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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Fallen Banpellyon
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After his encounter with Penaxian.
Thanks to the man's help, Havel made it safely to the urban district.
The urban district he'd reached was the territory of House August.
'August, huh.'
After passing a simple checkpoint at the entrance, Havel looked up as he entered.
The territory seemed quite prosperous; the buildings gleamed with fresh polish.
The faces of the people milling about were bright and cheerful.
The problem was that the name "August" didn't ring a single bell in Havel's mind.
'Is it because a hundred years have passed?'
A family he'd never even heard of had risen to prominence.
At this rate, he wasn't even sure if the imperial palace still stood.
'But above all, I'm most worried about Banpellyon.'
Since arriving here, Havel had asked around.
Yet almost no one knew anything about Banpellyon.
The most he got was a vague, "Yeah, there used to be a family like that back in the day."
'Banpellyon, once called one of the Three Great Families... and now no one even remembers them.'
It was enough to make him sigh in despair.
His family was gone now that he'd returned.
This was truly a world where no one waited to welcome him back.
That only made Havel more determined to find Banpellyon as quickly as possible.
'Come to think of it, who's the head of Banpellyon right now?'
Havel himself had no children.
He'd been too obsessed with the sword to even consider marriage.
But he did have a much younger sister.
'Though by now, even she's long gone.'
A bitter feeling welled up inside him.
A hundred years had passed.
'Everyone I knew must be dust in their graves by now.'
Havel walked slowly through this changed world.
Not to indulge in sentiment, but to achieve his goal.
'Even if the world has changed, information is still valuable.'
Which meant there had to be people selling it.
"Excuse me, could I ask you something?"
"Huh? Sure, shoot."
A man sitting on a chair reading a newspaper replied leisurely.
"I'm looking for an information guild."
"Eh? An information guild?"
"Yes, an information guild."
The man gave him a look like he'd seen it all.
"Man, you sound like you're from the old days. There ain't no information guilds anymore."
Havel felt a brief shock.
Treated like some relic from the past.
It left him feeling oddly melancholic.
"If you're after info and don't know where to start, try the Astella General Store over there."
A general store for information?
Havel found it strange, but he nodded.
'Right. If I'm the old-timer here, I need to adapt to the new ways.'
He still felt young, but the world had changed too fast.
His steps felt heavy as he trudged onward.
Moments later, Havel pushed open the door to the general store.
"Welcome!"
A clerk greeted him with a bright smile.
"I'd like to buy some information."
"Oh, of course! Right this way."
The clerk set down her load in the corner and hurried off.
Following her, Havel scanned the store's interior.
It was filled with all sorts of unfamiliar items.
A hundred years must have brought a flood of new inventions.
The most eye-catching were the magic tools.
'Magic used to be just for nobles.'
And now they were sold in a common shop like this.
Had magic become commonplace with the times?
'What an amazing world.'
Swallowing a hollow laugh, Havel kept following the clerk.
She led him to the counter.
Stepping behind it, she pulled out a single scroll.
"What information are you looking for?"
Havel hesitated for a moment.
Could you really get information like this?
"...I'd like to know about Banpellyon."
"Banpellyon, got it. One moment!"
The clerk jotted it down and, sure enough, text began bubbling up on the scroll.
"There we go! All done. Here you are."
All done?
Havel took the scroll with a bewildered expression.
Sure enough, it was filled with details on Banpellyon.
How far had the world advanced?
A scroll that replaced entire information guilds.
"Once you've checked it, just put the scroll back in here."
"Ah, the payment..."
"Pardon? Oh, no charge for basic info scrolls."
So this was free information.
"If you need more detailed stuff, you'll have to pay for a premium scroll."
Havel read the scroll as she spoke.
Fortunately, it listed Banpellyon's current address.
"This is fine."
"Great! Call me if you need anything else!"
The clerk cheerfully returned to her work.
Thinking how hard it was to adjust to this era, Havel looked at the scroll again.
'Banpellyon.'
One of the Three Great Families that entered the Demonic Palace to save the emperor when the first of the Primordial Three Calamities, the Demonic Palace, appeared.
Havel's eyes widened at the very first line.
'The Primordial Three Calamities?'
Did that mean there were calamities besides the Demonic Palace?
His face hardened.
The Demonic Palace alone had been hellish enough.
If the others were just as bad, the world might be doomed.
'Never mind. That's for later.'
Havel pushed thoughts of the other calamities aside.
What mattered now was Banpellyon's current state.
As he read on, his expression darkened.
"...It's my fault."
Banpellyon's situation could be summed up in two words:
Ruined.
Banpellyon had fallen.
Not only had their vassal families all abandoned them,
Even the proud Dawn Knights had been disbanded.
They'd lost their territory and clung to life in a dilapidated old mansion.
It was barely worthy of being called a family anymore.
Havel sighed deeply.
It all felt like his fault, and he felt sorry for his descendants.
'Still, I should go see it for myself.'
As he moved to put the scroll away,
Havel noticed the last line, marked as the latest update.
It was about recruiting mercenaries to join the raiding party for one of the Primordial Three Calamities:
The Tower.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A room filled with luxurious furniture.
In stark contrast, a man was buried under a mountain of documents.
His face was etched with exhaustion.
It was the result of endless paperwork that wouldn't end no matter how long he toiled.
"This is driving me insane."
What could possibly pile up like this?
"Chief Librarian."
Just then, someone burst in without knocking.
The chief didn't mind the rudeness.
He eyed the documents the man carried with worry instead.
"Don't tell me something else blew up."
"No, it's about that old request from House Glasis."
The chief furrowed his brow.
Like he barely remembered.
"You know, the one where they asked to be notified about anyone investigating Banpellyon."
It dated back to the scroll library's opening.
House Glasis had funded it in exchange for that favor.
"Oh, right, that. But wasn't that decades ago?"
"Yes, but someone just used a scroll to look up Banpellyon."
It had been the first chief librarian who'd taken the request.
"Forget it. Glasis probably forgot about it by now anyway."
But the current chief didn't care.
"Pardon? Still, shouldn't I at least send a letter..."
"Delivering that would just create more work. You'd have to file a report on it too."
With the sudden incident in the Demonic Forest, they were already swamped.
Contacting a great house like Glasis over this?
If Glasis followed up, it'd only pile on more tasks.
"You hate extra work too, right? Just gloss over it."
"Hmph, if trouble comes, it's on you, Chief."
The chief snorted.
"If something like that caused issues, I'd have quit ages ago."
He waved the man out, and the employee bowed before leaving.
The chief leaned back in his chair.
He pondered briefly.
'Come to think of it, why did they request that?'
Right, Glasis used to be a vassal family, but they'd betrayed Banpellyon long ago.
'It's been so long, even my memory's fuzzy.'
Shaking it off, the chief picked up his pen again.
Hoping no new incidents would arise.
And got back to work.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Banpellyon, once renowned in glory.
Now a completely fallen house.
Havel arrived before the mansion where that lineage barely clung on.
Gazing at it, he let out a deep sigh.
"It's ruined, just like it said."
The mansion was sizable enough, but neglect had left it in shambles.
Vines crept over it, walls crumbled, and the roof begged for repairs.
No trace of Banpellyon's former glory remained.
A pang twisted in Havel's gut.
As if he'd caused this sorry state himself.
'What will become of the descendants?'
At least the bloodline endured. Was that something to be grateful for?
As he stepped toward the garden,
"Young master!"
"Enough! I'll go myself!"
Voices arguing erupted from inside.
Havel peeked in.
There stood an elderly butler, a boy, and a single knight.
"If something happens to you, young master, Banpellyon's line truly ends!"
"We gathered mercenaries for the Tower raid, and no one showed! This is our last chance. The last chance to save Banpellyon!"
Despite the butler's pleas, the boy shouted back.
"Just like the Sword Saint of old, Havel Banpellyon, I'll go to the Tower and restore our house!"
Hearing his old moniker thrown out so suddenly, Havel froze.
His name still lingered in Banpellyon's memory.
'That boy.'
Silver hair, the hallmark of Banpellyon, caught his eye.
And something familiar in the boy's face stirred him.
'I see.'
Havel realized it then.
The boy was his little sister's descendant.
From that long-ago little sister.
"Who are you?"
Just then, the knight—clearly the guard—spotted him.
He had sharp eyes hinting at solid skill.
They evoked the Dawn Knights for a fleeting moment.
One of the few who'd stuck around even after the fall.
Havel stepped forward before them.
These descendants suffering humiliation because of his absence long ago.
Havel Banpellyon stood before them once more.
He clenched his fist tight.
'If I reveal my name, everything could be fixed.'
Those seeking him would rejoice at his return in their hour of need.
The house would rise again. Glory, power—all restored.
He could even topple the families that had pushed them aside.
But he couldn't.
A house that crumbled without him was malformed from the start.
He, the former head, knew that all too well.
'And I'm not even from this era.'
He was no longer the head.
'A house relying on one person is doomed to fall. So instead...'
"I saw your notice recruiting mercenaries."
'I won't repeat the mistake of giving you just my strength.'
'I'll give you the power to rise on your own.'
Havel decided to grant these people of the new era what they needed most.