Chapter 7: Toward a new story

After returning home, Ren’s heart was filled with a number of thoughts.

He was naturally happy, but he also felt a strong sense of responsibility that he didn’t have before returning home and he knew what he had to do in the future, which made him feel more determined.

It was the same night that Ren returned to Clausel.

“Master, I’ve checked.”

Weiss came with a mysterious expression on his face to the office where Ren was talking with Lessard.

“Everything is in line with the boy’s report. The horns are definitely Asval’s.”

Weiss had never seen Asval with his own eyes.

However, he was convinced when he saw the horns brought to the mansion.

He realized that it was a fact beyond doubt, as was the star agate, as was Ren’s report.

“Hahahaha!”

Lessard, who had heard the story, laughed high in his seat on the sofa.

“I’m not surprised anymore! If it wasn’t Ren, I’d laugh it off!”

“Le—Lessard-sama… I’m sorry…”

“No, don’t worry about it.  There will be no extra witnesses.”

“How did it end up in my village, anyway?”

“Take a look at this. Perhaps it went down the underground river.”

Lessard spread out a map on the table in front of the sofa. The topography of the territory was marked with blue lines.

“There are rivers around the Baldor Mountains that are fed by melting snow, right?”

Ren nodded his head yes.

The river was the pathway through the hidden stage in the Baldor Mountains that Ren and Fiona had been trying to get to when they escaped.

“The underground rivers in that area are connected to several rivers in our territory.”

“I see. It’s true that the corner of the river flows into it….. but does it conveniently flow into my village?”

“I agree. Honestly, I think it’s too convenient and feels contrived—- but that’s what actually happened. It’s probably true that it washed up in the village of the Ashtons.”

Lessard shrugged.

If so, what about the relationship between Asval and Ashton family ancestors?

He wondered if it would be a good idea to crown it in this world, but Ren couldn’t help but think of something fantastical.

(It’s like he had a connection with the Ashtons and was drawn to them or something)

While that didn’t seem realistic either, in light of Asval’s power, he couldn’t kick it out.

Rather than being drawn to it, the theory that it went from the location in the Baldor Mountains to his village seems more plausible.

“Oh dear boy, I was surprised too. I was enjoying the boy’s recollections of his village and I didn’t expect to see a horn like that.”

Those stories were shared at the dinner table when Ren and Licia took turns sharing their memories.

After everyone was at peace with the story of Ren helping to build the village walls and roads, the topic was suddenly thrown into the conversation like a bomb.

“Ha-ha…By the way, Licia-sama, how is she doing?”

“The young lady is looking at the corner with great interest.”

“Oh, that’s just like Licia-sama.”

The question is, what should we do with the horn?

“My Lord, Asval’s horn must be an imperfect material, different from its original state, due to its undead state. But even so, it’s of inestimable value.”

But it’s difficult to say whether it can be sold on the market.

It’s just a material, and if one recalls the incident between Marquis Ignat and Fiona, it’s inevitable that putting it on the market would cause unnecessary disputes.

Therefore, it has become a precious commodity that Ren was a little worried about.

(What should we do?)

Ren, troubled, suddenly clapped his hands as if he had just thought of something.

“How about consulting Marquis Ignat …….Lessard-sama?”

“I was actually thinking the same thing. Marquis Ignat owes you a great debt of gratitude, Ren. So I think he’d be willing to consult with us.”

“Then that’s where the invitation I received comes in.”

By invitation, Ren meant the one left by Edgar, a close servant of the Marquis of Ignat.

(I can’t turn my back on him.)

He still has a hard time with Marquis Ignat because of the memories of his gaming days that keep snatching at the back of his mind.

However, Ren wasn’t as evasive as he used to be, partly because he had contacted him several times through the Clausel family after the Asval fiasco.

Considering the material this time around, he had no trouble making that decision.

“No, keep that one.”

“–eh?”

“You should keep the invitation that you received. That invitation is proof that Marquis Ignat has recognized you as a guest…. because when the time comes and you’re in trouble, you can ask for help in other matters.”

“I see. As the master said, there’s no need for the boy to make such a move.”

Weiss follows Lessard’s lead, and Ren blinks repeatedly.

“Oh, well, we’re still in touch about the winter, and you don’t need to use the invitation you got.”

But that’s not what Lessard and Weiss wanted to say.

The two had another reason for saying what they had just said.

It was —-

“When summer comes, there’ll be a party in the imperial capital.”

Lessard said and took out a letter of invitation from his pocket.

It was a luxurious one, stamped with pure gold sealing wax.

“It’s a simple, common party. Nobles of all factions are invited to mingle in the host’s mansion and perform belly tricks under the guise of hardwork.”

“Is Marquis Ignat going to be there by any chance?”

When Lessard was asked this, he nodded.

“The Marquis wants to meet and talk with me once. He arranged the party at the request of a nobleman with whom he has a close relationship.”

“You don’t mean to say that this is a party just for him to talk with you, Lessard-sama?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

The party that Lessard, who hadn’t been to the imperial capital much in recent years, would be attending, Ren understood the intention.

This is not something that would cross anyone’s mind to refuse.

“In other words, Marquis Ignat was concerned about you Lessard-sama, who is in a different faction.”

“Mm… No doubt about that.”

Ren also learned after getting involved with Marquis Ignat that this great nobleman was more loyal than he had imagined, and he never lacked respect even when dealing with a Baron like Lessard.

The power in his possession could be seen, but he behaved in a gentlemanly manner.

When the conversation had settled down.

“I wanted to ask you both something.”

Ren had intended to ask about the Ashton family’s ancestry in relation to the Asval horns mentioned earlier in the conversation.

“I was wondering if you could tell me about my Ashton ancestry, if you know anything about it.”

“What’s the rush? What’s going on?”

Ren was right to think that it was sudden.

Ren told them what Roy had told him. He also told them the words that Asval had said to him, thinking that these two would be able to help him.

“That’s about that —-“

“An adventurer who was an ancestor of the Ashtons…. I’m sorry to say, but I’ve never heard of him. How about you, Weiss?”

“Likewise I haven’t. However, Asval’s words and Roy’s story seem to be related. I can only wonder why you have no knowledge of such an ancestor of the Ashtons.”

“Ah. If it were true, it deserved to go down in history.”

The two men have no recollection of reading any such books in the library of the mansion.

“But I have been looking again at your village after the Viscount Givens fiasco.”

“Did you wonder why they went out of their way to target that frontier?”

“Yes, I did. But I couldn’t find any information that bothered me. In the case of remote villages, it’s more common for their histories to remain unknown, and that village was no exception.”

“Haha… so that’s how it is……”

“Didn’t the village pharmacist know anything about this? In this case, it’s important to rely on the information that the oldest person in the village knows.”

“In case you’re wondering, I asked about it, but they didn’t know.”

“Then, there may be no way to find out……”

The only oral information we have is what Roy told him. If there are no documents left in the lord’s mansion, then he has no choice but to give up.

“If, as the boy said, for some reason or another, they haven’t made their mark on history…”

He crossed his arms and put his hand over his mouth as he thought.

“The only beings who could erase a person from history who could surpass Asval, even here in Leomel, would be the Emperor and the Seven Heroes.”

“Weiss-sama, is that —-?”

“If I’m correct, it may be a very complicated situation.”

Weiss shrugged his shoulders.

The conversation gradually became less and less simple, and even the Emperor and the Seven Heroes came up in the conversation.

If this happens, it is not something that the three of us here can talk about lightly after a chat.

Shrugging his shoulders as well, Lessard exhaled, “Well then”.

“I might be able to find some information in the Imperial Library.”

He reached for the teacup on the table, uttering words that Ren also knew.

(Is it the forbidden library?)

In the Imperial Library, where you can visit in the Legend of the Seven Heroes, there seems to be a section called the Forbidden Library —-.

Apparently because it’s not a place that players can visit. It’s a place that’s under strict control, and as such, it’s a place where only information is available, thereby befitting the name “Forbidden Library”

“But —-Fufu, I see.”

“My Lord? Why are you smiling?”

“Because I finally understand a little. Weiss must know who’s in a position to visit the forbidden library.”

“…… You don’t mean when Viscount Givens was assistant to the Minister of Justice?”

“Yes, that’s right. The only people who can visit the forbidden library are its caretaker and a few others. The only other people who have access to the forbidden library are the Emperor, the yet-to-be-decided Crown prince, the Minister of Justice, and his aides.”

Ren, who had been listening to information he had never heard before, understood much.

(Viscount Givens found out something about the Ashton family in the forbidden library, so that’s why he went out of his way to get his hands on such a frontier…. So that’s how it is.)

I don’t understand it.

This set my teeth on edge.

“But it’s interesting. what was Viscount Givens’s motive for making a move on the Ashtons and isn’t that motive likely to lie dormant in the forbidden library?”

“I’m certain it is. But I also understand a little more about the reason why he made a move on the Ashtons.”

“Mm. They have an ancestor that overwhelmed Asval. It is understandable to think that he’d target Ren who was born into the Ashton family.  It’s not surprising to think that he has the blood of the hero, Ruin in him.”

(That’s not true… ……)

Having said this in his mind, Ren thinks about Vane, the hero in the legend of the Seven Heroes. He couldn’t rule out the possibility of a hero’s collateral lineage as zero, but he could imagine that it was as close to zero as possible.

“But ……”

Ren chuckled after a cough.

“Even if there’s a possibility that information is left behind, there’s nothing we can do if it’s in the forbidden library.”

Since the place is inaccessible, the opportunity to go check it out will probably never present itself.

…… Unless Ren or someone he knows is able to visit the Forbidden Library.

***(The name of the Hero Loren has been adjusted from this story to “Ruin” in accordance with the book version.)

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