Chapter 72: Regret and Resentment

Chapter 72: Regret and Resentment

Although several days had passed, Dia and the others were still buzzing with the excitement of defeating a power ful foe. Now, escorted by Warriors, the children had traveled far from the Swamp.

Since that day, Bran had begun to distance himself from his cousin. He maintained a safe distance from them at all times, still haunted by the shadow of nearly being killed by his own companions.

Bran was not afraid of death; he could face danger bravely. But this kind of betrayal from kin and friends had completely terrified him. He thought it was better to be alone, safer to be alone. So, for the past few days, he had ignored his cousin and her friends.

Bran was now happily chatting and laughing with Danny, telling her about his experiences and his progress. Even though he knew Danny had been following behind and likely knew most of what happened, he just couldn’t help wanting to share it with her. And Danny, as always, smiled quietly, listening to his boasting and his nonsensical talk.

Danny explained some things to Bran. Those insects lived deep in the Swamp and usually didn’t appear near the edges. They rarely attacked humans on their own. The area where Bran had been was still considered the border, a relatively safe zone, which was why they had been a bit careless. The swamp’s vegetation had blocked the Snow Falcon’s view from the sky, until they heard Bran’s sharp whistle.

She had already reported the incident back to the Castle. Other Warriors would come to investigate the situation deep within the Swamp.

…

The Warriors from the Western Territory were different from Danny; they were not these children’s Attendants. In the Northlands, not many minors had Attendants, so they were somewhat surprised to learn Danny was Bran’s Attendant. Moreover, as an Attendant, Danny seemed a bit too close to Bran.

The troublemaking cousins were starting to feel resentful about Bran ignoring them these past days. They had already apologized, but Bran had only said “it’s fine” and then paid them no further attention. After Bran displayed considerable skill, they interpreted his silence as looking down on them. They began to see all of Bran’s behavior since their reunion as a kind of disdain.

The troublemakers started provoking Bran, intentionally or not. Bran just smiled and ignored them. But when they began to show disrespect towards Danny with their words, Bran became truly angry. The relationship between the two sides soured instantly, and this change began to affect the Warriors from the Western Territory as well.

Then, one evening, Bran was sitting by the campfire, lost in thought—habitually using his Mana to sense the microscopic World. A young Warrior from the Western Territory, sitting across the fire, called Bran an Idiot. Before the word fully left his mouth, Bran sprang up from the ground, punched the young man squarely on the bridge of his nose, and then used the momentum to land right back in his original sitting position.

Adult Northlanders were indeed physically tough. Though his nose bled from the punch, that was all that happened. His nose wasn’t broken, and he wasn’t knocked out. It was just that Bran’s speed was too fast; the young Warrior hadn’t been able to dodge at all. In fact, it was just a crisp sound followed by some blood from his nose, nothing else. But it was enough to crush his pride—a 10-year-old child had punched him and made his nose bleed.

That night, aside from Danny letting out a derisive snort, no one else made a sound.

…

In the morning, Bran and Danny went hunting.

Dia sidled up to the young man who had been punched the night before and asked, “Ange, why didn’t any of you say anything last night?”

“You got me into a real mess. You asked me to help provoke your cousin, but you gave me false information.”

“What false information? He really was an Idiot, everyone in the Castle knew that,” Dia retorted, somewhat defiantly.

“Don’t provoke your cousin anymore. After taking that punch yesterday, I figured it out. Think carefully. Back when you bullied your cousin in the Castle as kids, did you ever actually come out on top? Don’t answer in haste; think it through.”

“Now that you mention it, I guess we never really did. There would be no one else around, but right after we bullied him, we’d somehow get found out and then get a beating from our parents. Ange, how did you guess?”

“Someone who attacks with that kind of lightness and speed isn’t a fool. A fool couldn’t follow that path.”

“Ange, you still shouldn’t have taken that hit for nothing.”

“It wasn’t for nothing. At that distance, even if I had been on guard, it would have been a close call. Unless I was completely focused, I really couldn’t have dodged that punch.”

“No way? It didn’t seem that fast to me. I saw it all clearly.”

“That move of his had no wasted motion. You think it looked simple, that you saw it clearly? Try mimicking it yourself.”

Dia mimicked the motion. “You’re right.”

“If I’m not mistaken, has he been sitting cross-legged every time he’s been resting since you first saw him?”

“What about it? Yes, that’s right.”

“When he sprang up and sat back down yesterday, there was no obvious build-up of force or preparatory movement before rising. That means even while resting, he remains alert, ready to strike at any moment. Think about the past few days you’ve been together. Were there any unusual patterns? Who kept watch at night? Who usually spotted dangers first? Did you sleep well?”

Dia suddenly understood. “Now that you say it, mostly we slept pretty well. The White Wolf didn’t alert us often, and it frequently followed his or that Black Cat’s directions.”

“That’s because he handled minor dangers before they became problems. Stop bothering him. He might genuinely be afraid of you all, scared by what you did.”

“How could that be? We fought that insect with all our might. We delivered the final, killing blows!”

“He definitely told you to run, to stay out of the way, didn’t he? And you didn’t listen, right? His plan was probably to hold the insect off for a while, wait until you ran further away, and then find a chance to escape himself.”

“We were trying to help him! He doesn’t appreciate good intentions!”

“Based on the endurance, reflexes, and speed he showed, even if he couldn’t defeat it, shaking off that insect shouldn’t have been hard. But he was slowed down trying to run while held back by you, and he couldn’t just abandon you. Later, he was even pinned down by you, forced into a fight to the death.

We all saw those final five fatal spear throws. If he hadn’t dodged quickly, you would have stabbed him to death. He didn’t get up for half a day afterwards, not because he was exhausted, but because he was terrified by you.”

Hearing this, the Warriors around them chuckled.

Dia was still unconvinced. “But…”

“No ‘buts.’ When those spears flew at him, his back was turned to you. Think about how he managed to dodge them. Even we Warriors couldn’t have done better in that situation.”

“Ange, his Attendant snorted at you last night.”

“It wasn’t just at me. That sound was directed at all of us Warriors on this side.”

“Then why didn’t any of you react?”

“You should show her some respect. Even though she looks only about 18 or 19, none of us here can defeat her.”

Dia was very indignant. “You haven’t even fought. How do you know you can’t win?”

“Aura. After that derisive snort last night, her aura suppressed all of us Warriors. And you five kids were sitting right among us at the time, but weren’t affected at all. We didn’t react last night not because we didn’t want to, but because we were at a disadvantage in that confrontation. So, you should at least show her, a powerful person, the proper respect.”

Dia began to feel regret. “Why didn’t you remind me earlier? No wonder Bran got angry a couple of days ago right after I made a few jabs at Danny. What should I do now?”

“It’s fine. She won’t hold it against you.”

“Ah…” Dia and her friends started to feel regretful. Not towards Bran, but towards Danny. Especially since Danny, a young woman, had managed to suppress multiple Warriors with just her aura. This made the girls start to admire Danny.

…

All the Castle’s Warriors had demonstrated their signature combat skills in front of Bran and Danny, under the pretext of Bran needing to observe for weapon-making. Through observation and learning during that period, followed by later training where she integrated everything, Danny had now reached the level of a top-tier Northlands Warrior. This was something Bran hadn’t expected, and Danny had never mentioned it to him.

Even Bran, whose Mana Web had merged with his spirit under the terror of near death, whose perception had gradually become Microscopic, allowing him to clearly grasp everything within several meters around him, hadn’t noticed that Danny had used her aura to suppress the Western Territory Warriors last night.

…

Prompted by the Western Territory Warriors, the children’s attitude towards Danny changed dramatically, especially the four girls. Although it left Bran somewhat puzzled, it wasn’t a bad thing, and Bran was happy to see it.