Chapter 276: 276 Liz’s Dilemma (Requesting Monthly Tickets! Requesting Subscriptions!)
The royal palace, the courtyard.
At this late hour when all is quiet, aside from the knights on guard and patrolling, there is basically no one wandering around the palace at this time, making this courtyard—which is usually the most scenic, the liveliest, and where people most often come for a walk to clear their minds—present a chilly and desolate scene.
A few patrolling knights happen to pass by here, their footsteps strong and forceful, while they chat casually as if they have nothing else to do.
"Have you heard? It seems Knight Captain Albert has asked His Majesty the King for a long leave."
"I heard. The reason seems to be that he feels his strength is insufficient and wants to devote himself to serious training, and no longer has time to manage the knights, so he has temporarily resigned from the position of Knight Captain."
"No wonder the knights from the First Knight Division have seemed somewhat restless lately. So it’s because Knight Captain Albert has resigned, huh?"
"There’s no helping it. Being defeated by a previously unknown 17-year-old boy with a single move must be quite a blow for someone born into a Sword Saint Family, right?"
"Now that the boy is already a Sword Saint and is said to have remained undefeated so far, evading his Thunder Light Flash and his lightning-fast cuts, losing to the now-famous Thunder Light Sword Saint is not a disgrace for Knight Captain Albert, who is strong but not a Sword Saint himself."
"You’re right about that, but it seems like the guys from the First Knight Division are quite indignant about the whole thing with Knight Captain Albert. They’ve been stirring things up lately, trying to convince the Sword Saint from the Borlay family to challenge the Thunder Light Sword Saint to regain their honor."
"Ha? Are those guys out of their minds?"
"It’s just being a sore loser."
"It’s quite normal. Either related to the Borlay family or directly from families associated with them, nearly everyone in the First Knight Division has ties to the Borlay family. Knight Captain Albert is not only their captain but also the one they are meant to serve in the future. Now that he’s been defeated so miserably, many of them certainly feel that they can’t just let it go."
"If the Sword Saint from the Borlay family makes a move, this will be a big deal, won’t it?"
"Sword Saint against Sword Saint..."
"It feels a bit scary, yet I kind of want to see it."
"Me too."
The knights continued their patrol along the designated route while discussing this topic, occasionally scanning their surroundings, proving that although they were talking, their alertness and readiness had not diminished.
However, just a few seconds later, they suddenly noticed a magic Array appearing in the sky above the courtyard.
"What is that?"
"A magic Array?"
"Damn! Something’s about to happen!"
The knights immediately reacted, almost reflexively drawing their swords.
But the terrible situation they imagined did not occur.
The magic Array that had appeared in mid-air did not launch an attack or make any move; instead, it allowed a figure to emerge and fall to the ground.
Then, the magic Array disappeared, leaving only the figure slowly bleeding on the ground, quickly staining the earth beneath with red.
The knights quickly surrounded the fallen figure.
Before long, they let out exclamations of shock.
"Isn’t this... the third prince?"
"Why is it the third prince?"
"He’s severely injured!"
"Hurry! Get the court magician here!"
"The third prince is in trouble!"
In the quiet and deep night of the royal palace, the silence was shattered at that moment.
Many were destined to be sleepless this night.
...
Meanwhile, having completed his task, Reiger, dressed in black and with his bloody knife now stored within the dimensional cube’s storage space, returned alone to the Franzel residence.
A light fog drifted in from the window of a room, bringing Reiger’s figure into it.
"Hm?"
Just as Reiger returned to his room, he found someone there.
"Master."
Liz, who was holding a sword, sat there somewhat anxiously, and upon seeing Reiger return, immediately stood up.
"Why are you here?"
Surprised, Reiger approached Liz.
"Because I felt that the master had left the room..."
Liz explained quietly.
The existence of the Attendant contract had created a magical connection between Reiger and Liz.
This connection not only ensured both parties adhered to the contract but also brought about many other effects, such as allowing the individuals bound by the contract to sense each other’s location.
Thanks to this, when Reiger left his room in the dead of night, no one else noticed, but Liz detected it almost immediately.
She had intended to follow him, but recalling the matters Reiger had discussed with Saint Charia earlier, the little princess roughly guessed what he was setting out to do.
Thus, Liz hesitated for a long time, struggled internally for a while, and ultimately chose not to follow, instead staying in Reiger’s room, waiting for his return.
"So that’s how it is," Reiger said, his realization dawning as he nodded and addressed Liz, "Actually, you didn’t need to come here. It would have been fine to stay in your own room."
After all, Liz’s room was right next to Reiger’s, with only a wall separating them; Liz could have just as easily stayed in her own room and waited, no need to come over specially to wait for Reiger.
"But, but..."
Liz, with her head down, fidgeted anxiously with the tips of her toes.
Seeing this, Reiger had a good guess about Liz’s current mood.
"What is it?" Reiger smiled at Liz and asked, "Are you very concerned about what I did to your brother?"
"...I’m sorry." Liz, her worries laid bare, immediately became downcast and said, "I know I shouldn’t be like this."
"Not at all," Reiger responded, patting Liz’s head, "No matter what, that man is your half-brother from the same father. It’s natural for you to subconsciously worry about his well-being."
"I, I just wanted to know how he is, nothing more!" Liz hurriedly explained to Reiger, "Brother Solok intended to harm you, master, so it’s only natural for you to retaliate. I don’t think what master did was wrong, and if I had been there, I definitely would have sided with master against my brother."
Liz was somewhat concerned that Reiger might suspect her of having a change of heart.
If Reiger began to distrust her because of this, Liz feared she might burst into tears on the spot.
"I know, you don’t need to explain," Reiger shook his head, reassuring Liz, "I don’t doubt you, and I can understand you. I’m even more grateful that you understand me, so there’s no need for you to be so anxious."
Logically speaking, Reiger’s outing was to harm Liz’s own brother; Liz should have tried to stop Reiger, or even turn against Reiger to protect her family’s safety—that would be the expected reaction.
But Liz, upon knowing the circumstances, chose to accept Reiger’s actions, showing that she had made a choice between her master Reiger and Brother Solok—deciding to support Reiger, not Solok.
This wasn’t because of the existence of the attendant contract or any so-called loyalty; it was simply because, compared to her brutish brother, Liz preferred to trust and support her current master, Reiger.
She knew that her brother was in the wrong first, not Reiger, and therefore, even knowing that Reiger intended to harm Solok, Liz decided not to stop him.
Just for this reason alone, Reiger would not take issue with Liz’s worries; he felt it was only natural and that it was him who should apologize to Liz, to express his gratitude to her.
After all, from the moment Reiger prepared to take action against Solok, he had essentially disregarded Liz’s feelings, ignoring the fact that she was Solok’s sister.
Hence, there was no need for Liz to take such a stance; the one at fault would only be Reiger, not her.
"I’m not sure whether I should tell you this, to put your mind at ease," Reiger said as he roughly explained the confrontation between him and Solok.
"He escaped, though badly wounded, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he died at any moment, but most likely, he will be saved."
The location set by Solok’s transfer magic crystal was definitely a place he deemed very safe, one that would ensure his own rescue no matter what happened.
That place was most likely the royal palace.
Inside the royal palace, a group of court magicians were stationed year-round, each one with exceptional skills and advanced magic knowledge; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been selected by the royal family to serve in the palace.
Even Yuri held the position of a chief court magician, which attested to how skilled the magicians in the royal palace were, and surely some of them were tactical level magicians capable of using tactical level magic.
In such a group of magicians, Reiger firmly believed that there had to be some who were experts in healing and recovery magic.
Taking this into account, along with the many powerful magic potions and magical artifacts likely stored in the palace, Reiger concluded that Solok had a strong chance of surviving this ordeal.
"Is that so..."
Liz felt torn, uncertain whether to feel relieved that her relative hadn’t died or regretful that her master hadn’t accomplished what he wanted to do.
Reiger continued to pat Liz’s head, giving her a few instructions.
"That mad dog may not be dead, but the royal family will surely investigate this matter. I’m not worried for myself, but I cannot let it affect the Fransel family."
"I’ve made some precautions, but you must remember not to spread the word about this incident haphazardly, and it’s best not to reveal that we’ve had any contact with the Codelion family."
"Do you understand?"
Liz was well aware of Reiger’s instructions in her heart.
"I understand, master, I will definitely not spread the word," Liz assured.
Reiger wasn’t worried about Liz speaking out of turn.
The attendant contract was at work, ensuring that any action detrimental to Reiger, her master, was beyond Liz’s abilities.
Even regarding information, if the revelation of such data could negatively impact Reiger, the attendant likewise couldn’t disclose it.
Reiger just reminded her as a precaution, then looked out the window.
The moon tonight was particularly full.