Chapter 115: What Happened at the Mana Stone Mine (1)
With the blizzard still raging fiercely, Kyle and Seros finished preparing to enter the mountain range.
Seeing the two n wearing hoods and about to leave the mansion, Raina showed a worried expression.
“Wouldn’t it be better to move after the blizzard ends?”
“One must not postpone what needs to be done.”
Despite Raina’s attempt to stop him, Kyle shook his head and opened the mansion door.
Whoooosh―!
The wind blew violently. An ordinary person would not have been able to move forward.
“Let’s go, Seros.”
“Yes, my lord.”
However, the two of them pushed through the fierce blizzard and entered the mountain range.
As Kyle advanced toward the Ork settlent, he stroked Frost’s head.
At that, Frost slowed down, and Seros, who had been following behind, soon stopped as well.
“My lord, is sothing the matter?”
“This blizzard is unusual.”
“……Pardon?”
“It carries a force strong enough to affect the entire North… This will be a difficult battle.”
Kyle dismounted from Frost’s back and looked up at the sky.
Seros also got down from the Ice Wolf’s back, though he tilted his head, unable to understand the reason.
“My lord, do you intend to walk from here?”
“Frost.”
Awoo—!
At Kyle’s call, Frost let out a loud howl.
It seed he would have to send Frost to the Ork tribe first.
Kyle took out a sheet of paper from his chest and wrote sothing on it with a pen.
“Deliver this to Yul.”
Kyle untied his belt and firmly fastened the paper to Frost’s leg so it wouldn’t blow away, then sent him off.
“My lord, what are you thinking?”
“It seems we must head to the Mana Stone Mine first. It must be dealt with before those living in the North suffer greater damage.”
“What do you an…?”
“You will see once we get there.”
As Kyle kicked off the snow-covered ground and moved forward, Seros put aside his doubts and followed behind him.
When they entered the mountain range, Seros soon understood why Kyle had separated from Frost.
“My lord, this presence…?”
“It’s not an Ice Dragon–class Monster. It seems to be sothing even stronger.”
At the center of the raging blizzard.
Even from afar, the sky above was filled with enormous dark clouds.
Moreover, the presence emanating from that place was unimaginably powerful.
It seed that all the Lords would have to step in to deal with it.
“My lord.”
“It would be better to wait for the Lords, but I have no intention of waiting.”
Seeing Kyle about to confront that enormous presence imdiately, Seros hurriedly ran in front of him.
“How can the two of us possibly stop sothing with that level of presence? We must wait for the Lords!”
“No. That presence feels unstable, as if it might explode at any mont. If we don’t move now, we may not even be able to approach it.”
“…My lord!”
“Step aside. Stay here and enter after the Lords arrive. I will go alone.”
Even at Kyle’s resolute expression, Seros shook his head fiercely.
“Are you going to bear and shoulder everything alone again? My lord! You must think of your own safety!”
“My own safety? I have never valued my life. It was the sa during my ti in the Special Operations Unit, and it is the sa now. No—more accurately, it is even more so now.”
Seros’ eyes reddened unlike his usual self.
Everything he was saying right now was sincere.
Even after rising to the position of Grand Duke in the Empire, he always stood at the front for the sake of his subordinates.
He always did his utmost to protect the Special Operations Unit rather than his own life.
Moreover, now there were people even more precious to him than the Special Operations Unit.
“Don’t stop . I ask you.”
“…Then I will go with you. How could I stand by and watch my lord enter that place alone? To
as well, your safety is more important than my own.”
Seros turned away from Kyle, whom he had been facing.
Then he drew the sword at his waist.
The renowned sword family, the Astro Family.
They were among the top five sword families of the Tylers Empire.
And Seros was their second son.
No—more precisely, he was not the second son but an illegitimate child.
The Astro Family had rely sched to use Seros’ prestige.
The boy who had been abandoned by his father and lived by pickpocketing enlisted as a soldier of the Tylers Empire after hearing he would be paid.
And the one he t there was Kyle.
“My lord turned a boy with no ability into a Master. You were the only one who extended a hand to
when no one else acknowledged . So please do not stop
from following you this ti.”
At Seros’ plea, Kyle nodded reluctantly.
There was no ti to waste arguing emotionally here.
The situation was urgent, and they had to move even a mont faster.
“You must follow closely behind. Even if you lose sight of , I will not wait.”
Before even hearing Seros’ reply, Kyle disappeared from the spot in an instant.
The fierce blizzard was not only raging in the North.
At the entrance of the mountain range, where the blizzard swept violently, the Lords had gathered together.
“Lord Reinhardt, what did you discover during your reconnaissance?”
“As expected, this blizzard appears to be the ability of the monster discovered at the Mana Stone Mine. Since the matter is urgent, we can no longer wait for Kyle.”
Gina, who had gone inland under Kyle’s instructions, closed her mouth tightly upon hearing Reinhardt’s words, while Delia let out a deep sigh.
“Lord Reinhardt, both the Successor of the Frostfire and all of us Lords must step in. Otherwise, we could be wiped out.”
“I know. But its presence is growing stronger by the mont. If ti passes like this, we may not even be able to approach the Mana Stone Mine.”
While the Lords were deep in thought, Yahan hurriedly ran toward where they were holding their eting.
“Yahan, we are in the middle of a eting.”
“Lord, Frost has returned.”
“And Kyle?”
“Kyle was not seen. However, there was a piece of paper tied to Frost’s leg.”
“Bring it here.”
Yahan handed over the paper that had been tied to Frost’s leg.
Yul quickly unfolded the paper he received and jumped to his feet the mont he checked its contents.
“This is no ti to be holding a eting.”
“What does it say?”
“Kyle says he will move to the Mana Stone Mine first.”
Iron also grabbed the note from Yul, and after reading it, he sprang to his feet.
“Let’s go. We cannot allow Kyle to face that monster alone.”
“I agree. We must hurry. Bringing other warriors will only increase the casualties.”
At their conversation, Gina nodded.
“It would be most efficient if only the Lords move. What do you think, Lord Reinhardt?”
“Finish preparing imdiately. We depart at once.”
Once Reinhardt made the final decision, the remaining Lords also rose from their seats.
The seven Lords quickly finished their battle preparations and looked at each other.
Among them, Ardel made a sowhat amused expression.
“I never thought we would stand back to back and fight as comrades.”
At his words, Yul also nodded.
Those who had once fought fiercely inside the mountain range were now moving together with a single purpose.
“I also find this situation absurd. To think I would fight alongside soone like you.”
Yul glared alternately at Gina and Ardel, who had once tried to destroy his tribe.
Seeing this, Reinhardt’s expression hardened.
“This is not the ti to reveal your emotions toward each other. If Kyle Ragnar were to fall to that creature, the very reason we gathered here would disappear.”
“……”
“We apologize, Lord Reinhardt.”
At Reinhardt’s sharp rebuke, Ardel and Yul lowered their heads.
Seeing that their emotions had sowhat settled, Reinhardt turned his body and spread his wings.
“Then we depart.”
As Reinhardt took the lead, the Lords followed behind him, each revealing sharp, determined gazes.
Kyle and Seros had to use Blades just to push their way to the front of the mine.
That was how fierce and overwhelming the storm was.
However, the mont they entered the mine, the intense cold vanished instantly, as if it had never existed in the first place.
The two began to look around the strangely silent Mana Stone Mine.
“…It is quiet.”
“No monster could approach through such a violent blizzard. They move according to instinct.”
“My lord, will this truly be alright?”
“Even if it isn’t, we cannot simply wait. The mont this presence runs wild, it will greatly affect not only the North but also the Ragnar Kingdom.”
Kyle moved forward, trying to locate the monster.
However, ever since entering the mine, not only the intense cold but even the creature’s presence had completely vanished, making the situation difficult.
“…It will be hard to determine its direction.”
“That enormous presence disappeared the mont we entered the mine, as if it had never existed. I don’t understand how such a phenonon could occur…”
“For now, we move forward.”
“I will take the lead.”
“No need. I know the terrain of this mine well.”
“…Pardon?”
This Mana Stone Mine had always been filled with monsters, making it impossible to even approach.
It should have been Kyle’s first ti here, yet he said he knew the terrain. Seros tilted his head in confusion.
When Seros revealed his doubt, Kyle gave a faint smile.
“It was here.”
“I’m not sure what you an.”
“This was the place where I obtained the sword manual containing the Frostfire Swordsmanship and three important sword techniques of the Ragnar Family.”
“Could it be that the previous Head of the Family, who was the last Successor of the Frostfire, hid the sword manual here?”
“I don’t know the details either. But when I was young, I discovered the Frostfire Swordsmanship here.”
It was coincidence.
Or perhaps fate.
In this mine he had entered by chance, Kyle survived and ultimately succeeded in obtaining Frostfire.
After being trapped here for a week.
“But I heard you obtained Frostfire at a young age, my lord. Why did you have to enter the mountain range and co to a place like this as a child?”
At Seros’ sharp question, Kyle made a bitter expression.
‘No one must know. Only I must know.’
The mont that reason beca known, the entire foundation of Pramo would be shaken.
That could never be allowed.
Seeing Kyle’s unusual expression, Seros hurriedly changed the subject.
“My lord, there is sothing I am curious about.”
“Ask.”
“Isn’t the mother of His Majesty the King still alive? Then why is she not brought to the Royal Capital?”
“…I don’t know either. It was her own choice not to co to the Royal Capital.”
“My lord, to be honest, there are too many strange things. Considering your nature of caring deeply for family, even if she were your stepmother, you would have kept her close. Yet you simply ignore her…”
“There is no such thing as a aningless action.”
As Kyle held back his words, Seros began recounting one of his own experiences after returning to his family.
“When I returned to the family as an illegitimate child, the family mbers tried to kill . They used every possible ans. And after the man called my father died, they beca even more blatant.”
“……”
“They were cunning. Even though I had already reached Exford Level at the ti, it was difficult to block their assassination attempts.”
“So you returned?”
“I simply had no need for a family that refused to acknowledge .”
There had been a ti when Seros temporarily left the Special Operations Unit and stayed with the Astro Family.
However, he returned to the Special Operations Unit in less than a year.
Even when the other mbers asked why he had returned, Seros never revealed the reason.
If Kyle had asked directly, he would have told him, but instead Kyle simply welcod him back silently.
Without asking for the reason, he allowed Seros to return to the Special Operations Unit.
“My lord, do not forget that I also saw the previous Head of the Terrius Family.”
“……”
“It is easy to imagine that such a greedy forr head would not have left the young lord alone.”
At Seros’ words, Kyle turned his head and stared forward.
And seeing that reaction, Seros followed behind him without asking further.
How long had they walked in silence?
Kyle, walking while recalling his mories, suddenly stopped.
“Why did you stop?”
“It seems to be up ahead.”
“…My lord, I cannot sense any presence at all.”
“It’s just a feeling.”
Kyle stared carefully into the dark passage.
His Aura sensed nothing, yet his instinct kept repeating the sa words in his mind.
There was definitely sothing inside.
It was sothing impossible to explain—truly nothing more than pure instinct.
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