My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 6

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Cesare fell silent for a moment at the question. He fidgeted with his glass before speaking, his expression reluctant.
“After all my masters died, I managed for a few months. But then the tavern owner showed up with a contract for the house and threw us out.”
Maybe I should have killed that bastard after all. Cesare continued matter-of-factly.
“When the money ran out, we were stuck. Arckel brought in what he could, but it wasn’t enough.”
Arckel had been the oldest of my disciples. Even so, he was just eighteen.
The only adult, the eldest brother. So he’d been the one earning. Supporting his siblings. All the things that should have fallen to me.
“After another six months passed, Arckel gathered us all together and told us something.”
Cesare’s voice had grown hollow.
“That he couldn’t take responsibility for us anymore. That we each had to fend for ourselves.”
I couldn’t begin to imagine what those children must have felt. Or what Arckel had felt either.
No one had done anything wrong. But it was more than enough to shatter the bonds between my disciples. I asked Cesare carefully.
“Do you resent him?”
“No.”
Cesare’s face was unmarked by bitterness. He stuffed a piece of bacon into his mouth and spoke easily.
“I was shocked at the time, but I understand now. How could an eighteen-year-old boy possibly support four people? Six months was already impressive. He must have been exhausted.”
The response was not what I’d expected, and I fell silent.
Cesare had grown up far too quickly. In all those years I couldn’t protect him.
He continued without inflection.
“The youngest, Jenia, we left at the Orphanage. I went with a mercenary. The others just disappeared after leaving a note telling us not to look for them.”
Not to look for them—why would they leave such a message? I clenched my fists as I asked.
“Did you ever go back to that orphanage?”
“Yes. When I was older and went looking for her, the orphanage had already closed.”
Cesare’s eyes darkened. Yet he’d tried to find Jenia. I spoke to him in what I hoped was a soothing tone.
“At least we have a lead on Jenia’s whereabouts. We should start by looking into that.”
The other two troubled me as well, but finding Jenia seemed like the most promising path forward.
Even if the orphanage had closed, there might be someone who remembered. Cesare simply nodded.
“Right. It won’t hurt to check. I’m finished eating anyway. Shall we head up?”
“No. We’re going to Balanus Domus. That will be our new home.”
“Understood. Let’s go.”
Cesare rose from his seat with both hands in his pockets. Outside, the sun was setting.
As we walked along brick streets stained crimson with sunset, Cesare glanced around repeatedly. It was a confused look.
“Why are we going this way?”
We were heading into a residential quarter. I approached a building and slid a key into the lock.
“Come inside.”
The interior was empty of furniture and fixtures, but it was clean and bright with sunlight. He looked around uncertainly.
“Where is this?”
“Balanus’s new home.”
At those words, Cesare’s eyes went wide.
“What? But Balanus Domus is in the slums near the tavern.”
“I sold it. The neighborhood’s security was too poor, and living in a place we’d used as a tavern didn’t feel right.”
I looked quietly around the interior in the sunset’s glow. The smell of old wood, the distant echo of people’s laughter drifting in from outside.
“I wanted the children to come home to a bright, comfortable house.”
I traced a hand along the windowsill. The old, modest building had gathered a little dust, but even that felt somehow warm.
“Now I’ll rebuild Balanus from here. I’ll make it truly renowned. So that everyone in the world will know the name Balanus.”
So that the children will be able to find their way back.
Like I had, Cesare felt along the table with his hand. As though grasping at a dream. His voice came soft and almost to himself.
“…So I have a home now.”
Cesare was quiet for a long time before turning to face me. His expression was serious, without a hint of a smile.
“What if the others are satisfied with their lives now? Would you still bring them back?”
I paused. Fifteen years. Long enough to build anew, long enough to create a new family.
Perhaps the children had made peace with their new lives, as Cesare suggested. Perhaps they had no wish to return to Balanus.
If so, I had no intention of tearing their lives apart or controlling them by force. What I wanted was their happiness.
“If they’re living well, I won’t force it. But if they’ve gone down a wrong path or are living in suffering…”
My eyes reflected in the glass of the window, dark with intent.
“I’ll bring them back even from hell.”
2. The Return
I think back to Balanus as it was.
The days when my masters and disciples spent time together. We went on outings often.
I gazed at the small lake before me. This is where the children would play in the water, full of joy.
Cesare had been somewhat timid as a child, so he would mostly sit in the shade of trees. A little boy who would dip his feet slightly into the water’s edge.
Yes, that’s how it had been.
Though now he was vomiting.
“Ueeegh……!”
Cesare clutched at a tree, retching violently. The lake shore spreading out behind him was truly beautiful, which only made the contrast more striking.
“Cesare, I told you to drink in moderation.”
Before leaving the city, Cesare had said he’d go say goodbye to some acquaintances and left the house.
Since it was early morning, I hadn’t suspected much. But hours later, he returned completely drunk. Cesare glanced at me nervously as he spoke.
“No, well……. I thought it was water and drank it, but after that I couldn’t control myself. But I’m fine, really!”
“What’s in front of you isn’t me, it’s a rock, Cesare.”
Cesare was on his knees in front of the rock. He twisted his body slightly toward me.
“No, but fighting is no problem. Really.”
I finally raised my fist. After a solid strike to his back hard enough to sweat the alcohol from him, Cesare seemed to finally come to his senses.
“Ah! Ow! I get it! From now on I absolutely won’t drink. I won’t, I swear!”
He whimpered from the pain, but his eyes had regained a glimmer of clarity. He’d be fine if he just stayed away from alcohol.
“Starting today, you’re on the wagon. Cut it out immediately. Rest for ten minutes, then we leave.”
Cesare still didn’t seem to be in good condition. When I sat in the tree’s shade, he quietly settled beside me. We gazed at the glimmering lake as he spoke.
“How much longer until the Orphanage where we’re leaving Jenia?”
“About thirty more minutes.”
Jenia. A girl with pink hair and clear, water-blue eyes. How would that face have changed by now?
My youngest student. The last Jenia I remember was five years old……? Probably. For now, I think of her as my youngest.
At the mention of Jenia, Cesare didn’t laugh but merely scratched the back of his head.
“But I’m not sure if there will be any clues. The Orphanage has been ruined, and no one knew where Jenia had gone.”
“Things might be different this time we go. But…….”
I felt a presence at the forest’s edge. Crunch, crunch. The sound of grass being trampled grew closer.
When I turned my head, semi-transparent blue wolves came walking out. There were ten of them. Slimes were mimicking the form of animals.
I reflexively grabbed my sword, then let it go.
In that moment, Cesare picked up his spear and sprang to his feet. The corners of his mouth curled upward.
“This is something the student should handle. I’ll take care of them.”
He leaped into the midst of the wolves. The Demon Beasts roared in unison and bared their fangs. Blood vessels bulged from Cesare’s knuckles.
―Thrust!
The spear’s tip pierced through the first wolf’s core. Cesare’s eyes gleamed and a cruel smile settled at his lips.
“That’s worth the price of a drink.”
―Shriek!
One by one, two by two. With each pass of the spear, the Demon Beasts lost their form and collapsed. Blue viscous liquid clung heavily to Cesare’s feet.
There was no refined technique. No elegant form. The way of those who survived the streets. Fighting in its rawest state.
Yet because of that, it was all the more overwhelming.
―Growl……!
Just as Cesare was tearing through another wolf, another one lunged from behind. Blood erupted from Cesare’s right arm.
The wolf had sunk its fangs into his arm and twisted its head as if to rip it off. Given its bite force, limbs should tear away easily.
But Cesare’s arm didn’t budge. Instead, he lifted the corners of his mouth as if amused.
“Oh, using tactics?”
―Crack!
His left fist drove through the wolf’s chest. Ignoring the creature’s flailing, he seized its thrashing core.
―Crunch!
The core crumbled easily. The wolf went limp and flowed away like liquid.
The battle was over. Yet Cesare still stood holding his spear. The killing intent in his eyes had not faded. As if he still wanted more.
Then he clasped his hand over his mouth.
“Ah, damn it. I moved so much I think I’m about to…….”
I averted my gaze from Cesare for a moment. Until just now he’d looked rather impressive.
I handed him water from the canteen, which he drained without even stopping to breathe.
“Bloodline cannot be underestimated. To think he’s grown this strong.”
“Even with parents like mine, there’s one thing I’m grateful for. The noble blood they passed down.”
It was a sardonic tone, but probably half-sincere. Cesare understood well enough how important bloodline was in this world.
A strong body, high-purity Magical Power—these are inherited through blood. Special abilities are also likely to be genetic.
Cesare’s Teleportation ability must be heavily influenced by bloodline. He collapsed with exhaustion where he sat.
“Phew, I’m beat. They’re not particularly difficult, but they’re a hassle. They won’t show up again next time, will they?”
“Who knows. If it’s you, you can handle them without difficulty. Better than I could.”
“Huh? Better than me? Master, with your skill it would be one blow.”
Cesare asked, bewildered. I lifted my gaze from pouring Recovery Medicine onto his arm.
“In a certain sense, I am weaker than you are. That is why I need your help.”
Cesare blinked, then asked.
“Is it because your bloodline is inferior?”
This bastard.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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