Chapter 163.1

Translator: Pai_

At the word "love" that came out of Haroon’s mouth, Turan silently looked at the person he had been conversing with.

He already knew from previous conversations that the appearance resembling an old man was not the true essence.

No, come to think of it, he couldn’t even be certain that Haroon’s true essence was female.

The Preah faith rejects same-sex love in order to widely propagate noble bloodlines, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t those who harbor such passions.

Perhaps Otas's true essence had been female.

Thanks to absorbing Cadrum’s memories, Turan had come to understand that the true essence of a game character who formed the body of a god might not match that of the player.

Just because the body of the Night Hunter was male didn’t mean the person behind the monitor was male as well.

Like the time the Lame Goddess, with her beautiful appearance and girlish speech, seduced others and took their money, only to be beaten up when people found out she was actually a man......

"I can see what you're thinking all over your face. I'm sorry, but that's personal information that I'll keep to myself."

“......Understood. But there’s something I can’t quite grasp. What is it that you want from the Night Hunter who has been resurrected that way?”

If Turan really was the reincarnation of the Night Hunter, even if someone longed for affection from him, he couldn’t reciprocate.

He had already given his passion to Meisa, and even putting that aside, it was difficult to hold romantic feelings toward an old man.

“You must be too young to know. Love doesn’t always seek something in return. Sometimes, just giving can bring joy.”

The gentle smile on Haroon’s face, as if he were talking to a child, made it hard to reconcile him with the ruthless person who had just casually revealed that he had ground up hundreds of thousands of souls to create Turan.

Truly, the old man before him was the most dual-natured person Turan had ever seen.

In some ways, endlessly cruel; in other ways, exuding a kind of innocent affection......

Perhaps sensing such inner turmoil, Haroon suddenly posed a question.

“Do you hate me? For sacrificing hundreds of thousands to create you and for separating you from your parents?”

Turan didn’t answer immediately and carefully chose his words.

Judging from the content of the question, it seemed Haroon didn’t yet know that Turan was aware of the truth about his father’s death.

To conceal that without telling a lie required the right kind of rhetoric.

“Well, I do think you’re a terrible villain...... but in a sense, I could also say I owe you a favor, so to be honest, I find it hard to determine how I should treat you.”

As Turan said this, he suddenly recalled the nobles of House Baltas in the western city of Orem that he had met long ago.

He had inwardly despised them for using knights as shields in place of themselves for attacks that weren’t even that dangerous, but they had treated Turan generously as a guest and opened the library for him.

It was to mobilize him for magical beast subjugation, but still.

Though their misdeeds couldn’t compare in scale to those of the old man before him, the fact that their actions were unpleasant but their treatment of him kind showed a similar nature.

“Besides, I wonder whether I deserve such kindness. Even after your explanation, I’m still not convinced that I’m the reincarnation of the Night Hunter. I don’t have any memories of a previous life, and my bloodline is different too.”

Truthfully, even if an opportunity arose to gain such memories, he would rather refuse it.

Just by absorbing part of Cadrum’s memories recently, Turan had ended up harboring unconscious hatred toward family members of his whom he had never even seen, let alone lived in the same world with.

If he were to completely acquire the Night Hunter’s memories, could he still define that version of himself as himself?

Haroon heard this and nodded with a smile.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what you think. I saw it with my own eyes and became convinced. That’s enough. That’s more than enough.”

As he murmured that, a single tear rolled down Haroon’s wrinkled face.

Turan, who had been startled, quickly realized that the nobles of House Zahar around him were far more agitated than he was.

Though the sound might not be transmitted outside due to the magic artifact, both of their images were visible to all, and thus the sight of their family head suddenly shedding tears during a conversation left them flustered.

Some even tried to enter the sound-blocking magic barrier, only to be stopped.

“Ah, pardon me...... I might have been fine if I had a younger body, but I seem to have grown far too sensitive with age. Then let’s leave the personal talk at that. It must be tiresome for a young person to listen to the ramblings of an old man. Is there anything you want from me? If it’s not too big a request, I’ll grant it.”

At Haroon’s words, Turan momentarily thought of asking him to kill all the Zahar nobles behind him, especially the gods vessels, and then commit suicide, but he quickly erased the thought.

Even if the old man before him saw Turan as something like a lover from a past life, he surely wouldn’t grant such a request.

In fact, it was probably because he had thought of such a thing that he had added the caveat that he couldn't grant anything too significant.

If there were something he couldn’t grant and yet he said he would grant anything, then that would be a lie.

In the end, what Turan asked after much thought was, just as Haroon had said, not a very great request.

“That stick you mentioned earlier, could you tell me what it’s used for?”

When Turan pointed to the stick slung across his back, Haroon let out a hearty laugh and said,

“Of course I’ll tell you! Why not even see it in action while we’re at it? Experience it firsthand.”

"Do you mean sparring, or a real match?"

“A sparring match, of course. If it were a duel, it would be hard even for me to stop our side's people from intervening. And you need to learn how to use that new ability you just gained. It’d be much easier if I demonstrated it.”

If Turan were to get seriously injured in a true duel, the gods of Zahar would likely seize the moment and insist on subjugating them.

In that case, even Haroon would find it difficult to stop them.

Even a powerful gods vessel becomes vulnerable during the process of moving from one body to another, and thus requires assistance.

The reason why gods don’t live alone but form groups is also to smoothly transfer their essence to new bodies. If one becomes isolated, they may one day be expelled without ever gaining a new host.

Turan knew about this delicate dynamic among the gods through the half-elves.

"I promise I won't use any attacks that could be fatal to you during our sparring. And if our side causes trouble, I'll restrain them. What do you say?"

“Alright.”

After a brief hesitation, Turan accepted his proposal.

Since he had activated the Eye of Truth, Haroon had not once lied.

If those words were true, then sparring with the head of House Zahar would certainly be a valuable experience.

“Well then, how about a light round as post-meal exercise!”

When Haroon deactivated the sound-blocking magic artifact and shouted loudly, everyone around showed confused expressions.

He had just been crying moments ago, and now he was suddenly declaring a spar?

Wasn’t this sequence of events completely inconsistent?

As Haroon said something to the nobles of Zahar, Turan also informed Osel and the other nobles of House Parsha that he would be sparring with Haroon.

Hearing this, Osel frowned with his youthful face.

“Will you be alright? This might be a ploy by the head of House Parsha to prevent us from attacking together......”

If they were just fighting, it would be natural for Turan and Osel to join forces and pressure Haroon, but if it were under the pretext of a sparring match, only the two could fight.

Then, if Haroon suddenly inflicted a critical wound and initiated combat, they would essentially be facing a divide-and-conquer scenario, taking them down one at a time.

“Your concern is reasonable, but I don’t think he has that kind of intent.”

“Alright. If something feels off, I’ll join in right away, so give me a signal.”

***