Chapter 408

Words : 2411 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Rudger was momentarily speechless at the question asked as if it were so obvious. “...How on earth?” Usually, he would have naturally denied being such a person. He would have asked if there wasn’t some misunderstanding but Rudger couldn’t make such excuses in front of Yekaterina. Look at those innocent eyes asking as if they truly didn’t know. The other party was already certain of his identity. Rudger knew Yekaterina well and she wasn’t someone who would ask so directly unless she was certain. Because they knew each other well, he couldn’t hide anymore in this situation. Seemingly satisfied with Rudger’s reaction as a sufficient answer, Yekaterina’s eyes lit up. “I knew it! I knew you were the person I knew!” “You fool...! Lower your voice.” Rudger said this while spreading a sound barrier around them. He checked if there were any watching eyes just in case, but fortunately, he couldn’t sense the presence of others. Rudger let out a sigh of relief internally while simultaneously feeling a surge of irritation. Rudger’s hand firmly covered Yekaterina’s crown. “Huh?” Yekaterina blankly watched the scene. ‘Oh. This is a somehow nostalgic sensation.’ Immediately after, Yekaterina screamed at the pressure applied to her skull. “Aaagh! My head! It hurts! It hurts!” “Haven’t I, told you, from before? Please act, with some, awareness.” Rudger’s voice, broken at each syllable, was filled with anger. Despite wearing his tongue out giving advice during the civil war, this troublemaker seemed to have no memory of it at all. “I, I was just so happy to see you after so long!” “...” Rudger clicked his tongue and released Yekaterina’s head. Yekaterina rubbed her head with tears in her eyes from the subtle pain in her skull. “What kind of violence is this? I’ll definitely sue if my hair gets damaged.” “I really hope you get baldness.” “You have no limits to what you’ll say to a lady! Do you know how much effort I put into maintaining this hair!” “You don’t maintain it at all.” “That’s true. I was just saying that. Really, I don’t understand why everyone keeps telling me to take care of my appearance.” “They usually call that the leisure of the privileged.” Yekaterina narrowed her eyes. “You’re talking as if you’re not one of them.” “What do you mean?” “...Well, that’s just like you. Even this head-squeezing pain is familiar.” “Couldn’t you reflect on your actions and show some remorse at the point where this has become familiar?” “This is just my nature.” “You’ve become even more shameless while I haven’t seen you.” Rudger chuckled. So did Yekaterina. “Hmm. Is that your real appearance? Or is it fake?” Yekaterina asked while reaching out to lightly pinch Rudger’s face. When Rudger immediately pinched back harder, she surrendered right away. “Su-surrender! I surrender!” “...Your impudence hasn’t changed at all from then to now.” “Ugh. My cheeks are stinging. So are you not going to answer my question?” “What do you mean?” “Why are you alive when we thought you were dead, and moreover, why are you now a teacher at Theon? And you’ve become incredibly famous too! Did you die and come back to life or something?” “...Wouldn’t it be more natural to think I simply didn’t die, seeing as I’m alive like this?” What nonsense about dying and coming back to life. At Rudger’s incredulous point, Yekaterina let out an “Ah” exclamation. It was as if she hadn’t realized this aspect at all. “...To think you’d immediately see through my identity while firmly believing I was dead. I don’t know whether to call this smart or stupid.” “We-well, isn’t it fine as long as the result is good?” “...” When he stared intently at the excusing Yekaterina, she hurriedly covered her head with both hands and stepped back. Her expression clearly showed worry about another iron hammer falling. Rudger looked at that sight as if it were pathetic. “Don’t be needlessly scared. I won’t do that anymore.” “You’ve become quite a bit gentler while I haven’t seen you.” “I haven’t changed at all from before.” “What? Haven’t changed at all! Your violence has decreased much more than before. Ah, then perhaps you don’t use corporal punishment when teaching children at Theon?” “...Am I crazy?” At Rudger’s negative response, Yekaterina asked back as if she couldn’t believe it. “You don’t? Even though you were merciless to me!” “That was because it was wartime then. When lives were at stake, was there any need to kindly persuade with words?” “So you’re saying you’re kind to students? No hitting?” “I tend to persuade them nicely with words.” “My goodness.” Yekaterina was greatly shocked by those words. Of course, this was just Rudger’s personal impression. From the perspective of the children who received that “nice persuasion”, there wasn’t much difference from corporal punishment. In some ways, the method of applying mental pressure felt even more malicious. “So why did you pretend to be dead and run away? At least if you were going to leave, you could have said goodbye!” “The mission was over at the point when the civil war ended. What would be the point of a mercenary staying around after the mission was complete?” “You weren’t just an ordinary mercenary. You’re the hero who led the civil war to victory, and at the same time defeated the infamous Thunder Corps of the Cold alone.” “What hero? I was just a mercenary who took on a request for money. Besides, if I had stayed there, I would have had to live out my life in the Yuta Kingdom while continuing to receive such evaluations.” “Did you dislike that?” “Because it’s not a life that suits me.” At Rudger’s firm words, Yekaterina showed disappointment. “Then you could have just told me honestly. Or did you not trust me that much?” “It’s not that I didn’t trust you. You would certainly have listened to what I said.” “Then...” “But would others have done the same?” At those words, Yekaterina closed her mouth. Just Machiavelli’s death alone was a great sorrow within the Yuta Kingdom. The evaluation of commentators was that they had lost a hero-class talent due to the nation’s civil war. If he had been alive, would the Yuta Kingdom have really let him go? Even if the queen’s will was different, the officials below would have been troublesome, trying to hold onto him somehow. Even if Yekaterina tried to persuade them somehow, it would have taken quite a long time. During that time, Rudger would move that much further from his desired goal. Rudger didn’t want that so he faked his death and escaped as cleanly as possible. Although he knew it would disappoint the other party when the truth was revealed later, it was the best method at the time. ‘Still, fortunately she’s not as angry at me as I worried she would be.’ Maybe it’s because Yekaterina is so easy-going. It was possible because the joy of meeting again was much greater than the sense of betrayal and anger at being deceived. Although knowing that thinking this itself was very rude, somehow it was like the reaction of an abandoned dog meeting its former owner again. “Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep this secret from others. I’ve explained enough about why I hid my identity and left.” “So how are you now working as a teacher at Theon? Was that your real identity?” “There are complicated reasons.” Yes. Literally too complicated to explain. He can’t possibly say that he just got on a train trying to escape, then got caught up in terrorism and ended up like this. Whatever Yekaterina made of Rudger’s answer, she let out a light exclamation and nodded. “I see. So that’s what it was. A secret mission that absolutely can’t be spoken of, something like that, right?” “...What?” “There’s no need to hide it even from me. From your mercenary days, you were actually from some kind of special forces unit hiding your identity, right? I’m correct, aren’t I?” “...” While it was true that he had hidden his identity, it wasn’t exactly a secret mission. Rather than that, it was closer to being imprisoned if his identity was discovered but Yekaterina didn’t think Rudger would have any connection to crime. Of course she would think that, as he was a comrade who fought together taking risks during the civil war, and now he was a teacher educating students at Theon. He even fought hard in this Kasar Valley, didn’t he? For Yekaterina, it wasn’t strange to have such a misunderstanding. ‘Seems like she’s having some strange misunderstanding.’ Although Rudger noticed that Yekaterina was misunderstanding him as some kind of apostle of justice, he didn’t feel the need to correct her. If she misunderstood on her own like that, he could avoid the hassle of having to persuade her. ‘Besides, I can’t say I wasn’t something like a secret special forces unit.’ Thinking of the times he worked with First Princess Eileen, it wasn’t exactly a lie. Rudger completely washed away any guilt about deceiving Yekaterina with that. In fact, there wasn’t really much guilt to wash away. “Still, you seem to be doing well.” “Yes. Although the wounds from the civil war still remain. We’re recovering at a fast pace. Did you know?” “I hear news from time to time. But it seems quite comfortable now.” “We can now afford to leave positions somewhat vacant. The internal reorganization is finished, so now we need to reach out diplomatically.” “Was that why you attended the Night of Mystery?” “Isn’t it a place where many magicians gather? It can’t hurt to make connections.” In reality, magic-related business is the core industry that all countries consider most important. Naturally, each country is desperate to establish close relationships with places related to such magical business. The Old Magic Tower, New Magic Tower, Magic Association, and so on. Originally, the Yuta Kingdom had such relationships too but the problem was that Prince Alexei was mainly managing those. After the prince’s faction was all expelled following the civil war, the pipeline was lost. For Yekaterina, this was truly a painful matter. “Besides, as you know, the Yuta Kingdom is basically harsh in environment. It’s difficult without borrowing the power of magic.” “But isn’t the Yuta Kingdom rich in natural resources? Among those, there are many resources that magicians covet.” If the Fatima Kingdom in the southern continent was famous for mana liquid, the core material for magic stones, the Yuta Kingdom in the northern continent was famous for having many overall natural resources. Of course, whether they could mine them was a separate matter. The labor shortage due to civil war and the harsh environment continuing since ancient times were problems. That abundant deposit was practically nothing more than a pie in the sky. “The most important thing is the core mining method. Of course, what’s needed in that process is the power of magic. In a place where even steam engines freeze, it’s difficult to handle ordinary industrial equipment.” “That’s true.” There was reason enough for a nation’s leader to personally visit the Night of Mystery rather than just sending subordinates. That’s how desperate Yekaterina was. Although the Yuta Kingdom might appear solid externally, the future was still unclear even if it looked solid right now. “I tried to maintain good relationships with other places somehow, but the Old Magic Tower is out of reach now because of this incident.” “I think that’s better actually.” “The ministers won’t think so. To them, the New Magic Tower is an organization derived from the Old Magic Tower, and the Magic Association is just a gathering of small point organizations. They value the Old Magic Tower the highest.” “Because of the difference in fundamentals?” “The ministers are also elderly people. And people of that age mostly think of the brilliant Old Magic Tower of the past when they think of magicians.” This was the reason why the Old Magic Tower could still act up, because even a toothless lion’s roar remains intact. Even though the Old Magic Tower couldn’t properly keep up with changing times, it could display sufficient presence just with its past majesty. Of course, if they don’t change like this, they’ll eventually fall behind the times but for now, the public perception of the Old Magic Tower wasn’t bad. Especially old people still firmly believed the Old Magic Tower was the best. But now they’ve become at odds with the Old Magic Tower because of this incident, so the feeling of relief they had at first couldn’t be entirely comfortable. “What should I do?” “...Why are you asking me about national affairs?” “You can at least give advice. You’re a teacher at Theon after all.” This lady clearly didn’t know the difference between a teacher and a counselor. In other words, Yekaterina was both that desperate and that trusting of Rudger. “Still, it seems you’ve built quite good relationships with the New Magic Tower and Magic Association thanks to working hard during this incident. Am I wrong?” “That’s right. I’ve developed sufficient ‘friendships’ with those people. But still...” “You’re saying it’s not enough. Of course, no one will be pleased just because you did what you had to do.” Rudger saw right through Yekaterina’s mind. Yekaterina found this both amazing and familiar. ‘This person hasn’t changed.’ He always acted as if he could see right into her heart. While it’s partly because she’s easy to read, it would be impossible without extraordinary insight. At the same time, Rudger always told her the best answer, whether she would accept it or not was Yekaterina’s responsibility but his judgment had never been wrong. “It’s not completely without solutions. Those aren’t the only magic-related organizations.” “Are there others?” “Have you forgotten where I’m working now?” “Ah.” Yekaterina’s eyes opened wide.

Chapter 408

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