"She wasn't your actual granddaughter then."

As Jupiter shared her story, I murmured softly in response. Jupiter nodded in affirmation.

"Yes, not a drop of my blood runs in her veins."

"I thought otherwise because of the striking resemblance..."

"Haha, that's a pleasant thought to entertain, despite the truth."

Jupiter tilted her head slightly in thought.

"She may not have been my granddaughter by blood... I'm not even certain I played the role of a real grandmother."

"..."

"I raised those children out of guilt and a sense of duty, but strictly speaking, I was a relentless enemy to them."

Jupiter's voice was as stoic as ever, but there was an underlying hint of a bloody past.

"I burned down their hometown, annihilated their family and relatives."

"..."

"Even without me saying anything... they must harbor hatred for me."

With a bitter smile, Jupiter brought her drink to her lips.

"I don't mind if they can't forgive me. The sins I committed aren't of the kind that can be forgiven anyway. But."

"But?"

"I wanted to properly apologize to them, but I feel like I haven't done it right. That weighs on me."

Regret shimmered in Jupiter's solitary eye.

"Junior is a highly talented child. In terms of talent, she surpasses me by miles."

That was indeed true. An SSR rank was bestowed upon geniuses who surpassed ordinary talent.

"But due to getting caught in my lightning strike as a child... her body has severely weakened. Her heart, the core of magic, has been weakened to the point that every time she uses magic, it's eating away at her lifespan."

I remembered Junior burning pain-relieving herbs, bleeding from the nose and coughing up blood every time she cast magic. I never knew it was due to a past injury.

"That's why I prohibited her from using magic. I even stopped her from learning magic."

"But why is she so good at it then?"

"Do you think I could have stopped her?"

Jupiter chuckled.

"Against a child's talent and passion, the opposition of adults is nothing but a minor obstacle."

"..."

"She started to teach herself and soon surpassed her peers, and now she's stronger than even me."

In a duel few days ago, Jupiter lost to Junior.

Even though Jupiter wasn't in her best condition, she felt it herself. If both were at their full strength, she would have lost.

"Had I not done what I did, Junior could have become a grand magician whose name would go down in world history."

As she refilled her glass, Jupiter murmured.

"Or she could have lived a normal and happy life in that small village."

"..."

"Fifteen years ago, on that day, I burned down both those possibilities."

Jupiter was staring intently at her reflection in her drink.

Whether she was seeing the eye she lost that day fifteen years ago, I couldn't tell.

"Or maybe it was all the other things she lost that day, 15 years ago.

I couldn't tell. All I could do was to listen to the story.

"But how... how should I atone?"

Jupiter let out a weary sigh.

"If apologizing on my knees could fix that broken child's life, I would have done it a hundred, a thousand times over. But... there's no way to turn back."

"..."

"I not only failed to support that child's dream of becoming a wizard, I outright obstructed it. I had hoped the child would not burn away her short life with magic. But it wasn't any different from obstructing her dreams."

Jupiter took another hearty drink from her filled cup.

"But I couldn't even give that child a normal happiness. Parents, hometown, I burned it all."

"..."

"There was nothing I could... compensate for."

Thunk!

Jupiter, who had put down her glass, chuckled.

"I don't know what to do. Now... frankly, I'm scared of that child."

"Scared?"

"All I have left to give is this old life. I don't even have anything left to lose. What if one day, she suddenly tells me, 'Give back what you've stolen.' What and how am I supposed to repay?"

Jupiter, covering her lost left eye with her hand, closed her perfectly fine right eye."Every time I look into that child's eyes, I'm so scared... I want to hide in a mouse hole."

"..."

"I want to apologize, but I don't know how."

I couldn't utter a word.

It was too difficult a problem for a third party like me to intervene. Because I, too, couldn't even guess a solution.

For a moment, Jupiter and I just drank without speaking.

The bottle that was once full was now empty.

As she poured the last drop into my glass, Jupiter spoke.

"Your Majesty. I take pride in the fact that I served as a soldier of the Empire. The times when I could contribute to His Majesty the Emperor and the royal family were the brightest times of my life."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"At the same time, I abhor the deeds I have committed."

The medals still hung heavily on Jupiter's military uniform.

Jupiter looked down at them with a pained gaze.

"And above all, I loathe my foolish self... who carried out slaughter and destruction mindlessly, just as ordered from above."

"..."

"Drunk on the role of a soldier, drunk on the role of the commander of the second magic corps, I loathed my foolish self... who discarded my own self and lived as a component of the army."

Gulp-

Jupiter, who had finished her last drink cleanly, bowed her head to me.

"Your Majesty. Please, don't let yourself be swallowed up by your role."

"Swallowed by... my role, you say?"

"Do not let yourself be consumed by the role of the Third Prince, the Commander, the Lord. That is never your essence."

Hearing Jupiter's words, I also swallowed the last gulp of liquor.

"Just be yourself. Live as Ash 'Born Hater' Everblack."

"...”

"This old lady's advice for you, young one, is this, and this alone."

Like a shot of strong liquor burning down my throat, Jupiter's advice hit me hard.

So, who am I?

The Third Prince. The Commander. The Lord. Ash.

Or a Player. Or perhaps RetroAddict.

Whichever it is, am I living my life...right?

"Thank you, Your Highness, for hearing me out. It feels better to have shared."

Jupiter chuckled as she cleaned up the empty liquor bottles.

I couldn't remember how many we had drained sitting there. Ugh, the intoxication is hitting late.

"I'll... have a proper conversation with Junior."

As I stepped out of the guild, Jupiter whispered under her breath.

"After all, isn't she my granddaughter? My namesake, my granddaughter. Once I open up to her... I'll find a clue."

Lucas, who had been waiting outside, opened the carriage door for me.

As I climbed into the carriage, Jupiter gave me a reassuring smile.

"I'd like to believe that."

I sincerely wish for the same.

As I rode back to the mansion in the carriage, looking at Jupiter standing alone in the distance, I thought.

No matter what end they meet... I hope they won't regret it.

***

A few days later.

Silver weapons arrived at the smithy. Not the entire order, but a sample of some.

[Silver Longsword(R) Lv.30]

- Category : Longsword

- Attack Power : 20-40

- Durability : 3/3

- Deals 100% extra damage to all unholy enemies.

Look at that pathetic durability.

But the option is excellent.

'This 100% extra damage applies not only to the weapon's basic attack power but also to skills.'

Although it's equipment for a small number of enemies, it's a definite counter for those few.

Vroom-!

I gave the longsword to Lucas. Lucas drew it and swung it lightly, then nodded."How is it?"

"The balance is good. It seems decent."

"Good, good. I'll have them made just like this."

What came this time were two silver longswords, two daggers, two spears, and three quivers of arrows.

I gave two longswords to Lucas, and all two spears to Evangeline.

"Think of them as consumables and use them freely."

"They look expensive, are you sure...?"

Evangeline, who carefully took the silver spear, soon skillfully swung it around.

Vroom-!

Swish!

Evangeline primarily wielded the cavalry lance type of weapon, but she handled the ordinary spear she'd received this time quite skillfully.

She whirled it around with a whoosh before thrusting it forward with a sharp 'yah!' Impressive, right?

Watching her, both Lucas and I clapped our hands, causing Evangeline's face to turn red.

"Hey, stop reacting to everything I do, seriously! It's embarrassing."

Well, your reactions to our reactions are what's amusing.

You're a veritable feast of reactions. She does it so well!

"You're pretty skilled, even without a cavalry lance?"

"Of course. The basic principle is the same."

Well, spear-related skills do share a proficiency category. It makes sense when you put it that way.

'...Wait a minute, am I thinking too much like a gamer?'

As I took a moment to ponder the absurdity of my worldview, where everything could be interpreted in game terms, Evangeline shrugged proudly.

"Well, that, and I had an A+ aptitude test for all weapon groups at the academy. If you give me a long sword, I'm confident I can handle it as well as that asshat."

"Really? As good as me?"

Lucas' gaze turned deadly serious. Evangeline made a 'heh?' face and confidently narrowed her sharp eyes. These guys are at it again.

"Settle your duel later, for now, gather your equipment. Armor and a shield too."

At my words, the two knights looked at me with surprise.

"Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes."

As I grinned and slipped a silver dagger into my waistband,

"It's time to move to the next area of the dungeon."

I've been waiting for this.

The silver equipment I've been waiting for has arrived, and it's finally time to make progress on free exploration of the dungeon.

***

We decided to proceed with this free exploration only with the main party.

The area we're heading to this time is too dangerous to bring the Dion Mercenary Group.

Even the main party will face precarious moments, it would be too intense to take care of the newbie guys as well.

The Shadow Squad has decent combat power, but the composition was a setback this time.

'It's an overly offensive combination.'

Two mages, three archers.

It might be okay when exploring other areas, but the place we're going today is a narrow dungeon.

The Shadow Squad, biased towards long-range attacks, is risky. So they're out.

I decided to operate slowly and steadily with a small, single party.

'Well, that's all an excuse, actually.'

The real plan was to feed the main party experience points and speed up leveling.

It's the main party that will face Celendion in the Vampire Lord raid.

'If we can speed up leveling and even learn ultimate skills, that would be really great.'

The ultimate skill that completes each character.

The performance difference between a character who has learned the ultimate skill and one who hasn't was massive.

If there are characters who have learned the ultimate skill at the time of the Vampire Lord raid, it will be much easier.

Evangeline and Lucas, the highest-level heroes in my lineup, were both still in their late 30s. The ultimate skill wouldn't be unlocked until level 50, after their third class change. We were still a long way off.

'With the standard leveling pace, they'll probably need to hit stage 10 before the ultimate skill is unlocked.'

Damien and I were the only ones in a reasonable range to look forward to our next skill unlock. I was currently at level 24 and Damien at level 33.

Considering the second class change at level 35 and the acquisition of the second skill, it was a plausible goal.

'...Wait, is it a bit shameless to consider grinding 11 levels as feasible?'magic

But, couldn't I pull it off if I strategized correctly?

Licking my lower lip with my tongue, I began to formulate a power-leveling plan in my head.

'Hand over the experience points, you damn game!'

Give me the next skill! A game-breaking one at that!

Hand it over!