Chapter 22 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

After putting a special mark in the secret letter, he rolled it up and meticulously sealed it with wax. Then, Viscount Andrew gently heaved a breath as he thought back to check if he had missed out anything or made any mistakes.

It should be all fine. The details of what they agreed upon earlier had already been included in the secret letter. He wrote in a very real and credible manner. Viscount Andrew was quite confident in his ability to come up with the story. He thought that anyone who read the secret letter would believe that he was really the witness to ‘that incident’.

The rest was up to the old King, who was far away at the capital, and whether he would be willing to believe this incident.

No. Rather, it was up to him if he would want to recognize the truth of the incident.

This was quite a risky move, but Viscount Andrew was not someone opposed to taking risks. Without taking any risks, he would never have stood out from the seven siblings and become the successor to the Leslie Clan.

He just did not expect that his new venture would involve the Cecil Clan.

That was a clan in decline, having withdrawn from the kingdom’s politics a hundred years ago. Today, it had reached an extent that its numbers were so small that they were about to naturally die out.

Viscount Andrew had always been kept up to date with news of his ‘neighbors’. Not only was this because their territories were beside each other, and thus they were engaged in trade, but it was also because the Cecil Clan’s decline had been aggravated in the past few years, and if it were to continue at the same rate, Andrew could expect to double the size of the Leslie territory in his lifetime. The young lady, who had quickly inherited their clan’s territory, was not qualified to be a leader. Though she might be hardworking, her clan’s territory was not something that she could sustain.

It was just that fate had pulled a joke on everyone, in a way that no one could have expected. Upon hearing that Cecil territory was destroyed by monsters, he was stupefied. Upon hearing that those monsters were similar to those which appeared with the Dark Wave according to historical records, he was stupefied. Upon hearing from merchants that a dragon had appeared, he was stupefied. However, when Rebecca and Herti Cecil brought with them a man, who claimed to be their ancestor, to the castle… Viscount Andrew showed great composure and readiness to accept that fact.

That was because he had become used to being stupefied.

But after ending the conversation with the ‘great ancestor’, Viscount Andrew returned to his chambers and thought that he had made the right decision.

A dying noble lineage and a piece of burnt land were worthless. No matter how you tried to exploit it, nothing could be gained from it. If he wanted to make up for what it cost him, he might as well give up being an exploiter and just be the generous neighbor. Moreover, the ‘great ancestor’ being alive was very crucial. Viscount Andrew was already ninety percent convinced to the truth of the matter. Whether Cecil family had the old ancestor with them made a huge difference.

He sealed the secret letter in a silver tube, wrapped a magic thread around the silver tube, and then gave it to the old butler standing next to him, “Give it to the best ranger messenger. Get him to ride the gryphon. Get him to deliver it to the Silver Castle after the first messenger arrives but before anyone from the Cecil clan reaches.”

The butler took the silver tube and was about to leave when Viscount Andrew stopped him. “Wait. Also, go to the vault and return the gold and silver to the Cecils, all that was taken from them.”

“Yes, my lord. Is that all?”

“That’s enough for now. Before they set off, I will prepare a little as a token for their journey.”

The situation had taken a turn. The ‘compensation’ he greedily took from them was now like a hot potato on his hands. Returning the money was only the first step, but he should not be too hasty.

Viscount Andrew thought carefully. He hoped that this ancient man from 700 years ago could understand his sincerity.

Day quickly turned to night.

Gawain, dressed in a nightshirt, opened the door to the balcony from his room and came to the terrace on the second floor of the viscount’s castle.

There was no moon at night in this world, but deep in the sky were more stars than on earth. Those twinkling stars brought cool light to the earth. Each ray of starlight was unfamiliar to Gawain.

Ever since he came to this world, he liked to look up at the sky regardless of whether it was day or night. In the day, he looked at the huge and not too dazzling ‘sun’, and at night, he looked up at the moonless night sky.

His gaze wandered among the stars as he tried to find an unmoving, special celestial body.

But this was bound to be a futile attempt. There were so many stars, and he did not have enough knowledge or data. It would not be possible for him to locate the position where he originally overlooked the land. Even if he found it, he would not be able to make it out of all the stars in the sky.

But he just could not help it because he knew better than anyone else the secrets hidden in this world’s sky. There was something there. Perhaps it was some kind of surveillance system, a satellite, a space station, or a ship. Although it was very likely that it had been shut down now, he could not rule out the possibility that there were others like it in the sky.

He used to be part of that surveillance system. This was the closest guess that Gawain had come up with after thinking about it for many days.