Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 260 (Part 2):

Sarah was an active child.

During the time of Naho’s human farm, she had lived quietly in the village, but after meeting Elaga and being able to move around, she lived enjoying her freedom.

Thanks to running around freely under Elaga’s protection, she wasn’t like a typical noble girl without a single muscle in her hands, but had slightly tanned skin and good physical strength.

She had the basics for learning swordsmanship. And in some ways, she was more determined than Helmut.

“Hey, look at my posture. Is it right? Should I do it like this?”

“Lift your right arm, just a pinky’s width.”

“Like this? Is this it?”

Although she chattered incessantly, Sarah was enthusiastic about learning swordsmanship.

She wasn’t like Helmut, who had awakened his intelligence early due to the influence of the Seed of Darkness, but she was quite smart and persistent. This was probably due to the influence of magical energy to some extent.

Even while suffering from muscle pain, she didn’t try to give up learning the sword.

It wasn’t because Sarah was a persistent girl, but for a very simple reason.

“It’s super fun!”

‘There’s not much else to do here anyway.’

There weren’t many games for an active child to enjoy here. And she had probably tried most of them before Helmut appeared.

Elaga seemed displeased that Sarah wasn’t making flower crowns for it lately, but wielding a sword seemed to suit Sarah’s aptitude better than that.

‘It’s optimal for training.’

In the sense that one can focus solely without being distracted by other things. It was the same for Helmut.

While taking care of Sarah, Helmut also focused on his own training, and he was gradually able to shake off his memories of the human world.

“Kyaa! Look at this.”

About three months after starting to learn the sword, Sarah exclaimed excitedly as she succeeded in cutting a tree in half.

Since there was a short sword among the ownerless swords that she could handle, albeit heavily, she had been training with a real sword from the beginning.

Helmut said in a nonchalant tone.

“Yeah.”

Then, after a moment, he briefly added.

“Well done.”

Still, he remembered enough of what he learned in the human world to know what to say in such situations.

Sarah showed a bright smile.

“Right? I’m good, aren’t I?”

Even for Helmut, who had attended the Greta Academy where only prodigies gather, Sarah’s achievement seemed decent.

‘Quite fast.’

First of all, the environment was good. The Forest of Roots is full of magical energy, which also means that the entire forest is full of vitality.

In the Forest of Roots, one can achieve progress faster than in any training ground in the outside world.

Sarah was in the early stages of beginning to accept Vis. Right now, she was at the level of wielding a sword with some strength, but gradually she would be able to imbue Vis into her sword.

‘That time might come sooner than expected.’

Although it wouldn’t be comparable to the speed of Helmut’s achievements.

“How’s Sarah? Is she not bothering Helmut too much?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Susan often asked Helmut about Sarah. Although the time they spent talking wasn’t long, the initial aversion he felt while being with Susan and Sarah had diluted.

Helmut was gradually getting used to this mother and daughter.

*

“What will you do when you leave the Forest of Roots?”

Helmut asked Sarah one day. Like Helmut, Sarah had almost no memories left of the outside world.

No, Sarah disliked remembering itself. Perhaps because the situation in which she left was so shocking.

Sarah’s answer was simple.

“Umm, I’ll eat sweets. The food here is terrible…”

It was a truly trivial goal. She seemed to be feeling something similar to what Helmut had felt before.

Hadn’t he also felt like leaving the Forest of Roots after eating the food Darien made?

‘It’s better now than it was then.’

Because Susan makes fairly tasty human food.

A daughter of a noble family rarely has to enter the kitchen.

Yet, Susan was quite skilled in cooking. According to her, she learned from other women when she was living in the human farm before. Although she was the only one among those women who survived.

‘The human world…’

Helmut looked down at his hands. While teaching Sarah the sword, Helmut had also made progress.

Since he wasn’t taking classes at the academy, he could invest more time in the sword than he could outside.

And Helmut was feeling it. That he, who had taken up the sword again, was different from before. Of course, in a good way.

‘Is it because I faced death?’

He had met a truly strong enemy and fought against them. And he had rampaged through the Forest of Roots under the control of the Seed of Darkness.

Like steel that had been tempered, Helmut’s vessel had become harder and larger after going through two arduous experiences in a row.

When he looked back at his condition after recovering his Vis, he felt that his level as a swordsman had grown.

Now, Helmut had to fill that vessel.

‘But…’

A cool wind blows in his chest. He couldn’t completely shake off the helplessness seeping into a corner of his mind.

The past Helmut had a ball of fire burning inside him. There was something he wanted to pour all his energy into, even if it meant consuming himself. Life without that something was empty.

No matter how much he swung his sword and trained, there was an emptiness that couldn’t be filled.

Helmut thought. If he focused on what he could do, wouldn’t change come someday?

What he could do was the same as in the past. Getting stronger.

Swordsmen sometimes hit the limits of their talent. But the Seed of Darkness allows one to surpass the limits that a human would normally have. This applied to talent as well.

Helmut could become endlessly strong. Really, until he reached some unknown end.

‘Revenge.’

Helmut brushed past that word. Even though he felt the Seed of Darkness stirring in his chest for a moment.

A hot, bitter gust of wind followed like an aftershock.

‘It’s about living.’

Even if there was no hope or passion.

As long as he was alive, he had to keep living. That was what Helmut had to do.

Time flowed smoothly like a river, but quickly.

Otaku_Tensei

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