Chapter 39: The Foundation Had to Be Set Right (4)
“Kyle.”
“Yes, Father.”
When Kyle was thirteen years old.
Standing atop the snowy mountain peak from which the Lord’s Castle could be seen clearly, he looked at Rai, who had a broad back.
“The Ragnar Family has long settled in this land and borne the duty of protecting the continent.”
“I know. The reason the Founding Head of the Family settled in this land.”
“You must always keep this in mind. Even if you carry the Ragnar Bloodline, you must never crush others with your status. You must always remain humble.”
“I’ll rember it.”
One week before Kyle left the family, Rai, unusually so that day, took him up the snow mountain.
Rai’s eyes were sorrowful, and his broad shoulders were drawn inward.
“I am always sorry to you.”
“Father…….”
“At your young age of only thirteen, to protect you, the successor of the Frostfire, I must make a choice.”
“……Do you wish for
to leave the family?”
Rai turned his body and knelt on one knee to et Kyle’s gaze.
The Successor of the Frostfire.
Yet the only one who knew this was Rai.
If the Royal Family learned of this fact, Kyle’s safety could be endangered.
“As a powerless father, I can only feel sorry and guilty that the family cannot protect you.”
“Please don’t be sorry, Father.”
“Kyle…….”
“If I leave, Pramo will beco the next Head of the Family, right? I intend to be satisfied with that.”
He was a peculiar son.
The eldest son, the aching finger in Rai’s heart.
Because he was proud and admirable, Rai wanted to protect him even more.
Above all, this was the only way to keep the dying wish of Kyle’s mother, who had departed first.
“If you survive and return to Ragnar, will you cherish the territory inhabitants?”
“……Yes, I will.”
Rai gently placed his hand on Kyle’s shoulder.
“Kyle, do not think that what should have been yours was stolen by Pramo.”
“He is my precious younger brother. If I return to Ragnar, I will cherish him even more.”
Kyle smiled brightly and looked at Rai’s resolute face.
He promised.
That he would return alive.
That he would grow strong and set Ragnar right once more.
At the peak of the snow mountain, standing before what appeared to be a grave, Kyle looked down at the Lord’s Castle.
“I kept my promise, Father.”
Turning back, Kyle placed the food and alcohol he had brought before the grave and knelt on both knees.
Then he slowly poured alcohol into two cups.
“Why did you leave so quickly? Did you not trust your son that much?”
Sitting before the grave of Rai Ragnar, Kyle lifted the cup and downed the full drink in one go.
He frowned at the distinctive burn of the strong liquor sliding down his throat.
Soon, he lifted the cup filled with alcohol and poured it over the grave, and a thought crossed his mind.
A doubt—whether Rai had left so quickly out of concern that Kyle’s return might endanger Pramo’s position.
Kyle soon let out a small, bitter laugh.
He knew well enough himself that it was a ridiculous thought.
“It was hard enough to kill , and I struggled desperately just to live. That’s how I beca strong.”
Kyle, who had drifted into the Tylers Empire, suffered all manner of contempt for being a foreigner.
He lived so harshly that he nearly forgot Rai’s teaching to always live humbly.
“Originally, I lived with a personality far removed from humility. But I cannot bring myself to act that way toward Ragnar’s territory inhabitants.”
His promise with Rai ca to mind.
In the Tylers Empire, he could crush others with status, but at least here in Ragnar, he could not.
Taking a deep breath, Kyle filled the cup with alcohol once more.
“From now on, I will set Ragnar’s foundation right. I intend to build with my own hands the mighty Ragnar you wished for, Father. No—Pramo and I will build it together.”
Perhaps in the distant future, like the situation of the Daon Family, the Ragnar Family might also lose its original duty.
At that ti, another figure might appear from sowhere, drive out the Ragnar Family, and the family’s na might vanish into history.
Even so, there was one thing he was certain of.
“Father, at the very least, shouldn’t it be Ragnar that erases the Daon Family? At the very least, I want to be unashad before our descendants in the distant future.”
He had not been resentful.
He had never cursed the reality that forced him to leave the family.
But now, he was sorrowful.
The pain of never being able to see the face of the one he longed for so dearly weighed on him.
“Watch over . See how I bring down the Daon Kingdom…… I will utterly ravage them and wipe them out without leaving even a single blade of grass.”
Kyle drank several cups in succession until all the alcohol he had brought was gone.
Staggering to his feet, he stared at the grave for a long while.
“Life in this freezing northern land will now co to an end. But you need not worry, Father. I will remain as the one who protects this North.”
Even if Kyle seated Pramo as king and beca royalty himself, he had never intended to live flaunting such privileges.
He had to continue the mission of sealing off the North and guarding the Monster Mountain Range.
If that was the family’s duty, he intended to follow it.
“Rest in peace.”
Kyle bowed at a full ninety degrees and descended the snow mountain.
As he staggered down, he soon let out a long sigh.
“Should I just sleep here?”
Though it was a snow-covered mountain, he simply wanted to sleep right now.
The alcohol was taking effect, and descending in this state could be even more dangerous.
Of course, he could drive out the drunkenness with Aura, but he did not want to.
Just then, soone appeared before Kyle as he sat on the ground.
“So you finally paid your respects.”
A man who had climbed the snow mountain, drenched in sweat.
Pramo knelt on both knees before Kyle, his expression weary.
“Pramo…….”
“Brother, has your fear faded a little now?”
“When did you arrive?”
“I arrived an hour ago and climbed the snow mountain to et you, Brother.”
“You must have had a hard ti.”
“Is this hardship? The territory inhabitants have endured far worse…….”
“Is that so.”
“Why are you staying like this? You could have driven out the alcohol and co down.”
“I t Father and drank with him. How could I drive the drunkenness away?”
Pramo closed his eyes and lowered his head as he looked at Kyle’s empty, sorrow-filled eyes.
“If you had wished it, Brother, we could have returned what was originally yours. Why did you not do so?”
“What of mine was ever truly mine? I cannot steal what is yours just to reclaim mine, can I? These are things you barely managed to build after crossing the brink of death countless tis.”
“……Brother.”
“Yes, as you say, if I had not left the family, that position would have been mine. But it is not so now. The position of Head of the Family is yours.”
Finally rising to his feet, Kyle raised his hand and grasped Pramo’s shoulder.
“I wanted to be sentintal for once…… but I didn’t expect you to interrupt.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. The position of Head of the Family is originally such a position.”
A position where one could not show it, no matter how sad or resentful one felt.
A position that required enduring with an ever-firm resolve.
“……I don’t know if I can do well.”
“Don’t speak weakly. You’ve done well until now. Just because I’ve returned doesn’t an you need to waver. You know this, don’t you? That the territory inhabitants sincerely follow and support you.”
He knew that the higher one climbed, the heavier the responsibility beca.
Still, Kyle believed that Pramo would do well.
“Be sure to beco king. If only for the sake of Ragnar’s territory inhabitants who endured and survived in this land of bitter cold.”
“……I will do my utmost.”
“Father will be watching over you. So you must grow strong.”
“I will rember that.”
Pramo nodded firmly, then conveyed urgent news.
“Brother, Military Strategist Aron and Commander Seros have gone to the border.”
“It was sothing I ordered.”
“May I ask why you sent those two to the border?”
“……Soone with whom I have ties is currently at the border. That child will create the opportunity for you to beco king.”
At the words that soone tied to Kyle was at the border, Pramo’s expression hardened.
“Were you in the Tylers Empire for fifteen years?”
“Please understand that there are things I cannot speak of.”
“……Understood. I will wait, believing that when the ti cos, Brother will tell .”
Descending the snow mountain together with Pramo, Kyle finished bathing and, dressed neatly, headed to the Head of the Family’s office.
Elise, who happened to be in front of the office, welcod Kyle.
“I heard you went to see Father, Brother-in-law.”
“It can’t be postponed forever. Where is Pramo?”
“He finished bathing and is processing the approvals he had put off.”
After knocking and entering the office, Pramo set down his fountain pen and rose from his seat.
“You’ve arrived?”
“You have no ti to rest.”
“I think that’s a good thing. The busier I am, the more it ans the territory is coming back to life.”
At Pramo’s calm gaze, Kyle let out a small laugh and quietly walked over to sit on the sofa.
There was nothing to ask about the Northern Lords’ Conference.
Pramo would handle it on his own.
Instead, Kyle had sothing else to say to him.
“I plan to return to Chaplin Castle.”
“Brother, wouldn’t it be better for you to rest a little longer?”
“I plan to stay at the Lord’s Castle for about a week before leaving, so don’t worry. And within today, the Rapid rchant Guild will dispatch administrative personnel.”
“……It seems you were moving busily while I was away, Brother.”
“I can’t place all the burden on you alone. And Pramo.”
“Yes, Brother.”
“I’d like to recomnd rchant Guild Head Tade for the vacant elder position. I want to hear your thoughts.”
At Kyle’s proposal, Pramo’s face brightened.
Even if they were not Ragnar-born, the Rapid rchant Guild had long-standing ties with the family.
“I’m in favor. But isn’t the question whether the rchant Guild Head will accept?”
“I already t him. I asked him to think seriously about it, so he should make a decision soon.”
“Then once Viscount Saie makes his decision, the elder positions will be fully filled.”
Although there had not yet been a response from the Castellan of Saie, he was devoting all efforts together with Pan to the resumption of the iron mine.
If Tade entered as an elder in the anti, they could lay the foundation for major growth of the territory.
“I’ll go to Chaplin Castle myself and persuade the Castellan of Saie again.”
“Then I’ll actively request rchant Guild Head Tade to take the elder position.”
At Pramo’s words, Kyle nodded.
Kyle had made the proposal once, but if Pramo actively persuaded Tade, the likelihood of him accepting the elder position would increase.
With the elder position largely settled, it was ti to devote more attention to other matters.
“Pramo, we need to further screen administrators.”
“That’s an issue I’ve been constantly discussing with the Chief Administrator. But instead of people coming in, only the pile of work that needs handling keeps growing.”
“The Ragnar Knight Order will take responsibility for processing the miner screening docunts, so it will be a great help.”
“……If the Ragnar Knight Order handles administrative work, their training ti will be reduced.”
“Don’t think of it as a stopgap. The knights are literate and are imdiately deployable manpower for administration.”
The shortage of administrative personnel was bound to continue for so ti.
In the end, ti had to be spent cultivating elites capable of handling administration.
Seeing through exactly what Kyle was aiming for, Pramo raised his hand and stroked his chin.
“The knights may resist.”
“Why do you think that?”
“The knight order consists of people who have devoted long years to combat. If they are made to handle administrative work during training ti, dissatisfaction will surely build.”
At Pramo’s concern, Kyle lifted the corner of his lips.
The solution to that problem was very simple.
“There’s no issue with them handling administrative work in parallel.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I plan to revise the swordsmanship of the Ragnar Knight Order. If we actively support them in becoming stronger, there will be no complaints even if they handle administrative work concurrently.”
The swordsmanship given to the Ragnar Knight Order consisted of three types in total.
During his ti in the Tylers Empire, Kyle had refined these three swordsmanship styles, and he intended to pass them on to the Ragnar Knight Order.
Above all, rely extending training ti did not make one stronger.
What mattered were efficient training schedules and swordsmanship that would foster their growth.
“……Understood.”
As Pramo slowly nodded his head, Kyle faintly raised the corner of his mouth.
“I thought you’d oppose it more strongly. Unexpected.”
“The military authority is with you anyway, Brother. I know that even if I opposed it, you wouldn’t refrain from doing it.”
“Don’t worry about persuading the knights. I’ll handle that myself.”
“Understood, Brother.”
“And clear out one day. I’m thinking of arranging a dinner with the successor of the Rapid rchant Guild.”
“……I’ll inform Elise about that as well.”
Kyle conveyed the important matters to Pramo almost as if issuing notifications, then rose from his seat.
Seeing that, Pramo also stood and spoke.
“Are you leaving already? At least have a al before you go.”
“There’s a lot that needs to be done.”
“Brother, please don’t be like that……”
“I know what you want to say, but at this ti, we have to move busily to set the foundation right. You know that too, don’t you?”
“I know that, but wouldn’t it be all right for you to rest for just one day?”
Despite Pramo’s dissatisfied expression, Kyle shook his head.
“I’ll make ti before departing for Chaplin Castle. And there’s also the dinner with the successor of the Rapid rchant Guild, isn’t there?”
“That’s an extension of work. It’s not private life, is it?”
As Pramo grumbled in a way uncharacteristic of him, Kyle placed a hand atop his head.
“Don’t feel too disappointed.”
“…….”
“Once the iron mine matter and the Royal Family issues are resolved, there should be so leeway.”
“Brother, do you not think about your younger brother at all? You seem to only think about the territory and the family. Do you have any idea how disappointing that is?”
There were so many things Pramo wanted to do once Kyle returned.
But after his return, Kyle’s schedule was so busy that it was difficult even to face him.
Perhaps because of that, this mont felt all the more regrettable to Pramo.
“Pramo, right now it has to be this way.”
“I know that too, but even so, feeling disappointed can’t be helped.”
“I’m doing this because I know well that if we miss this period, it will return later as great hardship.”
If Acacia had seen Kyle soothing Pramo like this, he would surely have been utterly astonished.
Kyle had always been a blunt superior to his subordinates.
During his ti in the Empire, he never soothed anyone and showed a firmness that did not tolerate even insubordination.
But the current Kyle was different, and he could not be that way with family.
“……Understood. But please, before you go to Chaplin Castle, make sure to set aside ti just once.”
“I will.”
At Kyle’s words, Pramo’s expression finally relaxed.
Pramo was not the type to act spoiled toward others, but at least with Kyle, he wanted to show himself as he truly was.
A relationship where he could say he was disappointed when he felt so.
That was what he had learned family was.
While Pramo was briefly lost in thought, Kyle ruffled his hair and started walking.
“I’ll be going.”
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