going to leave
No.
······Viche?
Beatrice’s sad gaze made Leon pause for a moment.
Your Majesty. The agent of the gods the brave King of Knights the one who blessed my knights and saved me from the bondage of corruption.
Power enters Leon’s hand she held. It was to the point where I wondered how such strong power could come out of her slender hands.
Where are you going to leave us? Please… please don’t leave me anywhere.
·······.
Leon realized what Beatrice was so worried about and sad about.
To discuss the succession of Lion Heart King. That is Leon gave up his seat as the representative of the gods and headed to the banquet to be with them.
It was because many Holy Grail guardians and knights had chosen their successors and ascended to heaven if they did not perish on the battlefield.
Three hundred years old Bice.
Leon couldn’t just throw an empty check. Leon is an old man who has lived a long enough life and if he had been an ordinary human he would have been reincarnated or headed to the banquet.
Originally humans’ lifespan is short so they are destined to leave someday so they lived a life of immortality with the love of the gods.
Even if his life was a repetition of endless struggles and fights Leon was richer than others respected and in an honorable position.
He had no regrets about life. He thought that 300 years would be enough for him so he looked forward to the day when he would head to the banquet hall of the gods as did his great ancestors and knights.
Then when you go please take me with you! I’m also the head priest of the goddess so I’m sure I’m qualified!
Bice… You’re still young. Haven’t you lived through countless years just repeating it? You’ll be here slowly.
I’ve never imagined a life without His Majesty. So please…
Leon was speechless.
He knew that parting would come one day.
Because he always let others go. He was always a victim of separation from family friends and colleagues.
So since he realizes that he will be the perpetrator what can he dare to say?
For a long time he could only be silent.
* * * *
The experiment was successful.
The dragon’s barrier stone installed by Beatrice triggered a dungeon break and stopped the pouring monsters.
They were afraid to dare to come out of the range of the barrier stone and only managed to get out when it was time to burst within the narrow radius.
In the end the monsters were wiped out at the hands of Leon and Beatrice and the experiment on the by-products imbued with the dragon’s energy was the first success.
Then go in first. Jim intends to look around here.
yes······.
Landing in front of the Ryugyong Hotel Leon watched Beatrice for a while who seemed helpless despite the success of the experiment.
[Leon my knight.]
Goddess’ voice. Leon answered in a voice that was weaker than usual.
Yes my goddess.
[Your goddess always feels sorry for my knight.]
How can you say that?
Leon was perplexed by the goddess’ jade sound. Because even the fact that she made the goddess sad is my fault as a Shinto.
[I remember you leaving the arms of Ulfric Dragonia and walking the path of wandering. Your goddess has been watching your journey all along.]
It must have been around seventeen.
Trained directly by the Holy Grail Knight Lord Gordic young Leon immediately embarked on a journey of training.
How beautiful and sacred the face of the Goddess whom I came to know after several years of traveling was so beautiful.
Leon remembers the blasphemy of looking up at the goddess in a daze.
[You accepted my quest and performed it well becoming the youngest Holy Grail Knight.]
It was an honor undeserved.
[However maybe that was my mistake.]
······How do you say that?
[Leon. He is my first knight to carry a lion’s heart at a young age after Archen. You have lived a life of repeating fights for too long.]
Leon’s life was a series of endless fights.
At the age of 17 he embarked on a training course and became a Holy Grail Knight and became the Lion Heart King fighting beasts savages and demons.
In the face of the empire’s rampage and betrayal they had to point their swords at their old allies and the same human beings had to be buried with blood countless times.
In the end even if his family friends servants and people were left alone he continued the war.
His 300 years of life is filled only with the dense history of war.
[Leon. Your goddesses all of us owe you an unrepayable debt. All the souls of the vanishing paradise were able to survive in your steadfastness.]
The goddess appeared in a faint form and caressed Leon’s cheek. My child whom I had watched for so long forgot happiness all too quickly filling her empty place with memories of steel and blood.
[Mansin wishes you happiness. Your seat at the top of our banquet is always prepared but I hope that day will be far far away.]
If you were to ask if Leon’s life wasn’t happy Leon would certainly have shook his head.
I had the love of my life had a child and made friends and colleagues to look up to.
He sat on a throne that many looked up to exalted his glory and lived an honorable life.
“Do you remember the days when I was blasphemous?”
[It was a time of ignorance rather than disrespect.]
It wasn’t that Leon had blind faith from the beginning.
He was a new soul who died young and was reincarnated in an unknown world a young man who pursued chivalry with romance and fantasy.
There was no faith there just a young man obsessed with fantasy.
I just changed my mind by facing the real God in front of my eyes.
There is a saying in the scriptures of this world. He who believes without seeing is true faith.
[You are not wrong.]
In that sense I guess I wasn’t a true believer.
[Who has the right to say that to you?]
Leon smiled gratefully at the goddess’s generosity.
I’m more calculating than the gods think. I’m no different than any other believer whose heart beat so much at the existence of paradise when he learned of the reality of the gods.
Paradise as described in the Bible a heavenly existence.
A world full of eternal happiness and abundance. Leon also dreamed of that world.
Like all followers and knights I have a long-cherished wish for the banquet hall. I also have a desire to face the gods…
Holy Grail Knights themselves are saints of immortality that do not age.
A blessed being who can monopolize youth and strength until he dies.
Nevertheless the Holy Grail Knights ascend without hesitation once their successors are decided.
We live a different time than the people we love. Eternal youth is even foreign to blend among those we love.
Leon smiled bitterly. At least if your life partner was an adult like yourself… what about my friends?
Except for Antoc who became an Iron Grail Knight Gunlar also became a decrepit tree and looked at the world slowly and Gildus became a grandfather proud of his grandson.
The father who passed on many things left telling his young son to come slowly just like his granddaughter.
It is natural for children to bury their parents. But what if the opposite happens?
Karina is truly a filial daughter. I will not die before my father.
Leon was afraid that Karina would die before him. He shuddered that he would dig and cover the grave of her child with his own hands.
When I found out that the child had become a Holy Grail Knight of Darkness and Vengeance I was very disappointed but thinking about it now it’s fortunate.
At least Leon’s digging of her grave was gone.
People have to go when it’s time to go. I’ve lived too long.
[·······.]
Leon walked down the street without saying a word.
The demon lord was repulsed. As long as their forces still remain I intend to head to the Demon Realm and annihilate them someday but what will I do after that is over?
Having fulfilled his duty Leon simply waits for the next day when the end will come.
Hmm? Your Majesty. Why are you making such a clean face?
Then I met a knight in red armor. He seems to have just returned with Ha-ri Su-ho and Jae-hyeok all in a mess.
Is the training going well?
Hmm well other than that.
Knowing Vulcan’s training methods Leon sympathized with the three of them a little. However his training methods are standard.
In fact only those who passed Vulcanus’ training could join the Baltan Flaming Sword Knights.
“Your Majesty would you like a drink or two?”
Sudden but not too strange proposal. Leon accepted this without saying anything.
* * * *
When it comes to Holy Grail Knights anything high-end is the law to use.
Even for his own dignity this is a natural maintenance cost.
The Holy Grail Knights are all promising knights and most of them are from noble families. Even if it is not it is the one who is appointed and becomes the head of a family.
In that respect Vulcanus was a foreign being in the upper echelons of the old-fashioned Lionheart.
If you do this you’ll be able to drink till your nose is crooked by tonight!
Empty the big keg! Vulcanus presented. Beer barrels made of stainless steel are not distributed in the private sector even in empty words.
Have you ripped it whole?
When I asked where they brought beer kegs in their arms the source was unexpected.
“There are a lot of good things in the houses of party officials or something in this city.
You can’t change your old habits sir. You’re about to become a Holy Grail Knight and plunder.
Leon spoke calmly as he ate the snacks Vulcan had brought him.
At times like this the lower ones are getting fuller. If you’re older you should yield to them.
War plunder is an opportunity for soldiers and knights to multiply their wealth. Although it should be dedicated to Petos the god of war and flame the tenth structure was not applied instead.
At times like these soldiers and knights would buy at least one piece of gold ring to present to their wives or lovers.
I don’t have the manor that His Majesty bestowed on me anymore. I have to work hard to build a villa and find a land to serve as a lord.
Do you still want Youngji?
So! It’s fun to harvest the products of a wide territory with a house to lay my body on. I want to have a bigger territory.
Leon smiled bitterly and did not deny Vulcan’s ambition.
Kyung is such a unique savage.
“GARARARA—the land is power and power. Others don’t know that.”
Goong! Vulcanus who opened the lid of the keg spilled the beer into the bowl he did not know where he got it from.
·······.
It shouldn’t have been opening the beer keg so much… Leon gave up on questioning.
By the way Your Majesty. This city called Pyongyang. I heard that Your Majesty does not intend to rule directly.
“Yes I plan to leave it to the soon-to-be-born Treemen and Elves. This place will become a holy ground for Irmin the goddess who dwells in the World Tree.”
The Lionheart Kingdom was reluctant to expand. Although the territory of the kingdom was not small it had the power to expand beyond that.
The reason for this was that the Lionheart Kingdom was basically a kingdom only for humans and they pursued a life in harmony with various races such as fairies dwarves and tree men with different lifestyles.
I’m against it.
Hmm?
Of course elves and treemen know harmony and balance. They are wise and have a noble spirit that will not betray their faith but can the young ones who are just being born do that?
Hmm…
When the end of the world was almost certain Lionheart later set up an ark plan to recover the factor from Paradise and resurrect the species again.
An example is the black dragon which was created by injecting the life force of the saint of life into the element of the dragon.
The survival of Leon who kept the paradise in his heart was a prerequisite but there was a problem with the resurrection of the species by that factor.
It is said that the newly born are newborn babies who inherited only knowledge.
This world Earth is not a very comfortable place. Even if they can grow under Your Majesty’s protection it will take time for them to mature.
Whether it will be one hundred years or two hundred years is unknown. Because both elves and treemen are long-lived species that cannot even be compared to humans.
So what? It’s natural for their species to leave their growth to time.
It’s temporary but let’s establish a lord.
A lord?
That’s right. Isn’t your Majesty going to continue to expand? Right now this Republic of Korea has a legitimate owner so even if we leave it alone the central plains in the north will be different.
When we say north we mean the former mainland of China. At Vulcan’s words Leon sips his cup and speaks the truth.
That place is also a land with an owner. Aren’t there dozens of countries claiming to be connecting China?
GRARARA──! Don’t say things you don’t mean to say. It’s now an unclaimed land that repeats endless chaos and civil war. Are you thinking of pushing it away if there’s a justification in your heart?
Vulcanus received reports of Koo Dae-sung’s activities in the Heilong People’s Republic of China. He gave an example.
They’re just idiots who can’t even protect their own people. Taking over a country in the name of protecting them won’t be a big deal!
You mean like the Lord’s claim to conquer the old empire?
Yes! I think it was Your Majesty’s fault for not accepting my proposal at that time.
·······.
Leon couldn’t deny Vulcan’s stern words. In fact the summoning of Malus the lord of chaos that hastened the destruction of the world was the result of the empire’s runaway.
Well let’s put it that way. After all doesn’t Sir want to become the lord of this city called Pyongyang?
GRARA──! I won’t deny it.
However Sir and Jim are the people who will soon leave for the banquet. Even if they rule the territory how many decades do they covet the land?
·······.
For a moment Vulcan’s voice suddenly stopped. Her gaze which had just flashed stared at Leon with a subtle expression.
“Aside from the fact that I will enjoy a thousand years of wealth and glory?”
???
[no!]
Petos was taken aback by the unexpected remark.
