Chapter 358 ManuscripIt 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.

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