Except for Lylia, everyone else seemed to have a very good impression of Frey.
Shepard let out a low laugh.
"Come to think of it, you know Sonia right?"
"I met her in the Ispania mountains."
"I heard about that. She said you wiped out a band of mercenaries by yourself. From a lich to mercenaries…and I know you are two years younger than Peran which makes this achievement even more unbelievable."
It was not just a compliment.
Frey narrowed his eyes slightly as Shepard continued speaking as though it was simply a passing statement.
"But what kind of business could you have in the Hell
Mountains?" "…"
The timing of his question was simply exquisite.
Frey, of course, had no intention of telling the truth, but he had gotten a clue as to what Shepard was trying to do.
Everything the Duke had said up to that point was to ask that question.
Frey responded without expression.
"I had personal business."
"Hoo. Personal business?"
"It is only a trivial matter, not something that would be of interest to my Lord."
When Frey smiled and said those words, Shepard didn't continue to dig.
He simply looked at Frey with a slightly interesting expression and no longer mentioned the topic.
For a while, there were conversations about many different things. Things about the academy, the magic tower, and other families.
As their conversation progressed, Shepard once again spoke as if he had just remembered something.
"There is some magic I was working on recently and I'm curious to hear your views."
After an awkward moment of silence, Frey finally responded.
"I don't think I'd be of any help."
"That doesn't matter. What I need now is a new perspective. I just realized it through our conversation. The way you look at the world differs greatly from me. I'm sure you'll meet my expectations."
"…"
"Of course, I wouldn't blame if you didn't get the results I expected. I'm not forcing you and I'm not trying to put any more pressure on you."
He wanted to speak privately.
Frey exchanged eye contact with Shepard for a moment.
There was one thing that was clear to him and that was that Shepard had an interest in him.
And it was the same for Frey.
Therefore he nodded without worrying about it for too long.
"If it's fine."
"Thank you. I'll send Daphgon to guide you later." The conversation ended there.
Peran and Frey soon left the room and walked the hall.
"My father seems to be very interested in you. Don't be too nervous. He is strict but he is not the type of person to play tricks."
'Well, I don't think you'd be nervous anyway.'
Peran added in his head before letting out a laugh.
"The training grounds are at the back. Ms. Sonia should be there so you can go say hello before coming back."
"What about you?"
"I think I need to appease Lylia."
Frey nodded and went straight to the backyard.
The training grounds were very spacious, but it seemed that only Sonia was there practicing with her sword.
Of course, there was one other person there with her.
It was Luther, who was watching Sonia practice from a distance.
He spotted Frey and he approached and turned to face him.
"Mr. Frey?"
"Long time no see." "Ah, you're finally here."
Luther seemed very happy.
Frey had a little reunion with him before turning back to watch Sonia train.
As she swung her sword her face appeared to be as sharp as a sword.
Frey realized that she was more outstanding than he'd thought.
Luther looked a bit proud.
"It is very rare to be conferred a title by His Majesty at such a young age."
"A title?"
"Yes. It is 'Rainstorm'."
Frey listened to Luther's words and paid more attention to Sonia's sword.
However, the trajectory of the sword was somewhat familiar to Frey.
'Lucid's Swordsmanship [Dreadment] …no."
It felt similar but it was a bit different.
Frey frowned.
'Is this really it?'
There were parts that seemed a bit clumsy.
It seemed that the flow unique to Dreadment was not established properly.
He didn't master swordsmanship, but he had good eyes.
Since 4,000 years had passed it was understandable that Lucid's Swordsmanship could not have been passed down fully.
After being spread out into different branches, it was quite possible for each of them to develop in different directions.
Now that he thought about it, the current location of the Luanoble Kingdom was the former location of Lucid's homeland Icollium.
Was the Luanoble Kingdom the successor of Icollium?
Or had it been absorbed after being invaded by another country?
Frey began to ponder.
"Frey!"
Sonia was looking over at him with surprise.
Frey lifted his head and looked at her.
"It was good swordsmanship."
"I-, it was? Thank you."
"…"
He hadn't been trying to compliment Sonia, it was just an honest opinion about Dreadment.
In any case, there was no reason for him to point that out and spoil the mood.
Frey talked to Sonia for a while but the conversation was not very good.
Sonia was unable to truly concentrate on the conversation and was showing signs of restlessness.
Luther could only smile bitterly when he saw that.
Then Daphgon came.
He spoke after a brief look of understanding to Sonia and Luther.
"Mr. Frey, the Lord is requesting you."
"I'll head over now. Sonia, let's talk later."
"U-, uh? R-, right…"
Frey immediately followed Daphgon.
He was led to the top of the mansion.
After walking for a long time, up ordinary stairways and spiral staircases, they finally reached the rooftop.
There was a garden on the roof and it was well made to match with the garden that was on the ground.
Shepard was sitting at an outdoor table there, waiting for him.
Daphgon left after bowing.
Now there were only the two, Frey and Shepard, on the roof.
"Would you like to take a seat?"
Frey complied and sat in front of them.
The two men shared a gaze for a long time then Shepard slowly opened his mouth.
"…What brings the Traumen Rings to my house?"
What was he talking about?
Wasn't the Traumen Rings a club in the academy?
A club that was led by his own son.
Of course, Frey had nothing to do with that.
Didn't this guy know that?
'In addition, there is some warning in his voice.'
"I am not in the Traumen Rings."
"You can stop pretending. You must have come here because you had something to say."
Shepard's eyes turned cold.
"Using Peran was a pretty smart strategy. Did you hear it from my son that I was in the mansion at this time?"
"There seems to have been a misunderstanding."
"Ha. Misunderstanding? Right. Let's say it's that. Then why did you do something that would be misunderstood?"
"What?"
"Typhoon Earrings. Didn't you wear it open to show me?"
Did he know about the Typhoon Earrings?
It wasn't entirely surprising.
Perhaps when Frey had noticed his tattoo, Shepard had noticed the earrings.
The thing that bothered Frey was his attitude.
Shepard was confidently pressing him about something and didn't realize that he was wrong.
Thanks to that, the conversation could not go anywhere.
"I don't have any idea what Lord Duke is talking about. Isn't the Traumen Rings a club in the academy that's headed by Peran?"
Shepard paused for a moment at Frey's words and it seemed that he was pondering.
If he had said all of this and didn't raise doubts then he would not have had more to say. However, Frey did not believe that Shepard was a foolish person.
It was not long before Shepard sighed.
"…I see. You are a wanderer."
Wanderer?
That was not something that could be used to describe one of the three sons of the Blake Family.
Although he was treated like a stranger by the family, he was not kicked out of it.
Shepard glanced up at Frey and continued talking.
"Just like you said. I have misunderstood…right. I see. The Typhoon Earring must have come from the Ispania Mountains right?"
Frey looked at Shepard without answering.
"Are you wary of me?"
"To the same extent that the Duke is wary."
"Hoo hoo. How bold. It's not like you don't know where this is."
"I'm well aware, of course. It is the home of my friend Peran."
"…"
"The reason that I came to the Jun Family was not to see Lord Duke. I came here to see Peran."
At Frey's firm response, Shepard had no choice but to hesitate once more.
What he'd said was right after all it was he himself who requested to see Frey.
"I don't trust you completely yet. But I will give you an explanation for my rudeness. I won't treat you like an outsider since you have those earrings."
He once again mentioned the Typhoon Earrings.
Frey glanced down at the Staff of the Great Sage that was in the form of a bracelet.
He recognized the earrings but he didn't notice the bracelet.
Did he know about the Salamander's Robe?
He listened to Shepard while hiding his innermost thoughts.
And his following words exceeded his expectations.
In a good way.
"Who do you think is the owner of this continent?"
Others might have considered it an absurd question, however, Frey's eyes became sharper instead.
Shepard continued without realizing it.
"The Kastkau Empire is the greatest among human nations. However, it couldn't claim more than a tenth of the land of this continent."
This matter was quite understandable.
The power of the intellectuals living on the continent could be taken as ten fingers.
And human power could be said to be barely within three fingers.
This was to say, that humans were not the owners of the continent.
But Frey knew this.
He knew of the existence of transcendental beings who controlled the continent from the shadows.
Frey stared at Shepard's mouth, almost forgetting to the blind. Would he say the word that Frey wanted to hear the most?
"Demigod."
"…!"
That one word made Frey shiver all over.
At the same time, numerous questions of his seemed to be answered.
The reason why Shepard wasn't completely wary of him.
The reason he had Schweiser's tattoo on his face.
In the first place, he'd never considered him to be a complete enemy.
Shepard was the one that Frey was looking for. To learn about the Demigod's presence.
He knew their purpose.
The ones who wanted to stop it.
"The transcendental beings control human society. We are trying to break free from that control…why are you smiling?" Shepard stopped and asked, wearing a confused expression.
This was because Frey had suddenly given him a bright smile as though he had gone mad.
In the old days, there were only five humans fighting against the Demigod.
Only five of them rebelled against that transcendent entity.
And they lost.
It was a crushing defeat.
– And years passed.
4,000 years had passed.
Frey was sure that now there were many more people who shared the same purpose as they did in the past.
They had found out who the Demigod was, and those who were struggling to not give in were holding their breaths, waiting for the right moment.
Why was he smiling?
There was only one reason.
He was truly happy.