Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 74 : Three Months Later (1)

Chapter 74: Three Months Later (1)

Kyle appeared from the teleportation gate after returning from eting Duke Luna.

“Grand General, did you return safely?”

“Nothing unusual?”

“There was an imperial edict from the royal family.”

At the words of Viscount Rak, Kyle let out a sneer.

“And the envoys?”

“They were sent back. There was so pushback, but once we let them hear the recording left by Count Henson, they returned.”

“Soon, the First Legion of the Tyless Empire stationed at the border will withdraw. After that, we just need to move according to whatever choice the royal family makes.”

Once the First Legion pulled out, the Kingdom of Daon would be able to rotate the troops it had tied down.

Now, the key point lay in how King Clover would redeploy the border forces.

Whether it would escalate into a civil war or simply end with Ragnar’s independence would depend on the royal family’s decision.

In the anti, Viscount Rak tilted his head at Kyle’s words.

“So there will be no civil war?”

“If the royal family attacks Ragnar, then from that mont it becos a civil war. The royal family tried to stab us in the back first by sending Count Henson, so retaliation is justified. But it doesn’t seem to be the right ti yet.”

“I do think maintaining the current situation is better than starting a civil war…… but isn’t the problem the Monster Wave?”

Fortunately, the royal family had no idea what signs were beginning to stir in the mountain range.

If a Monster Wave broke out, a considerable number of Monsters would surely break through the North and flow into the interior of the Kingdom of Daon.

He had hoped that this incident would make the royal family co to its senses, but that was unlikely.

“I think this is better than having a Monster Wave break out while a civil war is raging with the royal family.”

“Ah…….”

“We have to deal with things one by one. If you try to handle two at once, everything ends up tangled.”

He would have preferred it if the royal family had committed part of its forces at the border to confront the North.

To be honest, he wanted to avoid the North becoming a battlefield due to a Monster Wave at all costs.

“You checked the routes the Monsters moved along this ti, right?”

“They’ve been ticulously recorded, Grand General.”

“Then it’s ti to prepare to raise the walls.”

With the royal family bound so that it could not act, it was ti to proceed with the plan step by step.

Therefore, preparing for the Monster Wave was the top priority.

However, Viscount Rak did not fully understand what Kyle truly had in mind.

“Raising the walls, you say?”

“Do you want the North to beco a battlefield?”

“No, that’s not what I an.”

“For a long ti, the North has been blocking the Monsters pouring out of the Monster Mountain Range. Now, the Kingdom of Daon needs to face reality as well.”

That those living in the interior had enjoyed peaceful lives because there had been sacrifices in the North.

They should not have forgotten that.

But the Kingdom of Daon had forgotten it.

“Grand General…….”

“If they’ve forgotten, then we have to make them realize it. Whatever sacrifices occur, they will be the result of what the Kingdom of Daon brought upon itself.”

“……I will keep that in mind.”

Bianca, who was standing beside him, also bowed her head.

Having already received her mission from Kyle, she had to leave the North imdiately.

“Bianca, you are to leave the North now.”

“Is it really all right for

to be away?”

“There’s no problem. But are you truly fine going alone?”

“I’ll be fine as well.”

Kyle let out a small chuckle as he looked at the calm Bianca.

Originally, he had intended to assign at least one Special Operations Unit mber to accompany her, but Bianca had refused.

There were many things Ragnar still had to do, and the experience of even a single veteran knight from the Special Operations Unit would be crucial.

Kyle agreed with Bianca’s opinion and, in the end, decided to send her alone.

Still, since Bianca was one of the precious Special Operations Unit mbers, he took out a temporary Black Terun token from his chest.

“Take this with you. Stop by a Black Terun branch and receive my token. After completing the mission, return it.”

“Thank you for your consideration, my lord.”

“Don’t get hurt.”

Kyle passed by Bianca, who had widened her eyes in surprise.

Soon, Bianca lowered her astonished gaze and quietly watched Kyle’s retreating figure.

“Then I will be off safely, my lord.”

After returning from Rak Territory to Ragnar, Kyle headed straight to Chaplin Castle without stopping by the lord’s castle.

In order to enter the Monster Mountain Range, one had to pass through Chaplin Castle.

Walking toward the entrance of Chaplin Castle with his hood pulled low, Kyle tilted his head at an unexpected sight.

The gates of Chaplin Castle, which were always tightly shut, were wide open.

Soldiers were standing guard in front of the gate, and a long line had ford of people trying to enter the castle.

“……When did they open the castle?”

He had originally told Pramo that it would take about a week, but the actual ti taken had been only three days.

Confirming that Chaplin Castle had been opened in such a short ti, Kyle muttered to himself as he walked toward the long line.

‘Do I have to wait…….’

With his hood on, no one recognized Kyle.

After hesitating at the long line that would require hours of waiting, Kyle let out a deep sigh.

As he passed the line and approached the gate, sharp glares poured in from those waiting.

A soldier who was checking people’s identification tokens saw Kyle and ran over.

“Please maintain order.”

“I was going to wait, but it seems like it’ll take too long.”

“……Even so, you must keep order to enter the castle.”

Slide—

At the soldier’s repeated words, Kyle removed his hood.

“Co to think of it, I never received an identification token.”

However, his hair color and eye color themselves served as an identification token that proved Kyle.

That was why he had never bothered to receive one.

No one had paid attention to it, and he himself had not felt the need.

“……I pay my respects to the Grand General!”

The soldier, recognizing Kyle’s face after he removed his hood, flinched in shock and bowed with rigid discipline.

Scratching his head with an awkward expression, Kyle asked for understanding.

“I don’t have an identification token. My apologies.”

“No, sir. There is no soldier of Ragnar who does not know the Grand General’s face.”

The soldier shook his head firmly at Kyle’s apology.

As a soldier of Ragnar, it would make no sense not to recognize Kyle’s face.

Of course, white hair and red eyes could be easily altered with magical tools, but a face could not be changed so easily.

“Since I don’t have an identification token, I suppose I should show this instead.”

Kyle loosened the sword hidden beneath his hood and held it out to the soldier.

An heirloom of the Ragnar Family.

It was the sword Kyle always carried on his person.

The reason he showed the sword to the soldier was simple. Identity verification had to be precise, no matter who it was.

After confirming Kyle’s identity once more, the soldier brought up what he had been unable to say earlier.

“The Family Head is currently at Chaplin Castle.”

“The Family Head?”

“Yes. He is making rounds and is inspecting Chaplin Castle as the final stop.”

At the soldier’s words, Kyle made a strange expression.

Pramo would surely feel hurt.

After all, Kyle had co straight to Chaplin Castle without even stopping by the lord’s castle.

‘……This is troubleso.’

Kyle, who had used the sword in place of an identification token, tied it back at his waist and walked toward the castle gate.

When the soldier let Kyle enter the castle first regardless of the line, those standing in the back who did not understand the situation began to murmur.

“Soldier, who is that man that he gets to go in first without even standing in line?”

They were people who had co from all over the North to find work as miners.

Naturally, there were far more who did not know Kyle’s face.

At the question from the man who stepped forward as their representative, the soldier shook his head.

“He is Lord Kyle Ragnar.”

“……Kyle Ragnar?”

“He is the Grand General of the Ragnar Family. He is soone qualified to enter the castle without standing in line, so please do not be agitated and maintain order.”

The soldier cald the line and revealed Kyle’s identity.

He had beco a figure so famous that there was no one in the North who did not know his na.

Kyle Ragnar—he was a man who had appeared like a cot falling from the sky and resolved every crisis Ragnar faced.

Listening to the murmuring as he entered the castle, Kyle tried to put his hood back on.

“Have you returned, my lord?”

The timing was bad.

Hearing that Pramo was in the castle, he had intended to put his hood back on imdiately and head into the mountain range, but Seros was already standing at the entrance.

After spotting Kyle, Seros ran over and bowed his head.

“The Family Head is here.”

“……I heard.”

“Did you co straight here without passing through the lord’s castle?”

“Yes.”

“The Family Head expected that as well. He said that you would likely co straight here without stopping by the lord’s castle, so he told

he would be staying at Chaplin Castle.”

At Seros’s explanation, Kyle let out a hollow laugh.

Realizing that Pramo now understood his personality to so extent and had acted preemptively, Kyle shook his head as if admitting defeat.

“I was planning to go straight into the mountain range.”

“He must have anticipated that as well…… The Family Head is waiting at the entrance to the mountain range.”

“Tsk.”

Kyle clicked his tongue briefly.

At that sight, Seros smiled faintly.

“It seems you won’t be able to avoid him.”

“I know without you explaining. Where’s Aron?”

“He’s with the Family Head.”

“I understand. I’ll go et Pramo and co back. It doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving Chaplin Castle for a while, so prepare a place for

to stay.”

“Head Butler Raina cleans the room you stay in every day, so it’s already prepared for you to enter right away.”

At Seros’s words, Kyle nodded.

Then, deciding that he couldn’t enter the mountain range without eting Pramo, he removed his hood.

“I’ll keep quiet, so you focus only on the duties entrusted to you as the lord of the castle.”

Kyle handed the removed hood to Seros and walked toward the rear gate that led into the mountain range.

Just as Seros had said, Pramo was waiting there with a tent already set up.

Kyle approached him as he sat blankly outside the tent, staring at the mountain range.

“Were you planning to stay here in this state for an entire week?”

Pramo was startled at the sight of Kyle, who had returned earlier than expected.

“Didn’t you say it would take about a week?”

“Did you really think it would take a whole week? I was just giving myself plenty of ti.”

Kyle stood before Pramo and stared straight at his face.

He couldn’t understand why he was doing this here.

“I see.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I thought that even if you returned, you wouldn’t co to the lord’s castle and would co straight here, so I was waiting.”

“……There wasn’t even anything particularly important, so I didn’t expect you to be waiting for

here like this.”

At Kyle’s words, Pramo let out a small laugh and shook his head.

“I was worried. Or maybe it was anxiety.”

“Didn’t I tell you? That there was no reason for

to leave again after finally returning ho.”

“Brother.”

“There will clearly be tis when I have to go outside. Are you going to be plagued by anxiety every single ti that happens?”

Kyle scolded Pramo with strength in his eyes.

Pramo scratched his head and took in the sight.

“Brother, if the Ragnar Family becos a dynasty, who will protect the North?”

“I will.”

“If I beco king, I’ll make Ragnar the capital.”

“That won’t do. The North is always exposed to danger. The capital should be established in a safe region.”

“Are you trying to sacrifice yourself for the family again?”

“It’s not a sacrifice. It’s a duty. And it’s also the responsibility of the Ragnar Family. You know that soone has to bear that responsibility, don’t you?”

Pramo lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

The words ‘family duty’ felt cruel to him.

Why did they have to bear all responsibility and make sacrifices just because they were of the Ragnar bloodline?

He couldn’t understand why they had to carry on a duty that no one acknowledged, that even those belonging to the sa kingdom didn’t know about.

“I didn’t co here to argue with you, but whenever we talk, I don’t know why our voices always get raised.”

“……Because our positions are bound to be different.”

“I wish your life would finally flow smoothly now, brother.”

“That’s sothing that can’t be achieved.”

There had been a ti when he dread of a peaceful life.

But Kyle knew better than anyone else.

That his life could never be peaceful.

“Then I’ll stay in the North instead.”

“That won’t do either.”

“……Is it because I’m weak?”

At the endlessly repeating conversation, Kyle felt tired and placed a hand on his forehead.

“I don’t know why you keep thinking of yourself as weak. You know that being weak in force doesn’t an being weak, don’t you?”

“…….”

“You just need to walk your path without wavering.”