Chapter 101 (2/2)

The worst development possible had just crossed Harold’s mind. No matter what, he had to stop Vincent from using that item.

As he thought of that, Harold knew that he had to step forward immediately, but his body did not move. That was because he had jumped backwards when he widened the distance between him and Vincent, and his center of gravity was pulling him behind in consequence.

Redirecting his center of gravity, crossing the distance between himself and Vincent, and then destroying the astral potion; all of that would only take Harold a few seconds. However, those few seconds felt hopelessly far away to him.

Because Harold knew that he did not have enough time.

【”Stop!!”]

The only thing Harold could do now was scream at Vincent. Although it was useless, he extended his right hand forward, but he was not close enough to grab anything.

Right now, all he could do was watch.

Vincent raised his face to look up above him, he opened his mouth to drink the astral potion, and then, the sound of the container breaking echoed within the cave.

◇

Itsuki was busy  tidying up the paperwork in his room. Once he worked enough to be able to take a pause, he breathed out while stretching his stiff back.

【”Haa… I guess I’ll take a little break.”]

【”Then, I’ll go make tea.”]

【”Thanks, please do.”]

Silvie, who had been sitting beside him, left the room to prepare some tea. Before coming here, Silvie was used to black tea only, but nowadays she had been actively making green tea.

The sight of her becoming accustomed to the Sumeragis’ culture so quickly made Itsuki’s heart spontaneously warm up.

【”Becoming married is so much better than I thought.”]

Suddenly muttered Itsuki. Although this statement was not very persuasive coming from him who had gotten married less than half a year ago, he still had the conviction that he and his wife would love each other all the same in the future…. or rather, that they would love each other even more.

Regardless of that, there was a certain thought that was still occupying his mind.

【”If only Erica and Harold could also just get together already…”]

They were both very obstinate people, especially Harold, who was perhaps the world’s most obstinate person. Although they could both be somewhat shaken by Itsuki’s methods, it was extremely difficult to make them compromise.

Be it in the past or now, Harold was always one to carry on through the path that he chose for himself. Perhaps this made it sound like he had a very firm will, but those who knew him well could not help but be worried knowing that Harold had picked a lonely road on which he would not rely on anyone.

【”Harold relied on my family only a single time… No, I guess it was twice?”]

The first time, he came to ask for support so that he could ambush the Sarian empire soldiers who had come to attack the Bertis forest due to Justus’ schemes. However, Harold’s actual request was a very simple one, all he asked them was to prepare a uniform of the Sarian empire for him, and apart from that one thing, the Sumeragis weren’t able to support him publicly.

As for the second time…. The Sumeragi family had yet to fulfill that request.

Itsuki took out a sealed envelope that was locked in his desk drawer. It was given to him by his father, and it contained a letter that Harold had written.

Although he had already read it so many times that he could recite it from memory? Itsuki took the letter out of the envelope and opened it.

Inside, Harold had written down a method to produce a medicine which worked against the miasma that had spread in the Sumeragi territory, he had also offered a ground-breaking industrial technique that he called LP farming, and he proposed to cancel the engagement that had been made by exploiting the family’s weakness.

Moreover, believing that the Stokes family would eventually decline, he wanted the Sumeragi family to take action in order to make it so that the lives of the people of the Stokes territory would not be affected at that time. Truthfully, Itsuki did no want the Stokes family to decline, but back when Harold was eight years old, he believed that that future was already set in stone. And that had likely not changed now.

【”…What does the world look like from Harold’s perspective?”]

He had the power to understand a situation, to think ahead of it, and to then make use of that information to get things done and pave the way for the future he wanted. (There is no matching him on these points) Thought Itsuki.

Moreover, it was no exaggeration to say that, when he held a sword, he was the strongest fighter on the whole continent.

Heart, technique, physique, strength, ingenuity and resourcefulness. Itsuki’s friend possessed all of these qualities, with each of them being at a very high level. He was a remarkable man, and at this point, it would not be strange if he left his name in history.

【”He’s only made very few requests of me so far, but if anything ever happens, I will lend him my power no matter what-…”]

At that moment, Itsuki suddenly cut off his own words. But that was not because his determination had wavered.

However, as he recalled the contents of the letter, he felt like something was amiss. Would Harold really make an easy to understand and straightforward request such as asking to save the people of his territory?

Itsuki did not notice back when he received the letter, but now, he knew the man called Harold Stokes well, and he could say with confidence that Harold would not make that simple of a request.

And, assuming that Stokes family was going to decline, then the territory would likely stay unchanged and simply be assigned to other aristocrats. Even without the Sumeragi family’s involvement, it was unlikely that the lives of the territory’s people would be significantly worsened, rather, it was possible that their conditions would actually improve upon being released from the clutches of the Stokes family.

(He said he wanted the Sumeragi family to manage the territory once it comes to that… If that’s the case, then it seems to me like cancelling the engagement was a pretty bad move on his part, unless he isn’t interested in being personally involved at all with the territory after the decline of the Stokes family… But if that’s the case, does that mean that he doesn’t want us to just manage it and that he actually thinks it’s necessary for the next feudal lord of the Stokes territory to be of the Sumeragi family?)

Itsuki’s thoughts kept circulating hectically in his mind as he tried to read through the true meaning of the words Harold had written. However, all of the answers that he came up with did no really fit.

【”What’s the matter?”]

Seeing Itsuki lost in his thoughts, Sylvie, who had returned after making some tea, called out to him.

Itsuki received the cup of tea after thanking her, and then, at the risk of changing the mood, he unfolded Harold’s letter on his desk so that Silvie could see it, too.

【”Nothing, I was just rereading this letter that I received from Harold in the past, and there is something that feels a little out of place in what he wrote.”]

【”Out of place?”]

【”Yeah, look….”]

Silvie looked over the letter as Itsuki urged her to do so. But her thoughts on it could be expressed in a single sentence.

【”…Sorry, I don’t understand what’s strange about it.”]

Itsuki expected as much. But this did not mean that Sylvie’s judgement was particularly bad, even he had barely managed to notice that something was a little out of place, and that was because he knew of Harold’s tendency to twist words and meanings.

It was absurd to expect Sylvie to notice this given that she had hardly ever come in contact with Harold.

【”Don’t worry about it. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding things.”]

【”But, Itsuki, you’re anxious… aren’t you?”]

【”Haha… I can’t hide anything from you, Sylvie.”]

【”I can tell from the look in your eyes. You’re clearly confident that there is something out of place there.”]

Indeed. Itsuki felt like there had to be more to this letter.

At the same time, he had a presentiment that made him feel indescribably impatient. It was a baseless uneasiness, but he felt like if he failed to grasp Harold’s meaning as soon as he could, it would be too late to intervene.

【”But is what is said on the letter true? Is sir Harold’s family really going to fall….?”]

【”Yes, it seems like Harold calculated that this was going to happen when he wrote the letter eight years ago.”]

Harold’s calculations were so precise that they sometimes made Itsuki wonder if he could see the future. Since he said the territory was going to fall, then that meant it would fall, or something along the same lines at least….

【”Wait, ‘fall’…? That’s right, normally, that’s what you’d… Why did Harold specifically use the word ‘decline’….?”]

The word that Sylvie employed was “fall”. This word was used to describe something that used to be flourishing only to then decay and eventually perish. Its implication was almost the same as that of the word “decline”.

However, the word fall was much more common. That was likely why Sylvie had spontaneously used it.

Harold was naturally aware of that. And yet, he still went out of his way to use the word “decline” instead, why was that?

Fall and decline. Although both words had almost the same meaning, there was one definite difference between them.

One implied that something had already fallen to ruin, the other implied that it was in the process of falling to ruin. Although it was only a slight difference, there was a difference between saying that the family was declining and saying that it had completed its decline.

And normally, in the way it was placed in this letter, the use of the word fall would have been more adequate.

However, if the word decline was actually used with its correct meaning, then didn’t that mean that Harold wanted the Sumeragi family to take action during the decline of the Stokes family and not after their fall?

【”Still, how should we go about that? If this is about supporting them economically, then we could do so to some extent by using the LP farming method…..”]

That was Harold’s request. He wanted something that he was going to need in a future that he had seen coming eight years ahead of time.

As he lost himself in his thoughts again, the gears in Itsuki’s mind started turning.

【”The future he predicted, or rather, the present…. was it a crisis in the Stokes family?…. No, maybe it was the fact that he was going to be under the threat of an enemy at this point in time… Could it be that he saw all this coming back then?”]

Then, Itsuki finally reached an answer. It was absurd, but when he thought about it, it wasn’t really impossible.

Saying that Harold had predicted the present eight years ago would put the word ‘abnormality’ hard at work, but as far as Itsuki was concerned, that word and Harold had been going hand in hand for a long time. And he could absolutely believe that Harold had played with words in the letter on purpose eight years ago so that nobody would understand its meaning until the right moment. The reason Itsuki could think that way was that he happened to have known Harold for years, and, for better or for worse,  Harold was a walking and talking mass of abnormality.

Or rather, Harold might have built his relationship with Itsuki specifically for the purpose of making him think that way at this precise moment.

Still, that was fine with Itsuki, he was willing to do what Harold needed him to do. Because, no matter what kind of ulterior motives Harold had, he was Itsuki’s irreplaceable friend. Maybe Itsuki was overthinking things and would end up looking stupid later on, but that was still a thousand times better than not doing anything and to then regret in the future.

【”Is something wrong, Itsuki?”]

【”Sylvie, there is a little something that I have to do.”]

【”…I see. It’s very important to you, isn’t it?”]

【”Yes, that’s right. But if I fail, it might bring some trouble to both you and your family.”]

【”If it ever comes to that, I won’t mind. I am your wife, and we’ve sworn to walk together, no matter what lies ahead.”]

As she said that, a soft smile appeared on Sylvie’s face. Seeing her like that, Itsuki wanted to tell her a thousand words, but he kept them to himself and only said one thing.

【”…Thank you.”]

“It’s my pleasure.” Said Sylvie with a nod. They did not need to say anything else, this short exchange was enough for both of them to understand each other perfectly well.

Translator’s note: I think you might be overestimating Harold just a little bit Itsuki… Also, this one was pretty hard to translate ’cause of the whole decline/fall thing, so I did my best to get the meaning through, do tell me if anything is not clear, I’ll try to fix that.

Also, here is the annoying part but hey, I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t need it, trust me >< Please do consider supporting me on my Patreon at  I’ll work on death flags chapters when they come out, but I’m also working on Tsuyokute new saga and Almadianos Eiyuuden. I also, I have a discord server, so if you want to ask anything I can answer you there (there is a also a chat on the side of the website but I don’t really use it).

Anyway, I hope you’ll have a great day/evening/night, and I’ll see you in… who knows at this point? ><