Chapter: 144
Despite it being spring, snow was still falling in the territory of Hardenhartz.
A bizarre commotion was unfolding there.
First, the World Erosion had invaded the territory.
Then there were the absurd demands from the Empire that led to a war of words.
For the past few weeks, they had been pulling their hair out over this.
“Damn it, how did it come to this?”
Meliochan Hardenhartz, the acting lord of the Hardenhartz family, groaned as he covered his face.
For now, the tussle with the Empire had subsided.
This was mostly thanks to the royal family stepping in to mediate.
But a tiff with the Empire was nothing new.
The real problem lay in what came next.
The World Erosion was a critical issue being dealt with globally.
Naturally, the royal family dispatched search teams, and the manpower was jaw-droppingly extravagant.
This was because the Sword King, Rai Balheim, the vice lord of the Holy Royal Family, had personally come to visit.
After all, another of the Ten Great Lords, the Poison King, had been injured, prompting a significant response from Starlon as well.
“If it were just that, I’d feel relieved.”
But that wasn’t the only issue.
Out of the blue, they received a mission request from Kraush.
Initially, it was framed as a noble request to help his fiancée’s family, which softened their hearts a bit.
However, nobody in the direct line of Hardenhartz, including Rachel, was aware of the structure of Rahelan Academy.
Thus, they were inclined to swiftly approve the mission request.
But before Hardenhartz could even assign the mission, the royal family intervened first.
The problem was that the Lion’s Order, led by Charlotte, was involved.
The genius of the century, Charlotte Balheim, frequently mentioned when discussing the future head of the Balheim family, was coming to Hardenhartz.
Naturally, this only gave Hardenhartz headaches.
It was all fine and dandy that the Sword King from Balheim, with proven abilities as one of the Ten Great Lords, was around.
However, the reality was that Charlotte was still just a child, genius or not.
If anything were to go wrong involving the World Erosion, it could fall squarely on their shoulders.
Yet the issues didn’t stop there.
“Why is a princess from the Empire affiliated with a faction created by Balheim?”
The member of the Lion’s Order was none other than the Empire’s fourth princess, Sigrid Ephania.
Naturally, she, as a member of the order, was also set to visit Hardenhartz.
With the unexpected entrance of such heavyweight figures, Meliochan felt like he was going to throw up.
This scenario posed yet another problem.
Although she lacked the rights of succession, the fourth princess visiting Starlon was a big deal.
Naturally, Starlon had to roll out the red carpet to accommodate her.
And who should show up but none other than Starlon’s first prince, Hilnider Starlon.
He had come to personally welcome the fourth princess.
As a result, the family head, Duglakan Hardenhartz, rushed off to greet him.
“Is Hardenhartz trying to disappear from this world?”
Meliochan sat there, dazed and confused.
For some reason, he had a stomach ache.
This was a feeling he had never experienced before in his life.
At that moment, a knock sounded from outside.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s Jenica.”
With his sister’s appearance, Meliochan sighed and invited her in.
Once Jenica entered, she held out a letter for some reason.
“A letter from Bianca. She says she won’t be coming to Hardenhartz.”
“What?!”
Hearing Jenica’s response, a look of disbelief spread across Meliochan’s face.
He had immediately summoned Bianca upon hearing that Kraush was coming.
Given the circumstances, this was meant to cement the engagement between Bianca and Kraush in the eyes of Balheim and Starlon.
If the two of them could show they were getting along well, it would surely strengthen the engagement.
Plus, Meliochan thought if any issues arose with Balheim, they might compromise on the grounds of their engagement.
However, Bianca, who had been called, did not show up.
She had appeared so close to Kraush.
He thought she would come rushing to Hardenhartz as soon as she heard he was visiting.
Why on earth not?
“Could it be that their engagement has fallen apart?”
“I doubt that.”
Jenica shook her head, wearing an expression that indicated that was impossible.
Of course, she had personally witnessed how deep their bond was.
It seemed unlikely they could split even if the sky tore apart.
“Her letter only says she’s holding back her feelings to maintain her resolve.”
“What resolve?”
“Beats me; I don’t know.”
Jenica said she had conveyed everything and quickly left.
Not being deeply involved in family matters today left her feeling somewhat envious.
“Damn it.”
Meliochan could only pray that this situation would pass quietly.
*
The search for the World Erosion that wounded the Poison King was ongoing.
For this task, Kraush was currently trudging through the snow-covered path with the Lion’s Order.
Rahelan Academy didn’t have a direct spatial magic circle leading to Hardenhartz.
So, they were moving through the closest spatial magic circle to Hardenhartz.
The issue was that the group wasn’t solely comprised of the Lion’s Order.
Kraush’s eyes caught sight of someone.
Dark black hair, blue eyes.
A tall figure caught his attention: it was Felray.
Unlike before, he had grown considerably and looked quite different from his appearance during the Martial Arts Tournament.
‘Guhyeodan.’
It was the faction led by Felray.
Sigrid couldn’t directly participate this time.
So, in line with Kraush’s expectations, she was throwing a fit.
Of course, given how things had gone with Kraush lately, that was only natural.
In that situation, her suspicions about Charlotte had only multiplied.
Naturally, Charlotte was involved in this matter as well.
But even with Sigrid throwing a fit, there was little anyone could do.
After all, no matter how Sigrid was, she couldn’t confront Starlon head-on.
In the end, she took a step back and moved Felray.
While Felray belonged to the Empire, he was a commoner.
Moreover, many commoners in Felray’s team were from various kingdoms in addition to the Empire.
‘Thus, it’s less suspicious to have Felray participate in this.’
Through Felray, they likely intended to gather information on how things were evolving.
So, this mission ended up involving two factions.
But the real problem lay elsewhere.
‘I don’t know who truly wounded the Poison King.’
According to Crimson Garden, the Poison King’s injuries were indeed real.
Thus, it was clear that he had been seriously injured by someone.
“Sigrid.”
“ACHOO!”
Just then, Sigrid, who had been sneezing, looked over when called.
Her nose was tinged red.
She was usually weak in health.
So, she wasn’t accustomed to the cold or walking long distances.
Her escort, the Lightning Sword, would sometimes pick her up or support her, but still, her fragility was unavoidable.
“Ahem, what’s up?”
Feeling slightly embarrassed after sneezing, she fixed her nose and asked.
“Do you know who the real culprit is who injured the Poison King?”
As she asked in a voice quiet enough for others not to hear, she glanced at Haring.
Being the daughter of the Poison King, it made sense she would be sensitive to the conversation.
She crossed her arms, fluttering her sleeves.
“I don’t know for sure. There’s a secretive atmosphere even from the Imperial family. The information isn’t easily trickling down to me.”
If she had known this would happen, Sigrid thought she should have placed more informants.
“However, it’s true that whoever injured the Poison King is definitely the World Erosion.”
“That means it’s possible that the World Erosion has slipped into Hardenhartz?”
“Can’t rule out that possibility. But be careful.”
Sigrid warned as she tugged at Kraush’s clothing collar.
“The Empire isn’t just targeting one rabbit. There might be other reasons roaming around aside from targeting the Night Ravens’ leader.”
She advised to keep possibilities open.
“So don’t get too stressed; it’s better when more brains come together for better ideas.”
Seeing her smile, Kraush, who had suggested she blow her nose, slightly distanced himself.
‘In the end, what really matters now is finding Ebelasque.’
At this moment, what was most urgent was tracking down Ebelasque, who had been pointed out as the culprit.
So, she was likely also chasing the real culprit.
Since she was someone genuinely invested in protecting her territory.
Surely, she must have asked something.
“What in the world are you pondering so deeply?”
At that moment, an arm suddenly coiled around Kraush’s neck and pulled him slightly downwards.
He hadn’t sensed a thing.
As he turned his head, he found someone wearing glasses that obscured her face.
Her flowing blond hair was quite distracting, and her fitted clothing left little to the imagination.
Kraush recognized her well.
One of the professors specially dispatched from the Academy considering the difficulty of the mission.
The Demon Master.
Sena Meyer.
She was someone who was rather unpredictable.
It was quite normal for her to change her outfit style every time he saw her.
Since her special skill was hiding her presence, Kraush’s sixth sense failed to detect her.
Consequently, Kraush jumped a little, surprised by the sudden appearance of another person.
“Just pondering various things, you know? It is a serious matter after all.”
“Serious, huh? Is that what a boy who barged in to negotiate with Durandal has to say?”
She flicked her black-framed glasses with her finger.
Then her red eyes and sharp fangs showed as she smiled.
“I’m just here because something happened in Starlon.”
“Hmph.”
She chuckled, finding the situation amusing, and let go of Kraush’s arm.
“I heard a bit from Durandal. He said if it looks like you’re overdoing it, you should go and stop him.”
“I’m not the type to overdo things, so you don’t need to worry.”
[ Sounds like a dog barking from somewhere. ]
While he heard Crimson Garden’s voice, Kraush didn’t let it bother him.
“Right, then boy, since this is a serious matter, try not to cause too much of a ruckus. I’d prefer not to clash with your brother if possible.”
When she talked about Kraush’s brother, she was referring to the Sword King.
Kraush knew she was aware of the friction between her and his brother.
‘Seeing as they’re about the same age…’
Kraush’s brother, Rai Balheim, had always been regarded as a genius.
Had Charlotte not been born, he would have stood out as the most extraordinary genius of his generation.
That being said, it was no wonder Sena, who belonged to the same generation, often found herself being compared in stories.
The so-called generation of Gold—the one that included Rai and Sena.
Suddenly, Sena took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked at Kraush with a smile.
“And before anything else, the World Erosion is dangerous, so don’t act impulsively. I’ll be marking you.”
“Yes, I will make sure to remember that.”
[ Why are you getting more brazen as time goes on? ]
What could he do about that?
It was just his nature.
At that moment, the signpost leading to Hardenhartz came into sight, along with the territory emerging on the horizon.
The northern territory of Starlon.
Hardenhartz.
It had been years since he’d last visited this place.
“Click!”
Suddenly, a sound came from below.
Kraush looked down to find a mouse scampering through the snow-covered grass.
Tightly stitched up at its waist, the critter was none other than a mouse that Ebelasque had been handling.
He had planned to seek it out.
Who would have thought it would come to him this quickly?
‘Well, news travels fast. Ebelasque must have heard too.’
Kraush stepped forward discreetly, making sure no one else noticed.
The mouse quickly climbed up his pants and slipped under his clothes.
Then it stashed a piece of paper into Kraush’s pocket.
Just as Kraush unfolded the paper, he paused midway.
[ Don’t look for me. ]
As he read the message, Kraush stood frozen in shock.
Before long, he slowly raised his head.
“What the hell?”
Something had clearly happened to Ebelasque.
