Sword Master of a Fa Chapter 91 : Returned to Ragnar (2)

Chapter 91: Returned to Ragnar (2)

Leaving the affairs of the capital to Pramo, Kyle returned to the Ragnar Lord’s Castle and looked around the residence where only the maids and servants remained.

A space where Pramo, who had always been in the office, and Elise, who had greeted him with a smile at his side, were now gone.

Kyle, who had been feeling a sense of emptiness after a long ti, let out a faint chuckle.

Knock knock—

“Lord, we’ve crossed a big hurdle—would you like to have a cup of tea?”

At the sound of the knock, Kyle turned around.

Aron ca in, carrying on a tray the tools needed to brew tea, as if he had prepared them in advance.

And Acacia followed right after, shaking the liquor bottles in both hands.

“Aron, liquor is better than tea!”

“My lord prefers tea over liquor, Sir Acacia.”

At Aron’s calm remark, Seros chid in as well.

“Have you forgotten that the lord rarely drinks? When will you ever grow up.”

“……Castellan, why do you dislike only ?”

“Look at your behavior. I thought you would have learned a lot while teaching the knights.”

As Seros continued to scold him, Acacia puffed out his lips.

It felt unfair, but as he said, Kyle was soone who barely touched alcohol.

He did not drink even during the Empire’s important festivals, and even after returning victorious from major battles, he celebrated with tea instead of liquor.

But then Kyle shook his head as he sat down.

“Today, liquor sounds better than tea.”

Those who had trusted him alone and followed him all the way to a distant foreign land.

It was true that he had not been able to pay them much attention while focusing on saving Ragnar.

Right now, they were his most dependable subordinates and the ones who had rendered great service in reviving Ragnar.

“Is that true?”

At Kyle’s words, Aron and Seros asked back in surprise.

“It’s a sha Bianca is away, but we can make ti separately later. Seros, go and call all the Special Operations Unit mbers.”

Before he could change his mind, Seros rushed out without even replying.

At that sight, Kyle looked at Aron.

“Aron, we’ll have tea next ti.”

“Well, if my lord wants liquor, I can take a step back. Sir Acacia, by the way, where did you get that liquor?”

“They said it was liquor my lord’s father liked, so I got it from the family warehouse keeper. It’s a good day, isn’t it?”

“Well done. This ti, Sir Acacia’s judgnt was right.”

“Heh, even if I’ve got absolutely no tact, I’m damn good at picking the timing to have fun. Hahaha!”

At words that made it unclear whether he was praising himself or belittling himself, Aron smiled and then shook his head.

Acacia was the most difficult person to understand in the Special Operations Unit, so he decided to roughly accept it and move on.

anwhile, Kyle gestured toward Acacia.

“Enough talking—go bring so snacks.”

“I’ll be right back.”

After Acacia left as well, Kyle picked up the liquor bottle on the table and poured drinks.

“You worked hard, Aron.”

“Not at all. To be honest, Ragnar has so many outstanding talents that it feels like even the share I should have handled was taken from , which makes

feel sorry.”

“Take it.”

At Aron’s humble words, Kyle lifted a glass and handed it over.

Aron accepted the glass Kyle offered with both hands.

“You look at ease.”

“Who knows. Either way, I feel good.”

“When you said you were returning to Ragnar, part of

felt regretful.”

They had only just ended the war with the Holy Empire of Ru.

After countless sacrifices, they had brought peace to the Tyless Empire, yet Kyle chose to leave without even receiving compensation for his hardships.

On top of that, the fate that forced Kyle to once again lead a war against monsters felt deeply regrettable.

“I was always happy whenever I returned to Ragnar.”

“I think I also made the right choice in following my lord to Ragnar. I never imagined I would get to see this side of you up close. Hehe.”

“Aron, I know that many people during my ti in the Empire called

cold-blooded. There were even tis when such talk spread within the Special Operations Unit.”

Sip—

Kyle poured the transparent liquor in the glass straight into his mouth, revealing a bitter expression.

Reading his expression, Aron felt as though he understood what Kyle was thinking.

“……It was nothing more than backbiting from those who envied and were jealous of you, my lord.”

“Strangely, it didn’t make

sad. I felt that if I beca sad, the ones who were sacrificed would feel even sadder.”

At his flat voice, Aron picked up the bottle and refilled the empty glass.

For over ten years by Kyle’s side, he had never once heard his true feelings.

Though they had shared hardships together with the Special Operations Unit, it even felt as if there was a wall between Kyle and the unit mbers.

“The Tyless Empire wasn’t my ho, so I tried not to grow attached. I thought of myself as soone who would leave for Ragnar again at any ti.”

“……My lord.”

“I was ignored as an outsider, and I nearly died countless tis at the hands of those who envied . The more that happened, the more I longed for Ragnar.”

A fence that had always embraced Kyle warmly, even in his thoughts.

Ragnar was precious to Kyle, a place he had to protect no matter what.

However, as the war of the Tyless Empire dragged on, Kyle could not bring himself to abandon those he had ford ties with and return to Ragnar.

When he heard the news that Rai Ragnar had died, he wanted to leave imdiately.

“……How could I possibly understand my lord’s heart?”

“Is that so.”

As the two were talking, Acacia returned carrying an armful of jerky as snacks.

Soon after, Seros brought two Special Operations Unit mbers who had been at the lord’s castle.

“My lord, I brought them.”

“I’m back too.”

At the sight of Acacia smiling brightly with his arms full of jerky, Seros clicked his tongue.

“Jerky as drinking snacks—what kind of nonsense is that?”

“There’s no snack more familiar to us than jerky!”

“Tsk tsk.”

“And it’s late now, so there’s no cook around. You should be grateful that I at least brought this much.”

At the sight of the two bickering, Kyle stood up.

Drinking inside a stifling room didn’t suit the Special Operations Unit.

“Let’s go out. I want to have a drink outside.”

“Sounds great! Ragnar’s atmosphere is among the best sights I’ve ever seen.”

Acacia agreed enthusiastically with Kyle’s words.

As Kyle moved, carrying the glasses and the liquor bottle, Aron also gathered the remaining bottles and followed him out.

Watching Aron’s back, Seros soon turned his head toward Acacia.

“Go bring at least so cloth we can spread on the ground.”

“What cloth? Castellan, I’ve always felt this, but you really don’t understand anything about atmosphere.”

“……You’re getting more and more insolent, Acacia.”

“With my lord watching, you can’t beat

up, can you?”

“Haah…….”

Seros pressed his hand to his forehead.

Under normal circumstances, he would have smacked the back of Acacia’s head at least once, but today was a day when Kyle was in a good mood.

Since he couldn’t ruin the atmosphere, he quickly went outside with the resolve to ignore Acacia altogether.

At that sight, the two Special Operations Unit mbers looked at Acacia with worried eyes.

“At this rate, you might get beaten so badly dust flies on a snowy day by the castellan.”

“Forget about the future and enjoy the present. That’s my creed. Stop worrying about useless things and let’s go.”

Following after Seros and leaving the residence, Kyle was already walking far ahead before they knew it.

The front yard of the residence was a fine place as well, but there was an even better spot.

Kyle climbed up onto the defensive wall of the Ragnar Lord’s Castle and looked up at the sky.

“The day I t my father and left Ragnar, it was a full moon as well.”

“Is that so?”

“That day too, I climbed up this wall and exchanged final words with my father. He earnestly urged

to co back alive.”

Kyle sat down and set the liquor bottle in his hand on the ground.

Those who arrived after him then sat down around Kyle.

“Take it.”

As Kyle poured liquor into each glass one by one, a bitter expression crossed his face.

Seros, holding his glass, asked about the plans ahead.

“My lord, what should we do going forward?”

“For now, clearing out the inside of the mountain range should co first. Only if Ragnar is solid can the dynasty to be established ahead be firm.”

“The lords who failed in this campaign will surely move more aggressively. On top of that, with thirty thousand from the Northern Army withdrawing, our overall strength has weakened.”

“If they’re lords holed up in the mountain range, there’s no way they’d know that.”

At the sight of the two talking about work over drinks, Acacia puffed out his lips.

Still, he couldn’t express his dissatisfaction as directly as he had with Seros earlier.

Catching Acacia’s expression with a brief glance, Kyle let out a small laugh.

“We’ll talk about work later, Seros.”

“Understood.”

There was no need to discuss work at a drinking gathering like this.

It wouldn’t be too late to discuss and deliberate tomorrow.

“However, I need to hear the report on the Light Family now.”

Clack!

As Kyle set his glass down, his eyes instantly filled with killing intent.

He hadn’t been able to pay attention because of Ragnar, but Kyle wanted to hear with his own ears about the death of Eric, who had been the vice commander of the Special Operations Unit.

Sensing his grim aura, Seros also set his glass down.

“It’s said that one day, a fortune-teller appeared in the Kingdom of Seil, the nation where the Light Family exists. I’ve heard that the fortune-teller accurately predicted all of the country’s important affairs as if by magic. Even the date when the previous king would be assassinated.”

“So?”

“That fortune-teller pointed to the Light Family as being behind the assassination. At the ti, the crown prince—now the current king—believed only the fortune-teller’s words and designated the Light Family as traitors.”

Trusting the words of a fortune-teller who had correctly predicted everything from national droughts and major affairs to even trivial matters, the crown prince ultimately exterminated the Light Family.

At Seros’s words, Kyle closed his eyes.

“If they were Followers of Darkness, they could have made what the fortune-teller said into reality.”

“I also found several strange things while investigating the Light Family.”

“Tell

everything without leaving a single thing out.”

At Kyle’s words, Seros nodded and reported everything that had seed strange during the investigation.

“There was sothing among the fortune-teller’s predictions that turned out to be wrong.”

“And what was that?”

“That the head of the Light Family, who was also the only master in the Kingdom of Seil, would be assassinated—that part was wrong.”

“With Eric there, it couldn’t have succeeded.”

“In fact, assassins did attack the head of the Light Family, but Eric stopped them. However, both the family head and Eric suffered serious injuries…… and because of that, they couldn’t prevent the Light Family from being attacked after being branded traitors.”

At Seros’s face filled with regret, Kyle nodded.

Then he picked up the glass he had set down.

“Now that we know the Followers of Darkness have reappeared in the world, it’s not sothing we can overlook. They’re the ones who took the lives of our comrades and friends.”

“That’s right.”

“They’ve revealed themselves sooner than expected, but there’s no way the Followers of Darkness are in a normal state. So even now, it’s enough if we stop their movents.”

It was sothing he had already accomplished once in the past.

Facing them a second ti wouldn’t be difficult.

Kyle knew all the sword techniques, strategies, and patterns used by the Followers of Darkness.

On the other hand, there was no way they would know anything about Kyle Ragnar.

“They may know Ian Kylers well, but they’ll know nothing about Kyle Ragnar. This fight is to our advantage.”

“Indeed. However, there isn’t enough ti for the Ragnar Knight Order or the knights of the North to reach the level the Special Operations Unit once attained.”

“What’s there to worry about? In Ragnar, not only is there an Orc Lord, but the chieftain of the Dwarf Clan as well.”

“That may be true, but…….”

“Above all, the reason I sent Bianca was to buy ti. Ti is on our side.”

If they went any deeper, it felt as though they would end up discussing plans all night.

Kyle held out his glass toward Seros.

“Today, just drink. Now is the ti to honor the comrades who died on the battlefield.”

In the heart of Ragnar, the faces of those sharing drinks were neither bright nor dark.

It was a gathering to commorate those who had died on the battlefield.

For them, it was a aningful day.

‘Don’t linger with regrets, and please go to a good place.’