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Chapter 235

EPISODE 235 – KAJSA OPHAND (1)

Cordelia was not the beast-like character in Legend of Heroes 2.

After all, the Cordelia in the game was an elegant and delicate girl who didn’t fit the words ‘beast’ or ‘wild.’

It was Kajsa Ophand.

The true beast female character in Legend of Heroes 2.

The wild horse of the south.

The beheading witch.

The monster of Ophand.

All of these were vicious words attached to a teenage girl who was the precious child of a prestigious family, but neither Kajsa herself nor those around her denied those nicknames. Rather, she somehow accepted it and was even pleased with it.

“Because it’s completely true.”

The Ophand family was one of the 7 southern families and had the divine blood of an ancient being flowing in their veins, just like the royal family and the 12 northern families.

But the problem was that their ancestor was not an ordinary angel or a god. It was a beast.

The Greedy Wolf, Fenrir.

He was originally a demon born in hell but was reborn as a divine creature after being influenced by the nobility of the sun god Solari.

Fenrir shared a love that transcended race with Saint Sophia Ophand, a member of the Solari denomination, and they had many children. The current Ophand family were said to be the descendants of Fenrir.

Naturally, Fenrir wasn’t just a wolf since he was an ancient being and a divine creature too.

The Lord of Lycanthropes.

The King of Werewolves.

In any case, the Ophand family inherited the blood of a divine creature, and some were born with powers or abilities that were unimaginable for ordinary humans because of the occasional atavism.

“In the game’s storyline, it was Kajsa.”

Kajsa’s ability was quite simple.

A strong body.

Physical abilities that were beyond the limitations of humans.

Among the eleven playable characters in Legend of Heroes 2, Kajsa was the physically strongest and also the quickest.

“Because her body is so strong that she never gets sick. Poisons also do not work against her.”

She truly had a body of steel.

Of course, it didn’t mean that her skin was made of steel or that she could block spears and swords with her hands and feet just like Jude, but it was true that she had a tremendous detoxification ability and a zombie-like durability.

“Kajsa’s only drawback is her physical strength.”

The reason why Kajsa was called the ‘3-minute instant food’ or ‘premature ejaculation’ was simple.

Because her body couldn’t handle the explosive increase of her physical abilities as she would quickly be exhausted afterwards.

“It’s like a sports car with a tremendous engine power but very poor cost-effectiveness.”

Once she began to run wild, she became a beast herself, but it consumed so much energy that Kajsa could only fight at full power for only 3 minutes or less.

When more than that had passed, Kajsa literally became unable to fight because of her intense hunger.

“Of course, she can last if she do not use her all when she fights.”

Anyway, Kajsa was trained in martial arts and her base stamina was as good as her great physical abilities.

“It’s just that her fuel economy is really bad.”

Such was the person named Kajsa.

The wild and beast-like character archetype in Legend of Heroes 2.

The hunting dog of the Ophand family who hunted pirates as her black hair fluttered in the wind.

It was now time to meet her.

***

Two days after leaving St. Crute Monastery.

Cordelia had a sour expression.

‘So annoying.’

She wasn’t tired from riding a horse for a long time.

Because of her high level, Cordelia had more stamina than most people despite being a wizard.

‘So annoying.’

Nor was it from having difficulties in camping out.

After she recalled her past life memories, camping out was similar to sleeping on her bed.

Compared to sleeping in a snowfield as a blizzard raged on, or sleeping in a narrow crack of a rock in the wild lands, their current camp was like a five-star hotel.

‘So annoying.’

But she was still annoyed.

She could bear Manuel endlessly chattering next to her. She quietly listened to him because she also found his words to be quite interesting.

She didn’t mind Carmen bragging about her husband and daughter too.

It was rather satisfying because it allowed her to naturally boast about Jude too.

Was it the meal then?

Whether they needed 2 or 11 servings, it was fine since Jude was the one who made it.

She was satisfied with the quality of the dishes too.

‘So annoying.’

Bed, meals, and traveling companions.

None of the three elements of a trip were the reason why she was dissatisfied.

Nevertheless, Cordelia grumbled as she pouted her lips.

Because we don’t have time.

Because Jude and I don’t have any alone time together!

‘Ugh.’

First of all, their group was in a hurry to get to the south.

In other words, they didn’t have much time to take a relaxing break in the middle of the trip.

They naturally stopped several times in a day because they had to rest, but they were always gathered in one place because they had to be close together when taking a break from their march.

‘Eueueue.’

Second, Manuel and Carmen were tactless.

Unlike Dahlia and Maja, the two never considered in giving Jude and Cordelia some alone time together.

Manuel always followed Cordelia, calling her angel this and angel that, while Carmen was unlike those nosy aunties as she was not much interested in Cordelia and Jude’s romantic relationship.

Rather, she just loved to brag about her daughter.

‘Ngh.’

It was also difficult to volunteer for the night watch.

The number of members dispatched by the Guardians of the Holy Cross for this mission was nine, just like their usual missions.

Because they had nine people, Jude and Cordelia didn’t get their turn yet in the night watch rotation.

In the first place, they didn’t even allow Jude and Cordelia to do the night watch.

‘Uuuueueueu.’

In fact, having some alone time together wasn’t necessary.

They didn’t have anything special to do together.

But how should I put this…

How should I say it…

‘Nnggggh.’

It was already embarrassing for her to imagine it, and it would be even more so if she said it out loud.

Anyway, how should I say it?

Should I say that I want to do that?

You know, that one.

That act which gets your heart pounding, makes you feel good, and warms your heart when you do it!

“Haa…”

It would’ve been nice if we could ride a horse together.

Why did the Guardians of the Holy Cross have to prepare one horse per person? Did they have so many horses? Is one horse per person really necessary?

But it was at that moment.

[Cordelia.]

[Eh? Ah! Yes!]

Cordelia brightened up when she received Jude’s magic, but she cleared her throat and quickly pretended to be calm.

She turned to Jude while pretending to be fine.

[Why? What happened?]

[Why are you strangely happy?]

[I’m not? I’m just the same as usual, okay? I’m not happy or anything, okay?]

At Cordelia’s insistence, Jude narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but he soon nodded.

[Let’s improve your acting skills later.]

[Excuse me?]

[Anyway, I think it’s time that we split.]

[S-split?]

[Yes, because our purpose is different anyway. Carmen and Manuel have to find Kamael, while we have a different purpose, remember?]

Cordelia was momentarily startled at the word ‘split,’ but she soon sighed in relief and nodded her head.

[That’s right, because our purpose is the crest of the 7 southern families.]

The 7 southern families.

Seven families that held the highest power in the southern region, just like the 12 northern families.

But there was a huge difference between the 7 southern families and the 12 northern families.

The 12 northern families competed with each other, but it did not escalate to a bloody conflict. On the other hand, the 7 southern families considered it strange if they met each other without any blood being shed.

They got into gang fights once a month, and had duels once a year.

Obviously, they didn’t really quarrel like that often, but it was not an exaggeration to say that the 7 southern families were out for each other’s blood.

However, it was quite surprising that these seven families were once united under a single banner.

Dragon Slayer Carlos.

The great hero of the south who stood side by side with Lion D. Sälen, an unparalleled hero and the founder king of the Sälen Kingdom.

In the past, he had seven vassals that were united in the south, and these vassals became the current 7 southern families.

Even though they were under the Sälen Kingdom now, the southern people considered Dragon Slayer Carlos to be their true king, and this was also the case for the 7 southern families.

“The one who obtains my legacy will be your new master.”

Nearing his death, Dragon Slayer Carlos suddenly disappeared after leaving those words, and from then on, the 7 southern families began a bloody struggle over the position of Carlos’ successor.

[You do know that Carlos left a token to each of the 7 southern families, right?]

[Yes! And if we collect all the seven tokens, we’ll find the place where Carlos hid his legacy, right?]

[Yes. But the 7 southern families were too busy fighting each other so they didn’t share information… Thus, after nearly 300 years, Carlos’ successor had yet to appear.]

She already knew about this even before he spoke to her now.

Because they had already discussed about this in the royal capital.

The reason why they sent Scarlet to the south.

[It’s time for Phantom Thief Pink Bomb to appear again, right?]

[That’s right.]

Together with Scarlet, they would rob the 7 southern families to gather the tokens.

And if they said that this was a competition to decide the Rogue Master position, Scarlet would do her best too.

[She’s a really good friend.]

[She is.]

Jude and Cordelia looked at each other before laughing, and Jude continued.

[To fight Black Dragon Malekith, it’s a must to unite the southern powers. We’ll need absolute authority in order to do that.]

[Will the 7 southern families obey us if we have Carlos’ tokens even though 300 years have already passed?]

[They will. Carlos is treated like a god in the south.]

Moreover, if there existed a specific threat called Malekith, they would have no choice but to join hands with each other.

[Moving on, there’s a place we need to stop by before we begin our preliminary work. Can you figure out where it is?]

[W-wait a minute. I’ll figure it out.]

Cordelia hurriedly raised her hand to stop Jude and then began to groan as she thought hard. Soon, she clapped her hands and sent a magic.

[I got it! You’re talking about Kajsa, right?]

[Correct.]

After all, they needed to rely on at least one person in the south.

Furthermore, Kajsa was a playable character, so they definitely needed to get close to her.

[First of all, we know very little about the south. Kajsa is only playable character in the south, and her scenario began when she escaped the south because of Malekith’s attack.]

In other words, in order to properly rob the 7 southern families, they needed to have a local person – a collaborator, who knew a lot about the other 7 southern families.

[Yes, yes, that’s good. Okay. So you’re saying that we’ll have to split up with Carmen, Manuel, and the members of the Guardians of the Holy Cross since we have to go meet Kajsa, is that it?]

[Yes, that’s it. But why do you look so strangely happy?]

[No, I’m not. This is my normal look, okay? Rather, I’m sad that we’re splitting with them, okay?]

When Cordelia snorted as she spoke, Jude narrowed his eyes again, but he didn’t ask her further.

[Anyway, I’m thinking of splitting up when we reach the next crossroad. Kajsa should be hunting pirates by now with Daram as her base.]

Daram was one of the southern region’s port cities.

Carmen and the Guardians were now heading to the largest trading port in the south, Bardos, which was under the royal family’s jurisdiction, so they had to split up soon as Jude had said.

[Haa. It can’t be helped. Let’s split here. Yes, really. It can’t be helped. It can’t be helped.]

Cordelia surprisingly spoke in monotone over magic, and Jude tried to hold back his laughter before saying.

“It’s all right. I’ll talk to them.”

“Okay!”

And around 10 minutes later.

Jude said to Cordelia as he narrowed his eyes.

“Hey, Countess.”

“Yes, Milord.”

“Where are our horses?”

“I returned it to Carmen?”

“Why?”

“Because I have a strong horse here, right?”

Cordelia tilted her head, pretending to not understand why he was asking, and Jude finally laughed.

“If I run with you on my back, we’ll stand out a lot, okay?”

“I know, so do it well, okay? You’re good at that, right?”

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

You really want to be carried that much, huh?

Jude handed over their luggage to Cordelia and turned around. The excited Cordelia quickly carried the luggage on her back and climbed onto Jude’s back.

“The smell of Jude.”

“Huh?”

“I-it’s nothing. Yes. Let’s hurry up.”

Cordelia evasively answered and buried her face on the back of Jude’s neck as she quietly smiled.

“Anyway, let’s go. Hold on tight.”

“Okay.”

Cordelia obediently replied, sniffing with her nose once before hugging Jude’s body a little tighter. Jude fixed Cordelia’s position and then kicked the ground.

And two hours later.

What waited for Jude and Cordelia when they arrived in the port city of Daram was an unexpected event and not Kajsa.