It was already late in the night when Kyran finished sorting his spoils. In addition to potions and pills, he found some scrolls and information orbs that contained various confidential information from all factions within the empire.
The information Kyran read from Stella’s records was brief, so this information orbs were good for him. He would take his time studying each orb.
Before Kyran went to sleep, he prepared all the materials he needed in making the transmission scrolls. He made a mental note to ask Anette for blood replenishing potions. That way, he could make at least one or two scrolls a day.
The following day, Kyran went straight to Cyneah’s room only to find it empty. With a frown, he went downstairs and headed to the back where the dining room was located.
There he saw Cyneah, wearing a new set of clean clothes sitting behind the bar near the kitchen sink. She sat with a look of anticipation while Anette rambled on some of her life stories as she whipped up their breakfast.
Seeing her carefree expression made Kyran smile. He was worried she would have trouble adjusting to the people around him, but it appeared she had already warmed up to Anette.
Cyneah giggled at something Anette had said before she abruptly stopped. As if sensing something, she turned her head in the direction of the door and sniffed the air before a beautiful smile spread her face.
“Nar!” She greeted, not quite looking straight at the door.
Kyran twitched at Cyneah’s action. She reminded him of a dog who just ‘smelled’ the scent of its master when she sniffed the air before looking at him. He almost saw her wagging a fluffy tail behind her.
Shaking his head at the absurd thought, Kyran said, “You’re looking better.”
Cyneah nodded her head.
“Yes. When I woke up in the middle of the night, Master looked after me,” she replied with a smile.
“Master?” Kyran raised his brows and looked at Anette.
Anette had stopped what she was doing and looked at the door when Kyran entered. She already sensed him coming but did not say anything to ‘test’ Cyneah’s reaction. As she expected, her other senses were enhanced because of the girl’s disability.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it. I like her,” Anette replied with a shrug, “Besides, she has potential in Alchemy and since I have no disciple, I decided to take her in.”
“I see,” Kyran replied.
He was not against the idea. When he thought of leaving Cyneah with Anette, he did entertain the prospect of her becoming Anette’s disciple but did not want to impose. Since he was unsure if Cyneah had any Alchemy talent given her disability, he knew it would be hard for her since Alchemy was strict regarding correct measurements of materials and herbs during the concoction process.
But if Anette suggested it first, maybe she had a way of teaching Cyneah.
“Master said she would let me try her potions and teach me to differentiate each ingredient through their taste. She said I have a special body constitution where I can bring out any medicinal herbs’ highest efficacy,” Cyneah told Kyran. Her face was full of joy at the thought that she could be of help.
“…”
Kyran looked at Anette.
Anette, on the other hand, cleared her throat and looked away.
This… His godmother was not looking for a disciple but a guinea pig!
Before Kyran could say anything, the door slammed open as Gage entered. Looking a little haggard, he exclaimed, “Bad news! Gray has reappeared and the whole empire is—.”
Gage stopped suddenly when he saw Kyran looking at him, and then he also saw an unfamiliar face sitting by the counter. Gage immediately scowled and asked with a displeased note, “How come there are more people here?”
When Cyneah heard Gage’s booming voice, she reflexively flinched and clenched her fist.
“Why are you even angry? This is not even your place,” Silas scolded him as he entered the room. The first thing he saw was Cyneah, and his eyes immediately lit up.
“Oh, we have a lovely visitor. Forgive this brute’s unrefined manners, he is simply hopeless.” He added with a smile.
Instead of feeling assured, however, Cyneah shifted nervously in her seat. Kyran saw her nervousness and immediately walked to her.
“I’ll take her upstairs,” Kyran told Anette, who only nodded while glaring at Gage.
Gage scratched his bald head. What did he do? He only asked a question why were they acting like this?
Silas also felt something was amiss and watched in silence.
Kyran reached for Cyneah’s hand and immediately noticed it had gotten cold. He wanted to scold her for leaving her room when she was not prepared to meet others. But seeing how shaken she was, he bit down his anger and just said, “Stay in your room first. I’ll come for you when breakfast is ready.”
“Hm,” Cyneah answered in a small voice. She did not mean to act scared. But the man’s voice triggered something inside her, and she failed to suppress her fear.
Anette already told her that there were other people in the house, and it was Cyneah’s idea to greet them, so she ended up in the dining room. She did not expect the fear she had suppressed all these years to be triggered just because of someone who had a loud voice. No. Actually, it was only one of the reasons. The other reason was that the ‘light’ of the person with the loud voice was a little similar to the person who had instilled that fear.
The moment Kyran led Cyneah every step of the way, it was then that Silas realized that she was blind.
“Ky—.”
“I’ll be back,” Kyran interrupted Silas before he could say his name and left with Cyneah.
When the door closed behind them, Anette’s glare turned fierce.
“You brute! Can’t you control your voice? Even Nolan whose a complete ass, greeted her in a soft voice!”
‘S-Soft voice…’
The image of Nolan using a soft voice to talk to someone somehow sent shivers up their spines.
“T-That’s scary,” Gage replied.
“What’s scary?” Nolan growled as he appeared from the backdoor with a shovel slumped over his shoulder.
Gage immediately shook his head and instead changed the subject, “More importantly, Gray is alive and the Royal Family has sent out a decree for his capture!”
“Gray?” Anette asked in confusion.
On the other hand, Nolan sneered as he put down the shovel at the small compartment by the backdoor.
“Oh? Took them long enough,” he commented.
Nolan’s carefree attitude made the three look at him.
“You don’t look surprised,” Silas commented.
Nolan snorted and replied, “Why should I? I went through all the trouble and expose myself and yet they took so long to issue a decree. I almost thought they forgot about me.”
Silence followed his statement.
It was not until Kyran returned that the three finally reacted and exclaimed, “WHAT?”
Kyran looked at them with raised brows.
“What did I miss?” He asked.
Nolan shrugged while pulling one of the chairs at the dining table and sat down. He looked at the three who were looking dumbfoundedly at him and said, “Don’t just stand there. Sit down. We have a few things to discuss.”
Kyran sat down. When he and Nolan talked last night, they agreed to tell Gage and Silas their plans. At first, he was against the idea, but Nolan said he would need their help if he wanted his plan to succeed. Kyran knew he would require people’s help to achieve his goal, but he couldn’t just ask anyone. He felt more at ease if they were his Sigil.
In the end, Nolan convinced Kyran because Nolan and Gage made a pact when they had their first ‘talk’ back at Anette’s place. As for Silas, Nolan reminded Kyran he had the Regis mark, so there was nothing to worry about.
Anette, Silas, and Gage sat down while still looking at Nolan with a shocked expression.
Silas and Gage were shocked by Nolan’s revelation, while Anette was appalled because he provoked the Royal Family!
Just what was Nolan thinking? First, it was Kyran, and now it was him. These two really… were blood-related!
When everyone was seated, Nolan looked at Gage and Silas. He said, “Tell us more about the decree.”
“As you both know, we went to visit the Mercenary Guild in Noser to send a report back to the Mercenary Hall,” Silas was the one who answered. “While we were there, the mercenaries were talking about a bounty that has the seal of the Royal Family, a royal decree.”
“Having a bounty issued by the Royal Family is not surprising. The surprising part is that it was a reissued bounty and the target has been thought to be dead for years!” Gage interjected while looking at Nolan.
Hearing about this, Anette finally understood what they were talking about. She knew about Nolan’s plight a few years ago. It was also when Cade’s magic core got damaged trying to help Nolan escape. Anette remembered Nolan appeared at her place that day looking pale and almost dead. For days, she watched as he blamed himself for what happened to Cade. Then one night, when he barely recuperated, he left without a word.
Nolan shrugged, “It’s not my fault that they are easily fooled. I present them with a battered body that had my face and they already thought it was me. They didn’t even think it was my magic’s creative work.”
Kyran looked at him. Until now, he had yet to know Nolan’s magic. He had his speculations, but he had no way of confirming it yet.
Anette sighed, “So it was a dummy. Master told you not to use your magic in such a way. Though it was only a dummy, the fact that it had the same features as humans may raise the wrath of a Higher Being.”
Nolan snorted but did not reply.
Kyran was different, though. His interest was piqued the moment Anette mentioned a ‘Higher Being.’
Before he could ask about it, however, Nolan had already changed the topic.
“Anyway. Now that the Royal Family issued my bounty, it will now become a top priority over yours,” he said while looking at Kyran.
“Aren’t you worried?” Kyran asked. “If we go to towns and cities, you won’t be able to use your magic, or else the magic detectors will recognize your signature.”
“Humph,” Nolan sneered. “Remember what we talked about before? On how the army keep tabs on all mages in the empire.”
Kyran raised his brows and asked, “You mean, you’re able to have a different magic signature recorded to your new identity?”
“Actually this is my real identity. Gray is my pseudo. But yeah, both have different magic signatures.”
“How is that possible?” Kyran asked. If he knew how, wouldn’t he also be able to hide his magic signature? Wait, he had two magic, so it had two different magic signatures, but he was unsure if the army had a record of the Dragon Lord’s magic signature.
It made him remember how rampant he had been in Hanaan. He did not know if the magic detector in Hanaan detected his magic when he used them inside the town. Or maybe the magic arrays of that damnable woman concealed it.
Sensing Kyran’s curiosity, Nolan could not help but sigh.
“You and your non-stop questions. We’ll talk about that at a different time.”
Kyran opened his mouth to argue but closed it after thinking that Nolan was right.
“Fine,” he replied.
Nolan turned to Silas and Gage, “What else has the Royal Family included in the bounty?”
“They did not include anything,” Silas replied. “Instead, they also involved the other factions. So basically, every major faction within the empire is now looking for you.”
“Let them look,” Nolan replied with a nonchalant shrug. “I’ll give you two a communication device, where you can contact me. Send any new information to me once you two return to your daily mercenary activities.”
“Alright,” Silas and Gage replied.
“Kyran and I will be leaving as soon as his magic core is healed,” Nolan continued.
Silas and Gage’s looked at him in confusion.
“His magic core?” Gage asked.
Nolan sighed, “It seems there is a lot to talk about.”
Anette also nodded her head, “Few knew about it after all.”
“Before we go through the boring details, first, baldie, you have something to give Kyran, right?”
Gage’s brow twitched at the nickname Nolan gave him. He could not retaliate, though, and nodded, “Yeah.”
He then looked at Silas, “Initially you gave it to me to give to President Callan, but from all that had happened, I’m guessing its to be given to him, no?”
Silas nodded his head, “Yes. At the time, we are not sure where Kyran is, so Patriarch Aron wanted to send it to the Head of the Conclave through President Callan for safekeeping.”
“Grandfather?” Kyran asked, looking at Silas.
Silas nodded his head and only smiled. He promised Lady Rin not to tell Kyran anything regarding the situation inside the estate. It had proven to be really hard, to be honest, seeing the concealed despair in Kyran’s eyes every time someone mentioned his clan.
Gage took out an Ice Orb from his space storage and handed it to Kyran.
The moment Kyran touched the orb, his Draconic core immediately reacted. He frowned slightly as he examined the orb.
Suddenly they heard heavy footsteps rushing down the stairs.
[MASTER!]
Zephyr burst out from the door while looking at the Ice Orb in Kyran’s hand.
“Why is that here?” He asked, his expression full of dread.