Reader’S Regeneration Life [EN]: Chapter 179

179―――――

I will burn you alive.

Several days had passed since the slightly ambiguous development in his relationship with Trisha.

This time, Sion entrusted Sardenia to Hemon with a subtle tone, taking extra caution unlike previous occasions, wondering if watchful eyes were upon him.

He even separately asked Lia and Lilith to investigate whether he was being followed.

‘More than anything, I must keep this matter a secret, especially since I don’t know how many informants the pirates have in the harbor!’

After confirming that he wasn’t being followed, Sion took the two women and hurried to a location far from Sardenia, somewhere between a mountain and a hill. He dismounted his horse, looked around, and subtly signaled.

Flap!―

Something hidden in the bushes suddenly popped out: a giant eagle head. Normally, one would run away immediately at the sight of a monster, but Sion smiled and slightly turned his head to the side.

“Young Lord Sion.”

“Mac.”

A man in strange attire stood next to a Griffin.

He approached Sion, bowed, and smiled back.

“Griffin Rider McClusky, reporting to the Young Lord that I have flown to the South as quickly and discreetly as possible under the orders of Count Lichten.”

“You’ve worked hard coming such a long distance without rest. What about the other riders and Griffins?”

“They are hiding and resting nearby so as not to be conspicuous. Griffins like this environment anyway, so it’s perfect.”

“But you guys must be suffering.”

“What can we do? They like it.”

Kaak!

Then the Griffin suddenly made a disgruntled cry. It even spread its wings and lightly hit McClusky on the back of the head.

“Ah, sorry. Sorry, madam.”

“Does it hate being called ‘it’?”

“They’re quite smart, so they understand human speech to some extent. You can’t even swear in front of these guys… excuse me, in front of the ladies here.”

McClusky said, carefully stroking the back of his Griffin, ‘Hellcat.’

The Griffin of the Griffin world, a tomboy that no one could touch, a crazy woman from hell, and the eldest of the five Griffin siblings, Hellcat, cooed as if very satisfied with the rider’s touch.

“More importantly, you’ve continued the training as I said, right?”

“Yes, Young Lord. As you ordered before leaving for the capital, all five Griffins and five riders have completed training in steep dives and precise ascents.”

With a very confident voice, Sion reacted as if he couldn’t believe it and opened his mouth in a sharp tone.

“In less than half a year? Are you really confident?”

“They are friends who have focused on training, eating only a little each day so as not to hinder the training. They all got to fly in the sky as they wanted, so how could they not endure that much training?”

From the tone of his voice and the sparkle in his eyes, there was no sign of falsehood. They were people from the Klausen territory, and they wouldn’t dare to lie in front of the heir. Otherwise, they would be held accountable, even involving their families.

“Um, Young Lord, I did my best with the training, but I still have some questions. If it’s not too much to ask, may I ask?”

“You’re always welcome as long as it’s not a strange question.”

“Thank you. Actually, I’m a little curious about the part where you suddenly ascend after a steep dive, and why you had us practice tearing parchment at that moment?”

“Ah, that.”

Sion hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell him half now and the rest later. If he revealed everything, the riders might get confused due to information overload.

“What do you think is the advantage of Griffins, Mac?”

“First of all, despite being medium-sized flying monsters, they don’t make much noise. I realized why prey never knows they are being caught until Griffins swoop down like lightning.”

“That’s right. So, when Griffins hunt, do they glide slowly while flapping their wings? Or do they fold their wings and drop almost like falling, descending vertically?”

“···I remember them plunging almost vertically to the ground.”

Sion nodded as if that was the correct answer.

“If you spread your wings and flutter them to approach the opponent, the sound is easily heard, and above all, the speed doesn’t come out properly. So, you give them a chance to counterattack or escape.”

“So, Griffins fold their wings and descend vertically.”

McClusky pondered for a moment but still looked like he didn’t understand.

“But that’s only when catching prey; it doesn’t seem useful in battle. Attacking enemies one by one like that is a waste of time and could be a risk to the Griffin.”

“Mac, your concerns aren’t entirely wrong, but the premise is wrong. I didn’t train you riders and Griffins to catch prey or enemies.”

“Then…”

“I’ll tell you that later. For now, stay here a little longer and take good care of the Griffins who are tired from the long flight. Because from now on, you may have to smell the fishy and salty air instead of this grassy scent every day.”

At Sion’s words, McClusky saluted and asked if he would like to see the other riders and Griffins a little more before leaving. He wanted to check the condition of all the riders and Griffins, but he had already spent a lot of time coming this far. If the nobles found out that he had left Sardenia, they might criticize him too harshly, so he had to return quickly.

“Keep in mind, Mac. Security is paramount.”

“I will keep that in mind. I will also tell the other riders to refrain from flying out, so please finish your business quickly and wait for us to be called.”

After a brief meeting with the Griffin riders, Sion was able to return to Sardenia quickly before arousing suspicion from others.

“Nyaang. I don’t know what Sion is up to.”

“Me neither, Lia. I’m watching from the side, but I don’t know what he’s thinking.”

“You’ll find out later. So, stop clinging to me, Lia.”

“Nyaang! Can’t you just tell me now?”

“Later, I’ll tell you later! You clingy cat!”

Sion forcibly removed the cat woman who kept clinging to his back and legs and had to nag her to please stay still. Thanks to that, Lilith, who was wondering, ‘Should I cling to him like that too?’ gave her choice a thumbs up, saying she did well to hold back.

“By the way, Sion, you don’t seem to be visiting Lucia at all. Is that okay?”

“I went a few days ago, but her father kicked me out, telling me not to bother his daughter.”

“···Are you sure?”

“That’s what he said, so what else can I do but step back.”

“···.”

At those words, Lilith narrowed her eyes and looked at Sion. The Sion she knew was not the type to step back just because he heard those words. Rather, he was the type to smile slyly and say, ‘Shouldn’t I go see her even more when that happens?’

‘That, that, that! Sion is using this again like this?’

Lilith admits that Lucia is mostly warm and kind, but she also has a bold side and sometimes gets angry with a straight face. Lilith was momentarily startled and checked the atmosphere.

Isn’t there a saying that someone who always smiles and always looks kind, once they get angry, they go crazy and no one can stop them?

‘Was it Raido?’

A human wizard who is now in his old age, past middle age, but Lilith was surprised at how he was not only a master of magic but also boasted extremely vicious skills in punching and kicking, a monster in human skin.

At first, Lilith was worried that such a guy would harass Sion as his father-in-law, but when she tried to say something to Lucia, it didn’t seem right, so she was hesitating, but Sion simply eliminated the problem.

‘Lilith, originally, no parent can beat their child.’

Rather than changing Raido, he simply left it to Lucia. Sion Klausen, at least when dealing with him, be very careful. If you treat your son-in-law carelessly, you will have to endure your daughter’s terrible nagging.

‘It’s the same now. Raido said he was busy and told him to come later, but he really left? Of course, Lucia would be furious. A father should give him a hint and tell him to go see her! Anyway, that human Raido will get another lecture from Lucia. Hiya··· How far are you going to be evil? You human.’

Thinking that, Lilith was quietly following Sion, who was in the middle of a fierce battle with the cat.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Huh?”

She ended up facing Sion, who had picked up Lia and approached her.

“Why? Don’t tell me you’re jealous that I went to see Lucia?”

“···What are you talking about? Why would I be jealous of Lucia? There’s no reason for that?”

“Age?”

“Hey!”

You can touch anything else, but not that. That part is the same as a reverse scale [a dragon’s weak spot] for any woman of any race.

At that, Sion smiled and grabbed Lilith’s slender waist, who had turned to the side again, and pulled her slightly towards him.

“That’s why I like you, Lilith.”

“W, what are you suddenly saying out of the blue?”

It was a word without rhyme or reason, without even giving a proper reason. Even so, Lilith somehow didn’t find Sion’s words so bad.

Thanks to that, she didn’t realize that she was also unknowingly falling for Sion’s evilness.

“Nyaaang. Sion, I think a human is approaching from somewhere.”

At that moment, Lia, who was on his back, jumped down and said that. At the same time, Lilith quickly put on the hood that wizards wear, and Lia quickly found a gap and hid.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

“Young Lord Sion Klausen!”

And after a while, it could be confirmed that Hemon Isik was approaching from afar. Unlike his usual appearance, he seemed quite urgent, as if shouting, ‘Something happened, damn it!’ Sion couldn’t help but sigh.

“Lord Hemon, what’s going on all of a sudden?”

“Did you hear the news… Ah, it’s your break time, so you probably haven’t heard.”

“What do you mean?”

“An urgent report just came in. Prince Erader, who set out to suppress pirates and seize pirate ships, is urgently returning to port.”

“···Returning to port a few days earlier than usual.”

Sion stroked his chin and looked at Lord Hemon, silently questioning if he was thinking similarly to what he was thinking. At that, Lord Hemon nodded and opened his mouth.

“Something seems to have happened. Since this is the situation, I have put the navies staying in the port on emergency standby so that they can set sail at any time.”

“That’s not a bad method. However, those staying in the port would be the sailors and ships that finished their night patrol last night and were resting.”

“But they are the only ones in Sardenia who can go out to sea right now.”

“Well… the original navies are scattered around the surrounding ports to avoid the pirates’ surveillance.”

“Let’s go to the command center for now. Maybe another news has been delivered.”

“Let’s do that. Ah, Lily, you go back. Don’t cause accidents while learning magic again.”

Sion mentioned Lilith’s disguised identity without any change in expression or trembling in his voice. Hemon already knew Lilith as a wizard who had followed Sion from the Klausen territory, so he didn’t show any signs of being wary of her. Lilith nodded and disappeared in the opposite direction from the two men.

Shashak!

And something quickly started following behind her.

“Young Lord Sion, I still feel uneasy no matter how I think about it. Suddenly returning to port…”

“Well, maybe they caught too many pirates and it’s hard to sail anymore?”

“···The skilled southern navies have to sail for almost a week searching for pirates, who are like sea fish. If they have suppressed enough pirates to fill several ships in less than a week since they set sail, wouldn’t that rather mean one thing?”

One thing: that the pirates attacked in groups. In that case, even if they won, there would inevitably be damage. Perhaps the reason for returning to port was not because they caught many enemies but because the damage to their allies was so great that it was difficult to manage the captured enemies.

“And I wish that were the case. In my opinion…”

“Lord Hemon, it’s better not to say more than that. If other nobles catch you for no reason, only the Isik County will get tired.”

“···I see. Thank you for your concern, Young Lord Sion.”

The reason why those who set out for military purposes earlier than usual are returning urgently is only one: something went wrong. It was a serious problem that had a significant negative impact overall.

‘Well, I thought they would last a little longer.’

And when Sion and Hemon returned to the command center, the latest news was waiting for them. Hemon checked the letter delivered by those who went to sea and ended up distorting his face.

“···More than half of the crew on the ship Prince Erader was on are casualties. It’s a relief that the prince wasn’t hurt at all.”

If more than half are casualties, it’s right to see it as ‘annihilation.’ More healthy people are needed to take care of the casualties, so it’s a useless level of power loss.

But the problem didn’t end there.

“And the damage to the ship is so great that it cannot be repaired, and it is judged that it is impossible to bring it to the port, so they decided to set it on fire and sink it.”

“···That’s the worst.”

For the navy, the most humiliating thing than the occurrence of a large number of casualties was to give up the ship they were on. Even if they win the battle, they consider it a disgrace to lose the ship, but the fact that they suffered damage at the level of annihilation and even gave up the ship means literally:

‘A crushing defeat.’

It wasn’t a normal thing. The kingdom’s regular army was properly defeated by the pirates. This was a basis for the pirates to run wild, and conversely, it was the same as the hope that the people of the kingdom had believed in cracking!

‘Actually, it’s a defeat that can be recovered enough. As the saying goes, 승패는 병가지상사 [seungpaeneun byeonggajisangs – Victory and defeat are common in military affairs]. But the problem is the mental state of the leader who suffered the defeat.’

Could Prince Erader smile without any problems even after suffering a record defeat?

Sion thought so, then slowly shook his head.

Later, if Prince Erader is more mentally mature than now, maybe. It was impossible for Prince Erader, who was the same as in the novel.

‘I understand being depressed, but surely he didn’t start blaming others right away, did he?’

What do you mean no?

A few days later, Sion, who confirmed Prince Erader and his soldiers who had returned to the port, grabbed his forehead and said.