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Chapter 74
She quickly bounced toward , grabbed my cheeks with both hands, and examined my face from side to side.
"Are you really the young master?"
"Then who else would I be?"
"But... I heard you got caught up in a teleportation spell..."
"Yeah, I did. Ended up in the Kraken’s nest."
At those words, her eyes widened dramatically.
"The Kraken’s nest?! You actually went to that thrilling place?!"
"Are you crazy? No, wait—I misspoke."
"Hehe, it’s fine. It’s not like I don’t know you’re the kind of person who would bluntly ask soone if they’ve lost their mind."
"Uh, well…"
She really knew how to leave speechless.
But honestly, wasn't it because her behavior was outright insane?
I wanted to shout that at her, but I held back.
"Let go, Luna."
I gritted my teeth as Luna suddenly restrained from behind.
"Young lady, please—just one hit? Just one?"
"Of course not! Now, let’s go! Grandfather is waiting for you."
She effortlessly changed the subject and ran off energetically.
I shook my head and followed her.
* * *
Right after I disappeared, the Kraken attacked the village.
Its erratic behavior was likely due to its unease about not being able to control all living beings with its mind.
Moreover, the cultists had tried to interfere with the Kraken’s mind, which must have increased its anxiety even further.
Fortunately, thanks to the presence of the Sword Saint, Osberg Mielephon, the Kraken didn’t rampage too much before retreating.
Osberg Mielephon, who was overseeing post-battle operations in a temporary command tent, widened his eyes in surprise when he saw Luna and approach.
He hurried over.
"You two! Are you alright?"
"Yes. Luckily, we weren’t teleported too far away and managed to escape quickly."
"Phew… That’s a relief. If sothing had happened to you, I wouldn’t have been able to face certain people."
"I heard the Kraken attacked?"
"Yes. It retreated fairly quickly, but the damage was greater than expected."
He sighed heavily.
An unprepared battle inevitably leads to casualties.
Still, the fact that there were no fatalities—only injuries—was likely due to Osberg’s extraordinary skill.
"Sir, with the Kraken rampaging beyond expectations, we’ve suffered significant material losses. There are also many injured."
Osberg’s expression darkened.
A cold-faced man in armor stepped forward.
A mber of the Mielephon family—likely Isna’s uncle.
"To be blunt, the chances of a successful subjugation have beco too low."
"What do you propose?"
"We should retreat for now, regroup, and request additional support from the main family."
"If we do that, the Kraken will have already laid its eggs. Are you suggesting we let the patriarch die?"
"Analyzing the situation objectively, if we continue like this, not only will the subjugation fail, but the task force could suffer irrecoverable losses."
The man spoke unwaveringly, and Osberg sighed deeply.
They had managed to stop the cultists, but the damage they had done was severely affecting the subjugation effort.
"This is my burden to bear… I should have eradicated them all in the past…"
"Grandfather, this isn’t your fault, is it? And, Uncle, isn’t it possible that the Kraken has weakened as well?"
"Regrettably, the Kraken is not such a fragile creature, Isna."
From the look of things, the resources prepared for the Kraken’s subjugation had been severely damaged.
"More importantly, its ntal attack capabilities have significantly recovered. If we engage in battle, we may end up losing our sense of ally and enemy altogether."
"How many immunity artifacts do we have left?"
"We used most of them to evacuate civilians who couldn’t escape in ti."
Osberg let out a suppressed groan.
Then, as if coming to a decision, he spoke.
"Withdraw, leaving only the minimum necessary personnel."
"Grandfather!"
"Listen to , Isna."
"Are you just going to abandon Mother?!"
She shouted in anger, and he shook his head.
"The Kraken will be subjugated. But I will do it alone."
It seed no one could overturn his firm decision.
The knights and retainers around him wore grim expressions.
Even Isna bit her lip in uncharacteristic silence.
That’s when I spoke up.
"Excuse , but I don’t think defeating the Kraken will be that difficult."
All eyes turned toward .
So were filled with disbelief, as if asking, Do you not see the situation?
What do you know?
Of course, as Isna’s fiancé, no one openly voiced such thoughts.
"Looks like the patriarch chose the wrong son-in-law."
Ah.
So, there was soone who had no filter.
It was none other than Isna’s uncle, the one who had suggested retreat.
Still, I could understand his point of view.
It was a miracle that there had been no deaths so far, but any further combat would be reckless.
"Well, from my perspective, the odds are quite good."
"Hah, is that so? Then you must have a reason. Let’s hear it. How do you plan to counter the Kraken’s ntal attacks?"
The most fundantal problem.
To defeat the Kraken, they needed a way to block its mind attacks.
"Even with the best immunity artifacts from the Magic Tower, the maximum battle duration is only 30 minutes. And right now, we don’t even have those. What do you plan to do…?"
"We’ll make them. Not just for 30 minutes. I’ll craft artifacts that last for days."
If things had co to this, I would simply make full use of the Mielephon family.
At my words, Isna’s uncle scoffed coldly.
"This conversation is going nowhere. Are you seriously saying you’ll make immunity artifacts? Do you have any idea how long the Magic Tower spent preparing enough artifacts for this mission? Months! And yet you…"
At that mont, soone entered the command tent.
"Young master, I’ve purchased everything you requested… but it seems I’ve co at a bad ti."
It was Misha, my head maid.
She fell silent upon seeing the tense atmosphere.
"You’re earlier than expected. Were you able to get everything?"
"Yes, young master. I secured the full quantity without any issues."
"Good. Then we just need to wait three days."
At my words, everyone's gaze shifted from Misha, the chief lady-in-waiting, back to .
"In three days, the Kraken will co charging in, eyes blazing red."
* * *
Three days.
The only reason they hadn't withdrawn was solely because of Osberg’s unilateral decision.
Given the current situation, where all the tactical supplies had been exhausted, staying any longer could lead to catastrophe.
Yet, he trusted Leon.
Isna’s uncle, Beren Mielephon, couldn't hide his impatience.
"What in the world is the elder thinking…?"
As the captain of the family's special subjugation force, he had set out to hunt the Kraken under the orders of Catsey.
The plan itself was ticulously prepared.
But the situation had gone terribly wrong.
No one had expected cultists to be involved.
Thanks to the Sword Saint’s aid, casualties had been minimized to an extre degree, but Beren had seen it.
He had seen Sword Saint Osberg push himself too hard to save the knights from the rampaging Kraken, sustaining injuries in the process.
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That was why he had urged a retreat, yet Leon Cascadia had thrown everything into disarray.
"What is he doing now?"
"He has locked himself in the workshop."
"It's already been three days!!!"
Beren couldn't suppress his anger.
"Damn it! The Kraken subjugation is not so child's play!"
He had seen many young n overreach themselves in the hopes of making a na for themselves.
Beren trusted Sword Saint Osberg’s judgnt.
That was why he refrained from making hasty judgnts about Leon Cascadia, whom Osberg believed in.
However.
Up until the promised third day, Leon’s actions had been utterly disappointing.
On the first day.
He spent the entire day staring at the sea cliffs with a robed healer.
On the second day, his subordinates reported that he had slept all day.
And on the third day.
All he did was silently swing his sword in an open clearing.
The fact that the Kraken had truly not attacked for three days was curious, but they couldn’t stay idle forever.
The longer they remained on guard without taking action, the more exhaustion would build up, and the damage to the fishing village would worsen.
It was strange enough that Leon wielded both a sword and magic, but fine, that was still within reason.
However, this was too much.
"Is he still swinging his sword?"
"Yes."
"Take to him."
"Ha… However, the elder instructed us not to disturb him…."
The knight, sweating nervously, flinched.
Beren’s gaze was cold enough to freeze a man on the spot.
"The Mielephon subjugation force is not here to babysit a fool who wastes ti with no plan. Lead to him, now."
Beren stord off to find Leon.
There, he found Leon silently swinging his sword in the air, a robed woman watching him, and Isna standing nearby.
"Uncle?"
"Leon Cascadia."
Beren's voice was ice-cold as he approached, drawing his sword without hesitation and pointing it at Leon’s throat.
Isna blinked at the sudden action, while Luna observed the situation with an unreadable expression.
The common factor?
None of the three seed particularly surprised.
"Knew this would happen."
"You’re the last person who should be saying that. Beren, please lower your sword for now."
"The elder gave you three days. And for three days, I have indulged your whims while leading the wounded knights of my house."
His voice was sharp and cutting.
"It's a miracle that the Kraken hasn’t moved. I’ll give you that. But what exactly are you doing?"
"Hmm."
"Do you think knights’ lives are sothing to be thrown away? Explain yourself—right now."
Leon glanced at Luna.
Should I strike?
When Luna raised her small fist slightly, Leon let out a sigh and shook his head.
"It's almost noon."
For three days, the Kraken had been silent.
But that was the limit.
"We'll begin the Kraken defense battle now."
"Are you joking?! We’ve wasted three days without even preparing to set sail! Do you think ships can be deployed instantly?!"
"Why would we set sail?"
The most difficult part of Kraken hunting.
It had to be fought at sea.
No matter how strong a warrior was, if the ship capsized, combat beca nearly impossible.
"W-what?"
"We’re going to drag that thing onto the shore. It's exhausted to the point where it can't tell the difference between friend and foe."
"That’s nonsense…!"
"You seem to be mistaken, so let clarify: no matter how weakened it is, it's still a Kraken. If we fight it at sea, we’re guaranteed to be annihilated."
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