#240
Helmut
Episode 240
Chapter 16: Blue
It was deep in the forest. It moved as if flying over the mountain range. Agile yet silent movements.
It was like a wild animal, but it did not run on all fours. Bipedal walking.
It was running, holding a blood-stained sword in one hand.
If anyone saw him, they would have thought of that word.
monster.
Torn clothes, blackened body, grotesquely bloodshot eyes, cracked skin, swollen muscles.
The magic energy that once seemed to soar into the sky sank like wet clothes.
Nevertheless, the ferocious murderous intent could be felt in those eyes.
Aggressive instincts to kill, eat and destroy. That being whose entire body felt evil was once a person.
Yes, until not long ago.
Before something changed happened to him, he wasn’t even an ordinary person.
This means that he was not just an ordinary, weak human being.
A first-class platinum-plated mercenary.
It was a glorious position that not everyone could reach.
Becoming a platinum mercenary is not a matter of effort. It’s a talent. Talent for vis. Talent with the sword.
In terms of talent, he was outstanding. In his entire life, he had never seen anyone more talented with a sword than himself.
From a very young age, he was different from others.
Although he was born as a commoner, he was very smart, quickly learned writing and developed his intellect without anyone telling him much, and his physical movements were unusual.
He quickly realized that swinging a sword was more advantageous to him than learning academics.
For commoners, force was the easiest way to elevate themselves.
However, he was inherently vicious and cruel.
I don’t know if something inside him made him that way in the first place, or if it was just his temperament.
However, the ferocity and cruelty were on a line that could not be controlled by reason, and I knew that.
That you are like an untamed wild beast.
When I was 15 years old and reigned as the leader of the alley, I had a fight with a friend.
The argument stirred something deep inside him.
No warm or soft feelings reached him. Friendship had no effect on him. A duller and colder heart than anyone else.
The cruel instinct of a wild beast did not stop at ripping off the limbs of insects.
It wasn’t long before the hands that had been killing animals turned toward people with anger.
Immediately after doing that, looking down at the mangled corpses and blood-stained hands, he realized that he could no longer live in this peaceful village.
His parents were afraid of him long ago, and so were the villagers.
Since he committed murder, he will be singled out as the culprit.
What if you are singled out? Just kill them all. It was a sinister and seductive impulse.
However, the idea he immediately had did not come true in reality.
He was cruel, but not cruel enough to slaughter an entire village.
He was still human. Reason and weak affection held him back.
But he was now a murderer. After leaving town and laundering his identity, he decided to become a mercenary.
Although he was an untrained swordsman, his talent alone was enough to become a mercenary.
The opponent’s sword was ridiculously slow, and his body was rapidly filled with vis.
It wasn’t that I didn’t try hard, and I enjoyed the actual battle.
He got into mercenary work and improved his skills by learning the sword techniques of knights and mercenaries.
It was smooth. Because he knew his nature, he took on the task of dealing with monsters rather than humans, and escorting missions rather than escorting them.
Then, at the young age of 26, he rose to the position of first-class platinum level mercenary.
Since becoming a mercenary, he has had some minor disputes, but his life has been smooth enough to be proud that he has lived without any trouble.
Until that happens.
He was in charge of a request to catch a monster. It was a request he enjoyed taking on.
Meanwhile, for the first time in my life, I met the so-called priests of Lumen.
Was the fuse the problem? Something about them stimulated him from deep within his heart.
It was a strange feeling. The priests were not hostile, but he felt a threatening aura from them.
As if it would obliterate his existence. He irrationally shook the vessel inside him.
It was a vessel that had been filled with water drop by drop since birth.
He felt the presence of a vessel inside him that was about to burst.
And that when the last drop falls, the filled vessel will completely change you.
Because I knew that my talent, my strength, everything about myself came from something lurking within me.
Although he didn’t know its name, he knew it existed.
As if he had made a contract with a demon king who was said to have died in ancient times, he realized that one day he would have to pay the price for having things that ordinary humans did not have.
It was simply Lumen’s priests who triggered the last drop.
I don’t know what they did. It could have been a minor stimulus.
Like when he murdered his childhood friend.
Reason flew into the air, and only black murderous intent engulfed him.
The explosion was violent. Someone sprouts darkness. It seems like he shouted those words.
A monster whose reason has disappeared and only instinct remains. He killed three priests and five paladins and left the place devastated.
Just as he left the village where he lived with his parents, he had no reason to look for a new home.
Reason exists in humans.
All he had left was instinct. The instinct to destroy everything!
He will follow his evil instincts. That was the price he paid for his transcendent power.
It was also the ending of humans being controlled by a fully grown sprout of darkness.
*
Helmut’s life was peaceful. It was like living in an extension of Kudrow Mansion.
Comfortable and luxurious life. If he had not been born with the buds of darkness, these were things he should have naturally enjoyed in Latona since childhood.
He had lived almost his entire life in the forest as a pariah, and this luxury strangely suited Helmut well.
Helmut did not think it was because he had noble blood flowing through his body.
‘It’s probably because I’m good at adapting.’
I knew that there were eyes of suspicion on me.
Because Helmut resembles Archduke Rinosa. While listening to the maids whispering, Helmut also became curious.
How much he resembled Prince Rinosa. When you look at him, do you feel like he is your father?
‘Father… … .’
The moment Helmut was born, Archduke Rinosa was not there. To him, the presence of his father was vague. Because he’s never seen it before.
Even before Helmut knew that his mother was the Archduchess of Linosa, he had considered the possibility that she was a single mother or a widow.
However, I now seemed to understand why the Archduke did not appear at the moment of birth.
My father was a grand duke, and because of that, he was too busy to even look after the birth of his children.
Above all, Grand Duke Rinosa was heartless towards his family.
The only thing he cared about was the beautiful and virtuous Grand Duchess, but even she did not take priority over ruling Linosa.
‘I wonder if I’ll ever see my father before the vacation ends.’
I had a premonition that I would not return to the Academy, but that premonition may not be true.
As long as Ethan Kudrow was there and Area was there, Greta Academy was a place Helmut had to return to at any time.
The Grand Duke of Linosa left Latona. That was the only news Helmut knew.
Even if he returned, there was no guarantee that he would meet Helmut.
Helmut will stay in Linosa at least until the holidays.
After that, there was no reason to stay.
Charlotte, the only person I know, is also leaving for Baden.
Linosa will also send him away to go back with her.
It was impossible for me to stay here and be treated like a VIP like an unemployed person.
So something had to be clear before that.
‘But how.’
You can’t just go to your mother and show her the pendant.
Michael was wary of Helmut and only looked for Leon, but he felt that he was being watched.
From Helmut’s perspective, there was no way to personally approach Archduchess Linosa.
There was no choice but to approach him from her side.
‘My mother indeed.’
Helmut decided to remain quiet until the attention on him faded and the maids got used to the handsome boy who looked just like the Archduke and stopped whispering.
That wasn’t difficult.
What Helmut received was treated like a VIP. He was given spacious, luxurious rooms, a private retreat, and occasional invitations to dinner parties.
The last four days he spent here at Latona Palace were very peaceful. When he informed her that she was Grand Princess Lin, Charlotte showed a complicated look in her eyes and did not look for Helmut.
As if avoiding him.
Although Helmut was somewhat insensitive, he could sense that there was something between her and Michael.
But it was none of Helmut’s business. Area said he had work to do and that he would not be available for a while.
In the current situation, the only thing that mattered to Helmut right now was his mother.
‘Let’s take a look around the palace.’
Even as the Grand Duchess of Rinosa, it would not be easy for her mother to come up with an excuse to approach Helmut.
However, in a meaningful voice, she told Helmut that he could tour the palace to his heart’s content.
Wasn’t that a request to create an opportunity?
Helmut moved his feet. Guided by her maid, he soon reached a hallway.
It was a hallway lined with portraits of members of the Grand Duchy.
Not long after he stood there, light footsteps echoed through the hallway.
It was a sign that I could now see even if I closed my eyes.
Helmut waited until the owner of the footsteps was completely close.
An elegant and kind voice reached my ears.
“Helmut, you were here.”
Helmut quietly looked to the side.
And he bowed his head to the beautiful lady standing there.
“Her Highness the Grand Duchess.”
