How The Sub-Male Lead’s Stepmother Teaches Love

“What do you want to ask? shamans?”

 

“Yes. It seems like you noticed it too.”

 

“Everyone is talking about that, so how can I not know? Besides, the number of monsters has definitely increased noticeably this year.”

 

It’s been exactly three years since Catherine joined the Heilang knights and began fighting the barbarians together in Hiyela. With that kind of experience, it’s almost impossible to say that this year’s situation was different from previous years.

 

However, it was not an exaggeration to say that she knew the Barbarians best because Catherine was born there.

 

“It seems like the number of shamans has also increased considerably.….It’s fascinating. It’s said that shamans are harder to raise than warriors.”

 

“Speaking of that, how long does it take to raise enough shamans to be deployed in battle?”

 

“I know it usually takes ten years, but there was a genius in my village who mastered monster control in just one year.”

 

“A year?”

 

“Hmm, but when he received the wand, the village held a party to announce that a genius had been born. I don’t think it’s a common occurrence, usually, it takes about ten years.”

 

Catherine must have guessed that the story would be long, so she took out a piece of beef jerky from the magic bag on her waist and started chewing it.

 

Under normal circumstances, that would never happen.

 

But instead of yelling at her for what she was doing, Leonhard threw her his bottle of water to drink.

 

As long as they follow the rules within the knights and do their job well, Leonhard is a very generous superior.

 

“Today, I see that the number of high-level monsters that shamans control has increased significantly. What level does a shaman have to be to control high-level monsters?”

 

“Well, I’m not sure about that.…”

 

Because she was trained as a warrior from a very young age, Catherine lacked knowledge about shamans compared to others.

 

If she hadn’t had a shaman friend, she wouldn’t have known this much. 

 

Catherine, who was blankly remembering with her eyes filled with hatred, suddenly said, “Ah.”

 

“I once heard a story about a high-level shaman.”

 

“A high-level shaman?”

 

“Yeah. Originally, shamans could only control monsters they had brainwashed, but it was said that monsters brainwashed by a high-level shaman could transfer their mental control to another shaman. Then, even a low-level shaman can control mid-level monsters, and even a mid-level shaman can control high-level monsters.”

 

If so, the rapidly increasing number of high-level monsters could be explained.

 

The Great Patriarch’s seed had dried up, and the Great Shaman had risen among the barbarians, who had barely kept witchcraft alive by the traces he left behind.

 

When the chieftain’s seed dried up, a shaman appeared among the barbarians who had barely continued the tradition of shamanism through the traces they left behind.

 

‘Wasn’t A high shaman just another word for chieftain? Could it be the owner of the bloodstone….’ 

 

‘If the leader of the wizards who disturbed the capital of the empire were barbarians, this would be a big problem.’

 

This means that the Hiyela Gate alone can no longer confine them to the White Land.

 

“I heard that they can obtain some kind of great magic stone and use its power to become a shaman or something like that.”

 

“When?”

 

“When I was a child. But it said that they had difficulty controlling the power, and it would take time to become a shaman. That was over ten years ago…” 

 

“A great magic stone?”

 

“I don’t know either. Because it wasn’t something within our tribe.”

 

‘Exactly which tribe was the story about?’

 

Catherine, who was muttering to herself, raised her head and looked at Leonhard.

 

“Why don’t we take a look?”

 

“What?”

 

Leonhard, who was worried about the great magic stone that could make people become a shaman, raised his head and looked at Catherine.

 

Catherine, who had chewed up all the beef jerky she was holding and gulped down the water, looked at him and said in an easy voice.

 

“I will sneak over and see if the real shaman has appeared. I’m originally from there, so I won’t get caught.”

 

“You are just kidding…right?” 

 

Leonhard was speechless with disbelief.

 

“’The red-haired traitor’. You probably don’t know that your story is famous among the barbarians.”

 

“What’s famous is ‘red hair.’ Well, I can just dye it black.” 

 

Catherine smoothed out her now short hair with her fingertips as if it wasn’t difficult.

 

“It just so happens that Clary created such a tool. A ring that can change our hair and eye color just by putting it on our hand.”

 

“So she didn’t make the scroll she was told to make but did something else. I’d punish her for that.”

 

The things Clary made were always used in places where they were needed, so there was no reason to punish her.

 

Leonhard laughed briefly, recalling Sage’s exasperated voice saying that the reason Clary was able to join Ajas’ wizards was not because of her skills in making magic tools, but because she was lucky enough to be there.

 

“Good…then, I’ll order a reconnaissance of the White Land. Do you want me to assign someone?”

 

“No. I’m comfortable alone. If I take white kids with me, the barbarians will find out that they are citizens of the empire.” 

 

Catherine said with a grin on her face without any malice, taking off her half-gloves on her hands to reveal her tattoo.

 

This tattoo, which she always hides in case her origins are discovered by the people of the empire, will actually prove her identity in the White Land.

 

As she mentally plotted a course of action to avoid her hometown, she gasped at the sudden realization.

 

“Can you give me a reward if I complete this mission well?”

 

“Reward?”

 

“Yes. Please let me escort the Marquis.”

 

At those words, Leonhard looked at Catherine with strange eyes.

 

The sparkling red eyes, full of energy, looked like those of a child begging to buy her cookies.

 

Leonhard let out a small sigh and crossed his arms with a look of complete incomprehension.

 

“What is the reason? Why are you so obsessed with escorting my wife?” 

 

“Why? I do it because I like Nell—Ah No, because I like the Marquise.” 

 

The moment Leonhard’s eyes narrowed, Catherine noticed her mistake and quickly changed her words.

 

“Strangely enough, I feel good when I’m around the Marquise, I feel at ease, and she doesn’t mind or dislike me, even though she knows I’m a barbarian.” 

 

“The other guys don’t mind that either.”

 

“But not everyone.”

 

Catherine smirked, and Leonhard fell silent.

 

It had been four or five years ago when she had first crossed the Hiyela Mountains, and the knights of the Heilang had said in unison that she should be killed at once. 

 

Leonhard also thought it was right to eliminate the barbarians first, but he could not do so because Lucious was protecting her.

 

“I’m just hungry. I came over those rugged mountains to live. I’m not trying to hurt anyone.”

 

He would have her thrown in jail if she ever harmed anyone, but after talking to Catherine, who was friendly, a few times, they ended up in this relationship. 

 

Of course, while many, like Leonhard, accepted her as a colleague, there were still many who rejected her.

 

However, it was Leonhard’s choice to accept Catherine as a heilang knight, so at least they won’t be able to go against his will in front of him.

 

‘Still, I thought she had blended in well with Heilang now, but maybe not.’

 

Seeing Leonhard with a bitter expression, Catherine made a bright voice as if she was okay.

 

“Nel was the only one who wasn’t prejudiced against my origins from the beginning. Even when she sees me, the surroundings are always like this.…It’s shiny.”

 

Catherine spread her ten fingers on either side of her face and waved her hands enthusiastically. Leonhard did not know what that meant.

 

Although few people know about them now, the barbarians were actually a different race like elves and dwarves. It is not right to despise them because their clothing and eating habits are barbaric.

 

There is one difference between barbarians and ordinary humans. They had the blood of monsters.

 

They were united as one under the chief’s banner, but after his lineage was cut off, they dispersed again and are now all mixed up like mud, but when they were divided into dozens of tribes, the boundary that divided them was clear.

 

‘What monster’s blood did she inherit?’

 

If you are born with the blood of a troll, you can regenerate an arm or leg even if it is cut off, and if you are born with the blood of a mongrel, you can charm the opposite sex and make them do your will.

 

Among those barbarians, the power Catherine inherited from her unknown ancestor was the ability to read the emotions of others. Or, more precisely, the emotions they harbor toward her.

 

When Catherine first became aware of this ability, she grumbled that it would be better if she had the ability to shoot fireballs out of her hands, and wondered what kind of weak monster would have this ability.

 

But no.

 

When she’d been betrayed by her own people, when she’d been advised to cross the Hiyela Mountains. When Lucius handed her a warm bowl of soup, when she first joined the Heilang and found herself between wary knights.

 

That ability has allowed her to avoid danger, to accept pure favors, and know where to stand and where not to stand.

 

Thanks to that, she is still alive. And she was confident that she would somehow survive in the future. 

 

“Captain, you don’t know that.”

 

“What?”

 

“There was this one time, Nell, when I saw her, and her heart sank like a dark cloud.” 

 

“What?”

 

For a moment, his mind went blank, as if he had been hit in the back of his head.

 

Leonhard remembers her crying, covering her face with her arms, saying that it was her drinking habit, and he also remembers the letter she wrote saying that she would divorce and move down to Howard Territory.

 

Leonhard’s mind went blank and no thoughts came to him. 

 

Catherine laughed out loud teasingly as she watched Leonhard roughly wiping his face with his hand. Thanks to that, Leonhard was able to come to his senses.

 

“Catherine, you…!”

 

“Hahah…I’m kidding, It was when I saw you riding in a carriage with another woman.” 

 

Catherine stood up from her seat and raised the corners of her mouth as if she was satisfied when she saw Leonhard’s face.

 

“If I successfully complete my mission, I will escort Nell! With that in mind, I’ll be right back, Captain!”

 

Catherine ran out of the office without Leonhard having a chance to catch her. 

 Bang! 

Her strength was so strong that the door did not close but rather bounced off. 

 

Leonhard, who had been staring at the squeaking and shaking door for a while, belatedly let out a low voice.

 

“If you want to be an escort, please use the title.….”

 

However, since there was no one to listen, his voice gradually diminished until it dissipated like smoke.

 

Eventually, No one noticed the way his hands covered his face and his ears turned red. For he was alone in his office.

 * * *