Chapter 66. Valeria and the Tidelan Kingdom
Logaris West’s voice was calm, as if he were rely stating an objective fact.
Reynard’s body, however, stiffened instantly.
Logaris West paced slowly and unhurriedly walked up to Reynard, his gaze lingering for a mont on the man’s deep ocean-blue hair.
“If I rember correctly, that should be the characteristic of the Royal Knights of Toren from the coastal kingdom of Tidelan, a nation that has already been destroyed.”
“Co to think of it, the Tidelan Kingdom was wiped out by the Valeria Empire… about thirteen years ago, wasn’t it?”
The mont his words fell, the air inside the Council Chamber seed to freeze.
Reynard’s golden pupils contracted abruptly as he stared fixedly at Logaris West.
The cold indifference that had kept everyone at a distance was instantly torn apart, replaced by a mixture of shock, anger, and pain.
Logaris West t his gaze without the slightest change in expression.
Behind his lenses, those pale blue eyes were as calm as a bottomless lake, as if they could see through the deepest secrets of the human heart.
Having his origins exposed so directly made Reynard extrely uncomfortable.
Sylvia stood to the side watching, saying nothing.
She knew that although Logaris West had a sharp tongue and an eccentric temperant, in situations like this he always managed to achieve the most effective result in the most direct and brutal way.
He discarded all hypocritical pleasantries and went straight to the point.
After a long silence, Reynard’s tightly pressed lips finally moved.
Several words were forced out through clenched teeth.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I am not trying to say anything.”
Logaris West spread his hands with an innocent expression.
“I am simply confirming sothing, so that if a fight breaks out later, we do not accidentally harm an ally.”
“After all, you appear to be hunting those cultists, which theoretically makes you our friend.”
“However, I am quite curious about what kind of connection exists between you and those cultists.”
After a long mont, Reynard took a deep breath and finally stopped being evasive.
“My na is Reynard Toren.”
By introducing himself, he effectively acknowledged Logaris West’s deduction.
“I do indeed co from the destroyed Tidelan Kingdom.”
“I am tracking that cult because I only recently discovered that they had a hand in the fall of the Tidelan Kingdom all those years ago.”
“I wander constantly, and only a few days ago did I happen to discover their traces in the Northern Territory.”
I see.
Sylvia and Logaris West exchanged a glance and imdiately understood.
National hatred and family vengeance.
A lone wolf seeking revenge.
“Then it can be said that our objectives are completely aligned.”
Logaris West pushed up his glasses, and a calculating glint flashed across the lenses.
“According to the intelligence we have obtained, mbers of this ‘Corruption Cult’ are present within the Demi-Human Empire army that is about to invade the Northern Territory.”
“Furthermore, their ranks are not low, and there is a high probability that so high-ranking figures will appear.”
“Helping us is equivalent to helping yourself.”
“You may obtain from them the answers you have been seeking.”
This proposal was like a perfectly placed bait cast directly before Reynard.
Reynard’s brows slowly drew together.
He had been investigating for so long, yet all he had managed to eliminate were minor underlings.
He had not encountered even a single real leader.
The one Fifth-Tier opponent he had finally encountered had already been killed.
The temptation was enormous.
But…
“I am a ‘Judicator’ of the Court of Equivalence.”
He spoke each word slowly and deliberately, as if reminding himself and warning the others at the sa ti.
“My duty is to judge evil and ensure that sinners repay their blood debts in the sa manner.”
“I do not wish to beco involved in a war between nations.”
This was his principle.
It was also his final line.
He had seen too many wars.
When nations clashed, it was always the common people who ultimately suffered.
He had no desire to beco a re cog in a massive war machine.
Sylvia had been listening quietly the entire ti.
Only now did she finally speak.
Her voice was no longer the formulaic tone of aristocratic etiquette, but carried a chilling edge.
“A war between nations?”
She repeated Reynard’s words, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of her lips.
She stepped forward, her heeled boots striking the marble floor with crisp “tap, tap” sounds as she walked toward Reynard.
“Mr. Reynard, tell sothing.”
“If a territory that has always been law-abiding, devoted to developing its people’s livelihood, and has never initiated any conflict suddenly faces a full-scale invasion from a neighboring nation under a fabricated accusation—”
“Does that count as a ‘war between nations’?”
Reynard was montarily speechless.
Sylvia’s silver-gray eyes were now as sharp as unsheathed blades, piercing straight into his heart.
“Does this scene not feel familiar to you?”
“A peaceful nation.”
“A group of greedy neighbors.”
“And an absurd excuse.”
“Thirteen years ago, was that not exactly the sa play that unfolded in the Tidelan Kingdom?”
BOOM!
Every word Sylvia spoke struck Reynard’s heart like a heavy hamr.
The calmness and principles he had always prided himself on were shattered in that instant.
Yes.
How similar it was.
Was that not exactly what the Tidelan Kingdom had been?
Prosperous and peaceful.
Yet because it stood in soone else’s way, it had been effortlessly crushed and erased from the map.
He seed to see the towering flas once again.
He heard the wails of his people.
He felt the despair and cold of the road of exile.
Reynard let out a heavy sigh.
Those words beca the final straw that broke his resistance.
“You have convinced .”
“For the sake of justice, I will act.”
“But the premise is that they truly are colluding with those cultists.”
“Of course.”
A victorious smile appeared on Sylvia’s face.
She turned slightly and gave an order to a Shadow Guard.
“Take Mr. Toren to a guest room to rest.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
A Shadow Guard appeared silently beside Reynard and gestured politely.
Reynard did not even glance at the man.
He truly despised these agents who lurked within the shadows.
He simply gave a slight nod to Sylvia and Logaris West before following the Shadow Guard out.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded.
Silence returned to the Council Chamber once more.
Logaris West adjusted his glasses and walked over to Sylvia, a playful smile lingering on his lips.
“You went to such lengths just to recruit a Fourth-Tier knight?”
“The Northern Territory is not exactly short of capable fighters right now.”
Sylvia did not answer imdiately.
She walked to the massive sand-table map in the center of the Council Chamber.
The terrain of the entire Northern Territory and the surrounding nations was displayed there in ticulous detail.
Her finger lightly traced across the territory of the Valeria Empire before finally stopping at a coastal region.
That place had once been the holand of the Tidelan Kingdom.
“A peak Fourth-Tier knight cannot stir much on a battlefield of tens of thousands.”
Her voice was soft, yet carried the cold clarity of soone who saw the entire chessboard.
“But a living Royal Knight of Toren from the Tidelan Kingdom, carrying the hatred of a fallen nation… that is different.”
Logaris West imdiately understood her aning.
“You intend to turn him into a banner?”
“A banner?”
Sylvia let out a faint laugh.
“He is not qualified for that yet.”
“He is rely an idle chess piece.”
Calculation glimred within her silver-gray eyes.
“The Valeria Empire annexed the Tidelan Kingdom more than a decade ago, yet resistance there has never ceased.”
“However, those resistance forces have no leader.”
“They are nothing more than scattered sand.”
“But what if one day this idle chess piece appears before them?”
“A legitimate Royal Knight of Toren.”
She paused slightly.
“Tell … would the Emperor of Valeria start to feel a headache?”
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