"...You asked for it," Mlynar, successfully provoked, didn't hesitate to immediately assume a sword stance.
This was exactly what Wang Fei wanted, so he began to draw his own sword.
"That's enough!" A powerful, mysterious voice rang out, stopping them both.
"It's clear that you were the one at fault first, Mlynar... so put your sword away."
The owner of the voice was a tall, middle-aged blond man who bore a striking resemblance to Mlynar, about eight or ten parts similar, but with gentle eyes that seemed to have witnessed the world countless times, much like Schnitz 's. He wore a white coat and golden gauntlets on both arms. His handsome, solemn face, though noble, radiated a warmth that made him seem like a kind old uncle.
"..." Hearing the man's words, Mlynar could only reluctantly sheathe his sword.
Senomyalso quickly put away her weapon before hastily bowing to the man.
"Gravel greets you, my lord."
"Be at ease, Senomy." After speaking, the man noticed the figure of a young girl running towards him.
"Grandpa!!" Maria, seeing her grandfather, didn't hesitate to run and embrace him, full of longing.
"Ho ho, Maria, where have you been, little one? Do you know everyone has been searching all over for you?"
Though his tone sounded like a lecture, Kirill's solemn face bloomed into a gentle smile rather than anger. Just seeing that his granddaughter was safe was more than enough for him.
"S-sorry. My phone broke, so..." Maria replied to her grandfather evasively.
'My fault, Grandpa,' Wang Fei silently clasped his hands together in apology to them both. He had lied to Maria that it broke because he accidentally dropped it while talking to Zofia. What made him feel even guiltier was that she had believed him completely.
"Well then, next time, don't forget to use someone else's phone to call back. Did you know Mlynar was very worried about you? He even called various stations to have people help look for you."
"U-Uncle Mlynar was?" Maria turned to look at her uncle in disbelief, but another part of her felt an indescribable warmth that he was worried about her.
This made Mlynar, who was in an irritated mood, change his expression back to a cold one before looking away.
"I was just worried a little kid like you would go and cause more trouble, that's all..."
At the end of that answer, a voice from a mobile phone program rang out.
"I once heard a phrase from Higashi. They tend to call people like you 'Tsundere'."
"Hu..." Kirill let out a chuckle. Maria and Gravel, who didn't understand the meaning, looked on in confusion.
Mlynar whipped his head around to look this way. Of course, he understood the meaning perfectly. In the past, he was often teased with that word by his good-for-nothing nephew, who had also lied to him about its meaning. This caused him to mistakenly use the word with others for many years. If a friend of his hadn't translated the meaning for him several years ago, he would have continued using it to this day.
As Mlynar inadvertently recalled that dark memory, along with the smile of a certain woman who told him the meaning, his sword hand started to itch, wanting to swing it to cut off the tongue of whoever started saying that word.
"What does 'tsundere' mean, Grandpa?"
Instead of asking Wang Fei directly, Maria chose to ask her grandfather who was beside her. She felt she had heard the word from her master before but couldn't remember what it meant.
"Oh... it means those who—"
"Old man!!" Mlynar glared daggers at the old man, causing Kirill, who wanted to tease his youngest son, to chuckle softly before stopping.
"Hmm... on second thought, you should go ask young Zofia. She studied the Higashi language, didn't she? I'm old now, so I'm not quite sure what it means. I'm afraid the information might not be accurate."
"Okay! Then I'll go ask Auntie Zofia later!"
Mlynar sighed where no one could see. He secretly took out his phone to type and send a message to Zofia, telling her to translate the meaning nicely for Maria. At least he might feel better if his niece became a victim just like him. (How malicious.)
"And as for this gentleman..."
Suddenly, Kirill's gaze turned towards him. Wang Fei, knowing what he had to do, quickly walked over to introduce himself politely to his grandfather.
"It is an honor to meet the legend of the Dawn of Kazimierz. My name is Wang Fei."
"Ah... so you're Mr. Wang Fei. I've heard about you from Zofia. I heard she wanted to hire you as a combat instructor for Maria. Your skills are quite impressive."
'Playing dumb, are we, Grandpa? Even though you were hiding and watching from outside the room the whole time.' Wang Fei knew someone had been secretly watching them for a while, ever since Mlynar entered. That person could only be his grandfather.
"A combat instructor... for me?" Maria looked confused, hearing that Aunt Zofia wanted to hire Mr. Wang Fei to be her instructor.
Grandpa Kirill turned to her with a cunning smile.
"But of course, Maria. You didn't think I'd let you participate in the Major League without a training instructor, did you?"
Hearing that, Maria jumped. "Y-you knew, Grandpa?" Maria was so startled she instinctively pressed her index fingers together, trembling in fear.
Kirill shook his head with a smile before gently stroking the girl's head.
"Of course, you little rascal. Even at my age, I haven't lost my edge against you kids. Back in your brother's day, he was much more mischievous."
'No need to take a jab at me, Grandpa. Besides... when did I ever give you a hard time? (Don't make me count.)'
"Hehe," instead of feeling guilty, Maria looked shy as if she had just been praised.
"But that doesn't change the fact that you didn't tell us about this, Maria," Kirill said with a serious expression, causing the blushing Maria's face to quickly turn crestfallen.
"I'm sorry."
"Hmm... seeing as you've admitted it readily, I'll let it slide this time. But if there's a next time, your dinner for the whole month will be Mlynar's cooking."
"Nooo~ I won't do it again! So please don't make me eat that black broccoli ever again!"
"..."
Mlynar's eyebrow twitched upon hearing that, but he said nothing, intending to save his revenge for the next meal to punish these two later.
Seeing the warm family scene before him, Wang Fei found himself smiling without realizing it. He watched his grandfather, who was still stroking Maria's head, and Uncle Mlynar, who walked over to complain to his father that he was being too lenient with Maria. The scene made him recall a memory from the past, where he was teaching Uncle Mlynar how to cook, with Zofia and Margaret by his side, while Grandpa watched over Maria at the table, cheering them on.
It was such a nostalgic scene, he felt like he wanted to go back...
'But we know it's just an illusion.'
"!!"
Suddenly, a whisper that sent a chill down his entire brain rang in his ear.
Wang Fei quickly looked around but saw no one, only the display case and Senomy standing nearby.
"Is something wrong, Sir Wang Fei?" Senomy asked with concern, seeing his pale face.
"I'm fine, just feeling a little cold," Wang Fei quickly shook his head before typing a reply to the girl.
He felt a little unwell, as if his brain had just been squeezed tightly by someone. But as time passed, his condition started to return to normal. 'I hope that voice was just a hallucination.'
Although he thought that, a part of Wang Fei began to feel that something was amiss in this manor... and if he had to guess, it must be related to Margaret.
It seemed he would have to raise his guard another level.
...............….
After the Nearl family's conversation ended.
Kirill told Maria to go take a bath and get ready for dinner, while also telling Mlynar to wait for him in the dining room, as he had something important to discuss privately with Mr. Wang Fei.
Of course, Mlynar disagreed, as he was worried about his father's safety. But with Kirill's insistence, Mlynar eventually had to give in and left reluctantly.
Kirill then led him to his private study and served him black tea, apologizing for what happened earlier.
"I must apologize on behalf of my son. He's always been this paranoid... please don't take it to heart," Kirill said, before sitting down at his desk, which had a considerable pile of documents on it.
"It's alright, sir. I understand he was just testing me on your orders," Wang Fei replied honestly, stating that he already knew.
This brought a small smile to Kirill's face.
"So you knew from the beginning."
"Actually, I didn't know at first. It only clicked when Senomy said she had to behave in front of her master. It's clear she's from the Kazimierz National Security Commission, and a Fourth Class Knight at that. So there was no need for her to greet your son with a knightly gesture, because that Mlynar is a former knight. It made no sense for her to act that way towards him unless there was another knight of higher rank than her secretly watching from somewhere."
"You're very sharp, Mr. Wang Fei. It's as you said... Mlynar's actions were on my orders. Well... partly, anyway."
"But... honestly, if you saw a stranger suddenly introduced by a close acquaintance, with no history, no name in the registry, and also told he's to be a private instructor for your own granddaughter, wouldn't you be a little suspicious? Wondering what his true purpose is? And that's not even counting the fact that he was seen using a voice program through a mobile phone."
'To be honest, Grandpa, I would have thrown him out the moment I saw him entering the manor with my sister, his face covered and wearing a suit of armor.'
Wang Fei nodded in undisguised agreement, feeling that everyone else's actions in the house seemed strange compared to Mlynar, who would have done the same as him.
"But what worries me most is that you were in a disguised state using the power of a Nightzmora. How could that not make me suspicious?"
'Ah... so this is the main point. It's not surprising that Grandpa knew I used Nightzmora powers to disguise myself, but I didn't think I'd be caught this quickly.'
It showed that over the years, his grandfather had developed his bloodline powers to their peak. Perhaps his current status was comparable to when Ray had first received the power of the Knight-Primarch. Back then, he could sense waves of Originium power from tens of kilometers away. And maybe now his grandfather could do the same. It wouldn't be wrong to say that his grandfather had now become the strongest knight in Kazimierz.
Wang Fei noticed that behind his grandfather, there was an empty picture frame stand for the family leaders, from the founding generation down to the current one. And the current leader was his grandfather.
The reason the current Nearl family leader was still his grandfather instead of Father Schnitz was due to his father's disappearance years ago, which caused the headship to revert back to his grandfather. Because at that time, Uncle Mlynar had refused to take his older brother's place, still believing he was alive. Over the past few years, his father still had no intention of returning to the position of family head. The reason for that was the death of Ray, his son.
"I've heard that the Dawn of Kazimierz is a knight no less formidable than the Final Fortress of Kazimierz. But seeing it for myself, it seems the rumors were a great understatement."
Even Senomy, who was standing guard at the door, secretly nodded in agreement, showing that she too had great respect for his grandfather.
"I'm just an old man now. The new generation is the future of Kazimierz," Kirill said with a small smile, as if reminiscing about something in the past. But that thought came to a halt after hearing the other's next sentence.
"Is that so? But it seems the people in the agency you work for don't think that way."
"...What have you heard, Mr. Wang Fei?"
"I've heard that people in the National Council have started cutting several budgets that the Knight-Primarch had established, then investing them into their own personal military budgets. Although they say that money will go to support new knights, I don't believe that a former knight who has seen so much of the world like you would believe the statements of those politicians."
"Sigh... my current position doesn't allow me to say much. Everything has to be done step by step," Kirill said wearily, ready to wave his hand to end the conversation. But his face turned icy cold when he heard the young man's next words.
"Mr. Kirill, do you realize that right now, you sound just like one of those boring politicians? Is it that you can't speak, or you just don't want to? Especially when you're being told that what's happening to Kazimierz now is all because of your grandson."
BAM!! Kirill slammed his fist on the wooden table, shattering it to pieces, ending the tedious conversation before pointing a finger at him in anger.
"Mr. Wang Fei... it seems you've misunderstood something. I invited you here because I wanted to discuss my granddaughter's training, not to sit here and answer your nonsensical questions!"
"And most importantly, do not... dare to speak about my family's matters when you don't know them well enough!"
Hearing that, Wang Fei nodded in satisfaction.
'I thought he would have changed after working a desk job for so long. But it seems... he's still the same.' Feeling relieved, Wang Fei didn't hesitate to stand up and put his phone in his pocket.
"I think I have the right to speak on that matter... Grandpa."
"!!" Kirill's eyes widened in astonishment. Not because the other had started speaking with his own voice, but because of the familiar wave of Unicus Originium that emerged from the body before him.
"Impossible. You're..." The familiarity of that power, even after nearly a decade, was something the old man, who had been through countless wars, could never forget.
'Looks like creating vocal cords from Unicus Originium worked.'
Because Wang Fei's soul had undergone a leap in development, coupled with the clash of swords with Mlynar, he could now use the power of the Unicus, which was Ray's original power. The power of the Unicus was a sacred blessing that could heal injuries, even regrowing lost arms and legs to be like new. So it wasn't strange that he could use this power to create his own vocal cords. But it seemed the voice that came out was colder than usual, or maybe Ray's voice was always like this, he wasn't sure. But as far as he remembered, Maria said his voice sounded gentler than this. But never mind that for now.
"There's no mistake... this feeling of a Unicus... R-Ray, is that you?!"
Wang Fei took off the necklace he was wearing. Instantly, his black hair turned back to blue. His face began to blur and change back into an inhumanly handsome face that looked unusually cold.
The old man saw that face and recognized him immediately. It was the face of the nephew who used to pester him tirelessly every single day to teach him swordsmanship. It was also the same face as the person in the photo he used to place beside that of his late wife. Even though that photo had now been destroyed, after nearly 18 years of living together, there was no way the old man could forget the face of his proud grandson.
Just seeing that face, the old man's eyes, which had never wavered before anything, trembled uncontrollably, and tears began to fall.
"It's me, Grandpa. I'm really sorry for tricking you so harshly. I just wanted to find out a little about the situation, so I got carried away. Hehe," Wang Fei gave a dry smile to his grandfather before quickly adding with joy.
"But I'm glad to see you're still well, and everyone else too... You must have been through a lot over these past few years, Grandpa. Though it was probably all because of me."
"No... not at all," Kirill quickly shook his head upon hearing that. He wiped the tears from his face before giving his grandson a smile like in the old days.
"None of it was your fault, Ray. It was mine."
"If I had taught you better, taught you discipline, and told you to learn to rely on others more than just yourself, maybe... everything would have ended better."
"P-please, Grandpa. I've already gotten a lecture from Zofia. So please spare my life," Wang Fei pleaded, clasping his hands together, which made Kirill unable to help but laugh.
"You really did deserve it, you foolish grandson... Come here, come give your grandpa a hug!"
"Gently, please, Grandpa. Right now I'm still not—Oof!" Before Wang Fei could finish, he was grabbed into a hug by the old man in front of him.
If it weren't for the armor saving him, his bones would have been ground to pieces by the other's strength.
"Haha! It seems your body has gotten weaker, my beloved grandson," Kirill slapped his back with a loud thwack.
Let me say it again, if it wasn't for the armor he was wearing, his back might have broken...
"And you've gotten much stronger, Grandpa. Maybe too strong."
"Heh heh... that's because I've never slacked off on my training for a single day," Kirill said, before looking at his grandson's face, as if he had so much to talk about. But in the end... the old man chose to remain silent and gently patted the other's shoulder with a serious expression.
"Even though I may not have the right to say this, but well..."
"Welcome home, Ray."
Wang Fei's eyes and body trembled slightly, before the corners of his mouth widened into a smile without him realizing it. "Yes. I'm back."
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