The Imperial Supreme Commander Has Returned - Chapter 64

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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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The Imperial Commander Returns Episode 64

Delram studied the Detection Device and nodded to himself.

“This place is clean.”

He hadn’t thought a demon would be lurking in Gulles anyway.
Still, just to be thorough, he’d come to the slums—the most likely place to hide.
If a demon were anywhere in Gulles, it would be here.

No one would care if a few people vanished.
With the population constantly shifting, bodies went unnoticed.
And the malice and despair the slums bred in abundance—that was exactly what demons craved.

But the scan was clear. The Magical Aura read pure.
No trace of a demon.

‘Maybe the Commander just added this place out of habit?’

The dispatch map the Commander had shown him.
After returning to the Vistache Mansion, Delram had looked into each location on it.
And he’d found a common thread running through every single city.

‘Every last one carries at least some whiff of treason.’

Gulles was no exception.
Years ago, the lord of Gulles had discovered a gold mine.
The problem was that kingdom law held all mines as royal property.
Which meant he owed seventy percent of the yield to the king.

But the greedy lord couldn’t stomach those terms.
He’d tried to mine in secret—and been caught red-handed.
The royal court’s fury was immediate and total.

Stripped of his title—it was only a matter of time.
So the lord had chosen war as his path to survival.

Not a rebellion against the crown, mind you.
He’d pledged his soldiers to the king’s invasion campaign instead.
Both his eldest and second sons rode with them.
A gesture of loyalty, a plea for clemency.
And Leosax II had been gracious enough to forgive him.

‘The problem was, both sons died in the war.’

Killed in the opening stages, the both of them, side by side.
The depth of the lord’s resentment was beyond calculation.
Yes, it had been ten years. Yes, it was his own choices that had killed them. But would any parent accept that?

So: Gulles had no demon.
That left only the knights’ estates and smaller villages to sweep.
Ten days, at most, to finish the work.

“You’ve returned, brother,” a voice called.
“I have, Priest.”

After finishing his Detection sweep, Delram had made his way to the Temple.
The Priest of the Illumination Church greeted him with a warm, benevolent smile.

Ordinarily, Delram would have had to stay in one of two places.
The lord’s mansion, or the garrison barracks.

But there was no garrison here.
He would naturally have owed a debt to the lord, but he decided against it.
He didn’t want to give unnecessary grounds for suspicion.

‘The way I tore through the Slave Trading Post…’

Especially that Intermediate-rank Knight he’d seen there.
It was only recently he’d been startled by the sudden appearance of such a skilled fighter.
Which meant the lord was likely backing the Slave Trading Post, and if he were discovered, things might not end well.
There was another reason besides, if he was being honest.

“Brother, those four have decided to return to their homeland.”
“A difficult decision.”
“At first they were afraid, but they said they missed their families. You distributed the funds generously, and I’ve written them a letter of introduction to the Priest here, so they should fare well.”
“Let’s hope so.”

The people Delram had rescued from the Human Trafficking Ring.
He’d sent most of them straight from the Mountain Stronghold to their homes.
The Slave Trading Post was in Gulles—to go that way?
That would be tying a noose around their own lives.

Fortunately, the Mountain Stronghold had plenty of provisions.
With Delram distributing some Gold Coins as well, they all departed quickly.

The problem lay with the four who’d endured torment for so long.
Their minds weren’t even whole—there was no way they could travel.
So Delram decided to bring them himself.

But they weren’t children; how was Delram supposed to care for adults?
In the end, he revealed his status as a Paladin and came to the Temple here.

Fortunately, the Priest proved to be a warm-hearted soul.
With devoted care, the Priest tended to the four until their minds cleared.
Now he was talking about sending them home and all the rest.

“I’m grateful for your help. To be honest, I’m not very skilled at these matters.”
“Surely the Illumination Goddess has ordained that different people do different work? Caring for such souls is my calling and my gift, so entrust them to me and attend to what you do best.”
“Thank you.”

Delram bowed to the Priest and turned to leave.
He was quite exhausted from prowling through the city in secrecy.
So now he should return to his room to rest—

“Wow! It’s Delram!”
“Big brother’s here!”

—except that was impossible.
He was surrounded by children with bright, eager eyes.

“…Damn.”

* * *

The Gulles branch of the Illumination Church.
In the Temple’s rear courtyard, Delram stood rigid as stone.
Surrounded by children.

“Brother! Are you a knight?”
“Your sword is so cool! You must be a knight.”
“I like mages better, though…….”

The children chattered away, each with their own remark.
Small, light voices, and endearingly shrill.
But there were some twenty of them, ranging from seven to ten years old.
And whenever one spoke, the others rushed to add something more, as if competing for air.
Listening to them long enough, you felt your brain beginning to fray.

When he thought about it, Delram had never had much to do with children.
The places where Delram spent most of his time were battlefields, pure and simple.
Children had no business being anywhere near such places.
And he’d never fathered any offspring of his own, either…….
For Delram, children were perhaps the most foreign thing in all of life.

‘But why are they crowding around me……?’

What was strange was the children’s reaction to him.
Shouldn’t they be afraid when he stood there impassive and grim?
Yet oddly, the moment he appeared, they gathered and chattered like this.
Three days straight of it—it was utterly baffling.

‘And there’s nothing I can do about it.’

If he lost his temper or snapped at them, he could probably drive them away.
But it was hard to bring himself to do that.

Delram’s disposition was classically harsh toward all—the strong and weak alike.
He was tough on the strong and tough on the weak.
A soldier—what did it matter to him whether the other side was strong or weak?
Orders came down; the moment they blocked his path, he simply crushed them.

But even that had its limits.
How could he come down hard on creatures so small and fragile?
They looked like they’d shatter if he so much as touched them.

Doing such a thing would strip him of his humanity.
In the end, Delram decided to try another tack—open his mouth and say something.

“Well, yes. I’m a knight. But right now I’m rather busy, so…….”
“That’s a lie! You just slept in your room all day yesterday.”
“That’s because I came back tired from work.”
“The sun’s still up! The Priest said sleeping while the sun is out makes you lazy! So you have to play with us!”

The children glanced at each other as if to say, ‘See? We’re right.’
There, the Priest was wearing a gentle, amused smile.

With every excuse stripped away, Delram let out a sigh.
It seemed his fate was to give in and humor them.

“Fine. Let’s play. But what should we play?”
“Me! I want to play knights!”
“Can you show us your sword?”
“Nothing dangerous, though…….”
“Come on.”

Delram was thinking again.
What on earth was he supposed to do with these kids?

To be honest, he’d never really understood what leisure meant in the first place.
Drinking, getting drunk, dancing, singing.
Then men and women pairing off and slipping away to some shadowed corner.
Or perhaps that war game he’d played with the Rune Master in the Toolung Kingdom?

That was the extent of “play” as Delram knew it.
Here he was, a nobleman who’d risen to the pinnacle of the empire, and this was all he had to show for it.
What good were power and rank?
When he didn’t even know how to savour life itself.

A wave of self-loathing washed over him at the thought of how he’d squandered his existence.
Then something surfaced in his mind.

‘Isn’t it play if both sides just enjoy themselves?’

Whether this qualified as play, he wasn’t certain.
But it was undoubtedly one of the things he did best.

Moreover, the children would genuinely love it.
And if they learned it well, it would serve them throughout their lives.
Delram turned to the children with a question.

“You said you wanted to become knights, didn’t you?”
“Yes! We want to wield the Holy Sword of the Radiant God and slay Demon Dragons!”
“I want to be a mage though…”
“Mages aren’t my forte. But I do know how to become a knight. Would you like me to teach you?”
“Really!?”
“Come on then. Line up in a single file in front of me.”

At Delram’s words, the children scrambled to obey.
The same ones who moments ago had barely listened now moved with remarkable speed.
Almost like raw military recruits.

Delram chuckled softly as he examined each child in turn.
Not merely with his eyes.
He called them forward one by one, took their hands, and poured Mana into them.
A minute quantity, infused with elemental properties.

“Do you feel something prickling in your hand?”
“Yes, it’s a strange sensation…”
“Is it cold or hot?”
“Um… it’s cold.”
“Good. Now feel this.”
“It’s like holding a heavy stone.”
“Excellent. Stand in the third line over there.”

Delram sorted the children into rows this way.
Based on their responses, he arranged them from the first line through the fifth.

Each person possessed their own suited Mana Technique.
Those with a fiery temperament needed a slow but stable Mana Technique.
Conversely, those with a cold nature required an unstable but swift one.

This was why Mana Techniques were typically inherited at the household level.
A household, after all, was a collection of people with similar constitutions.
Naturally, an ancestor’s Mana Technique was likely to suit later generations as well.
Through this, the household grew stronger and more prosperous.

“This is important, so I can’t teach it all at once. Which is why each of you must remember your line number.”
“Then I’m number two!”
“I’ve got five.”
“Good job. I’ll remember too, so ask again if you get confused.”

A child thrust his hand up eagerly.

“When can I become a knight?”
“I’m going to teach you the method starting now. I’ll teach number one first. Then number two in an hour, and number three an hour after that.”
“But that takes forever……”
“To become a knight, you need strong patience. And since I’m teaching each of you according to what your body can handle, you absolutely cannot change the order. If you ask a friend to teach you instead and learn from them, you’ll turn into a Magical Beast like a goblin.”
“Whoa! A goblin?!”

The children shrieked and bounced up and down.
Under normal circumstances, the Priest would have had to calm them.
They might fall over, and besides, Delram was a guest.
No matter how kind-hearted, there were times when strictness and proper manners had to be taught.

But the Priest had no mind for that now.
Instead, he approached Delram while trying hard to mask the tremor in his eyes.
Then, so the children couldn’t hear, he mouthed the words silently.

—You’re not… joking, are you?

Why would I be?
Delram answered with a sly grin instead of words.

The Priest’s eyes widened in shock at the confirmation.
Regardless, Delram turned to the children.

“Alright, number one—let’s head inside.”
“Hurry!”

Yes.
What Delram did best.
What the children loved.
And what would serve them well in life later on.

‘Want to be a knight? Then I’ll just teach them the Mana Technique.’

Delram smiled contentedly.
Even by his own measure, it was a stroke of genius.

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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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