Chapter 28

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 12

Chapter Title: Side Story: Kamin's Story

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Kamin Rudel was born as the Second Prince of the Hamel Empire.

His mother was the emperor's nineteenth consort.

She was renowned for her exceptional beauty and gentle temperament, which earned her the emperor's favor. After she gave birth to a prince, his affection for her grew even deeper. Her newborn son, too, basked in the emperor's attention and love at first.

But that period didn't last long.

Once suspicions arose about Kamin's lineage due to his appearance, the emperor erased both the nineteenth consort and their second child from his heart.

Kamin was essentially neglected in his mother's palace.

His mother lost all will to live and spent her days lying in bed. The attendants serving them had no loyalty toward a consort and prince who had fallen from the emperor's grace.

Then, in the year Kamin turned four, his maternal uncle passed away.

The shock caused his mother to lose her mind.

From the moment she learned of her brother's death, she refused to let her son out of her sight even for a second.

The woman would hold her son every day, sobbing apologies and wailing in despair.

The palace servants and maids, witnessing her behavior, grew even more suspicious of the Second Prince's bloodline.

Believing that if word got out it could lead to dire consequences, they kept their mouths firmly shut.

They turned a blind eye to the woman's actions, leaving Kamin to endure his mother's despair and screams day after day.

The young boy initially ached at his mother's pain and tried desperately to comfort her.

But realizing that no effort worked and that she wasn't truly seeing him at all, he eventually stopped trying altogether.

As time passed, the innocent light in the boy's eyes turned gloomy and cynical.

Kamin came to despise his mother's fragile spirit.

And at some point, he began refusing to stay by her side.

Even when she begged through tears for him to remain with her, he ignored her and kept his distance.

From a young age, Kamin had a sturdy build and great strength; he was a lively child full of energy.

Sneering at his mother's weakness, he roamed outside boldly for all to see.

He wanted to show everyone.

That unlike his mother, he was strong and afraid of nothing.

When Kamin was seven, he had a nightmare one night.

A dream of a colossal monster with four arms.

In the dream, he was crushed to death beneath one of the monster's fingers and woke up screaming.

Feeling the terror of death for the first time, Kamin bolted outside in the middle of the night.

Even after waking, he couldn't shake off the fear easily.

It felt like the monster from his dream could appear before him at any moment, so Kamin hid behind a rock in the rear garden, trembling uncontrollably.

That's when he heard his mother's voice.

She had woken to his scream and come searching for him.

At the sound of her thin, pitiful voice, Kamin snapped back to his senses.

The realization that he was cowering in fear made his teeth grind in rage.

He didn't want to become a weak human like his mother.

He wanted to prove he was strong.

When his mother found him, Kamin instinctively lifted the rock.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

A rock dozens of times heavier than his own body—he lifted it effortlessly.

Witnessing this, his mother was horrified.

She made him set the rock down and hurriedly took him back to her chambers.

For once, Kamin lacked the confidence to sleep alone and obediently followed her instructions.

She tucked him into bed, then paced by the window, staying up all night.

The next day, she grabbed her son and warned him sternly.

Never to boast about that strength to anyone else.

Seeing this solemn side of his mother for the first time, Kamin was momentarily taken aback, but soon his rebellious streak surfaced.

When he resisted, she held her young son close and explained everything patiently.

The emperor's endless greed for the throne.

The power of the faction supporting the current crown prince.

The precarious position of being the Second Prince.

Kamin understood her warning.

Though young, he was exceptionally bright and perceptive, so the boy accepted his circumstances. At the same time, he was quietly pleased to discover this unknown side of his mother.

Kamin hoped his mother would grow stronger for his sake from then on.

But it was a vain hope.

As if unable to bear it any longer, she sent her son out of the palace.

And ended her own life. Free at last.

Kamin was abandoned once more.

In a remote corner of the western frontier.

Leaving the imperial palace and his mother behind, Kamin gained his freedom.

But one thing still bound him.

The nightmares of that monster.

Every night, Kamin dreamed of being killed by it.

When he turned ten, by sheer chance, Kamin learned that the monster in his dreams was from the legendary race of giants.

But knowing that changed nothing.

The nightmares persisted.

Every single day, he suffered humiliating deaths in his dreams.

To wash away the fear, Kamin pushed his body to the brink during waking hours.

He swung his sword and threw himself into danger.

No real-world peril compared to the giants from his dreams.

As time went on and scars accumulated on his body, his skin toughened, his movements quickened, and his strength grew.

Miraculously, as his real self grew stronger, his dream self did too.

Yet he still couldn't match the giants.

To become even stronger, Kamin wandered the world.

He dove headfirst into any place fraught with mortal danger.

In the midst of this, he met Edmond, and gradually people began gathering around him.

Edmond formed an organization centered on Kamin and expanded their operations.

The group's size and influence grew rapidly day by day.

In truth, though, Kamin paid no attention to what was happening around him.

He only wished to escape the nightmares.

He challenged perilous endeavors without regard for his life.

At some point, his body had transcended human limits.

On the day a blade bounced off his skin, Kamin finally made his decision.

He would head to the icy lands and verify the legend's truth for himself.

Only then could he end these nightmares.

With no blade able to harm him now, he was confident he could win even if the giants truly existed.

Setting out on his journey, Kamin encountered a barrier spell at the continent's northeast edge, which led him to meet the Yetaku tribe. From them, he learned that the giants were trapped within the ice walls.

Kamin wanted to see the giants, and the Yetaku sought an item from the imperial palace.

They made Kamin owe them a debt, and in exchange, guided him to the ice walls.

There, he confronted a cruel truth.

That his nightmares would soon become reality.

The giants stared straight at him from within the ice walls.

Kamin felt utter powerlessness.

From that day on, he no longer had nightmares.

The monster existed not in dreams, but in this reality.