Chapter 428: 402 "Letais
On the other side, Reiger, who had dismounted from the carriage, was originally observing the Iron City of Kaludi and waiting for Liz and her party to return, but it wasn’t long before he sensed something unusual.
He first noticed the gate of Kaludi, where he saw a carriage that seemed to be no ordinary riding tool. It was only afterward that he noticed a few lines of sight fixed on him from inside the carriage.
The onlookers made no effort to disguise their intention to scrutinize Reiger. The gazes cast toward him were unabashed, one of which even carried a hint of hostility, prompting Reiger to turn his attention to the carriage as well.
Then, Reiger activated his Transparent World, peering into the carriage compartment.
Upon this scrutiny, he was immediately struck with astonishment.
"Who are those two?"
In Reiger’s Transparent World, all four individuals inside the carriage could not conceal their presence and were fully revealed to his sight.
However, the state of two of these individuals within the Transparent World came as a surprise to Reiger.
One appeared to be a Swordsman, armed with a weapon, and the other was a Magician, with an exceptionally formidable Magic Power flowing within him.
The Swordsman was strange, with no heart to be found.
The Magic Power of the Magician was immensely vast, though not on par with Yuri, still considerably stronger than Reiger in his current state, with the "Gate" already damaged.
"It seems that the people on that carriage have quite extraordinary origins."
Reiger came to a similar conclusion as Nipede Jialan had.
While thinking this, Reiger quickly noticed that the people on the carriage were on the move.
The Magician with immense Magic Power, along with another equally powerful individual, emerged from the carriage.
The peculiar Swordsman without a heartbeat suddenly vanished, traceless, and not even Reiger noticed how he left.
Reiger’s gaze flickered as he watched the two individuals descend from the carriage.
An elderly man past sixty.
A young girl in the prime of youth.
Both were dressed in jet-black, luxurious Magician’s robes and held gemstone staves about the length of an arm. As they swayed the hem of their robes, they approached in Reiger’s direction.
"Hey, you, if you want to distribute food, do it on the side and don’t block the road in and out of the city!"
"And you refugees as well, go eat to the side and don’t stand in the way!"
"I’m so sorry...!"
"Ah, no, we weren’t scolding you, just a reminder, please don’t cry, miss..."
By this time, the guard squad led by Vite had already arrived to disperse the crowd and clear the road. Some of them were inadvertently too harsh in their tone, startling Liz who immediately displayed a pitiful look with tearful eyes, throwing even the harsh-speaking guard into a state of panic.
Without waiting for Vite to approach, Reiger briefly glanced in that direction, then promptly led the carriage to the side of the main thoroughfare.
It was only then that Nipede and Antie approached Reiger, as if they were belatedly arriving on the scene.
"Hello there, young man."
Nipede greeted Reiger with the cheerfulness of a neighborly grandfather, a warm and completely different demeanor from the formalities he had exchanged with Ophelit inside the carriage.
Antie remained silent, standing beside Nipede, observing Reiger with curious eyes.
Reiger surreptitiously glanced at Antie and then met Nipede’s gaze.
"Hello," Reiger replied courteously, "I’m sorry, it seems we’ve blocked your way."
Reiger was able to guess why they had not simply left Kaludi in their carriage.
Nevertheless, Nipede seemed completely unconcerned about this matter.
"If just being blocked for a bit allows so many refugees to be rescued, then I don’t mind if you block the way for a while longer."
Nipede still wore a smile, clearly desiring to converse with Reiger.
But Reiger simply shook his head and said calmly, "It was just lending them a hand for once. Such minimal aid can hardly be considered a rescue."
"You’re right," Nipede conceded, his smile fading as he looked at the refugees around him. "Because of your relief, they might survive the next few days, but whether they can last beyond that is uncertain."
"This is what it’s like to be in hell," Reiger remarked indifferently. "As long as the war does not end, there will always be victims."
"...But ending the war is easier said than done, isn’t it?" Nipede seemed to resonate with Reiger’s words and added, "Even when a major power invades a minor one, it generally takes a long time to win the war and occupy that country, let alone a war between major powers."
"The war between the Kingdom of Ginas and the Leiblu Kingdom has already lasted for forty years. Even with a so-called agreement in place, both sides have been fighting on and off, which has only prolonged the conflict."
"Unless someone truly facilitates a ceasefire, there’s no way for the two countries to determine the victor and stop fighting for decades to come."
This led Nipede to discuss the international situation with Reiger.
He seemed eager to hear Reiger’s perspective, showing great interest in the views of this young man willing to use precious magical beast meat to aid a group of refugees.
Unfortunately, Reiger had no interest in that topic.
"I’m not the one in power. How would I know what they’re thinking?" Reiger spoke frankly, "It’s their country, their territory. They can do as they please, and it’s none of my business. I just got a bit meddlesome over the injustices happening before my eyes, that’s all. I’m not interested in what those idle folks are up to all day."
This overly direct statement not only made Nipede and Antie freeze, but even Ophelit, who had just alighted from the carriage and was walking towards them, stopped in her tracks from a distance.
Reiger simply glanced at Ophelit, then turned his gaze to Nipede.
"May I ask who you are...?"
Reiger finally inquired about Nipede’s name.
"Me?" Nipede came to his senses and resumed his cheerful demeanor, saying, "My name is Nipede Jialan, from the Laitais territory."
"Oh?" Reiger suddenly became interested and said, "So, you’re from Laitais?"
The Laitais territory is a dukedom to the east of the Ginas Kingdom. Its lord is said to be the younger brother of the king from six generations ago. During the reign of the king three generations ago, they even had a claim to the throne, until the king from three generations ago abdicated. The former king, who is also the current king’s grandfather, ascended to the throne, and that was when they lost their claim to the throne.
Reiger knew about the existence of the Laitais territory mainly because Yuri had mentioned it to him while having tea.
There were two reasons why Yuri had brought it up.
The first reason was that the Laitais Family had some connection to the current Franzer House.
The family where Yuri’s mother came from is a vassal to the Laitais Family, making the Laitais the family Yuri’s mother pledged her loyalty to. The Franzer House had some interaction with the Laitais Family until Yuri’s mother returned to her own family, which reduced their contact.
But Yuri had told Reiger that her sister, who was taken away by her mother, now serves as the secretary to the current lord of the Laitais Family. With this in mind, she paid close attention to the Laitais Family.
The second reason was that the current head of the Laitais Family, i.e., the current Duke of Laitais, was like Yuri, one of the rare female family heads among the nobility.
The other party was quite a bit older than Yuri, already 24 years old this year. Due to a variety of reasons, she hadn’t married yet, which had made her marriage a top priority for both the Laitais Family and the Laitais territory. It had become a significant topic of discussion in the capital every year.
Most importantly, like Yuri, she had no desire to become a supporter of either the royal faction or the faction of the dukes. Therefore, the Laitais Family and Franzer House were both neutral, or rather, bystanders, which made many nobles and even the royal family pay quite a lot of attention to the movements of the Laitais Family, including Yuri.
During her free time, Yuri discussed many things about the Laitais Family with Reiger, which is how he knew of the existence of the Laitais territory.
This old man, with Magic Power so immense that he could rival a strategic-level Magician, and hailing from the Laitais territory, could he be connected to the Laitais Family?
This thought circled around in Reiger’s mind.
However, Reiger did not bring up this point but listened to Nipede continue his introduction.
"This is my granddaughter, Antie Jialan."
Nipede introduced the girl standing next to him.
"Hello," Antie said as she curtseyed to Reiger. She then asked with curiosity, "May I have the honor of knowing your full name and where you are from?"
Hearing this, Reiger replied unassumingly, "Just call me Reiger. I’ve come from the capital, Yeluff."
"The capital?"
Antie muttered to herself.
"You came from Yeluff?"
Nipede was somewhat surprised and involuntarily shifted his gaze towards the carriage next to Reiger.
Upon his glance, Nipede quickly spotted the crest on the carriage.
"Is that... the crest of the Franzer House?"
Nipede was stunned.
The next second, Nipede’s head snapped back as he stared intently at Reiger.
"Could it be that you... no, are you Reiger Brillhaut?"
As he spoke, a gleam of recognition sparkled in Nipede’s eyes.
"Reiger Brillhaut?"
Antie was equally taken aback and her eyes widened.
"This..."
Ophelit, who had been preparing to continue walking towards them, was completely flabbergasted.
The name Reiger Brillhaut had recently become renowned throughout the entire Ginas Kingdom, and even across the entire Akasha Continent.
The reason was simple.
Because it was the name of a newly anointed Sword Saint, one who was unprecedented at the young age of 17.
"He, he is the Thunder Light Sword Saint?"
Ophelit’s eyes grew wider and wider, stopping in sheer astonishment.