Ending Maker Episode 427
Chapter 14 – First Contact #3
Landius was born as the son of Lord Lanford, the captain of the Paragon Kingdom’s Royal Guard.
Landius, who inherited a strong body from his father and red hair and a bright personality from his mother, showed many extraordinary aspects from an early age, but the first thing that is always mentioned is something that happened when he was two years old.
“What did you do when you were two years old?”
“It’s nothing special, I just strangled a poisonous snake that was hiding in my bed.”
“… … No matter how you look at it, it’s nothing special, but when you think of it as Landius’s business, it’s kind of natural… … .”
Fran briefly recalled the image of baby Landius strangling the viper’s neck with one hand, and nodded in agreement, while the rest of the group, who already knew this story, smiled bitterly.
“Anyway, let’s continue.”
Landius, who grew up quickly, joined the Royal Guard as a knight at the age of ten, and became the youngest knight in history at the age of fifteen.
And when I turned nineteen.
Sir Lanford, who was the only swordsman in the Paragon Kingdom and the commander of the Royal Guard, ordered his beloved son Landius to go on a military training trip.
“The Paragon Kingdom is too small for you to grow fully.”
It might have been considered disrespectful to the royal family, but Lord Lanford paid no attention.
Because it was a clear fact to anyone who saw it.
So Landius set out on a journey of asceticism.
It was a truly epic journey, starting from the Paragon Kingdom, passing through the Kingdom of Cailun and the far East, and returning via the Argon Empire.
Since it was a journey that took place with only one sword and one horse, it was bound to take a long time.
It took a year just to pass through the Kingdom of Cailun, and three years had passed by the time they reached the Argon Empire through the East.
And finally, when the fourth year came.
Landius, who set out on his way back to the Paragon Kingdom, had experienced all sorts of situations and was thus a veteran with a maturity and maturity that could not even be compared to that of ordinary young knights.
Of course, this is only talking about his perfection as a knight, and does not include Landius’s thoughts, personality, or tastes.
“The wind is always… … free. Wow, that’s cool.”
Landius nodded with a pleased face as he recited the ‘Decisive Speech’ of Count Bayer, one of the Ten Swordsmen of the Kingdom of Seilun and known as the Swordmaster of the North.
It was because, although it was new, Count Bayer seemed like a person who knew what was called ‘aesthetic’.
‘As expected, every man should have at least one decisive line.’
A word left behind when putting away one’s sword.
Like a signature line you say when confronting an enemy.
‘Come to think of it, there was that too. Have you ever tried cutting at the speed of light?’
The decisive line of the first swordsman, Rune Proud, who is considered a promising prospect in the Black Forest.
He was a man who was almost certain to become the next Ten Swordsman, and it seemed that his specialty was lightning-fast swordsmanship.
“Oh, as expected. A decisive line is necessary.”
What should Landius himself say?
Since Count Bayer and First Swordsman both created their final lines based on the swordsmanship they learned, shouldn’t Landius himself use the Ultimate Sun God Art?
“The sun always… … rises again. Oh, great. Isn’t that great?”
Honestly, I felt like it plagiarized Count Bayer’s decisive line a bit too much, but I still liked it.
“The sun always rises again.”
Landius nodded with a pleased face as he spoke again.
Because it was not just cool, it also gave me a sense of hope.
‘I should do this for now. I should write it down.’
Landius, who had made up his mind, took out his notebook and began writing down his decision, word by word.
The notebook was filled with things I wanted to do while practicing as a monk, and since I had almost done most of them, they were clearly marked.
‘It’s a shame I couldn’t do everything, but there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Landius, who had been looking at the ‘Beautiful Lady Series’ that suddenly started with ‘A passionate kiss under the moonlight with a beautiful lady’ amidst the lines drawn above and below, swallowed his tears once again and folded his notebook.
‘By the way, it’s almost time to come now.’
Landius looked away from the large steed that was running smoothly on its own, perhaps because it was as smart as its master.
It was almost the border of Paragon, so it seemed like someone would come out to greet us.
“Oh, there it is.”
Far in the distance, beneath a tree, there was a familiar figure.
A beautiful knight with long white hair reminiscent of pure white snow.
“Kamael!”
When Landius raised his hand and shouted, the knight in the shadows, Kamael, instead of running over immediately, raised his hand in the same manner and then mounted his horse.
It seemed like they were planning to move only when they reached the shade.
‘That’s typical of Kamael.’
Landius felt a strange joy at the fact that his old friend, whom he had not seen in four years, was the same as before, and he laughed heartily as he ran towards the shade.
“Kamael.”
“Landius.”
Landius burst into laughter at the faint smile that was added to the beautiful voice, and then thought.
No, I just said it out loud.
“You look more handsome.”
No, should I say it became prettier?
It was Kamael’s beauty that went beyond just being handsome and gave off a feeling of being beautiful, perhaps because of his long hair and his naturally thin body.
‘If it was Kamael, I could have completed the ‘Beautiful Lady Series’?’
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you look healthy. That’s a relief.”
Landius laughed again at Kamael’s seemingly cold yet warm tone of voice, and then stood with his head parallel to Kamael’s.
“I’ve been receiving updates through letters, but is everything okay in the kingdom?”
“… … You haven’t forgotten that I also set out on a journey of martial arts, just going in a different direction, have you?”
“But you came back a few months earlier than me.”
The fact that he came out to greet me right away was proof of that.
So instead of saying anything else, Kamael looked away and said.
“I don’t think there’s anything serious. If I had to be specific, I would say it’s just that a new archbishop came last year.”
“Oh, that Archbishop. My father said that Her Majesty the Queen was very pleased with him.”
“It is as the captain said. The queen was a devout believer of Solari to begin with, so it may be natural in a way… … Well, it’s not really a problem or anything. She doesn’t do much external activities either. It seems like she almost always stays at the church established by the royal family or her own residence.”
Landius frowned at Kamael’s words.
This is because, rather than the content itself, I was concerned about the fact that Kamael was paying more attention to the Archbishop than expected.
“Are you having a bad feeling?”
“… … To be honest, I haven’t done anything particularly problematic like I just said. It’s just… … Maybe it’s just my mood.”
After saying that, Kamael shook his head once and asked with a smile.
“Wait! Wait! You smiled? Kamael?”
When Fran, who had been listening to the story for a while, suddenly stood up from her seat and shouted in disbelief, Landius laughed heartily and said.
“Oh, smile. Brightly. No, beautifully?”
Anyway, a bright smile.
As Landius continued to insist, Fran immediately turned to Kamael, who spoke in a stiff tone with his characteristically sullen expression.
“I am human too.”
The answer, which contained many implications, was sharp, but Fran asked undaunted.
“Then can you smile now?”
“I don’t like it.”
Kamael spoke bluntly, and Fran turned to look at Landius as if telling him to look.
Although it seemed as if Kamael was smiling brightly like that, the others showed different behavior instead of sympathizing with Fran.
“Cursed.”
“100 million.”
Belkian, who had cursed the back of Fran’s head, had the skeletons sit Fran down while she was groaning after being ambushed. Then, with a face that was a mixture of pleasure and apology, he spoke to Landius.
“Sorry to interrupt. Please continue.”
“Yes, Belkian.”
Landius and Kamael rode slowly, chatting about this and that.
Although they had exchanged quite a few letters, it had been four years since they had last met in person, so they had quite a lot to talk about.
But how far did it go?
“Lord Landius?”
Landius and Kamael turned their heads at the same time at the sound of a little girl’s voice coming from the side, and they were able to find the girl crouching in a flower field quite far away from the roadside.
A girl wearing a large straw hat and rough gray clothes.
Suddenly, a child he had never seen before called his name, but instead of thinking it was strange, Landius smiled brightly and waved.
“Heh, I guess I’m pretty famous now that I’m back home?”
Landius, who spoke softly, turned his head towards the girl.
Since he was a fan that he had met for the first time in a while, he planned to give her proper fan service.
Like Count Bayer of the Kingdom of Cailun.
But it was just as Landius was about to get off his horse.
“He’s running away.”
That’s right.
The moment Landius turned his horse’s head, the girl who had been fidgeting for some reason turned around and started to run away.
I almost fell over several times as I ran away in such a hurry, and even my straw hat came off, revealing my bright blond hair.
“You fell.”
This time, it was as Kamael said.
The girl stumbled and fell forward with a scream, falling so hard that you could see up her skirt.
“this.”
Landius was a knight and a gentleman.
That’s why Landius reflexively turned his head and closed his eyes, losing sight of the girl for a moment.
“He stands up again and runs.”
This time, it was as Kamael said.
When Landius raised his head again, the girl had already run so far that her back looked smaller than a finger.
“Why… … are you running away? Are you, are you afraid of me?”
In response to Landius’ half-astonished question, Kamael shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t know, and Landius turned his head again to look at the back of the girl who was falling for the second time.
* * *
“I didn’t know it then, but I do now. It was you, Lena, right?”
Landius asked with a very warm smile, and Lena bit her lips with a red face as if embarrassed.
“Judging by the reaction, it seems like it was right.”
Fran also chuckled and asked, feeling Kamael’s tone mixed with a hint of amusement.
“Lena, is it true? That was your first meeting with Landius?”
Then why on earth did he run away?
Are you really scared of Landius?
“Well, it’s not that scary.”
Fran looked back at Landius with eyes that showed understanding.
A muscle-bound giant who stands 2.3 meters tall – no, he now appears to be 2.5 meters tall.
If she was a little girl, it would be understandable for her to be scared when she saw it.
“No, wait. Fran, it was different back then. Before I went through the ancestral regression, I was only about 190cm tall. Right? Lena?”
When Landius asked with a look of injustice on his face, Rena fanned her face to cool it down, then took a deep breath and spoke.
“first.”
“first?”
“First of all, that’s it. The girl who ran away back then was me… … Yes, that’s me, but that wasn’t my first meeting with Randy.”
Landius furrowed his brows at Lena’s declaration.
If not then, then when was our first meeting?
“You really don’t know?”
Landius flinched for a moment at Lena’s question, but soon nodded with a pitiful expression on his face.
I really couldn’t think of anything.
“Well… … It’s a shame, but honestly, I understand. It was a first meeting that wasn’t easy to remember.”
Instead of getting angry, Lena chuckled, and instead of feeling relieved, Landius looked even more apologetic.
The way Lena spoke made me feel like we had some kind of special encounter, but I felt bad that I couldn’t remember it.
“Anyway, then I’ll talk. So… … .”
“Ouch! Wait a minute!”
As always, it was Fran who interrupted the conversation.
As everyone’s eyes turned to him, he raised his finger and said.
“Looking at the atmosphere, it seems like Lena’s story will be the strawberry, but how about listening to Kamael’s story first?”
Lena nodded in agreement with Fran’s argument, and Belkian glanced at Kamael and nodded in agreement.
And Kamael – the man who could not bring himself to claim that he was a strawberry – said with a slightly disgruntled expression on his face.
“Then let me go first.”
“I respect that mature decision.”
Fran, who had even clapped her hands, quickly sat down, and Kamael sighed again before beginning to tell his story.
