SWNOVELXO Chapter 318
Chapter 319. The Whole World is Dad (8)
Memories are often romanticized. Even if they were bad, people tend to remember the good parts.
But Keter could never romanticize the fact that he was abandoned in Ruquer, where every day felt like hell.
He resented his parents. He vowed to take revenge on them for abandoning him in Ruquer.
That’s why he ignored Sephira in his past life. Only after everything was over did he learn the truth and forgive them.
Anyway, he no longer holds any resentment toward Basil, whom he once thought was his father. Now, he only has his mother, Akra, left.
But that wasn’t the case.
To Keter, the fact that he was a monster mixed with the blood of multiple humans didn’t matter at all.
What angered him were those who knew of his existence but ignored him.
“If you call me your son, why did you ignore me while I was in the hellish Ruquer?”
Keter genuinely wondered. He hoped they had some unavoidable reason.
But despite Keter’s intense reaction, the three men remained unfazed. As if they had silently agreed among themselves, Chancellor Natas was the first to speak.
“If you were truly my son, I thought you could escape Ruquer without my help. I wanted to see you grow without relying on my power after leaving Ruquer, and you did so splendidly.”
Next, Marquis Scala snorted and said,
“I didn’t trust Akra’s letter. I thought it was a trap from an enemy country. Sending troops to the forbidden Ruquer based on uncertain information? That’s a pointless move.”
Kundelain spat out with a disinterested expression,
“I forgot.”
Keter nodded after hearing the excuses of the three father candidates.
“Hmm!”
As expected, there wasn’t any significant reason. That’s why he was angry. But he couldn’t understand why he was angry.
‘At first, I had expectations, but then I stopped expecting anything. So why am I still angry?’
Just as good and evil differ from person to person, what’s important in life also varies for each individual.
Keter values that greatly. So, while he may refute or agree with others’ opinions, he doesn’t let emotions interfere.
But now, emotions are boiling over. He could figure out the reason with just a brief thought.
“When you ignored me, why did Basil from Sephira come to save me?”
It was both an accusation and a question. The three men answered without much thought.
“Not really curious.”
“Probably just a gamble out of curiosity.”
“Had too much time on his hands?”
Even though it had been a while, Keter thought Basil would have answered like this if he were here.
“The answer is ‘because we’re family.'”
The three men didn’t seem to empathize with Keter’s answer.
Keter shrugged.
“We’re the kind of people who don’t stake our lives on blood relations. It’s hard to empathize. Well, you can always have more kids, right? But at least I know that’s not normal. Yet, you all talk as if it’s natural.”
Keter had said it from the beginning. To those who called him crazy.
The world is crazy, so I live like a madman, but I know well that what I’m doing is insane.
“You are all rotten fathers. None of you are qualified to be someone’s father.”
They no longer glared at each other. Instead, they glared at Keter.
“So, even if I were your real father, you wouldn’t accept me?”
“In the Baen Kingdom, blood relations cannot be legally severed. You can’t cut ties just because you don’t like it.”
“Is this the rebellious phase I’ve heard about? They say it gets better if you hit them.”
Their true colors were fully revealed, but Keter no longer felt angry. Instead, he stood up and said,
“As you might have guessed, all of you are probably my fathers. My mother, Akra, took all of your seeds, and I inherited that blood. Honestly, whether it’s possible or not, it’s a bit unfair. You all have such great bloodlines, but I never really felt it.”
“Your intelligence isn’t learned. It’s the manifestation of my blood.”
“Creativity must be mine.”
“Even if your body is small, your strong physique must resemble mine.”
The three men weren’t surprised or shaken by the fact that Keter was a chimera, a monster mixed with the blood of multiple people. Such things didn’t matter to them in achieving their goals.
“Anyway, even if you are my fathers, I have no desire to call you ‘father.'”
“What if we don’t want that?”
Just moments ago, they were growling at each other, but now they united to pressure Keter.
Keter walked around the table and said,
“As a son, I have no intention of calling you ‘father,’ but—”
Whoosh.
At Keter’s gesture, the flames lighting the room all went out, leaving only a single candle on the table.
Keter, shrouded in darkness, whispered into their ears,
“I can treat you as customers.”
Sephira’s Office.
Hisop was piling peanuts on a plate, cracking them open with a crunching sound. Every 10 minutes, he shouted,
“Has Keter come out yet?”
The servants outside would always reply,
“Not yet.”
Hisop was visibly anxious. He couldn’t hide it.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
The speed at which he cracked the peanuts increased, and the intervals between his questions about Keter grew shorter.
By the time he was asking every 5 minutes, the office door opened. Hisop jumped up and shouted,
“Keter?!”
“It’s me, Lord.”
The one who entered the office wasn’t Keter but Daat.
Daat naturally walked over to Hisop and grabbed a handful of the cracked peanuts.
Hisop, who had slumped back into his chair, covered his eyes with his hands and muttered. He realized his own pathetic behavior.
As a lord and a brother, he should have trusted and waited, but he showed a lack of faith.
“Why are you so anxious?”
Daat, who had come out of concern for Hisop, asked, but Hisop hesitated to answer.
But Daat didn’t need to hear the answer to know the reason.
“The Empire’s Chancellor, the Baen Kingdom’s genius inventor, the Adeus Kingdom’s King. Are you afraid that Keter might follow one of them?”
“…If one of them is truly Keter’s father, what should I do? Compared to them, Sephira has nothing to boast about.”
Even though Sephira’s power is growing every day, everyone knows it’s all thanks to Keter.
Of course, Sephira isn’t incompetent, but compared to the three mentioned earlier, the difference is like that of an ant and an elephant.
They are much wealthier, more stable, and stronger. The Empire, Baen, Adeus. No matter where you go, they are far better than Sephira.
Hisop couldn’t help but feel a sense of inferiority and anxiety in the face of this reality.
“If Keter decides to leave, should I let him go as a brother, or should I stop him as a lord? If I stop him, how should I do it… I can’t grasp it.”
“Hmm, you’re worrying over nothing. Brother won’t leave Sephira.”
“Do you mean none of the three are his real father?”
“No. In fact, all three are probably his real fathers.”
“What…?”
Not just one, but all three?
To Hisop’s common sense, this was impossible.
“To borrow Keter’s words, this world is crazy. Anything can happen. So, it’s possible to be born with multiple bloodlines. Of course, even I think it’s absurd.”
“……”
“More importantly, they’re not the kind of people to act on just one piece of evidence. They must have 100% certainty to come to Sephira so boldly. So, they’re all probably… not so much Keter’s fathers, but men who had relations with his mother.”
Daat scratched the back of his head, as even he found the situation complicated.
“Anyway, that’s not the important part. It’s not that they simply want to take Keter as their son.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s not like you, Lord. Calm down. The answer will come to you.”
Daat added in a small voice, “It’s not that I’m too lazy to explain.”
Hisop took a deep breath. He recalled Basil’s words that a lord must always remain calm and tried to suppress his complicated emotions.
Then he saw it. Their intentions.
“They want to use Keter as a pretext to take over Sephira.”
“To put it more cruelly, they plan to elevate Keter to the position of Sephira’s lord. They have enough justification for that.”
“Haha, that’s not just a little cruel, but very cruel.”
If any of them sided with Keter and exerted influence in Sephira, they could seize the lordship by force.
“There’s even a joke that in Sephira’s power hierarchy, the versatile Keter is first, the cute Jjokjjok is second, and the competent Lord Hisop is only third.”
“Kukuku.”
Hisop let out a self-deprecating laugh at Daat’s joke, but his mind felt lighter.
“You said Keter won’t leave Sephira. Does that mean he won’t side with them?”
“If Brother wanted to become lord, he would have declared it as soon as he arrived in Sephira. But he didn’t, right? More importantly, Brother dislikes such troublesome positions.”
Daat didn’t expect Keter to refuse to call them ‘father’ because of his ‘personality,’ but in the end, his prediction wasn’t wrong.
“Then the problem becomes even bigger. Will they really back down so easily?”
“Yes. That’s why I had them stay in one place. Even if something happens, they won’t cooperate with each other.”
Daat had arranged the Baen and Adeus armies to face each other. Hisop wanted to keep them apart because they would fight if they even made eye contact, making management difficult.
But Daat strongly insisted that they shouldn’t be separated, and Hisop trusted him, keeping the two forces together.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t ignore your advice.”
“Don’t relax yet. Even if they fight each other, Sephira won’t be safe. We need to set up a perimeter as discreetly as possible and wait for the chance to eliminate them.”
Hisop nodded and secretly called a servant to set up a perimeter as Daat suggested, ensuring it wouldn’t be noticeable.
As Hisop prepared for any eventualities, Nabakin entered the office.
“Lord! Prince Keter has left the dining hall!”
“Finally, you bring good news.”
Hisop, who had grabbed his coat, was about to rush out to greet Keter when,
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Keter appeared, opening the office window.
Hisop couldn’t help but laugh. He wanted to ask why Keter had to come in through the window, but he had something more important to ask first.
“Did it go well?”
“That’s up to you now, Brother.”
“Huh?”
Seeing Daat with Hisop, Keter assumed Hisop had some understanding of the situation and skipped the explanation.
“Those guys only came to exploit my success, so I’ll return the favor.”
“……!”
“What they want is the downfall of the Lilian Kingdom, not a touching family reunion. I’ve dealt with their shameless ambition to take over Sephira, and now it’s your turn to step in.”
Keter, having straightened his clothes, knelt on one knee before Hisop.
Though it was inside the office, the door was wide open. And in the hallway, servants and knights were subtly peeking into the office.
Even if they weren’t peeking, Keter’s loud voice carried.
“Lord Hisop. As you commanded, I have gathered the representatives from the Sammael Empire, Baen, and the Adeus Kingdom in one place.”
“……!”
Keter’s words made it seem as if Hisop had planned all of this.
Hisop was speechless. Then Keter whispered,
“Ah, my knee hurts.”
“Ahem, Keter, my brother. You’ve done well. Leave the rest to me.”
Sephira had already declared independence from the Lilian Kingdom. They had even fought a major battle.
With external forces already involved, what’s stopping them from fully utilizing external power?
Of course, what to offer them hasn’t been decided yet. As Keter said, it’s now up to Hisop to negotiate with them.
It’s a crucial matter. The future of Sephira is at stake. Hisop felt the weight of the heavy responsibility given to him, his heart pounding, but his eyes also reddened with gratitude toward Keter.
Even if it’s a lie, how could he not be grateful to Keter, who always tries to lift him up?
Then, the office door closed. Daat had quietly closed it. As soon as the door closed, Keter jumped up and said,
“Nice timing, Maknun.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you kneel outside of mealtime, Brother.”
“Is that such a big deal? Want to see it again?”
“No, that’s enough.”
Hisop, having composed himself, said to Keter,
“Thank you, Keter. You are nothing short of a savior to Sephira and to me.”
“Just be grateful up to that point. It’s not free, after all.”
“If there’s anything you want, just say it.”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing now. That’s what I want.”
There’s no farewell. Keter left through the window he came in.
Sephira’s family has grown.
Two airships from the Baen Kingdom with a thousand crew members and combatants. Galoua Scala from the Marquis Scala family stays in Sephira as the commander.
Two thousand elite soldiers from the Adeus Kingdom, led by Kundelain’s younger brother, Madelain, also stay in Sephira.
The Empire’s Special Operations Unit has started to internally support Sephira. They even scrape together information on what kind of underwear Rukan and Rakan are wearing.
Sephira is experiencing unprecedented growth and chaos. It’s tough and exhausting, with accidents happening everywhere and voices rising, but in the end, it all ends with a handshake.
Thus, January passed in the blink of an eye, and February arrived. February, as if the cold was making its last desperate effort, brought an extreme cold wave and a snowstorm.
“This is impossible to operate in.”
Even Master-level knights feel the chill in their bones despite wearing winter gear.
“All troops are prohibited from outdoor activities.”
It’s a cold that humans can’t endure. The kind of cold that freezes the firewood burning inside buildings.
Hundreds of people freeze to death every day across the Lilian Kingdom.
At least Sephira has the support of the Ultima Merchant, and with the Sticker Magic that emits heat at a low mana cost, they can endure.
“I want to jump into boiling water.”
Taragon, wearing thick winter gear, muttered while maintaining his crossbow. Anis, reading beside him, elbowed him and replied,
“Don’t say that. There are knights standing guard outside in this cold.”
“I stood guard yesterday. Did you, Brother?”
“……”
Flip.
Anis silently turned the page.
Just then, two servants entered the room where they were resting.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
Currently, all work in Sephira is suspended except for training and guard duty. Servants shouldn’t be coming here, so their arrival was unsettling.
Swish.
The two servants handed a note to Taragon and Anis. For some reason, they felt a sense of déjà vu.
“Ah, no way.”
Taragon laughed awkwardly and checked the note.
-Assemble at the 2nd Training Ground. First five to arrive.
A familiar handwriting. A familiar content.
Taragon, who checked the note first, jumped up and sprinted. Anis, who got up half a beat later, threw himself out the window.
Crash!
There was no time to open the window.