful skills. For more information, you can ask the guards or the maids.” Aijue instructed them.
After that, for their own purposes, the children displayed varying behaviors.
Some just idled away their time, discouraged by the trauma of their parents’ deaths.
Others focused on practicing swordsmanship or helped out, hoping to be of use to Aijue.
Two years later, Aijue became General of Yunshui.
He also brought over a lovely young lady from the Imperial City.
Her name was Alna, the general’s sister.
With brilliant golden hair, lively and adorable, she played heartily with the children.
At that time, Kurei, who had made some progress in swordsmanship, decided to dedicate his life to protecting the young lady.
However, he did not anticipate… that Alna was a genius.
When Kurei was 8 years old.
Joz died.
Joz was one of the adopted children, a brother who was on par with Kurei in swordsmanship.
He had been poisoned after accidentally eating a dinner prepared for Alna.
This incident enraged Aijue, who stormed off to find the true culprit behind the poisoning—another adopted girl, Luta.
After some turmoil, the truth was uncovered.
Luta had been coerced by Aijue’s enemies to poison Alna, resulting in Joz’s death.
No matter what, the fact had already occurred; Aijue tracked down the enemies and sent Luta to the maids in the Imperial City.
“Even if you are still young and can’t distinguish right from wrong and resist pressure, it is a fact that you harmed Alna. My punishment for you… is to no longer house you; from now on, you will have to fight for yourself,” Aijue said before turning to leave.
Luta said nothing, watching him depart coldly.
One day later.
Joz’s body was to be cremated; allowing it to remain could lead to corpse poison.
Moreover, it was not unusual for a body to become a skeleton before long, something that the Dark Faction loved to exploit.
“I can’t accept this…” Alna cried loudly, holding Joz’s body.
Ignoring the foul stench emanating from the corpse.
“Miss, please don’t be unreasonable.” Kurei attempted to comfort her, but was ignored.
Why… why did he have to die in my place? Everyone else is fighting to live…
“Miss!” Others were getting anxious too; if this continued, they might really catch some disease.
“It shouldn’t be like this…”
“Miss!”
When a person dies, they can become a skeleton to control and even retain their original consciousness.
Undead magic is a resurrection technique that changes one’s appearance to that of a skeleton.
Such skills are commonplace in the Dark Faction.
Why can’t we use this method to save people?
Because flawed resurrection magic is harmful; with no absolute certainty, the resurrected will undoubtedly suffer greatly.
In that case… let’s use a priest’s healing to dispel their pain.
With a vague memory, Alna instinctively combined the spells; she cast magic.
Wish—Revive!
Joz came back to life.
Just like before, alive and well.
From that point on, Alna became a celebrity in the empire; as long as a person retained a complete body, she could rescue them.
Kurei felt himself drifting further away from the young lady.
Time passed swiftly.
The lady went missing.
One day, she suddenly disappeared.
Before going missing, the last eyewitness reported that she had headed to Grey Ridge Plain.
However… no matter how hard they searched, there was no trace of her; was digging three feet down really necessary?
Not just Kurei, but Aijue, Yunshui City, and even the entire empire fell into a depression for a while.
Kurei’s swordsmanship stagnated.
Joz had already surpassed him, appointed as an officer, always accompanying Aijue handling various affairs, and it wouldn’t be long before he could stand on his own.
Yet, Kurei felt nothing but indifference, even thinking about whether he should leave Yunshui City to avoid getting lost in thought.
Until half a year later, Alna stood before him once more.
“Miss…!” Kurei was overjoyed; he felt it was great that he hadn’t left!
However, Alna was confined by Aijue, not allowed to step out even once.
Kurei still couldn’t see her.
He began to seriously contemplate his swordsmanship.
Previously, his strength was only slightly beyond that of an ordinary soldier.
At the very least, he wanted to train to a level that could protect the lady.
He thought this.
Then, he fell beneath the guardian iron skeleton.
No one was spared; Joz, the general, the lady, all fell.
Kurei was fortunate not to have been struck in a vital area, still hanging on to life.
But what use was that? He asked himself bitterly.
In a daze, the monster was brought down by adventurers from the Otherworld.
Joz had died, so he naturally became the officer.
Although he felt some sadness over his brother’s death, he felt more excitement.
His chance to showcase his skills had come! Following General Aijue, he could face more formidable enemies.
Soon after, with the lady’s continuous help, he hacked his way through challenges, and even the Shadow Lord fell at the hands of the adventurers.
Then came the journey to the Imperial City.
He saw He Xiaoti.
He naturally noticed something was amiss; the lady’s words and actions had become somewhat unfamiliar.
Facing He Xiaoti, he felt an indescribable sensation.
In the end, he reached an impossible conclusion—He Xiaoti was the lady.
Did he like the lady from childhood, or the current lady, or was it He Xiaoti?
“…I don’t know.”
Kurei couldn’t understand either.
…
8:01.
The time had come, but the streets were unusually quiet.
Isn’t this the place…?
“There!”
Alna suddenly stepped forward, looking to the right.
With irony, Kurei followed the golden-haired loli’s gaze upward; a streak of black light soared into the sky, then fell back down.
That was… the location of General Aijue!
Oh no, I have to hurry over… Kurei moved his gaze downward,
and saw a wild lady warrior grabbing Alna by the neck, hoisting her into the air like a small chicken.
When did this happen…!?
“I found you… demoness!” Gexisi exclaimed.
