Chapter 255: While He Was Away (2)

"Then, I will go!"

"Be safe!"

"I'll buy you a present! Good luck Lulu!"

"Come back safe! Honey. Airn and Kirill too."

"Yes! I'll ride the griffin carefully!"

"Of course. I might be scolded if Cherry is treated harshly."

"The Griffin's name is Cherry..."

A week after the special swordsmanship class.

Baron Pareira, Airn and Kirill went on a journey to the capital of Hale Kingdom.

It wasn't a huge party.

There were only the Twilight Knights commander who came on the order of the king, two knights from the family and four more soldiers to take care of the chores.

When a Lord was heading to the capital, it was common to bring a large number of people with them, at least for the sake of face, but right now no one thought it was strange to head with a small group.

'Sword Master Airn Pareira... with such a brilliant title, it can be said that there is no one who can match him in the kingdom... there is no reason to worry.'

And that wasn't the only great thing.

His younger sister, Kirill Pareira, who was also a talent which was difficult to find, was in Hale Kingdom.

Who can ignore the great disciple of the Cesar Duchy?

Commander Oswaldo Odone felt his heart swell.

'Sonan, Colonge and even Vissau... we'll see if they can ignore Hale again.'

"Then, let's go."

With a polite voice, the commander of Twilight Knights carriage departed.

Knowing that a luxury carriage is comfortable to ride, he asked Baron Pareira if there was anything inconvenient.

It was because they knew.

Sword Masters and excellent sorcerers were important people.

And the father of both of them was the most respected person in this party.

"No problem at all. The carriage is very comfortable."

"That's fortunate. If there are any inconveniences, please tell me right away."

"I won't ask anything more after the consideration you have shown. Thank you so much."

'He is such a good person as well.'

Hearing Harun Pareira's answer, the commander thought.

The reason Airn Pareira was kind to others and did his duty to the nation was because of the character of his father.

If a master level talent had emerged from the neighboring nobles like Viscount Gairn or some other place... would things really work out like this?

'It wouldn't have been easy. Hill Burnett, you were right.'

Recalling the words of the vice-commander of the Twilight Knights telling him that there was no need to worry with the Pareira family, the commander smiled.

With the Pareira family on board, the carriage moved to the Royal castle.

"Great. Shall I start too? Are you ready to run? No, not running! Flying!"

Swish!

"Haha, I don't know what I was saying. Anyway, let's go Cherry! Listen to me!"

Swish!

The flying beast with the body of a lion, the head of a parrot and the wings of an eagle, along with its cute name, quacked like a duck.

Marcus and the several knights who came there, had a puzzled face.

But Lulu didn't care. The thought of spending time alone after a long time.

The black cat lost sight of things around her, and moved.

"Then! I am leaving! Bye everyone! Do not forget me!"

"How can we forget a cat which can speak human language and even use sorcery?"

"Go safely!"

"Bye bye!"

With Marcus's friendly departure statements, Lulu climbed onto the Griffin's back.

It took off in an instant and moved to the west of the continent and accelerated. And the cool refreshing wind blew past them.

In a good mood, Lulu checked her plans.

"First I have to go to the Adan Kingdom and give the present to Bill Stanton and then meet Ilya and play fishing with the cats. Then I have to go to Durkali and see Kuvar and learn from Gorha again! Ah! I also should get some Tai ho fruit powder. No, I already have a lot and..."

Further north.

She wanted to head further north. So, she could confirm and track the memories which had come to her mind a year ago.

'Something I am good at?'

Prong!

Lulu suddenly transformed into her sorcery girl form with a serious expression.

She thought she was a cat.

And was born in the eastern part of the continent, but only last year did she think for the first time she visited the north with Airn.

The broken memories continued to float since she awakened her power... and those cast doubts over her.

Was she really a cat?

And was she a forest cat born in a forest of the east?

If so, what was that cave scene which kept playing in her head right now?

What were the cold, windy and snow-covered mountains doing in her memory? Something that could only be present in the northern part of the continent?

For this reason, Lulu didn't go with Airn.

She thought that in order to make the uncertain memories certain, she had to go to this place.

"Hm, I don't know."

Pop!

Lulu, who contemplated for a while, soon turned back into a cat and lay on her back.

Actually, she wasn't too sure about it either.

Was it right to look for old memories when her present was so happy? Wasn't it better to just leave the past behind and move on?

But.

"Well, am I not flying to find the answer for that?"

Lulu mumbled and got up. And slapped Cherry.

"Cherry! Faster! Move faster!"

Quack! Quack!

And the griffin quietly sped up despite not liking it.

Lulu who held onto it thought.

Let the heart lead the way.

And now, her heart was heading north.

Then it would be better to go there. Much better than just sitting around and regretting it later.

After traveling for a while, Lulu arrived in the Adan Kingdom with a much calmer mind and delivered the items and the letter as requested by Airn.

And before she could set off to meet her 'cat friends', a variable intervened.

"Let's go."

"Uh? Where?"

"The Hale Kingdom."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. I'll get ready and be out in a second so take me too. Can you do that, Lulu?"

"Uh? Huh, yes..."

Ilya Lindsay jumped up from her place as she read Airn's letter and requested Lulu to take her to the Hale Kingdom.

No, it wasn't a request. It was an order.

Lulu looked at her and thought.

'I can't dissuade her now.'

She was scary. There was no way she could refuse.

Since she had another schedule other than Adan Kingdom, she thought of bringing up some courage and speaking up... but the black cat...

Contrary to her plan, Lulu immediately returned to Pareira estate.

Marcus, who was running out from the hall the moment he saw the flying Griffin, was shocked to see a silver-haired woman get down with the cat.

"Gasp! By-by any chance, are you Miss Ilya Lindsay...?"

"Yes."

"I-I-It it is an honor to meet you! So,"

Looking at her coming here suddenly, Marcus continued to stutter.

He already knew Airn was close with this woman.

Oddly enough, Airn didn't speak much about her, but he had heard things from Kirill and Lulu.

However, he never expected her to suddenly appear in the estate.

Naturally, he was in no state to prepare anything for the guest.

"That, I apologize, but the response may be lacking as I didn't know you were coming! And...have you come to see young lord Airn?"

Marcus, who managed to calm his mind, asked.

What could be the reason for his young lord's friend to come here? Of course it was to see her friend.

But he had asked Ilya since Airn wasn't here, so the lady would have to wait.

"..."

But it didn't sound like that to Ilya Lindsay.

Even when she rode the Griffin, she didn't think much.

'I want to see Airn.'

'I can't wait any longer! No more! So, you wait this time!'

With that thought alone, she moved without considering anything else.

But not now.

She came to the mansion and got down from the Griffin.

'Is this really fine?'

'What will other people think if they see me flying to the Pareira mansion in such a hurry?'

'What do I do if others notice that I like Airn?'

'Then what will happen?'

If someone liked someone else, it was usually something to be celebrated, not teased about. But Ilya's thoughts were a bit childish.

What was even more absurd was that they weren't doing a good job hiding it.

The romance that everyone noticed around these two was hard to hide.

That was the problem here!

'W-what do I do?'

Ilya couldn't think of anything coherent.

No, thinking itself seemed impossible.

'How deeply am I in love with Airn for me to come to his estate in such a hurry?'

The words of Marcus which were 'Are you here to see young lord?' were interpreted as such.

Ilya's face turned red in an instant.

Her heart was pounding.

Flowing blood. And heat to the face.

Her head was spinning. To calm this down, she operated Aura with all her might.

Phat!

"Euk!"

"Ack!"

"Ugh..."

Ilya had no intention of putting pressure on an opponent. However, she was so thoughtless and restless that she used it so strongly, and the people on the other side had weak bodies.

And that put pressure on Marcus and the others to move back.

It wasn't just that. Even the soldiers who were training and the knights who supervised them, couldn't stand her force, and groaned.

The atmosphere was more shocking than when their young lord Airn had returned as a Master.

Only Lulu, who had been through such things before, was moving freely.

No, it wasn't that.

A young man approached quickly from afar.

It was an impressive rare blue hair with a noble attire.

'Who?'

'Who could that be?'

'I don't remember seeing him in the estate...'

It was when everyone was confused. Suddenly, he approached Ilya's face and released his aura.

Pah!

"Um?"

"..."

"Phew..."

Ilya's energy which was flowing wildly due to her embarrassment was blocked by this young man.

Thanks to that, the people in the hall were able to breathe and they looked at the blue haired man in surprise.

Regardless of why the lady suddenly manifested her aura, the man who was able to block the aura of the youngest Sword Master so effortlessly took their attention... who was he?

It wasn't like no one knew.

Marcus wiped the sweat off and then approached him.

"Young lord Bratt Lloyd?"

"...!"

"...!"

The strongest weapon of the Gerbera Kingdom, a promising swordsman who ranked in the top three of the 26th batch of the Krono Swordsmanship School!

There was shock on the faces of the knights and soldiers.

"Right. But, why..."

Bratt Lloyd wasn't embarrassed.

He was used to such reactions from people. With a good background and a nice face and a noble feel, this was bound to happen.

He was silent for a moment, letting people take in his noble appearance and then looked at Lulu, the Griffin and Ilya.

They too were surprised.

With a playful look he said.

"You must have missed Airn a lot."

"..."

"What are you doing here? How badly did you miss him?"

"... stay quiet."

"Why should I stay quiet? I am just asking a question?"

"..."

"Is there any reason I should keep my mouth shut? Maybe you and Airn..."

Wooong!

He didn't speak more.

The greatest genius of the Adan Kingdom, no... the greatest genius of the West took out her sword.

Sword Master Ilya Lindsay's Aura sword was shining fiercely.

"A spar."

"..."

"It has been long, how about we have a go at it?"

Ilya's voice echoed all around the place which went dead silent.

For most of them, it was too overbearing and scary but not for Bratt.

With a grin, he pulled out his sword and said,

"However long you want to."