Chapter 285: Act 52 – The King of the Underground (3) (First Update)
Brendel was stunned when he saw the crystalline tears rolling down Xi’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
However, the young girl seemed lost in her own world, letting the tears flow as if she hadn’t heard him. After a while, she finally reacted. She sniffled to stop her emotional breakdown and realized her lapse in composure, her cheeks turning a bright crimson.
“It’s nothing, it’s just… it hurts too much…” Xi turned her head away, somewhat reluctantly responding, “Lord…”
Brendel felt a surge of sadness, thinking that this excuse was utterly ridiculous—did it really look like someone who was crying because it hurt? It was more appropriate to say that it was to cover up the fact that she was panicking!
He wasn’t a fool; he vaguely guessed what the girl was thinking. Although he didn’t know what Xi truly thought of the other members of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, Macaro, or himself, it was clear that her outward silence didn’t conceal her avoidance of the past.
Rather than accepting everything that existed now, she seemed to be stuck in the memories of the past—she had an instinctive fear and distrust of the external world—if she left everything familiar, she would be engulfed by a tremendous sense of isolation.
Brendel didn’t know what Xi had experienced in the past, but he knew that what ‘Maned Wolf’ Macaro had done must have caused her immense harm.
“Can you stand up?” he asked, pushing those thoughts aside.
Xi weakly nodded, but after several attempts—even clutching Brendel’s hand—the intense pain made her gasp and fall to her knees again.
Brendel felt a mix of pity and helplessness as she struggled with tears streaming down her face and her teeth clenched tight. While he had seen women cry before, Xi’s strength, in comparison to those spoiled young ladies from games who teared up at the slightest thing, was admirable.
After all, he considered himself a man.
“Stop pushing yourself; I’ll carry you!” said Brendel.
They couldn’t stay here for too long; although they didn’t know the situation of Kuran and Medisa sealed on the other side, letting that old man return to the surface before them would mean complete failure for their mission.
Therefore, every second counted.
“How can… that work?”
Xi was stunned; what lord would do something like this? Perhaps Macaro might, but she now knew that was for winning people over—just like how the Grand Commander once ignored her at all—she didn’t understand why that was, despite how well she performed, she couldn’t receive as much attention as Aike.
But she eventually realized that even winning people over required certain qualifications. Xi certainly didn’t envy the person she loved, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
A guy with no silver-level strength might not even be as valued in the commander’s eyes as Leidi. The thought of that young man who had been killed by Brendel made her feel a wave of disgust.
But what was this young lord really after?
Now, she was completely powerless, with no esteem among the remaining members of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, worse than Sanford. If this lord was trying to look at her body, she didn’t even consider herself as beautiful as the Merchant Miss who was publicly proclaimed to be Brendel’s fiancée.
Brendel’s intentions were limited to some minor physical affection, let alone her.
“No need…” she thought for a moment and shook her head vigorously. “Lord, you go first, and after you secure the mine, come back to save me…”
She hesitated, “I’m a mercenary; I won’t be too scared alone. At most, you can leave me a light crystal…”
Brendel couldn’t help but chuckle at Xi’s face, which clearly showed fear. He thought it was still uncertain if they could find a way out, but even if they were lucky and everything went smoothly, it would take at least a few hours to return. Leaving a defenseless girl here could pose significant danger, and more importantly, he might encounter the risk of divine transformation the moment he distanced himself from Xi.
However, after a moment’s thought, he decided not to say it directly but instead replied gently, “You’ve lost too much blood; it’s very dangerous to stay here.”
“It’s fine,” the red-haired girl shook her head. “This is also Lady Martha’s intention; besides, carrying a burden isn’t necessary for you—”
She paused, her voice weakening, “Actually, thank you, Lord; not leaving me behind is enough…”
The young girl took a breath and suddenly managed a weak smile, “So… I can’t be selfish, can I?”
Brendel was momentarily taken aback by these words.
He looked at Xi’s amber-like beautiful eyes, which even contained a hint of moisture, but ultimately they were still dim and lacking light, and he suddenly understood.
If such an excellent girl lived in a more stable era of Vaunte, she definitely wouldn’t meet such a fate—
But did Vaunte ever have such a peaceful time?
The Amber Sword had set this world as one rife with conflict, a turbulent world because a game required a chaotic environment to write epic-like chapters, but what is an epic? In this world, it was merely flames consuming the land, bones piling up, and rivers flowing with blood.
In Vaunte, constantly being eroded on the fringes of civilization, wars were becoming more frequent. Humanity, out of a need to survive, became more collective on one hand, but also more utilitarian and practical on the other.
The consequence was that the existence of individuals became negligible.
The warmth between people had long disappeared; the entire society, when formed, exuded an icy demeanor, cold and efficient.
Although in Erluin, the reign of incompetent nobles was provoking increasing resistance, that resistance was not aimed at overthrowing the system of this world. Ultimately, it boiled down to the general suspicion of the lower classes towards the legitimacy of their rulers—this legitimacy had nothing to do with bloodline or birth; the only criterion was power.
The strong are revered, while the weak seem destined to fend for themselves.
As a modern individual, Brendel did not oppose the former, but he could not agree with the latter.
Just as he knew Xi’s story was not an isolated case in this world—there were countless Xis here—just as there were countless Funiyas. If it weren’t for him, the fate of that little girl from Viridien Village would probably not end up much better than the current red-haired girl.
Wouldn’t it?
Even more so, there were many others in this world who were even more unfortunate than them.
He felt powerless to change all of this, which was different from changing the fate of the kingdom of Erluin. It was a rebellion against the very will of this world, a will that represented not only the might of a vast society but also the natural laws forming that power.
After all, this was a different world from Earth.
Brendel’s selfish desire was to save this kingdom, yet whether this wish would harm more people—those people potentially from other countries in this world, be it Madara or Cruz—or even contribute to the oppression of the kingdom itself, he hadn’t thought too much about.
Brendel only hoped that those people he was familiar with, Princess included, as well as the Valkyrie and many others who sacrificed their lives for this kingdom, would not have their tragedies repeat.
To rewrite history, that was all.
When a tragedy like Xi’s happened so close to him, he didn’t think he could just turn a blind eye.
Therefore, after listening to the girl’s words, Brendel shook his head slightly, “You think too much; am I really so incapable?”
“But…” Xi still hesitated.
“A good commander would never abandon any of his members—” Brendel felt he should say something that sounded heroic at this moment, remembering that this line was what his senpai had told him when handing over the team to him.
However, he found himself failing to be serious enough, ultimately shaking his head and making a poor joke, “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t take advantage of you.”
But Brendel felt like crying inside after saying this, feeling he had completely embarrassed himself as a transmigrator.
Xi wasn’t doing much better herself; her face had turned entirely red, and she quickly shook her head. “Of course not, it’s just…”
“No ‘just’.” Brendel felt he’d go mad if he kept talking, so he simply scooped Xi up in his arms, completely disregarding her startled yelp.
Xi was left stunned.
She never expected Brendel to be so forceful, and her mind was a jumble as she thought: “He, he, he just said he wouldn’t take advantage of me—!” But the girl immediately buried her head into her chest like an ostrich, her ears flushed and her heart racing, leaving her unable to utter a word.
She thought, is this the legendary princess carry?
When she was in the mercenary group, she had thought more than once about whether Aike would someday carry her into the temple like this, but that little luxury had long turned into a beautiful fantasy after Yula showed up.
Yet the red-haired girl could never have imagined that one day someone would truly carry her like this. Not the person she thought, but the environment of the dark and eerie mine made it all the more surreal.
However, as she laid her head against Brendel’s chest, despite her racing heart, she oddly felt a sense of peace.
“Lord is different from most people I’ve met,” she thought, “and different from Aike too. With him, there’s a strange sense of reassurance and trust. This feeling must be akin to what Antinna and Miss Romaine experience, they must feel it too…”
Xi suddenly understood a bit: over these few months, why more and more people gathered around Brendel, although this was partly due to this young man’s abilities—there were many others in Vaunte who had backgrounds and capabilities that surpassed him.
But today she finally found the reason.
She quietly let out a “tch,” thinking how lucky she was to follow such a lord, it seemed Lady Martha hadn’t completely abandoned her.
But losing her strength still cast a faint shadow over her; Xi knew she wasn’t a genius, and regaining that strength might not be as simple as she hoped.
Yet she shook her head, pushing that thought aside. Day by day, Brendel’s every action had completely set her at ease.
But while the young girl thought this, she had no idea she might only have a few days, or even just a few hours, left to live.
…
(PS: By the way, if the results are good, I truly don’t want to ask for support.) (To be continued, to find out what happens next, please log on for more chapters, support the author, and support official reading!)
