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chapter 137




“Where are we going now?”
“I’m thinking about heading to the Trowman Rings first.”
“The Trowman Rings?”
“Don’t you know it? It’s one of the circl-”
“I know it. It’s a circle that used to be on par with the Three Great Circles. I’m the Queen of all Elves, don’t look down on me.”
Snow sounded a little offended. After all, there were also many Elves who were a part of the Circle.
There was even a Circle made entirely of Elves, so it would be strange if she didn’t know it.
“I was asking why you’re going to the Trowman Rings.”
“I’m the Circle Rounder of the Trowman Rings, so I have to stop by every now and then.”
Actually, it was a bit more complicated than that, but he didn’t want to explain it further.
Snow blinked rapidly at that remark.
“The Circle Rounder? You?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“This is news to me.”
Snow then looked at Frey with a confused expression.
“But isn’t the Trowman Rings a circle on the verge of collapsing? Wouldn’t you be able to get into a much better circle with your strength?”
“The size doesn’t matter. It’s the conviction of the circle’s members that’s important.”
“Hmm… that’s a really old fashioned statement.”
Snow thought about it for a moment before shrugging.
“I’ll trust your judgement.”
In any case, she had already made up her mind to stick with Frey until the Demigods are defeated.
For the time being, it would be wise to just trust his judgement and see what happens.
Since most of her childhood had been spent in the Frozen Lands, and she stayed in the Great Forest after she grew older, Snow had little to no experience with the outside world. And she had a feeling that Frey would be able to help with her lacking experience.
Nodding, Frey used Warp.
“Warp.”
Shuk.
In a flash, they arrived at the Peinsisko Forest, where the Trowman Rings’ hideout was located.
“Chantless Warp. Plus the stability was enough to make it seem like it was just a simple blink. Are all eight star Wizards such monsters?”
“It’s not far from here.”
“Where are we?”
“The Peinsisko Forest.”
“…that’s almost on the other side of the empire.”
Snow spoke with a strange expression on her face.
Frey ignored Snow’s whining because it wasn’t the time to chat.
He looked around.
“…”
“…”
The members of the Trowman Rings circle were all looking at them with wide eyes and open mouths.
“Ro-, Rounder Frey!”
“Rounder Frey is back!”
There was a huge commotion.
* * *
After a while, Frey was guided to a room by Fio Guntar, one of the first Trowman Rings’ members that he’d interacted with.
Frey could easily tell that his skills had greatly improved over the months, probably due to his endless studying, training and meditation regardless of day or night.
“Please wait for a moment, Rounder Frey. Master Beniang will be here shortly.”
“Alright.”
Snow shrugged as Fio left the room.
“There was a lot of respect and admiration in that guy’s eyes. And from their reaction when you returned, it seems your popularity is pretty high.”
Was that a compliment, or was she teasing him?
It was natural for him to think it was the former, but he wasn’t sure because he knew just how mischievous Snow was.
In the end, Frey decided it was better to simply not respond to her words.
After a while, the door opened, and the first thing he noticed were the green hair and eyes that were rare even on the continent.
It was Beniang Argento, the Circle Master of the Trowman Rings,
Shortly after she opened the door, her entire body stiffened.
“Ro-, Rounder Frey.”
It seemed that tears would fall from her eyes at any moment.
Frey panicked a bit inwardly as he said.
“…Master Beniang, our reunion was a bit earlier than normal. Have you been well?”
“Ah, yes! I-, I’ve been fine.”
She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes before saying.
“I was just surprised to hear that you came back… At first, I thought I’d heard wrong. Ah. Enough about that. What about you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine too.”
“What a relief!…Uh. But who is this beside you?”
There was no need for Frey to introduce her as Snow stood up with a bright smile and greeted Beniang.
“I’m Snow. Nice to meet you.”
“Ah. Yes. Nice to meet you. Huh… are you an Elf?”
Beniang glanced at Snow’s ears as she asked that question.
Snow nodded.
“Mhm.”
“…”
From a certain standpoint, it would appear as though Frey’s colleague was talking informally to his superior, but he didn’t say anything about it.
After all, even though she’d withdrawn temporarily from the position, she was still the Elven Queen.
“I’m just Frey’s teammate, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“…I don’t?”
“Kuku.”
A question mark bloomed on Beniang’s head.
Snow smiled and turned to Frey.
“Your Master is really interesting.”
“Don’t make fun of her.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I was actually a bit apprehensive to travel around with you, but I didn’t expect to run into such a cute child. I wonder if this is how a traveler feels after finding an oasis in the desert.”
“You shouldn’t make fun of her because Beniang is a Dragon.”
“…huh? D-, Dragon?”
Well, a half.
Frey ignored Snow who had a disbelieving expression on her face and turned to look at Beniang again.
“Master Beniang, there’s a reason why I came back to the Trowman Rings sooner than expected. I heard the Trowman Rings has been experiencing some difficult times lately.”
“Ah…”
Obviously, Beniang was not the type of person who was capable of hiding things. This was because her expression immediately darkened after hearing Frey’s words.
“It’s nothin-”
“I am the Circle Rounder of the Trowman Rings. I deserve to know what’s happening in the circle.”
“…”
“Or do you still not have faith in me?”
“N-, no. How could that be it? It’s only thanks to you that our circle was able to reach such a stage! I’m sorry… for making you feel that way.”
With a depressed expression on her face, Beniang sighed.
“I didn’t mean to hide it. I just… I’m just scared. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed in us.”
“Disappointed?”
“You molded us, and you said that you’d make the Trowman Rings the center point of the Circle.”
Frey nodded.
It wasn’t something that had happened so long ago that he’d forgotten.
“And you also said that even hellish wouldn’t be enough to describe the hardships we’d face. That we might miss the miserable lives we had in the past. You told us to be prepared for that.”
That was the truth.
It was only then that Frey understood exactly what Beniang was trying to say.
They had accepted all of the hardships they’d faced up till the present as part of the ‘hellish days’ that Frey had mentioned.
They also thought it was their responsibility to overcome it.
She wasn’t completely wrong, but there was something she’d overlooked.
“I’m also a member of the Trowman Rings.”
“Huh? Of course you…”
“Of course I am. But Master Beniang still seems to be treating me like an outsider.”
This caused Beniang to shake her head fiercely.
“Tha-, that’s not true!”
“If you really thought of me as your Circle Rounder, you wouldn’t hide something like this from me. You shouldn’t be afraid to consult and work together with me. I am also a member of the Trowman Rings.”
“…”
“If there is trouble, then we can resolve it together. Naturally, I wouldn’t hesitate to give my absolute best.”
Beniang’s eyes widened.
She shuddered for a moment and lowered her head.
“…everything you said is true. I’m sorry, Frey. I was wrong.”
Her timid personality stood out at that moment.
To put it bluntly, it was not a good personality for a leader to have. It could be considered a major flaw, but it was also one of her advantages as well.
She admitted to her faults and actively tried to change. Of course, this wasn’t as easy as it sounded. After all, Beniang’s personality wasn’t just a recent change.
“So please tell me exactly what’s happening in the Trowman Rings, Master Beniang.”
* * *
Beniang left the room after her explanation.
It seemed she was very busy at the moment.
Perhaps because she had taken too long talking to Frey, as soon as she was finished with her explanation, she was taken away by Honor Gisellan.
She wasn’t the only one.
It seemed that the entirety of the Trowman Rings were busy. A far cry from their previously lethargic state.
It was a positive change.
He wanted to take a closer look at the overall atmosphere of the circle, but first, he needed to focus on what was ahead of him.
He’d already gotten a rough idea of what was happening to the Trowman Rings before he came. Therefore, he only wanted to listen to Beniang’s explanation to reaffirm and supplement the information he had.
‘Strow Necklaces.”
If he had to pick the circle that was pressuring them the most, he would pick the Strow Necklaces without hesitation.
At first, they slowly took away their artifacts through Artifact Battles, but recently, they’d changed their method.
They ordered them to send reconnaissance teams to incredibly dangerous places where the Demigods might be located.
It was a mission that had an extremely low survival rate. Most of all, it was difficult for them to communicate with the teams so it was perfect for covertly dealing with them.
In fact, during the past few months of reconnaissance missions, dozens of talented members of the Trowman Rings had gone missing.
Frey was certain that they were already dead.
And perhaps the Strow Necklaces directly or indirectly drove them to their deaths.
He was disgusted by the sloppy and petty methods not befitting of the name of the Three Great Circles.
“What will you do? The opponent this time is one of the three strongest circles. You can’t touch them easily, can you? There isn’t enough evidence.”
She was right.
It was common for medium and small sized circles to be tasked with reconnaissance missions, and while it was not common for members to go missing, it was not unprecedented.
He had no way to prove it even if he wanted to confront them and pull the veil off of their actions.
“I don’t have to touch them.”
“Hmm?”
“I just need to show them. It’s too late to try to keep the Trowman Rings in check.”
He would just make them pay a little for what they’d done.
The price of killing dozens of his circle’s members would be incredibly expensive. Frey’s eyes become cold.
It was at that moment that a bat popped out of Frey’s arm.
Snow narrowed her eyes.
“Is that a familiar?”
“It’s not mine.”
It was Sheryl’s familiar.
As he looked at the bat, he suddenly heard Sheryl’s voice in his head.
[Master, I’ve found Altan.]
She’d managed to find him much faster than he’d expected.
Frey nodded and said.
“What did he say?”
[He accepted, but he wants to meet you in person.]
This was what Frey wanted as well.
“What’s the location?”
[He said if you tell him your location, he will come to you.]
That was surprising.
“He wants to come to me? That’s surprising.”
[It’s because Asura’s summoning circle was the best bait to use against Altan.]
Frey thought for a while before finally opening his mouth.
“Then why don’t you bring him to the Trowman Rings’ hideout? I’ll come pick you up when you get to the Peinsisko Forest.”
[Peinsisko… that’s the forest near Uthiano. Understood. Then we’ll arrive in the morning, tomorrow.]
“Okay.”
The communication ended there.
Tomorrow’s discussion with Altan would be extremely important, so Frey headed to Beniang right away.
“Master Beniang.”
“Aht.”
When Frey called her name, Beniang looked up from the monstrous pile of documents she was wrestling.
“What’s wrong, Frey?”
“Nothing much, there will be a few guests visiting the circle tomorrow. I thought I should tell you in advance.”
“Guests? Are they your guests, Frey?”
After thinking for a bit, Frey nodded. After all, it wasn’t a circle to circle visit.
“That’s right.”
“Hmm. I see. I understand. I’ll make sure they’re treated well.”
“Huh?”
He had not been expecting that. Beniang simply showed a triumphant expression to Frey’s confused look.
She patted her chest and said.
“Because our circle is no longer the same as it had been in the past! Besides, I’m sure that your guests will be as amazing as the Elf you came with, right?”
“…well.”
He was certainly a great person.
Frey felt he needed to explain to her exactly who would be coming.
Just when he was about to open his mouth.
“Master Beniang! There’s an emergency report from Honor Eizek!”
“Aht! I’ll be right there. I’m sorry, Frey. Can we talk later?”
Frey nodded.
Since Beniang wouldn’t be part of the negotiations tomorrow, he decided that it didn’t matter if she knew who was coming or not.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Your important guests…”
“No. Master Beniang doesn’t need to worry about it. Just relax and focus on your work.”
“Ah. Then that’s good. Excuse me!”
Beniang excused herself once again before leaving the room.
At that time, Beniang believed that the people coming were simply Frey’s acquaintances.
So the next day, when Altan and Sheryl, the Circle Master and Rounder of the Phisfounder Armlets arrived at their hideout, Beniangs pupils could not stop shivering.