Chapter 133 - Returning Home (2/2)

“What’s with not-being-married?!” Byron gave Philip a look. “I’m different from you, the kind of person who has a group of girls sticking themselves to you wherever you go…”

“Being ugly isn’t a sin. You don’t have to mind that,” Philip consoled Byron bluntly and solemnly and went on before the other party could blow up. “Why don’t you adopt this child and let him be your successor?”

Byron was instantly stunned then and there. “Ah?”

“This is perfectly reasonable and fair,” Sir Philip said with a sober look. “Firstly, he saved your life. As a knight, you cannot let down this kindness. Secondly, this child has many excellent qualities — he’s brave, kind, upright, and seems bright. Although he is very thin and weak right now, the weakness of his body can thoroughly be remedied through postnatal cultivation. Of course, his physical disability is a problem. At this stage, regenerating magic would already be ineffective on him. Hence, if he wants to enter the aristocrat circle hereafter, he probably—”

“Alright, alright, alright, that’s enough, that’s enough.” Byron cut Philip short in the middle of his long-winded speech. “It’s not like I said no. Moreover, before all of you came… I already had all these in mind.”

As he spoke, he laughed in a rather self-mocking manner. “I had thought then that if I survived this time, I would bring this child back to the territory — but I truly didn’t expect to survive.”

With that, he turned towards Gawain. His expression turned solemn as he prepared to follow the customary procedure of a knight adopting a child — present the request to his feudal lord and take an oath again. However, before he could speak, Gawain had nodded with a smile. “I approve. Why don’t you ask this child and see what he thinks?”

“You’ve heard all that we said earlier?” Byron lowered his head, awkwardly trying his best to adjust his expression to a friendly one, then forced out a smile, and asked the mute child, “I am willing to adopt you. Are you willing?”

The mute child lifted his head and looked around dazedly at all these adults before dropping his head and nodding slowly.

…

Riding the fast horses that they’d previously tied up near the mill, Gawain and company used a day’s time to arrive back at the new Cecil territory.

Heidi and Rebecca’s hanging hearts were finally eased.

Rebecca especially so — in fact, Gawain even suspected that this silly girl hadn’t been worried about him at all. Upon receiving news that her Ancestor was back, the first thing this young lady did after rushing over was to tug on him and have him tell her stories of venturing to battle against the heretic cult believer in the castle. Moreover, Heidi had been standing right beside her then. Her Aunt had glared so hard that she was almost cramped, yet Rebecca didn’t sense anything at all. — He could only conclude that the doofus’s skull was extremely hard; she could never be aware of the atmosphere before she received a beating.

But with regards to Rebecca’s change in behavior that was difficult to read, Gawain only gave a hearty smile. — It was most likely that in this girl’s heart, her legendary ancestor that resurrected from 700 years ago was truly all-powerful. A mere heretic cult believer wasn’t worth worrying about at all.

Moreover, her super formidable ancestor had headed out to battle with the crystal grenade that she took great pride in.

At the mention of the crystal grenade, Gawain felt that he still ought to praise the doofus. Thus, after returning to his tent, the first thing he did was to pat Rebecca’s head with a gentle smile. “Your crystal grenade really played a great role.”

“Really?!” Rebecca’s eyes were instantly full of light. “You all used them?!”

Gawain smiled. “We only used one — but it was precisely that one that directly blew off an entire arm of the heretic cult believer. This was a grade-five fallen druid.”

Naturally, there were many specific factors in between this. For example, that heretic cult believer was already injured then: for example, he wasn’t able to release an even stronger shielding spell in time; for example, he had held the explosive in his own hand… But at any rate, one fact would never change—

The crystal grenade that even children could learn to ignite was able to injure the body of a grade-five supernatural powerhouse.

This had Rebecca cheering loudly, such that her cheers could even be heard from a great distance outside the tent.

Byron and Philip, who were walking outside the tent, heard the cheers of their Viscountess and could not help but exchange a glance.

“Seems like our Lady has been praised.” Byron grinned. “Recently, she has been wreathed in smiles every day.”

“She was also beaming every day in the past.” Philip was rather expressionless. He only looked down at the little mute following beside Byron. “Compared to anything else, you should bring your ‘adopted child’ to go bathe and get a change of clothes. From today onward, he is a member of the Cecil territory and also the child of a knight. Thus, he needs to take note of his image.”

Byron revealed a face of woe. “Sigh… who would have expected that at my age, I wouldn’t even have a wife? Instead, I’ve got to first learn how to look after a child…”

Meanwhile, on Gawain’s end, Rebecca and Heidi left after reporting the condition of the territory in the past two days. Gawain bowed his head and looked at the two items that he had just placed on his desk.

One was the Eternal Stone Slate fragment, another… was the Mithril Ring that he had gotten from the heretic cult believer.

An Oblivion Association heretic was actually a major client of the Mithril Vault, huh…? Perhaps it was time to contact Miss My Little Pony.