Following the execution of Herbert, the tower lord, Ragnar’s confinement sentencing to his sleeping quarters was lifted in time. ?‘Dumpil Moret’, the old knight, who has been commissioned to enforce the confinement order, has entered the room to notify of the lifting.

“My lord, your highness!”

Ragnar’s room was extremely dark. ?Along with having all the curtains closed, light was purposefully blocked off in order to facilitate sleeping by using ‘light shutting Mado engineered products’.

“Has the execution been carried out? ?The tower lord’s”

“Yes. ?It has been carried out.”

“I see.”

Was it because Ragnar’s voice was so heavy.. The old knight, Dumpil, was lost for words for the time being. ??A multitude of emotions were heard through his inner voices- wrath, sense of loss, confusion and even feeling of abandonment. ??However, missing there was any sense of sadness or sympathy.

“I heard you, please leave.”

“Please do not grieve too much.”

“Ha-ha.... Do not grieve?”

It was an extremely ceremonial expression. ?Ragnar could only give an empty laughter because he also thought it to be so. ?However, Dumpil’s actions weren’t like that. ?He placed a piece of paper on the top of the table. ?It was a carefully folded note. ?He even lit up a candle, so that it could be read.

“What is that?”

Ragnar asked as he grew wary.

The old knight, Dumpil, replied in a quiet voice.

“Then I shall leave now.”

There was not another mention of the note to the end.

After bowing, he simply exited the room.

“....”

Ragnar opened the note after seeing Dumpil leave the room. ?The content was not that long. ?None the less, Ragnar kept reading. ?He read, reread, and read again. ?The note that Dumpil had left did warrant such an attention.

“Not yet.”

After Ragnar kept regurgitating what the note said for a while, he burned it using the candle fire.

“There was a chance?”

The burning fire illuminated Ragnar’s smile.

It was a smile full of desire than at any time before.

* * *

Greenriver Empire carried out focused investigation on the black magic and placed great attention to security. ?Especially, every individual inside the palace was the subject of the focused investigation. ?Weren’t they the heart of the empire? ?The multitudes of servants for starters, the knights as well as the sorcerers of the palace, and even the royal family of the noble bloodlines must all be equally ‘investigated’.

“Pugh....!”

Of course, the person in charge was Ian. ?As it was the most stringent investigation, it was only appropriate that the most able sorcerer was conducting it. ?Only that Ian’s physical stamina was being challenged.

“Jeez, I should make sure to nurture a brilliant apprentice or something.”