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Chapter 279 - Parting Ways (Thank you for your support, Louis Dumeige, Garik Amirkhanyan, Max Brown, Kenneth Fazzone, and Ethan George!)
🕑 Added 2025-01-11 08:55:54 +0000 UTCI could tell that Roswald wanted a reason to come to look for me and maybe try to recruit me once again with those kinds of news. It wasn’t like I couldn’t understand his point of view, but this was too much of a nuisance.
While I was curious about how Nimir and Clarice would fare in this war, it was better if I didn’t get that much involved. My responsibilities with them were pretty much over. Whatever happened to them, it would be thanks to their own choices. I would feel bad if something happened to them, but not much more than that… perhaps I was being too cold since I considered them my friends.
Still, considering the whole situation, this was for the best. I couldn’t risk letting my presence be known. If I tried to intervene, the clairvoyant would find me. Besides, I had a responsibility over Alissandra. Getting involved in this conflict would be the worst thing for her.
“That won’t be necessary. Whatever happens to them, it will be the final results of their own choices. I won’t intervene.”
Roswald looked at me for a moment and then let out a sigh. He seemed disappointed, but that wasn’t much of a problem. Worrying about the opinions of others was the last thing in my fewest worries.
“All right, I will owe you for the quick trip, so I will come to look for you once I get the map in my hands. So try not to become too hard to find, all right?”
“I will see what I can do.”
I began to drive the wagon and then left Roswald behind. It was better not to ask about his next steps as well. That kind of information wasn’t something that I needed to know, after all.
“All right, Glacien. Take the reins and take us to some good labyrinth where we can set a good base of operations for a while.”
“Awoo!”
Glacien jumped from the wagon and soon began to pull it energetically. She truly liked doing that kind of manual labor. Even though I had the strength to do the same, I would never find this truly something exciting or enjoyable.
Things got a lot more quiet now that Roswald wasn’t around, but that didn’t bother me that much. For the first time in a couple of days, I decided to take a nap while Glacien took over things.
— —
Two days had passed since Roswald had parted ways with Regulus and he couldn’t help but let out a sigh while he was running. Moving on, his wagon was a lot faster, even though Roswald could use Shadow Step and even his movement speed was quite high.
‘Quite the ingenious idea indeed… having an engine for each wheel and still makes them connected in order to increase their power.’
Two days later, Roswald was running, his body darting between shadows with the help of Shadow Step. Despite his speed and endurance, it was still slower than the wagon had created and used.
The design was ingenious, engines for each wheel synchronized to amplify their combined power. It was far beyond anything Roswald had seen in common use, and the simplicity of the concept hid the precision required to make it work.
He couldn’t help but wonder if Regulus had come up with himself or if the knowledge had come from one of the libraries in his home. Regulus always seemed to carry an air of quiet thinking, his mind perpetually wrapped around some unseen problem. It wouldn’t be surprising if the idea had come to him during one of those moments when the world around him seemed to fade into the background.
Roswald shook his head as he ran, recalling how Regulus had always been resourceful in ways that were almost irritating. He could take the smallest piece of knowledge, the most trivial idea, and turn it into something extraordinary. That quality had been part of what made him so surprising.
Still, Roswald couldn’t help but feel a faint admiration for him. Even in moments of exasperation, he understood that Regulus’ mind operated on a different level, always spinning, always solving something or improving it.
While he was thinking about that, Roswald eventually was able to see the camp in the distance of the beastkin forces. They were pretty close to the border already, so in one day, they would be able to reach the dwarven territory and after that, their movement speed would increase thanks to the help of the dwarven vehicles.
Once he found them and the scouts found him, Roswald slowed down and then lowered the hood that hid his face. Not many people in these parts would know his appearance, but this would be a good sign to show that he didn’t mean trouble. While he had soft human features, it was still very clear that he had beastkin blood.
No matter who he was, causing trouble in a place like this with thousands of beastkin nearby would be the downfall of anyone. As Roswald crossed the camp, he couldn’t help but feel the tense atmosphere. Beastkin are usually peaceful people, but their beast instincts would take over the more they get closer to a battlefield. It felt like that they could transform at any moment and attack him considering their eyes alone.
Eventually, Roswald was able to find Vincent’s smell and then headed in his direction. Some of his underlings were around, so they also recognized him and nodded at him. He nodded back before entering the large tent in which Roswald was able to feel his smell, but soon he stopped when he looked inside and then found two people on the sides. One of them was Raul, one of the beastkin that was with Vincent years ago.
The other was also with Vincent when Roswald helped them, but she looked a lot less welcoming than Roswald recalled. She still had the Hex in her eyes, but she looked a lot more confident than before, and it looked like she had gotten stronger as she grew up as well. Nimira was studying Roswald with her arms crossed and with a severe expression on her face.
Nimira had grown quite a bit, before. She was a lot more shy, but she tended to open up fast to those who she felt that she could trust. She also no longer felt the need to hide her appearance. Aside from her cloak, she was wearing only some short pants and a sleeveless shirt that exposed her stomach. She still had some protectors on some parts of her body and she had a pair of short swords on her sides as well, but it was clear that she focused on mobility over anything else.
“Hey, guys! It has been a while! How have you been?”
Roswald stepped forward to greet Vincent, who smiled at his arrival, but Nimira stopped to block his path. She didn’t look pleased with his arrival for some reason. That felt a bit odd given that they were both half beastkin, and they got along before.
“... Why do you smell of him?”
“Like who?”
Roswald could feel Nimira’s gaze insistent on him, her sharp instincts clearly showing that something was amiss. Yet, instead of addressing her suspicion directly, he decided to play it dumb.
Still, Roswald knew better than to be too ready to give that kind of information. Regulus was a figure best left in the shadows, his presence and actions shrouded in mystery for good reason. Drawing attention to him, even unintentionally, could lead to complications Roswald wasn’t willing to risk.
Roswald had long learned the value of withholding information. Even among allies, a certain degree of caution was necessary. In this case, it wasn’t just about protecting Regulus; it was about maintaining the balance of what each party knew. The less anyone could predict about Regulus’ actions or connections, the safer they all were.
Still, as the silence continued, he held his ground. Letting her draw her own conclusions, no matter how uncomfortable, was better than giving her all the pieces outright. However, when it comes to him, Nimira wouldn’t joke or waste time.
“Don’t waste our time, Roswald. There aren’t many people like him, and it has been a while since we saw you and you became the leader of that group. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“All right, all right. Just don’t stare daggers at me. I had to at least try to hide information about him. You know how he is. This is a long story, but that also would explain why I am here. Do you all want to listen to it?”
“It is fine. We are only having a short meeting, and it isn’t like we are commanding the largest force here. We can speak with no worries.”
After listening to Vincent’s words, Roswald nodded and then sat down on the ground and everyone did the same. Before long, he began to share the reason why he was here and what made him make that choice. His story was a bit weird since it started at the end and then changed from his perspective to Regulus and how he learned about things and the rift.
Nimira’s expression softened up when she learned that Regulus was fine and that he came here with Roswald, but it was clear that he wanted to avoid her. Probably because he thought that Nimira was his first real friend, but it turned out that she had been his first girl friend.
Nimira realized a bit too late that she read her name wrong, but she assumed that Regulus had noticed that she was a girl from the beginning, but now that she thought about it, he wasn’t around when she changed her clothes or took a bath. Doing that together was relatively normal for beastkin, but not for humans. Maybe that was why he never noticed it. Regardless, Vincent stayed silent for a while, but then he spoke.
“I see… it is indeed about a rift, huh? No wonder the empire is so insistent on this.”
“You make it sound like you were aware of the possibility.”
“We have our spies, after all. Raul, go and tell this to the others. Confirming this will help us a lot. We also need to make sure if the dwarves knew about this or not.”
“Understood.”
Comments
Preston Bowers
Oh but imagine the edge lords that would think he is so cool, he would have to keep running even faster to get away from them.
Sunless
Difference of opinion but he characterizes people as dumb or weak or himself as t and apart from others, he has a good excuse now in the baby but he is starting to use her justification for behaving as he has in the past. I’m not saying he should join the war but he is still actively closing doors on relationships and rising the idea of creating a friend as “joining” the war. The number of times he calls people ie his one other I intelligible person a derogative (mentally and verbally) even when they are choosing to be by his side is a tell.
MagicWafflez
... I lowkey hope the rift spits out earth people. They're like humans, but they have a radically different view of other races opposed to the empire's view. that would also explain why the empire is trying so hard to stop them xD also, an Infusion of people that *don't* think regulus is evil would be nice...
MagicWafflez
eh, I don't think keeping himself out of the war and not wanting updates about his friends *in* the war is arrogant. It'd be more arrogant to say yes and drag a baby into a warzone.
Sunless
Our Vampire’s habit is starting to become a bit too self destructive. Seems like his vampire arrogance has awaken but not in the manner he expected or maybe in a way that he doesn’t mind.
