At the feeling of soft material brushing across his face, Ruel frowned and opened his eyes.
ââŠwhatâs wrong, Leo?â
It was still dark outside.
âCassion and Ganien are fighting!
âThatâs how it was back in Setiria. Donât worry and go to sleep.â
âI can feel the ground shaking! Look over there! The purple flameâŠ
ââŠ!â
Ruel immediately opened the window and looked out.
It was quite far from here, but the purple and blue lights were clearly visible.
âYou crazy people!â
Itâs not like fireworks in the middle of the night. What is this about?
âAris!â
âYes, whatâs the matter?â
Aris hurried inside at the urgent voice of Ruel.
Ruel said, pointing to the lights, âBring them right now!â
Aris soon swept his chest in relief.
âThey seem to be having fun fighting, so why donât you leave it alone?â
âWhat?â
âAfter meeting the black blooded man, both of them seemed to have been deeply troubled. Of course, I am also worried.â
Aris closed the door he had opened.
âThe enemy⊠did not die. I felt like everything Iâve learned was falling apart. I think thatâs how those two feel. Please understand.â
Ruel looked through the window and inhaled Breath.
âGo.â
Aris closed the open window and headed towards the door.
âAre you anxious?â
At Ruelâs low voice, Aris breathed deeply.
âYes, Iâm anxious now.â
The door opened and closed.
Ruel lay down again.
Leo curled up close to his face, glancing around.
âThis body is unstable, too. If this body could purifyâŠ
âOkay, I wonât force you to do what you canât do.â
âCanât Ruel teach this body?
Leo was too desperate to just laugh it off.
Ruel patted Leo on the head.
âAt that time, I donât know if I can say it was my instinct, but it wasnât my will anyway. I think Iâll get the hang of it if I try it again.â
âInstinct?
âYes, instinct. I still donât know why I can purify it.â
âDoesnât this body have an instinct? Why doesnât it show up?
Leo sounded kind of sad.
âLetâs go to bed now.â
After stroking Leo again, Ruel closed his eyes.
ââŠinstinct.
Leo stared at the sky, reflecting on what Ruel had said.
***
The light filtered through the window.
Ruel awoke to the sudden downpour of sunlight.
ââŠ?â
It was an unfamiliar ceiling.
âAre you up?â
Ganien said with a big smile.
âI was so excited yesterday that I forgot something. His Majesty wanted to meet you.â
Ruel looked half-asleep and just looked at Ganien, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
âI should have told you at the banquet yesterday, but I forgot because I was excited. So after competing with Cassion, I brought you out at dawn.â
How the hell?
Ruel was quite sensitive about his sleeping habits.
âCassiâŠâ
âCassion is furious now, so youâd better not call him.â
âWhy?â
âHis Majesty is waiting for you. For your information, this is my familyâs villaâŠâ
Even before Ganien finished speaking, Ruel grabbed Ganien by the collar.
He stared at him fiercely.
It wasnât a topic to laugh and say âhahaâ now.
The king came to Ganienâs villa, and he himself made the king wait.
âBe honest with me. Are you trying to screw me over? Cough, cough.â
Ruelâs hand, which he used to grab the collar, because of his cough, quickly loosened.
Ruel grabbed the hem of his clothes and looked at Ganien fiercely.
Knock. Knock.
The king appeared, knocking on the open door.
âDonât be so angry. I told him not to wake you up.â
Unlike what he saw earlier, the king gave a very different impression as he was dressed simply.
Ruel got right out of bed and bowed his head.
âYour Majesty, forgive me for my rudeness.â
âOh, you donât have to be so polite, this is not the royal palace afterall. Make yourself at home.â
He waved his hand with an unbothered face, like a neighborhood brother lazily dragging his slippers around.
He dragged the chair himself and placed it in front of the bed where Ruel was.
Ganien remained still even with his superiorâs actions.
âCome on, come on, sit on the bed.â
Ruel pretended to hesitate a few times and then sat comfortably on the bed.
The king told me to sit down, so I can sit.
âItâs hard to meet unless itâs today, so I asked Ganien for a favor.â
âWhy didnât you call me? Your Majesty took a heavy step.â
Ruel bit Breath and asked the king for permission.
âThereâs nothing to regret, since weâre in the same boat.â
Inhaling Breath, Ruel waited for the king to bring up the story.
âYou know the Red Ash.â
Ruel glanced at Ganien.
He grinned and nodded.
In the novel, Huswen Cyronian, the king of Cyronian, was a strong shield and helper for Ganien.
Having confirmed through Bianne that the setting in the novel was the same, Ruel said with a smile.
âDo you also know that theyâre after my life?â
âWhen you die, the Great First Step begins, right?â
âThereâs news I havenât told Ganien yet. The Red Ash is looking for something. It is said that my existence acts as a kind of seal that prevents the enemy from finding it.â
Huswen frowned, eyes half-closed.
Ganien, who heard this story for the first time, also had a stiff face.
Huswen sighed and asked, âDid you hear that from a guy named Nintra?â
âYes, he brought it up while betraying the Manaâs oath.â
âWhat happens if he finds it?â
âI donât know.â
Ruel paused, before speaking, âI heard that Bianne Chen found out where the enemyâs temporary hideout was. Among the noblesâŠâ
âHow dare they do such a thing. What a disgrace. I didnât even know that rats live in my country.â Huswen interrupted for a moment and closed his lips.
âYour Majesty, please calm down. Maybe itâs not a rat. I think itâs a bigger beast than that.â
âIt may be, Iâm very grateful to you. What happened in the village was also done by the Red Ash. If you hadnât risked your life to stop it, something big would have happened.â
Ruel knew this was the perfect chance to be rewarded, but he put up with it, for now, choosing to make a different request.
Youâll get a bigger one after this.
âGive the Knights a justification to move, Your Majesty.â
Huswenâs lips curled up slightly.
Who would hate doing something for their own country?
âAre you going there, too?â
âIâm not going. However, I am very curious about the village called Dotol that resides near to it.â
âDotol, itâs a small but nice place. The beer there is amazing, and there is a large lake where you can relax. And Iâll make sure you have a comfortable trip sightseeing.â
âThank you for your generosity.â
The king himself ordered it, so Ruel was able to move the Royal Knights he brought to Dotol.
âGanien.â
âYes, Your Majesty.â
âTake care of your precious guests, even to Dotol. On the way, you should also subdue the monsters in Trien.â
The entire Blue Knights were given a justification to move.
âI accept your orders.â
Huswen rose from his seat.
âDoes the King of Leponia know this?â
âThe royal familyâs internal affairs are complicated, so they probably donât know.â
âWho do you support?â
âI support the third prince, His Highness, Banios Leponia.â
âOkay, have a good time playing, take time to recover your health.â
âI see.â
Huswen was given his departing greeting by the two of them and went outside.
Ganien rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes were left drawn to the seat where the king had just left.
âYou donât have a normal relationship with the king, Iâm a little surprisedâŠâ
âWhatâs that?â Ganien lowered his hand and laughed questioning at Ruelâs hoarse voice.
âAs expected, my eyes are certain,â he murmured softly. âGanien.â
â⊠Huh?â
When his voice calling for him was unusual, Ganien became nervous for no reason.
âI heard your family has been swordsmen for generations, right?â
Ruelâs smile was so suspicious that Ganien reluctantly replied.
âThatâs right⊠Why?â
âI heard Bianne lost something to your family. What does that mean?â
Ruel wanted to confirm one fact at this time.
âDid he say that? Are you sure?â
âYes.â
âThat bastard! He still thinks he has been deprived of the honor of protecting the frontier by my family, but heâs the one who made a mistake. He canât thank me enough for sparing his life after committing military corruption, but being taken away? Took it from him?â
Listening to Ganien, Ruel inhaled Breath.
Bianne and Ganienâs past has not changed either.
In other words, if Ruel himself did not intervene, Ganienâs story would not have changed.
Somehow, Ruel felt like an obstructionist.
âWhat will change now that Bianne, who should have been dead, is alive.â
It was a pity that the original work was altered, but he didnât regret it.
Because he had to live.
â⊠You lapping dog. â
As soon as Cassion appeared with a murderous voice, he grabbed Ganienâs neck.
Ganien smiled awkwardly as if he had allowed him to catch him on purpose.
I warned him to stop Huswenâ footsteps by any means, but Ruel-nim faced His Majesty like that. Wouldnât it be perfectly acceptable to kill him right now?
âGanien, you must have a lot of swords left at homeâ
Ruel asked, stroking Leo, who was sleeping soundly.
At the moment, Cassion flinched.
âThereâs a lot.â
At Ganienâs reply, Ruel opened his mouth.
âLet him go, Cassion.â
âIâm sorry. I should have cut his throat yesterday.â
âCut my neck? Donât make me laugh. Iâm the one who let you go.â
Ganien raised his voice in disbelief.
âSo, who won?â
âItâs me.â
âItâs me.â
When asked by Ruel, the two spoke at the same time and frowned at the same time.
âLetâs just eat.â
Ruel didnât want to see the two men fight for their pride.
***
âHere it is.â
When Ganien opened the door to the arsenal, Cassionâs eyes moved quickly.
In addition, Leoâs mouth opened wide.
âWow! There are a lot of shiny things!
Ruel opened his mouth as he stopped Leo from running right away.
âGanien, you know you owe me a lot, right?â
âOf course, look at it comfortably and take it as much as you want.â
As soon as permission was given, Cassion moved.
âCassion, donât forget Arisâ, too.â
Itâs time to change swords.
âOf course,â Cassion replied with a bright smile.
Ruel left it to Cassion and departed after all he did not know how to appraise swords.
âWho really won?â
And knowing that Ganien had put his pride against Cassion for no reason, Ruel opened his mouth after walking for a long time down the hallway.
Ganien swallowed his saliva with a face as if the question tasted unpleasant.