Chapter 88

### The Ruins of Caboli (1)

As dawn began to break,

I rose from my bed at the sound of voices coming from the next room.

'Already awake?'

I had been lying in bed, unable to sleep, when it seemed Ashel had regained consciousness.

I don't know what prompted it, but the princess of Earthhill suddenly offered to keep watch over her, and I had let her do as she pleased...

- "So, after you fainted in the training ground, you picked her up and held her in your arms like this..."

- "What, what?"

...What nonsense are you spouting?

I thought about the princess's character as I opened the door and stepped out.

Approaching Ashel's room next door, I knocked.

"Ashel."

There was a brief commotion inside, and then a maid opened the door.

I saw Ashel sitting up in bed and the princess sitting beside her. Both looked quite flustered.

"Ah... Lord of the Seventh, she just regained consciousness..."

I looked at Ashel and asked,

"Are you feeling better?"

I had already healed her external injuries with a potion, and my extrasensory perception indicated that her mana was mostly stable.

As I approached the bed, Ashel seemed uneasy.

She avoided my gaze, unable to find a place to look, and finally bowed her head slightly before speaking.

"Sorry."

She apologized with a choked voice.

Honestly, this time it was clearly her fault, so I didn't really have much to say. Of course, I understood her feelings.

"Then, I'll take my leave now."

At the princess's words, I nodded.

"Sure. Thanks for checking on her."

"No, Lord, it's nothing."

The princess bowed and left with the maids.

I sat down in the chair she had been sitting in.

"..."

Silence fell between us for a moment.

I had only come to check on her, and since she seemed fine, I didn't really have anything to say.

What should I say? Maybe I should congratulate her on leveling up?

As I was thinking, she hesitated and then spoke again.

"Sorry, Ron."

Sure enough, another apology.

I clicked my tongue and replied,

"Are you going to keep apologizing?"

"..."

"This time, it was clearly your fault, but I don't really want to scold you, so stop it."

"But I caused you a lot of trouble. You even broke your vow because of me..."

...Vow?

For a moment, I didn't understand what she meant, but then I realized.

She was referring to the promise I had made to Changseong before the duel, that I wouldn't interfere.

Her expression looked so guilty that I was a bit taken aback.

In this world, promises and vows are often associated with honor and are somewhat sacred.

Especially for someone as influential as a lord of Caldric, the weight of their words is immense.

She probably thought I had suffered a great humiliation by breaking my vow.

'Not really a big deal.'

Of course, I didn't feel any sense of humiliation or shame. It wasn't something to boast about, but I didn't feel embarrassed for breaking a promise I never intended to keep.

The only issue was the potential loss of my authority and trust as a lord, but I could bear that for this one time.

There was no reason to maintain a good relationship with the royal family of Sainthea, which only cared about one hero.

Moreover, I had a desire to humiliate Changseong, who had openly ignored me. He was such a despicable person.

I stared at Ashel and said,

"Your life is not less important than my honor."

At these words, she was startled and looked up.

Her eyes seemed to be welling up, so I was a bit flustered and changed the subject.

"You seem to have grown a lot from this duel. Even more than before."

"..., Yes, that's true."

Ashel nodded, her voice slightly choked.

I thought for a moment and then continued,

"The mastermind behind the massacre of your clan is the emperor."

Ashel probably didn't know the exact mastermind beyond what she had seen with her own eyes, but she must have had some suspicions.

At the very least, she believed the emperor was involved and harbored deep hatred towards him.

When I confirmed this, Ashel's expression changed.

However, there was no trace of doubt or skepticism. It seemed she trusted me that much.

I continued,

"The emperor is a madman who only thinks about the prosperity of the human race. The reason he massacred your clan is related to this."

"..."

"Thus, your desire for revenge against Sainthea is entirely just and righteous. I can guarantee that. If your hesitation is related to this, it's unnecessary."

"..., No, I..."

Ashel shook her head, looking pained.

"I'm just afraid. If even one of my clan survived, I must find them... I can't die alone, blinded by revenge, leaving them behind..."

Indeed, that was it.

I sighed inwardly.

Should I prioritize my goals, or respect Ashel's choice?

This had been a constant dilemma for me.

Before obtaining the mysteries, her existence was indispensable, but now I couldn't use that as an excuse.

Our relationship had started with my deception.

I had been using her, knowing the truth that no survivors of her clan existed.

The deeper our relationship became, the greater my guilt would grow.

She had done enough for me.

Without her, I wouldn't have been able to travel the continent, a weak body unable to wield a sword, to find the mysteries.

In the end, after much deliberation, I made a decision.

"Whatever you choose, it's not wrong."

I said this and stood up.

Ashel looked at me, bewildered.

First, I needed to take her to that place.

***

That place was different from other ruins and dungeons; it required a specific item to enter.

An ancient mana stone.

This was different from the mana stones typically used to create magic items.

The limitation of regular mana stones is that, no matter how pure they are, they cannot store magical spells for long periods.

That's why the teleportation area in the Grand Lord's castle always had other mages present.

However, the ancient mana stones created and used by mages during the golden age of magic could store spells for extremely long periods.

This is why some ruins and dungeons still function properly to this day.

However, in the modern era, almost no ancient mana stones remain in the continent.

This is because the technology has been lost, and the materials needed to create them no longer naturally occur.

Additionally, once a spell is inscribed on a mana stone, it cannot be changed, making it impossible to mine the stones from ruins.

Of course, there were still some pure ancient mana stones left.

I remembered that the Grand Lord had one.

I first sought out the King of Earthhill before going to her.

"An ancient mana stone... Unfortunately, our royal family does not have one, Lord of the Seventh."

"Is that so."

The King of Earthhill said apologetically.

I had not really expected much, so I accepted it readily.

After all, ancient mana stones were incredibly rare and priceless.

I gave up and immediately went to the Grand Lord.

"You need an ancient mana stone about the size of a fist?"

The Grand Lord snorted.

"I do have one, but I doubt you're asking for it for free."

"What do you want?"

"Hmm... You owe me two more favors, right? If you increase that to three, I'll give it to you."

I clicked my tongue. Of course, I couldn't just take it.

However, I didn't want to give the Grand Lord more command over me.

"Which other lords have ancient mana stones?"

The Grand Lord smiled and answered,

"Lords 1, 2, 4, and 8. I don't know about the others; they might have one, or they might not."

"..."

"Isn't that a bit cold, Lord of the Seventh? Do you really hate doing me favors that much?"

I ignored her playful words and thought.

'First, exclude Lord 8.'

Fortunately, the other lords were viable options.

Lords 1 and 4 owed me favors, and I had leverage over Lord 2.

I considered who to approach and quickly decided.

Actually, there was no need to think.

It was more advantageous to go to Lord 2 than to go to Lords 1 or 4 to settle debts and get the mana stone.

This was because Lord 2 couldn't easily clear her debt by doing me a favor.

I had made an ambiguous promise to help her in exchange for information.

Maybe with some good words, I could get it for free again.

In the morning, I prepared to leave the castle.

Since we didn't have a proper place, Tyong was kept in a spacious area of the castle. He excitedly flapped his wings and came over when he saw me.

"Thank you again for helping our Earthhill Kingdom. Please take care."

I received the farewell from the King of Earthhill, Teir, the princess, and the first prince, and climbed onto Tyong.

I made eye contact with Teir one last time.

The war had been averted, so there would be no more dark clouds over Earthhill.

However, the awkward atmosphere between them suggested that the royal family's conflicts were not yet resolved.

I hoped that Teir would eventually open up to his family and resolve their misunderstandings, and then turned away.

"Let's go."

I patted Tyong, and he roared and took off.

***

I had come with the Grand Lord, but I was returning alone.

The Grand Lord headed to the Grand Lord's territory, and I went to the territory of Lord 2.

The wyvern's speed was incredible, so I had much more time to spare after obtaining Tyong.

In the past, I wouldn't have had this luxury before the next lord's meeting.

It was a short trip from Earthhill to the capital of Lord 2's territory.

I immediately visited the lord's castle and met with Lord 2, Nao Hou, and got straight to the point.

"..., You need an ancient mana stone?"

"Yes, about the size of a fist."

"You came to me in the middle of the night to ask for it?"

"Yes."

I nodded brazenly at Nao Hou, who sat across from me.

She looked utterly exasperated.