Chapter 149: Resting Place of Rusted Swords (5) (1/2)

Huu. Huuuk…

A boy gasped for breath. The lack of air made him dizzy and caused his chin to drop. Kneeling down, the boy drooled as is.

He was Yu Jitae’s second [Shadow of an Archduke (SS)].

“How pathetic… are you that tired already?”

Clone 1 was displeased with Clone 2.

The boy (Clone 2) was weak and couldn’t use all the authorities of his lord that were laying dormant inside his body. He could barely use 1% of it.

At least that was understandable. He was just born and the ingredient used for his creation was a low quality item for a Level 5 artifact.

His lord had 2 spare Level 5 artifacts previously, and because herself (Clone 1) had eaten the better one of the two, it was inevitable for the second to be born like this.

“I’m not that tired…”

He was all talk.

“Are you even trying?”

“I am. Why are you asking that every time…”

His loyalty was decent, but that was something unconditionally held by a [Shadow of an Archduke (SS)] regardless of the clone’s individuality. Thus, in order to distinguish if the clone was outstanding or not, he had to be graded according to his ability and willpower.

Ability-wise? As mentioned above, he was close to trash to the point that it was hard to believe that he was a clone of their lord.

And the same was for his willpower.

“Stand up then.”

“Just one second…”

“Get up.”

“Let me take a breather okay?”

Clone 1 walked up with a serious look on her face and kicked the young boy on his chest.

They were in the junkyard of a fallen country without anyone nearby. It was a light kick but it resulted in a great jolt as if he had been bashed by a truck going full speed. With a thud, the boy flew all the way across and bounced several times before being buried in the pile of car scraps.

Dust covered the area.

With relaxed steps, Clone 1 approached the boy.

“I gave you enough time to breathe. Get up.”

“Haa, haa…”

Whilst staggering and stumbling, the boy barely raised his body. His body tilted forward heavily like he was about to vomit. The boy swayed several times before finally throwing up a mouthful of blood that stained the ground in red.

“If you’re having trouble with a simple training session, how will you work for the Great Plan? If you were our lord, would you even think about using you?”

“Haa…”

“Make your back straight. Before I break it.”

A brutal voice struck his eardrums and the boy finally stood up straight as his hand wiped the blood off his lips. One of his eyes was swollen and his ripped cheeks were bleeding.

“Use your authorities properly.”

“Ah, I will. I’m doing it right now…”

He grumbled and closed his eyes as the wounds started to close.

“I’ll say it one more time. You,”

“Have to be strong. Have to be loyal to the lord. The happiness of the dragons is the top priority and we have to protect it. I know. I remember everything already.”

“…”

The boy was about to wipe the blood with his fingers but had to stop. His thumb and index finger had disappeared and the rest of his fingers were folded into strange angles. They had been broken from something just then.

“Ahhkk…”

As the pain slowly caught up to his sight, the boy clenched his teeth and used his blessings.

It was a blessing related to ‘Body Recovery’ that his lord possessed. When the twisted fingers returned to normal, the boy gave yet another scream and when new fingers sprouted out, tears dropped from the eyes of the boy who couldn’t even breathe properly.

“Are you done.”

“…Yes.”

“Raise your weapon then.”

But the woman was heartless, and the boy raised his sword without talking back.

.

.

.

By the time they were done with the training, Clone 2 was in a mess, and Clone 1 applied medicine on the boy who was lying down. Because of several restrictions, her lord had been unable to learn an ability that healed others, so this was all Clone 1 could do.

“…”

Clone 2 lifted his arm and covered his eyes.

As a clone, they both had no personal feelings. But just like how she occasionally held doubts about her lord’s thoughts, Clone 2 appeared to have felt doubtful about her actions.

“Training is fine. It’s good, but does it have to be to this degree?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“No umm… that ‘why’ isn’t asking about why I’m needed when our lord is protecting the dragons already.”

“Then what.”

“Like, isn’t it fine to get stronger slowly?”

“We can’t do that.”

Clone 1 was clear-cut with her words.

“When, where, what and how. We can foresee but we can’t be certain. That is the case for any thinking mortal and our lord is not an exception.”

“…”

“That’s why you and I must be prepared at all times. We must be ready as soon as possible and that’s why this is also necessary.”

The boy remained silent.

“You are an existence our lord wished to create. That is the same as saying that your non-existence will affect the happiness of the dragons. So all the blood and tears you shed will add to the safety and joy of the dragons.”

“I won’t shed tears though.”

“Then let’s say blood and sweat.”

“So blood will be shed no matter what, I see.”

“What. Do you think this is cruel? That you have to shed blood because of someone else’s happiness? And the fact that you had to be the one?”

“No? You’re great, ahjumma, but you have this tendency to look down on me too much. I’m a Shadow of an Archduke myself.”

“You mean someone like you is still a small phoenix?”

“The same as ahjumma, I guess. So why would I think about things like that when that’s my reason of existence?”

Despite that, he couldn’t hide the melancholy behind his voice. Clone 1 inwardly heaved a sigh as she was suddenly made to look after a kid somehow.

But there were times when he was cute.

“We’ll start it again later. Rest for an hour.”

“30 minutes is more than enough.”

He acted big. But after saying that, the boy apparently thought it was too short and opened his mouth yet again.

“No wait, maybe 35 minutes…”

She scoffed.

Was her lord also this daring in his first iteration?

After having an insolent thought for a second, Clone 1 shook her head.

***

Bom quietly waited until Yu Jitae finished writing the record.

She would one day drink by herself even if they didn’t drink today, so he decided to teach her how to drink. If she felt happy from drinking, then alcohol might become a good friend for her as well.

“Here.”

“Yes.”

There was a seed that resembled the shape of a cup.

“Cheers~”

Tap- Yu Jitae and Bom bumped their seeds. As the strong crimson wine with 80% alcohol travelled down their throats, a flowery scent struck their noses like a bomb.

“…Cough.”

After drinking it in one go, she coughed. Her eyes turned into circles.

“This, it’s really hot…”

“Hot?”

“Yes. I can feel the alcohol moving down.”

She then carried her finger down from her neck, to her chest and her stomach.

Bom prepared some dungeon fruits that were similar to mango as a side dish. While having those, they emptied several shots in silence.

With a slight pout, Bom opened her mouth.

“I think I’m tipsy.”

“Is that so.”

“I turn around and the world moves slowly. This is what tipsy is, right?”

“It is.”

“But this is unfair.”

“Why.”

“Why am I the only one getting drunk.”

“What do you mean.”

“Ahjussi’s not drunk, right?”

“I am.”

The Regressor had already lowered his body’s metabolism rate to that of a human’s. That was in respect of how precious this alcohol was.

“Then why do you look so normal?”

“Because I’m heavyweight.”

“Can I feel your feelings for a bit?”

Dragons can synchronise their emotions and thoughts to the person they touch. She apparently thought he was lying. The Regressor could obviously hide it if he wanted to but still allowed her to do what she wanted to do.

Bom placed her index finger on the back of his hand.

“You’re right…”

Her pouty eyes turned into a strange curve.

It must be because he was drunk. Her finger, and the touch on the back of his hand felt more vivid than usual.