358 Manuscrip (1/2)

It was completely dark outside. The crescent moon in the night sky was bright and clear with few stars.

The silver moonlight shone on the village, which was quiet as most villagers had gone to bed. Nothing could be heard except the occasional barks and the cool breeze from the mountains.

The whole world seemed chilly.

The two men stood in silence on the balcony for several minutes. Eventually, it was Roland who moved away from the grieving atmosphere first. He shook his head slightly and said, ”You taught Andonara her sword arts. So, are you a Great Swordsman too? As far as I know, a Great Swordsman doesn't have magic power.”

Cage smiled and rubbed his fingers together. Then, a blue flame appeared on his finger.

Roland subconsciously leaned back. He sensed destructive energy from the flame. In terms of quality, it was even better than his two-thousand-degree fireball.

If the flame could be expanded beyond half a meter in radius, it would be a horrifying spell equal to a nuclear bomb.

But Roland knew very well that Cage couldn't do it.

At this point, the magic power in Cage's body was plummeting, and he could only maintain the flame for three minutes at best. Even if he was to unleash it in an outburst, it would only be powerful enough to blow up the balcony.

But a fireball that Roland built in five seconds could easily raze this building to the ground.

Showing off the flame on his finger, Cage blew it out and said cockily, ”Though we can't use real magic, we can form a special fire with magic power. This fire can deal tremendous damage to foul creatures. That little bit of flame just now can easily burn an inferior devil into ashes.”

”It can suppress evil? Is it the Hero's power?”

Cage nodded and said, ”Probably.”

”Probably?”

Faced with Roland's confusion, Cage said helplessly, ”We know that we're heirs to Hero Kelter. But the problem is that our great-grandfather didn't leave us any notes on how to carry out our power. He disappeared after my grandfather was born, leaving nothing but legends of himself, this house, and the noble title.”

”That sounds irresponsible.”

”Yes. My grandfather said that he didn't remember his father, the legendary Hero, at all. He didn't know if that man was the one on the painting in our living room. My grandfather disappeared when I was seven. I thought he went missing,” Cage said with a self-mocking tone. ”But then I realized that it was our family's destiny. When I was eight, my father said that he sensed the arrival of evil, and he left home with his longsword, never to return. My mother raised me, but when I was eighteen, she passed away because she was too exhausted and she missed my father too much.”

Hearing that, Roland suddenly said, ”I haven't seen your wife yet. Has she…”

Cage nodded. ”She died three months after she gave birth to Kaido.”

”Her fragility.” Cage couldn't be more regretful. ”I had been slaying evil everywhere since I became a mercenary at eighteen. When I was thirty, I realized that I was getting old and I had to have children. But I didn't want to repeat the tragedies in my family. I decided that I would be a regular small noble and stop fighting. So, I married an ordinary woman, hoping that I could dilute my family bloodline. But I miscalculated.”

Cage looked around and, confirming that his son was not around, said in a low voice, ”I didn't know that the babies of our family would absorb the vitality of their mothers when they were born. My ancestors had married professionals who were strong, so they were fine. But my wife was merely an ordinary woman. I got her killed.”

His eyes were red when he talked about that.

He had been keeping it to himself for a long time, and he always wanted to talk to someone.

Roland left a good impression on him. Selected by Andonara, the man was partly his family too. He didn't feel it was a problem to tell him.

Roland sighed. He found that the Reed family had indeed been unfortunate.

Since Hero Kelter, fathers and mothers had been dying in this family, such that it was a miracle that this family still had descendants.

Was the family cursed?

Very likely. Nothing was impossible in a world of magic.

Cage felt a lot better. With his guilt for his wife, he gave up the Reed family's mission of banishing evil and stopped going on missions. He stayed here and raised his son.

For a man who used to travel a lot, staying a while at home would be restful, staying a year would be boring, and staying a couple of years would be downright frustrating. Since his wife had passed away, he had been quite unhappy.

But he felt a lot better now that Andonara visited him again and Roland was willing to listen to him.

Roland didn't talk, nor did he know what to say. The guy did not seem in need of comfort. Roland was not used to comforting a man either.

If it were Andonara, he might have tried to comfort her.

After a few minutes of silence, when Cage calmed down, he asked, ”You must be here for something, no?”

Roland turned his head in surprise.

There was a teasing smile on Cage's mature, handsome face. ”Don't look at me that way. I traveled for almost twelve years. I've met everyone that I should and shouldn't have met. Besides, Anna grew up under my watch, and I know what's on her mind. She's obviously here because of you.”

This was an experienced man who was much more sophisticated than Roland.

After a moment of silence, Roland said, ”My intelligence suggests that Andonara can grow stronger here.”