Chapter 258: Angel of Radiant Wings (7)
Chapter 258: Angel of Radiant Wings (7)
While Leven was caught up in a back-and-forth with the vassals of the Strauss family, Karnak and his companions remained at the Strauss manor as honored guests. The hospitality of the Strauss family was truly extravagant.Servants, carefully selected from among the finest, attended to their every need. They were given splendid chambers, served rare wines and delicacies. It was truly a treatment worthy of kings and emperors.
And it wasn’t merely because they had saved the house. During the post-war cleanup, Karnak had deliberately exaggerated Leven Strauss’s role and made sure the world knew of it. He maintained that they had only assisted Leven in rescuing the Strauss family, rather than taking credit themselves.
Of course, those within the Strauss family knew the truth. But regardless, who the world believed had saved the family was a matter of grave importance. If Leven Strauss was recognized as the hero of the day, it would at least spare the family’s honor from ruin.
After all, it would mean the disaster caused by a member of the family had been resolved by another member of the same family. Karnak’s deeply noble consideration naturally left the Strauss family profoundly moved. Not only had they been saved, but their honor had been preserved as well.
There had been, of course, the minor mishap of Karnak chopping off Gellard’s head in the process, but that much fell within acceptable limits. If they had witnessed Karnak decapitating Gellard with their own eyes, no amount of understanding could have prevented them from losing their composure.
Even if they could understand it in their minds, their hearts would never have accepted it. Fortunately, very few had seen the moment Gellard lost his head. After all, everyone had been locked in fierce combat. It wasn’t as though they had time to leisurely sit back and spectate.
Besides, Karnak and Future Leven hadn’t fought within plain sight for the most part. While they had occasionally surfaced in midair, clashing back and forth between the walls of the fortress in spectacular bouts, the truly decisive part of the battle took place firmly grounded, mostly obscured by the fortress buildings.
What people saw was only flashes of light streaking through the air, earth shattering all around them, and waves of overwhelming energy. As always, hearing about an event and witnessing it firsthand were worlds apart.
Thanks to that, the Strauss family had no trouble accepting the story that "Karnak had led Gellard, who had been turned into a death knight, back to peace."
Smiling as he peeled fruit for a snack, Karnak chuckled. "Still, people’s hearts don’t always follow theory. I worried about it more than I’d like to admit, but things turned out well enough."
Varos let out a sigh of relief beside him. "Tell me about it. Just thinking how close we came to making an enemy of the Strauss family sends chills down my spine."