The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 142

Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Unexpectedly

Leaving Sylvie with my sister, I made my way to my parents’ room. I strode down the corridor, my gait growing faster with each step as I arrived in front of the door labeled “Leywin Family.”

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. The thought of what Ellie said, that my parents really planned to take part in the war, filled me with unease. A dull thud resounded as I knocked on the wooden door.

“It’s open,” the warm voice of my mother chimed from the other side.

The hinges creaked as I turned the knob and slid the door open. Bags lay open on the floor with clothes folded neatly beside them. I stepped inside and looked around to find my father polishing his gauntlets, a set of chainmail armor spread out beside him. My mother, who had been walking toward the door to greet their visitor, stopped when she saw me. She masked her surprise with a sullen smile while my father dropped his gaze as soon as he saw my expression.

“So it’s true,” I muttered, picking up a polished shin brace beside my father.

“Son.” My father put down the gauntlet and rag but remained seated.

“We weren’t expecting you back so soon,” my mother added, taking another step toward me.

“Were you planning on leaving without saying anything to me?” I asked, my gaze still focused on the shin brace in my hand.

“Of course not. But we wanted to finish preparing before you got back.” My mother lifted her hand, hesitating just a bit before she placed it on my shoulder.

A mixture of feelings welled up in me as I squeezed tightly at the metal armor—confusion as to why they had suddenly decided to fight, irritation that they hadn’t even bothered to discuss this decision with me, and anger that they’d be willing to risk their lives when Ellie was barely twelve.

I finally pried my gaze off of my hands and looked at my father. “I thought you guys were going to wait until after Ellie got older before joining the war.”

“Commander Virion advised us to stay until Ellie was older or until you came,” my father said, his gaze firm.

“I don’t believe that you guys suddenly decided to fight in the war just because I came back,” I replied doubtfully.

“We didn’t,” my mother answered, her hand squeezing my shoulder more tightly.

“I just got a transmission from Helen.” My father stood up, his gaze unusually vicious as he tested out his gauntlets. “They were attacked in a dungeon as everyone was getting ready to leave. They stayed back to buy some time for the younger soldiers to escape, but...”

“But?” I echoed. My father, Reynolds Leywin, the man who had always endured any hardships with an optimistic smile, looked up with an icy venom in his eyes. “Adam didn’t make it.”

“No,” I shook my head. “That’s impossible. I was there just yesterday. I was the one that cleared the dungeon and killed the mutant holed up inside.”

My father nodded solemnly. “Apparently after you left, as everyone prepared to depart, another horde of mana beasts led by a mutant attacked them. Helen thinks that the bottom floor of the first dungeon was connected to another dungeon.”

“The fight was a mess because no one had been expecting a battle. The Twin Horns and some other veteran soldiers stayed and bought some time for everyone else,” my mother continued. “Luckily, the mutant was only B class, but because its army was larger and caught them off guard, there were more deaths than necessary... including Adam’s.”

A barren silence lingered in the room after my mother finished speaking. I couldn’t believe that someone I had just seen yesterday was dead. Suddenly, a sinking realization made me bolt upright; Tess had been in that dungeon!

“Who else died?” I asked. Despite my concern, I didn’t want to seem insensitive of Adam’s death by asking if Tess was okay.

“That was all I was able to hear from Helen. It was an emergency transmission so the message was rather short, but seeing as she didn’t include anyone else, I figured the others that died were soldiers we didn’t know,” my father added with a sigh. “Although Commander Virion probably knows more now since some time has passed.”

Helen would’ve surely mentioned if something had happened to Tess, but it still made me uneasy, to say the least.

“I’m sorry about what happened to Adam,” I consoled my father. Adam wasn’t my favorite of the Twin Horns as I had found his quick temper and cynical sarcasm to be distasteful, but he had been loyal. Underneath his impatient and cranky exterior had been a trustworthy comrade that stood by my parents’ sides while they were in the Twin Horns.

I could now see why the atmosphere surrounding my father was so heavy.

“Don’t misunderstand, Arthur. We’re not doing this out of guilt—a soldier’s life is always in danger,” my father said.

“Even still,” I said, shaking my head.

I knew I was being unreasonable. My father had every right to fight the battles he chose. But it was my own selfishness of wanting to keep the ones I loved safe that made me want to try.

It didn’t matter what level your core was or how knowledgeable you were about mana manipulation. No matter how much you strengthened your body or heavily you equipped yourself, death could come at any moment in a battle; no matter how strong I became, I firmly believed that. Yet, my father was willing to risk his and my mother’s lives when it wasn’t only unnecessary, but reckless.

“Arthur, it’s not his fault,” my mother consoled. “I’m the one that wants to go back to the Twin Horns and help out in the war.”

“What?” I blurted, completely taken by surprise. “You want to go to war?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“B-But you can’t,” I turned to my father, bewilderment practically written on my face. “I mean, Dad said you avoid using magic because something happened in the past. Why now...?”

My mother cast a glance at my father, who dipped his head in a solemn nod. “Arthur, sit down.”

I obeyed, taking a seat at the foot of the bed as my mother gathered her thoughts.

“What else did my hus—your father tell you?” She eyed me guiltily as she amended her words but I didn’t take it to heart. She had told me to give her time to accept who I was and I could tell that with her being overly mindful, she was trying.

“That’s about all he told me,” I said. “He said the rest was to be told by you when you were ready.”

“What we never told you, Arthur, about the Twin Horns, was that there was actually one more member.”

My brows furrowed as I glanced over to my father, who remained silent.

“Her name was Lensa, a talented and young augmenter at the time,” my mother continued.

She went on telling me a story of a very bright and hopeful mage that had joined the Twin Horns shortly after my father had brought in a young Alice from Valden City. My mother’s eyes glazed over as she described how she and Lensa had hit it off immediately, Lensa’s brash and straightforwardness meshing well with my mother’s timidity. Lensa had done well for herself as an adventurer even without the help of a party, to the point where she was already fairly well-known. So when she had asked the Twin Horns if she could join their party, it came as a surprise to everyone.

My mother closed her eyes and paused for a breath. “It had only been about two years since she joined when the accident occurred.”

My brows furrowed in apprehension as I imagined what sort of accident had transpired, when my mother faintly smiled. “It isn’t some dramatic calamity that befell us; not everyone’s life is as exciting as yours is.”

Embarrassed, I let out an uncomfortable laugh as I scratched my cheek.

“We had gotten careless and ran into an ambush by a pack of stingers. None of us had sustained any major injuries and I thought very little of it as I healed everyone’s surface wounds.” My mother pursed her lips to keep from crying. “The thing about being an emitter is that everyone expects you to know how to heal every injury—that your magic is a one-spell-cures-all when that really isn’t the case.”

My father placed a consoling hand on my mother’s back as her body shuddered.

“I didn’t know at that time either since it hadn’t been that long since I had awakened and I never fully trained in the different aspects of healing; I didn’t think I needed to.” Wiping away her tears, she looked up at me with red eyes. “I closed everyone’s wounds, except the venom from the stingers’ tails had infected the flesh below. Your father and everyone else was able to get treated in time before it could do any harm, but for Lensa, the wound was close to her mana core, and after I had closed her wounds, the venom spread.”

I drew in a breath sharply. “Then...”

“Yeah. Her mana core had gotten infected to the point where she could no longer practice mana manipulation. I had robbed my friend and teammate of the one true joy in her life.”

“At least she’s still alive,” I said, trying to comfort her until she shook her head.

“She went off by herself into a dungeon and never came back out,” my mother said. “She had always said that she wanted to die gloriously in battle, but she went into a high-risk dungeon without being able to use magic to get herself killed. And you know what the funny part is?”

My mother looked up, trying to keep any more tears from falling as she scoffed. “If I hadn’t closed the wound, the doctor would’ve been able to easily extract the poison. She probably would’ve been fine if I hadn’t healed her.”

“The same goes for you, Arthur. No matter how strong you are, death rarely comes from just weakness; it sneaks up when your guard is down. I’ll protect your mother and you can bet that our goal in this war will be to make it out in one piece and come back to you and your sister, but you have to do the same.” My father paused for a second as his gaze hardened. “We may not have raised you as we thought we had with your past life’s memories and all, but you can be damn sure that Ellie sees you as her loving brother, so don’t be so eager to sacrifice yourself for some vague ‘greater good,’ and come out of this war safely. Even if we lose this war, there will always be a chance to fight back. The only situation where you truly lose is when you die, because there are no second chances after that.” _{freewebnσvel.cøm}