Chapter 112: Old Man, You're About to Get a Beating
Whooooo!
The train slowly began to move, the iron behemoth trembling as it rolled across the endless tracks.
The passengers in the carriage had long since settled into their seats—Viktor was no exception.
He sat in the train's First-Class Carriage, leisurely pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Wisps of steam rose gently from the cup, lending the entire First-Class Carriage an air of quiet, refined elegance.
Viktor looked out the window.
On either side of the track, scenery streaked past in a blur.
Outside, towns had already shot by like a gust of wind.
Vast dense forest, lush and upright vegetation—like a series of beautiful, flowing paintings in motion.
He looked at the sunlight outside and found it sowhat blinding.
Kavra sat across from Viktor.
From the mont she boarded, her gaze had been fixed on the window.
Watching the scenes flow by, Kavra said in a quiet, asured tone:
"Because of my profession, I travel frequently—so I often ride the Magic Train."
"The scenery outside always gives a brief mont of peace."
Viktor turned and looked at Kavra across from him.
Setting aside her personality, she was undeniably a striking beauty.
That head of purple hair carried the noble elegance of violets.
Without Gwen beside her, Viktor could sense the steadiness and maturity of this elder sister.
To be candid, Viktor had no particular desire to be alone with this Demon Hunter of a sister-in-law.
He knew Gwen—but he did not know Kavra.
After all, characters who had already died in the original Storyline were not worth Viktor's effort to dig into.
So he had kept his mouth shut the whole ti.
Too many words invite too many mistakes.
In the brief silence, it was Kavra who spoke first:
"Let ask you sothing."
She looked out the window, her tone as casual as if she were bringing up a passing thought.
"If we get back and my father decides he wants to dissolve the Marriage Engagent between you and Gwen—what would you do?"
"He has no grounds to."
Viktor said it plainly.
If Angus Delin was a pragmatist through and through, then the man would only move to lock the Marriage Engagent in place even more firmly—perhaps even push for Viktor and Gwen to marry imdiately.
Because the Viktor of today was nothing like the Viktor of before.
He was now like an eagle that had fully spread its wings.
From a once-celebrated Magic prodigy of the Empire who had gradually faded into obscurity, to a na now proclaid across the entire Royal Capital and the Empire at large—all within the space of a month or 2.
Countless nobles had their eyes fixed on the position at Viktor's side.
And the reason Viktor had remained secure up until now was owed almost entirely to the layer of protection provided by that Marriage Engagent with Gwen.
The mont news of the Engagent's dissolution spread, it would not even take a second day before a swarm of people were ready to send their daughters to his side.
Such was the nature of those filthy nobles.
They would not care that they had once looked down on Viktor—they only knew that Viktor was a hen that laid golden eggs.
Once connected to him, they might not soar to the heights of phoenixes, but the benefits that were rightfully theirs would never be scarce.
That said, Viktor did not know much about Angus as a person.
Though Angus was also a Boss unit in his own right, and the original Viktor had taken a beating from him once.
When it ca to Angus, what Viktor rembered most clearly was...
Gwen, during her period of absolute justice, turning against her own blood.
Because Angus's actions had tainted the justice that should have defined him as a Knight—and so that righteous Valkyrie had killed her own father with her own hands.
This segnt of the Storyline had been criticized by so Players, who felt Gwen had no sense of family.
But Players who looked closely at the context of the ti would understand.
At that point, the Delin Family had nearly seized control of the Empire's entire north. Arrogant and unchecked, they had even refused to heed the commands of the newly crowned Empress.
They had banded together, plotting rebellion—to overthrow Auréliane's rule.
But by that ti, Viktor had already died. The new Empress no longer needed to devote her full attention to Viktor.
Her Mage army needed only to regroup, and it would be capable of crushing the north again and again without rcy.
To counter this, Angus Delin had even allied with the northern frontier Savage Beasts, all in hopes of having a fighting chance against Auréliane.
In the end, that alliance never ca to be.
Gwen had returned ahead of schedule and killed Angus Delin.
She had carried her own father's head back to the Royal Capital, preserving the Delin Family na in doing so.
Viktor ca back to himself.
In the ga, Angus Delin was likewise a Villain character—a target for Players to bring down.
And it was during that arc that this father-in-law of his had been beaten by him again and again.
"Is that so?"
Kavra let out a small smile—but it held none of her usual liveliness.
"His daughters aren't just Gwen alone, you know."
As she said it, a trace of sothing unfamiliar passed through her eyes.
The blue of the world outside was reflected in their depths, and the surging waves seed to stir sothing unsettled in her heart as well.
Beneath those violet eyes, a faint lancholy had crept in—she couldn't say exactly when.
Viktor took a small sip of his coffee and turned back to the window.
Outside, surging waves rushed toward him at speed. But that distant sea held no trace of his mood—restless on its own, the horizon rising and falling without end, dividing sky from earth.
The blazing sun fell across the water's surface, casting a soft and lingering glow.
Kavra's every breath seed to carry a faint undercurrent of sorrow—for reasons unknown, it lingered and would not lift.
***
Ti passed in a rush, and the day slipped by in an instant.
With neither of them speaking, the entire carriage seed to grow quieter still.
Whoooo!
The train let out a long blast, and the rhythmic clatter-clatter of wheels gradually reached people's ears.
They were pulling into the station.
Viktor rose to his feet. Kavra was a step ahead of him, already making her way toward the carriage door.
The mont it opened, a fierce gust of cold air swept through the entire carriage.
Kavra shuddered as the wind hit her, and quickly pulled her fur coat tighter around herself.
She glanced over at Viktor, who hadn't so much as flinched, and raised an eyebrow.
Beyond the carriage door, the landscape was barren and desolate. Only fine, downy snowflakes drifted endlessly across the open, lonely station.
Across the thin layer of accumulated snow, not a single living plant was visible.
A column of Knights in heavy cotton Cloaks stood at the platform in 2 rows. The mont they spotted Kavra stepping out, they bowed as one.
"Miss Kavra, the Master sent us to receive you."
As a Grand Knight himself, Angus did not like his subordinates addressing him with overly reverent titles.
He had trained more students than could be counted, and those students had in turn beco the Delin Family's Knights.
So he preferred these Family Knights to call him Teacher.
Kavra stepped out of the carriage, but she did not move.
The Knights felt sothing strange about the mont—and then noticed that behind their Young Mistress, a tall, unusual figure had descended alongside her.
The man wore a Coat, which looked rather thin for the cold of the north.
A one-eyed Crow was perched on his shoulder—for reasons no one could quite na, it gave off an unsettling, almost sinister impression.
The snow and wind lashed at the man's face, but the instant it seed to make contact, it dissolved into faint wisps of steam and scattered into the air.
Viktor looked at the 2 rows of Knights with an ice-cold expression, and an incomparable sense of dread imdiately spread across the wide platform.
It was as if a terrible beast had appeared on this frozen, snowswept plain.
In that mont, a crushing pressure descended over the Knights' heads, and their hearts all began to pound considerably faster without their willing it.
The lead Knight even went on guard, placing his right hand on the hilt of his sword at his hip.
Why—why did this man give off such a terrifying, oppressive presence?
Just who was he?
Kavra explained for the Knights with a smile:
"This is Viktor—the Fiancé of Miss Gwen, the one all of you admire so much."
This... this...
Many of them blinked, a sense of absurdity rising in their chests.
The Empire's north was Gwen's holand.
The Knights all knew just how formidable this Gwen was—the one who served as Grand Knight Commander in the Royal Capital.
And what was more, she was a woman.
This independent, powerful female Knight had naturally earned the admiration of countless Knights.
And yet among them, quite a few were hearing for the first ti that Miss Gwen had a Fiancé.
A good portion of their hearts sank on the spot.
The man in front of them looked like soone deeply unwise to provoke—but no one dared say anything at a mont like this.
So of them, however, heard Viktor's na and felt a flicker of recognition.
"Viktor?"
"Holy—that's the youngest 4th-Tier Mage in the Royal Capital?"
"Shh, keep it down! I heard this guy holds grudges like no other—everyone who's crossed him ended up thrown in the sea to feed the fish!"
The Knights grew even more tense, holding their breath and swallowing in unison.
Watching their expressions, Kavra nudged Viktor with her elbow and said in a cheerful undertone:
"Well, well—you've got quite the reputation. Even our Knights know who you are."
Viktor's expression remained as cold and unmoved as ice. He didn't even spare Kavra a glance.
He simply stepped forward, his gaze sweeping briefly over the lead Knight.
Caught in the crushing weight of that stare, the lead Knight couldn't help but shudder.
Even the bitter cold of the extre north seed to pale in comparison to the chill emanating from this man before him.
His hand dropped from the hilt of his sword. He balled it into a fist, as if trying to steel himself.
Viktor spoke, cold and flat:
"Lead the way."
"T—to where?"
The mont the words left his mouth, a burst of white mist erupted—turning the dry, frigid air around them into fuel in an instant.
Sparks of fire scattered and popped, encircling Viktor on all sides.
The snow beneath his feet lted entirely, and the white snow nearby seed to catch the light of the flas, bathing the surroundings in a warm amber glow.
The Knights felt a wave of scorching heat pass across their faces and spread through their entire bodies.
Viktor kept his gaze fixed on the lead Knight.
"To wherever it is you're supposed to take ."
"Don't make say it again."
"Yes! Yes, sir!"
The poor Knight would never understand what he had done to anger this Mage lord. He could only wave his arms frantically, calling out to the Knights to reform their ranks.
The Knights scattered with visible unease, mounting their horses—even their long-drilled formation, usually so precise, seed sowhat rattled.
Viktor walked up to a white stallion and swung himself into the saddle.
He looked back at Kavra for a mont, then spoke in his quiet, unhurried way:
"Don't worry."
"As for the matter of the Marriage Engagent—"
"I'll have a proper talk with this uncle of mine."
User Comments
0 comments from readers