Chapter 358: 358

Chapter 358 Manuscrip

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 . ”

“Why?”

“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 . ”

“She’s already very strong . ” Cage found it odd . “She’s a Master Great Swordsman . Though she is focused on Agility, her physical qualities are not bad at all . ”

“I know, but she can be stronger . ”

Cage hesitated for a moment, as if he were too embarrassed to talk, but in the end, he said, “I’m not saying that . Not that I disrespect you, but you’re only an Elite and some distance from being a Master . While you can make out with Anna now, you won’t be able to poke her if she grows stronger . ”

Roland didn’t get it first, but after considering for a few seconds, he almost burst into laughter .

He was of a mind to say that he still had Extreme Body Fortification if necessary . But then, he realized that he might fall into the guy’s trap if he said that .

He stared at Cage and said, amused, “Is that what an uncle should do? Mmake fun of your niece?”

“That’s a serious question,” Cage said solemnly . “Anna was the queen in the past, so I didn’t say anything . But now that she’s with you, she must have children, mustn’t she? A woman’s life is incomplete without children . ”

Roland waved his hand . “I don’t want to talk about that . ”

“Then let’s talk about something else,” Cage said with a joking grin . “Is your friend very familiar with the Hero’s family?”

“Yes, he is . ”

“Well, can you tell me his name?”

“I can’t say it . ”

“You can’t say it, or you daren’t say it?” asked Cage .

Roland said solemnly, “I can’t say it . ”

“Then it’s odd . ” Crossing his arms, Cage said in confusion, “Andonara hasn’t inherited much of the Hero bloodline power, as can be seen from her inability to cast blue flames . She’s simply a talented Warrior . ”

Roland listened quietly .

“But your friend is very confident that there’s a way for Anna to grow stronger here?” Cage considered for a moment and said, “Am I missing anything here? It doesn’t make sense…”

Roland was about to talk, when Andonara called from downstairs, “Uncle, Roland, come here . It’s time for dinner . ”

When they went to the dining room, they found that everybody was in position except them .

Cage sat down at the host’s seat, and Roland sat down next to Andonara .

It was the only empty seat at the table . Everybody had specifically saved it for him .

The dishes on the table looked delicious . Instead of giving a long and tedious speech, Cage simply expressed his welcome again and asked the guests to enjoy the food .

The dinner tasted quite nice .

After dinner, everybody chit-chatted for a while before they returned to their bedrooms . After all, they were all exhausted after the long journey .

Roland, on the other hand, was taken to a room on the third floor by Andonara .

“This is where I lived when I was little . My father would drop me here whenever he had to travel for business . ”

Andonara spun in the room, and her dress swirled like a white flower .

She obviously missed the good old times .

Roland looked around . The room seemed plain without much furniture, but upon closer look, he found that all the furniture was made of expensive wood .

Also, the room was tidy without any smell, which implied that it had been cleaned regularly .

Andonara dragged Roland to the bed and laid her hand on Roland’s shoulder, before she said in disappointment, “I had planned to introduce you to my father . But he’s still out . ”

Roland hadn’t been able to talk yet when someone knocked on the door .

Andonara opened the door, only to see Cage outside .

“Uncle?”

“Sorry to interrupt you . ” Cage walked in and put a manuscript before Roland . “I thought about what you said for a long time . If you have to name one thing that’s strange in this house, it will be this manuscript . ”

“Didn’t you say that Hero Kelter didn’t leave any kind of notes or records?”

“He didn’t, but this manuscript is rather odd . ”

Roland accepted it and opened it, only to be surprised too .