chapter 3
3
After meeting Fenacian.
Thanks to his help, Habel was able to safely reach the urban area.
The urban area he reached was August territory.
‘August.’
Habel entered after a simple inspection at the entrance and looked up.
The territory seemed quite wealthy as the buildings were clean.
The faces of the people walking around the territory were also bright.
The problem was that the word August did not exist in Habel’s mind.
‘Is it because 100 years have passed?’
Now, a family he had never heard of had risen to power.
At this rate, it was questionable whether the Imperial Palace still existed.
‘More than anything, I’m most worried about Banpellion.’
Habel had asked around since he came here.
However, very few people knew about Banpellion.
Even those people only reacted by saying that there was a family like that.
‘To think that no one remembers Banpellion, who used to be called one of the three great families.’
It was enough to make him sigh.
Because when he returned, his family was nowhere to be seen.
Truly, it was a world where there was not a single person who would welcome him.
That was why Habel wanted to find Banpellion even more quickly.
‘Come to think of it, who is the current head of Banpellion?’
Habel did not have any children.
He was so obsessed with the sword that he couldn’t even think about marriage.
However, he did have one younger sister who was much younger than him.
‘Now that I think about it, that child must be gone by now.’
A bitter feeling struck him.
100 years had passed.
‘Everyone I knew must have turned to bones in their graves.’
Habell slowly strolled through the changed world.
His aim was not to indulge in emotions, but to achieve his intended purpose.
‘Even if the world has changed, there should be a need for information.’
Then surely there would be those who sell information.
“Excuse me, may I ask you something?”
“Hmm? What is it, ask away.”
The man sitting on a chair, reading a newspaper, calmly replied.
“I’m looking for the Information Guild.”
“Huh? The Information Guild?”
“Yes, the Information Guild.”
The man reacted as if he had seen a strange person.
“Well, well, you’re an old-timer, aren’t you? There’s no such thing as the Information Guild these days.”
Habell was briefly shocked.
To be treated as an old-timer.
He felt a little depressed.
“I don’t know about the Information Guild, but if you’re looking for information, you should try Astella’s General Store over there.”
A general store for information?
Habell was puzzled, but he nodded.
‘Right, I, an old-timer, must adapt to the ways of the present.’
He still felt like he was quite young.
The world seemed to have changed too quickly.
For some reason, his steps felt heavy.
And a moment later, Habell opened the door to the general store.
“Welcome!”
A clerk cheerfully greeted him.
“I would like to purchase some information.”
“Oh, I see! Please come this way.”
The clerk put down the luggage he was carrying in a corner and quickly walked over.
Following the clerk, Habell observed the interior of the general store.
There were many unfamiliar items in the general store.
Many things must have been invented over the 100 years that had passed.
Among them, the most noticeable were the magic items.
‘Magic was something only nobles could use.’
To think that it was being sold in an ordinary general store.
Had magic become common as the times changed?
‘What an incredible world.’
Habell swallowed a hollow laugh and followed the clerk.
The clerk guided him to the counter.
She went behind the counter and took out a scroll.
“Please tell me what information you want to get!”
Habell hesitated for a moment.
Can I really get information this way?
“…I want to know about Banpellion.”
“Banpellion, is it? Just a moment!”
The clerk said and immediately started taking notes.
Habell looked at the scroll with curious eyes.
Then, after a while, the scroll was filled with writing.
“Oh, it’s all done! Here you go.”
Is it all done?
Habell received the scroll with a bewildered expression.
And indeed, it contained information about Banpellion.
Just how much has the world changed?
A scroll that takes the place of the information guild.
“After checking the information, please put the scroll in there.”
“Oh, the money is…….”
“Yes? Oh, the information scroll is free of charge.”
This meant it was free information.
“If you need more information, you can pay for it and use a different scroll.”
Habell read the contents of the scroll after hearing that.
Fortunately, the scroll contained Banpellion’s current address.
“That’s fine.”
“Yes, then please call me if you need anything else!”
The clerk said brightly and went off to do other things.
Thinking that it was an era he couldn’t adapt to, Habell looked at the scroll again.
‘Banpellion.’
One of the three great clans that entered the Demon Palace to save the emperor when the first of the three evils of the beginning, the Demon Palace, appeared.
Habell’s eyes widened the moment he read the first sentence.
‘The three evils of the beginning?’
Does that mean there are other evils besides the Demon Palace?
Habell’s face hardened.
The Demon Palace alone was a hellish place.
If the other evils were just as bad, the world might be destroyed.
‘Okay. I’ll think about that later.’
For now, Habell forgot about the other evils.
What’s important is Banpellion’s current status.
Habell’s face darkened as he read the information about Banpellion.
“…It’s my fault.”
The current state of Banphelion could be summed up in two characters:
Decline.
Banphelion had declined.
Not only had all the vassal families they once commanded abandoned them,
Even the Knights of the Dawn, Banphelion’s pride, had disbanded.
Now they had even lost their territory, their lineage continuing only in an old mansion.
It was now at a level where it was embarrassing to even call it a family.
Habell sighs deeply.
It felt like it was all his fault, and he felt sorry towards his descendants.
‘Still, I should go back and take a look.’
Just as Habell said that and was about to tidy up the scrolls,
Habell saw the last sentence, marked as the latest addition.
And what was written there was none other than one of the Three Great Evils of the Beginning.
It said that they were looking for a mercenary to join the tower subjugation force.
* * *
A room filled with luxurious furniture.
In stark contrast to such a room, a man was buried under a mountain of documents.
His face was haggard from exhaustion.
It was because of the documents that wouldn’t end even if he worked on them all day long.
“I’m going crazy.”
Just what in the world was going on for there to be this much work?
“Chief Information Officer.”
Just then, someone opened the door and entered without knocking.
The Chief Information Officer didn’t pay much mind to his rude behavior.
Rather, he only looked worriedly at the documents he had brought.
“What happened this time?”
“Yes, no, it’s not that, but do you remember the request the Glyce family made a long time ago?”
The Chief Information Officer frowned.
It was a reaction as if he was trying to remember such a thing.
“That, isn’t it, to inform us of anyone who investigates the Banphelion family?”
At the time of the establishment of the Scroll Information Center.
It was a request made by Glyce as they provided investment funds.
“Ah, ah, that, that’s right. But wasn’t that request made dozens of years ago?”
“Yes, this time, someone used the scroll to search for Banphelion.”
It was a request made to the first Chief Information Officer.
“Alright. Anyway, Glyce must have forgotten about it by now.”
However, the Chief Information Officer didn’t seem to care much.
“Yes? Still, I should at least send a letter…”
“It’s all work to send it, too. Don’t you know that I have to write another report for that?”
There was already a lot of work because of the incident that had suddenly occurred in the Forest of Evil.
A letter from a noble family as big as Glacies…
If Glacies makes me do something with it, I’ll have more work to do.
“You hate having lots of work too, don’t you? Just skim through it and give it back.”
“Umm, if there’s work to do, the Information Manager will take care of it.”
The Information Manager scoffed.
“If work came from something like that, I would have left this position a long time ago.”
When he gestured for him to leave, the employee bowed his head and left.
The Information Manager leaned back in his chair.
And then he briefly lost himself in thought.
‘Come to think of it, the reason they made this request…’
Surely it was because the Glacies, who were a noble family, had betrayed Panpelion in the past.
‘It’s been so long that even my memory of it is hazy.’
The Information Manager thought that and picked up his pen again.
Hoping that another incident wouldn’t break out.
The Information Manager was merely doing his job today, as well.
* * *
In the past, Pampelion had been a family that had been shunned brilliantly.
However, it was now a family that had fallen completely into ruin.
Havle arrived at the mansion where the bloodline of that family was somehow still continuing.
And as he looked at the mansion, Havle let out a deep sigh.
“It’s literally in ruins.”
The mansion was quite large, but it was in such disarray because it hadn’t been properly maintained.
Vines were growing, the walls were dilapidated, and the roof looked like it needed repairs.
It seemed like there was no trace of the reputation that Pampelion once had.
Havle felt a bitter feeling in his heart.
It was because it felt like he was the one who had made it like this.
‘I wonder what the descendants are doing.’
Or maybe he should be glad that the bloodline had continued.
It was the moment when he was about to step into the mansion’s garden.
“Young master!”
“It’s fine! I’ll do it, I’ll go!”
Voices that sounded like they were arguing echoed out from inside.
Havle cautiously looked inside.
And over there he saw an old butler, a young boy, and a knight.
“If something happens to the young master, the Panpelion bloodline will truly be cut off!”
“We even gathered mercenaries for the raid team that will go to the tower, but no one volunteered! This is our last chance. The last chance to save the Panpelion!”
Even with the butler’s dissuasion, the young boy continued to shout.
“Like the Black Sword, Havle Panpelion, who was the symbol of Panpelion in the past, I’ll go to the tower and reclaim our family’s honor!”
And as soon as his past alias was mentioned, Havle froze in place.
His name still remained within Panpelion.
‘That child is…’
The silver hair that was the symbol of Van Pelion stood out.
And somewhere in the boy’s face, he felt a sense of longing.
‘So that’s it.’
Habell realized.
That the child was the descendant of his younger sister.
The descendant of his little sister.
“Who are you?”
At that moment, someone who seemed to be an escort knight noticed Habell.
He had sharp eyes that seemed to have decent skill.
His gaze was reminiscent of the Knights of Dawn.
He must be one of those who remained even after Van Pelion fell.
Habell revealed himself before them.
His descendants who were suffering such humiliation because of his fall in the distant past.
Habell Van Pelion stood before his descendants.
Habell clenched his fists.
‘If I reveal my name, many things will be resolved.’
If he reappeared at a crucial moment to those who were looking for him, they would be delighted.
The family would also be resurrected. He would be able to regain his reputation, power, and everything.
He could also bring down all the families that had pushed his family out and taken their place.
However, he couldn’t do that.
It was his family that had fallen apart when he disappeared.
Habell, the former head of the family, knew well that it was a deformed form.
‘Besides, I’m not a man of this era.’
Habell was no longer the head of the family.
‘A family that relies on one person is bound to collapse eventually, so if that’s the case.’
“I came to see the notice of the mercenary recruitment.”
“I won’t repeat the mistake of giving you the power of a nation.
Instead, I’ll leave you with the strength to stand up on your own.’
Habell decided to give these people who lived in this era what they needed most.