/
Author: CleiZz Editor: Aker and Jada
‘What is it?’
Ruel shuddered as he tentatively touched the smooth lump.
‘It’s…moved.’
Ruel looked at Leo with a stern face.
—He said he couldn’t get out because he was stuck in the stone. This body wants to save that body.
Ruel slightly frowned and used the tool to break the barrier.
Crack!
As soon as the barrier disappeared, Leo bit the ore.
Ruel hurriedly picked up Leo.
“Wait! Then…”
Bup.
It split in half and something popped out of it.
“…!”
It jumped out of the ore and flew over to Leo hiding in his fur.
Ruel quietly stepped back and asked, “What’s that?”
—Like this body, it’s a spirit. But not like this Great Purifier. Ahem.
Ruel’s stiff shoulders were loosened by Leo’s answer.
Ruel coughed and studied the broken ore.
“Can this be used?”
Perhaps because the spirit disappeared, the light disappeared.
But the mysterious feeling remained the same.
Leo came down to the ground and gave him the ore.
Jingle.
Ruel could hear a bell sound unlike anything he had heard before.
‘That’s unique.’
—Please add one more jewel to this body’s necklace. This body likes everything that sparkles.
The jewel on Leo’s necklace was enchanted to allow the owner to find him.
The owner being himself.
—The sound is good.
Jingle. Jingle.
It sounds pretty now, but with how much Leo usually runs around…
‘Wouldn’t it be too noisy if I hang it around his neck?’
Ruel put it in his pocket, thinking that he should just use it as a decoration.
***
A day later.
Knock. Knock.
“Ruel Setiria-nim is here.”
“Let him enter.”
Huswen immediately stopped what he was doing and stood up.
“I meet the greatest of Cyronian.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Thanks to your concern, I’ve gotten a lot better.”
“Your health doesn’t look very… improved.”
Huswen frowned slightly and patiently led him to a table on one side of the office.
Ttak.
The sound of a cane was heard softly.
Ruel bit his lips as soon as he sat down from the sharp pain in his stomach.
“Honestly, I feel uncomfortable not being able to give you a farewell banquet. If you change your mind even now, let me know. Everything has been prepared.”
“It’s okay. Right now, the issues of the country take precedence over my farewell banquet.”
“No, you did such an honor for my country, isn’t it only natural? Don’t feel too burdened.”
“Didn’t I already receive something else in exchange?”
Instead of holding a farewell banquet while the treason case was being finalized, Ruel asked Leponia to formally inform them of what he had done for Leponia’s ally, Cyronian.
The new year is about two months away.
It was expected that it would take that long to finish investigating and punishing those who ran away one after the other, along with the aristocrats who were already accused.
“I’m not a narrow-minded person, apart from the banquet, there’s always hosting a smaller farewell party if you want. Oh, and while I’m at it, I was going to ask the question, why did you only take that from the warehouse?”
“I have chosen carefully and I am satisfied with my choice. Thank you, I will receive it gratefully.”
Cassion eventually chose the ‘Black Star,’ and what Noah chose, contrary to expectations, was not a gem but a weapon.
He seemed to think that putting arrows into enemies’ heads would bring in more money than reselling jewels.
‘Although the ore I brought has disappeared.’
Sniff. Sniff.
Leo was busy smelling Ruel today.
He said he smelled a lot better than usual.
The fuzzy spirit that was hiding in Leo’s fur was clinging tightly to him now, just like Leo.
Ruel let it be because it was harmless.
“Your hands are smaller than I thought.”
Ruel responded calmly to the tone that seemed to be measuring him in return.
“The royal treasury was magnificent. But what I wanted wasn’t there.”
“What do you want?”
“I hope Your Majesty will remember me and not forget that I am a worthy tool.”
Huswen smiled lightly.
There was also sadness in the laughter.
“Aren’t you from another country?”
“Your Majesty, I am a man who wants the alliance to remain very firm for a long time. If Your Majesty does not change my mind, I am on your side and only hoping for a strong alliance.”
“It sounds like a threat.”
“I am stating my position. As Your Majesty knows, Setiria is the gatekeeper of Leponia. I think I have that much of a say.”
“… It’s a pity, it’s a pity.”
“Cough, cough.”
Ruel grabbed his stomach and coughed.
Huswen spoke again after Ruel’s coughing stopped.
“It would be better if you were born in Cyronian.”
He liked everything about Ruel’s cunning, strength, and determination.
Seriously, he was willing to welcome Ruel with open arms if he abandoned everything and came to Cyronian.
“I hope you don’t change your mind. There will be times when we need to borrow Your Majesty’s hand.”
“If you’re going to borrow my hand, you’ll have to have a benefit for Cyronian.”
“Of course. I’m not a greedy person, my hands are quite small.”
Pfft.
He laughed at his oratory skills, which returned his own words to his mouth intact.
“Well, I will depart. I hope to see you another time.”
“I have prepared the way for your return so that it is not inconvenient, so come again anytime. If it’s you, I’ll welcome you even if you come to stop for a picnic or two.”
Ruel arched his lips at that statement.
It was Huswen himself who said that he could drop by the royal house of Cyronian at any time as if it were his home.
It was a distance that could be reached within a day if he was carried by Cassion from Setiria.
Ruel bowed and exited the room.
Huswen erased his laughter.
“Gloin.”
Behind him, like smoke, a woman slowly appeared.
“Yes.”
“Treat all the surveillance attached to Ruel as an additional escort, and even if you have to abandon your lives, until he leaves Cyronian, you must protect him.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She disappeared into smoke, as she did when she appeared.
‘What a waste. What a waste.’
Is there no way to attach Ruel to Cyronian?
***
“…surveillance is gone.”
Cassion, who was waiting outside, opened his mouth as soon as he saw Ruel.
“Yes.”
Ruel had already noticed that Huswen was watching him.
He gave out some information while hiding the rest, which helped to dispel any suspicion.
‘There were more doubts than it seemed.’
The day he let go was the day Ruel left.
“Are you okay?”
Cassion glanced at Ruel’s stomach and asked softly.
“No, it’s a bit off.”
Aris immediately cast Hold and sent Ruel afloat.
Only then did he inhale Breath with a more comfortable face.
“That, Ruel-nim?”
Ruel looked at Aris instead of answering.
Aris and Ruel’s eyes met.
Then Aris found something on Ruel’s shoulder and asked Ruel.
“Something seems to be on your shoulder, Ruel-nim.”
Aris has been able to see the distinctive natural mana to a faint extent, though not in Leo’s form, since he wore the earrings he got from the royal treasure trove.
Aris could see two completely different natural manas sitting side by side, besides Leo, on Ruel’s shoulder.
“…?”
When Ruel looked at his shoulder wondering at Aris’s words, there was another fuzzy object on his shoulder.
Ruel flinched and looked at Leo.
—He just got here. He said he came because you smelled good.
Ruel felt a bit uncomfortable.
There had been a spirit stuck in the ringing ore and now there were two stuck to him.
“Ask why he got stuck in that ore.”
—If that’s the case, this body already knows. They said that it smelled good and accidentally got stuck in it.
Ruel closed his lips tightly.
The ringing ore that he had put in his pocket yesterday disappeared today.
Since then, hasn’t Leo been sniffing around all of a sudden saying that he smells good.
There were already two spirits clinging to his shoulder and rubbing against him.
“Do I smell like something?”
“There is no smell other than the smell of blood.”
In response to Cassion’s answer, Ruel immediately looked at Aris.
“There seems to be a faint scent that you can smell in a forest.”
The dog-nosed Cassion doesn’t know, but Aris, who is sensitive to mana, noticed something else.
Ruel then glanced at Noah, who was stroking the horse.
He shook his head.
‘In short, did the ore create a situation where the spirits were attracted to me no matter what I did?’
Compared to the situation where Red Ash came to take one’s life, it was either heaven or a strange, but acceptable circumstance.
If it’s not a boy playing the pipe, something else is going on.
As soon as he got into the carriage, Ruel called Hina.
“Hina, come out for a second.”
She naturally sat in the carriage and looked for Leo with her eyes.
“Did you call me?”
“Did you see the ringing ore I left in my pocket yesterday, like a bell?”
“I don’t know about the sound of bells, but I’ve seen you put the ore in your pocket.”
Leo appeared and jumped at Hina.
—Hina! This body wants to eat the sweet thing it ate back then!
‘You didn’t hear the sound? It doesn’t sound normal, does it?’
Hina took out the jam-packed snack she had prepared in advance and Leo ate them one by one.
—This tastes good. This body is the happiest right now!
“Then, has anything happened to my pocket from last night to this morning?”
“None.”
It was clear that nothing had happened if Hina said so.
“Yes, thank you for letting me know.”
Maybe something happened from the time he touched the ore.
“What’s the matter?”
Cassion asked insinuatingly.
“It seems that the spirits are gathering because of that ore. There are still two more.”
“Do you mean there are two more insects?”
The deep sigh of Cassion followed.
Leo seemed to eat a lot, even though he didn’t talk.
“I’m sure you won’t take them in.”
Leo’s ears pricked at the statement.
Instead of eating, he looked at Ruel with expectant eyes.
“Leo is enough.”
Leo smiled as if it was the answer he wanted.
“And I can’t communicate with the rest of the spirits.”
Ruel touched one of the fuzz balls that slid down his shoulder.
Kuroo kuru.
It got angry, but Ruel couldn’t understand what they were saying.
“Let’s go.”
Cassion knocked on the wall of the carriage, and the carriage moved.
***
The Royal Knights joined, followed by the Blue Knights.
As soon as the gate was opened, the two knight orders lined up and drew their swords toward the sky.
‘Oh, I said I don’t need a farewell party.’
Ruel sat down for a moment to take the medicine and witnessed the scene.
“I think Ruel-nim should have enjoyed more than this.”
“I only know my place. You should distinguish between what you can enjoy and what you can’t enjoy.”
Setiria only had to cut the fee in half to obtain a small monopoly among Cyronian’s main commodities: technical cooperation and exchange, the installation of a portal device leading from Setiria to Ganien’s villa, and the right to command the Blue Knights for whatever reason.
And he received titles and lands from Huswen, despite not undergoing an inauguration ceremony.
Unusually, the title bestowed was not an earl or a marquis, but ‘lord.’
It meant that his position would be recognized comparable to a marquis and below a duke.
First of all, Ruel was satisfied with this much.
The opponent will feel less pressure if you break it apart slowly rather than all at once.
Ruel raised the corners of his mouth.
“It means that I stopped here first because I know my place, not that I won’t get it in the end. I deserve more as you stated.”
A faint smile spread across Cassion’s face.
Cassion was quite satisfied and asked.
“What will you do with the land you received from His Majesty?”
“Corrence Lumina should be considered before the land. The inquiry into his merchants should be a top concern.”
There was evidence that the merchant controlled by Lumina had interacted with the Red Ash.
But that was not enough.
In a way, Ruel thought he was stabbed in the back by Corrence.
‘I’ll give you back more than what you got.’
“I will instruct Dion to release the birds towards Lumina.”
“Count Iria confessed that he had received the Leponia attack plan from Lumina. But remember when you asked the man who ordered him to attack me, you said he was just ordered by the Red Ash?”
“I remember, I heard that the Red Ash gave instructions by letter.”
Ruel closed his eyes briefly, inhaling Breath.
“We have to catch him. It is highly likely that he is the arm of the Red Ash in Leponia.”
“How far do you think it’s related?”
“A prince.”
“My expectations are the same. Either the first or the second will be connected to one or the other.”
He heard from Cassion about the case of the eldest giving up the throne five years ago.
It coincided with the time when he was kidnapped.
‘Is it really a coincidence?’
Taktak.
Leo hit the bed with his tail.
—Now lie down. The spirits are grieving that the playground is gone.
Huh.
Ruel let out an absurd laugh and looked at the two fuzzy lights next to Leo.
Tears, the size of millet, were dripping down.
Ruel looked out the window with a cough.
The two knight orders lowered their swords, which had stretched out into the sky, in front of their chests in accordance with the chants of Sien and the unnamed commander.
It wasn’t grand, but it was a quaint farewell party.
***
After leaving the capital, the knights’ vigilance increased.
Their nerves were sharper than ever from the residing impact of meeting the black-blooded man.
“If you’re sleepy, go to sleep, don’t force yourself to fend it off.”
“I slept a lot.”
Ruel said, stroking Leo’s stomach.
“Do you worry about a black-blooded man appearing?”
—Ahem, this body will purify it.
Leo smiled triumphantly.
“Honestly, the possibility of a black-blooded man appearing in the current situation is low, but it’s not impossible, so it bothers me.”
The Red Ash avoided being noticeable.
The procession with the two knight orders escorting was quite noisy.
In order to wipe out the two knights, who are not together but still unified, they will have to bring in more black-blooded people than last time.
It was expected that they would not do anything, as the rats in the Cyronian aristocracy had already suffered quite a blow.
“But they aren’t ones to miss a good opportunity either.”
“That’s right.”
Cassion suddenly chuckled along with his words.
Then he took a white cloth out of his pocket and wrapped it around Ruel’s head.
“…?”
Ch-nk.
Then there was the sound of something being cut, and the hot splattered blood turned the white cloth red.
“The enemy was already in the carriage.”