A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

31 – Children of the Canyon (1)

It is a sunny day.

A clear day with a clear sky without a single cloud and a cool breeze.

“Heo-eok, heo-eok, heo-eok!”

Gibraltar training ground, boys and girls around 10 years old are running in light clothing.

Your head will be sweaty, and sweet smell will probably be flowing from your mouth.

Some people’s eyes were rolling, but none of them stopped walking.

Even if running becomes difficult, do not give up.

Stopping means giving up.

Even if I am not looking through the window on the fourth floor of the mansion, and even if several knights next to me are not watching with wide eyes, they will continue to move their legs.

Only then can you aim to rise in status.

“What is status?”

I moved the chess piece and asked the opponent in front of me.

“Status is power, privilege, and ability.”

Father, the Margrave of Gibraltar moves the horse.

“It’s something you’re born with. If it’s unfair, you can only hope to become a nobleman with talent.”

The black pieces I am already holding are putting pressure on the king, but my father continues to move the knight and eliminate my soldiers one by one.

“But father, do you know that anyone can become a high official in the empire, regardless of status?”

“……!”

While my father was eliminating my knights and bishops, the pawn soldier who made me run forward had already reached the end of the enemy line.

“It’s a promotion-promotion.”

“…With what?”

“Well, I guess it depends on the talent the phone has, right?”

Depending on the time, a piece that has the potential to become a knight, a priest, a chariot – or even a fortress.

There are extreme conditions such as having to infiltrate into the middle of enemy territory and reach the end, but there is happiness only after suffering.

“So what are you going to do?”

“You’re asking the obvious. Of course, it’s queening.”

“……..”

My father frowns.

Next to my king, a queen is already holding on, having eaten several of her father’s pieces.

“Personally, I think the queen is like a sword master in chess. She can move all over the battlefield.”

But the fact that another queen appears in the middle of enemy territory is truly a disaster.

“…But father.”

I pointed to the next piece on the chessboard.

“Aren’t there any extras? This is why she can’t be queen even if she wants to.”

“There cannot be two queens on the battlefield of Gibraltar.”

My father is sitting in the chair and doesn’t move.

“Then, should I cut some pudding and put it on top? This is the queen from now on?”

“Do not pollute your words.”

“If you say this is just a queen like last time, won’t she say ‘I thought it was a phone’ and won’t admit it?”

“I am not such a petty person. Even though you play chess better than me…”

“That’s it. It’s already checkmate.”

Just right.

Tap the queen next to the king with your hand.

“……Oh my.”

Only then did my father realize.

No matter what the promoted subordinate is, the queen’s blade is already looming in the area where one must be aware of the back of the subordinate’s head and avoid it.

“The role of a soldier on the battlefield is to serve as a sword holder for the sword master. However, if you train them well, you can be promoted to one of the eight ranks. hehehe.”

“…Yes. Those are very good words.”

His father picked up the phone that had not been upgraded with a grave expression.

“But this is a story about chess, and people aren’t like that.”

“…….”

“Do you think there are talented kids among them?”

I turn my gaze outside with my father.

Children are still running without even thinking about changing their sweaty shirts.

At the forefront is a 10-year-old boy who is in better condition than others, but would have collapsed quickly if it weren’t for his pride.

In a moment, our eyes met.

I waved lightly to my beloved brother-Noir.

“I’m glad that even he can become a master.”

“Yes. I think the same. Among the children who entered the orphanage, the talent that can become a master is….”

“Nothing.”

I put everything in the storage box, starting with my phone.

“It’s a shame. I thought I could catch at least one person.”

“If we receive this ‘flagship’, we only have 100 people. If we don’t have this again, wouldn’t it be a failed plan?”

“It’s not like the Master is a lottery where only one out of every 100 orphans comes out.”

I openly scolded the father who seemed to be secretly bothering the children.

“Why? Don’t you like it when those kids call their mother ‘godmother’?”

“…….”

“Anyway, the guys behind Noir over there are people who will become knights. We only selected people who were at least low-level knights and who could use mana.”

Among those who enter the orphanage, only children who can become knights participate in training.

“12 People. So far, 90 people have been taken from the orphanage.”

Children who were not good at swordsmanship did not even enter the training hall in the first place.

“Among them, there are 12 children with talent that guarantees them to become at least a low-level knight. Isn’t this a good performance?”

“But even for the oldest one, doesn’t he need three more years to become an adult?”

“Yes. The 10 years that my father set… There are only 7 years left. At that time, most of them will have entered the academy with Noir or have just graduated.”

Three years have already passed.

“It’s okay. The entire budget for the orphanage is received from donations, and I personally run it transparently and fairly.”

“Transparent? Fair?”

“Of course. Isn’t integrity and innocence the foundation of Gibraltar?”

“…I don’t think that’s what a guy who steals gate maintenance rebar to build a basement in a daycare center and uses the children’s hands to fill his back pockets would say.”

“hahahaha, Dad. We’re not doing charity work, are we?”

Although a daycare center is a business, it is by no means a public activity for humanity and welfare.

“Rest assured, all the children growing up in the orphanage will become the strength of Gibraltar. I will make it so.”

“…Is it really effective?”

“You shouldn’t doubt it. You never know, right? Among the orphaned children, there might be a ‘hero’ who can save the kingdom from crisis.”

“…He’s a hero.”

My father let out a chuckle.

“I hope so. So that the hero does not stand in our way, but joins us in bringing down that damn clown.”

“Yes.”

About three years from the day the incompetent king molested her mother and his father decided to rebel and betray the country.

There have been many children who have passed through the orphanage, and the number of children officially enrolled in the orphanage is currently 90.

To date, there is not a single being who can become the Master-Future Hero.

Except for Noir, who had talent from the beginning.

* * *

Boo!

Swing a long baton.

If you insert a spear blade into the end, it will become a spear. Remove the spear blade, hold the pole firmly with both hands, and lightly swing it forward.

Ka-euang!

“Slow.”

“Ugh…!”

This is not a training ground.

This is a separate facility built near the Count’s mansion, and it is a space where no one can enter.

“If it’s in front of the kids, wouldn’t it be better to give up now?”

“aaah!”

Noir, with bloodshot eyes, grabs her wooden sword and runs towards her.

‘Good posture.’

It looks like it is shouting and charging recklessly, but in reality, it is narrowing the distance and digging into the gap between the sticks I am holding.

Faster than I can swing a baton.

I placed the pole at an angle to the side and twisted my body –

“How dare you?”

“What?!”

He held the pole with one hand and hit it on the floor, then swung his free hand sharply and hit Chat Noir’s head from the side.

Bah!

Noir, who was trying to swing his sword, fell and fell.

“The sparring is over.”

Since he was hit not on the cheek but on the temple and head, Noir was pinned to the floor of the training hall and was unable to get up for a long time.

He didn’t die.

But my pride is dead, and I am so embarrassed that I can’t get up now.

“Noir, I heard you told the kids at the orphanage that I could win no matter what?”

I flinch.

“That’s a good attitude. Keep working hard like that. Of course, the kids at the orphanage are measuring me without even knowing the topic-“

“I, I will punish you!!”

Noir suddenly stood up and shouted.

“I will crack down on everything so that nonsense doesn’t come out behind my back!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I put down the baton and approached Noir.

“Anytime, anywhere-“

Boo!

“I don’t give up.”

“Huh?!”

Noir unexpectedly stabbed me with his sword, but I dodged it to the side and pulled on the front of Noir’s clothes.

“It was a good attempt. There was still a long way to go.”

Looking down at 10-year-old Noir.

Although I am taller than when I was 10, I have also grown quite a bit over the past three years.

“If you ever let your guard down, you have to plunge a knife into his heart. Hmm. What kind of praise did you say you had to do to earn it?”

“Rain, you coward….”

“Yes, that’s it. f*ck Nostrum’s spirit of chivalry.”

They throw handkerchiefs, show all kinds of courtesy, and look at each other with swords, stabbing each other just enough not to kill each other.

“Because chivalry doesn’t work in real combat, understand?”

“Uh, huh….”

“Good. Let’s do well in the future, just like now.”

I lightly patted the area I had hit earlier with my hand and then stepped back.

“When the swelling goes down, take a shower and go say hello to your mother. No matter what, take a shower. No matter what.”

“Ah, I understand… I will do that….”

Noir left his sparring room feeling very intimidated.

He glanced at me for a moment as he dragged his legs out, but I just responded with a smile and gave Noir a thumbs up.

‘How dare you?’

It may be the future that I trained at the academy, but I cannot surpass the current me that I have trained in earnest since I was 10 years old.

‘You are 10 years old and I am 13 years old. Now.’

After the age of 20, the difference of one year is not large, but during the growth period, the difference of one year is as big as heaven and earth.

‘The guy who hasn’t even gotten to the point yet.’

Moreover, a guy who doesn’t even have proper secondary s*xual characteristics can’t beat me, who has already reached the stage of metamorphosis and is gradually starting to develop a physique.

‘It may be a little bigger, though.’

Eat well, sleep well, and move well.

Based on the Empire’s advanced child nutrition, I focused on physical development from the moment I returned to the past.

‘It’s still too early to train the muscles, but the skeleton is definitely expanding.’

What was it like when you were 13?

I think he was probably similar in height to the current Noir.

‘A lot has changed.’

My body and the Count family have changed a lot.

Gibraltar has changed so much in just three years that it is impossible to do anything within the mansion based on past information.

‘It’s changed so much that it’s hard to tell everything that happened one by one.’

One. Gorge.

The skybridge has been maintained.

At the same time, the feasibility review for the elevator installation project was approved, and a large-scale budget is scheduled to be implemented soon.

Two. Nursery school.

In addition to the 4-story building above ground, a 7-story building with a separate 3-story basement was created.

Just on the ground level, up to 100 full-time daycare residents can accommodate and board, and about 30 daycare staff are employed to look after the children.

Three. Children in orphanage.

12 Talented people will be raised as knights to guard Noir.

I have plans for the remaining children, but the time is not yet right.

And four, the mansion.

The biggest change for our Earl of Gibraltar.

Not only will we talk about the previous three points, but even if we compare it to before the regression, we will ask ourselves, ‘Is it this far?’ There was a big distortion that made you wonder.

It is-

Rattling!

“Oppa—!”

A girl in a white dress, with white hair and sparkling red eyes, burst through the door of the sparring hall.

“Don’t run. Don’t hug me.”

“Why?”

“You can’t sweat. You have to be next to your mother.”

“Tch….”

If I hadn’t warned her, this lively, tomboyish little sister would have come running right in and hit me –

“Lettar.”

Gibraltar (7 years old).

“How is your mother now?”

“Well, stay in bed!”

“…Who is the youngest?”

“Did they kick me from the inside?!”

The girl is no longer the youngest.

“Dad said her youngest child was listening inside!”

“I guess so. Maybe. I can’t remember.”

I threw the baton aside at Lettar, who approached me with sparkling eyes, then wiped the sweat from his hands with a handkerchief and patted Lettar’s head.

“Heeheehee….”

“You don’t do this to Noir.”

“But Noir is Noir, and Oppa is Oppa.”

“…….”

Before the regression, he followed Noir more than me.

I thought the two would become closer after the day of the declaration of treason, but I guess the shock of that time didn’t really hit Letard.

Because he’s 4 years old?

Well.

‘Even if time has changed, the tendencies humans have since birth do not change.’

For Letard, seeing blood may not have been such a scary thing.

Gray, noir, lettar.

If you were to ask me which of the three before regression had the most cruel tendencies, I would definitely choose Lettar.

‘What will happen?’

If I leave this child alone, will she be begging me to buy her a whip and candles, or will she grow up to be a naive countess that I can’t help but find strange?

‘You will grow up on your own.’

Childrearing is not my responsibility, it is the responsibility of my parents, especially my mother.

However, at least as a family that shares the same blood and as Gibraltar, we can at least demonstrate some level of familial love.

“Lettar.”

“Huh?”

“Even if my younger brother is born, I shouldn’t hate him or anything?”

“Of course! Because I’m not Noir!”

“…….”

History may change.

“Oh, bye. Oppa, look at me. The kids are in the garden.”

“Kids?”

“Yes! New kids coming in this time.”

“Ah…Children who might become the last riders.”

A new member of the nursery.

My father declared that after finishing with just 100 people, ‘I will not waste any more resources.’

“I think it would be good if we could bring more kids….”

“Do you like ‘Children of the Canyon’, Letard?”

“Yeah! I’m glad we all became friends! hehehehe. They’re all my friends!”

“Are we friends?”

It is a good sign that Lettar is developing social skills by becoming friendly with the children at the orphanage.

But just like what my father said and what I said, I can’t leave this money-eating hippopotamus forever.

“It’s a shame. This is the last time for these kids….”

“You never know. If the orphanage is proven to be effective, we might build a new one.”

* * *

Should I laugh?

Or should I cry?

History changes, and although I don’t believe in fate, sometimes ‘bad fate’ seems to act as an inevitability.

“Oppa. Looks like that guy over there is always looking at me?”

“…….”

Disheveled platinum blonde hair.

And the dark purple eyes that appeared just below them.

“Oh, brother…?”

“Ah, that’s right. I may have fallen in love with Lettar at first sight.”

Future.

“He’s like an abandoned wolf.”

While suffering from being tortured by Letar, the guy who killed Letar came in.

“…Huh.”

‘Bloody White’, who enjoyed torturing knights of the fallen kingdom to death, is the future hero who killed Lettar Gibraltar.

“It’s fun.”

With the talent of a master.