Chapter 92:Embark On The Journey Once More.

“Nice to meet you. Are you also… what they call a possessor, like us?”  

“Uh… yes… n-nice to meet you?”  

“I hope that at least while you’re here, you can take it easy and rest.”  

“Th-thank you…”  

After arriving at the Evergarden family’s mansion, Louis met Freya Evergarden, the countess of the household.  

With her white hair, gentle smile, and a well-en—well, in any case, a kind and beautiful appearance, Freya warmly welcomed Louis.  

However, Louis felt nothing but discomfort and unease.  

“Uh… this might be a bit rude, but can I ask something?”  

“Of course, feel free to ask anything.”  

Having held back for as long as possible, Louis finally decided he couldn’t ignore it anymore and spoke up about what had been bothering him.  

“Why… why are they doing that?”  

“…………….”  

“…………….”  

What had caught his attention was the two siblings kneeling in the corner of the drawing room, arms raised high, with dark, gloomy expressions on their faces.  

“Oh, it looks like you’ve grown quite close to my children. Although we’ve had to move far from where we used to live due to unforeseen circumstances, I believe building reliable relationships like this is a good thing.”  

“No, that’s not the issue! Why are they like that?! They were just waiting outside, then suddenly came into the room and have been staring at me like that ever since! Honestly, it’s really unsettling!”  

“Oh my, no need to worry about them. I simply gave them a little scolding.”  

“How can I not worry when they look like that?! They’ve been muttering to themselves, and it’s giving me the creeps!”  

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sor—”  

“I dream of an octopus, in the octopus’s dream I can do anything—”  

Ever since parting ways in front of the Evergarden mansion, the siblings, who had reappeared, now looked like completely broken people.

Their eyes had lost their spark, and they were huddled in a corner, mumbling to themselves like lunatics.  

The sight was so eerily reminiscent of a horror movie scene that Louis couldn’t take it anymore and jumped up, shouting.  

“Ahh! See?! I told you! They’re half gone! Say something already!”  

Flustered by the chilling scene, Louis turned to Tene, who was sitting beside him, demanding a response.  

“Uh… um…”  

“Tene?”  

“Yes.”  

“You’ve had a hard time dealing with my children. Please get plenty of rest today.”  

“Yes.”  

“Or… is there something else you’d like to say?”  

“No, nothing. As always, thank you very much.”  

Tene, stiff as a board, answered dutifully as he met Freya’s gaze.  

‘If I’m not careful, I’ll end up like those two… Ugh!’  

Even the strongest being in this world, a dragon, couldn’t bring himself to say anything after witnessing that scene.  

Since it had been a while since she last visited the mansion, and she wanted to greet Freya anyway, Rosaria, along with Felix, decided to check the drawing room, curious about what exactly had happened to the two siblings.  

As they approached the room, they carefully pushed the door open just enough to peek inside.  

And then, she saw it.  

The scene before her was so horrifying, so chilling, and so utterly indescribable that she was left speechless.  

“………”

Seeing even Tene in that state, Louis finally gave up on arguing. Letting out a deep sigh, he slumped onto the sofa.  

“So, you’re heading to the North, right?”  

“Yeah, well… it’s the homeland of this body’s original owner, and only the dwarves can refine dragon scales.”  

“I’ve heard that dwarves are an incredibly skilled race when it comes to crafting.”  

“The North, huh… the North…”  

‘The North at this time… The timing is oddly perfect.’  

Setting aside how shameless the two siblings were for heading to the North right after causing a major incident at the academy, the timing was particularly strange.  

‘Setting my annoyance aside, if dragon scales are really that remarkable, our children could be much safer.’  

Freya recalled how, even in modern fiction, materials derived from dragons were considered some of the best.

If they could get their hands on something like that, her children would undoubtedly grow stronger and be safer.  

‘But right now, the North is experiencing a monster breeding season, and Viscount Bjor is up to something. I’ve received several reports confirming that.’  

‘Once this period is over, he’ll probably visit our territory and bring up something related to the monsters…’  

The problem was that Viscount Bjor’s close aides were currently stationed in the North, hunting monsters during their breeding season.  

That said, the North wasn’t a small rural town it was vast. The areas where Bjor’s men were stationed and where Rosaria, Felix, Tene, and Louis were headed, the dwarven kingdom, were quite far apart. There shouldn’t be any reason for them to cross paths.  

‘Still… something feels off…’  

Freya felt an unsettling chill crawl up her spine, as if letting them go like this would inevitably lead to trouble.  

Given the recent academy incident, and the fact that major events always seemed to unfold the moment her children were out of her control, Freya couldn’t shake off her unease.  

‘I have a bad feeling about this, like my son and daughter are going to get caught up in some big disaster.’  

Freya was someone who trusted data and precedent over vague premonitions. But even so, instincts were just one’s accumulated experiences manifesting as subconscious recognition, so she couldn’t ignore it entirely.  

“…You two? Why don’t you come over here now?”  

Clap—  

“Private Kim! Hyun! Soo! I didn’t hear you properly?!”  

“Urgh—?!”  

“Wow… that gave me chills…”  

Lost in thought, Freya suddenly clapped her hands once and called out to the two huddled in the corner.  

The moment she did, the siblings shot up and dashed toward her. Watching them, Louis made a face full of exhaustion.  

“Now, do you two have a real reason why you absolutely have to go to the North?”  

“Uh… um… well… that is…”  

“Uh… well… you see… that thing…”  

Sitting across from Freya, the two siblings fidgeted, unable to meet her gaze, hesitating at her question.  

“I’m not going to scold you like before, so just be honest with me.”  

“Unless… you’d prefer to receive more punishment?”  

“Our guns are supposed to get even better!”  

“We want to get high-quality mana stones and explore the dwarven kingdom!”  

Smiling sweetly, Freya tilted her head. Her words made the siblings freeze before their mouths burst open, spilling out their true intentions.  

“Hmm, I see. So there’s no real reason you have to go?”  

“Th…that’s true.”  

“I see…”  

‘Is it not going to work…?’  

‘That’s disappointing…We even went through the trouble of skipping the academy for this…’  

Hearing Freya’s reaction after listening to their true feelings, Rosaria and Felix shrank back, looking dejected, thinking that their request wouldn’t be granted.  

“Alright, you may go.”  

“It can’t be helped… Wait, huh?!”  

“Really?!”  

Unexpectedly, Freya easily allowed them to travel to the north.  

“However, there is one condition. You must contact me at a set time every day through the crystal ball after you depart.”  

“And don’t say you packed it like last time and then forget to use it, alright?”  

“…So you found out about that.”  

“That much was obvious… Alright, we understand!”  

Although there was a condition, considering their previous mistake, it was quite a generous offer. The siblings nodded without hesitation.  

“Then, shall we eat before continuing our discussion? I already informed Gordon, so he should have the meal ready by now.”  

“Lewis… Was that right?”  

“Just call me Louis.”  

“Oh, I see. Then, Louis, why don’t you join us and enjoy the meal comfortably?”  

“Now that you mention it, I am hungry. Thank you, I’ll gladly eat.”  

With that, Freya wrapped up the conversation, and one by one, they began to rise from their seats.  

“Daughter? Can you stay behind for a moment? I’d like to have a word with you.”  

“Me?”  

As everyone else was leaving, Freya called Felix aside.  

“It won’t take long, so don’t worry.”  

“Hmm… Alright. What do you want to talk about?”  

Though the discussion had officially ended, Felix remained behind to speak with Freya.  

Too absorbed in thoughts of food, the other three didn’t even notice.

“You got it? You have to bring my axe!”  

“I got it already! How many times are you gonna say that?!”  

The Next Day.  

After enjoying a full day of rest with home-cooked meals, Rosaria’s group finished preparing to leave early in the morning.  

In the midst of it all, Rosaria grew tired of  Dariann’s endless request to get him an amazing new axe, snapping in frustration.  

Since he always trained so aggressively, any new axe he got never lasted long before breaking. That’s why he desperately wanted a custom-made weapon, and ever since the night before, he hadn’t stopped pestering Rosaria to make sure she wouldn’t forget.  

“Brother, are you ready? Did you say goodbye to Mom and Dad?”  

“Hey, brother are we finally heading out?”  

“Yeah, all set! Let’s go!”  

“MY AXE!!! If you don’t bring it, I’ll kill you!”  

“I heard you!!! Now hurry up and go!!”  

“Whoa!?”  

“Wait, don’t push me!”  

Thanks to Dariann’s nagging, the group hastily departed the mansion.  

Felix and Louis, who had been waiting for Rosaria, ended up being swept along, stumbling forward as she suddenly pushed them out the front gate.  

Since they planned to stay home for a few more days after finishing their business in the Dwarven nation, they didn’t prepare as extravagantly as they did when they first left for the academy.  

Normally, more attendants would have seen them off, but Rosaria had insisted that they not trouble themselves over it. As a result, their departure was quite simple an unusual sight for nobles.  

“This suits us better anyway.”  

“What about Tene?”  

“He already left for the forest yesterday. We just have to meet him there.”  

“Okay! Let’s go! To the Dwarven nation!”  

Though they were visiting home for the first time in two months, their departure was as chaotic as ever.  

“Honestly… They’re so reckless, my kids.”  

Watching them from her office window, Freya let out a bittersweet smile.  

They had no idea how her heart had nearly stopped when that incident at the academy happened.  

That was the heart of a parent something they were still too young to understand.  

“Come back safely.” 

“MY AXE!!! DON’T FORGET IT!!!”  

 Dariann’s thunderous voice echoed from the front gate, shaking the mansion.  

Freya decided to ignore it.  

Sometimes, it feels like I’m raising three kids instead of two.