Chapter 95: What We Earned [1]
After the battle with the Headless Nightmare, all the lesser Nightmares that had survived fled.
Edgar and Gordon quickly returned to the Fortress Wall and remained there in case another problem arose.
The soldier who had died because of the Bell Demon was properly buried by the others that very night.
He had no family, so the soldiers took care of everything.
Luckily, after the deaths of both commanders, nothing else happened for the rest of the night.
The murky grey-black fog returned with the coming of dawn, veiling the entire land in its familiar haze.
Only then did Edgar finally allow himself to breathe.
"...We survived."
Edgar climbed down from the Fortress Wall alongside Gordon.
The moment his feet touched the ground, exhaustion washed over him like a tidal wave.
His body, which had been pushed far beyond its limits, was completely spent.
The golden vines had disappeared long ago, and his Solar Heart had also fallen silent.
"My Lord."
Andrew hurried over, his face filled with concern.
The boy’s role had been to keep an eye on the warehouse, and he had carried out his duty faithfully.
Edgar steadied himself and drew in a deep breath.
"I am fine."
He stretched his body and looked around.
On the ground, many black patches had formed, resembling puddles of dark water.
Edgar walked over to one that was nearby and crouched to examine it.
’...Hm. Come to think of it, I saw the Nightmares crawling out of the ground.’
Edgar clearly remembered what he had witnessed yesterday.
He was still trying to understand how it worked.
’...Does the Eternal Night create portals for Nightmares to travel through?’
His gaze lingered on the burnt-out patches scattered throughout the Fortress.
He found his hypothesis highly believable, but he had nothing to prove it.
"...Huff."
Letting out a deep breath, Edgar grabbed a stick and tried to push it into one of the patches.
Too bad; it didn’t work.
’...Looks like it loses its power once it comes into contact with the ⟨Unbroken Fire⟩.’
Rubbing his chin, he stood up and looked at Andrew.
"Start collecting all the Nightmare Stones and bring in all the dead bodies for refinement."
The young boy straightened his back.
"As you wish, Young Master."
Andrew immediately gathered his group of workers and began moving out.
Edgar started walking around the Fortress to assess the damage they had suffered.
Most of the structures were still intact, but one Level 4 Flamethrower had been completely destroyed.
’...What a pain.’
Edgar turned to Gordon.
"How is Bendal?"
Gordon replied softly,
"He is alive, but he’ll need several weeks before he can fight again."
Edgar slowly nodded without saying anything else.
After walking around for a while, Edgar felt far too exhausted.
"I will get some rest."
"Please do, my Lord."
Edgar nodded and walked back to his house.
He lay down on the sofa without even changing his clothes and lost consciousness almost instantly.
---
Edgar had no idea how much time had passed.
The first thing he felt was the warmth of a blanket covering his body.
’Hm...?’
His heavy eyelids slowly opened.
For a brief moment, Edgar simply stared at the ceiling.
His body felt as though every bone had been crushed and stitched back together.
"...Haa."
He let out a long sigh before slowly sitting up.
His back and shoulders popped one after another.
"You’re awake."
Edgar turned his head.
Hera was quietly sitting beside him with a book resting on her lap.
"...How much time has passed?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Seven hours," she replied, looking at him.
"I tried waking you up, but you wouldn’t respond."
’...Well, I really fucked myself.’
Edgar sighed and looked at the blanket covering his body.
’Did she put this over me?’
He leaned back and looked at the girl sitting beside him.
Hera had changed a little, though not by much.
Her long white hair still flowed beautifully behind her, while her ember-red eyes now held a little more life.
While Edgar was looking at her, Hera was also staring back at him with a complicated expression.
"...What?"
"...The soldiers have been telling everyone about what happened," she replied softly.
"How you risked your life fighting the Headless Monster."
Edgar blinked before letting out a helpless laugh.
"...News travels fast."
"It does."
Hera lowered her gaze to the book resting on her lap.
"They’re calling you the bravest lord they’ve ever seen."
"..."
Edgar quietly reflected on what he had done and found something unsettling.
’...Why did I risk my life fighting that monster myself?’
It was unlike him to jump down from the Fortress Wall and attack the monster head-on.
He wasn’t the type to risk his life just to prove a point.
Thinking back, Edgar’s mind slowly pictured the woman with the long black hair.
’...Semele.’
Everything he had done had been because of her.
She was the one who had told him what to do and had encouraged him to fight.
’...Did I really do all that because she told me to? Was I influenced by her that much?’
Edgar found it deeply unsettling.
Enough that he began wondering whether she possessed some form of mind-control ability.
"Andrew and the others have collected all the Nightmare Stones," Hera said gently.
Edgar raised an eyebrow.
"How many?"
"A total of four thousand eight hundred White Stones," Hera replied after thinking for a moment.
"Two hundred Green Stones and two Yellow Stones."
"...Damn."
Edgar relaxed considerably after hearing the numbers.
Even though he had expected more, the haul was still excellent.
’...I can finally do a lot of the things I’ve been putting off.’
"I don’t know how I should repay you," Hera said quietly, interrupting his thoughts.
"There is a high chance those monsters attacked the Fortress because of me."
She lowered her head.
"...I am only being a burden to you."
Edgar leaned over and gently flicked her forehead.
"Stop overthinking."
Hera yelped and rubbed her forehead, glaring at him as the blond boy stood up.
"...That hurt."
"It was supposed to."
Edgar stretched his stiff body before looking down at her.
"If you have enough energy to blame yourself all day, then you have enough energy to work on potions."
Hera puffed out her cheeks ever so slightly.
"...You’re mean."
Edgar shrugged off her complaint and started walking toward the door.
"...The Theban Family ruled the Roselle Kingdom hundreds of years ago."
Hera spoke quietly, causing Edgar to stop in his tracks. "Be careful of Semele, Edgar."
The young blond nodded before walking out of the house.
He looked around and found the woman sitting on a chair beside the ⟨Unbroken Fire⟩.
Edgar quietly walked over and stopped in front of the mature woman.
Semele wore the same graceful smile as she looked up at him.
"Have you rested enough?" she asked, tilting her head.
Edgar folded his arms and continued staring at the woman.
"...What?" Semele smiled innocently. "Am I so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off me?"
Edgar ignored the question. "I have a few questions."
"I expected as much." She gently folded her hands over her lap. "Go ahead."
"...Who the fuck are you?"