“Nyuuu!!”
“Cirri, we are fine. Nothing happened.”
“Nyuuuuuu!!!”
Just like before, little Cirri cried in Kael’s arms again, and no matter what Kael said or did, the little Dragon didn’t stop.
It was traumatizing.
To the Dragon, Death didn’t mean much. As a Mythical Creature, despite being a child, she understood that Death was a part of Life.
What hurt her the most was the fact that she wasn’t next to them.
Just like before, she couldn’t leave the Sanctuary no matter how much she tried…
She felt…
Alone.
“Cirri…”
Kael called out, hugging his Daughter with extreme tenderness and love.
He knew it would take a long time for her to calm down and…
She wasn’t the only one he had to worry about.
“It is all my fault.”
The older brother, who was still just a few days older, was problematic in his own way.
Yes, once again, the Fire Dragon was blaming himself.
“Igni, you did nothing wrong.
Rather, you were absolutely amazing in there.
You have learned and grown so much.”
“If I was stronger, Cirri wouldn’t be crying.”
Igni answered in a solemn tone. The Dragon was standing a few steps away from Cirri, not even patting her head because he was blaming himself for it.
He just stared at his little sister from a distance with guilty eyes, and Kael, who saw that, felt his mouth twitching.
“Come here.”
He spoke as he grabbed the Dragon’s arm and pulled him.
“What could you have done if you were stronger?”
Kael questioned.
“I would have burned that Titan.”
Igni answered instantly.
“Flames couldn’t harm him.”
“Then I would have destroyed his body.”
“I pierced through its Core and Eye. It regenerated in an instant. It is an Immortal. No matter what you do, it will regenerate back to full health.”
“Then… what are we supposed to do?”
Igni questioned back with an uncertain look on his face.
“Are we going to… abandon the mission and never go there again…?”
The Dragon’s Pride made it difficult for him to accept his defeat, and an even worse feeling was that he couldn’t come up with a way to crush that thing even if he imagined himself getting stronger.
But,
“Abandon the Mission? After everything we have been through? Of course not.”
Kael smiled.
“What are we going to do…?”
The Dragon was uncertain. Kael, however, just smiled as he patted Igni’s head and,
“Well, that’s for the problem tomorrow’s us has to deal with, no?”
“Hmm?”
Igni clearly didn’t like that answer.
“Don’t worry, Igni.
Tomorrow, it will be our Victory.”
“How—”
“Just trust me.”
Kael answered confidently as he smiled.
Igni stared at his father for a while, then,
“Okay, Father.”
He nodded.
Just as his father said, he would trust him.
After all, his Father could never be wrong. The little Dragon finally got close to his sister and patted her head with his paws.
Kael, who saw that, smiled weakly.
What was he going to do tomorrow?
He had no fucking clue.
He just knew one thing,
He needed to win.
‘Haaaahh…’
For now, however, Kael sighed.
There was a lot on his mind. The fact that all the changes his body went through returned to normal the moment he returned annoyed him.
He thought he had gotten stronger, and he had.
At the very least, his stats should have been raised a little. He understood his system enough to understand how that worked, but…
‘Is that why there weren’t any changes in my stats?’
Since everything, even his injuries, returned back to normal every time he exited that Realm, it was very possible the same was true for his strength as well.
‘Or maybe… it is a penalty for failing to complete the Mission…’
Kael theorized.
‘So if I wish to win…
I need to get stronger.’
The moment the Hero came up with this theory, his eyes shined with determination. He wanted nothing more than to jump into the Crucible again, but he knew that wasn’t possible.
Not to mention…
The Mission wasn’t the only thing he needed to worry about.
Actually, the Mission was the last thing he had to worry about since he couldn’t die inside the Crucible.
What he needed to worry about was the place where he could very much die for real.
Yes, the place he was living in.
The Royal Place.
And that party that would be held today.
A Party where the King and the most Influential Nobles of the Kingdom would arrive.
Honestly, Kael was nervous.
There were too many things in his head.
He… knew too much and didn’t know much at the same time.
He didn’t know how the nobles would react to him.
If it was before, he wouldn’t have cared, but thinking about the enemies hidden in the shadows, he realized that what he needed the most right now were allies.
Allies he could trust.
‘Haaaahhh…’
Kael sighed.
Being summoned to another world as a Hero and being responsible for protecting this world was already big enough, but now…
He also needed to be involved in the politics.
‘Just my life.’
He shook his head.
‘He would be there as well.’
Another thought popped into his head as his expression turned grim.
The Crown Prince, Edric Dragonborn.
The Ally of the ‘Enemies’ or…
‘He might even be the Leader of them all…
Or…
He might be completely innocent.’
Nothing was certain.
After all, he couldn’t completely trust Elira, who had given him all the information he had either.
Did she have any reason to lie?
Who knows?
He barely knew the woman for 2 weeks, he couldn’t trust her with his life within that timeframe.
And he still found it strange that the Mage came to him after he returned from the Mission. After he returned alive from the trap the enemies had set for him.
Killing a Beast that he wasn’t supposed to be strong enough to kill.
It was almost as if…
It was the enemies’ attempt to distract him since they couldn’t kill him.
Did he think Elira was the enemy?
Again, he wasn’t sure.
It was a possibility he couldn’t ignore.
And if he could not trust Elira, then…
Trusting Arlan became difficult as well.
Just like that, the two people he trusted the most here came to his suspicion list.
As for the others?
Well, General Deren and Marshal Therian looked too loyal to the Kingdom, stupidly loyal even.
As for Master Tamer Lyric…
Honestly, she felt too good to be true, so Kael was suspicious of her as well.
And Althea?
The Almoner of Services was suspicious from the very beginning. It felt as if she was sent to keep an eye on him. He never trusted her from the beginning.
Tobias?
The Town Head was too weak to help him anyway, not to mention… Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire
Kael wasn’t even sure if the poor man was even alive or not.
Kael wasn’t naive enough to not know the consequences of his actions, Tobias’s and even Selena’s life came into danger when he left Estwyn Town alive.
After all, in one way or another, Tobias failed to kill him.
Would the enemies lurking in shadows let him go when he knew so much?
Kael wasn’t sure.
So he left him there even when he knew he could die?
What else was he supposed to do anyways?
Kael himself wasn’t safe either, how was he supposed to save others?
‘Haahh…’
In the end, he just sighed again, shifting his focus from Tobias to his own problem.
A person he could trust.
As he thought about it, a name came to his mind.
‘Princess Lavinia.’
The woman from the Vision…
The woman he for sure knew was an ally.
‘I need to find her.’