Chapter 500: 457 Little Princess’s Request
"Finn!"
"Sister!"
In front of the Meipros family’s gate, a brother and sister from the Viscount Alisier family finally reunited, running towards each other, crying with joy.
"Thank goodness, Miss, Young Master...!"
Gel, watching from the side, also secretly wiped the corners of his eyes with some joy.
However, those appearing here were not only the three members of the Alisier family; there were also many people guarded by the knights of the Meipros family.
Among them were old and young, men and women, refugees, and soldiers, even young nobles like Fannie’s brother.
Some of them reunited with family members who had come to meet them upon notification, while others were cared for by servants arranged by the Meipros family, drinking water and eating, creating a scene of a large-scale return of the distressed.
Watching this scene, Reiger, who had come with Fannie and Gel, turned to Revin and asked,
"Where did you find them?"
Reiger stood at the entrance of the Meipros family’s gate, alongside Revin and Liz, looking ahead as they talked.
"Deep within a mountain range," Revin replied honestly, "There was a den that originally should have been constructed by magical creatures, but it had been transformed into an underground base. Our people discovered the people who had disappeared in the last two or three months there, so we didn’t return empty-handed."
After the events in Ridton, Revin who had decided to clean up the Meipros land summoned all the power within the territory and started a series of major actions.
He first arrested the managers of the places where disappearances had occurred, then cooperated with Nipede and royal court magicians sent from the palace, conducting interrogations, questioning, and even torture on these people, successfully rooting out all the local nobles and bureaucrats who had been using people as trade goods and sent them all to jail, scheduling them for punishment.
During this process, Revin also learned of the recent human trafficking situation quite smoothly, extracting some intelligence from the recent collaborators with magic dolls, such as details about the routes used to transport the people considered trade goods.
Having learned about the general trafficking routes, Revin had the Kazi brothers bring in officials responsible for strategy planning; through their calculations and coordination on the routes, they ultimately succeeded in identifying several potential bases for the magic dolls.
The mountain range den mentioned by Revin was one of these locations.
What followed was simple. Revin issued a few orders, and knights from the Meipros family divided into teams and went to these locations for a thorough search.
Thus, knights from the Meipros family found the people who had disappeared recently and brought them back from that den.
However...
"Apart from the people who disappeared in the last two or three months, we didn’t find any of the others who had gone missing," Revin said gloomily, "Also, we didn’t find any of those mysterious figures or the so-called ’magic dolls’ you mentioned."
Although this result made Reiger somewhat disappointed, it didn’t surprise him.
"It seems they saw trouble coming and withdrew in advance," Reiger said, "This suggests that their main base isn’t in the Meipros territory, very likely it’s somewhere else."
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have retreated so cleanly and quickly.
"I think so too," Revin agreed with Reiger’s analysis, feeling helpless and frustrated, "It’s a pity we couldn’t capture all of them."
Reiger, however, didn’t agree with this statement.
"If your knights really encountered those magic dolls, it’s not really certain who would capture whom,"
Reiger said, shaking his head.
Jokingly, those magic dolls were formidable foes, requiring even someone of a Sword Saint equivalent to level 7 to be cautious. Even discounting their various bizarre abilities, they possessed combat skills equivalent to a seasoned level 6 Swordsman, and were not opponents ordinary knights could easily defeat.
Especially in a situation where the number of such magic dolls was unknown, if the Meipros family recklessly attacked them, the likely result could be not their capturing the magic dolls, but the magic dolls annihilating them and then retreating without a trace.
Thus, Reiger never harbored any hope that the Meipros family could capture those magic dolls, as long as they could provide some clues, that would be enough.
"Are those magic dolls really that difficult to deal with?"
Revin appeared somewhat skeptical.
"When you encounter them, you will know," Reiger replied nonchalantly, then continued, "Since those suspicious guys have already retreated, there’s no need for me to stay here waiting for more news. From here on, you can handle the situation."
Hearing Reiger’s words, Revin reacted.
"You’re leaving?" Revin turned to look at Reiger, asking, "Won’t you stay a bit longer?"
"What’s the point?" Reiger glanced at Revin and replied, "Besaray isn’t some tourist haven, and it isn’t my destination either. Given that, why linger here any longer than necessary?"
You should know that in Reiger’s initial plan, he never intended to come to Besaray.
His original plan was to bypass Besaray by going through a border checkpoint into the Neutral Zone. Thus, staying in Besaray was already beyond his initial travel plans.
In such circumstances, and with the magic dolls having already exited the Meipros territory, Reiger found even less reason to continue staying there.
Therefore, Reiger left without any reluctance, plunging Revin into silence.
Suddenly, Revin spoke.
"I have written about your performances during this period and sent it to the palace."
Revin unexpectedly uttered these words.
"Whether it’s your defeating me in a direct confrontation or your ability to use what can be called miraculous space Magic, that you are a spatially compatible Magician, I have mentioned all this in the letter," Revin said to Reiger, "The King has also read my letter and sent me a reply."
"And then?" Reiger said calmly, "What are you trying to say?"
"You know what I am trying to say," Revin stared straight at Reiger and said, "Just the fact that you could defeat me in a direct confrontation has surely already caused a huge uproar in the capital."
"Now that they know you are a spatially compatible Magician and that you can send a large troop to a distant place at will with space Magic, the value this holds in the eyes of the royal family and the nobles of the capital, you must understand," Revin added.
"Do you know what the King wrote back to me?"
What else could it be?
It was nothing more than asking Revin to retain Reiger by all means possible, to make him pledge loyalty to the kingdom, and to exert himself for the kingdom.
"His Majesty Hemulinp entrusted me with a message: if you are willing to stay, he can allow you another visit to the treasury, from which you can take up to three treasures," Revin blatantly laid out the conditions.
"He is quite generous," Reiger smirked and said, "Three treasures from the kingdom’s treasury, those are indeed immensely valuable."
Not to mention other things, just Reiger’s godly artifact of Merloai and Revin’s Rebel Sword and the Monis Armor, these three ancient secret treasures were all taken from the kingdom’s treasury—what among them was ordinary?
Such treasures, having the option to pick three, would make anyone’s heart flutter.
Reiger was no exception.
If you ask whether he was tempted, then he definitely was.
However, being tempted did not mean he would agree.
Revin seemed to have perceived this from Reiger’s attitude.
"...It seems you aren’t inclined to agree," Revin said, seemingly with regret.
"No helping it, my aspirations lie elsewhere." Reiger said with an unperturbed demeanor: "If I really had the intention, I would have accepted a title and become a noble back when I was in the capital."
"That is true," Revin conceded, smiling at Reiger, "Although it’s a bit regrettable that we couldn’t enhance the strength of this nation, at least we haven’t become enemies, which is a decent outcome."
"You weren’t always like this, Viscount Meipros," Reiger regarded Revin strangely and said, "You used to be much more domineering and powerful; I didn’t expect you to say something that undermines your own dignity."
"If you were just a Swordsman, then, even if you had defeated me face to face, I might have acknowledged you, but I definitely wouldn’t have conceded like this," Revin said faintly, "But you are not only a Swordsman but also a Magician compatible with spatial magic, and the various magic you used inside the beast Yarakulon deeply impressed me; I truly do not wish to oppose that kind of power."
"Is that so?" Reiger smiled wryly, "Well, then I hope we won’t have to confront each other next time."
Revin nodded earnestly in agreement.
The two chatted a bit more, mentioning Fannie and Finn, as well as Nipede and Antie.
Revin had already prepared to send a part of the noble youth training here back home to report their safety, so he would arrange for escorts for Fannie and others back to the Alisier territory.
Nipede and Antie would stay in the Meipros house to study the manuscripts and ancient secret treasures gifted by Maya along with the court magicians sent from the palace.
That meant, Reiger would part ways with them here.
"Please convey my message to them, ’If fate allows, we’ll meet again.’"
Reiger had no plans to say goodbye personally but entrusted Revin to pass on the message.
Revin readily agreed.
Thus, Reiger, accompanied by Liz, left the Meipros house under Revin’s watchful gaze.
Throughout this process, Liz maintained silence.
Just as they were about to arrive back at Peace Town, Liz seemed to have made a decision and made a request to Reiger.
"Master, I would like to visit the capital once more."