Level up with swords (148)
Hackapel, a living legend of the prairie.
However, there were few people even within the Fenrir tribe who knew of his survival. In this era, it was a secret among secrets that only Skoll, Hathi, and Varg knew.
Leon and the others found out thanks to Hati, but he was truly the first outsider to see it with the naked eye.
‘This person is…’ !’
Only after Varg said hello did Leon look back and his eyes widened.
He was captured so completely that it made me doubt that he was of sound mind. If Hackapell had attacked as is, Leon would have been killed or mortally wounded.
And his appearance was indeed unusual.
As a rough estimate, his height was a little less than 6.5 feet, and his sharply trained muscles were not much different from those of Barg.
The skin was also stretched tightly, and if only the shaggy hair was trimmed properly, the person would look like a young man.
“hmm? “Your grandfather?”
Hackapell looked puzzled at those words, then burst into laughter and tapped Varg on the shoulder.
“haha! How dare you call someone who is not even married your grandfather! “It’s hard to accept a joke if it goes that far, unknown compatriot.”
“… “Don’t you know my name?”
“How should I know if you didn’t teach me?”
“… okay.”
Every time a word is exchanged, Barg’s face darkens.
It’s something you can get used to, but you can’t get used to it at all.
It’s already been 10 years.
In the beginning, he had a hard time remembering who he was, but as Hackapell’s condition worsened, he started going back to a day in the past every day.
Today, he seems to be looking back on his youth, when he traveled the continent with Roderick.
“Anyway, your skills are good. Well trained. “I didn’t know there was a warrior like you among the Fenrir tribe besides me.”
“… “That’s too much praise.”
“Hahaha, how humble!”
His grandfather’s praise, which filled him with joy no matter how many times he heard it as a child, pierced Barg’s rotten heart, knowingly or unknowingly.
Barg’s mother passed away at a young age, and his father was always busy.
As a beast king, he had to constantly roam the grasslands, and since he had several wives, he also had children to take care of.
Less attention is paid to excellent children.
To Barg, who learned loneliness before love, Hackapell was a closer relative than a parent.
‘These are the things you taught me.’
Barg knew that there was no point in shouting like that, so he just listened with a gloomy expression.
Until Hackapell took the first step back with an embarrassed look on his face.
“Oops, I’m sorry. Was I a little chatty?”
“… no.”
Leon, who was watching the two people talking, rolled his eyes.
‘What is this feeling?’
A feeling of discomfort, even unpleasant, that could not be attributed to his mood, was running down his spine.
Hackapell and Barg.
A grandfather who has lost his memory and a grandson who feels sorry for him.
Far from being funny, it was a sight that made one’s taste buds bitter, but why did Leon even think it was strange? As he pondered the reason, he soon realized a horrifying truth.
‘why… !?’
[Did you finally notice?]
El Cid spoke affirmatively.
[Hakapel, that old dog has never ‘recognized’ you?]
It was as he said.
It was too late to realize it because I was so surprised that the mastermind was caught. From the time he spoke to me behind his back until now, Hackapelle did not look at Leon even for a single moment.
It is different from ignoring.
His eyes were clearly focused, and even though his gaze was directed in the direction of Leon several times, he ‘did not see’ him.
[This is serious.]
El Cid said.
[It’s not just memory loss. My cognitive ability itself has completely disappeared. This is so severe that you cannot even recognize the person you are seeing for the first time.]
‘How severe is it?’
[Last stage. If it progresses further, you will have trouble speaking and acting, and from then on, you will not be able to get up from bed on your own. You will even forget how to move your body.]
‘That can’t be… .’
Leon was at a loss for words and groaned heavily.
The movements that Hackapel showed just now were clearly at an extremely high level, even in the level of an Aura Master, even higher than that of Barg. How can a person that strong be reduced to a body that cannot get up from bed after a while?
If it had not been for what El Cid said, it was a story that one could not help but be skeptical of, or even distrust.
“ah! “Now that I think about it, I guess you didn’t hear the reason why you came to see me.”
Hackapell, who had been chatting for a while while holding on to Barg, scratched the back of his head and said.
And then, before Varg could reply, he turned his back.
“I guess Brother Rick called me, right? today… Yes, we decided to subdue the Drake that appeared at Karavik Volcano. Where did I put my window… ?”
Only then did Leon seem to understand a little.
Although he appears to be a normal person at first glance, Hackapell’s words and actions did not take the other person into consideration. He doesn’t even care about Barg’s answer and concludes the story there.
living in the past
I was able to understand, at least a little, the meaning of what Barg said.
[I can’t see this, you damn bastard.]
El Cid saw that and gritted his teeth.
Leon couldn’t even guess how he felt.
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A colleague reunited after hundreds of years does not even recognize his own relatives, and is talking nonsense, thinking only about the distant past.
Leaving Hackapell alone in his own world, Varg looked back at him with red, bloodshot eyes. Sadness, anger, resignation. It was a face filled with many other emotions.
[Leon.]
When El Cid called him, Leon nodded without hesitation.
‘Is there something you need to say to that person?’
[…] okay.]
‘Do whatever you feel like. ‘As always.’
[…] … .]
El Cid, whose thoughts were read by Leon, was at a loss for words for a moment, but then smiled and spoke.
[Thank you, damn disciple.]
‘huh.’
[Please lend me your body just for a moment.]
Leon closed his eyes without resisting.
The consciousness that emerged from the holy sword rose to his surface, and a brilliant cross shape appeared in his golden eyes.
It was that moment.
Varg’s hair stood on end, as he had been depressed by the conversation with his grandfather. It was a feeling of tension when facing an overwhelmingly strong person, something he had never felt since he became an Auror Master.
“What?!”
Varg, who realized the origin of the intimidation, looked at Leon with distrust.
This is ridiculous.
How could a young man who was busy following Cheonrang, not even at full speed, make him this nervous? The wild nature, which was maximized, found the correct answer that should not have been known by reason.
“… who are you?”
[I have a good feeling. That guy was pretty dull.]
El Cid spoke without even looking at him.
Even though he borrowed Leon’s vocal cords, the voice was completely different, so much so that it could be understood as someone else’s voice.
[I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to spare for you. Stay back.]
Barg could not resist those words and took a step back.
Reason said, it was suspicious.
Yasung said, shut up and step back.
Since the voice of a very nervous wild man was louder than that of a person of reason, he quietly stepped back and observed the situation.
[Fell!]
Leon, or rather El Cid, who entered Leon’s body, shouted. Even though the inside of the cave was loud, Hackapell did not turn around.
However, El Cid paid no heed to that attitude and kicked the man’s butt as he was rummaging through his luggage.
Bah!
Hackapell, suddenly attacked, fell forward.
“W-Who are you!”
[Who is this idiot?]
The sole of El Cid’s shoe exploded once again on Hackapell’s face as he hurriedly tried to get up.
This time, El Cid spoke in a very angry voice towards Hackapell, who was lying backwards.
[What a fuss in the middle of the night, you idiot! Did you secretly save me a late night snack? When you sleep, sleep clearly. How many more times do I have to tell you to understand, you doghead!]
“… … .”
[You’re not even answering anymore?! Do you really want to lag behind!]
“… Tongue, bro? “Are you really Rick?”
The dazed focus was restored, and Hackapell asked El Cid back with a face that looked like he was about to cry.
[what? Are you blind? Can’t you recognize my face?]
Of course, Leon’s appearance was very different from Rodrik.
There was no match at all, not only in physique but also in hair color and facial features.
However, Hackapell was recalling old memories from his golden eyes with cross shapes, his voice that resembled a nervous tone of speech, and most of all, his attitude towards himself.
[This won’t work. Are you calling me brother, brother, and then forgetting about me? This is special training until your memory returns. Are you okay too?]
“Oh, no! it’s okay!”
[Are you now rejecting my favor? Do you have time to do that?]
“no! Absolutely not!”
[So is this inside or outside? Are you really blind?]
“It’s not like that!”
Barg’s mouth dropped open at the unimaginable behavior, and Leon, who was watching, sighed in astonishment.
Holy King Rodrik and Beast King Hakapel.
For a conversation between legendary great people, it was too low-level.
“Well, come to think of it, brother.”
[what.]
“Didn’t you decide to go up Mount Karavik today? So I was looking for my window… ”
[Did you really dream?]
El Cid said as if it were nonsense.
[You caught the magma drake of Karavik Volcano. You put a spear in the middle of the forehead, took off the skin and showed it to me, but have you already forgotten?]
“Ah, ah! That’s right, me too. Why did I forget… .”
Hackapell tilted his head and wondered if he had regained that memory only after hearing the story.
That wasn’t all.
“What do you plan to do with your compatriots who are said to be captive in Elune?”
[You saved them all last time and sent them to the meadow. Why are you pretending not to know your wife when you met her too?]
“uh? Oh, come to think of it.”
[I heard you also gave birth to a son? He asked me to be his godfather and hung on to me in a disgusting way… ]
When Hackapell recalled old memories and spoke gibberish, El Cid told him the circumstances of that time as if he was retrieving his memories.
It was like putting together a puzzle.
The misaligned and disorganized memories return one by one, pulling him forward while he was wandering in the distant past.
A story about defeating a giant who was controlling an evil spell.
A story about defeating a sea serpent that devastated the coast.
A story about confronting an evil cult that was dozens of times bigger than it is now.
The adventure story, which would make a historian shed tears of joy on the spot, flowed and intertwined carelessly, capturing the ears of Leon and Varg.
[I’m not even your babysitter, but I just kept talking about old times. Did you remember everything?]
“I’m sorry, brother. Why has my forgetfulness become so severe? .”
Harkapel muttered with a shocked expression, as if he himself felt something was strange.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with an answer.
Although he came to his senses a little after talking with El Cid, his consciousness was still stuck in the distant past. Rodrik is ultimately a person from the past. To bring Hackapell back to the present, he alone is not enough.
So El Cid decided to be satisfied at this point.
[Well, that’s it.]
“yes?”
[If you wake up, you might feel a little dizzy. I won’t say anything, so just sleep for today.]
Hackapell’s round eyes twitched at those words.
It’s not that I wasn’t, I was slowly feeling sleepy. Recombining scattered memories was quite tiring for the brain, so I could sleep just by closing my eyes.
but.
“Si, I don’t like it.”
[what?]
Hackapell rubbed his eyes and shook his head.
“Aren’t you going away and leaving us behind? “Like when you fought the devil or when you invaded the headquarters of the evil church.”
[…] … .]
“I know better than anyone that you are too strong to need us, but I still hope you will take us with you. “Of course, both I and Kasim want to follow in my brother’s footsteps, even though he pretends not to.”
[…] Ha, you cheeky bastards.]
El Cid slapped Hackapell on the head with an unknown smile on his face.
“evil!”
[Don’t you know the saying that a little bird tears its crotch while chasing a stork?]
“I don’t care if it gets torn! “If you have that level of determination-”
[I get it.]
“… … yes?”
After hearing a story he had never heard at the time, El Cid made a promise that could never come true.
[Next time, I will beat you up and take you away, so sleep in peace.]
“Are you serious!? “You promised!”
[OK.]
Knowing well that Roderick’s personality does not say empty words, Hackapell lay down on the spot, overjoyed.
Still, drowsiness was already reaching its limit.
Through his blurry vision, he saw the person he admired.
“… Brother Rick… Bye… “Please sleep.”
[Okay, sleep well.]
“… never… If you go alone… No… ”
Eventually, Hackapell’s breathing gradually quieted down as his eyelids were closed, making it difficult to hear.
El Cid stared at it for a moment.
Much older than he remembered.
Nevertheless, I looked down at the face that still had its old appearance several times.
[…] fool.]
The bitter voice that flowed from between my lips was vaguely disorganized, like a midday haze.
