Chapter 22: Looking to the Sky

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

After putting a special mark in the secret letter, he rolled it up and meticulously sealed it with wax. Then, Viscount Andrew gently heaved a breath as he thought back to check if he had missed out anything or made any mistakes.

It should be all fine. The details of what they agreed upon earlier had already been included in the secret letter. He wrote in a very real and credible manner. Viscount Andrew was quite confident in his ability to come up with the story. He thought that anyone who read the secret letter would believe that he was really the witness to ‘that incident’.

The rest was up to the old King, who was far away at the capital, and whether he would be willing to believe this incident.

No. Rather, it was up to him if he would want to recognize the truth of the incident.

This was quite a risky move, but Viscount Andrew was not someone opposed to taking risks. Without taking any risks, he would never have stood out from the seven siblings and become the successor to the Leslie Clan.

He just did not expect that his new venture would involve the Cecil Clan.

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That was a clan in decline, having withdrawn from the kingdom’s politics a hundred years ago. Today, it had reached an extent that its numbers were so small that they were about to naturally die out.

Viscount Andrew had always been kept up to date with news of his ‘neighbors’. Not only was this because their territories were beside each other, and thus they were engaged in trade, but it was also because the Cecil Clan’s decline had been aggravated in the past few years, and if it were to continue at the same rate, Andrew could expect to double the size of the Leslie territory in his lifetime. The young lady, who had quickly inherited their clan’s territory, was not qualified to be a leader. Though she might be hardworking, her clan’s territory was not something that she could sustain.

It was just that fate had pulled a joke on everyone, in a way that no one could have expected. Upon hearing that Cecil territory was destroyed by monsters, he was stupefied. Upon hearing that those monsters were similar to those which appeared with the Dark Wave according to historical records, he was stupefied. Upon hearing from merchants that a dragon had appeared, he was stupefied. However, when Rebecca and Herti Cecil brought with them a man, who claimed to be their ancestor, to the castle… Viscount Andrew showed great composure and readiness to accept that fact.

That was because he had become used to being stupefied.

But after ending the conversation with the ‘great ancestor’, Viscount Andrew returned to his chambers and thought that he had made the right decision.

A dying noble lineage and a piece of burnt land were worthless. No matter how you tried to exploit it, nothing could be gained from it. If he wanted to make up for what it cost him, he might as well give up being an exploiter and just be the generous neighbor. Moreover, the ‘great ancestor’ being alive was very crucial. Viscount Andrew was already ninety percent convinced to the truth of the matter. Whether Cecil family had the old ancestor with them made a huge difference.

He sealed the secret letter in a silver tube, wrapped a magic thread around the silver tube, and then gave it to the old butler standing next to him, “Give it to the best ranger messenger. Get him to ride the gryphon. Get him to deliver it to the Silver Castle after the first messenger arrives but before anyone from the Cecil clan reaches.”

The butler took the silver tube and was about to leave when Viscount Andrew stopped him. “Wait. Also, go to the vault and return the gold and silver to the Cecils, all that was taken from them.”

“Yes, my lord. Is that all?”

“That’s enough for now. Before they set off, I will prepare a little as a token for their journey.”

The situation had taken a turn. The ‘compensation’ he greedily took from them was now like a hot potato on his hands. Returning the money was only the first step, but he should not be too hasty.

Viscount Andrew thought carefully. He hoped that this ancient man from 700 years ago could understand his sincerity.

Day quickly turned to night.

Gawain, dressed in a nightshirt, opened the door to the balcony from his room and came to the terrace on the second floor of the viscount’s castle.

There was no moon at night in this world, but deep in the sky were more stars than on earth. Those twinkling stars brought cool light to the earth. Each ray of starlight was unfamiliar to Gawain.

Ever since he came to this world, he liked to look up at the sky regardless of whether it was day or night. In the day, he looked at the huge and not too dazzling ‘sun’, and at night, he looked up at the moonless night sky.

His gaze wandered among the stars as he tried to find an unmoving, special celestial body.

But this was bound to be a futile attempt. There were so many stars, and he did not have enough knowledge or data. It would not be possible for him to locate the position where he originally overlooked the land. Even if he found it, he would not be able to make it out of all the stars in the sky.

But he just could not help it because he knew better than anyone else the secrets hidden in this world’s sky. There was something there. Perhaps it was some kind of surveillance system, a satellite, a space station, or a ship. Although it was very likely that it had been shut down now, he could not rule out the possibility that there were others like it in the sky.

He used to be part of that surveillance system. This was the closest guess that Gawain had come up with after thinking about it for many days.

If he did not have the experience of overlooking the land. If he had become Gawain Cecil upon arriving here, then he would not have this knowledge at all, and he would not have the corresponding concerns. But since he knew about this, as a modern-minded soul from Earth, he could not restrain his curiosity about the sky… and his worries.

What exactly was hanging in the sky? How would that thing or those things affect this place? Would that thing or those things peacefully remain up there? Who created that thing or those things if there was a creator? What could be their motive?

All this gave Gawain an indescribable sense of anxiety. It was just like if people on Earth suddenly found out that an alien spacecraft was parked in the orbit above them. Even if the ship had not moved for hundreds of thousands of years, it would be difficult for them to not worry.

They would need to know where they came from and what they wanted before they could sleep at ease.

And even without this worry, Gawain could not turn a blind eye to the sky just because he was plainly curious.

“Speaking of which, you always look up at the sky every day, either at the sun or the stars.”

A girl’s voice suddenly came from behind him. Gawain looked back and saw the half-elf bandit girl sitting on the railing of the terrace, her back facing outward. She was smiling, and her legs were swinging under the railing, as though she was completely not afraid of falling.

Gawain looked at her. “It’s not polite to sneak into someone’s balcony in the middle of the night and surprise them.”

“The night is my world. There are shadows everywhere. I can go wherever I want.” Amber swayed on the railing, and her body then blended into the shadows. In the next moment, she appeared on the other side of the balcony. “Besides, you’re a 700-year-old hero. Don’t tell me you’re scared of someone suddenly talking to you at night?”

Gawain was embarrassed to admit that he did get goosebumps just now…

“Speaking of which, just what are you looking at every day?” Amber looked at Gawain quietly, so she changed the topic. “You can tell the direction by looking at the sun in the day. Could it be that you look at the stars at night for divination? You know astrology too?”

“What do you think is in the sky?” Gawain returned with a question.

“In the sky? The stars and the sun?” Amber answered casually. “Oh, oh yeah… you’re not going to tell me that the palaces of the gods are in the sky as well and try to preach to me, are you?” Well, I’m not interested. I believe in the shadow and the Goddess of the Night, Lady Night. Lady Night’s kingdom is in the deepest part of the starless night. It’s a completely different place from the real world’s sky. I only need to close my eyes and pray for a moment to pay my respects! ”

“You’re an actual believer of the Goddess of the Night?” Gawain looked at Amber in surprise. Although he did not hold any beliefs, he had learned quite a bit of knowledge from Gawain Cecil’s memory of the religions of this world. Those gods and religions of all kinds was an eye-opener for him, and at the same time, he took them at a respectful distance. However, he never would have thought that the bandit who seemed far from devout was actually someone of a belief.

“Yeah, why not? Anyways, Lady Night neither asks for offerings nor sends any messages. I don’t need to go somewhere at sometime to worship or make sacrifices or whatnot. I don’t even need to pay a single coin, why not choose to believe?” Amber spoke casually of what a true believer might see as disgraceful. “And the way of the shadows is somewhat related to Lady Night’s power. Sometimes I feel that my prayers actually make me stronger, but I always found out later that it was just a psychological effect from drinking too much.”

Gawain’s mouth twitched, and he decided to ignore the half-elf, who talked too much nonsense.

She was a total disgrace to the elves. What was the other half of her bloodline? She was also a disgrace to that bloodline.

“Hey hey, why aren’t you talking?” Amber was not going to let him off. “You haven’t answered me yet. What do you look at?”

Gawain gave her a sidewards glance. “Have you ever heard the saying that after death, the soul will return to the sky and wander among the stars. Every star in the sky is actually the soul of someone who died…”

“I’ve never heard of it. I heard that after a believer dies, the soul will be taken away by the god that he believes in, and he can have all the fun in the world in that godly kingdom. For those who don’t believe in anything, their souls will all be taken by the Reaper. The wife of the Reaper will then use an iron comb to comb away all their memories and throw them back into the world. So there are some people who say that all living beings are believers of the Reaper by default regardless of their beliefs,” Amber prattled on, “Your theory is also quite interesting. People will go up to the sky after they die? Is this what the religions taught 700 years ago?”

Gawain felt slightly awkward. “No, this is…”

“Ah, yes! You died before!” Amber’s eyes widened, staring at Gawain as though she had found a new continent. In a blink, she appeared before him, coming up close as she asked him impatiently, “Did you rise up into the sky when you died? What is it like when you die? I wanna know!”

“Go go go away!” Gawain pushed Amber’s face aside forcibly. “When you die, you don’t know anything, understand? I was just kidding!”

“Tss…” Amber stared at Gawain for a long time. After confirming that he really did not want to tell her, she turned her head away. “Old people are so boring.”

Gawain: “Say that again?!”

Suddenly, Amber disappeared.