Episode 7 – Dungeon Book (1)
Count Bayer.
The Bayer family was one of the 12 northern families that defended the northern part of the Sälen Kingdom and was a noble family famous for producing powerful knights for generations.
Sir Victor Cromwell, a long-time vassal of the Count and now a retired knight, reddened his eyes with tears at the sight in front of him.
"Haa…. Kuhaa…. Kuhaa…"
Jude Bayer, who was called the anguish of Count Bayer because of his Gueumjulmaek disease that even disrupted his daily life, was now running in the training courtyard.
Though he was gasping for breath as if he was going to die soon.
"It is indeed a gift of the heavens…"
During Jude's and his fiancée's midnight – no, daytime runaway, they were able to get the sun god Solari's divine item, which was helpful in the treatment of his Gueumjulmaek.
A literal work of fate that could only be seen as a coincidence, but was too coincidental to be called a coincidence.
"O Askantor, thank you for watching over the Bayer family."
Victor prayed to Askantor, the god of war, and looked back at the training field with a smile.
A red-faced Jude was turning around the corner to complete the last lap.
10 laps around the training field.
For the average knight, it was only a warm-up exercise that was barely enough for an exercise, but for Jude, it was a huge development.
Just a week ago, he couldn't even properly run a lap around the training field.
"Haa… Haa… Kuhaa…"
Jude somehow managed to keep his running form when he ran, but he collapsed on the spot the moment he finished running the last lap.
"Kuhaa…"
The sky seemed to be spinning.
He didn't think of anything as if his head was empty.
"Kuhaa…"
He eventually lied down. He was sweating so much that his whole body was soaked as if he had swam in water.
"Haa…"
How long had it been since he lied down?
When his breathing had calmed down to some extent, he was able to think again.
'I feel like dying.'
10 laps around the training field.
If he measured the distance, it was more than a kilometer.
It wasn't that short of a distance, but it wasn't that long either.
'Still.'
A smile began to spread on Jude's face.
He could clearly feel his body getting better little by little.
'The Sun's Necklace.'
The necklace of the sun god Solari was still hanging on Jude's neck.
Unlike the Sunfire Carp which injected an enormous amount of Yang energy at once, the Sun's Necklace slowly but continuously supplied Yang energy.
Gueumjulmaek meant a blockage of the meridians due to an immense Yin energy.
The Yang energy gradually melted the excessive Yin energy, and thus, the symptoms of Gueumjulmaek also began to ease.
Moreover, that was not the only effect of the Sun's Necklace.
As the energies of Yin and Yang met and desired each other, the result was the creation of a clear and pure energy.
Right now, the mana training method, or in other words, the inner Qi cultivation method, was something that Jude couldn't properly train yet, so he couldn't use the pure energy that was created, but that didn't mean that the energy disappeared.
All of these pure energy remained in Jude's body, so if he fully absorbed them later, it would be possible for him to do well in the future.
"Young master."
Jude turned his eyes when he was called, and he saw the face of Victor smiling.
Having retired after reaching the age of sixty, he didn't follow Count Bayer's expedition, but his will to continuously train himself still knew no bounds.
"I've seen you achieve your goal without giving until the end. The Count will be very pleased when he returns."
What he said wasn't just flattery.
Jude had managed to finish running 10 laps around the field even though he was gasping and seemed to be someone who was about to breathe their last.
Victor knew that Jude's body was still in the process of recovery, so he appreciated Jude's strong will.
'After all, Jude is also a Bayer.'
Gueumjulmaek was no different from a curse when they first found out about it, but even for Jude, the spirit of the famous martial arts family still ran in his veins.
"You'll be able to learn the family's martial arts once you've recovered a little more. Young master, just thinking of you being able to use the Bayer family's martial arts… hohoho, I may be old, but it makes my heart pound."
The knight Victor was not very good with words.
But what he said was nice anyway, so Jude ended up smiling.
'The martial arts of Count Bayer.'
Just like a playable character, Jude also had his own growth points.
One of them was Count Bayer's martial arts.
The Bayer family was now near the bottom rank among the 12 northern families, but in the past, the count of Bayer was the head of the 12 northern families and held the margrave position.
But the martial arts that had been passed down through generations had never declined.
'Because it's martial arts.'
It was not limited to physical techniques because it also used one's inner Qi, so it was not an exaggeration to say that it was like magic in a way.
It wasn't particularly strange since this was a world where angels, demons, and magic existed, but Jude still had a strange feeling every time he thought of it.
"All right, young master. This is enough for today. It isn't good if you overdo it. Please don't forget that getting enough rest is also part of the training."
Jude then stood up while holding Victor's big hand, and he nodded before taking a deep breath again.
'One week.'
A week had passed since he got the Sun's Necklace from Leisegang of the Red Moon.
His ban on going out would soon be lifted in the next three days, so it was time for him to prepare for the next step.
'I wouldn't have dreamed of doing it if I was alone.'
What he wanted to get next after the Sun's Necklace.
The ultimate goal of Jude and Cordelia was to protect the world from the Armageddon of angels and demons by stopping the Great Summons, but they had not made any big progress at that.
'We're still powerless now.'
It was obviously impossible to do, given that one was still a 1-star wizard and the other was a guy who was already tired from just running 10 laps in the training field.
So they had to be patient and lay down the foundations for growth first.
'We can do it if we're together.'
They had leveled up because of Leisegang even though it wasn't part of their plan. And because of that, Jude and Cordelia were able to immediately proceed to the next step.
'But…'
How would he contact Cordelia?
It was not that he didn't have a means of communication.
He just found it troublesome.
'Maja might like it though…'
Maja had a pleased look in her eyes even though she was scolding him for their daytime runaway.
'To my Dear Yellow… no, Lady Cordelia.'
As Jude recalled the first line of the letter that he would be sending to his fiancée, his face darkened without him realizing it.
***
The next morning at Count Chase's mansion.
Cordelia was doing some meditation training in order to raise her Mana Heart, but she suddenly opened her eyes as her body trembled.
Because she had a sudden ominous feeling.
'W-what is it?'
Since her time as Yellow Storm, she always had good senses that was enough to beat that of Outboxer's.
It was such an ominous premonition that it made her suddenly open her eyes while in the midst of mediation.
But she didn't have to worry about it for long.
Because a person whom she believed to be one of the causes of her premonition then appeared in front of her.
"Miss."
Dahlia Faye, Cordelia's escort knight.
She was approaching Cordelia with a suspicious, or rather, an ominous smile.
"Dah…lia?"
Why?
Why are you smiling like that?
In fact, she had a rough idea on the reason why.
She had seen it many times in the past week, and the name 'Jude Bayer' always appeared whenever Dahlia smiled like that.
'It isn't what a chaste maiden should do, but I will support your love.'
This was the words of Dahlia who came to her when she became gloomy after being banned from going out.
Those words creeped her out so much that she remembered it word for word.
'Why, why are you smiling like that again?'
Are you going to tell me something strange again?
When Cordelia became anxious and awkwardly smiled, Dahlia nodded her head as if she understood everything, so she said in a soft tone.
"Miss, you have a haggard look. I understand."
"I'm telling you in advance, but this is because I've been training hard, okay? It's not because of another reason, okay?"
"Ufufu… If you insist."
Dahlia said that she understood Cordelia, but her eyes were saying otherwise.
It was clear that she was thinking of something completely different.
'Ah, seriously.'
This is all because of Jude.
If it wasn't because of that day or those embarrassing lines, Dahlia would not have misunderstood this much.
In fact, Cordelia was not the only one who was scolded for her daytime runaway with Jude.
Dahlia was also given a pay cut for failing to properly guard her, but despite that, Dahlia still treated Cordelia the same.
'Because… she's like an older sister to me.'
If Maja was like an older sister for Jude, Dahlia was like an older sister for Cordelia because she had grown up with Dahlia since their childhood.
'Wait, come to think of it, is this perhaps her act of revenge?'
When Cordelia was suddenly filled with doubt, Dahlia opened her mouth again.
"Anyway, Miss. I have some good news for my troubled lady."
"Good news?"
"Yes, good news."
"W-what is it?"
"Ufufu…it's news from Mr. Jude Bayer."
Dahlia cheerfully smiled, taking out a letter from her arms and holding it out to Cordelia.
"It's a steamy love letter from Mr. Jude Bayer."
Letter.
Love letter.
Cordelia got goosebumps all over her body the moment she heard it, but at the same time, she was also happy.
After all, she had received news from Outboxer after almost a week.
"Hurry up and read it."
As Dahlia urged her with shining eyes, Cordelia had a complex and strange expression before she opened the letter.
To my Dear Lady Cordelia whom I deeply love.
She couldn't already stand it from the very first line.
But still, Cordelia swallowed hard and mentally prepared herself.
She had to read it anyway.
Moreover, it couldn't have been just a letter. He must have hidden some message for her.
'Is it a vertical drip?'
Or a diagonal drip?
T/N: Vertical drip (세로드립) is the Korean version of an acrostic cipher. An acrostic cipher or code is when the first letter or syllable of every word, line, or paragraph spells out a secret message. Vertical means that the message is hidden vertically. A variation of it is diagonal drip, meaning the message is hidden diagonally.
Source: 세로드립
Cordelia, who painfully read a letter full of sweet sentences from Maja's corrections, widened her eyes suddenly.
Cordelia had a pained expression as she read the letter full of sweet words and sentences that Maja had edited. And then, her eyes suddenly widened in surprise.
It wasn't because she found a vertical or diagonal drip.
There was a line at the very end of the letter brimming with words of love.
It was a line plainly written in Korean without any hidden techniques or methods.
Let's meet at Varuna's Temple at 2 pm two days later.
'Oh, he actually used his head?'
The only ones who could recognize Korean in Pleiades were Yellow Storm and Outboxer.
One could say that this was an almost perfect cipher for them.
'But why Varuna's Temple?'
It was two days later, when the ban on going out was over, so I understood the date itself, but the temple of Varuna was on my mind.
She understood the two days later because that was the date when their ban on going out was over, but she didn't know why it had to be in Varuna's Temple.
Varuna, the god of secrets.
The guardian and observer of secrets.
There was a temple of Varuna in the frontier city where Count Bayer and Count Chase lived.
It wasn't that big, but as the god that governs 'secrets', people visited the temple to make confessions.
It wasn't that big, but as a temple of a god that governed 'secrets,' people visited it in order to confess.
'Is there anything there?'
There must be something there if he wants to see me there.
Cordelia searched her memories for a moment, but she couldn't think of anything.
'Anyway, the problem is…'
Cordelia folded the letter after reading everything and turned to Dahlia.
And as she had expected.
Dahlia's brightly shining eyes greeted Cordelia.
'I don't want to say it. I really don't want to say it.'
But she had to do so.
It was required of her to take Dahlia whenever she went out in broad daylight, even if she was not banned from going out.
"Dahlia."
"Yes, Miss."
"Uh… two days later."
"Yes, Miss. Are you going to have a secret meeting with Mr. Jude Bayer a day after the ban ends two days later?"
"Yes… huh? Se-secret meeting?"
"Haa… Mr. Bayer is so sweet. He's already asking you out on a date as soon as the ban is over. Ufufu, what a passionate love."
Cordelia's mind went blank at that moment, but she soon nodded.
After all, she had to go.
Being misunderstood was a bit annoying, but she couldn't help it.
"A-anyway. I'll be going to Varuna's Temple in two days."
"Oh… even the place is good. Having a secret meeting at the temple of the god of secrets. But don't run away this time. I'll do my best to give the two of you some time."
Dahlia ended her words with a grin, and she even winked at Cordelia.
What?
She's definitely trying to help me, but it feels like she's teasing me too.
Cordelia closed her eyes once and took a very long breath. It was for her peace of mind.
Cordelia then closed her eyes and let out a long breath. In order to regain her peace of mind.
But Dahlia saw it differently.
'You're very relieved.'
At the fact that you can finally meet your beloved Mr. Jude Bayer.
Didn't you focus on training for the past week in order to suppress the pain of not being able to see him?
I don't know when their love grew so deep, but for a man and woman, having just a moment where they can share each other's feelings is more important than not having time at all.
'Miss, I'll do my best to help you. Fighting!'
Dahlia looked at Cordelia with a warm look, and Cordelia flinched when she saw that.
'What the… why are you doing that again? What are you imagining again!'
But she didn't say those words out loud.
Because she was afraid of the response.
"A-anyway. Two days later. Remember that."
"Yes, Miss. Two days is not short but hang in there, okay?"
Dahlia said it cutely, but it wasn't cute at all for Cordelia.
Why do I have to endure this?
'I'd rather die than suffer.'
Cordelia absentmindedly nodded as her shoulders fell.