Volume 9, Chapter 44 – Side Story 1: Sargus

The Undead Grand Duke, Sargus.

That was what others called him.

The Graveyard had existed for millions of years. Over those millions of years, this Undead Grand Duke had taken in countless wandering lonely souls drifting throughout the world.

To the undead, the Undead Grand Duke was their father.

Wherever the Undead Grand Duke was, that was their home.

So after the Undead Grand Duke died… most of the undead in the Graveyard chose to follow him, abandoning the eternal life they were meant to possess.

To the undead, it was Undead Grand Duke Sargus who had given them new life.

And following the Undead Grand Duke as he departed was the only thing they could offer in return to Undead Grand Duke Sargus.

“Sargus, Sargus? What are you doing?”

A gentle and adorable girl’s voice sounded by his ear. The boy wearing worn out clothes that had been washed until they faded stood up in a panic, hiding the thing in his hand behind his back.

Looking at the beautiful girl before him with her eyes opened wide in curiosity and smooth crimson long hair hanging straight down to her waist, the boy’s small face turned red as he lowered his head, not daring to meet her gaze.

“I… I’m not doing anything… Lilith. But you, Lilith… why did you run over to my place…”

“Hehe, because Sargus looks so strange. Everyone else is playing, so why isn’t Sargus joining in? Or could it be that Sargus is hiding some kind of secret?”

The girl let out a pleasant laugh. Her gentle voice entered Sargus’ ears, making him even more uncomfortable.

“It’s not… really nothing… Lilith.”

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“Really?”

With her hands behind her back, Lilith’s gemlike eyes sparkled with beautiful light.

“Really, really. I never lie…”

“Alright then~”

Seeing Sargus’ guilty eyes constantly darting away, Lilith finally gave up on continuing to question him, showing her understanding.

“Then, since there’s nothing going on, Sargus, come play with everyone.”

“Ah… but I still have something to do…”

Thinking about the thing hidden behind his back, Sargus looked a little flustered.

“What could be so important? It’s fine, come play with us~”

Not wanting Sargus to refuse again, Lilith reached out her pale and soft little hand without giving him a chance to argue, tightly grabbing Sargus by the wrist.

The warmth from the girl’s fingers made Sargus’ heart skip a beat. Before he could react, Lilith had already pulled him along and started running toward the outside.

Actually, Lilith was not stronger than Sargus. But considering that not following along would make Lilith angry, Sargus could only let her pull his hand as they ran outside.

And as he left the room, Sargus tossed away the thing he had been hiding behind his back, a wooden little sword that had not yet fully taken shape.

Sargus had been an orphan abandoned by his parents since birth.

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Although he was an orphan, the people in the village were very kind. When they found Sargus abandoned in the wilderness, they kindly took him back and raised him together.

To Sargus, the villagers were no different from reborn parents.

Because he had been alone since childhood and knew his own background, Sargus was far more mature than ordinary children.

When other children were playing in the mud, Sargus would help the village uncles work in the fields.

When other children knew nothing and naively thought about playing here and there, Sargus was already thinking about how to repay the villagers who had raised him.

The villagers were also very fond of such a sensible Sargus.

They treated him as their own family.

And this prematurely mature Sargus actually had a tiny secret in his heart.

That was… he liked the village chief’s granddaughter, the very Lilith who was currently pulling his hand as they ran outside.

Lilith was very beautiful and very cute.

Most of the boys in the village more or less had good feelings toward the adorable Lilith, and even the mature Sargus was no exception.

It was also because he liked Lilith that Sargus did not dare to meet her gaze whenever she looked at him. He was afraid she would see through the little bit of affection hidden in his heart, afraid that because of that, she would subconsciously distance herself from him.

As his thoughts drifted, Sargus was brought by Lilith to the open space where the village children gathered. When they saw Lilith pulling Sargus over, the children gathered there all started making teasing noises.

Although this kind of thing was merely a joke among children, the mature Sargus did not think that Lilith would truly like him.

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“Alright, the last one from the village, Sargus, is finally here!”

As the village chief’s granddaughter, although Lilith was a girl, she held quite a bit of authority among the children.

At the very least, all the boys and girls present were willing to listen to what Lilith said.

Sargus felt a little puzzled and confused. What exactly did Lilith pull him here for?

But very soon, Sargus got his answer.

“Continuing from what we were talking about earlier, what kind of dreams do you all have for when you grow up?”

“Me me me! I’ll go first!”

“I’ll go first, I’ll go first!”

“We agreed earlier that I’d go first!”

Sargus quietly watched the children eagerly raising their little hands, feeling a slight sense of curiosity. Of course, Sargus was not curious about those children’s dreams, but about the dream of the girl he liked, Lilith.

“I want to become a hunter as outstanding as my dad!”

“I want to become the best blacksmith in the whole village!”

“I want to go out and make lots of money!”

“I…”

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Everyone’s dreams were actually very ordinary and simple, and also very pure.

And as the children each spoke about their dreams, finally, one of the girls asked the question Sargus most wanted to know, and cared about the most.

“Lilith, what’s your dream?”

“Me?”

Hearing the girl’s question, Lilith showed a smile so cute that Sargus almost let out a sound.

“My dream is actually very simple… to marry someone who likes me, and then properly be a qualified wife or something…”

A wife?

Hearing that, Sargus fell into a slight daze.

To be honest, for a moment, Sargus felt that he might become Lilith’s husband. But when he thought of his own background, he felt that idea was somewhat unrealistic.

Becoming a husband or something was far too unrealistic…

But if I can’t become Lilith’s husband, I can protect Lilith… quietly guarding Lilith like a knight…

That would be fine too. As long as I can see Lilith’s smile, that’s enough…