Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 63

“My younger sister’s name was Matana. She resembled Arteon and was the most beautiful elf in our village. However, Matana had one flaw: she was born with a much lower intelligence than other elves. As an adult, Matana’s intelligence was only that of a five-year-old child.”

Kang Chan shook his head in disbelief at Elladion’s words.

It was hard to believe that the child of Arteon, the greatest magician on the continent, had a developmental disability.

Elladion continued, leaving Kang Chan shaking his head.

“But Matana grew up beautifully, loved by everyone in the village. Humans who saw Matana at the time even revered her as an elven goddess… Perhaps her untainted innocence made her grow even more beautiful.”

Recalling the beautiful Matana of the time, Elladion roughly gulped down his beer.

Then, he suddenly gave a bitter smile and opened his mouth with a colder expression.

“But such a pure and beautiful Matana suffered a tragedy that should never have happened.”

“What kind of tragedy was it?”

“Matana, who had gone out to play outside the village alone, was kidnapped by orcs and suffered a terrible violation.”

“What? Violation? And if you say orcs, are you talking about that Urukanta from before?”

“Yes, Urukanta. That worm-like bastard is the lord of the orc tribe…”

Elladion’s hand trembled slightly as he recalled the vivid scene he had witnessed on the day Matana was kidnapped.

“When we finally found Matana, she had already been defiled so terribly by the orcs… Nemitz and I lost our minds with anger and didn’t leave a single orc alive there. Not a single one…”

“I can’t believe it.”

Kang Chan felt a revulsion that made the alcohol he had drunk threaten to come back up, just thinking about an orc like Urukanta, the Orc Lord who had driven him to the brink of death, assaulting an elven woman.

“How could an orc, of all races…”

“Perhaps those who were scorned as ugly by all races felt resentment towards our elves, who were praised as beautiful by all races, unlike them.”

“So, what happened to her?”

“Fortunately, she was rescued safely from the orcs and was able to return to her family, but the misfortune wasn’t over.”

“……?”

“She wasn’t alone.”

“Not alone? Are you serious? Is that even possible?”

“There have been many half-elves who were mixed with humans in history, but that was probably the first time in elven history that a half-orc was conceived. We all hoped that such a tragedy would not happen. But the child that was born was sadly a green-skinned elf, bearing the appearance of an elf but the skin of an orc.”

“A green elf! Could it be?”

Kang Chan stared in disbelief as the green elf, his mortal enemy, was mentioned by Elladion.

“Yes, that day is the day your enemy, Green, was born.”

Kang Chan jumped up from his seat and shouted.

“So, are you saying that the one who killed Jaina was Arteon’s granddaughter?”

All eyes were on Kang Chan, who was shouting so loudly that the tavern seemed to be shaking again, but Kang Chan didn’t care about such attention.

“Don’t get excited and sit down.”

“……”

Kang Chan, who struggled to calm his anger, slowly sat down.

“Even so, she is still my enemy.”

Kang Chan’s eyes were filled with cold murderous intent.

“I have no intention of stopping you. She is the enemy of all of our elves, not just you. No, it would be right to call her the enemy of all races on the entire continent. Anyway, that cursed green witch was born that day, and Matana was banished from the village with the child. It was also from that time that Nemitz started to become a little strange. How heartbroken would he have been as an older brother to send his only beloved sister to her death? Still, the fact that the incident ended with banishment was possible because Arteon was the Elder at the time. According to the original law, neither of them would have been able to leave the village alive.”

Kang Chan said to Elladion, who was speaking bitterly, with a murderous look in his eyes.

“So, are you saying that the green witch, who was a baby at the time, is now taking revenge?”

Elladion, who slowly nodded his head, opened his mouth in an even more somber tone.

“That’s not all. I don’t know how that child grew up outside, but she is trying to take revenge not only on our elves but also on the humans, orcs, and dwarves who occupy most of the continent.”

“How could she have lived to become like that…”

Kang Chan felt a hint of sympathy for her, who had spent as unhappy a childhood as he had, since he himself had not had a very good childhood.

Even so, she was still his unchanging enemy, and sympathy for an enemy was just an excessive luxury.

Kang Chan turned the topic to the second woman, as if he didn’t want to hear any more about her.

“So, what happened to the woman he loved?”

“The woman he loved…”

He paused for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

“The woman he loved is dead.”

“Dead? Who did that?”

“I killed the woman he loved with my own hands.”

Kang Chan couldn’t close his gaping mouth when Elladion said that he had killed the woman Nemitz loved with his own hands.

“He loved a woman he shouldn’t have loved. A dark elf woman.”

“……”

“Nemitz, who had sent his younger sister away like that, didn’t want to stay in the village for a moment after that. He must have hated it… his fellow tribesmen who drove his beloved sister to her death, and his mother, Arteon. He set up his residence in a place quite far from the village and lived there alone for hundreds of years. Then one day, she came to him. That dark elf woman who changed his life completely… and I had no choice but to…”

Elladion’s voice, thick with alcohol, began to tremble rapidly, and Kang Chan took the master’s hand.

“That’s enough, Master. I think I know roughly what happened.”

Kang Chan, who saw the master, who was always confident, shaking for the first time, felt heartbroken just seeing such a master.

Clearly, the master was clearly regretting what had happened that day.

“Master, it’s very late.”

“Yes, it’s very late…”

In the early morning, as Kang Chan escorted Elladion to his lodgings and was walking towards his own, he noticed Arteon drinking alone on the terrace located at the highest point of the Dwarf Palace.

She recalled a distant past and looked at the glass in her hand.

“Matana… Nemitz…”

No matter how many times she called their names, her lovely daughter Matana and her proud son Nemitz were no longer by her side.

Still, she called their names deeply in her heart.

“……”

Her back, as she refilled the empty glass with alcohol, looked so lonely and desolate.

20. To the Battlefield

As the red-hot molten iron poured down like a waterfall, steam rose like cumulonimbus clouds with the scorching heat.

The loud hammering sounds echoing from all directions filled the vast workshop.

This huge workshop, which was heated up from early in the morning, was the War Factory, the pride of the dwarves.

The weapons and armor produced here were of the highest quality on the continent and were luxury items that were considered the best wherever you went.

“Is this it?”

“That’s right, would you like to ride it?”

Kang Chan nodded his head diligently.

Kang Chan’s expression was slightly excited as he boarded the battle machine from another world.

Having boarded the gigantic Gigantes, which was about 26 feet (8 meters) high, Kang Chan learned how to secure himself to the chair with the help of the dwarves.

Looking around the cockpit, Kang Chan was impressed with the Gigantes battle machine.

The interior of the Gigantes had a classic charm and was completely different from the Zaid, which had a very simple interior.

Compared to the Zaid, the interior was a bit more complex and rough, but even the smallest parts showed the dedication of a craftsman.

“How is it? It’s very different from what you have in your world, right?”

“Yes, but this one seems to have more character.”

The dwarf elder smiled with a friendly look at Kang Chan’s words.

“Then let’s quickly establish a covenant between the Gigantes and you.”

“Yes.”

Kang Chan performed the covenant between the Gigantes and the Golem without difficulty because he had heard an explanation from Elladion before.

It involved drawing blood by cutting his palm, then putting it on the crystal ball of the Gigantes and channeling mana into it to make a covenant with the Golem.

Pledging his blood and mana.

Kang Chan took out the dagger he had received from Elladion and cut his palm.

Then, with his injured hand on the crystal ball, he channeled mana into the mana furnace.

Then, the mana furnace emitted a bright light and began to beat like a human heart.

It felt like starting an engine.

“That’s it! Now this Gigantes is yours. Now I’ll explain how to handle this guy.”

The dwarf elder secured Kang Chan’s body more tightly to the seat of the Gigantes and explained how to operate it.

“Don’t be nervous and listen carefully! Even though you have made a covenant, you can’t move this thing right away! It takes a lot of effort to move this Gigantes according to your will using the mana of the mana furnace! So don’t rush too much now, just learn the basics!”

The dwarf elder explained in a loud voice over the noisy hammering of the workshop, and Kang Chan nodded diligently with an excited expression.

“First of all, the principle of controlling it is that you have to inject the mana in your body into the crystal balls installed on both sides of the seat to connect with the mana furnace, which is the heart of the Gigantes! Only then can you use the mana stored there to move the Gigantes! But, how easy would that be? Even the Sword Experts [highly skilled warriors] who are famous on the continent have to put in a lot of effort over several years to become the owner of the Gigantes. So from now on, you have to put in a lot of effort… Hey? Hey? Are you listening to me?”

The dwarf elder clicked his tongue at the sight of Kang Chan quietly closing his eyes and concentrating mana on the crystal ball.

“Oh! If you try to move rashly, something big could happen!”

Although the workshop was wide, it was obvious that a huge disaster would occur if the Gigantes, a huge lump of iron that was about 26 feet (8 meters) high, fell down.

However, Kang Chan, who had actually connected his mana to the mana furnace, was surprised that the feeling was not unfamiliar at all.

The adjustment method was similar, only the principle was slightly different from his beloved horse, Red Rabbit.

The only difference was that the means of transmitting the signal were electrical signals and mana, respectively.

Kang Chan, who gradually became familiar with the control system, opened his eyes.

Then, two green lights flashed inside the Gigantes’ helmet, and at that moment, Kang Chan had become a giant, towering at 26 feet (8 meters).

As Kang Chan looked around the workshop from a dizzyingly high point of view, the Gigantes also moved its head according to Kang Chan’s will.

Then, when he raised his hand and stretched it forward, the Gigantes’ hand also stretched straight forward.

The dwarf elder was so surprised at the sight that he almost fainted.

“H, how could this happen!”

The dwarf elder was so surprised that he couldn’t close his mouth.

Usually, it takes knights who have risen to the Sword Expert level at least a few weeks to as long as a few months to communicate with the Gigantes, but that human being immediately communicated with the Gigantes as soon as he got on it.

『I’ll walk for a while.』

“W, wait a minute, you!”

Kang Chan didn’t care at all about the elder’s voice trying to stop him and moved the Elven Knight.

Then, the Gigantes, which had slowly escaped from the restraints, began to leave the War Factory, shaking the ground.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The dwarves, who were diligently quenching, shook their heads and said at the sight of the Gigantes leaving like that.

“Tsk tsk… To give something like that to a human in this situation where even one ax is lacking, what on earth is Krackshion thinking?”