Chapter 1064: Ten Years of Persistence
Hundreds of runners surged out of Border District.
The cheers met them as soon as they hit Kingdom Main Street — a wall of sound that moved with them as they ran. Police officers in bright ribbons cycled on both sides of the pack, keeping pace, marking position, ready to assist. The same scene was playing out from Longsong District in the other direction.
For the first time in this world, more than a thousand people were running toward a single place at the same time — not fleeing anything, not summoned by fear, but choosing to show what they were made of. That image alone would travel. Before long, every part of the continent would know that Neverwinter’s new king’s city had organized the world’s first long-distance race.
On the grandstand at the finish line, Lance was hanging half over the railing, shouting himself hoarse. Cole turned to Edith and asked — more carefully than he would have dared a few months ago — “Sister, why didn’t you enter? You could certainly take a prize if it came down to endurance.”
He had noticed the change since Lance arrived: Edith was easier to talk to, less sharp in front of their younger brother. On an ordinary day he would never have risked the question.
“Oh?” Edith glanced at him. “Why would I need such a prize?”
“You always liked this sort of competition before.”
If you hadn’t won everything you competed in, you’d never have become the Pearl of the Northern Region, Cole thought. He remembered her in the Northern Region — fencing with knights in the afternoon, outshining every woman at banquets in the evening, pulling Timothy’s attention across a crowded room. She had defeated men twice her size in the ring and then danced them dizzy the same night. It had made no sense to him that she’d stepped back from all of it.
“Because the family needed me to,” Edith said. “Without building the Kant name as fast as I could, Father would never have gotten the duke title. I had no choice — even if it meant performing for idiots who would only notice me if I beat them.” A short, flat sound, not quite a laugh. “You thought I enjoyed it?”
Cole recognized the tone. He chose to say nothing.
“But I don’t need any of that anymore,” she continued, apparently not having required a response. “Here, I don’t have to compete for the king’s attention. And—” she paused, “I’m no longer alone.”
Cole blinked. “What do you mean?”
She glanced from Lance to Cole and back. “I have the two of you, don’t I?”
Cole straightened without thinking. Something was building in his chest that needed words, but none came.
Edith smiled at him, then turned her eyes to the upper platform. “Just do your work well. That’s all the help I need.”
Guelz was wheezing. His stride had shortened without him deciding to shorten it. “How far… is left?”
Rohan checked the marker they had just passed. “Fourteen kilometers. We’ve run half.”
He watched his father’s profile with concern. “Father — should we rest? There are many people behind us now. We won’t lose a good position.”
Rohan had tracked the field since the start. The thousand-person crowd had first become a ribbon, then a dotted line. He and his father had been passed by only a handful of runners. Even if they stopped, they could still finish respectably. He didn’t care about the prize.
He cared about his father.
Guelz was strong, but that strength was built for the desert’s pace — sustained movement, rationed water, the slow burn of a planned crossing. This race demanded something different: speed maintained against a clock, no rest stops, no gradual terrain. His body was paying for the mismatch.
Guelz glared. “You want to give up again? Because we’re not last?”
“I—”
“Lorgar would never say that. When are you going to be like her? Pushing for a goal and refusing to let go. Have you even considered winning first place?”
Rohan held his silence. He usually did. But something about the heat in his legs, or the dust in his throat, or the accumulated weight of years of the same comparison — something reached its limit.
How am I supposed to beat Lorgar? he thought, bitter as dry sand. Poison her cup? Expose her wolf form in public? She’s the Three Gods’ own Divine Lady. I can’t beat our family’s chief bodyguard in single combat. I never could.
He had backed down from every confrontation for the clan’s sake — to prevent internal fractures, to keep the peace that let Lorgar’s position go unchallenged. His father had never acknowledged it. His father had never acknowledged him.
“I’m worried about you!” The words came out before he could stop them. “Without stopping to wait for you, I would be at the front of the race!”
It sounded like an accusation the moment it landed. He heard it clearly himself.
He was searching for something to say — something to soften it before his father’s temper ignited — when Guelz said quietly: “Then go.”
Rohan turned.
His father was smiling.
“Is this the first time you’ve said what was actually on your mind?” Guelz let out a long breath. “You’re right. I’m too old for a race like this, whatever I used to be.” He stood still for a moment. “Go. Run it yourself. You can.”
Rohan stared.
“There’s an old saying in the clan,” Guelz said. “Practice one thing for ten years and you’ll excel at it, no matter how slow you started.” He held Rohan’s gaze. “You’ve been running in the oases alone for years. Did you think no one noticed?”
Rohan couldn’t speak.
“I’ll walk to the finish line,” Guelz said. “I’ll get there.”
After a silence, Rohan said: “Then I’ll go first.”
“Wait.” Guelz stopped him. “Put these on.”
“Father—”
“Lorgar left the Southern Territory, but she’s still Wildflame. Still your sister. We help her any way we can.” He placed the headband carefully on Rohan’s head — the toy wolf ears tilting slightly in the wind. “Go. Show the Great Chief what we Mojins are.”
Rohan looked at his father for a long moment.
Then he ran.
The wind came fast. Within seconds it was loud enough to drown the spectators’ voices, and then loud enough to drown everything. His legs had been tired. They weren’t anymore. He wasn’t sure when that had changed.
He had spent ten years running alone in small oases — not because anyone asked him to, not because it earned him anything. He ran when Lorgar received praise and he had no place to put the feeling. He ran when the clan’s expectations pressed in from all sides and the only room left was the open sand. He had told himself no one knew. He had told himself no one was watching.
You’re really good at running, aren’t you?
Practice one thing for ten years and you’ll excel at it, no matter how slow you started.
Father had known all along.
The wind shrieked past his ears. Rohan ran faster.
Ten years had passed since the first time.
Chapter 1064: Ten Years of Persistence
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN In Border District, hundreds of race participants started to run!
They were greeted by cheers all along the Kingdom Main Street as they were running toward Longsong Stronghold. Some police officers who wore uniforms and bright ribbons, bicycled on both sides of the street, following the participants all the way. They worked as judges and relief workers for this long-distance race.
The same situation occurred in Longsong District.
For the first time in this world, more than a thousand people were running toward the same place at the same time. Not out of fear for their lives but to show their strength without any concerns. Undoubtedly, Neverwinter would gain a worldwide reputation for such an unprecedented event.
Soon, everyone on the continent would know that the new king’s city of Graycaslte organized the first long-distance race in the world.
…
At the finish line, on the grandstand, Lance was bending over the handrails, shouting and cheering. Cole turned toward Edith and asked, “Sister, why didn’t you join the race? If it’s just about endurance, shouldn’t you also be able to win a prize?”
Cole noticed that after Lance came to Neverwinter, Edith seemed to be in a better mood and became much more talkative. Most of the time, she would not even tease him in front of their youngest brother. Otherwise, he would never dare to disturb Edith with such a trivial question.
“Oh?” Edith glanced sideways at him. “Why do I have to win such a prize?”
“Uhm— Didn’t you really like this kind of competition before?”
“If you hadn’t stood out from the competition, you would’ve never become the Pearl of the Northern Region,” Cole thought. In his view, Edith was a super competitive person. Back in the Northern Region, she practiced fencing with knights in the daytime and shone brightly at banquets in the evening. She defeated countless knights single-handedly and attracted lots of admirers on social occasions. Even Timothy was attracted to her.
After winning many fencing matches and outshining numerous ladies at banquets, she finally became a well-known figure in the Northern Region. Cole really could not understand why she suddenly started to keep a low profile and refused to join this long-distance race held by His Majesty.
“Because our family needed me to do that.” Edith shrugged. “If I hadn’t tried my best to increase the influence of the Kant family as quickly as possible, our father would’ve never got the duke title. I had to do that, even if I needed to act like a clown in front of those idiots to win their favor.” She sneered before adding, “Do you think I enjoyed it?”
Cole could tell it was a threatening tone.
“No, I just…”
“But now, I don’t have to rely on this kind of competition to grab the king’s attention,” Edith continued, seemingly not minding what Cold previously said, which made the boy feel quite relieved. “And… I’m not alone anymore.”
Cole was stunned. “What do you mean by that?”
Edith looked at Lance and Cole. “I now have you guys, don’t I?”
Hearing that, Cole immediately thrust out his chest. He felt that he should say something at this moment, but he did not know what to say.
Edith smiled at him and then turned her gaze toward the upper part of the grandstand. “Do your job well. That’ll be the greatest help to me.”
…
Guelz wheezed violently and began to slow down. “How long… do we still have to run?”
“The sign that we’ve just passed reads fourteen. That is to say, we’ve only run half the distance.” Rohan felt worried and asked. “Father, are you alright? You’re panting heavily. How about we stop here and rest for a while. Anyway, there are many people behind us now.”
As Rohan had expected, not many people could keep running for more than an hour. The participants started running as a crowd, and then the crowd gradually turned into a line. At this moment, it was probably a dotted line.
Guelz and Rohan were among the leading runners. Since the beginning of the game, only several participants had surpassed them. Given that, Rohan thought even if they were to take some rest here, they could still do well in the race. He did not care much about the prize.
He was more worried about his father’s health.
Guelz had not taken any strenuous exercise for a long time, and this longdistance race turned out to be even more consuming than traveling across a desert. In a desert, they did not need to run very fast. They just followed a planned route and could get food and water from the oases along the way. In this race, however, they needed to use lots of energy to keep a certain speed.
“You want to give up again?” Guelz glared at Rohan. “Because you’re not the last one?”
“I…”
“Lorgar would never say anything like that. When are you going to become like her? Try your best to fight for a goal and never give up. Have you ever thought of winning the first prize?”
Rohan usually chose to keep silent when he heard this kind of talk, but today he felt somewhat irritated. He complained in his heart.
How can I defeat Lorgar?
Should I put some poison in her cup? Or publicly expose her half-animal look?
Otherwise, how else can I defeat a Divine Lady favored by the Three Gods?
I can not even defeat our family’s Chief Bodyguard!
In order to maintain Wildflame’s rank in the Iron Sand City, the clan worshiped outstanding warriors. That was why everyone thought Lorgar was the best successor. Faced with such a reality, Rohan chose to back down to avoid intra-clan conflicts. He did this for the entire clan’s interests, but his father did not seem to appreciate it.
He really could not understand why his father always neglected his contribution to the clan.
He had felt oppressed about this for a long time, and now, he thought he really had enough of it. Besides, he was quite embarrassed by his father’s wolf girl outfit. Under such circumstances, for the first time in his life, Rohan cried out to his father, “I’m worried about you! If it wasn’t for you, I would be at the lead now!”
He felt regret as soon as he finished saying this.
It sounded like he was reproaching his father for dragging him down.
When he was about to say something to make up for his mistake before his father flew into a rage, Guelz said, “Well then, you can run by yourself.”
“Father, I mean…” Rohan turned his head to look at Guelz. To his surprise, he saw a smiling face.
“Is this the first time you took the initiative to reveal your thoughts?” Guelz sighed. “You’re right. I’m too old for this race now, no matter how strong I
used to be.” He paused for a moment before adding, “You can leave me alone and do your best. You’re really good at running, aren’t you?”
Rohan was frozen with shock.
“There’s an old saying in the clan. If you practice a thing for ten years, you’ll excel in it, no matter how stupid you are.” Guelz paused and then added slowly, “Don’t worry. I’ll walk to the finish line.”
Rohan clenched his fists. After a brief silence, he said in a low voice, “Then I’ll go first.”
“Wait,” Guelz stopped him as he was about to speed up. “Put these two things on.”
“Father—”
“Even though Lorgar had already left the Southern Territory, she’s still a part of the Wildflame clan and your little sister. We should try our best to help her.” Guelz put the headband on Rohan’s head and continued, “Go ahead, show the great chief what we Mojins can do.”
Rohan looked at his father quietly and then sped off.
As he was picking up the speed, he felt that the wind blowing past him was getting stronger and stronger.
At first, he could hear the spectators exclaim in admiration, but now, he could only hear the wind whistling.
He did not feel tired at all. He thought he could run even faster.
At the moment, he felt full of energy.
He was delighted to know that his father has always kept an eye on him!
In order to guarantee Lorgar’s status, he suffered countless criticisms, both inside and outside of the clan. Whenever he felt overwhelmed by the pressure, he would leave the Iron Sand City to run in the small oases alone.
He did this not only to vent his resentment but also to prove himself. He was not good at fighting, but he thought he might be able to outshine his sister in hunting, which required endurance rather than strength.
Unfortunately, he never got a chance to do it.
Rohan thought that no one noticed his attempt at proving himself, but now he knew he was wrong.
“You’re really good at running, aren’t you?”
“If you practice a thing for ten years, you’ll excel in it, no matter how stupid you are.”
His father’s words reverberated in his heart.
Father, you knew it from the very beginning, didn’t you?
Feeling encouraged, Rohan ran even faster.
He still remembered the day when he had first started running in the oases.
Ten years had passed since that day!