Book 1 Chapter 596

596.

Leo was unpacking in his room in the grand mansion of the Gerdinger family.

Knock, knock-

"Come in."

Slam-

The door opened and Celia entered.

Celia, her brows furrowed deeply, sat on a sofa in a corner of the room.

And she looked across the table.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing Old Maid."

Phoenix, Fiona, who had made a pact with Leo, in human form, stared at Kirian, who was sitting at the table, with very serious eyes.

-Hmph~ Where did the chick playing Old Maid go?

"Be quiet, moth."

Glare- Fiona glared at Kirian.

It seemed the stakes were snacks.

'No, what kind of phoenix and fairy are gambling with snacks?'

Celia looked at them with an incredulous expression.

Not only Kirian, but also Elsie, the spirit of darkness, and Larel, the spirit of light, were watching the game from the table.

The two spirits seemed to have finished their game, each holding a cookie as big as their head in both hands, munching away.

Fiona, glaring at the cards larger than Kirian's body as if to kill him, carefully picked one of the two jokers Kirian held in his hand.

"Aaaargh!"

-Hahahaha!

Kirian burst out laughing as he saw Fiona despair.

Meanwhile, the card changed shape.

Celia's eyes narrowed as she saw it.

-My turn!

Kirian, with a triumphant expression, picked one of the cards Fiona had diligently shuffled.

"Oh, no!"

-I won!

Kirian cheered and threw the card upwards, and Fiona clutched her head, feeling wronged.

-With this, these snacks are mine…

"You shouldn't cheat."

At Celia's words, Fiona raised her head, and the two spirits also looked at Celia with puzzled eyes.

Kirian, who was gathering the snacks, stealthily glanced around, then scooped them up in his arms and flew away.

-Aha. No wonder I thought it was strange that Kirian never came last. It was a cheat!

Elsie smiled brightly as if she finally understood.

She didn't seem angry at all that Kirian had cheated.

Of course, the other two were not.

"Cheating moth! Stop right there!"

-I'll twist your wrist off!

Fiona and Larel's eyes blazed with fury as they chased Kirian.

Celia clutched her head as she watched them.

"I, for some reason, feel like my image of the great spirits and the three great beasts is being shattered."

Leo, who had roughly finished unpacking, sat in Fiona's spot.

"What's got you looking so displeased?"

"I don't like the elders' attitude."

Celia frowned.

Celia also knew that not everyone in Gerdinger welcomed Leo.

The two main pillars of the Lodren Empire, which could be called the hegemon of the Western Continent.

In other words, they are a group with influence among the top three in the Western Continent.

Although they are vassals of the empire, their relationship was quite different from the typical relationship between a monarch and a vassal.

It was closer to a partnership than a relationship sworn to absolute loyalty.

In fact, since its founding, Lodren and Gerdinger, and Rwain, had been in a relationship of mutual aid.

As a result, the Lodren imperial family recognized the independence of Gerdinger's territory.

In other words, on Gerdinger's land, the head of the Gerdinger family was the king.

To maintain such influence, direct bloodlines and their loyal vassal families alone were not enough.

The cadet branches that branched off from Gerdinger also formed a pillar of Gerdinger's power.

As such, the influence wielded by the cadet branches within the family was not insignificant.

"From the cadet branches' perspective, I'm an outsider, aren't I?"

Leo chuckled.

"Even so! What you're inheriting were originally things Aunt was supposed to inherit! It's just going back to its rightful owner, so why are they so displeased?"

"Human psychology is such that they don't like to give up what they have. It hurts even more when someone else takes what could have been yours."

The Elders' Council is a group composed of highly reputable knights of Gerdinger bloodline, regardless of whether they are from the direct or cadet branches.

For a great heroic family like the Gerdinger family, operating with only the direct lineage has its limitations.

When the head of the family makes a wrong choice.

A force was needed to prevent the head of the family from acting unilaterally, and the Gerdinger Elders' Council was created for that very reason.

As the number of cadet branches was greater than that of the direct lineage, the cadet bloodlines naturally had stronger voices within the Elders' Council.

Of course, the Elders' Council could not directly intervene in the family's operations.

However, their say was powerful when it came to matters of inheritance.

"Grandfather is so thoughtless. Still, this time I wished he wouldn't actively side with Aunt and you."

Celia pouted her lips.

Seeing Celia like that, Leo tilted his head.

"They didn't seem to have such a bad relationship with Mother?"

Leo recalled what had just happened.

"He was also friendly to Father."

'I really wanted to meet you. Let's have a drink tonight.'

'It, it's an honor, previous head of the family.'

'Call me father-in-law.'

Legas, chuckling and patting Dade's shoulder, came to mind.

Since Leo was born, Reina had never once visited her family home.

'No, it must have been like that even before I was born.'

Perhaps it was for Leo's sake that she contacted Gerdinger after leaving the family.

For her son who wanted to enroll in Lumerne.

Despite a long period of no contact, Legas's eyes, looking at Reina, were filled with affection.

He was also kind to his son-in-law, whom he met for the first time.

Admiration was also evident in his eyes when he looked at Leo.

'Their father-daughter relationship didn't seem bad, it seemed very good.'

He found it strange that they hadn't seen each other for so long.

Moreover, he couldn't quite understand why a knight order had been dispatched as a deterrent during the Floube family's first official visit, in accordance with the Elders' Council's wishes.

At Leo's reaction, Celia sighed softly.

"Grandfather is thoroughly neutral, you see."

"Neutral?"

"Yes."

Celia rested her chin on her hand.

-Get out of the way! Get out of the way!

Just then, Kirian, who had fled from Fiona and Larel, flew between Leo and Celia.

Elsie, who was watching this, smiled faintly and raised her hand.

Grab-!

"Gasp?"

Suddenly, the shadows of surrounding objects grabbed Kirian.

"Gotcha! You cheating fairy!"

-Tear his wings off first!

-Hee hee heeek?

-You shouldn't interrupt Leo when he's having an important conversation. Go outside and do it.

Elsie said with a smile, and the phoenix and the great spirit of light took the fairy out to the terrace.

'Who is that spirit that she can handle them so well?'

Celia, who knew Elsie was a great spirit but didn't know exactly what kind, looked at Elsie with wonder.

Elsie slightly lifted the hem of her skirt and bowed to Celia.

"You won't be bored either."

"It's so noisy, my head hurts."

Celia burst out laughing at Leo's words and said.

"To continue from earlier. Grandfather, as the supreme elder, maintains neutrality in all matters that happen in the family. He also maintains neutrality in the Elders' Council to mediate between the direct and cadet branches. That's why he puts aside personal feelings as much as possible."

Celia sighed softly.

"That doesn't mean he dislikes you or anything. As you've seen, he still loves Aunt and wanted to continue meeting Uncle and you."

Leo had visited Gerdinger several times, but Grandfather not meeting Leo was probably to strictly separate public and private matters.

If the former head of the family intervened when Leo's qualification as a direct descendant of Gerdinger was in question, it wouldn't look good from the cadet branches' perspective.

"Especially, he wanted to meet you very much. Father told me that Grandfather's daily routine these days is to wake up in the morning and look for newspapers."

"Newspapers?"

"Yes. My father told me he's been looking for articles related to you and scrapbooking all of them."

Of course, the same goes for Celia's articles.

"This time, he was really looking forward to meeting your family."

"He's such a doting grandfather."

"He's very doting."

Celia smiled gently.

Then she immediately pouted her lips.

"Then why doesn't he step forward more actively and take care of things!"

"He has his position as the supreme elder. I understand."

Leo chuckled.

At his words, Celia smiled faintly.

"If you understand, then spend time with Grandfather this vacation! Show him some tricks!"

"You're the one who should show tricks."

"I've already done plenty, haven't I?"

"Do more."

"This!"

Leo lightly dodged Celia's angry attack and looked puzzled.

"By the way, wasn't there a Lumerne student among the cadet branches? What was his name?"

Celia looked at Leo, who was tilting his head, with an incredulous expression.

"How can you not even remember the name of someone from your own family? It's Barden Gerdinger."

"Oh, was that his name? What happened to him?"

"…He was expelled in the first semester of this year."

"Really? No wonder I haven't seen him."

Celia looked dumbfounded.

"What about brother Lys?"

"Brother Lys went to suppress the eastern rebellion."

Celia sighed.

A few months ago, a rebellion broke out in the eastern part of the Lodren Empire.

A sudden rebellion.

If the empire had demanded tyranny or excessive taxes, it would have been understandable.

But that wasn't the case.

"Brother Lys doesn't need to step up for a small rebellion, but… the imperial family dispatched Brother Lys because there were several suspicious points."

"Hope nothing happens."

"Of course nothing will happen! He's Brother Lys!"

Celia puffed out her chest, looking proud.

"Don't worry about Brother Lys, worry about yourself. The Elders' Council will light a fire in their eyes and rush to reduce whatever you're supposed to receive."

At Celia's words, Leo chuckled.

"Don't worry about that."

Leo clenched and unclenched his hand.

"To be honest, I didn't care much whether I had a lot of territory or not. So I tried to avoid major conflicts if possible. But seeing what they did to Father and Mother, I couldn't."

Leo curled up the corners of his mouth.

Celia, seeing that, suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body.

'Oh, right.'

She suddenly recalled how he treated her like a maid when they first met.

'His personality wasn't good, was it?'

He thoroughly punishes anyone who picks a fight with him first.

She had forgotten that fact.

***

"Lord Lys! A rebel cavalry unit has been spotted ahead."

Lys, who had arrived in the rebel-occupied region in the east with the Gerdinger knights, rose from his seat upon hearing the news brought by the messenger.

"I'll go alone."

"What? But…"

"Are you worried?"

Lys asked with a faint smile, and the knight flinched, then shook his head.

"By no means."

His opponent was the next lord to lead Lodren's strongest knight order.

Furthermore, he was the former student council president of Lumerne.

He was even a great knight who played an active role when the Erebus fragment revived last summer.

A man who had achieved feats worthy of being called a hero.

A rebel cavalry unit was no match for him.

Lys, walking alone onto the vast plain, headed forward without drawing his sword.

'First, it's better to suppress them without fighting.'

Lys had come to quell the rebellion, but not to kill all the rebels.

In fact, every country has forces discontent with the state.

The current emperor of Lodren is excellent.

But that doesn't mean all vassals and citizens have a reason to follow the emperor.

Depending on their interests, political rivals who are anti-emperor factions may arise among the imperial nobles, and there will inevitably be people among the common folk who curse the emperor.

Therefore, small-scale rebellions often occur.

'But this rebellion is definitely strange.'

It was merely a small rebellion of a small domain.

This rebellion had persisted for several months, neither growing nor shrinking.

As soon as the lords of neighboring territories, sent to stop the rebellion by the emperor's order, reported its suppression, the rebellion broke out again.

'The lord who started the rebellion died early on.'

Yet, the residents in the surrounding area of that territory continued to rebel.

'A rebellion without a head.'

It was too strange.

The imperial family also sensed something was wrong.

That's why they requested Gerdinger, who had territory in the east, to suppress the rebellion.

'First, let's find out why the rebellion is happening.'

To do that, they needed people who could talk.

Even if they were rebels, there was no need to kill them.

If they were rioters who plundered other territories or killed civilians, it would be a different story.

At least, judging by their actions so far, these were people who had something to say and were forced to take up arms.

In that case, all that was needed was to make them lose their will to fight with an overwhelming difference in power.

Thud, thud, thud-!

From afar, the rebel cavalry unit charged.

'The way they ride horses and hold weapons is awkward. They're not cavalrymen who received regular training.'

Thinking that, Lys raised his hand.

Whoosh-!

Gerdinger's scarlet flames soared.

At that moment.

"Hee hee heeek!"

"A-A demon! It's a demon's flame!"

"The empire has sent someone who uses demon's flames to massacre us again!"

The cavalrymen charging at Lys fell into a panic and began to scatter in all directions.

Lys, seeing this, put away the flames and narrowed his brows.

"Demon's flame? And again?"