Sword Master of a Fallen Territory

Chapter 72: He Intended to Dry Them Out and Kill Them (2)

Kyle did not return to Ragnar immediately after dealing with the monsters that had slipped out of the North.

Only after he finished off even the monsters he had driven together just in case he needed to deliver a follow-up blow did everything finally come to an end.

At last, Kyle slowly swept his gaze over the troops standing proudly before him.

“As promised, I will give you the chance to return to your hometowns. I promise. Ragnar will not forget the comrades who fought alongside us for so long.”

At Kyle’s words, one soldier shot his hand up.

“Grand General, may I ask one question?”

“Of course.”

“Even if I want to bring my family to Ragnar and settle down here, would you accept us?”

At the soldier’s pure expression and tone, Kyle smiled and nodded.

There was no reason not to accept them.

Even when the family had been on the verge of collapse, they had thrown themselves into battle for Ragnar, and beyond that, for the North.

“I will spare no support necessary for settling down. If you wish to settle here, come at any time.”

However, not everyone shared that soldier’s feelings.

There were also quite a few soldiers who wanted to return to their hometowns.

Even so, Kyle did not want to send them away.

When Ragnar had been in hardship, they had not fled, and they had done their utmost while holding their assigned positions.

He felt apologetic, as if he had only made them suffer without giving them anything in return.

“Grand General, even though we are parting like this, I believe we will meet again someday. During the long period we stayed in Ragnar, we realized and learned many things.”

At one soldier’s words, Kyle sat down on the spot.

It had originally been land completely covered in snow, but before anyone realized it, it had turned into bare earth.

“What use is formality. Your legs must hurt, so everyone sit down.”

At the sight of Kyle sitting comfortably, the soldiers hesitated.

That was only natural, as Kyle was a figure respected by many throughout the territory.

When the soldiers, caught off guard by his behavior, showed signs of inner conflict, Akun sat down first.

“Sit.”

At Akun’s order, the knights sat down comfortably, and following them, the soldiers one by one plopped down onto the ground.

Once everyone was seated, Kyle looked at Akun and formed a faint smile.

“On a day like this, we should have a drink.”

“I will go and make a request to Viscount Rak.”

“No, there is no need for that. As that soldier said, as long as we do not abandon the North and leave, there will come a time when we gather again.”

Kyle suddenly lifted his gaze toward the sky.

Back when he had been active as Ian Kyleras, he had never shown such an unguarded side.

He had always regarded decorum as paramount.

To the point that he had never once opened his heart and held a conversation together with the soldiers, he had thoroughly restrained himself.

“I am not a good person like you see, nor am I someone worthy of respect. I am nothing more than a coward.”

“Grand General, how can you say such a thing?”

“I may have been afraid. Afraid that my father would fall into grief over losing his son, afraid that I would not be able to protect him myself, so I left Ragnar.”

Judging by the dark clouds gathering overhead, it seemed that a heavy snowfall would soon pour down.

Though he spoke calmly, guilt always remained in Kyle’s heart.

If he had not left, if he had remained in his place as Ragnar’s male heir, Rai would not have departed so vainly.

And his younger brother, Pramo, might not have had to suffer like this either.

At Kyle’s bitter-looking gaze, Akun shook his head.

“The Grand General is not a coward.”

“……Commander.”

“There were many who could not understand the Grand General’s choice back then. But now that I see the Grand General as he is, I believe that decision at the time was an extremely correct one.”

When one regretted something, the first thing that came to mind was reproaching oneself for past actions.

What if things had been different, would it have changed if a different decision had been made.

Such thoughts usually arose.

But that regret was wrong.

Because of the choice made back then, Ragnar could exist as it was now.

“If the Grand General had remained in Ragnar, the royal family would have committed acts far worse than they have now. They would not have left the Grand General alone, even if it meant crushing Ragnar underfoot.”

“……Is that so.”

“So there is no need for you to regret it. Because the Grand General returned, Ragnar was revived and the safety of the North was secured.”

Cutting off the sprout before it grew was the most basic of basics.

The moment it grew beyond what could be handled, it would eventually be devoured.

If Kyle had remained in Ragnar, the royal family would certainly not have stayed idle.

Living somewhere else rather than in a Ragnar beset by perilous crises might, in some way, have had a great influence on Kyle.

“I am a knight who follows the former Family Head, but I am also a person who lives for Ragnar. Everyone here is the same. It was the Grand General who gave these people hope, and who created the driving force for Ragnar to rise again. So please do not reproach yourself.”

After their brief exchange, Kyle and Akun looked at each other for a moment.

“……Thank you, everyone.”

With Kyle’s quiet murmur as the end, all the troops, numbering twenty thousand, were dismissed.

Kyle took in the sight of them leaving with his own eyes, and Akun, standing beside him, asked respectfully.

“Will you return to Ragnar?”

Now, everything that needed to be resolved was finished.

With even the monsters that had escaped the North all dealt with, there was no reason to remain in Rak Territory.

“Akun.”

“Yes, Grand General.”

“Ragnar has stabilized to a certain extent, so it is time to handle the other matters I put off.”

“Other matters?”

“Red Magic Tower Master Bellos Reciford did rescue some of the territory residents who were sold off by slave traders, but there are still many he has not been able to bring back.”

Kyle ground his teeth as he stared fiercely beyond the mountain ridge.

When he learned that those who worshipped darkness were behind the slave traders, he had wanted to move immediately.

However, because there had been more urgent matters to deal with than the slave traders, he had postponed it.

Akun also understood Kyle’s feelings well, but separately furrowed his brow.

“We have only just established a foundation. If the Grand General leaves the territory in such a state, we cannot know what variables might arise.”

“It would be best if I could move myself, but that is difficult right now……. In that case, others will have to move.”

“……Whom are you thinking of sending?”

“For now, neither I nor Seros can go.”

Kyle looked at Akun and fell briefly into thought, then shook his head.

In his heart, he wanted to move the Ragnar Knight Order, but they still needed to grow further.

Although the forces of those who worshipped darkness had weakened, they were still difficult opponents for the current Ragnar knights.

As a result, Acacia was naturally excluded as well.

He was in a position where he had to take responsibility for training the Ragnar Knight Order.

After pondering for a long time, Kyle finally nodded.

“The right person for this would be Bianca.”

Ultimately, the only person with the capability to move against those who worshipped darkness was Bianca.

Having made his decision, Kyle finally turned his body.

“Return to Ragnar!”

After dealing with the monsters and returning to Ragnar, Kyle entered the residence inside the lord’s castle.

There, Elise was the first to welcome him.

“Brother-in-law, you’re back?”

“Where is Pramo?”

“He’s taking care of the backlog of documents. There’s a lot to worry about with the issue of resuming the iron mine.”

“I see. Please bring me just a cup of tea.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare it right away and bring it to you.”

After exchanging greetings with Elise, Kyle headed straight for Pramo’s office.

As soon as he arrived in front of it, he knocked on the door a couple of times and then opened it.

“I’m back.”

“So it was you, brother.”

“I disbanded the troops. I don’t know how many there will be, but the soldiers and knights who returned to their hometowns will come back to Ragnar.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Pramo, who had been standing with his head lowered while approving documents, stopped his hand and rose from his chair.

At the sight of the documents piled high on the desk, Kyle shook his head.

“That’s quite a lot.”

“Mining iron ore is a very large-scale undertaking. That means there’s a lot to prepare.”

“Well, that’s your job.”

At Kyle’s words, Pramo let out a small laugh and scratched his head.

No matter how one looked at it, Kyle seemed to dislike paperwork.

“How about you take on some administrative work as well, brother?”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Don’t you feel sorry for your younger brother who’s suffering right now?”

“No. If I were going to handle administrative work too, I would’ve said I’d become the Family Head at the Northern Conference.”

Pramo stared intently at Kyle.

For some reason, the sight of Kyle sitting comfortably on the plush sofa with his legs crossed felt irritating.

Still, despite what he said, Pramo knew well that Kyle, who had just arrived in the territory after fighting monsters, was also worn out.

“What do you plan to do going forward?”

“Now that the closure of the North is confirmed, we have to finish our preparations within a year.”

“A year…….”

“There’s no need to worry too much. With the Dwarf Clan joining us, it should be more than possible. And if we create an environment where we can farm self-sufficiently, we can escape the pressure of the royal family.”

Pramo fully agreed with those words.

Although the North was being closed off for now, Ragnar’s sources of funding were not drying up.

Just the monster byproducts obtained this time alone were enormous.

If the Dwarf Clan finished processing them, it would yield astronomical wealth.

“More than anything, even if the royal family blocks trade, there are still ways, aren’t there?”

“Did you already know?”

“I heard from the Military Advisor that you have connections with people from the Continental Battlefield.”

Since large quantities of food had been brought in from the Continental Battlefield, it was not something Aron could easily hide.

Pramo tried not to do anything that would put Kyle in a difficult position, but with trade blocked, they needed to find a breakthrough.

However, knowing how shameless it would be, Pramo could not bring it up first.

“It seems I’ll have to be away for about a week.”

“……Brother.”

“I’ll contact the people on the Continental Battlefield side and create a breakthrough as you intend.”

“I’m worried.”

“Don’t worry. It won’t even take a week. If I use a teleportation gate, it won’t take long.”

There would be no problem even if Kyle was away for about a week.

But Pramo’s main concern was not that.

His face clearly showed his fear that Kyle might not return again.

“Pramo, this is the home I’ve only just returned to. There’s no reason for me to leave again.”

At Kyle’s calm words as he rose from the sofa, Pramo let out a small laugh and nodded.

Kyle stood up to leave the office, but had to sit back down again.

At that moment, Elise opened the office door, having prepared tea and refreshments.

“Brother-in-law, I brought some tea and a light snack. You weren’t already about to leave, were you?”

Elise placed the tea and refreshments in front of Kyle.

Sitting back down on the sofa, Kyle lifted the teacup and took a sip.

“The aroma is nice.”

“It’s tea made by steeping snowfield flowers. The fragrance is excellent, but above all, it has a refreshing feel, which is nice.”

Kyle nodded silently.

He always felt this, but the tea Elise made had depth of flavor and a unique taste.

A gently spreading floral scent, and despite drinking hot tea, a cool sensation lingered in his mouth.

“It wouldn’t be bad to commercialize this.”

“What?”

“In deserts or hot countries, it seems to have sufficient commercial value. What do you think, Pramo?”

Because he had always taken it for granted, he had never even considered commercializing snowfield flower tea.

Pramo gazed quietly at the tea in his cup, then nodded.

“I agree with your opinion, brother.”

“Ragnar now needs to find other specialties besides iron ore and monster byproducts. In that sense, tea is almost the exclusive domain of nobles.”

“I’ll discuss it with Elder Tade and proceed.”

“Do as you see fit. I enjoyed the tea, Elise.”

At some point, having finished all the tea, Kyle rose from his seat.

Elise, who had been sitting there with a dazed expression, only came to her senses when Kyle stood up.

She tried to stand as well to see him off, but Kyle waved his hand.

“Don’t come out.”

Leaving only those words behind, Kyle left his 자리.

Pramo and Elise, left behind in the office, looked at each other.

“I can’t do it.”

“Elise.”

“You know it’s hard to obtain snowfield flowers. Even if we try to cultivate them separately, it’s impossible since they only grow on cliffs in the snowfields.”

“Hmm…….”

“The annual yield is also limited, so commercialization is absolutely impossible.”

At Elise’s firm words, Pramo scratched his head.

“In that situation, you should have told brother directly…….”

“……You tell brother-in-law.”

At Pramo’s words, Elise also scratched her head with a troubled expression.

The two exchanged wry smiles and shook their heads at the same time.

“He told me to handle it as I saw fit, so let’s decide not to commercialize it.”

“……All right.”