BXBX NOVEL Side Story Chapter 322
Side Story Chapter 322
The servants he ran into bowed respectfully. Selim just nodded; he’d gotten used to it by now.
‘Did Mother succeed?’ he wondered.
Iceline had been cooped up in her lab at the Magic Tower for over a year, determined to find a way to meet Joshua again even if it took her the rest of her life.
“I hope she’s close to a breakthrough...” Selim abruptly stopped in the middle of the long hallway, baring his energy slightly. “...Stop hiding and come out. Who are you?”
He detected a faint trace of energy. Even with his finely honed senses, he couldn’t feel without concentrating. Well, to get past the Imperial Knights, they’d have to be at least that skilled.
Selim didn’t think too much about it and unleashed more of his energy.
“I said, come out.”
“You should look down, not up.”
Selim gasped and stumbled several steps backward.
A woman leaped out of the shadows on the ground.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you...”
Cold sweat dripped down Selim’s back. If the woman had wished, Selim would have been long gone from this world. Fortunately, she showed no signs of hostility.
‘Have I gotten too soft? Even if I was too busy with my duties...!’
Selim decided to spend more time on his training.
“...You almost gave me a heart attack,” he said.
Selim recognized the woman; her black robe revealed her unrealistically beautiful face and nothing else. She was one of the few people Selim treated with respect even though he was an emperor. On top of being a dark elf who was several times older than Selim, she was also known as the notorious Assassin King.
“How is your stay in the palace? Has everything been okay?” Selim asked, to which Aisha nodded.
It had been over a year since she had begun living in the palace.
In the past, Aisha had conducted countless assassinations as part of the Black Wind, Avalon’s former intelligence agency. Her hands were stained with blood. Once it became known that Aisha’s seclusion had ended, those who still held grudges against her would come to the palace first. That was why Aisha had come to Selim requesting that he let her stay in the palace after the war. Selim had been more than willing.
“I would like to thank you again for having me,” Aisha said.
“No problem. But I heard you had some visitors.”
“...Humans’ lives are short,” Aisha said, beating around the bush. “Many men came to take revenge for their fathers... but most of them were fakes.”
“I guess that’s possible.”
“Some of the visitors were actually victims of my past, though.”
“Did they forgive you?” Selim cautiously asked.
“No, they said they’ll curse me even after they die.”
It took a while for them to continue their conversation.
“...I never thought it would be easy to receive forgiveness, so I’m going to apologize over and over for the rest of their lives. But I’m not sure if that will be enough to earn their forgiveness.”
Selim gazed at Aisha’s beautiful face.
“Speaking of which, can you let me stay here a little longer?”
“That’s why you visited me today, is it?” Selim chuckled.
“Please.” Aisha bowed.
Selim let out a long sigh. “You don’t have to do this. You’re my father’s friend, so you’re welcome to stay as long as you need.”
“...Thank you.”
Aisha turned to leave, but Selim quickly grabbed her sleeve.
“Hold on!”
“Yes?”
“Umm... Can I ask you a favor?”
Aisha looked back with her starry eyes and nodded. “Go on.”
“...If it’s alright with you, could you keep me company from time to time during your stay?”
“...Keep you company?” Aisha blankly repeated.
“Well... Being emperor is a lonely job, like an assassin,” Selim blurted. He immediately fumbled for excuses. “A-And if you show up out of the blue like this, it’ll be a great practice for me to handle assassins. That’s something that all emperors have to prepare for.”
Aisha broke her long silence with a bright smile. She was usually expressionless, so Selim found himself somewhat dazed.
“...I understand. The emperor’s safety equals the country’s future—but if that’s what you want, I won’t go easy on you.”
Selim came to his senses and beamed. “That’s exactly what I want.”
*
Like everyone expected, Iceline’s research took a very long time. Theta, the Tower Master, announced that all mages in the Magic Tower were to support her in any way they could. In addition, Iceline had the Pontier Merchant Group to supply the funding and rare materials she needed for her research, which helped her make significant progress.
Unfortunately, the research was still ongoing. It had already been over ten years since the Martial God had sacrificed himself for the sake of the continent, but Iceline was still trying to bring him back.
《The end of Joshua Sanders the Martial God’s Chronicle》
*
“...Hmm...” Cain put down his pen and rolled his shoulders. “I feel like I missed something...”
Cain was becoming forgetful; maybe he was just getting old. But, if possible, he wanted to serialize the chronicle’s side stories before he died.
“...What happened after my master came back will make perfect side stories though,” Cain muttered to himself.
“Dad!”
“Daddy!”
Cain turned his head and saw twins peeking around the door; they were his dear children who took after both his wife and him.
“Are you done with your work?”
“Play with us!”
His son and daughter came running in his arms, so Cain picked them up with a bright smile.
“What game shall we play?”
“Mmm... I want to ride on your shoulders!”
“How about we have sword practice this time? It’s been a while,” Cain suggested.
“Then I want to use a spear! I’m going to be a spear knight!” his son shouted, raising his arm high in the air.
“I’ll be the Martial God!” his daughter immediately yelled.
“What do you mean? You played the Martial God the last time, so you should be Dad this time!”
“Why do you always try to be the cool one?”
“You should have been born sooner if you have a problem with it!”
“Are you joking?! You were only born a few minutes earlier! That’s it!”
His twin began to bicker again. Cain burst into laughter. Although it would be natural for him to feel jealous, Cain wasn’t bothered at all. He actually liked listening to them compliment his master more than when they flattered him.
“You guys shouldn’t cut in line, you know,” Lilith said as she walked into the room.
At the sound of her voice, the twin immediately jumped down from Cain’s arms and went running over to her.
“Mom!”
“I reserved Dad’s time first, so you guys will have to take a rain check,” Lilith declared.
“Ehhhhhhh!”
Cain looked away from the groaning children, his head in confusion. “I don’t think I know anything about this reservation.”
“You forgot about it again?” Lilith put her hands on her hips. “We have a ceremony to attend at the Great Temple.”
Cain frowned. “The Great Temple? The paladins will bully me again. They never stop asking me to spar.”
“Did you think that it would be easy to become a cardinal’s husband?” Lilith giggled. Like her late father, she was now a cardinal—the first woman to do so.
After the Second Continental War, Hubalt had reinstated the papacy, with the sole surviving cardinal assuming the pope’s mantle. The new pope was a long-time acquaintance of Lilith’s father, so she was pleased by the arrangement.
“...Alright, let’s go. The lady of the house has ordered and I shall obey.” Cain stood up.
His chair bumped into the desk, sending his pen rolling off. With his quick reflexes, Cain caught the pen before it hit the floor, but it felt like someone was yelling at him for leaving when he wasn’t done writing. He scratched the back of his head.
“You haven’t forgotten that tomorrow is my turn to have you, right? You need to come with me to the Magic Tower, remember?”
“Oh, my. Is it that day already?” Lilith covered her mouth playfully.
“Come on! You can’t forget about this.”
The question about what happened to Cain’s master was about to be answered soon.