The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 59

Even though it was still autumn, puffs of white breath hung in the air. The smell of burning monster corpses and the tall, imposing ramparts, a scent I hadn’t encountered in a long time, confirmed that I had finally arrived at the Tera Barrier.

“It’s been a while, Marquis Zeke.”

“…I heard you were coming. It’s been almost seven years. You’ve returned faster and stronger than I anticipated.”

As he spoke, Marquis Zeke, whom I hadn’t seen in nearly seven years, appeared a little older than I remembered. It was actually surprising that he still looked so youthful. Ten years was enough time for significant changes. Although it was slightly less than that, each day here was a battle, so he must have suffered more than most, inevitably accelerating his aging.

“Didn’t I tell you I would definitely come back?”

“That’s right. You did.”

I glanced around. Just as Marquis Zeke hadn’t changed, his office remained exactly as I remembered it. Far from being luxurious, it was stark and functional, furnished only with a desk and chair for processing documents and a table for serving guests. It was as if the unchanging appearance reflected an unchanging reality.

“It seems you haven’t changed at all since I left, Marquis.”

“But you… you’ve changed quite a lot.”

“Aren’t I in my twenties, still growing? They say ten years is enough for a lot to change, so if a young man who needs to grow up were the same as before, would I even have the nerve to face you?”

A lot has really changed, Renil.

In the past, I would have stood rigidly, wondering why I was summoned, but now I can casually drink tea and make small talk like this. I suppose that shows how much I’ve changed.

“But there are things that haven’t changed. Well, if even those things had changed, I wouldn’t have bothered returning to this wretched place.”

“Even after time passed, that scene remains vivid. Actually, I almost forgot about it, thinking that time heals everything. But as soon as I had that thought, that scene replayed dozens of times in my dreams. That’s when I realized that this was something I had to see through to the end, no matter what.”

“…The end, huh? Are you ready to bring it to an end?”

“I’ve done my best in my own way, but I’m not sure if I can actually end it. The probability of failure might be higher, because of who the opponent is.”

“I see.”

No other words were spoken. It was too late to turn back now, and my relationship with Marquis Zeke wasn’t close enough to argue about it.

“Tell me if you need anything. I’ll help you if there’s anything I can do within my power.”

#

After finishing the conversation with Marquis Zeke, I wandered around the Tera Barrier for a while. Perhaps it was because nearly seven years had passed since I left, but I didn’t see any familiar faces. Still, I heard that the number of deaths had decreased slightly since then, though it might just be a shift from the absolute worst to the second-worst situation.

While wandering, I found the room where I had stayed a long time ago. Unsurprisingly, the occupant had changed a long, long time ago. I asked for permission to enter and went inside, but soon came back out. It was a room where I had stayed for three years, but I couldn’t find any trace of myself anymore.

‘It’s been several years, so it’s only natural. What on earth are you thinking, coming here?’

The room newly assigned to me in place of that one was much larger than the previous room, and the furniture was relatively luxurious, but perhaps because of the larger space, an unmistakable sense of loneliness filled the room.

“What was I doing at this time back then?”

There’s nothing to do right now. The alarm, which is now a distant memory, wasn’t ringing, and no one was looking for me.

In the past, I would have been summoned by the team leaders by now, introducing me to the methods of surviving in the Tera Barrier and the people they would entrust their backs to. If I didn’t have any experience here, my position would have been different, but the experience of staying here for three years hadn’t vanished.

Toc- toc-

“Great Disciple [a title of respect for someone with exceptional magical abilities]. I am the leader of Team A. Excuse me for a moment.”

“Come in.”

At that moment, a sound broke the silence that seemed like it would last forever. The leader of Team A, which Ild, who was like my teacher at one time, used to be in charge of. But now, someone I had never even spoken to was taking his place.

“Nice to meet you. I am Guillaume Petel, the leader of Team A. I came to inform you of something, Great Disciple.”

Guillaume was a generation older than me. As a magician, his career was definitely sufficient to qualify him as a team leader, and considering that he was in his mid-to-late thirties, it was questionable why he had been relegated to the Tera Barrier. Nevertheless, Guillaume was very polite to me.

“What’s going on?”

“Please, don’t be so formal. I am not someone who deserves such respect from the Great Disciple.”

It’s uncomfortable. Is this what it feels like when a junior who is much older than me enters the military? I was born the son of a noble family and used to being respected by adults who had lived several times longer than me, but I still couldn’t get used to it. It means that my previous life, which wasn’t even twenty years ago, is still strongly influencing my current life, which is close to thirty years.

“I heard that you served here a long time ago, is that true?”

“Yes, that’s right. I couldn’t stand it for more than three years and ran away.”

“R, ran away? Didn’t you come back? It was just a step back to leap forward.”

Is this the power of position? Words that mean nothing to me are uncomfortable for the person listening. And even I, who am watching that scene, become uncomfortable. In a situation where I was already feeling bad, negative situations began to overlap, so I hurriedly began to patch things up to prevent myself from falling further.

“Great Disciple, you can move as you please. In the case of a blue alert [lowest level of monster threat], you don’t have to participate, and from a yellow alert [medium level of monster threat] onwards, I would appreciate it if you could fill in any gaps as you have time.”

“I heard that the damage has been reduced since the Scorpion [a type of weapon] was deployed, is the alert standard the same?”

“Yes, that’s right. Come to think of it, I heard that the commercialization of the Scorpion and the ability to use magic stones [a source of magical energy] like this are all thanks to you, Great Disciple. Thank you. Thanks to you, it has become easier to block monsters. In fact, there are times when we don’t use magic stones during a blue alert to save them, so sometimes a blue alert is more difficult.”

I’m glad it helped. Only I could participate in the core process of the Scorpion, so even after I left for the capital, I had no choice but to send the finished product through the support unit. There was also a way to teach the engraving to others, but even my teacher couldn’t get a good grasp of it even after several years, so it was impossible.

“I look forward to working with you in the future.”

#

Ding- ding- ding- ding-

It’s a blue alert. Seeing that the alarm is ringing only a day after arriving, it seems that even if things have improved, it is still the Tera Barrier after all.

Thump- thump-

Roar-

Listening to the familiar sounds, I also prepared to go up to the ramparts. Guillaume, like Wonder, who was an elder a long time ago, and the current elder, didn’t necessarily have to go up, but I had no intention of missing this good opportunity.

“I have to use it in real combat.”

The two guns that are still sleeping in the subspace [a personal storage dimension]. It’s not like I haven’t tested them so far. No matter how confident I am in my skills, would I have come to the Tera Barrier, which can be said to be the main game, without even testing them? But this place is different.

First of all, the area near the capital was too safe. In order to do a proper test, at least a higher species or higher had to be the target, but there was no way there would be such a monster near the capital. Even if they were discovered, they could only be one-offs.

In that sense, this place, where higher species that are difficult to even see near the capital swarm in droves, is the best place to test weapons.

“What’s going on?”

Guillaume approached me as I went up to the ramparts. Is it Team A’s turn? I told him not to worry about me and move as usual, and he hesitated but returned to his seat.

I took out one of the two weapons from the subspace. The buttstock and receiver, which account for half of the total length of the gun, and the barrel, which is the other half. The thickness of the bullets, tailored to the size, also exceeded one finger joint.

I lightly floated my body up and pointed the muzzle at the approaching monster. The target is Monster A, which boasts a mountain-like size and is running towards us. Since I was here, there was a tendency to lump them together under the term ‘higher species,’ except for a few special monsters, so I didn’t know the details, but I knew that the moment that size slammed into the barrier, dozens of people would lose their balance and fall below the barrier.

Thung-

If there was recoil equal to the power, my body would have rotated a full circle. However, since it was fired by engraving rather than gunpowder, the recoil was reduced considerably, so it could only stop at the level of my body being pushed back slightly. On the other hand, unlike the light recoil, the result of that action was by no means light.

It pierced the head of the targeted higher species and finished off the monster behind it. No matter how ferocious a monster is, there are only a few that I know of that can move if they have a hole in their head, let alone other parts. And those guys weren’t included in those few.

Thung- thung- thung- thung-

When I pulled the trigger, the higher species fell. What I’m doing now is, for example, pouring sauce on sweet and sour pork that has already been made. Of course, compared to making sweet and sour pork and sauce from the beginning, the time and effort are lighter, and I made the sauce from time to time, so it was sleeping in the subspace waiting for its turn.

That’s why, even though I was able to show a slaughter-like appearance against higher species, I wasn’t tired to the point that I thought it was amazing. It was felt that not only the amount of magic power had grown, but also all aspects such as the method of handling magic power and the recovery speed had grown.

‘Then slowly…’

The sniper rifle, temporarily named [Fang], is enough for now. Even though I fired quite a few bullets, there was no twisting or deviation in the trajectory of the bullets. Unless there is a special problem, it will be fine in the future.

That means it’s time to test [Claw], but unfortunately, that opportunity had to be postponed to the future. Perhaps the saying that the Tera Barrier has become more comfortable is not a lie, as the monsters were losing their will to fight and retreating even though the battle had not been going on for long. And as soon as the battle was over, the gazes were focused on me.

I could see the faces of people who wanted to ask what that unidentified weapon I was holding was, but no one came up to me to ask directly. The only one who came up to me was Guillaume, who greeted me and said that I had worked hard.

“I’ll go down first.”

“Y, yes, please do.”

I put [Fang] into the subspace and came down from the ramparts, leaving behind the gazes that were focused on me. It was a more splendid and impressive return than anyone else’s.

< Baron House Second Son Story – 59 – > End