TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 20
“Hi, hi! Honey, did you wait for me?”
“Since when have I been your honey?”
Seeing Darling making a fuss as soon as she arrived, Kraush wore a slightly exasperated expression.
Having drained all his energy from dealing with Balrok earlier, he didn’t have the strength to entertain Darling’s jokes.
“You look a bit out of it. Did something happen?”
Noticing Kraush’s condition, Darling asked with concern.
Kraush, having no reason to hide it, let out a sigh.
“The Patriarch came by.”
“The Patriarch, the Patriarch? Don’t tell me—Martial Emperor Balrok Balheim?”
Throwing around someone else’s father’s name so casually.
“Yeah, he’s my father.”
“Wow, amazing! I’ve always wanted to meet him. I should’ve come a bit earlier!”
She bounced on the spot, pretending to be regretful.
Each time she did, her hair and earrings swayed, catching his eye, but Kraush simply shook his head.
“It’s better not to meet him.”
It’ll only cause heartache.
And honestly, even Darling wouldn’t be able to act like this in front of Balrok.
In the Empire, there were two of the Celestial Four Strongest, but in Starlon, there was only one.
In such a place as Starlon, Balrok was everyone’s idol and stood in an untouchable position.
Only Charlotte was expected to one day rise to Balrok’s level as a new star.
“So, kid, did he come to see you to make you the future Balheim Family Head?”
“As if. You know my sister well enough.”
Because she’s someone who adores Charlotte.
“I do know. But I don’t think you’re lacking either, kid.”
At the same time, Darling’s eyes curved mischievously.
“I’m really curious how a tough kid like you would stand up to Charlotte.”
Darling’s bad habit began to surface.
As her curiosity-filled eyes sparkled, Kraush jabbed her side with his finger.
“Ack!”
Watching Darling twist her body more dramatically than expected, Kraush spoke.
“Cut the nonsense. I have no intention of becoming the Family Head in the first place.”
When the world’s on the brink of destruction, being the Family Head means nothing.
As Kraush said this, Darling, clutching her side in a hunched posture, replied.
“I didn’t expect you to back down like that. Anyway, kid, don’t go poking people in the side. There are a lot of sensitive folks, you know.”
“How would I know?”
As Kraush snorted, Darling finally straightened her posture, looking relieved.
“So, about the request I made.”
As Kraush spoke, Darling smiled brightly.
She opened the bag she had brought along and took out a small bottle.
Inside the bottle was a pill, smaller than a fingernail, shaped like a pellet.
“It’s done. How is it? Don’t I seem like a genius?”
“You’ve always been a genius.”
As Darling joked, Kraush responded as if it were obvious.
Surprised by his unexpected reaction, Darling paused, and Kraush took the pill from her hand.
Meanwhile, Darling opened and closed her hand, her expression turning slightly shy.
“…Hmm, I didn’t expect you to outright call me a genius like that.”
“It’s only right to call a genius a genius. It suits you best.”
Geniuses are those who achieve the most outstanding results in their respective fields and are the most well-known, leading to the misconception that there are many of them.
But their numbers were so few that they always seemed insufficient.
And Kraush had lived among such geniuses in the Skyborne Generation.
Denying a genius’s talent would only make oneself seem more insignificant.
So Kraush acknowledged geniuses.
Even though now, he was in a position where he had to surpass such geniuses.
“You show some strange sides in moments like this. Kid, the more I get to know you, the more charming you are.”
“Don’t hit on a kid.”
“Kids wouldn’t understand things like this.”
Leaving the laughing Darling behind, Kraush was about to head to Aliod.
But her next words stopped him in his tracks.
“There’s news that Aniks has changed recently.”
Kraush turned his head back.
After being defeated by Charlotte, Aniks had reduced the intensity of his training.
To be precise, he had lost the meaning of training.
He had concluded that no matter how much effort he put in, he could never reach Charlotte.
However, after seeing Kraush, who had been overshadowed by Charlotte, spread his wings at the Holy Land of Stars, something inside Aniks had shifted.
No one knew exactly what had changed.
But the recent news was that he had increased the intensity of his training again.
“What a pointless thing to do.”
Kraush showed clear disapproval of Aniks.
It was a natural reaction.
To Kraush, Aniks was nothing more than a traitor.
In fact, he found him utterly detestable.
‘I don’t know what influence I had on him.’
Kraush didn’t welcome the fact.
“Alright. Now leave.”
“That’s harsh. I came all the way here, and you’re telling me to leave right away?”
“There’s nothing for you to do here anyway.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
Seeing Darling’s bright smile, Kraush frowned.
If he left her alone, her antics would only escalate as time went on.
Maybe he should say something in advance.
[What an amusing child.]
At that moment, Kraush froze at the voice resonating directly in his head.
This unsettling sensation occurred whenever Crimson Garden spoke to him telepathically.
As Kraush looked around, Crimson Garden was already sitting by the window.
She had fled earlier when his father appeared, yet she had returned in no time.
[Born under the Alchemy Star. I thought Starlon had nothing noteworthy besides Balheim, but it seems there’s quite a talent here.]
Kraush noticed Crimson Garden’s crow-like pupils glinting red.
It seemed she had seen through Darling’s talent.
[This is perfect.]
Crimson Garden’s expression turned satisfied.
[Ask that child to make an elixir.]
An elixir is a special potion that enhances physical abilities and aura upon consumption.
Naturally, it’s a priceless item, with secret techniques passed down through families to create it.
To ask for such a thing out of the blue.
Even Darling couldn’t whip up an elixir so easily.
[Don’t worry. I know all the recipes. All you need is a skilled alchemist.]
If that’s the case.
Kraush had no reason to oppose.
In his life, elixirs were things far removed from him.
Half-Pennies like him wouldn’t see much effect from consuming elixirs, as only the exceptional ones devoured them, leaving none behind.
[Kid, your body is a complete mess. Don’t you think you need to be drenched in elixirs?]
Kraush didn’t deny those words.
The day he first returned with Crimson Garden.
Kraush received his first training from Crimson Garden.
And the words Kraush heard during that training were very simple.
[You have absolutely nothing innate. Your swordsmanship is lacking, your aura talent is weak, and your body is sluggish.]
Crimson Garden was dumbfounded, saying it was a miracle to have so little talent.
[Yet, despite that, you’ve somehow managed to cram your lack of talent with sheer stubbornness, brutal experiences, and secret techniques. But even so, in about five years, when geniuses gain experience, you won’t be able to keep up. For someone claiming to be a regressor, it’s astonishing how little you have.]
Kraush wasn’t a regressor, but the rest of the statement was true.
Even Aniks, whom Kraush easily subdued in the Holy Land of Stars, would surpass him once he turned twenty.
[But that’s.]
Only to a certain extent.
[A story about your pure talent.]
If Crimson Garden had only looked at Kraush’s talent, she wouldn’t have taken him as a disciple.
[With me around, such talent is meaningless. With your greedy skill, you can just steal talent from others.]
Crimson Garden slowly ascended into the sky.
The crow flapping its wings seemed as if it would soar endlessly into the heavens.
[I will make you, who would have crawled on the ground your whole life, take flight. All you need to do is flap your wings fiercely. And above the skies, place everything beneath you. At the very end.]
Crimson Garden spread her wings wide, as if to block even the moon in the sky.
[Swallow even my immortality.]
Those were the words Crimson Garden spoke on the first day.
Kraush realized it was a kind of vow from Crimson Garden.
A vow to accept him as her disciple.
And now, it was Crimson Garden who was asking him to create an elixir.
Naturally, it would be of great help.
From Kraush’s perspective, there was no reason to refuse.
“Darling, then I’ll ask for something else.”
“You sure ask for a lot. I’m an expensive woman, you know. I don’t just offer my services to anyone.”
“I want you to make an elixir.”
Kraush, unfazed by Darling’s joke, spoke directly.
Hearing the word elixir, Darling tilted her head before letting out a small laugh.
“Are you trying to get stronger by taking an elixir? Did Aniks training inspire you or something?”
“Aniks doesn’t matter. I have too many other things to worry about to bother with him.”
What Kraush was looking at was a far more distant future.
“It’s just something I need to stand at the starting line.”
Darling stared at Kraush for a moment.
She didn’t know much about Kraush.
He had suddenly appeared, offering to help with her research and requesting a cure for an incurable disease.
Given her reputation as a genius in alchemy, which had already spread far and wide, such a request was understandable.
But that so-called genius was something she could only claim because she was still in her teens.
As time passed, the moment might come when she would no longer be called a genius.
And, in truth, most people thought that way.
They had expectations of her but didn’t truly believe in her.
After all, they had seen countless geniuses eventually become ordinary.
But Kraush had never once doubted her genius.
As if her genius was a given.
How could he be so certain?
Especially when he was just a kid about to turn fourteen.
‘Every time I see him, he acts as if he’s lived through the entire world.’
And this peculiar trait sparked Darling’s curiosity.
At first, her interest was merely in Balheim’s stubborn prodigy, the complete opposite of Charlotte.
But she began to grow genuinely curious about Kraush as a person.
“Making an elixir can make the cost skyrocket depending on the ingredients. Kid, can you handle that?”
“What do you take Balheim for?”
“Balheim is impressive, but I’ve heard plenty about your position, kid.”
She doubted whether Balheim would fund someone like Kraush, known as a Half-Penny, with such a large sum.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan for that.”
Extracting the funds wouldn’t be too difficult.
Even if he ignored the rumors from outside, he couldn’t avoid hearing the ones spreading inside.
Kraush was well aware of several key incidents that had occurred within Balheim.
And he also knew those incidents would bring in a fortune.
“You sound so confident, so I’ll trust you. So, what kind of elixir do you want to make?”
“That.”
When Kraush glanced toward the window, Crimson Garden spoke.
[Relay my words exactly as I say them.]
And Kraush relayed everything Crimson Garden said to Darling.
As she listened quietly, Darling’s expression gradually stiffened.
Because the elixir formula Kraush recited was something she had never even considered before.
“Uh, is this, like this, how it’s supposed to work?”
With a blank expression, she mulled over the formula in her mind.
Seeing her broken expression, Kraush, a complete novice in alchemy, turned to Crimson Garden, asking what she had told her. But Crimson Garden merely shrugged her wings.
“Wow, how, kid, how do you even know something like this?”
“……It’s a formula passed down in Balheim.”
Kraush gave a vague answer.
“Balheim really does have all sorts of things.”
She actually believed it.
Relieved that Darling accepted it, Kraush looked at her and asked if she could do it.
Then her eyes sparkled.
“Alright. This is exciting. I want to try making it. But some of these ingredients are beyond even me. Especially the White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom and the Golden Dragon Grass—I can’t get those.”
“The White Snow Heat Sun Mushroom grows in Hardenhartz, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, but that area’s mountains are so rugged, and with all the World Erosion, it’s poorly distributed. There aren’t many herbalists there.”
“That one, I can manage to get.”
Hearing that, Darling suddenly remembered his fiancé.
“Ah, right. That does make sense.”
But she soon showed concern about another issue.
“But as for the Golden Dragon Grass, you know how it is.”
“It’s an imperial item.”
“Yeah, the Empire manages it directly. It’s practically unavailable domestically. You might find it through black market dealers, but if the Empire catches you, it’ll be a hassle.”
“But there’s no other way, is there?”
As Kraush considered searching the black market, Darling poked his cheek with her finger.
When he turned to ask what she was doing, she smiled brightly.
“I’ll teach you a way to easily get the Golden Dragon Grass, kid.”
“There’s such a way?”
“The Empire is about to host two martial arts tournaments. One is for adults, and the other is for boys under fifteen. And the Empire’s real focus is on the second tournament. The rewards for that one are better.”
Kraush immediately understood what she meant.
“……You’re telling me to go fight?”
“If you place in the top three, you’ll get the Golden Dragon Grass. What do you think? Doable, right?”
Doable, my ass.
Kraush knew exactly why the Empire was holding the tournament this time.
The reason was simple.
The Empire is using this tournament to expand the pool of talents entering Rahelrn Academy.
‘Rahelrn Academy is officially a place for harmony between the Kingdoms and the Empire.’
In reality, political power struggles take precedence.
The more people from their own faction they place in Rahelrn Academy, the stronger their influence becomes.
So, their plan is to back promising young talents through the tournament and secure their power within Rahelrn Academy.
‘The Kingdoms are probably preparing something similar.’
The Empire is not called the Empire for nothing.
They’re promoting the Martial Arts Tournament so extravagantly that even neighboring countries are hearing about it.
“……Did you forget? I’m from Balheim. If I enter the Empire’s Martial Arts Tournament, it’ll be a complete mess.”
“Oh, I remember that very well. But the Empire’s rules state that anyone can participate, no matter who they are.”
“Idiot. That’s just a formality.”
“Hmph. And you just called me a genius a moment ago.”
Kraush sighed deeply, clutching his head.
Come to think of it, it was Darling who suggested this method to gather the ingredients for the elixir he needed in the first place.
Knowing it was wrong to be angry at her, Kraush looked at Darling.
“You wouldn’t have made this suggestion unless you had a plan.”
At that, Darling’s eyes sparkled immediately.
“Hehehe, as expected, you’re sharp, kid. I like that.”
Seeing Darling’s unsettling laughter, Kraush felt a sense of unease.
However, since he couldn’t think of another way to obtain the Golden Dragon Grass, he watched as Darling quickly pulled out a vial of medicine from her pocket.
“Behold, the medicine that turns you into a woman……!”
Crash!
Kraush immediately swung his fist, shattering the vial.
He had no intention of indulging her peculiar tastes.
“So, what’s next?”
As Kraush gave a chilling smile, Darling began wiping up the shattered vial with a handkerchief.