#1 Homecoming (1)

“Get married.”

It was an affair when Elric was 14 years old.

It was an obvious early marriage.

In Elric’s recollection, his father, Hoven Portman, said those words with a cold, emotionless expression.

“The opponent is the daughter of Baron Wibin. At the age of 16, his appearance was outstanding. Besides, it wouldn’t be bad for a decent kid with gardening as a hobby.”

Elric did not understand what his father was saying.

It is said to marry suddenly, but above all, it was the most difficult to understand that aristocrats combined with Portman, an ordinary merchant family.

I asked about it, but my father gave no answer.

I was curious and asked the other adults, but they didn’t give me the same answer.

In the end, the boy, who didn’t even know what a woman was, got caught up in a flow that he couldn’t help himself and ended up marrying a woman.

The day of the wedding finally arrived, during the autumn harvest season, when Yeongji was most full.

It was such a fresh shock to Elric that he can still clearly recall the events of that day even now, 10 years later, and it was an unfamiliar world that should be described as an open eye.

“This is Tyria Wibin.”

The gentle blond hair that resembles Wibin’s youngji’s wheat field first, followed by the gently drooping eyes and light green eyes that resemble sprouts, exuded tenderness. Her pale skin was like flour, and her lips were red and clear, like cherries plucked and glued together.

His voice was quiet, but it was not difficult to understand because his pronunciation was clear and his words were powerful.

The upright posture and the tightly gathered hands seemed fragile, as if they would break if squeezed tightly, but somehow stubbornness gave off an air of elegance.

To define it in a word, it was mysterious and elegant.

She was a girl who reminded me of a fairy taking a nap in a flower bud.

There must be a better way to express it.

Young Elric was the first to resent the past when he shunned books and had gang fights.

“Elric, say hello.”

“hello… .”

Only a creeping voice came out.

It must have been only two years difference, but it was because he felt ashamed of himself in contrast to her.

It was as if someone had shoved a fireball into it, and it was as if they were shaking it by grabbing my hair.

Everything was very confusing, and in the midst of it, there was one thought that came to mind.

Since I got married, I will live with this person for the rest of my life.

At the time, I didn’t know how to define that strange, tickling feeling, but looking back, it was my first love.

The wedding was attended by only the adoptive family and no other guests.

A 16-year-old girl who came in wearing a white wedding dress taught Elric the concept of the opposite sex.

Elric felt ashamed of laughing for no reason and lowered the corner of his mouth.

The moment he exchanged rings with her, he couldn’t hold back his laughter, so he frowned.

After that moment, I was left alone and asked the butler out of curiosity.

“Why is that person marrying me?”

Anxiety.

Perhaps that was it.

What should I do if I don’t like myself and I don’t want to get married?

What if I never see that girl again?

At that thought, Elric grabbed the butler by the collar and shook it, trying to hear the truth, and the butler reluctantly opened his mouth.

“It’s an arranged marriage.”

The truth was shocking.

At least that was the case for 14-year-old Elric Portman.

“Baron Yubin is poor. They are struggling with debt because they do not even have the funds to continue their lives as nobles. The head of the family asked for a marriage as a condition of repaying the debt and providing funds. With this, we are incorporated into the nobility.”

How could a boy understand a transaction involving a complex intertwining of various interests?

Elric, who had a knack for pinpointing the context and point of speech, realized only one fact.

“Well, then he was sold? To me?”

The butler didn’t answer.

He must have done it so as not to disrespect the little master, but to young Elric it seemed nothing but a silent affirmation.

Elric had to feel like the villain at the center of a bad deal buying and selling girls.

It was the greatest sense of despair and guilt that Elric had ever felt in his 14 years of living.

To the boy who dreamed of becoming a knight, the act of mortgaging the girl’s life was so horrific.

Elric wanted to clarify.

Even though no one urged him to do such a thing, he followed his steps as if being chased by someone and headed for the place where the bride would be.

And listened.

“Black… .”

A small sob escaped through the closed door.

There was no doubt who it belonged to.

This is because the girl’s voice that greeted him still remained in Elric’s ears and tickled his insides.

Even her cries were quiet and clear.

Now Elric’s cries, not the greetings she gave, were engraved like a painter.

Feeling his heart pounding, Elric immediately ran away from the spot.

I tried to remember why she was crying.

It may be sad that it was sold. Leaving your family can be painful.

If you think about it, there were many reasons, but at the time, Elric suffered from a more disturbing assumption than that.

‘They don’t like me!’

Perhaps she was crying because she was not satisfied with her marriage partner.

She said that she would suffer seeing her face for the rest of her life.

So, don’t be the villain who bullies her.

Elric was swallowed up by the fear that he might be hated by the girl if he went on like this.

Thinking back on it, it was a ridiculous idea, but for Elric at the time, it was an event so big that it was regarded as a top priority in life.

So Elric decided to make the marriage annulled.

I went straight to see my father, and the answer, of course, was refusal.

“Don’t act like a child.”

My father left a cold word like that and turned around.

I grabbed the crotch of my pants and hung on, but it was immovable.

It was an act like a father who had never shown a smile in his life.

A child born from eating its mother.

Elric knew very well that he was like that to his father.

On the day of her mother’s funeral, how often her father cried was terrifyingly frequent.

This is because it was still being used as a side dish for servants.

When Elric refused to give up, his father said.

“Now you too are a noble. Behave like an aristocrat.”

“but… .”

“Be cool. Give more importance to reason than emotion. Don’t be swayed by anything.”

My father spoke long words, which was rare that day.

And all of those words had a cool chill that made them freeze.

“Pay for the price you raised.”

Elric could not catch his father when he turned around.

It was appropriate to vent resentment toward him, but I endured it.

What do you want to do with a relationship you have already given up on?

Elric focused on rescuing the girl rather than on resentment towards him.

Seeking help from his father failed, so the next thing he looked for was the servants in the house.

But, of course, none of them helped Elric.

Who would listen to the words of a 14-year-old boy asking him to step down from marriage?

I felt like I was left alone in the world, and I couldn’t give up.

In the end, Elin made an extreme choice.

It was a runaway.

‘If I disappear, the marriage will be null and void. He doesn’t have to be sad because of me. I will go back to my family My father will be in great trouble.’

It was a childish heroism, and it was the expression of a tender heart that was afraid of being hated.

It was also revenge for his father, who stabbed his heart with sharp words.

‘I’ll try eating some shit.’

Elric put a little more than 3 gold in his pocket and ran away on the first night of his honeymoon with the iron sword he received on his 13th birthday.

Trembling with guilt and fear that shook his soul, he desperately hoped that she would not hate him.

With the intention of properly avoiding the eyes of the father, he crossed the territory and left the country.

It was a moment when the natural ability to act came in handy.

I didn’t worry about what to do.

Fortunately, Elric had the swordsmanship and mana management learned from the knight.

It would be enough to live with a knife.

“hmm? You came here to become a mercenary?”

Elric became a war mercenary.

and,

“My name is Kasha. My name.”

He dropped the name Elric Portman.

I lived like that for 10 years.

The childish mind to save the girl was not the reason.

That kind of thing was diluted right away.

The reason why Elric still does not leave the battlefield is that he resents his father for not finding him after running away.

I know that I have no shame about the subject I left first, but isn’t it human heart to be cunning anyway?

There was no way to control the anger that grew like a forest fire, so he used it as fuel, and he swung his sword not to live like that, but to relieve the stuffiness inside him.

It became a sword wielded to die from a certain moment.

Elric went to war without caring for himself at every moment, and yet survived and became the terror of his enemies.

A mercenary who wields a sword that does not know how to defend and searches for a place.

It was the secret story of the birth of Kasha, one of the seven strongmen on the continent.

It was Elric’s secret that no one knew.

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