Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 105 Farewell
gates of Signal

Dressed in the same outfit, with the same recipe, Serena, wearing a clean white dress, stood at the city gate with her two servants. The constant exposure to the wind and sun had turned Havent and Lori into refugees once again.

"Mr. Will, shall we go into town this time?"

Seeing Lori's longing eyes, Haven gave an awkward smile. After leaving Half Moon Lake, Haven reflected deeply and realized that the reason they kept encountering all sorts of troubles was because they kept going to populated areas. Therefore, in order to avoid any unexpected events delaying their journey to the capital,

After hiking to Spandac, they quickly purchased supplies and set off in their horse-drawn carriage without stopping. Everything was fine at the beginning, but after a few days, the horses they had bought started to get diarrhea. Realizing something was wrong, Haven immediately stopped.

The three men stared at the horse that had transformed into a jetpack warrior on the open ground, unsure of what to do. Just as Haven was considering whether to give the horse some medicine, the horse raised its head, neighed, and then collapsed to the ground.

Seeing the horses begin to convulse unconsciously, Haven was completely dumbfounded. The fast road he had been taking to save time was the kind of road used by large caravans. It wasn't exactly deserted, but there weren't many people around.

With no other option, after storing the items from the carriage into their rings, the three of them had to continue on foot to the nearest town.

Although there were supposed to be three people, only Havent and Lori were actually walking. At first, Serena followed behind them, flying slowly. Later, Serena got tired of maintaining her flight magic and cast a lightness spell and a levitation spell on herself. Havent tied a rope around her head and lifted her up like a balloon.

Whether it was because there were fewer caravans on the expressways at this time of year or something else, Haven and Lori walked for three days without encountering a single caravan, and finally made it all the way to Signa.

"Hahahaha, what are you saying, Lori? Let's go into the city, of course we're going into the city. Let's eat something good, take a bath, and then have a nice good sleep."

Hearing that Haven had finally decided to go to town, a hint of joy flashed across Lori's face. Although the camping trip in the wild a few days ago was quite nice, everything had become unhappy since the horse died. Every day, he was on the move as soon as he opened his eyes, and Lori felt that he must have been a porter in his past life.

Holy Mayara
Duke Abe, who had just returned from Parliament, was sitting at his desk pondering the purpose of His Majesty Frederick's mention of increasing the resource allocation in the southwestern provinces when a plump man dressed as a butler entered.

"Sir~"

Upon hearing the voice, Duke Abe raised his head to look at the person who had entered. He put down the intelligence in his hand and rubbed his slightly sore brow.

"What's wrong, Jason?"

The portly butler wriggled comically toward Duke Ambition and whispered:

"My lord, Ampar has returned, but his condition is not very good."

"Oh? You're back so quickly. It seems things went smoothly. By the way, what did you mean by 'not going well'?"

"Ampar was rushed back from Helgen this morning. According to the accompanying mage at the outpost there, Ampar appeared directly in the bubble mirror substitution magic circle. But this time it's different from last time. According to the letter sent back by the resident mage, Ampar was apparently attacked by a powerful mage-level expert."

The outpost paid a heavy price to neutralize the pursuing magic, but Amber endured immense magical pressure in the process, damaging his soul and leaving him in a deep coma. Since there weren't many options there, they rushed him back.

Upon hearing Jason's explanation, Duke Abe, sitting in his chair, seemed somewhat dazed, as if lost in memories.

"Sir~Sir~"

After a moment of stunned silence, Duke Abe snapped out of his daze when he heard a voice calling his name, and stared blankly at the fat butler.

"Where is he now?"

"My lord, it's currently stored in a property purchased by the family. Would you like to go and take a look?"

Upon hearing the fat butler's question, Duke Abe, who was sitting in his chair, pondered for a while before standing up. A flash of light appeared in his hand, and several pages of papers on the table were collected.

"Let's go over and have a look."

Half an hour later, in a courtyard in the wealthy district of the capital, a man dressed in inconspicuous clothes walked into the courtyard. After taking off his hood, he revealed his face. The man was Duke Abe. He waved to the people in the courtyard, indicating that they should continue with their work, and then followed the steward into the house.

"My lord, young master Ampar is lying inside right now. We have already called the potion master who serves the family to come and see him, and his condition is indeed not good."

Duke Ampei nodded, signaling the steward to go about his business. After the steward took his leave, Duke Ampei pushed open the door, and a pungent smell of herbs wafted out. Standing at the door, Duke Ampei wrinkled his nose and went inside. What came into view was Ampar, with several tubes inserted into his body, lying motionless on the bed with a pale face.

Looking at his first child, Duke Ampère felt a mix of emotions. He moved a chair to the bedside and sat down, watching Ampar, who was always incredibly excited to see him and extremely proud of the Ampère family, lying quietly on the bed.

Duke Ampère sighed softly, grabbed Ampère's cold hand and began to feel it. He never expected that a simple cleanup would turn out like this. How could he and Jaina explain this?

Every man, whether commoner or nobleman, ordinary person or professional, may never forget his first woman, especially one who loved him wholeheartedly and died for him. This makes the relationship between Duke Ampère and his son Ampar very special, unlike the relationship between a typical noble father and his illegitimate son.

Despite the fact that Ampar could only ever be a bastard due to the consequences, the resources and support that Duke Ampere provided were almost the same as those that Angelecas, the true heir of the Ampere family, had. Originally, because of Jaina's death, he felt guilty and gave this love to Ampar, hoping that Ampar could live a peaceful and prosperous life.

Unexpectedly, Jaina's child was as intelligent as her. With her support, Ampar had achieved remarkable success. Sometimes, she couldn't help but fantasize late at night about how wonderful it would be if Ampar were truly the heir of the Ampar family. However, such thoughts were just that—thoughts. Even as a duke, there were some things and rules that could not be changed.

As Ampar became increasingly outstanding, the opinions of his heir, Angelecasi, and his mother grew stronger, and the conflict between the two sides was about to come out in the open. This was the main reason why he arranged for Ampar to complete the finishing work. Originally, he wanted to take this opportunity to let Ampar enter the military system, but it turned out like this.

And so, Duke Ampère sat quietly for a long time, holding Ampère's hand, as if recalling the past or making a decision. After a while, he put Ampère's hand down, covered himself with the blanket, and went out.

"Have any of the people who have been traveling with Ampar returned? I would like to know the specifics."

The steward, who had been waiting outside the door, quickly bowed respectfully and replied:

"Yes, sir, I'll bring him over right away. The caravan manager from Helgen just happened to be back with him."

A few minutes later, Duke Ampar met Helgen's caravan manager in his study on the second floor. The manager was sweating profusely and trembling uncontrollably due to nervousness.

"Tell me about it. I want to hear the whole story. Tell me everything you know without leaving out a single word."

Sensing the immense rage hidden beneath Duke Abe's calm tone, the obese caravan manager trembled like a quail and began to stammer as he recounted his story.

"Your Grace, it's like this... Young Master Ampar had already essentially brought Baron Oliver under control in Helgen..."

As time went on, the caravan manager became less nervous and spoke more fluently. Duke Ambition sat on the leather sofa, stroking his chin as he listened to the caravan manager explain the whole story.

"So, the initial plan was executed very smoothly, is that right?"

Upon hearing Duke Ampère's abrupt question, the caravan manager paused for a moment, then immediately replied:
"Yes, yes, Your Grace, young master Ampar sends back a report on the day's events for record-keeping. The last report is that young master Ampar and the commander of the Eighth Cavalry Regiment, Vistakya, have annihilated most of the rebels, with only a few remnants breaking through and escaping."

Duke Abe nodded and said in a deep voice:
"In other words, Ampar was still safe here, but only one day later, he was teleported back to the warehouse in Helgen."

"Yes, my lord."

"Did you send anyone to investigate afterward?"

Faced with the imposing Duke Abe, the caravan manager subconsciously wiped the sweat from his brow and continued:
"Yes, sir, yes. On our way back escorting Young Master Amber, we deliberately followed the original pursuit route. We found traces of battle between Young Master Amber and his men in Falling Moon Canyon. Later, we found more traces of battle at Crescent Lake, about 80 kilometers away from Falling Moon Canyon. Young Master Amber must have been attacked here. We found a large crater about 200 meters in diameter by the lake, which should have been caused by the attack. We also found a lot of armor fragments in the lake."

After the caravan manager finished speaking, he didn't know what to do for a moment, so he stood there stiffly with his body slightly bent, not moving at all.

"Okay, you go down."

Hearing that Duke Ampei did not blame them, they quickly bowed and withdrew. Others may not know, but they knew very well how much Duke Ampei felt for Young Master Ampar. They had been prepared to be punished for escorting him back, but they did not expect that Duke Ampei would let them off the hook.

As the caravan manager left, Duke Ambition, sitting at his desk, fell into deep thought once more, his expression shifting constantly under the glow of the magic lamp.

'Who could it be? Was this an accident, or was a powerful figure sent to sabotage the plan after it was discovered?'

"Jason~"

With a creak, the wooden door to the study opened.

"Help me arrange an appointment with Master Adakaya."

"Yes, sir."

On the other side, Haven, having finished her bath, rubbed her wet hair as she came out. The hour-long, meticulous washing made Haven feel as if her soul had been elevated.

Little Lori, who followed behind, was still a bit dazed, clearly not yet recovered from the stuffy atmosphere of the sauna.

Looking at Lori's rosy cheeks, I couldn't help but shake my head in disgust. Kids just don't know how to enjoy life. How wonderful it is! Steaming it will allow your pores to breathe.

“Serena, let me tell you, you really should take a bath too. Although magic can cleanse, the pleasure of a bath is different; it's a kind of mental relaxation.”

Serena, who was sitting at the dining table feeling bored, saw Haven come out, and her big purple eyes instantly lit up.

"Will, you're finally out! I was almost ready to go in and find you."

Seeing Serena's serious expression, Haven quickly stopped the girl's audacious idea. After spending so many days together, he had clearly come to understand that the silver-haired girl was a very impulsive person who didn't follow any of the common customs of the human world or the laws of the empire.

It truly means doing things according to one's own heart. If one day you actually abide by that rule, it will only be after Haven repeatedly emphasized it and reluctantly agreed.

"No, no, no, Serena, you need to know that men and women are different, you understand? Two strangers of the same sex shouldn't meet naked."

"But I know Will!"

Seeing that Serena still wanted to persist, Haven quickly said:

"If it's me, that's not enough. There are other naked men out there. As a girl, you shouldn't be looking at these things."

"Oh! I see~"

Seeing Serena deep in thought, Haven breathed a sigh of relief. Serena was good in every way, except that she was too free. While being unrestrained was a good thing, sometimes it could evolve into fearlessness.

"Alright, alright, let's eat! I'm starving!"

Upon hearing that it was time to eat, Serena, who had been lost in thought, stopped, and Lori, who had been spacing out, also came to her senses.

As the night breeze blew, the three, having eaten and drunk their fill, lay on the platform on the third floor of the inn, gazing at the stars. Since they had already ventured deep into the empire, they did not feel the slightest bit of cold, even though it was completely dark.

“Mr. Will, I need to go to my room to get my travelogue. Is there anything you need me to get?”

Wearing a loose linen outfit, Haven casually waved his hand to indicate that he didn't have any.

In the dim light, a champagne-gold-haired boy lay comfortably on a deck chair, motionless, while a silver-haired girl beside him slowly ate a large bowl of fruit ice cream, looking serene and content.

"Hmm? Serena? What's wrong?"

Seeing the silver-haired girl suddenly stand up, Haven asked in confusion.

"Mom is calling Serena~"

Upon hearing this, Haven immediately sat up from the recliner and looked at the silver-haired girl.

"Are you leaving?"

"Hmm~"

Looking at Serena, whom he had spent so many days with, and now suddenly having to leave, Haven felt a pang of sadness.

Just as Haven was feeling sad, he felt his arm being held; it was cool, soft, and gentle.

“A mental imprint, so we can keep talking. Serena will come back to you after she finishes what her mother asked her to do.”

Feeling a warm sensation on my arm, I looked down and saw a heart-shaped magic mark appear on my right forearm.

Just as Haven was about to ask how to use it, he felt a soft, sweet, milky sensation on his lips.

Instantly, Haven's blue-green eyes widened, and his breathing became rapid.

By the time Haven came to his senses, Serena's body was already radiating a faint magical glow as she floated up.

"Then I'll be going now, Will. Mom said you can do this with someone you like."

Watching Serena vanish into the horizon in a streak of light, Haven stood there dumbfounded, as if frozen in place, until Lori's travelogue returned and, seeing Haven still standing there, asked in bewilderment:

"Hey? Mr. Will, what are you doing? Where's Sister Serena?"

As if waking from a deep dream, Haven plopped down on the recliner and unconsciously licked his lips with his tongue.

"Ah~ Serena had to leave earlier because of something."

"Oh, I see. Mr. Will, why is your face so red?"

(End of this chapter)