Chapter 209 – The Chasers From the Desert

“What do you mean hold off pursuit? You mean leave me alone?”
“In some cases, you can leave it alone. The sword lord is considering breaking the engagement with Prince Raul according to your growth. That means he can make you completely free.”
“Hey, are you breaking off the engagement? Master said so himself?”
“Yes.”

What do you mean by that? An engagement with a prince can be broken with a single word from someone? As I was listening to Farhan’s words, I was just dumbfounded. But Rebecca was taking Farhan’s words seriously. As if it could really happen.

“Rebecca, does it make sense that you can break off the engagement anyway? Your teacher is a third person after all. How can you trust someone who is neither your parents nor the Jakarta royal family?”
“I can trust Master Fatima! What he said is absolute in Jakarta. He can knock down flying birds. If Master puts his mind to it, nothing is impossible. He is the guardian deity who has been protecting Jakarta for hundreds of years.”

Rebecca’s faith in her mentor was absolute. He sincerely believed that one unmanned man could shake the country.

“The military in Jakarta is all controlled by Master. I’m saying this because we’re among ourselves, but the royal family in Jakarta is nothing more than a puppet to Master. It can be swayed by any word you say. Master has worked in the military for 200 years. Goo. It’s been 200 years since I’ve been involved in politics. Can you roughly guess what that means?”

What the fuck
Rebecca’s teacher had been immersed in politics for 200 years? Then it’s not that I don’t understand. He is said to have served the royal family for 200 years while holding the military. Of course, there is no choice but to be born with an incredibly huge evil force.

Because sword masters say that they can live for a thousand years like a heron. There is no point in retiring because I am old enough. Jakarta’s royal family was worth noting. If you stage a coup, it’s the end of the royal family.

“…”

Farhan silently accepted Rebecca’s words that the royal family was nothing more than a puppet. What a shame! He continued his speech in silence, without shouting or arguing.

“It’s too early to rejoice, daughter of the caliph. In the end, what Fatima wants is to appoint a talented warrior as her successor. If it’s judged that you lack talent, she will ruthlessly abandon you. Any offer to break the engagement is null and void. Will be.”
“I understand! Then how can I be recognized by Master? How much more must I grow as a martial artist before Master can protect me?”

Unfortunately, Rebecca’s mentor doesn’t break engagements for free. He sees Rebecca’s potential as a soldier and is just giving her a favor.

If he has made a satisfactory achievement, Rebecca will be free. You may be called to your master later, but you do not have to suffer for an unwanted engagement right now. Sometimes everything ended well because there was no need to flee abroad.

I was worried that I might have set the criteria vaguely.
Fortunately, Rebecca’s teacher had a thorough personality. He clearly set the criteria for growth.

“Become a first-class fighter by next winter. That’s the condition to satisfy Fatima-sama. He said that if you’re a warrior who’s going to be the next swordsman, you should be able to do that.”

Next winter.
That’s just one year left from now. It can be said that it is quite time-consuming. Within a year, Rebecca has to go from being a third-class fighter to a first-class fighter. To have a clean happy ending.

“You’re too short! Give me more time!”
“Master said it was just one year. He said that he would personally check your achievements next winter. He said that if you did not reach the first rank, he would immediately take you back to your hometown. In fact, this is a word that you can bring out because you have grown to a certain extent. If she was still an ordinary girl, we would have dragged her along.”
“Master said he was on the way to find me…?!”

If you don’t reach first class, you’re really done! To be honest, I don’t have the confidence to survive being pursued by the sword master. No matter where you hide on the continent, I think you’ll be tired of chasing me.

“This is the end of my message. I’ll leave the chasing party here. I wonder if you’ll be back in Jakarta next winter. I’ll be waiting for news.”

As promised, Farhan didn’t touch us anymore. He took Jakarta’s warriors and slipped out of the chapel. Fortunately, there were few places where the furniture was broken, so it was enough to clean up the snow that had fallen on the floor.

“Sigh…”

Rebecca, who heard the sudden news, was still confused. While tidying up the chapel, I cautiously spoke to Rebecca.

“Does it take a long time to become a first-class soldier? I think I can become a first-class wizard next winter…”
“I can only say that because your talent as a mage is amazing. It took me half a year to be able to handle mana. If I train alone, no matter how hard I try, I won’t be able to become first-class until next year. At this rate, Master will catch me and return home. It looks like I’m being dragged…”
“Rebecca sister! If that master comes, I’ll kick her out! Don’t worry!”
“If you try to kick him out, you’ll be split in half and die.”
“Ugh…”

Rebecca didn’t seem very confident. I want to cheer you up, but I don’t know anything about the growth of warriors.

In my mind, I want to feed you until your stomach bursts. Where can I find the giyeon?

After all, we didn’t find a sharp number until we left the church.

*

Kate noticed that she wanted to follow us back to the inn, but she had no choice but to stay at the church. Because she has to explain to the church members about the battle that happened in the chapel. It was quite a raucous battle, so there were a few church members watching us through the windows. Of course, the guards who came after receiving the report showed up.

“The dark people suddenly went on a rampage! We’re just victims!”
“The dark-skinned ones. I’m going to send out the mug right now. Thanks for the tip, Sister Kate.”

Of course you can’t part peacefully with bastards. In exchange for giving us a head start, they put in a report to the guards. At least I won’t see them again in Joensuu.

I went back to the inn with Rebecca.
All the way back, Rebecca had a grim expression on her face.

“It’s a big deal…”

This is the first time that a child who has always had a strong personality has shown such a low spirits. I, who was walking beside her, couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

I’ve had that thought from time to time since I first met Rebecca.
I am afraid that one day Rebecca will suddenly leave me and she will go far away.
Until now, I didn’t know much about her past.

‘I thought it was just a useless worry.’

Every time an ominous imagination came to mind, I tried to deny it. But now, the breakup in the imagination was slowly about to become a reality. Every time I saw Rebecca depressed, her heart ached.

“Luke… Can I become a first-class soldier? I hate breaking up with you.”
“Of course it can be done. We have magic charge. You won’t have to suffer because of mana. You just need to focus on training.”
“What if I fail?”
“Because there’s no way I’ll fail.”

Arriving at the inn, it was finally time to part. But the moment her Rebecca was about to enter her room, her I suddenly reached out and grabbed her. I wanted to tell you this much before we parted ways.

“Rebecca.”
“Yes?”
“I will never leave you alone. I will be with you no matter what.”
“…”
“It doesn’t matter if you are taken back to your hometown. At that time, I will accompany you. I promised to protect you for the rest of my life.”

I said it with sincerity.
A few months ago I made a promise.

This was when Rebecca and I were new adventurers. When we performed the giant subjugation quest, we fought the old giant alone. At that time, when I lacked my skills as a wizard, I owed my life to Rebecca.

A club wielded by an old giant.
A lover with a shield who risked his life to protect me.

I’ve never been so pathetic to my weak self.

But now it’s different.
The time has come for me to protect Rebecca.

Rebecca looked at me with her quivering eyes.

“Lou, Luke! Jakarta is far from here. Starting with the culture, everything is different from the outside world. It will be difficult for you to adapt.”
“It doesn’t matter if you suffer a little. All I need is you.”
“Really…? Will you trust me alone and follow me to my hometown?”
“I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

It seems that he is suffering quite severely. Without saying a word, I pulled Rebecca into her arms.

Rebecca held me for a while before opening her mouth. There was a slight weeping in her eyes.

“Thank you, I think I’m gaining strength thanks to Luke. I’ll do my best until next year!

Thanks to her encouragement, Rebecca regained her strength. Wiping a tear with her sleeve, Rebecca looked at me grinning. The moment I saw her smile, my anxious feelings disappeared as if they were washed away.

It’s ridiculous that we broke up.
It’s a relationship that I met somehow.

“I’m going to sleep with Luke tonight.”

That night I stayed by Rebecca’s side.
So that she can sleep peacefully.

It’s good that she’s cheered up, but Rebecca’s problem isn’t solved yet. We need to find a way to increase the speed of growth as an unmanned soldier. Being taken by force to our hometown was not what we wanted.

When morning broke, Rebecca left her inn earlier than usual for her practice. I followed Rebecca and visited the Swordsman Guild together. If it’s related to martial arts, it would be appropriate to seek advice from the swordsman’s guild.

At the training ground of the swordsman guild, an old barbarian was working as an instructor today.
Nickel old man with whom I am familiar.

“It’s been a while, Luke. Did you come to take baton lessons from this old man?”
“There is something more urgent than class. I came here because I have something to ask you. Do you know a way to speed up the growth rate of unmanned soldiers?

Old Nickel listened to me and put on a puzzled expression.

“If it’s one year, isn’t the schedule too tight? You wouldn’t be a soldier in the first place, so why are you looking for a way to increase your growth rate?”
“I’m looking for Rebecca, not me.
“Desert…?”
“That’s right, Grandpa Nickel! It looks like he and Luke were kidnapped to the desert.”

Me and Rebecca told old Nickel about the situation step by step.
That Rebecca has to reach first-class unmanned by next year so she can’t be taken to his hometown.

“It seems you are in a difficult situation.”

Old Nickel, who heard the story from us, thought for a long time.
After a long silence, Nickel finally spoke.

“Actually, among us barbarians, there’s a guy who became a first-class soldier in a year. The idea just came to my mind.”