Ending Maker

Chapter 50 – EPISODE 50 – FANTASY COUPLE

Dad is now Daddy – someone pointed this out, and ‘daddy’ does make more sense than ‘dad’ in the context of this chapter (because of its childish and sexual connotations).

Northern Barbarians’ Great Attack – I changed ‘Attack‘ to ‘Invasion‘ as it was an invasion and not just an attack.

After defeating Sisioth, the story went as Jude had expected.

First was the reason why the Guardians of the Holy Cross and Count Hræsvelgr’s knights were here.

The Guardians of the Holy Cross had detected the awakening of the demon and thus dispatched some of their troops. As for Count Hræsvelgr’s troops, they were the second unit dispatched after the annihilation of the first unit that was dispatched first, as Jude had predicted.

“We entered Frost Anvil to obtain the Sunflower and were attacked by the Devil’s Hand. But we were able to get the demon’s real name and the restriction technique from them. These were the things they used to control the demon.”

It was Jude’s smooth response to Joan’s question on how he knew the real name and the restriction technique. He did not forget Count Hræsvelgr’s knight either.

“I apologize that we’ve caused a lot of trouble to Count Hræsvelgr. We obtained the Sunflower and my illness has improved, so we’ll be going to Count Hræsvelgr ourselves to talk about what had happened and ask for his forgiveness.”

Phil Reiner just nodded his head at Jude’s words that he said effortlessly again.

Because he had nothing else to say to Jude.

‘After all, they were not the knights who were looking for me and Cordelia.’

From Phil’s standpoint, Jude and Cordelia were their benefactors who suddenly popped out and saved them. He was just grateful and had no such dissatisfaction towards them.

So he was just thinking of finishing things up and going back to Thunderdoom, as he really didn’t have any idea on what to do with Jude.

But Joan seemed to have different thoughts.

“Mr. Bayer, would you like to come with us?”

It was an invitation to the Guardians of the Holy Cross.

In the original story, it was an event that occurred after being involved with the Guardians of the Holy Cross several times, but Jude shook his head for the time being.

‘Going to the Guardians of the Holy Cross is good, but we have to do something about the Northern Barbarians event first.’

They also had to save Lena.

“I think we should visit Count Hræsvelgr first. I would be handing over the restriction technique that we got, so I’d like to postpone our visit to the Guardians of the Holy Cross for now.”

“…I see. Our side will contact you again then.”

Joan said with a look of regret, and with that, their talks were over.

“Then I will go back to take care of my fiancée, Lady Cordelia. You said that the departure is on the morning the day after tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. Although you’ve already told us some things…we still need to do some investigation ourselves.”

“I understand. Then I’ll be going back. Have a good night.”

After finishing his words with a smile, Jude left Phil’s tent.

‘Hmm…the morning on the day after tomorrow.’

It wasn’t bad. Rather, it was even a perfect time.

Jude nodded alone as he looked inside the tent.

There was a new tent added to the several existing large tents set up here.

‘But I’m glad.’

Because none of the soldiers were dead.

Although there were some victims from the Guardians of the Holy Cross, it was good to say that they did quite nicely in fighting against the enemy.

Of course, listening to their story, the sacrifices were already significant.

Particularly in the case of the Guardians of the Holy Cross, six out of nine died, and only three survived, as many people died while trying to seal the movement of Sisioth.

However, it could be said that they were still fortunate.

When Sisioth went on a rampage in the original story, dozens of people from the Guardians of the Holy Cross and nearly a hundred soldiers died.

“Huuu.”

But counting people by number also made him feel bitter.

Jude thought of the old days for a while, sighing before he headed to the tent where Cordelia was waiting.

“Is that you, Daddy?”

As soon as he entered the tent, he heard Cordelia’s cute voice.

She was lying down on a camp bed, with a bandage around her eyes.

Jude reflexively looked around, before saying in a small voice.

“Hey, hey, what are you going to do if it’s not me?”

“What am I going to do…you’ll be rumored to be a pervert who makes his fiancée call him ‘Daddy.’”

“Uh…wouldn’t that be bad for both of our reputations?”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I knew that it was you.”

“How?”

“Umm…just by feeling?”

“That’s quite consoling.”

As Jude spoke with a sour face, Cordelia burst into a giggle.

“Anyway, did you have a good conversation?”

“Yes, I did well. Rather, are you all right?”

“I’m all right. I’ll be all right. The Guardians of the Holy Cross also took a look at me earlier, and they said it’s just a little strain.”

The White Snake’s Evil Eye.

It was Cordelia’s newly acquired power in Frost Anvil.

Even though it was a low-ranking demon, it was powerful enough to overpower the demon who was at its peak and running wild.

‘But still…’

Later on, if Cordelia’s mana becomes stronger, she could use it without difficulty, but for now, it was too much for her.

Moreover, it was a skill that causes strain not only to her eyes but in other parts of her body too, so he couldn’t help but get worried.

“Don’t overuse it.”

“Oh my goodness, are you worried about me?”

“Yes, I’m worried.”

As Jude’s voice became serious, Cordelia’s lips cringed for a moment before she snorted.

“Hmph, the sun will rise in the west tomorrow.”

“Hey, isn’t your face red now?”

“No, it’s not red at all.”

While saying that, Cordelia lightly touched her cheeks.

Jude smiled a little again before he approached Cordelia’s side. Then Cordelia, who felt his presence, suddenly sat up and fumbled in the air as she said.

“Um, Jude.”

“Yes?”

“Come over here and hold my hand.”

“Hand?”

“Yes, my hand.”

Jude wondered on what was going on all of a sudden.

However, Cordelia’s expression was quite serious, so Jude approached without complaint and grasped Cordelia’s hand.

“I’m holding it.”

“Yes, I caught it, you bastard.”

Cordelia suddenly raised her voice, pulled Jude’s hand, and she began randomly hitting Jude with her empty left hand.

“Hey! Hey! It hurts! It hurts!”

“It hurts when I hit you? Hey, did you think I wouldn’t know? You’re the one who got the last hit, right? Right?”

“N-no!”

“No sh*t!”

Even though she couldn’t see, her combat sense remained, so Cordelia hit him exactly where it hurts.

“H-how?”

“Because the feeling was vague.”

“Feeling?”

“Yes, there’s a unique feeling when I get the last hit, but it wasn’t there.”

At Cordelia’s words, Jude’s face became blank.

Feeling.

He couldn’t believe she noticed it just because she didn’t have that unique feeling she usually got when she dealt the last hit.

“Cordelia, you…”

“What about me?”

“Are you an animal? Are you not a human?”

“Woof! Woof!”

Cordelia barked like a dog and hit Jude more, and Jude was convinced. He didn’t know if there was anything else different, but he was sure that Cordelia’s feeling (instinct) was on the level of an animal.

“Haa, moving on. There is one more thing I wanted to say.”

Cordelia said, having been tired of hitting him for some time, so she lightly stretched her shoulders and let go of Jude’s hand.

Jude quickly removed his hand in reflex before he asked.

“What is it?”

“Don’t do that from now on. And don’t even think about giving up the last hit.”

“Cordelia?”

“Because it’s a real fight at stake. Defeating the enemy is definitely more important than anything else. Do you understand?”

“…okay, I understand.”

Jude nodded at her unthinkable maturity, and Cordelia laughed again.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean that I will give up aiming for the last hit. I will gain it with my own hands.”

The way she grinned and clenched her fist was very charming.

As Jude unknowingly stared at her blankly, Cordelia pretended to notice something with her unique feeling again.

“Why? Did you think that you fell in love again?”

“No, I never fell in love in the first place though?”

“Yes, Daddy. If you insist.”

Cordelia laughed as she lied down before continuing her words.

“What happened to your talks anyway?”

“They said we would be leaving in the morning the day after tomorrow.”

“Then we’ll have to run away tomorrow night at the latest?”

“That’s correct.”

They couldn’t go back to Count Hræsvelgr now, even though he had sweet-talked in front of Phil.

‘The great invasion of the Northern barbarians…’

There were still a couple of months left until the start of Jude’s main scenario, but it would be too late to wait until then.

Jude and Cordelia were going to twist Jude’s main scenario, ‘The Northern Barbarians’ Great Invasion,’ from its very roots.

‘We can do it.’

At this point, intervention was still possible.

The development of the main scenario was as follows.

A land of barbarians existed across the border guarded by the Jackdaws.

The barbarians who lived there weren’t actually one.

They were divided into dozens of large and small tribes, among which there was a tribe called Angry Bull.

A tribe that is neither weak nor strong, and whose power is just in the middle.

On a blizzard day, a prophet covered in rags visited the Angry Bull tribe and said.

“A great king will come from the Angry Bull. He who will be king, receive the power of the great one and sweep the world.”

The chieftain of the Angry Bull tribe accepted the words of the prophet with a mysterious power as correct and prepared the requested ritual to receive the power of the great one.

“It was a story where the Angry Bull tribe that had grown so strong, unified the barbarians under one leadership and moved southwards, right?”

“Yes, the prophet was a demonic follower, and starting from the Angry Bull tribe, all of the northern barbarians were corrupted by the power of the demon…it was such a story.”

Even in the whole Legend of Heroes 2, it was a very important event.

Not only did the invasion brought down the northern borders of the Sälen Kingdom and killed countless people, but it also sprawled demonic followers in every corner of the world.

“The Devil’s Eye.”

They were the group of demon followers who were behind the prophet.

If the Devil’s Hand served Asmodeus, the great monarch of lust, the Devil’s Eye served Belial, the great monarch of corruption.

“I’ve been thinking about it in the past, but don’t you think the names of their organizations are too roughly named?”

“You’re not the only one who feels that way.”

Because it wasn’t just the hands and eyes of the devil.

Among the groups of demon followers that will appear in the future, there was also the Devil’s Mouth and the Devil’s Horns.

“Regardless, the best way is to prevent the invasion itself. In other words…”

“We prevent the unification of the barbarians itself?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The barbarians had to be unified first before they could invade.

And the way to prevent the barbarian invasion was simple.

“We need to create an opposing force that can compete against the Angry Bull tribe.”

“It’s quite simple.”

“Well, if you start from zero, attempting it would honestly be difficult, but you also about know that, right? The fact about the unfortunate hero.”

“Red Wind’s father.”

Red Wind was the only barbarian among the playable characters.

Red Storm, her father and the chieftain of the Great Storm tribe, was an outstanding hero who was not corrupted and resisted the demon’s temptation to the very end.

In the original story, he faced a tragic death when he was still alive.

So they needed to keep him alive.

They would make him stand tall as the hero of the barbarians who would confront the corrupted barbarians.

“If we succeed, we will be able to drastically change the flow of the original story.”

“That’s exciting.”

Just imagining it was quite satisfying.

Moreover, they also had a very desperate reason this time.

‘Because if it followed the original story, my father and her father will die in the great invasion too.’

Count Bayer and Count Chase.

Jude recalled the two people for a while, especially Count Chase’s face, and he clenched his fist.

“We must save them.”

“Yes, we have to save them. We will be able to save them.”

When Cordelia nodded with a bright face, Jude suddenly grasped Cordelia’s hand again.

“In order to do that, there is something that is absolutely necessary.”

“Wh-what is it? Is it something that we can do by holding hands?”

“No, it’s not that.”

Jude withdrew his hand and brought his face closer instead as he said.

“To save Red Storm, we must cross the border and head to the land of the barbarians.”

“I know, in order to do that, we must meet Red Wind who had secretly went south in search of a drug to cure Red Storm’s illness.”

Cordelia answered as she slightly moved her head away from Jude, while Jude immediately continued.

“Yes, so in order to do that, we have to get out of here first.”

At this point, Cordelia had no choice but to notice it.

What Jude was trying to say to her.

Or rather, what Jude was claiming to be necessary now.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait.”

“Yes, wait.”

“You need a letter now, don’t you?”

“We can’t just vanish into thin air, right? We have to leave a story about being healthy after eating the Sunflower.”

“Okay, good. Up to there, I can understand. But this time, I don’t necessarily have to be the one to leave it, right?”

“Well, that…”

“Besides, I’ve already left a record, right?”

“Ahem, ahem, it’s just as you say.”

As Cordelia had said, it was not necessary for her to leave a letter.

“Actually, your reputation is almost established and irreversible already.”

“Hmm? What?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

With a shameless smile, Jude said to Cordelia who tilted her head.

“Well then, shall I write it this time?”

“Yes, you write it. You must write it. Okay?”

“Well…then. I’ll write it this time.”

“Hehe, how exciting.”

He should try it too.

Cordelia smiled so brightly, and Jude shrugged with a poker face.

And the day after tomorrow.

As planned, the two had escaped from Count Hræsvelgr’s camp and stopped for a moment on a snowfield devoid of other humans.

“Good, good. In a little while, people will find the letter, right?”

“Yes, they will.”

It was a letter from Jude.

The contents were as follows.

“Dear Lord Lucas,

I will further continue my honeymoon trip with Lady Cordelia, whom I dearly love more than my life. Please do not worry too much, because I’ve gotten healthier from eating the Sunflower.

We are also very sorry to have troubled Count Hræsvelgr because of our reckless behavior.

P.S. I am really happy now.”

As Jude recited the contents of the letter with a wretched face, Cordelia excitedly jumped from her spot.

“So good, it’s so much good.”

“Is it so much good?”

“It’s so much good!”

“Well, I didn’t know that you love me so much…”

“What is this crazy bastard saying?”

T/N: Pun again. Jo-ta (좋다) can both mean ‘good/nice’ and ‘in love with/fond of.’

“Well, moving on. If the Madam is satisfied, this Dolswe is simply happy. There is a long way to go, so let us hurry up.”

Jude who had spoken so far in a splendid acting like that in a play, began to take the lead afterwards.

And Cordelia thought as she looked at the back of such a Jude.

“Something isn’t right.”

It was what Cordelia herself had expected.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I’m coming!”

Cordelia yelled at Jude who was already far ahead, as she pouted her lips before hurriedly stepping forward.