Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

-

His father, the king, is not a normal person. Being able to recover half of the key already said a lot about his strength, ability, and those things he couldn't see, such as hidden regiments of very powerful people. Although they didn't exist in the novel, it was highly likely that they existed here, now that so many things had changed. That's why he had to take everything into account.

"That's why I wanted to ask for your help, Young Lord," Maxwell said, looking at Alaric. "I know your territories have recently been in chaos due to that guy's theft. We can help you find him, but..."

"It's all right, Mr. Maxwell." Alaric decided to take the initiative this time. "I understand, and I will help you. Anyway, from what you're telling me, it seems we can't cross over to the other side, right?"

"That's right, young sir. People don't usually travel through these parts, except for a few brave souls. Even so, I've seen that everyone who goes that way in a carriage ends up being turned back to the other road, no matter who they are," he assured him, although he looked at Ryan, who was listening silently.

"Although, being a prince and a lady as distinguished as the Larsens, you might be able to pass. It would just be a matter of trying your luck."

Cecily knew it. If she went, there was no way they would not let her pass, and the same was true for Alaric. The issue was Ryan.

If what Maxwell said was true, there could be an "enemy" of Ryan there. Being so far from the castle, anyone who found him and was on the enemy side might think of killing him to get him out of the way.

So the idea of passing through there by normal means was ruled out. Either they crossed the mountains, which was extremely difficult and deadly, or they turned back. There was no other alternative, unless they confronted those idiots who surrounded them, which was a more plausible option for getting there in the short term.

Or rather, for doing something in the short term. The longest route was more than a month away.

The shortest route, through the mountains, meant facing countless beasts of unknown levels, deadly traps, perhaps unknown and deadly ruins, or even Kazaks who were in the mountains without anyone noticing.

The other route meant facing royal dukes and their troops, with a possible prince in their ranks.

Naturally, Ryan chose to confront the prince. It had been his plan since before he arrived, although he hadn't expected things between Alaric and Maxwell to turn out well. He had originally planned to do it differently, but this way wasn't bad.

And his choice coincided with Cecily's, who always wants to participate in dangerous missions.

Alaric had no choice. He generally dislikes chaos and prefers solitude, but there are times when he can't avoid confronting problematic people; this is one of those cases.

"How strong is the other side, Mr. Maxwell? Have you gathered any information about them?" Ryan asked, finally deciding to join the conversation.

"There are two Level 6s on the ground. I don't know them. They wear hoods to hide their identities, but they managed to get through the mountains and attack us from behind," he said, gesturing with his hand to open the curtain of one of the windows in the distance.

"You can see the destruction left behind after I confronted them when they attacked us from behind," he said.

"Did anyone die?" Alaric asked.

"Some," Maxwell replied with a sigh and looked back at them. "They were wounded too, one more than the other. But they still have a lot of people, and the fact that they attacked my envoys like that is proof of that."

"And to get to you, they had to go through the mountains twice," Ryan said, causing Maxwell to nod.

"Don't worry, you can leave the initial intelligence gathering to me. No one knows these mountains better than I do, so I think I can find the routes they used to infiltrate. In fact, I was getting ready to do just that when I saw the carriage arrive," he said. "But I'll need the help of one of those horses later... or at least I think we'll need them."

Alaric nodded. "Don't worry, I will avenge Lord Milo, so I will use all my horses to wreak havoc. I won't let this war drag on too long."

Maxwell smiled. "Very well, young lord. I will trust you and try to make this mission a success." He stood up. "I'll find someone to prepare some rooms for you, so wait here for a while."

After he left, Cecily looked at Ryan. "Who do you think he is?" she asked.

"It's Brandon," he replied.

"He got here very quickly, didn't he? He was at the castle not long ago."

Ryan nodded. He knew it was thanks to the King, but as far as he knew, there were no long-distance trains in this world, so there was no way he could have come by train.

There are no planes either, and the magic of teleportation over such long distances is only possible using Kazak portals. It was impossible for the king to be allied with those creatures, and opening a long-distance portal is usually very conspicuous, so he had to rule out that possibility, even though it seemed the most feasible.

But then, how did he do it?

"A tunnel?" Ryan thought, as it seemed the most likely possibility.

If a single man, Magnus, managed to create a gigantic base for a fairly large organization that had been operating for many years, how much more could such a large and rich kingdom build?

"That would be a big change from the novel," he thought.

Although, it wasn't really that important, because right now he just wanted to understand what he used to get there so fast.

While he was pensive, it was Alaric who spoke.

"I heard that recently, Count Arthur was working on new forms of transportation that could revolutionize the global transportation industry. Maybe it was his work."

"Count Arthur?" Ryan frowned and glanced at Cecily surreptitiously. He had no information in his mind that told him anything about who he was.

"I see, a new way to travel long distances? That guy really has the power to do it," he replied.

"Damn it, say something else." Ryan almost cried in his mind. He must be one of those men who came after the great changes he caused during his first life, but then, who exactly was he?

"From the way you talk, it seems like you know something," Alaric said, looking at her.

"Maybe." Cecily shrugged. "Some of my business revolves around selling certain specially manufactured materials to his companies, so I'm a little aware of some of his big moves. Benefits of being the one who sells to him."

"You do business with the richest count in the empire?" he asked, astonished. "Sometimes I envy the Larsens. They're so good at business that even small companies can get contracts with that man."

"Hahaha..."

The two began to talk, Cecily proud of her achievements and those of her family, and Alaric sighing continuously.

Ryan was able to glean a lot of information from their exchange. For example, the Count is not only the "richest Count," which means exactly the same thing for any nobleman. He is the richest man in the kingdom, and some say that his wealth exceeds even the combined wealth of the annexed kingdoms.

And it makes sense.

He appears to be a man in his 50s who achieved noble status without previously belonging to the nobility and without having done anything in the war to earn it, solely because of his great achievements in inventions, as he is the greatest innovator in the world today.

In the novel, the security technology based on spirituality that was present in El Mayordomo Hospital and is present in the special underground rooms, usually used for training, appeared out of nowhere.

Its origin was not explained, and it really didn't matter; it was just technology. But it did not appear in novel 1.

And it was the same in his first life. That technology was not there.

In this second life, Count Arthur is the one who invented that technology. Perhaps he was a character who existed in the novel but was not mentioned, or perhaps he simply appeared out of nowhere and turned out to be a great inventor.

He was completely unknown, but he was a very intelligent guy. Although he is not powerful, he does not even seem to belong to one of the Paths, but he is the father of one of the people who best understands the Walkers, without being a Walker himself.

Madam Learning, Leader of Learning of the Kingdom, President of Evigheden Central University, and wife of the Eighth Prince.

This is why she has so many doors open to her in the nobility, in academic circles, and even in royalty. She can practically cover everything, which allows her to secure larger contracts and outperform her competitors.

This benefits the King. He doesn't care if a monopoly is formed. He firmly believes that during an apocalypse like the one they were experiencing, where their enemies are eating more and more of their land, monopolies of capable people are necessary.

"That whole story sounds very nice, but he's really someone who appeared here out of nowhere," Ryan thought.

He didn't like that idea.

He, too, had once appeared out of nowhere.

What if that man was like him?

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.