The Legendary Spearman Returns

Side Story Chapter 321

One year later, Cain was still in Hubalt despite his original plans. He dedicated most of his time to training, but he wasn’t alone—that wasn’t how he wanted to spend the twilight of his life.

Cain and Lilith exchanged their last attack. As the sparks settled, they backed away from each other and bowed.

“Phew...” Cain stretched his neck. “You seem to get better day after day, somehow.”

“It was a pleasure to spar with you.”

Their skills were on par with each other, so it was hard to tell who would win if they put their hearts into it. That was why they could also learn a lot from each other. After spending a year sparring with each other, they knew each other like the back of their hand.

“I never thought you could counter my last horizontal slash like that,” Lilith wondered.

“Due to your lack of physical strength, you made a habit of relying on your techniques at crucial moments. You’re already strong, so if you took my attack head-on, you would have had three more ways to fight back.”

“I learned something new today too. Thank you as always.”

“No problem.” Cain wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Here. Use this.” Lilith handed him a flower-patterned handkerchief, which smelled faintly of her.

“By the way, have you gone to those club meetings I introduced you to?” she innocently asked.

“I have, but they weren't to my taste.”

“That’s strange. I checked the club members myself, and there were a lot of young, beautiful bachelorettes...”

“I didn’t find anyone who I felt attracted to. “

Lilith grinned. “Do you realize that your standards are sky-high?”

“I do.”

“Then you need to lower them a little to find your date.”

“At this point in my life, I don’t really want to date someone if I have to lower my standards.”

“Can you cut me some slack, please?” Lilith gave him a look of disbelief. “Do you know how difficult it is to find a girlfriend for a grandpa in his sixties?”

“I can say the same thing to you. Why do you bother sparring with a grandpa? Every bone aches because of my age.”

“For my country, of course. It’s a harsh world, and new rebels might show up any day.”

“Not many people in this country would be able to stand up to you.”

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Lilith shrugged. “Better safe than sorry. What about you, Sir Cain? You’re already retired, so why bother with these workouts? Why do you always say yes when I ask you to spar with me?”

“I’m still a knight. I guess it’s fun in its own way; it’s not easy to have fun like this during retirement.”

“I agree with that.“

Cain gave her a long, thoughtful look. “...Do you remember our conversation before? About how we’re the same.”

“I do.”

“Then... would you like to try dating me?”

Lilith’s head went blank.

Eventually, she managed to ask, “Is this a love confession? This is more sudden than a bolt out of the blue.”

“Well... I guess you could call that that.”

Lilith smacked her forehead in frustration. “Oh, my goodness. What happened to waiting for the right timing and setting up a romantic mood? I finally realized why you couldn’t find a date.”

“Nothing I can do about it. This is who I am.”

“Are you aware that I had feelings for your master? In fact, I did for a very long time. ”

“Yeah, I know. I was there at the time.”

“But you’re still okay with it?”

“Why would that bother me? It was more like a one-sided crush; it’s not like you two dated.”

Lilith sighed exasperatedly. “...You aren’t wrong, but that kind of hurts my pride. It’s awkward to admit, but back in the day, I could fill the capital with people who wanted me.”

“Alright. But why did you think I would care about it?”

“I just... I just thought a loyal knight like you would feel guilty.”

Cain chuckled. “I’m a lot more shameless than I look.”

“I can tell.” Lilith giggled.

“Although I’m worried about my readers... I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“...Pardon? Your readers?” Lilith tilted her head in confusion.

“Ah, did I not tell you that I’ve recently taken up writing as a hobby?”

“I didn’t know you had an interest in writing.”

“I’m writing about my master,” Cain answered.

Lilith’s eyes widened slightly.

“He isn’t here anymore, so I wanted his story to live on at least,” Cain quietly explained. “That will make his sacrifice mean something.”

“...You’re a good person. I envy Josuha for having you.”

“It’s not too late. This is your chance to get this charming knight as your boyfriend.”

“You really have no conscience, do you?”

Cain burst into laughter.

“Even if it wasn’t for my master, I always liked stories about heroes and I wanted to write one myself when I had the chance.” Cain looked up at the sky. “Every man’s heart pounds when he reads a story about a hero ruling over the world with many beautiful women by his side. But I happened to have such a hero as my master, so I have to live my dream.”

“You’re still a child at heart.”

“Anyhow, my readers will understand even if the protagonist’s loyal knight goes out with one of those beautiful women.”

“That’s a compliment, right?” Lilith asked with her eyes narrowed.

“Yes, of course. You can quote me on that.”

Lilith couldn’t believe him, but it didn’t feel unpleasant.

“To be honest, I thought you would end up with Her Majesty Icarus.”

“Everyone did. That’s why I’m going to write about it, so I can feel less guilty and create a good excuse about seducing you.”

“You’re more cunning than I thought.”

“I try not to be, but I’m going to be cunning and slack off from time to time. It’s about time, isn’t it?”

“Other people might buy it, but I don’t,” Lilith said. She didn't know anyone who was more diligent than Cain was. Although he was already at a high level, he never skipped a day of training nor even shortened the long hours.

“I’m going to put down my obligations and duties, so I—no, let’s be happy from now on.” Cain took a step forward, looking a bit nervous. “So would you like to go out with me?”

Lilith pretended to ponder for a moment before holding her sword up and grinning. “Let’s go for another round before I give you my answer.”

Cain frowned. “...I wanted to have a date, but it looks like I’m going to be a swordsman for the rest of my life.”

“What can I say? It must be your destiny.”

The training ground got hot again.

*

After over a year since his coronation, Selim was now a well-respected ruler, but he himself was extremely stressed.

Iruca looked at him with her arms crossed and a scowl on her lips. “Recite the seventh sentence in the first chapter of The Emperor.”

“...The emperor should prioritize his people’s safety in all choices.”

“Yet you ask me such a silly question?”

“I don’t understand. If we build a fortress on our border, our people would naturally—”

“You’d need people to build the fortress, wouldn’t you? Aren’t they also people of Avalon?”

Selim realized that it was time for Iruca’s daily nagging, so he stopped trying to argue.

“Can’t you just handle this on your own?” he grumbled. “I want to go out and practice my sp—”

“My, my. How irresponsible. That’s not what you would expect from an emperor.”

“...Damn you, Kireua...”

Iruca looked around to check that no one was around them before turning back to Selim and giving him a look of disgust. “Your Majesty, you don’t need to bother bad mouthing Kireua. He’s busy as hell too—and do you think I enjoy being here? Let me be frank here: I’m busier than you. All of the Queen Consorts retired on the same day, so I’m handling all of their work too!”

Not many people would have realized, but the former Queen Consorts had handled a lot of responsibilities. They had to greet the noble ladies, regularly host balls, and assist the emperor in national affairs. On top of that, Iruca had also taken Icarus’s position as the head strategist of Avalon, so she had more work than she could complete in twenty-four hours these days.

“So take it up with them, not me!”

“Then let me retire too!” Iruca shrieked.

Selim immediately shook his head. “No way in hell. You aren’t letting me suffer alone.”

“Forget it. I’m going to give you a list today, so choose one and get married as soon as possible.”

“What...”

“I’m not going to fill in for our mothers forever, and I don’t care if you're the emperor! I won’t hear any excuses, so pick one! Today!” Iruca almost flipped the bird at the reigning emperor of Avalon because no one was around, but she managed to hold herself back.

“...Now I get why Father did it. It would be easier to fight the Demon Spirit.”

“It’s too late for that,” Iruca scoffed as she walked away from the throne.

“...Maybe I really should run away tonight?”

Selim was his father’s son. He didn’t like the throne, which came with a lot of responsibilities as well as power; it was like he was wearing clothes that weren’t his.

“I miss you even more today, Father.”

Selim stood up from the throne. He decided to reach out to his mother today. It had been a while, and he’d heard that his mother had made progress with her research.