Raising the Daughters to Overcome My Failure

Chapter 19. Rude (1)

Rasha was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the previous Demon King, who was subjugated by the hero Frank.

The other three Heavenly Kings disappeared along with the Demon King, but he had survived.

This was because he had not been able to participate in the final battle.

Rasha, fiddling with the throbbing scar on his forehead, muttered as if to himself.

"Damn it. Because of that hero, my reputation in demon society hit rock bottom."

It was already an incident from five years ago.

When the hero's party had pushed into the demon territory with unstoppable momentum,

the other Heavenly Kings tried to persuade him to hole up with them in the Demon King's castle.

"Don't do anything foolish. Stay here and fight with us."

"Hmph. And you call yourselves the Four Heavenly Kings! I will face the hero with my men alone."

He led his subordinates and confronted the hero directly.

But the result was disastrous.

‘I was defeated in an instant by his sword. By the time I regained consciousness, the Demon King had already passed away, and everything was over.’

Rasha clenched his fists and swallowed his anger.

"Because of that bastard, I was branded as incompetent. A bastard I wouldn't be satisfied with even if I ground him up alive."

Rasha vanished without a trace afterward.

He hadn't run away.

He returned to his hometown and spent five years building his strength, gathering over 1,000 troops.

In his prime, he had tens of thousands of soldiers under his command, but due to his fallen reputation, it was difficult to gather more than this.

‘Even this is a force I barely managed to scrape together.’

He put a great deal of strength into his giant axe and slammed it hard onto the ground.

"I will tear Frank to pieces with my own hands and get Anceps back."

Anceps.

The Demon King's demonic sword.

If he could get his hands on that, even the demon tribe would acknowledge him as the new Demon King.

"The king's absence has been too long. I will become the new Demon King and dye everything in darkness."

As he continued to mutter to himself, screams suddenly erupted from behind him.

"Heok!"

"Keok!"

Rasha frowned and turned around.

"What is it?"

One of his subordinates ran up to him hastily and shouted.

"Lord Rasha! The soldiers are disappearing!"

"What did you say?"

Rasha looked around.

The bottomless cliff made one dizzy.

It was impossible to even imagine how high it was.

But they had not yet crossed even half of the Elburz Mountains.

It was true that the path was treacherous, but if they couldn't overcome even this, they wouldn't be able to destroy the Benedict Kingdom.

"Foolish things. I warned them to be careful with every step."

However, his subordinate's words were unexpected.

"They didn't fall down! They suddenly vanished from sight!"

Rasha stared at his subordinate with a look of disbelief.

"Do I look like I'm in the mood for jokes right now?"

"No, it's true!"

At that moment, several soldiers vanished without a trace, as if they had evaporated into thin air.

Rasha quickly stepped back, using his subordinates as a shield, and looked around.

No matter how much he looked, there was no sign of an enemy.

Something was dominating this place.

A cold sweat ran down his back.

‘Is it magic?’

However, he had never seen nor heard of magic that could make a target disappear so instantaneously.

If even their leader, Rasha, was like this, the soldiers were even worse off.

Fear spread in an instant.

The soldiers threw down their weapons and tried to desert.

"This is a curse! It's the dragons' curse!"

"I d-don't want to die!"

But Rasha was not one to stand by and watch.

"Stop! Stand your ground right now! I will personally cut the necks of those who flee!"

Rasha's booming voice echoed back, but the soldiers ignored it and fled.

A few soldiers who got tangled up on the narrow path lost their footing and fell off the cliff.

Soldiers continued to disappear without end.

Before long, their forces had been reduced to less than half.

Rasha gritted his teeth and shouted.

"What in the world is this!"

But no answer came to his shout.

Rasha moved his body in haste, but soon his figure too vanished without a trace.

Amidst the enveloping silence.

Only his giant axe and the soldiers' weapons remained on the ground.

In the end, Rasha met his death without ever knowing what threat had befallen him.

***

Meanwhile, at that moment.

A lone hot air balloon appeared in the sky above Rarc Village.

The hot air balloon swayed back and forth in the wind, looking precarious.

Adel, who was watching the situation through a telescope, cried out in surprise.

"Master Rude?"

The face visible through the lens was none other than her master's.

He was clinging to the hot air balloon with a terrified expression.

Adel mulled over how to save her master, but she couldn't think of any brilliant solution.

It would be nice if there were magic that allowed one to fly, but such a thing didn't exist.

It was then.

The dragons, which rarely left their nests, simultaneously adorned the sky.

The dragons that gathered around the hot air balloon soon began to carefully grab it and pull it down.

They burst the unnecessary top part of the hot air balloon, leaving only the basket attached below.

All the villagers were left speechless at the sight.

To think that dragons would save a person.

Whatever the case.

The dragons flew back to their nests as if their work was done.

It was a sight hard to believe even after seeing it with one's own eyes.

‘Could it be that Master Anonymous ordered this?’

Adel tilted her head and observed Master Rude.

Fortunately, he only had a scared look on his face and didn't seem to be injured.

"Master! Are you alright?"

"Phew. I barely made it. I heard the dragons were here, and it was true. I was this close to dying."

"What on earth happened?"

"Well, you see……."

Before Rude could continue, my father and Noemi, who had been at the mansion, came running.

Behind them, Master Anonymous was walking leisurely with her hands clasped behind her back.

Master Rude saw my father and shouted loudly.

"Frank! Haha. How long has it been!"

But my father, as if seeing my master for the first time, examined his features closely and then slowly spoke.

"You're late."

"Late, my ass! I thought I was going to die riding this thing!"

My master's complaints continued.

He made a fuss, saying he'd borrowed a hot air balloon because he thought coming by land would be too slow, but he nearly died when he ran out of fuel halfway.

"If it weren't for the dragons, I would've fallen to my death. To think I'd be rescued by dragons. I've had a strange experience I never had even during the Demon King subjugation."

Unlike the excited master, my father continued in a calm tone.

"Let's go inside and talk first. There are a lot of spectators here."

Looking around, I saw that the villagers had gathered one by one and were watching us.

Adel belatedly shouted at the villagers.

"These people are not a spectacle! Please return to your homes!"

But the people did not leave their spots easily.

"It's my first time seeing a hot air balloon, but to think I'd see a dragon this up close."

"A scene like this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime sight, right? Phew. I'm still trembling."

"By the way, that person over there, isn't he perhaps Sage Rude?"

"No way! It's really Lord Rude! Lord Rude! Please look over here!"

My master, as if accustomed to people's reactions, waved nonchalantly.

Just a moment ago, he had worn a terrified expression, but it had already changed to a triumphant one.

‘Master is still the same.’

Pfft.

A smile appeared on Adel's lips.

She couldn't remember the last time she had seen this mischievous side of her master.

***

The first thing Rude said was, surprisingly, an apology.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

He bowed at a 90-degree angle and didn't raise his head for a while.

I let out a short sigh and shook my head.

"Stop it. What's with this, making the person watching feel awkward?"

"It's my fault Iris left home, so isn't it only natural to ask for forgiveness?"

"Enough. We can do that later. You must have come all this way with something in mind, right?"

Rude hesitated before slowly nodding his head.

"I have an idea where Iris might be."

"And where is that?"

"Akaba."

Akaba was the northernmost fortress city of the Durani Empire.

The scale of the magnificent fortress was so massive that anyone who saw it once would be overwhelmed.

It wasn't a main setting in PP, but it was such a charming place that some players would commit the atrocity of putting their daughter's development on the back burner to deliberately explore it.

"Why do you think she's there?"

"The Durani Empire is in a civil war right now, right? It would have been impossible for her to go any further inside. Besides, the Empire is hostile to outsiders. Especially for white people like us, even approaching is difficult."

It was a plausible story.

Even in the game, the Durani Empire was in a civil war, so there was nothing to see if you went, and it was a place where you'd die at the drop of a hat because of the excited

soldiers attacking frequently.

The map itself was open, but in reality, it was a barren land with nothing to do.

Rude glanced stealthily at Anonymous and then made me this proposal.

"She's here, so nothing should happen. You come with me to get Iris."

"Are you suggesting we leave this place to Anticus?"

"Is there any other way? I'm too scared to go alone."

His tone and attitude were exactly like the Rude from the game.

‘He's called a sage by others, but in reality, he's the same cowardly guy who hated the sight of blood spatter.’

And yet, at the same time, he loved adventure and took the lead in dangerous matters.

The type to do everything he had to do, even while being scared.

That's why the nickname users gave him was,

‘Byeonjjol. Short for Byeontae Jjolbo, perverted coward.’

I shook my head from side to side.

"That's not happening."

"Why? Are you saying you'll just leave Iris as she is?"

"No, that's not it, but I can't leave this place for a while."

It wasn't because of the gold mine.

My subordinates would take care of that.

The problem was none other than,

‘The remnants of the old demon tribe are about to cross the Elburz Mountains and invade this place.’

Even with Anticus and the dragons here, I couldn't rule out the possibility of Adel or Noemi being in danger.

The enemy force numbered a thousand.

‘In the game, too, many users gave up from this point because of the hellish difficulty.’

A section where the difficulty spikes, you could say? It wasn't for nothing that people said the real game started from here.

‘The abilities of the demon tribe are incomparable to those of humans.’

It was a struggle for 10 high-level adventurers to deal with even one low-level demon.

But I was at a loss as to how I should explain this situation.

‘How do I bring up the fact that the demon tribe is about to invade? It will only stir up unnecessary confusion.’

There were still many people who trembled at the mere mention of the demon tribe.

Such was the terror the demons had engraved upon people.

It was then.

Noemi brought up something out of the blue.

"Dad. If it's about the demon tribe invading, you don't have to worry."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"Because I've already solved it."

What?

I stared at Noemi with a dumbfounded look.

"Would you say that one more time?"

Noemi smiled brightly and suggested we go somewhere together.

***

Rude couldn't believe the scene before his eyes.

In the middle of a rugged cliffside path in the Elburz Mountains, only the weapons of the demon tribe lay deserted.

It was clear they had been here, but their figures were nowhere to be seen.

What was more surprising were the traces of ancient magic left in the surroundings.

It wasn't visible to the eye, but a huge magic circle was drawn in various places.

‘The magical power has drained, so it won't activate anymore, but its power must be unimaginable. Just how many of these things are there?’

Rude examined the traces and looked at Noemi.

"Noemi. This couldn't be...?"

"It's just as you guessed. It's ancient magic."

"You're the one who installed this?"

"Yes."

"Impossible! Even if a god existed, they couldn't have installed such a large-scale magic at once."

Noemi smiled nonchalantly and replied.

"It took a long time. It's a masterpiece I spent nearly five years on, after all."

"Five years……. Be that as it may, how were you able to use such magic?"

"I learned it from the ruins my master told me about."

"You went there alone? It's a dangerous place."

Instead of answering, Noemi smiled brightly.

In the ruins scattered throughout this world, ancient magic and technology were sealed.

It was said that some ruins had magic that could make a target disappear without a trace

by installing an invisible magic circle on the ground, but that was just the stuff of legends.

Rude asked with a serious face.

"What rank of magic can you use up to now?"

"7th rank."

"7th rank?"

7th rank meant she was on the same level as him.

It wouldn't be strange to be called a sage.

"Did you learn that from the ruins too?"

"No. I learned it from Anonymous."

"Anonymous? Ah, you mean Anticus."

"However, I don't know all 7th rank magic. What I learned from her are only a few."

When he glanced at Anonymous, she gave an inscrutable smile.

Just looking at her sent a shiver down his spine.

Startled, Rude hastily turned his head away and looked at Noemi again as he spoke.

"Ancient ruins have ancient magic sealed within them, on a different dimension from modern magic. Countless adventurers have challenged those places to obtain it, but only a handful have returned alive. I am one of them."

But in his case, it was purely luck.

He was only able to escape after the sacrifice of numerous comrades.

Rude was amazed and happy about his disciple's growth, but at the same time, he was afraid.

He gripped Noemi's shoulders firmly and warned her.

"Noemi. No one yet knows the principles of ancient magic properly. If you use it recklessly, your life could be in danger."

"Don't worry. Unfortunately, what I obtained there wasn't permanent, but a one-time use. Now I can't use it even if I want to."

"Then that's a relief. But remember this. I learned that by losing my comrades, and I know how great the price is. Promise me that even if you obtain such magic again, you will not use it carelessly. Hmm?"

Noemi nodded with an indifferent face.

It was impossible to tell if she was being sincere or just nodding to get out of the situation.

Rude let out a sigh and looked around again.

‘She dealt with this many troops all at once?’

Even by a rough estimate of the weapons scattered on the ground, there were hundreds.

He didn't know the exact number, but a force of this size could have destroyed a small kingdom.

All those troops were annihilated by the magic of a single person.

‘A frighteningly powerful and cruel magic. It's a relief that it was a one-time use.’

Rude clicked his tongue and changed the subject.

"Now that this problem is solved, we should set out to find Iris."

But what was this?

The voices of Frank and Adel coming from afar sounded unusual.

"Why is it that only I can't go? Iris is my younger sister! I have to protect her!"

"Adel, if you're not here, the village's line of defense will collapse. The lives of the residents are at stake."

"But the dragons are here! And Master is here too, so is there really a reason for me to stay?"

Frank let out a deep sigh and said.

"It's dangerous to believe that the dragons will stop everything. Your role is to reassure the residents and lead them. You need to be here."

"Then why are you going to save Iris, Father? You're the lord of this place, aren't you? I can be more helpful!"

"Adel, Iris is as important as you are. Your role right now is here."

Their voices grew increasingly heated.

Rude watched their argument with an anxious face.

‘What's with them?’

Still, the atmosphere felt very different from before.

The Adel of the past would not have dared to argue with Frank.

Frank, too, might have raised his hand, asking how she dared to talk back to her father.

‘In that respect, it seems better than before. There's that saying, isn't there? That affection grows through fighting? This must be one of those growing pains.’

Rude plopped down on the ground and took a flask out from his bosom.

The scenery, at least, was to die for.