Chapter 32: Hey, Don’t Just Glare at Me (1)

Richard kept glancing back as he walked.

His face was full of lingering regret.

“Is it because you couldn’t make those children your followers?”

Adele, holding his hand tightly, asked him.

Richard nodded calmly.

One of the things he’d looked forward to most in his original plan was to move the elves and turn them into followers of Faith.

The disappointment was beyond words.

“It was bound to fail. Those children need rest…”

“It’s fine. You said once your power returns, you can solve everything. That’s why I’m going with you.”

“Mmm. It’s always most lively next to Dad.”

Adele looked up at Richard.

For some reason, the holy and noble divinity was gone, and now her father was just a man bound in human flesh.

‘I have to be of help to Father.’

If not, he might leave again.

Adele thought she had to prove her worth somehow.

“And that Gide you talked about, Dad—I could save someone like him hundreds of times over. So just trust me.”

Of course, that was only when she’d fully recovered her strength, but Adele swallowed those words.

“Right, right. You said the Fruit of the World Tree would grow from your head?”

A unique ability of the World Tree: combining essence and life to create something new.

That was exactly the fruit Richard had wished for.

Richard quietly pictured it.

A small, round head sprouting fruit—it was a funny image.

Maybe because Richard’s lips curled up, Adele laughed too.

But not everyone could join in the laughter.

“Young master? Could you please explain this situation to me?”

Aaron, who had yet to recover from his confusion, spoke up.

He looked back and forth between Richard and Adele.

They said they were going to meet the World Tree, and then suddenly brought back a little girl.

And that girl was the World Tree.

And now she was going to travel with them.

That was about all Aaron had managed to piece together.

“You got it right. That’s exactly it.”

“No, please explain in more detail! How did this all happen so suddenly?”

At that, Adele interrupted.

“Man. I am Dad’s daughter, you know.”

“W-what?”

It seemed their journey was about to get a lot livelier.

***

“…We were lucky.”

I muttered under my breath as I spurred my horse forward.

Honestly, we really were lucky.

Just as we reached the edge of the Demon Realm, what caught our eye was a group of horses and a single soldier guarding them—Wilson.

He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, but after some persuasion, we managed to secure two horses from him.

Before entering the Demon Realm, I’d left two horses with him, so it was just an even trade.

“Still, I feel a bit bad about it.”

The reason the Borhem Kingdom’s troops were poking around the Demon Realm was probably because of the Holy Grail.

There had been chaos in the Demon Realm.

Thankfully, Adele said she could use the forest to safely send the soldiers back, so my worries were lessened.

As Adele nestled quietly in my arms, her eyes closed, she suddenly lifted her head.

“Dad! The humans made it out of the Demon Realm safely!”

“Oh, well done.”

Adele’s abilities were extraordinary in many ways.

Truly remarkable.

CRACK—!

A tree as big as a house burst from the earth and trapped a charging monster.

It was one of Adele’s specialties—‘Guardian Tree.’

With her power to control plants at will, she had led us through the garden and sent the kingdom’s troops out of the Demon Realm. All thanks to her abilities.

‘Maybe it doesn’t sound so impressive, but…’

When you’re the World Tree, the scale is just different.

“This is basically a highway!”

Leaving the Demon Realm and entering another forest, we didn’t slow the horses at all.

Every tree and plant ahead parted to make way for us.

A path that would have taken a long detour was now a straight shot.

“…Whoa.”

Aaron stared at Adele, dumbfounded.

His pupils trembled with shock.

I patted Adele on the head.

“Adele, you’re such a dutiful child. You’re making things so easy for us.”

“Hehe… Pat me more!”

Alright, I’ve decided.

From now on, Adele is my daughter.

Any initial wariness had long since vanished.

To my eyes, Adele was nothing but a blessing.

We rode on for a long while.

If there was a forest, we cut straight through; if there was a river, we crossed on tree bridges.

Our pace was several times faster than expected.

“At this rate, we’ll reach the Hobsun Mountains in no time.”

Days had passed since we left the Demon Realm.

We arrived near the Hobsun Mountains much sooner than expected.

And perhaps because of the influence of the Dragon, the monsters had grown noticeably fiercer.

“It’s a Twin-Headed Ogre!”

BOOM!

A monster known as the king of the mountains.

And blocking our path was an even more powerful Twin-Headed Ogre.

“Leave it to me!”

Once again, Adele stepped forward.

She snapped her fingers.

CRACK!

From both sides of the Twin-Headed Ogre, massive tree trunks surged forward.

-KRRRRGH!

The Ogre, with its monstrous strength, let out a scream through gritted teeth.

It tried to block with both arms, but it was clear it could only hold out for so long.

Then, another tree shot up beneath its feet.

CRUNCH!

A thick trunk burst up between its legs, rising between the two heads.

We passed by the disintegrating Twin-Headed Ogre in an instant.

“Dad, I’m hungry…”

At the same time, Adele slumped weakly against my back.

She was clearly exhausted—she must have overdone it.

[You have bestowed 1,000 Faith to Adele of Adelgarten.]

What she consumed for sustenance was Faith.

Once a day, a thousand at a time.

It was a considerable burden, but I said nothing and poured Faith into her.

“Don’t push yourself so hard. Your body’s still not in good shape.”

Watching Adele these past days, I’d grown deeply fond of her.

She was desperate to prove her worth.

I’d told her many times not to overdo it, but she just couldn’t accept that.

“Sorry… If I fully recover, I’ll do a hundred times better…”

I wondered if she even heard me.

Adele kept mumbling that she’d do better, then fell asleep.

Aaron and I rode on in silence.

After a while, Aaron spoke up quietly.

“To be honest… I think that child is stronger than me.”

What now?

He sounded calm, but I could tell.

Aaron was feeling discouraged.

“I’m your direct knight, young master…”

In all my life, I’d never seen a knight get an inferiority complex over the World Tree.

But I couldn’t just leave him like this.

We’d be together from now on, and it wouldn’t do for him to get stuck in a rut over something like this.

It was embarrassing, but maybe a little encouragement was in order.

“The kind of knight I want is one who can strike down my enemies as my right hand.”

I looked at Aaron with a small smile.

“And you’re that kind of knight. You’re doing well.”

Aaron’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Thank you!”

He instantly cheered up, and I felt relieved.

“Simple guys are the best.”

I turned away from him, feeling his energy return.

***

In the distance, the majestic scenery of the Hobsun Mountains appeared.

And below them, a large group had set up camp.

It was the Third Knight Division of Barten House, which Gide had joined.

Some of the faces looked familiar.

“Halt! This is the encampment of Bartenberg’s Third Knight Division—”

A knight standing atop the well-built palisade stopped mid-sentence.

His wide eyes were fixed on me.

“Y-Young Master Richard?”

“Can I come in?”

The knights around him nodded blankly.

Inside the camp, there were countless knights.

Counting those busy with their own tasks, there must have been over two hundred.

These were the men who had spent months struggling to hunt the Dragon.

“Young Master Richard. What brings you here?”

A senior knight stepped forward to speak.

His tone was far too blunt for one addressing the son of his lord’s house.

In fact, there wasn’t a single knight here who bothered with proper etiquette toward me.

At least, in Barten House, more knights had started to warm up to me lately, but…

‘To these men, I’m still just the troublemaker from a few months ago.’

I sighed inwardly.

It had been a while since I’d faced such looks.

Not that I blamed them.

After all, these men had suffered for my sake.

But Adele, now awake, seemed to think differently.

She was visibly uncomfortable with the hostility directed at me.

“How dare they act like that in front of you… Mmph!”

“Hey, hey, that’s enough.”

I quickly covered Adele’s mouth before she could start cursing like a sailor.

This time, Aaron’s eyes flashed.

Aaron struck the ground hard with his spear.

The impact was so strong that even the earth trembled.

“Do you not recognize your lord’s bloodline?!”

Aaron’s voice, charged with mana, filled the entire camp.

I held my forehead.

‘No need to go this far…’

“This is the rightful heir of the glorious Bartenberg Bloodline, Young Master Richard Bartenberg! If you serve Bartenberg, show proper respect!”

A brief silence.

Then, all the knights straightened their postures at once.

“Greetings to Young Master Richard!”

Though their eyes still held some discontent toward Aaron and me, none crossed the line.

I looked at Aaron.

His face was full of pride at having fulfilled his duty as my direct knight.

He seemed to be brimming with energy.

I shook my head and turned to the senior knight who had spoken earlier.

“Is Gide in the middle of his tempering?”

“Yes, sir. He’s scheduled to finish in twenty days.”

He answered, suppressing some emotion.

I realized why—Gide had once been the previous captain of the Third Knight Division.

At the mention of Gide, the eyes of the men grew even more somber.

I stifled a sigh.

Maybe this was for the best.

Twenty days would be enough time.

I looked around.

Knights here, knights there—knights everywhere.

“It seems I don’t have the best reputation with you all.”

In the cold, tense atmosphere, a chill ran down my spine.

“Instead of just glaring daggers at me, why don’t we have a proper duel?”

We’d be fighting big battles together soon.

There was no need for bad blood.

And at times like this, nothing solved things like a good spar.