The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 136

136. The Alliance’s Far West Branch

The threat from other adventurers began to manifest clearly from the moment we entered Third Finger.

Heads of beasts were menacingly impaled on the road, and scarecrows made of animal fur were riddled with spears and knives.

It would have been easier if the threats came only from adventurers. This remote region, pathologically averse to the light of civilization, possessed several dark and hidden characteristics.

“The quietest times are when you need to be most careful.”

Usually, there were sounds of Paleozoic vegetation [ancient plant life] writhing or the cries of beasts adapted to this harsh land, but sometimes they would suddenly cease.

Eldvige said that meant a powerful monster was lurking nearby.

Each time, I could definitely feel a sinister and eerie gaze from somewhere, but I couldn’t pinpoint its direction.

“Well, even if something does come out, it wouldn’t be a match for you. I guess they know that, so they don’t show themselves easily.”

Eldvige seemed to acknowledge my skills, warning me about threats only to end with such remarks.

And as twilight fell and dusk settled, she would disappear somewhere, just like now.

When Eldvige disappeared, my routine was to set up a barrier of fire around the beastmen, and Cassena would tend to the wounded with healing incantations learned from Alakish.

“Oh?”

That day, I visited the Durankus tribe for the first time in a while. Specifically, Chief Beduel.

“What’s the matter?”

Beduel greeted me warmly as always. That’s why I could bring up the words that were stuck in my throat.

“Um… what should parents teach their baby first…?”

I was so embarrassed. It would have been much easier if there was a library nearby.

Then, Beduel tilted his head, and upon seeing Aki sleeping soundly on my back, he smiled warmly.

“I learned something similar from my mother, and from my mother’s mother. Just remember three things: praise, example, and love.”

“Praise, example, love?”

“Praise makes a child grow into a confident and positive person with high self-esteem.”

As I took out ‘Rin’s Notebook’ and a fountain pen from my pocket and started writing it down, Beduel grabbed my hand holding the notebook and gently lowered it.

“It’s not something difficult enough to write down. And an example means you don’t have to specifically try to teach something. Parents just need to set an example.”

“Set an example? Hmm… what about love then?”

“This is the easiest yet most difficult thing. Just hug them a lot and cherish them.”

Listening to Beduel made my heart feel heavy. I was doing the exact opposite when teaching Tureina.

I could have done better.

What difference does it make to regret it now? No, it can change. I just need to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

“Take this.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a baby carrier. I should have given it to you sooner, but I was too insensitive.”

“It’s like a blanket to wrap around your back? What do I use it for?”

“You hold the child in it. It must be hard for both of you when Alakish’s child clings to your back like that.”

Indeed… when Aki fell asleep, she would dig her claws into my back. It must be an instinctive action to avoid falling.

Thanks to that, not only were my clothes ruined, but my back was also killing me, but Aki herself must have had the hardest time.

That’s why I wanted to test the performance of the baby carrier right away, but today, no, from today onward, there was something I had to do.

“Alright, listen up. From now on, we will begin ‘Becoming a Super Cool True Dragon’ special training.”

Aki, who woke up as soon as I took her off my back, squinted at me, then bravely raised her hand and shouted.

“Awoo!”

So cute…….

No, don’t soften up, Rin.

“First, let’s watch a demonstration from a skilled instructor. Instructor Pipi.”

“Instructor, instructor, instructor.”

Pipi puffed out her chest and raised one wing as if saluting, and Aki smiled brightly, clumsily imitating the gesture.

“Hmm, the attitude to learn is very good. Then, Instructor Pipi, sit.”

This was an educational method that combined what I had seen while growing up in the Vellewyn mansion and what I had learned from Beduel.

First, rapport!

Pipi would first show the example, and if Aki followed correctly, I would praise her.

When I thought of this, I smacked my forehead, it was such a perfect teaching method! It was definitely perfect in theory.

“Pipi, what are you doing? Sit.”

“?”

“I said sit. Aki is watching.”

As I whispered urgently, Pipi looked up at me, and instead of sitting, she started a protest.

“Corn, corn, corn.”

“How am I supposed to get corn here right now! Sit down quickly!”

“Corn~ corn~ corn~!”

Then, Aki, who was watching us, waved her hands wildly and imitated it.

“O-du-du! O-du-du!”

“Pipi, you… don’t be stubborn and do it right.”

“Corn, corn, corn!”

“O-du-du! O-du-du!”

Bad things are learned quickly, and Aki didn’t learn anything good from Pipi, only bad things.

It was the so-called Pipi Dance, an act of making people dizzy by spinning around the bonfire while food was being prepared.

As Pipi trotted around the fire where Rin’s special charcoal skewers were cooking, Aki smiled brightly and followed behind her on all fours.

“……So you’re telling me to do that?”

In the end, I had no choice but to send a request for help to my most reliable comrade.

Cassena Page.

After listening to my brief explanation, Cassena glared at me with a dumbfounded look.

“I understand how you feel, but she’s still the benefactor’s child. Please help a little.”

“No, that’s… that’s right, but what I’m doing now is! Isn’t that what dog trainers use when training puppies!”

“Oh, then is there another good method?”

Cassena couldn’t think of anything either (she had never given birth to a daughter, and above all, she was an only child, so she didn’t even have a younger sibling), so she decided to go along with Rein’s tune.

“Alright, Aki trainee. Stop following that fake instructor and watch the demonstration from the real instructor here.”

“Awoo?”

“Cassena instructor, sit.”

Cassena’s face, with her lips tightly pressed together, turned bright red. It was really, really unbearably embarrassing, but…….

“Miss, hurry.”

“Ah, really! I know! I know!”

Letting out a sigh like a scream, she plopped down on the spot, and Aki’s eyes sparkled as if she understood something.

“Her eyes sparkled!”

“Ah, did she understand?!”

“Then let’s take advantage of this momentum and do one more action! Miss, lie down!”

“What?”

“Quickly!”

This is, this is the right teaching method, right?

You’re not just teasing me on purpose, right?

Calming the embarrassment that felt like her face would explode, the moment she lay down, Aki narrowed her eyes for a moment, then nodded her head vigorously.

“Sh-she nodded her head!”

“Really?!”

“Really, really, really.”

“Aki, sit!”

Then, Aki suddenly stood up and tried to sit down in the same way Cassena had demonstrated.

“A-woof!”

Halfway through bending her knees, she stood up again and this time tried to lie down, placing her hands on the ground.

“Da-ah!”

But as if even that was a trick, she slammed her hands on the ground, forcefully raised her body, and only then fully bent her knees and squatted down.

“Sh-she mixed in a feint?! Why?!”

“Is her intelligence high or low?!”

“In-tel-li-gence, in-tel-li-gence, in-tel-li-gence.”

Aki, with a triumphant expression as if even our bewilderment was part of her plan, crawled towards me.

What… what is this?

Should I praise her? No, if I praise her, she’ll only develop the bad habit of teasing people, right?

“A-do!”

It was then. Suddenly, a pungent burnt smell began to emanate from the skewers, which had been emitting a fragrant meaty smell from the charcoal.

Oops, I hurriedly took the skewers out of the fire. Fortunately, only the edges were lightly burnt, so there wouldn’t be a big problem eating them.

The problem was that Aki, drawn by the smell, had already climbed up my legs and onto my stomach, reaching out her hands wildly for the skewers.

“Awoo, awoo, awooooo!”

Rin’s special charcoal skewers were also Aki’s favorite food.

Actually, I can’t make her a variety of foods, so I’m not sure if it’s her favorite, but it was certain that she liked it so much that her eyes rolled back.

A strange sense of pride exploded all over my body, but I definitely thought I should establish discipline now.

“No, no, wait, not now… that’s it, Miss! Let’s teach her something important now!”

“Huh?”

“I’ll hold this out to Miss and say wait, and Miss will never eat this skewer.”

I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for Cassena’s answer amidst Aki’s frantic gestures, so I immediately held the skewer out to her.

Cassena stared blankly at the skewer. Saliva flooded her mouth, and she remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

So she just ate it… Huh, when she came to her senses, she had eaten everything except for one.

“Awoo, awoooo.”

When she raised her head, Aki was also happily eating the skewers, following Cassena.

“…….”

As if reproaching Cassena, Rein groaned with his hands on his forehead, and Pipi flew around his head, barking like this.

“In-tel-li-gence, in-tel-li-gence, in-tel-li-gence.”

In the end, we couldn’t teach Aki anything that day.

In fact, not only that day, but we continued to try during the days heading to the Far West Branch, but the results were just as poor.

Was it absurd for mere humans to teach a true dragon?

Still, there were good things too.

In the meantime, Cassena had become completely friendly with Aki, and now she would come and try to guide Aki without even being asked.

“Aki, are you hungry?”

“Awoooo!”

“Aki is hungry! Rein, grill some skewers!”

“It’s not that Miss wants to eat them?”

“Ah, just make them!”

Of course, not everything was peaceful during such daily routines.

The deeper we went into Third Finger, the more we could feel the presence of people around us, and the murderous gazes were never boring. It wasn’t from monsters, but from people, that is, adventurers.

At first, I thought there were only one or two teams, but as the days went by, there were more and more teams we encountered.

“I am Otukan, the 246th-ranked Gold adventurer. I will execute you, the traitors of the Empire… Kkeuaak!”

“I am Durka, the 445th-ranked Gold adventurer. If I offer your head, the traitor, to the Imperial Family, I can be promoted to Platinum rank in an instant… Kkeuaak!”

“I am the heroine among heroines who will one day be in the top 10 Gold adventurers… Kkeuaak!”

It was amazing that teams kept rushing in recklessly even though I was scolding the attackers with flames (I didn’t kill them)…….

In addition, we also received more cunning attacks. Setting traps on the road or ambushing the beastmen’s ranks at night.

A bloody incident between the beastmen and the adventurers was something that should never happen, so I had to stay awake day and night, raising walls of fire. I’m so sleepy I could die.

“Except for the Red Ilhong we met at the beginning, there are only mediocre guys.”

On the other hand, Eldvige said this wasn’t bad. It seemed that the big shots of Trident Point hadn’t come out from the depths yet.

Cassena seemed very dissatisfied with that(?). She was excited at the thought of meeting a lot of famous adventurers… She’s still a child.

Like that, one day, two days, three days, four days, ten days, fifteen days, a month.

“It’s starting to appear.”

Finally, Eldvige, who had stopped at the end of the hilly area, pointed to the other side, the point where the eternal swamp ended and the sea began.

“It’s the Alliance’s Far West Branch.”

* * *

“In accordance with the military law of the Wall, I sentence you, who have committed unprecedented crimes, to be beheaded.”

Over fifty wolves, their hands and feet bound in chains, were dragged onto the Wall.

Soon, they were made to kneel in front of the execution platform in turn, and the person who drew his sword in front of Kiran Wolf Blado, the ringleader, was the Wall’s vice commander, Juram.

The Blado family was a magical lineage representing the North, and even if he was to be beheaded, it was necessary to show at least minimal respect.

“We sent notifications to His Majesty the Emperor, Grand Duke Duren, and Count Blado… and received a reply. They said they were very disappointed. And to execute him according to the military law of the Wall.”

“…….”

“I feel the same way. To think that you would do such a thing… You were a talent who could have easily become the next Supreme Commander.”

Kiran, who had been captured with surprisingly little resistance despite causing a tremendous rebellion, gave a bitter smile amidst his crimson hair flying in the wind.

“I have always disappointed my parents. But this time will be different. The gods and history will judge.”

His parents’ judgment was definitely reasonable. If they protected their son, the family itself could be branded as an enemy of the Empire.

“Is that all for your last words?”

For a moment, Juram, who had been looking into the young mage’s spirited eyes, finally raised the blade high with both hands, and a faint light flashed eerily.