My Disciples Became Scoundrels - Chapter 66

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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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Time.
For Bella, that word was a curse. Frozen eternally at seven years old, the future had never come.
But the moment Dein took her hand on the Snowy Plain, that eternal childhood ended.
Even now, Dein was reaching out his hand to her, asking for her time.
Bella moved her feet. Instead of stepping back, she stepped forward. She took his hand.
It was as warm as it had been then. He drew her toward him, toward where he stood.
“From now on, I will be with you through all of your time.”
Hands soaked in blood grasped each other. Dein began to walk slowly.
Bella did not let go. She simply walked quietly at his side, not knowing where this path would lead.
Yet two things she could be certain of: that she was walking toward the direction of her future, and that Dein would be there in that future with her.
12. Jakryeol
Bella’s favorite food had always been strawberries.
Even though she was not a child who would say what she liked, her eyes would sparkle whenever she saw a Strawberry Cake.
So I had always thought that when Bella came home, I would prepare her favorite foods. At a table where we all gathered together.
As I had wished, the four of us sat around the table. Arkel, Cesare, Jenia, and Bella.
A Strawberry Cake was placed on the table. Bella stared down at it for a long moment before speaking.
“Master.”
“What is it?”
“I like strawberries, but I’m not obsessed with them.”
Beside the Strawberry Cake sat a strawberry tart, strawberry juice, strawberry sandwich, strawberry pancake, strawberry jam, and more.
I hadn’t intended to go this far. My disciples had simply been a bit overzealous when I asked them to buy strawberries.
“The room alone is like this. How could the wallpaper, furniture, and bedding all be pink?”
“You liked that strawberry color when you were younger.”
“Did you forget I’m twenty-five? Even if I were ten, I would have been shocked seeing that room.”
Perhaps I had decorated it too lavishly. In my heart, Bella was still ten years old.
I would have been happy if I could have been at her side all that time. Even as I thought this, my disciples chimed in with their own comments.
“Master prepared this all for you. Don’t complain.”
“Hey, we stood in line to buy these. You’re not going to eat them?”
“I decorated that room myself. Sister, is it not that you dislike pink, but rather that a tentacle monster like me decorated it?”
She seemed ready to ignore the barrage of complaints, but in the end, Bella gave in. She irritably began eating the cake.
“You all talk too much. Just eat your strawberries.”
Watching my disciples gathered around the table bickering with one another made me laugh more than anything else.
We had met after fifteen years, yet there was no emotional embrace, no awkwardness or self-consciousness.
It felt as if we had been doing this just yesterday, or the day before. I removed a strawberry from the top of the cake and placed it on Bella’s plate. Surely she would like this.
“It’s nice to gather like this. I wish we could find Hayden soon too.”
I imagined Hayden joining this noisy gathering. Cesare, who had been eating with cream smudged at the corner of his mouth, spoke.
“We’ve scraped together enough money, but the information broker disappeared, so there’s a problem. All his shops burned down, of all things.”
After returning to Aspenheim, I went straight to the jeweler’s shop. But all that greeted us was charred remains.
Those around us called it an accident, but it did not appear that way to me.
Diar is a capable information broker. He has just as many enemies as he has skills. He would have been thoroughly prepared against threats.
Yet if the jeweler’s shop burned and he disappeared, it meant the opponent was no ordinary foe.
My disciples wore expressions of considerable disappointment. I spoke gently to Jenia.
“We’ll find him soon. We found Bella too, didn’t we?”
“That’s true. Now that sister’s here too. Come to think of it…….”
Jenia looked at Bella and asked.
“Sister, do you know where Hayden went? It seems like something might have changed when he regressed.”
“I don’t know. The first time I died was when I was sixteen, and Hayden had already disappeared before then.”
Sixteen. At such a young age, Bella had died. I could not bring myself to ask how, when Cesare opened his mouth.
“How did you die at sixteen? Was it the Guardians?”
“Yes. You were killed alongside me at that time.”
Cesare, who had been eating with cream smudged at his lips, blinked his eyes.
“Then that would be when I was eighteen? Nothing happened then.”
“I stopped it.”
Her tone was matter-of-fact. It was Cesare who seemed taken aback.
“You? You’re weak.”
“After dying about ten times, you learn tricks. There were a few crises after that, and I managed to resolve them one way or another.”
Ten times. She must have died ten times, and truth be told, likely far more.
Bella died ten times so that Cesare could live. Weak in strength and weak in magical power, Bella had been preventing countless tragedies alone.
And yet Cesare’s expression was strangely sullen, neither moved nor saddened by this truth.
“Why didn’t you say anything? You could’ve asked us for help. Acting like a weakling.”
Bella’s brow furrowed at his words. Her expression turned decidedly unpleasant.
“I don’t need to be a muscle-bound oaf like you to pull it off. I could’ve managed alone—so why would I ask for help?”
“You nearly died this time too.”
“There’s a next time. If I’d kept going alone, I could’ve done it in a few dozen attempts.”
Cesare bristled and started to raise his voice, but Arkel lifted a hand to stop him. He looked at Bella and spoke.
“Stubbornly insisting you can do everything alone is foolish. That’s pride, Bella. If we’d all worked together, it would’ve been done in one or two tries.”
It bordered on harsh speech. Yet somehow, coming from Arkel, it carried a different weight.
Cesare and Jenia both turned to look at Arkel. He met their gaze.
“What are you looking at?”
“Well, the older brother who went off to prison alone, swearing he’d handle everything, only to get swindled and beaten senseless—hearing him say that is a bit…….”
“So the older brother’s stubbornness was pride too, wasn’t it?”
My disciples had voiced exactly what I’d been about to say, so I kept quiet.
Arkel looked at me as if struck. His expression asked whether that was truly the case.
“I was upset when you placed restrictions on yourself in the Fighting Arena. I suppose you could call that pride as well.”
I spoke while dividing my share of cake among them. Arkel’s eyes narrowed.
“Was I truly at fault?”
“Eat your cake.”
“Master, why do you keep insisting we have cake…….”
“Eat.”
In the end, Arkel could offer no further protest and began eating. At the sight of this, Bella giggled.
“And you’re in no position to lecture me?”
It seemed like a jest, but her breathing carried something comfortable. A memory from childhood flickered to mind.
It was a pleasant sight. I wished these moments could continue forever, but I knew they wouldn’t. I recalled what Bella had told me.
“The Guardians kept killing us. I don’t know why.”
The Guardians pursued us relentlessly. Yet their reason remained entirely obscure. I had made enemies in various places, but why the children?
Was Hayden in danger right now as well? While I was caught in such thoughts, I heard a knock.
“A visitor? Who could it be?”
Jenia opened the door to find a postal courier. She held up the letter she’d received.
“It’s from the Management Bureau, Master.”
“Read it to me.”
With a small clearing of her throat, Jenia read through the letter carefully and distinctly.
“This week, a large-scale expedition is scheduled for Jakryeol. Since Balanus Domus has no record of prior participation, mandatory attendance is required this year.”
Jakryeol?
I’d never heard the name before. I asked my disciples.
“Do any of you know what kind of place Jakryeol is? It sounds like somewhere that appeared recently.”
At my question, Cesare, Jenia, and Arkel merely blinked once.
“I was in prison, so I wouldn’t know.”
“I was being controlled, so I have no information.”
“Hmm, I feel like I heard something about it. Was it when I was drinking…….”
They were all rather out of touch with the world. Then I heard Bella sigh.
“It’s a Dungeon that appeared three years ago. It’s only a single-floor Dungeon, but the interior is so vast that finding the Boss takes a long time. There are also many monsters.”
All the disciples turned to look at Bella. Cesare laughed and began patting her shoulder firmly.
“Good to have an information specialist on hand, eh? Ow!”
“Don’t touch me. Think about your size.”
Bella pinched the back of Cesare’s hand without mercy. He grimaced but eventually withdrew his hand.
“It’s not an easy Dungeon, but there’s no harm in participating. If the organization that performs well is Silver Rank or below, they grant a promotion.”
An organization’s rank is divided into Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Black Opal, White Opal, and Star Opal. We were still Bronze Rank. Jenia’s eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
“Does this mean we could advance to Silver Rank this time?”
“It would seem so.”
“If we become famous, Hayden will find his way to Balanus, won’t he?”
I nodded. That was one of my goals—to build Balanus into a formidable organization.
To become strong enough to stand against the Guardians.
And to become renowned enough that Hayden could hear of us, even if he remained far away.
If a Domus became so famous that its name reached this country, the continent, and even foreign lands…….
It was possible Hayden was dead or had lost his memory, but I buried that possibility.
Given this situation, we had to win at Jakryeol. I turned to Bella.
“Do you know much about this Dungeon?”
“Of course. I’ve done multiple Regressions through it.”
Bella spoke with her arms crossed, her expression unbending.
“Trust only in me, Master.”

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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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