CH 490

"It's broken..."

"Yes..."

Luna stared blankly at the axe, which had snapped in the middle of its handle.

"Son?"

"Please don't call me that..."

At the same time, I found out why Luna hates being called ‘mother.’

It felt so strange!

Of course, just like me, Luna pretended not to notice.

"Rezaira isn't a place abundant in resources, you know. Do you have any idea how precious even a single axe or hoe is?"

"I'm sorry..."

I'm in trouble.

It was ridiculous that Luna had almost killed me.

The existence of the Demon King posed a great threat to Ellen, and since Ellen could die, Luna had tried to kill me.

But now, two years later.

I'm being scolded by Luna for breaking the axe handle.

Even worse, I'm apologizing with my head bowed as if I had committed a grave sin.

What is this?

What kind of situation is this?

I feel dizzy.

In many ways, I can't help but feel uneasy and disoriented.

"So, you must have relied on your brute strength, swinging it around carelessly, and this happened. Is that correct?"

"…Yes."

Her accuracy was chilling.

"You're always restless with anxiety and neurosis, and you can't even do the tasks you're given properly. You're really good for nothing."

Since coming to Rezaira, all I've done is whine and complain.

However, to say that I'm good for nothing...

Even so…! Outside…! There are many things that I need to do…!

I couldn't help but keep my mouth shut, knowing that saying anything would only make me sound pathetic.

As the king of Edina and an Archdemon.

Humanity's enemy.

And here I am, being treated as useless in a remote village for breaking an axe.

Luna sighed deeply, went back into the warehouse, rummaged for a while, and brought out another axe.

"This one's a bit old, so you'll have to be more careful with it."

The first axe Luna gave me wasn't quite S-class, but it was around A- class.

However, this one felt considerably older, not only the blade but also the handle.

"How am I supposed to cut trees with this...?"

"Well, you wouldn't have to if someone hadn't broken the other one in the first place."

"Maybe an axe with an iron handle or something… Is there anything like that?"

"..."

"Yes, I'll go..."

You really think there would be something like that?

With that all-too-revealing look in her eyes, I had no choice but to take the downgraded, worn-out C-class axe and head back to the forest.

------

Strictly speaking, I didn't need the axe.

I was told not to use the divine artifact, not my body.

With maximum Magic Body Strengthening, I could kick down any tree that wasn't particularly large.

But doing that would be a disgrace to the language.

I'm trying to get used to a new Magic Body Strengthening through this task, not just following Luna's order to create new farmland.

The moment I do that, my priorities become skewed.

I need to focus my mind and let go of distracting thoughts to become familiar with this new power.

If I concentrate only on cutting trees and plowing fields, it would be worse than not doing it at all.

Holding the axe, I focus my mind.

"Huuu..."

If I put too much strength into it, it's not the tree but the axe that will break.

The method for cutting trees.

I don't know how to do it, but at least I've learned one thing.

If you strike too hard, the axe will break.

Use the right amount of force.

Just right.

Swing the axe toward the tree.

-Thwack!

The tree's bark peels off modestly.

The axe doesn't break; the force was controlled properly.

But now, the tree has only been slightly stripped of its outer layer.

How many more times must it be struck before the tree falls?

And then, splitting the fallen tree into transportable sizes.

Loading them onto the sled to carry them to Rezaira.

Cutting down another tree.

Splitting it.

Carrying it.

"......"

-Chirp chirp!

I look at the vast forest before me.

Once all the trees are done,

Digging up the roots of the great trees and pulling them all out.

Plowing the land and tilling it......

I wanted to become a master class.

Why did I end up a lumberjack apprentice?

------

"Damn it."

-Thwack!

I threw the axe and lay down on the ground.

My hyper-focused Magic Body Strengthening has already been released. No, it was repeatedly released and reused while I was using it.

A tree?

I haven't felled a single one.

My strength isn't simply immense.

My agility and dexterity have long surpassed those of an ordinary person.

So, without missing, I could accurately strike the same spot I had targeted.

But the crucial factor was power.

Not knowing how durable the axe was, I couldn't hit the tree hard enough, so the notch I made in the wood wouldn't deepen.

I held back the urge to shatter the tree with my bare hands several times.

Finally, exhausted, I collapsed.

Lying on the forest floor and catching my breath, I heard laughter from somewhere.

"I told you he'd be like this, right?"

"Well, he doesn't know any better, so it can't be helped."

Arta and Lena's voices echoed from afar.

Lying there, I saw Arta and Lena's faces appear above me.

"What is it......"

"Luna said you'd be struggling, so she asked us to check on you."

"Do you want some water?"

Lena offered me a water container.

------

The moment I broke an axe, Luna seemed convinced I was incompetent.

I drank the water Lena handed me.

"Even so, haven't you managed to fell even one tree yet?"

Arta looked incredulously at the shallow notches in the trees and the lack of any fallen trees.

"No, I'm worried if I use too much strength, the axe will break."

"Do you have to use an axe?"

"I thought it would be better to use an axe to get used to focusing my mind as well......"

"Hmm... I see."

Arta examined the notches in the tree and shook his head.

"It's not a matter of strength; you're using the wrong method. Who cuts down a tree like this? Let me see."

Arta reached out his hand, and I handed him the axe I had discarded.

"Watch closely."

Holding the axe, Arta aimed it at the tree trunk.

"From the top to the bottom."

-Thwack!

As Arta swung the axe down, a shallow notch formed in the tree, and the bark was slightly stripped away.

After one swing, Arta looked at me again.

"Now, from the bottom to the top."

-Thwack!

As Arta struck precisely, a piece of wood fell from the interlocked points of the two hits.

All I could do was stare blankly at the triangular piece of wood that had fallen.

Only twice.

Those demonstration moves made me realize what I had been doing wrong.

"You can't just haphazardly chop down a tree. You really think that would work?"

I had been hacking away at the same spot.

Felling a tree was more like whittling one down. Arta clicked his tongue as he looked at me with disbelief.

"What's this? You city folk really don't know how to do anything, do you?"

"Ah, no... it's just..."

Me.

I mean, I had been pretty good back at the temple.

I was considered one of the empire's best talents, wasn't I? Though I wasn't actually from the empire.

I hadn't been called incompetent since the very beginning of my first year!

Somehow.

Here in Rezaira, I was treated like a fool who couldn't even properly do the most basic tasks assigned to me.

And it wasn't because of any mysterious secrets or special powers in the village.

I was just considered a fool because I didn't know how to chop down a tree.

"No... where on earth would I ever need to chop down a tree?!"

That's right! Before I came here, and after, where would I ever need to chop down a tree?

It was only natural for me not to know!

Arta chuckled at my protest.

"That's exactly why I said you're a city boy."

"..."

I was upset, but he had a point, so I couldn't argue.

"Anyway, good luck. I have to help my grandfather today."

"Yeah, Reinhardt. I have to take care of my little sister today too."

Leaving those words, Lena and Arta went on their way.

Grandfather.

Now that I thought about it, it was inevitable for this village with a small number of households and no population change to be comprised of large families.

Anyway, thanks to Arta's demonstration, I now realized what I had been doing wrong.

To fell a tree, you don't just hack at the same spot; you need to adjust the angle and chip away at it little by little.

There was actually skill and know-how involved in the seemingly simple task.

What Arta had shown me was just the basics, and there were likely more detailed methods of chopping down a tree.

Tree-felling techniques.

There was no use for me to learn them, and even if I mastered them, there was nothing to gain.

Once I left Rezaira, I probably wouldn't need to chop down trees for the rest of my life.

How did I end up doing this?

A city boy.

Just because I don't know how to chop down a tree, I get teased, and scolded for breaking an axe.

Back in Edina, we struggled to find ways to feed and take care of the few survivors who arrived by boat, dealing with murder cases, and deciding how to handle the criminals.

All of humanity seemed to hate me.

Even if I survived the Gate incident, and beyond that, I might have to fight Ellen, and there might be war between the Darklands and the Empire.

I had only ever talked about death and the thin line between life and death.

In reality, I had to kill countless people under the guise of stabilizing the system and society.

Now, here I was, chopping down trees in this remote mountain village, trying to create a field.

Being called a city boy who knows nothing, having to listen to such stories.

Scolded for breaking an axe, and accused of not being able to do anything right.

"Sigh..."

Somehow.

I felt like I had become an ordinary person, and a bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I never thought it would be like this.

Having left Edina, I was neither the Demon King nor anything special.

I was merely a strong but ignorant city bumpkin who knew nothing about rural work.

It is said that position makes the person; in a place where I cannot be king, nobody regards me as one.

No one admires or worships me, and so, no one hates or despises me either.

I wondered if an ordinary life could still be possible for me.

Leaving aside whether I could live such a life, I wondered if I could even entertain the idea.

Nobody demands that I be their king.

Nobody looks to me for hope or despair.

I am neither an Apostle of Tu’an, nor a champion of Als, nor the Demon King.

I don't think it's okay to forget them just because I don't hear anyone looking for me.

However, the very thought that I wasn't much in reality brought me a sense of relief.

Although I am an existence that is almost synonymous with the origin of this world, I am neither omnipotent nor omniscient.

Not every matter in the world is something I must resolve, nor can I.

It was arrogant of me to have tried to concern myself with everything that happened in the world.

I was merely arrogant.

I felt anxious in this situation where not every circumstance was under my control.

How foolish I was, feeling anxious about everything in the world slipping through my fingers, while not even knowing how to fell a single tree in front of me.

I am not in my throne in Edina right now, but in the mountain village of Rezaira.

I can think about what needs to be done on the throne when I return to it.

Even if everything were in my sight, it doesn't mean I could resolve it all.

Thanks to Luna and Arta speaking about my incompetence, I realized how arrogant my thoughts were.

The duties of a king belong in the king's place.

While in the position of a city bumpkin, I should do what city bumpkins do, and learn what I don't know.

At last, my muddled mind seemed to cool down somewhat, and I felt like I had some understanding of what true clarity of mind meant.

There may be things I don't know while I'm here.

So what?

I do my best in my imagination.

Luna Artorius said to trust her.

So, I trust in Luna.

There is nothing else.

If Luna keeps calling me son, I should act like a son.

So.

The task of a son now is to turn the forest into a field.

And the first step is cutting down trees.

We will turn the wooded area into an empty lot, and plow the empty lot into a field.

I don't know what this will mean for me in the end.

I decided to give up thinking in Rezaira.

Since Mother told me to do this, there must be some reason!

I don't know about the rest!

I've had to take responsibility for too many things up until now, so it's okay to avoid responsibility this time.

"Heh, hehe...."

For some reason, I remembered my crazy days at the temple, jumping around like a mad dog, and burst into laughter.

Realizing that inner peace comes not from some great enlightenment or a huge event, but from being treated as a useless person.

No matter the process, isn't it the result that matters?

I believe that Luna Artorius has a plan.

In truth, I am quite useless and don't know much.

So, I will only do what I am told and clear my mind.

Although I spent all day tormented by worries and dilemmas as a king, now I am a guest in Rezaira.

So, I only need to do what I am told.

Using my head unnecessarily won't improve anything, nor will it increase my knowledge.

I pick up the axe.

I didn't know the method before, but now that I know it, it's easy.

There's no need to exert excessive force.

A modest amount of Magic Body Strengthening, controlling that power to the utmost.

From top to bottom.

-Swoosh!

My hand movements are precise, and controlling the power is not difficult.

Aligning with the notch created by the axe.

This time, from bottom to top.

-Swoosh!

I look at the wood chips that have been flung away.

Only a small piece has been chipped away.

However, I have undoubtedly made progress.

-Swoosh!

-Crack!

-Thud!

Gradually.

More and more.

I'm chipping away.

I may not yet know what inner peace and a clear mind are.

But in emptying my mind, I have undoubtedly succeeded.

Within the sensation of only needing to do what I was told, the distracting thoughts that tormented me were falling away like the wood chips being chiseled off.

There are many trees.

There are as many trees to cut down as there are distracting thoughts to eliminate.

I will level this forest, uproot the roots of the great trees, and overturn the soil.

I will turn this forest into land suitable for planting something.

Like planting new seeds in new soil.

I will uproot the despair and anguish deeply rooted in my heart.

No, even if I cannot uproot them.

I will plant a new spirit within the crevices of that despair and pain.