(25) Covering the battlefield in a pool of blood.

Nicokel didn't mind Jane's shameless attitude, truthfully. 

If using such a drug could win Jane's trust, then Nicokel didn't care much about it. It was not like he was hiding some grave secret that might turn the world against him. 

'Right now, even if she had forced me to reveal my past life, I think it would be very hard to prove such a thing to others.' 

And more than anything, Nicokel wanted to be honest with Jane to form a trustworthy connection. 

'In the first place, she used such a crude method as I'm powerless right now. Anyone would want to take advantage of a clueless person like me, that is my image externally at the least.' 

Nicokel didn't find Jane's action to be strange in the slightest. 

"It has plagued my mind for a while now, but what is your goal, young master Nicokel? Is it to become the next Duke? Take revenge on your brother and humiliate him?" Interest kept flashing through Jane's face. 

Gears turned within Nicokel's head, he could not state the whole truth as it was. Doing so would just make him appear alien-like before them. 

What did Nicokel want to do? 

It was very straightforward, he wanted to kill every last of his enemies on the battlefield. 

It didn't matter which battlefield he was in anymore, Nicokel just wanted to feel like he was living again. 

'I joined the war after the death of my family, however, my hatred just turned into madness at one point.'

'Then, I decided to fight for the nation and my comrade, but in the end, I lost them all.' 

'It's almost like I am cursed at this point. I always survive but the same can't be said for the others. I will reach them sooner or later...' 

The 'Otherside' that Nicokel and his past comrades had spoken of could be labeled as a delusion. 

Nevertheless, they wanted to believe in it. They hoped that the comrades who fought beside them reached the other side, instead of vanishing into nothingness.

That was death. Something refused to embrace Nicokel even after his death. 

'Well, This time I will live only for myself mainly.'

Back on Earth, Nicokel had always held back, keeping his comrade's safety the priority. But now, he followed his hobby and liking. 

'I will mark the battlefield in a pool of blood. I will trample over all my enemies with despair and anguish filling them. I shall dominate the battlefield and never lose in this life.' Nicokel developed a natural loathing towards ever losing in war again. 

In essence, Nicokel was a war general and that will never change. He had risen to the major rank in the military at times of crisis. The feats his battalion had achieved had spread across the earth. 

Nicokel, or more specially Halbert could be called a legend, who had managed to push back Earth's enemy multiple times. 

That too was done using just his troop and nothing else. He was given neither a national-level weapon nor the talented awakeners to pull off the feats he performed. 

Jane clenched her hands involuntarily. 'Just what am I looking at...?' 

From the moment a smile spread across Nicokel's face, Jane felt nothing but suffocation. Her back was covered in a thick cold sweat. 

"For now...I want to get as close to the southern battlefield as possible. To be more clear, I want to participate in the war." Nicokel answered calmly. 

"...Is it for honor?" Jane controlled her expression with all her might. 

Jane inwardly contemplated: 'For some reason, I get the feeling that it's not for honor...but I can't quite put my finger on it.' 

"You could say so." Nicokel relaxed his back while responding.

Nicokel did seek honor as it was very beneficial in the long run. 

"Do you still like your fiance Alessia Blodraid?" 

"No." 

"...I see, then please continue with your schedule as you see fit. Thank you for granting us a portion of your precious time, young master Nicokel." Jane spoke with a little disappointment. 

If she made a connection with Nicokel and then he married into the Blodraid family, she might form another big connection. However, her disappointment was short-lived as she was aware of the nature of the marriage Nicokel was in. 

Nicokel found that Jane spoke in a slightly informal tone, but he didn't bother nitpicking about it. 

"How much time do you need to prepare all the items listed in the paper?" Nicokel pointed at the paper in Jane's hand. 

"Two days is more than enough." Jane laughed slightly covering her mouth. 

"I look forward to our future cooperation, then, Miss Jane and Katlyn," Nicokel spoke his part of the farewell and exited the guest room.

Walking in the corridor with a calm expression, Nicokel nodded his head to the knight passing by. For some reason, the knight appeared in a hurry, Nicokel could hear someone complaining ahead of him too. 

Nicokel wanted to use mana to enhance his hearing, but he found his mana reserve was already reaching the limit. Just masking his nose for a few seconds had burned most of his mana. 

'...I wonder who it is this time.' 

People were visiting the Verskein dukedom in bulk, so finding new faces every day wouldn't be weird anymore. 

Walking nearer to the source of the sound, Nicokel could vaguely tell what she was speaking. 

"I won't forgive whoever did this...!" 

Finding the voice to be very young, Nicokel let half of his wariness go. He just ignored the voice and passed the hall. 

He could now see the small blonde girl, who appeared to be 8 years old, and her mother who smiled bitterly at the anger of her daughter. 

Nicokel's eyes met with the mother, so he nodded his head in greeting and moved up the steps. At the end of his vision, he could see the mother's eyes widening. 

'She is one of my biological father's wives if I am not wrong.' 

In his heart, he felt a little funny. He noticed the reason the small girl was throwing a tantrum was because of the waffles he picked up while passing by. 

"Wait!... Are you Nicokel?" The small girl pointed her finger toward Nicokel in confusion. 

"...Yes." Nicokel nodded, standing in the middle of the steps. 

"Then, it must be you who robbed my waffles! You always do this to me..." The small girl's childish voice began sounding resentful.

Remembering her name, Nicokel slightly tilted his head, "What proof do you have that I did it, Yerien?" 

The mother was half in doubt and confusion, but when she heard Nicolel's confident voice, she was sure that it wasn't Nicokel who did it. There was no sign of him lying on his face, so she patted Yerien's head. 

"Nicokel isn't the one who did it. I will order the maid to prepare some more immediately, so just wait a little more, okay?" 

"Really...?" Yerien's pouting face relaxed. 

"Yes." 

By the time they turned towards Nicokel, he had already gone away like a ghost. 

Catching a servant in the corridor, Nicokel instructed him to bring him a few medical herbs. He needed to treat his leg so that it wouldn't get in his way of training. 

"...." After arriving back In his room, Nicokel changed into a set of comfortable clothes and began reading books on mana manipulation, while laying on the bed. 

'My body still aches...I should postpone my training session until the night today.' Nicokel immersed himself in the book not long after. 

For a long time, only the sound of page flipping could be heard.