Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Warrior’s Blessing

When I returned to the castle, the soldiers shouted as soon as they saw me.

Strictly speaking, their cries were directed at Jaelidov, whom I was carrying on my back.

The soldiers dropped what they were doing and rushed toward me, their faces filled with deep concern.

“What in the world happened?”

“The Lord suddenly ran out—was it because of this?”

“Call the physician, now!”

The only heir of the Count’s family had returned battered and bloodied; the soldiers were thrown into complete confusion.

“We encountered a Demon Beast.”

That single sentence from me was enough to end the confusion. Silence spread through the hall.

The soldiers all nodded heavily, grim expressions on their faces.

“Understood. We’ll hear the details later. For now, we must tend to the young master’s condition first.”

As expected of soldiers stationed at the border, they regained their composure immediately after hearing just one sentence.

They carefully took Jaelidov from me and ran toward the physician’s quarters.

“You’ve done well. You said you encountered a Demon Beast?”

It was then that Kael approached me. The stiffness in his expression revealed the gravity of the situation.

“First of all, thank you for bringing the young master back safely. My master, Count Reinhardt Withers, will never forget this debt.”

For a man of his standing—a noble and the Count’s aide—it was not something easily done.

A noble bowing so readily… His demeanor was vastly different from the arrogance typical of his kind.

“Anyway, you said you met a Demon Beast. Did you fire the flare?”

Instead of answering, I showed him my flare gun. The signs of use were clear, and Kael’s face eased slightly with relief.

“That’s fortunate. Lord Reinhardt will handle the subjugation of the creature.”

“There’s something I’d like to ask about that.”

I spoke seriously, meeting his eyes.

“Is it possible… for a Demon Beast to transform into a human?”

“……! How do you know about that?!”

Kael’s voice trembled with shock. He glanced around before asking again, his tone more cautious.

“What exactly happened?”

“There weren’t just one, but two Demon Beasts. And I saw the one that won devour the other.”

Kael sighed heavily. His expression grew complicated, as if he already knew something. Folding his arms, he murmured under his breath before saying,

“Still, it should be fine.”

I looked at him. His eyes—firm and unwavering—were filled with absolute trust in Reinhardt.

Now that I knew Reinhardt was a knight, that kind of faith wasn’t without reason.

“Kael, inform the people. Tell them the Demon Beasts threatening the territory have been eradicated. They can rest easy now.”

Covered in dirt from head to toe, Count Reinhardt appeared, his expression weary but resolute.

“It was a troublesome one, but I made sure to finish it off. Never thought I’d see a humanoid Demon Beast appear…”

“You’ve worked hard, my lord.”

Kael stepped forward and helped remove Reinhardt’s armor with practiced ease, clearly something he’d done many times before.

“The physician is examining him now. It seems his head was injured… We’ll have to wait and see how bad it is.”

A shadow of worry passed over Reinhardt’s face.

The young man was the only heir to his lordship—of course he’d be concerned.

“All we can do now is pray to the gods.”

Reinhardt murmured quietly.

Reinhardt looked at me with a complicated expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak several times, then clicked his tongue.

“Follow me for a moment. There’s something I need to confirm.”

I tilted my head. Something to confirm? Though confused, I nodded anyway.

He led me to his private training ground. For a knight’s yard, it was relatively small.

Reinhardt picked up a wooden sword and took an upper stance.

His sword cut through the air in a clean, honest arc—aiming straight for my crown.

I did as he said and blocked.

For a moment, I nearly cried out. It was only one strike, yet my entire body screamed in protest.

The amount of strength it took… it felt as if every muscle I had had been used all at once.

The delayed wave of exhaustion hit me, and I staggered.

Reinhardt watched me quietly, unreadable eyes fixed on me. He stroked his chin and tilted his head slightly.

My curiosity was reaching its limit. Being dragged here out of nowhere was already puzzling enough, but now he was muttering to himself?

Reinhardt didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he reached out and placed a hand on the top of my head.

After a brief silence with his eyes closed, he suddenly opened them wide.

“The ends of your hair… they’ve turned red.”

“Look at the tips of your hair. You’ll see—they’re red now.”

Just as he said, the ends of my hair had turned crimson.

As someone who carried Zeke Fritz’s blood, I possessed a trait where my hair reddened as I grew stronger.

So the phenomenon itself wasn’t strange. But…

I couldn’t help but be shocked.

My hair had never turned red before—not when I grew stronger, nor after I had.

At first, I thought I was some kind of anomaly.

For someone who inherited Zeke’s bloodline, it was odd that even after becoming stronger, my hair color remained unchanged.

And yet now—suddenly—it had.

Confusion filled my mind.

“It’s proof that the bloodline within you is awakening. Until now, you’ve been growing stronger not in the way of a warrior, but of a knight.”

My eyes widened in shock.

Not even my family knew that I was strengthening myself through the knight’s method.

How in the world did he figure that out?

“Your father told me. I didn’t discover it on my own.”

At that, I let out a quiet chuckle. Of course.

Knowing how peculiar I was, there was no way Zeke wouldn’t have taken some measure.

He must have checked my danjeon while I was asleep, making sure I was fine.

I thought I’d kept it hidden perfectly…

“So he knew all along?”

The revelation left me speechless.

As I stood there stammering, Reinhardt waved his hand dismissively.

“Your father didn’t seem the least bit inclined to scold you. On the contrary, he seemed proud of you.”

The question arose instinctively.

Every warrior of Elphrel was expected to strengthen themselves through their own effort. But I was different.

I had learned an inner energy technique—a type of mana cultivation method used by knights—and grew stronger by adapting it.

If it were the Zeke I knew, he should have been disappointed, not proud.

When I asked about it, Reinhardt chuckled.

“You didn’t learn it from anyone else, did you?”

“If you had learned mana cultivation from another knight, it would’ve been one thing. But you created and mastered it on your own. Frankly, that’s something far beyond my comprehension. How could a boy your age create a mana technique that even I could not?”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“But Zeke told me that you never had any contact with knights. You discovered how to strengthen yourself through pure self-study. So, I had no choice but to accept it.”

“Accept what, exactly?” New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⚑fire.net

“That you’re a genius.”

“Didn’t you hear me? You’re a genius. At least, that’s what Zeke said. So I’ve decided to treat you as one.”

I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath.

It wasn’t that he declared me a genius—he simply decided to regard me as one.

Just how close were he and my father for him to reach such a conclusion?

Reinhardt’s reasoning was anything but ordinary.

Then his expression grew serious, signaling the true purpose of this conversation.

“There’s something I want to ask you. Leon, did you know that the gods have placed a blessing upon you?”

I tilted my head in confusion. A blessing?

From what I knew, a blessing was divine favor—a grace bestowed by the gods only upon those they cherished.

And he was saying I had one?

“A… blessing, my lord?”

Reinhardt clicked his tongue, looking almost pitying.

“Tsk, tsk. As I thought, you didn’t know. Had you been aware of it, you could’ve been twice as strong by now. What a strange twist of fate—to be so favored by the gods, yet cursed with such a blessing.”

“Cursed? What do you mean? Isn’t a blessing supposed to be good? Something given to saints or holy figures?”

“You’re right. A blessing is indeed a gift granted to those loved by the gods. Which is precisely why it’s puzzling—why would you have a Blessing of Growth Suppression?”

“Exactly as I said. The blessing placed upon you suppresses your growth. It restrains your natural ability to become stronger. At first, I wasn’t sure whether it was truly a blessing or not—but now I’m certain. The gods truly do favor you.”

I couldn’t make sense of it. A Blessing of Growth Suppression? That sounded more like a curse than any kind of divine favor.

But then Reinhardt continued, and his words erased my confusion with a chilling clarity.

“This world would’ve perished long ago if not for divine blessings. For instance, in ancient times, the Giants were beings capable of infinite growth. So the gods blessed them—restraining their growth so they could coexist with other life forms. That same blessing… is what you carry.”

I had never heard such a story about the Giants before, and I couldn’t fathom why I, of all people, would bear their blessing.

I looked at Reinhardt, silently seeking an explanation.

“That’s what puzzles me as well. Why you?”

His response was vague, leaving more questions than answers.

“But there’s at least one good thing,” he added. “The blessing on you has weakened a little. I suspect it’s because of the corrupt energy from the Demon Beast you just faced.”

“The corrupt energy weakened it?”

“As you know, Demon Beasts are born from Demonic Beasts. And do you know what those are made from?”

In truth, I hadn’t even known that Demon Beasts were created. I’d always assumed they were natural-born monsters.

“At the dawn of time… No, that story’s too long. Simply put, their foul energy contaminates the divine. You could say the Demon Beast’s corruption tainted your blessing.”

“In other words, that corruption diminished the effect of the gods’ blessing?”

“Precisely. If you were one of the Giants, that would be disastrous. But you’re a human who still needs to grow. As proof…”

Suddenly, a chill unlike anything I’d felt before ran through my entire body. My veins felt as though they were freezing from the inside out.

As I paled, Reinhardt grinned.

“You’ve developed the sensitivity to detect hidden killing intent. That heightened perception—it’s a side effect of your blessing’s contamination.”

Indeed, I had felt unusually alert ever since the encounter with the Demon Beast. I’d assumed it was nerves, but now it made sense—my senses had genuinely sharpened.

For a warrior, such an awakening was nothing short of a blessing itself.

The mystery of the divine favor had finally begun to make sense.

Then, another thought struck me.

“Ah, speaking of which… Count Reinhardt, what was that Demon Beast you fought earlier? I’ve heard that they can possess intelligence, but I never knew they were capable of actual communication. What kind of creature was it?”

It was a fair question. Judging by Reinhardt’s demeanor earlier, he seemed to know more than he let on about humanoid Demon Beasts.

If it was something too secret to share, I wouldn’t press further. But to my relief, he answered readily.

“It’s not widely known, but once Demon Beasts absorb enough power, they evolve.”

“Into humanoid form?”

“You could call that their final transformation. What you saw was merely that ultimate stage. And once they reach it, they become powerful enough to kill even Imperial Knights.”

“They can kill knights?”

I exclaimed, stunned.

It was common knowledge that Imperial Knights far surpassed even Elphrel’s High-Rank Warriors in strength.

To think a Demon Beast could slay one of them…

But before I could process the shock—

“Then how are you still alive, Count Reinhardt?”

After all, he was a knight himself. If such a creature could kill knights, shouldn’t he have been in mortal danger?

“If I were an ordinary knight, perhaps.”

Reinhardt snorted dismissively.

“I may be retired, but I was once among the upper ranks of knights. A Demon Beast capable of killing lesser knights is hardly a threat to me.”

There was a certain pride in his tone—as though he was reminding me that even among knights, there were tiers.

I didn’t know how impressive that truly was, but I clapped politely anyway.

Reinhardt grinned, clearly pleased even by my hollow applause.

“Ah, one more thing, Leon. From now on, you’ll live in the Empire. I’ll speak to Zeke Fritz about it myself.”

His sudden declaration left me completely lost for words.