After passing the vast green plains, we entered a valley surrounded by high mountains on both sides.
There were traces of water left here and there, as if a large river had once flowed through this area.
Hansis continuously spoke to Count Furst as he guided the way. Count Furst responded to his words appropriately while silently driving the horses.
“From here on, the path is not good, so we will have to walk. If we’re not careful, there’s a risk of falling off the horses.”
Hansis said this and then got off his horse.
As the black knights dismounted in unison, a heavy echo filled the valley.
Thud!
Intimidated by this silent pressure, the Count’s knights also all got off their horses. However, Count Furst remained seated on his horse.
As everyone’s gaze turned to the Count, he scanned Hansis and the black knights, then said,
“I’m fine. Lead the way.”
Thereupon, the one who seemed to be the captain of the black knights stepped forward, looked straight up at him, and said,
“Count, you must get off the horse.”
The Count, looking down at him just as directly, replied,
“I will not get off. So lead the way.”
Even among nobles, there is a hierarchy, but there is no need for one noble to get off their horse when meeting another noble.
That is only required when a noble meets royalty or a commoner meets a noble.
Memories from my childhood are surfacing again.
The petty power struggles between nobles.
But it cannot be said that this is simply childish.
For nobles, dignity is synonymous with power.
Just as for a mage, dignity is synonymous with magical power.
The black knights’ commander took off his helmet. With a distorted expression, he approached Count Furst and soon growled,
“Count, get off at once. Otherwise, I will…Aaargh”
The commander’s body was lifted and thrown far away, crashing into the cliff.
Thud!
The black knights all drew their swords, exuding a menacing aura.
The Count looked at me with a blank expression, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“Since they were acting childishly, I guess I got a bit childish too. By the way, are we not going to draw our swords on our side?”
Only then did the Count’s knights and their commander slowly draw their swords, but the look in their eyes made it clear they would flee the moment a fight broke out.
I knew they were incompetent, but I didn’t know they also lacked loyalty.
This is quite surprising.
I wonder why Count Furst keeps such incompetent knights under his command.
Hansis raised his hands.
“Mage Ran, Duke Balkan also has a mage. He even has a disciple or two. It would be wise not to provoke him.”
I looked up at the narrowing valley.
There, I could not feel any magical power or majesty.
If it were someone like Kalasta, or even Master Avana, a sense of respect would have been noticeable.
But this is not an opponent I cannot handle.
“Hansis, my junior.”
“……”
I turned my head to look at him.
“I drowned a mage more skilled than me in the sea. And that was in the first magical battle I ever experienced. Do you know what that implies?”
“……”
Hansis quietly swallowed his saliva.
Whatever is experienced for the first time becomes the standard for all subsequent experiences.
In magic, this goes beyond just symbolic significance and has real meaning.
I swung my staff to pull the black knights’ commander out from the cliff and placed him in front of me.
He coughed up blood, barely regaining consciousness.
“If you want a fight, go and tell him to come. I’ll be waiting.”
Hansis quickly approached the black knights’ commander. The commander opened his eyes with difficulty and whispered something to him.
Hansis nodded once, then looked up at me and said,
“Very well. Then please continue to ride the horse. If any misfortune befalls you, you’ll have to blame yourself.”
Hansis gestured to the black knights. They all sheathed their weapons, and in response, the Count’s knights also disarmed with sighs of relief.
A black knight supported the commander, and Hansis began to walk ahead. Everyone followed him into the valley.
Only I and the Count were still on horseback.
How long had we walked? The gradually narrowing valley had become a V-shaped, confined path, looking like an entrance to another world.
“From here, the knights will have to wait.”
At Hansis’ words, I quickly replied,
“The black knights should wait as well.”
Hansis gestured to the black knights, and they stepped back towards the wall. The Count’s knights also moved to the opposite side.
Hansis said as he led the way,
“Shall we proceed?”
He entered first, followed by the Count, and then I.
The view suddenly opened up.
Kio! Karak!
Under the pouring sunlight, the vast fields and valleys proudly displayed the grandeur of nature. And soaring above them, a massive being with outstretched wings shattered any sense of reality.
“A, a dragon.”
The Count uttered those words and could not close his mouth.
If I were not a mage, I probably would have reacted the same way the Count did. I wouldn’t have noticed that it was just an illusion.
That’s when I felt a powerful magical presence on one side. And from there, a strong psychic force was rapidly approaching.
The psychic force was precisely targeting the horses that the Count and I were riding.
I tightly gripped my staff and quickly infused my own psychic force, faster than the incoming one.
Infusing psychic power into living beings is a study I have practiced extensively.
“You two shall know no fear.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the eyes of the two horses took on the serene composure of a old timer.
Moments later, the distant psychic force seeped into the horses. Their eyes briefly widened greatly. The incoming psychic force brought them unbearable terror.
But the horses were already immune to the sense of fear, thanks to my psychic force. They did not know what the fear was, and their eyes soon returned to normal.
Count Furst seemed to sense that something was amiss and called out to me.
“Ran?”
I looked back at the Count.
“Don’t worry. I will ensure you never have to dismount.”
Once again, another psychic force approached, more powerful and carrying a deeper terror than before.
It hit the horses like a storm.
But the horses’ eyes were only blinking dully.
Since they knew no fear, what did it matter how great the amount was?
“How, how is this possible?”
I looked down at the bewildered Hansis and said,
“Aren’t you going to lead the way?”
Hansis hardened his expression, then began to lead us towards the source of the powerful magical presence.
After walking a bit, we glimpsed a group of about ten people. They were nobles of various attires, and I even recognized some from the New Continental Company building.
Only two of them were on horseback.
One was an elderly noble in a red suit riding a glossy black horse.
The other nobles were all looking at us, but he alone was gazing straight ahead, as if our arrival didn’t matter to him at all.
The other rider was on a pure white stallion. I could instantly tell that the source of the intense magical power was him.
He had waist-length white hair and a white beard reaching down to his navel, wearing a thick gray robe. In his right hand, he held a staff taller than himself, made of Paulownia wood.
Even a child could tell at a glance that he was a mage, trying so hard to advertise his status.
As we approached them, the noble in the red suit turned to look at us.
His eyes were a deep violet, like a void swallowing everything.
I’m certain the blood-red suit was chosen to match those peculiar eye colors.
At that moment, a look of displeasure crossed his wrinkled face.
“So Count Furst managed to ride all the way here.”
He mentioned Count Furst, but his gaze was fixed on me. However, the person he addressed was his mage.
The gray-robed mage also carefully observed me as he spoke.
“The count’s mage possesses quite decent magical power.”
“More than you?”
The gray-robed mage did not respond.
Whether he couldn’t answer or didn’t deem it worth answering.
I’d like to confirm which one it is.
That’s when I felt Count Furst’s gaze.
He was speaking to me through his eyes, telling me to calm down.
Apparently, my expression and aura were easily read by everyone, just like with Hansis earlier.
As self-confidence grows, emotions seem to naturally emerge on my face.
An unexpected side effect, it seems.
Count Furst met the eyes of Duke Balkan, then quickly turned his gaze to a middle-aged nobleman behind them.
“I had no idea such a fantastical place existed within your territory, Count Stocke.”
Count Stocke did not respond, glancing nervously at Duke Balkan.
Duke Balkan raised his eyelids, and the violet eyes within moved slyly to look at Count Furst.
“Strictly speaking, this is not part of House Stocke territory, Count Furst.”
“Then where are we?”
“According to my dear mage, Merlin, this is an ‘Astral’ created by a great mage.”
“Astral?”
Merlin, the Duke Balkan’s mage, moved his horse slightly forward and continued.
“Astral refers to a separate space that exists within the world – described as the ‘other side’, ‘the shadow’, ‘the beyond’, and so on, Count Furst. The official name is the Dragon Ranch, but everything here, including the dragons, is an illusion. It has been a secret place passed down through the Stocke family for generations, which the Duke has now revealed to you.”
At those words, a strange darkness passed over Count Stocke’s expression. It seems he was compelled to do so.
Count Furst deliberately met his eyes and said,
“What an honor to have such a fantastical place within your territory, Count Stocke. Is it alright for others to know of this family secret?”
All the nobles’ gazes turned to Count Furst. He had asked the uncomfortable question so bluntly, yet maintained a composed expression.
Count Stocke reluctantly spoke.
“It’s fine. Once you leave this place, you will lose your memories of it.”
“Lose my memories of it?”
“Yes, that is the nature of this space.”
At that moment, Duke Balkan suddenly interjected.
“But what joy could be greater than this? I feel like I’m seeing this wondrous sight for the first time every time I come here. I often make excuses about fox hunting to visit annually. I’ve experienced most of the world’s pleasures, so there’s little that’s new for me anymore.”
Count Furst turned to look at him.
“Is that why you took in the five native children from the New Continent? For a new stimulus?”
The atmosphere froze instantly at the sudden remark.
Oh, that was rather reckless.
Count Furst spoke coldly.
“I heard you gave them as a gift to your daughter to celebrate her coming of age. How is she doing?”
Duke Balkan immediately retorted.
“Why? Is it hard to get through the night after losing your wife for over three years?”
Count Furst responded politely.
“It’s said there are many beauties to the west of Baritone. Sangria is undoubtedly the best among them. I have many at my estate, so you don’t need to worry about my bed.”
Duke Balkan let out a small laugh.
“Haha, playing with lowborn women is fun for a day or two. But eventually, you start longing for the touch of a noblewoman’s skin, don’t you? It’s fun to alternate between the two. Isn’t that right, Count Stocke?”
Count Stocke mumbled in response.
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Whereupon, the expression of his wife beside him hardened considerably.
Duke Balkan turned to Count Furst and said,
“Since you seem so interested in my daughter, if you don’t mind, why don’t you arrange a marriage? I’d have no reason to refuse having a man of your integrity as my son-in-law. As for the dowry… Hmm. Let me see. Ah, yes! I’ll send you those five native children. How does that sound?”
I almost let out a hollow laugh inwardly.
So this was Duke Balkan’s intention all along.
It wasn’t just about asserting his position.
He wants him to come under him.
As a son-in-law.
As family.
I looked at Count Furst.
What answer would he give?
Eventually, his lips moved.
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