Chapter 92 : Returning to Ragnar (3)
Chapter 92: Returning to Ragnar (3)
Kyle was seated in the chair where Pramo always sat, in the middle of approving documents.
Aron, whose face looked haggard from alcohol, opened the door to the office—believing no one would be inside—and blinked his eyes.
Then, as if he belatedly realized the situation, he flinched and bowed his head.
“P-Please forgive me. I thought no one was here and came in without knocking.”
“It’s fine.”
“……Are you approving documents?”
More surprising than Kyle sitting in the office from such an early hour was the fact that he was reviewing documents and giving approvals.
Back in the days of Ian Kylers, he had hated even looking at a single sheet of paperwork and had dumped everything onto Aron, so the current situation—so different from back then—felt unbelievable.
“With Pramo gone, am I not the final approver?”
“……That’s true, but it’s still such an unfamiliar sight that it surprised me.”
“There’s nothing to be surprised about. From now on, I have to run Ragnar.”
Aron scratched his head and walked up in front of Kyle.
“What documents were you approving?”
“Check them yourself. One side is documents already approved, and the other side is documents that still need review.”
Aron looked at the stacks of documents piled up on both sides of the desk and was horrified.
A pile of documents that seemed taller than Kyle himself.
It was an amount that would take Aron an entire day of nonstop work to process.
It was enough to make him worry whether Kyle might have approved them carelessly.
‘That can’t be. When it comes to anything related to Ragnar, he’s someone who checks everything thoroughly.’
Thinking it was a pointless worry, Aron shook his head.
“Understood.”
“And I set aside the documents regarding the installation of the continental battlefield’s teleportation gates, so check those as well.”
After hearing Kyle’s words, Aron checked to make sure no one was outside the office, then closed the door again.
Seeing Aron’s demeanor as if he were about to say something important, Kyle extended his hand.
Soon, Aura burst forth from his hand and enveloped the entire office.
“Only someone like Seros would be able to eavesdrop. If you have something you want to say, say it.”
“My lord, I would like to hear the reason why you are being cautious about the continental battlefield’s capital being injected into Ragnar.”
Kyle, who had been moving his pen to approve documents, lifted his head.
“The continental battlefield is an organization closely tied to Ian Kylers. If such an organization injects capital into Ragnar without justification, suspicion will inevitably arise.”
“…….”
“The reason we set the Luna Ducal Family up as the continental battlefield’s proxy was also to sow confusion among the followers of darkness.”
To create confusion over who truly owned the continental battlefield, they had deliberately put Duke Luna at the forefront.
They likely knew as well—who the true owner of the continental battlefield was.
In a situation like this, if the continental battlefield’s capital flowed into Ragnar on a large scale, the followers of darkness would undoubtedly come to suspect the Ragnar Family.
“Therefore, bringing the continental battlefield’s capital into Ragnar must be done at the bare minimum. We need to hide my identity as much as possible.”
“Understood.”
“And to add to the confusion, I spread the word that I was Ian Kylers’ master, so we should get a reaction soon.”
Though Jay, the person involved, was already dead, the followers of darkness would have found out one way or another.
As he finished that thought, Kyle completed the document approvals and stood up from his seat.
“I’ve reviewed all the backlogged documents.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“I’ll go meet Yul and the Iron Chieftain.”
“Will you be back tomorrow?”
“I’ll be back today. And summon part of the forces stationed at the frontlines back to the lord’s castle.”
“How large should the force be?”
“Three hundred should be enough. And tell Seros to return to Chaplin Castle.”
He had been moving at a leisurely pace until now, but he intended to pick up the speed.
What Kyle wanted was to lay the groundwork so that Pramo could carry out the rule he desired stably in the capital.
Aron bowed his head toward Kyle’s back as he exited the office.
‘His appearance has changed, but that man is still the continent’s greatest absolute being.’
Up until now, he had known that Kyle had been concealing his full strength so that Pramo would not feel intimidated.
He had never gone all out in front of him, nor had he moved proactively.
Now that Pramo had gone to the capital, there was essentially nothing left that could make Kyle hesitate.
After leaving the lord’s residence, Kyle walked toward Frost, who was lying belly-up and sleeping in the courtyard.
The moment Frost sensed Kyle’s presence, he woke up, lifted his front paw, and rubbed his eyes.
Awooo?
“Sorry for waking you. We need to move right away—should I give you some time?”
At Kyle’s words, Frost snapped fully awake and shook his head vigorously.
Quickly regaining his senses, Frost pressed his belly to the ground and lowered his body.
“Let’s go to the Monster Mountain Range. I have something to discuss with Yul and the Iron Chieftain.”
Awoo!
Frost set off with Kyle on his back.
As they sprinted toward the gates of the lord’s castle, the soldier guarding the front spotted Frost and immediately opened the gates.
“Salute!”
Passing the soldier who bowed crisply, they dashed through the opened gates toward the mountains.
It normally took over a full day to reach Chaplin Castle, but Frost could arrive there in just three hours.
The soldier guarding the entrance of Chaplin Castle spotted Frost and jumped aside in shock.
As Frost entered Chaplin Castle without even undergoing procedural checks with the soldier, the soldier hurriedly pulled out a communication device from his chest.
“The Great General has entered the castle. Please open the rear gate.”
The soldier’s message was relayed to the rear gate located at the mountain boundary.
Upon receiving the transmission, the knight stationed there immediately issued orders to the soldiers to open the gate.
“The Great General has entered the castle! Open the gate!”
Kugugugu—!
The soldiers hurriedly opened the gate.
Moments later, as Frost carrying Kyle appeared at the rear gate, the knight and soldiers lined up and bowed their heads in unison.
In an instant, Frost passed through the rear gate, and a soldier approached the knight with a tense expression.
“When did he arrive from the capital?”
“I don’t know either. In any case, since the Great General has returned, it means the castellan will be returning soon as well. Pass on the order to reinforce security throughout the entire castle even more thoroughly.”
With Kyle back, it was impossible for Seros not to return.
That meant Seros would also be returning to Chaplin Castle sometime today.
The soldiers of Chaplin Castle began moving busily.
Only after running for another hour did Kyle and Frost finally arrive at the entrance of the mountain range.
When Frost stopped at the entrance to the Ork Tribe’s territory, Yahan came running out upon spotting Kyle.
“You’ve arrived?”
“Where is Yul?”
“He is inside. The Iron Chieftain and the Lord happen to be talking right now.”
“Please guide me.”
The moment Kyle dismounted, he stroked Frost’s head, who had worked hard coming here without rest.
In response, Frost did not leave Kyle’s side and closely followed along with his footsteps.
Before long, Frost and Kyle stopped in front of a residence Kyle had never seen before.
“The two of them are inside this residence.”
Yahan spoke to Kyle before knocking on the door of the residence.
The house, built by Dwarves who had stepped forward, had been constructed on a large scale so that Orc Lord Yul could live comfortably.
“Lord, Kyle has arrived.”
When Yahan informed Yul of Kyle’s arrival, Iron ran out first.
“Kyle! Did you return safely?”
“Was there any trouble?”
At Kyle’s question, Iron’s expression hardened.
In fact, because of what had happened a few days ago, they had needed to visit the Orc Tribe to discuss it with Yul.
After checking Iron’s expression, Kyle nodded.
“It seems something happened.”
“A few days ago, an Elven messenger visited our tribe. I was planning to tell you right away once you returned, so it’s fortunate that you came like this.”
“Let’s go inside and hear it.”
Having resolved the kingdom’s internal issues, it was now time to devote full effort to resolving the mountain range problem.
When Kyle entered the residence, Yul stood up from his seat.
“Sorry I couldn’t go out to welcome you.”
“Hm…… the one lying in front of you looks like a Lizardman.”
A massive body that could not be concealed even under a blanket, and a long tail extending out of the bed.
It was unmistakably a Lizardman.
“……He arrived here yesterday in an injured state.”
“Weren’t the Lizardmen Tribe neutral as well?”
“That’s right. This one is the successor of the Lizardman King.”
“The fact that he came all the way to the Orc territory in that condition means the Lizardmen Tribe isn’t safe either.”
“He collapsed unconscious in front of the territory and still hasn’t regained consciousness. We’ll only know the proper situation once he wakes up.”
After confirming the rough, reptilian skin, Kyle shook his head.
It seemed that the hierarchy among the monarchs was being established at a rapid pace.
“Iron, what was the news from the Elves?”
“They reported that the barrier protecting the Elves’ territory is weakening. They said it seems the monarchs are scouring the entire mountain range in search of the Elves.”
“So they’re asking for help?”
“They did request support, but we told them that we couldn’t act rashly without your permission, Kyle.”
“Most of the Northern forces have withdrawn to the capital. In the end, the only forces that can move are those of the Dwarves and the Ork Tribe.”
At present, Ragnar’s military strength had sharply declined.
Yul and Iron had anticipated this situation in advance as well.
From the beginning, before Kyle started the civil war, he had informed the two of them that there would be a large-scale troop movement to the capital.
Yul calmly nodded and continued.
“It would be difficult to handle the Lizardmen’s issue and the Elves’ issue at the same time.”
“Iron.”
“Yes, speak.”
“I think I should meet the Elven King. Can you arrange that?”
“I will try proposing it.”
The Elves had not been attacked yet. So far, there were only signs.
However, the Lizardmen case looked different.
The fact that the successor of a monarch had arrived injured meant that a war was already underway.
It was even possible that the Lizardmen Tribe had already been erased by the other monarchs.
“In the case of the Lizardmen, we must move carefully. Acting recklessly could mean falling into the monarchs’ trap.”
“I agree.”
“We should wake that one as soon as possible.”
As Kyle walked toward the Lizardman lying down, Yul stepped aside.
As Yul had said earlier, they needed to understand how the Lizardmen’s situation was unfolding before making any moves.
Kyle infused the energy of the Everlasting Flame into his hand and grasped the Lizardman’s wrist.
‘Poison?’
Sensing something sticky and obstructive within the Lizardman’s body, Kyle manifested his fiery energy even more strongly.
Fwoosh!
Flames rose from the Lizardman’s body.
Had about thirty minutes passed like that? Kyle, who had closed his eyes and poured in the fiery energy, withdrew his power.
The moment Kyle opened his eyes, the Lizardman’s eyelids twitched as well.
“Are you awake?”
“H-human……”
A cracking voice was heard, and Kyle spoke to Yul.
“It seems we should give him some water.”
“Understood.”
Yul poured water into a cup and let it flow to the Lizardman’s lips.
After drinking the water and moistening his mouth somewhat, the Lizardman raised his upper body.
“……Thank you for saving me.”
“It seems you’ve guessed who I am.”
“Is this not the Orc Lord’s residence? It’s easy enough to guess that any human who can come and go here is either the Heir of the Frostfire or someone related to him.”
“Is that so? However…… you’re being rather curt in your speech.”
“I-I apologize. I’m used to speaking this way……”
“If you’re used to it, it can’t be helped. Still, if I were to refuse your request, it doesn’t seem like the Lizardmen Tribe has any path to survival.”
The one asking for help was expected to lower themselves.
At Kyle’s words, the Lizardman nodded.
“I apologize for not properly introducing myself. I am Latyna of the Lizardmen Tribe.”
“First, tell me what the situation is.”
“My father…… that is, the Lizardman King, was killed after being attacked from multiple sides.”
At the words that the Lizardman King was dead, Yul and Iron’s eyes widened to an unacceptable degree.
“……Are you saying that fellow died so futilely?”
“Orc Lord…… the Dragonkin stepped forward openly.”
“Why would those who had remained silent until now do that?”
“I do not know the reason myself. Whatever the reason, if my father had not bought time for me, I would not have been able to escape from that place.”
Latyna forced himself to his feet.
Then he knelt on the floor and bowed deeply toward Kyle.
“……Please, could you help my clan? If you help ensure that our lineage continues, the Lizardmen will devote their loyalty to Ragnar.”