The Time-Stop Breeding Uncle Want's to Retire-Chapter 170

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Hans had successfully reunited with Cluna and Clara.

He breathed a sigh of relief. But now, he couldn’t shake a nagging worry.

What did Time mean when she said he had transcended himself? He couldn’t figure it out. But dwelling on it wouldn’t change anything. He had come this far, he had to keep moving forward.

Clara rested her head on Hans’s shoulder, listless. He didn’t push her away. She wasn’t in a good state.

It was understandable, considering she had just died and been brought back. He gently stroked her hair. His touch seemed to soothe her, and her tense expression softened.

Cluna smiled.

“Clara seems to have calmed down.”

“Good.”

“But Commander, that power you used earlier…”

“…”

Hans raised a finger to his lips, a gesture for silence. Cluna understood immediately.

Whatever had happened, Hans was still their Commander. She trusted him implicitly. She nodded and started a fire.

Perhaps because she was an elf, the berries and herbs she gathered were surprisingly delicious.

They didn’t look appetizing, though. That’s why he had avoided them before. He couldn’t believe he had been missing out on such delicious food.

All that suffering for nothing…

“This is quite good.”

“It’s nutritious too.”

“…What happened while I was gone?”

Hans met Cluna’s gaze. He saw relief in her eyes, but also a hint of distrust. It was a delicate situation. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

They weren’t exactly in a safe place. But he didn’t want to press them immediately. He wanted to hear their story first, to understand what they had been through.

Cluna sighed.

“It was hell.”

She wasn’t exaggerating. After Hans’s disappearance, the Royal Knights had fallen apart. The biggest reason for their collapse had been infighting.

With Hans gone, their suppressed anxieties and fears had intensified, turning them against each other. But that wasn’t the main problem.

The real issue was their next course of action.

They all refused to believe Hans was dead, but they couldn’t agree on what to do next. Cluna and Clara had chosen revenge.

“We tried to attack the demons immediately. Great Elder Makenis stopped us.”

“I’m glad he did.”

Hans’s relief was genuine.

If Makenis hadn’t intervened, they might have died before he could reach them. But they had escaped and entered demon territory, determined to eradicate every last demon.

Perhaps they had even hoped to die in the process.

They had stained their hands with demon blood every single day, taking countless lives. And today, they had set out to kill a True Demon. Cluna bit her lip.

“I didn’t expect things to turn out this way.”

“…”

If Hans hadn’t arrived in time, Cluna would have lost her daughter again. The fear of that loss made her tremble.

Hans closed his eyes. He had intended to address their actions, to hold them accountable. But seeing her like this, his resolve wavered.

He sighed and looked at Cluna, then pointed to his lap.

Cluna looked at him, confused.

“What?”

“Lie down.”

“But…”

“The storm always comes.”

The storms that ravaged nature always arrived without warning. They struggled to cope, to survive. And when the storm passed, they were left to survey the wreckage, their homes, their livelihoods, destroyed.

It was enough to make anyone give up. But they had to persevere, to keep moving forward.

But it was okay to rest, just for a little while. They had been through enough.

Cluna hesitated, then slowly moved towards him, resting her head on his lap like a child.

Hans closed his eyes and spoke softly,

“You’ve been through a lot.”

There was still much to discuss, but for now, it was time to rest.

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It had been like living in perpetual darkness. She had never imagined she would feel this way, like a withered plant beneath a sunless sky.

What had gone wrong? Her complacency had created this mess.

While Clara had directed her anger outwards, at the demons, Cluna’s anger was directed inwards, at herself. If only she had been more vigilant, more supportive.

If only…

Guilt gnawed at her, a relentless parasite. She couldn’t stop blaming herself. But she couldn’t die yet. She had to protect her daughter. She was a failure as a mother.

She should have been stricter, should have guided Clara better. But she had been too weak, too tired. She had simply ridden the wave of her daughter’s anger, letting it carry them forward.

And this was the result. She had watched her child die before her eyes, again.

It felt like the world was ending, but strangely, the shock wasn’t as devastating as she expected.

Why?

Her two remaining treasures…

Were both gone.

Oh, she understood now. It wasn’t that she didn’t care. She was simply broken, beyond repair.

As she sat there, lost in despair, a familiar face appeared before her. A man with short, dark hair and a beard, a man who should have been dead.

She spoke his name, a name she shouldn’t have been able to utter.

“Commander…?”

“Later.”

Was she hallucinating? Or had she died and he had come to guide her to the afterlife?

Her delusional thoughts were dispelled by his voice, as strong and reassuring as ever.

Then, a light appeared.

A brilliant, warm light, like the World Tree, comforting and powerful. When she regained her senses, her daughter, who should have been dead, was alive, her eyes open.

It was as if she had woken from a terrible nightmare. The weight on her shoulders was gone. She was no longer afraid to sleep. She opened her eyes.

A sudden chill ran through her, making her shiver. She saw him. Hans, standing at the entrance of the cave, looking out. She looked to her side.

Clara, who should have been dead, was sleeping peacefully, leaning against the cave wall. She sighed in relief, but a new worry surfaced.

‘Do I deserve to rely on you like this?’

Three years.

A fleeting moment for an elf. But for Cluna, it had felt like an eternity. She had regretted her actions every single day.

If he ever came back, she had vowed to never let him go again. But now that he was here, her resolve wavered.

“Commander, what are you looking at?”

She couldn’t help herself. She spoke, driven by a primal fear that he would disappear again.

Her voice, laced with desperation, made him turn around.

“You’re awake?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“Then… could you hold me again?”

She was cold, so cold she felt like she would freeze.

She longed for his warmth. Or perhaps, she was afraid that this warmth, this light, would vanish. She didn’t know.

He didn’t reply, but he held her close, his embrace warm and comforting. Cluna closed her eyes, her breathing slowing, like a baby in a cradle.

‘Damn it, my leg cramped up, so I went outside for a bit. Did she notice?’

Holding them both at the same time was too much. His leg had fallen asleep, and he had snuck outside to stretch. He had been caught.

Despite everything he had been through,

Hans was still Hans.

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[Translator Notes]