Chapter 112

Leandros hated Yurik.

It was understandable that he would hate him for killing his master and destroying the family, subjecting them to disgrace.

However, there was a completely different meaning between targeting the Hartmann family itself with the intention of annihilation,

And touching Hartmann once as part of various eccentricities for the grand purpose of the world's destruction.

For the former, since Hartmann was the goal, it was inevitable, so one could be angry accordingly.

But for the latter?

The idea that 'Hartmann was just touched once' meant that another family could have been the target of annihilation instead.

Then Hartmann could have survived.

He could have spent peaceful days, faithfully serving the former Duchess while just holed up in the Dikenter Mountains.

But Hartmann fell.

Crown Prince Yurik wanted to control demonic beasts, and in the process, he acquired information about the former Duchess of Hartmann.

He could have left Hartmann alone, but Yurik thoroughly crushed the Duchess who refused to cooperate.

And so Hartmann fell.

It could have been otherwise,

Due to bad luck,

Because the Crown Prince happened to hear about the former Duchess,

Just because of such things...

The wedge he had driven into Leandros was of that kind.

Making him imagine a future that could have been otherwise, and helping him ignite a more intense hatred toward Yurik.

In some ways, it was an action that solidified the relationship between the villain and the protagonist,

But now this was necessary.

'Can't have him suffer and then completely fall for Yurik like last time.'

Did he know what it felt like to have a well-raised child stolen?

He glanced at Leandros, who was silently leading the horse.

Considering that he had refused to ride the horse and chose to walk, he must have been quite angry.

After shouting only once, Leandros had slaughtered the attacking demonic beast.

After taking deep breaths for a while beside the ghastly corpse he had left behind, he requested to lead the horse.

After that, we walked for a long time without conversation or anything else.

Just as he was starting to regret making him too angry, Leandros spoke first.

"Your Grace."

"Uh-huh. What? Are your feet cold? Want to ride the horse?"

"No. ...In the revelation, you said I was fighting Crown Prince Yurik. Do you remember?"

"Ah."

That was the false revelation story he had told at the beginning of this iteration.

"I remember. Why?"

"Who was the person standing at the end of that fight?"

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Clearly, what he had said at that time was.

-You were standing alone against His Highness the Crown Prince. And that person was you.

Even in the false revelation, the outcome of the fight hadn't been revealed.

He hadn't definitively stated 'Leandros wins' because everyone might accept it as a confirmed future and become complacent,

And in the worst-case scenario, Leandros could be defeated.

If that happened, he would die by Yurik's hand and regress again.

He didn't want that anymore.

There was a limit to being killed by that guy over and over again.

After hesitating for a moment, he answered honestly.

"I don't know that either."

"I thought as much."

"But I'll do everything I can to help you fight Crown Prince Yurik. That much I can promise."

"Even while not guaranteeing victory?"

"Was victory ever something that could be guaranteed?"

Victory on paper was easy.

They fought, and one side won.

If it were just this, he could make Leandros the winner as much as he wanted.

But the author who would write the story was dead, and he was alive in the book.

The rest of the story was up to the living people.

As the savior summoned here, and as a character living here, he had to lead the story.

"But if once isn't enough, I'll create a second chance for you."

"Will Your Grace personally create it?"

"If the second fails, a third is fine too. And if the third fails, we'll just wait for the next opportunity."

"Am I worth that much?"

"Of course. You are,"

The protagonist of this story.

"Hartmann's loyal escort knight."

It seemed like he had said something like this in the previous iteration.

Back then, he had said it to Russel, who was aiming for the giant.

Then as now, they always hesitated at the crucial moment.

All he could do, standing beside them, was to push them forward.

Telling them that if it had to be done, it should be done now.

That even if they failed, he would create the next opportunity.

That was the most a supporting character could do.

The role of sacrificing oneself completely to create just one chance, and shouting for the protagonist to go.

And the role of being satisfied with the fact that they had become the light illuminating the protagonist while attention was stolen by the dazzlingly appearing protagonist.

That was the virtue all supporting characters should possess.

After being silent for a long time, Leandros finally spoke.

"I knew Your Grace was reckless."

"Is that an insult?"

"You didn't used to be like this, but seeing how you've been acting so casually with me lately, I even thought you had finally gone strange."

"It is an insult, right?"

"But thinking about it, it makes sense."

White breath rose from Leandros.

"After experiencing such times, which of us would dare be in their right mind?"

"If you mean those times."

"We barely escaped with our lives, so there was nothing to eat. When thirsty, we drank from settled mud puddles, and unable to hunt, we searched for carcasses of prey already consumed by wolves. While you were sleeping, fearing pursuit squads might come, Arndt and I took turns staying up all night, covering your mouth as you cried."

The situation of fugitives from a treasonous family was predictable.

Leandros continued the story of the time when Arenheit was there, speaking to him, not Arenheit.

"When we found abandoned houses, we hid there to escape the dew, and on days we couldn't, we laid down just one cloak. In the midst of all that, we saw the execution of the Hartmann family head and his relatives, and heard that the castle had fallen."

"...Yes."

"Though it may sound presumptuous, despite protecting Your Grace, we couldn't find hope anywhere. Not until we heard that the royal palace was withdrawing the charge of treason and proceeding with restoration."

"Yes."

"Will it be alright now?"

A hawk guarding its nest cannot leave to hunt,

A pregnant wild dog can only hide.

The past Arenheit was no different from a beast cub that Leandros had to carry around.

But, now Arenheit wasn't here.

Only Yu Yesung, full of thoughts about encouraging the protagonist, was here.

So he nodded.

"...Thank you."

He seemed to have thrown something off.

Like a hawk taking flight from its nest, after sending off a light word, they continued walking until they reached their destination.

* * *

They encountered a few more demonic beasts along the way, but it wasn't a big problem.

Perhaps it was worth dying seventeen times in his previous life.

When he roughly explained the attack strategy, Leandros easily defeated the demonic beasts.

Later, Leandros asked how he knew, and he had to make up that he had seen it in the revelation.

Revelation, truly a cure-all.

After walking for a long time like that, they stopped in front of a sign.

Wiping off the snow covering the sign, the letters became faintly visible.

-Caution. Do not enter the mine.

"When thinking of mines in the north, only the mithril mine comes to mind. Is that right?"

"That's right. We've found the right place."

"But as Your Grace said, no people remain in the north. Even if we enter the mine, we won't be able to secure mithril ore."

"Of course, we can't take mithril ore right away. But there's something more important than that."

When he patted Sleigh, the horse easily jumped over the sign, ignoring it.

Watching this, Leandros reluctantly followed him.

Until now, it had been all flat land, but after crossing the sign, the path strangely changed at some point.

The white frozen stones that had appeared sporadically became more frequent,

And the path suddenly became steep, requiring them to find positions where they wouldn't slip on the snow.

During that time, a huge shadow gradually became more distinct.

If the mountain where they had defeated the giant in the previous iteration was a winter mountain in the honest sense,

This was literally a rock mountain.

A rocky mountain with a valley terrain, where trees and grass barely sprouted here and there, small and scattered.

Perhaps because the mountain partly blocked the blizzard, upon entering the valley, the accumulated snow noticeably decreased.

Leandros, who had fallen slightly behind due to the rugged terrain, caught up and spoke.

"Your Grace. Do you know the entrance to the mine?"

"I can see a bit of a paved path. We should follow it straight ahead."

"I'll go in front."

Leandros wiped the sweat that had seeped onto his forehead.

Sweat in this weather.

...Should he have offered to ride together? But the atmosphere earlier hadn't been conducive to that.

While he was lost in trivial concerns, Leandros walked ahead with large strides.

Following him up the uphill path, small and dilapidated houses gradually came into view.

Rotten wooden boards had collapsed under the weight of snow.

"Those are..."

"I believe they're temporary warehouses for storing minerals. Seeing these, the mine entrance must be nearby."

As Leandros said, after walking a bit more, they saw the mine entrance blocked by a wooden fence.

The rounded entrance had been reinforced with thick planks as pillars, and as if the fence wasn't enough, stones had been piled up at the entrance itself to prevent entry.

While he dismounted and sent Sleigh away, Leandros roughly cleared the stones to make a path.

Inside the entrance where snow hadn't accumulated, rails made of wood and iron could be seen extending.

"We'll need a lamp to go inside."

"I'll prepare it. Since we don't know what's inside, we should record the path as we go."

"Is the interior of the mine that complex?"

"Most likely. The paths would be branched in multiple ways."

Oh, how interesting. Was that how mines normally were?

If only he had visited such a place in his lifetime.

Leaving Leandros, who was rummaging through the luggage, behind, he took a few steps into the mine.

A large cart with wheels could be seen on the old rails.

The iron cart, marked with scratches in various places, was large enough to reach his chest in height.

It was just fascinating because it seemed like a size that couldn't be pushed even if several people clung to it.

Was the cart used to transport minerals?

Then did people going down all walk?

Couldn't one ride this cart into the mine?

As he circled around the cart, examining it, a stern warning was heard from outside.

"Your Grace!"

"Ah, I'm not doing anything! What's wrong!"

"Please restrain yourself. Please."

Since Leandros had said "please" twice, he must have been quite anxious.

Just as he was grumbling and about to finish observing the cart.

[Creeak...]

A sound was heard.

The place he reflexively turned to look was the dark inside of the tunnel.

There was something in there, beyond the reach of light.

Had a demonic beast nested all the way inside the mine?

"Leandros. Could you come here for a moment?"

He carefully took steps backward, not taking his eyes off the darkness of the tunnel.

But that was the cause of the trouble.

When his back touched the cart, suddenly, an ominous sound came from the cart that had seemed like it would never move.

-Screech, screech, screech.

"Uh."

Along with a sound like an old and rusty spring being laboriously wound, the cart slowly moved forward.

Startled, he tried to slip to the side of the rails, but as he jumped out, a strong force gripped and pulled his neck tightly.

As the cart advanced, the edge of his cloak had gotten caught in the visibly heavy wheels.

Unable to move either way, he called for Leandros at the top of his lungs.

"Leandros! Leandros!"

"Your Grace!"

At the sound of screaming like a lost puppy, Leandros immediately ran in and grabbed the cart.

During the brief moment the cart slowed down, Leandros shouted.

"Take off that cloak!"

"The decoration is tangled, I can't, it won't come off...!"

The ground beneath his feet was gradually tilting.

The cart, wrestling with Leandros, was making increasingly louder screeching noises.

Veins bulged prominently even on Leandros's neck.

At the moment the cart's noise reached its climax.

The decorations and buttons fastening the cloak all fell off at once, and the cart immediately went berserk.

With the sound of metal crumpling, the side panel that Leandros had been holding detached completely,

And he fell along with the rest of the cart body down the rails.

He could hear Leandros shouting from behind.

"Your Grace!"

"Save me!"

He didn't want to die from something like this in this life!