"Lady Crusch?"
The burly old man beside her looked at Crusch with concern while placing his hand on the hilt of the sword he carried.
Caelus noticed the change in the situation, and then Crusch noticed a change as well. The wind could suddenly perceive the presence of the person in front of her.
"My apologies. Because of my personal abilities, perception of me through Divine Protections is somewhat shielded. I have now deactivated that shield."
"I now believe that you are a friend of the Sword Saint Reinhard. You must also be a skilled individual. May I ask what brings you here for this visit?"
Crusch once again became confident and full of affinity, speaking with a very proper and graceful smile.
"I am a Traveler. I want to know some stories of the past, such as the matters regarding Reinhard's father. I asked him about it, but he said that as a son, it was not convenient for him to say much. So I came out to inquire, and while I am at it, to see what kind of people the candidates for the throne of the Kingdom of Lugnica are."
"This..."
Crusch's expression became hesitant for a moment, and she then looked at the old man standing to the side.
The old man said nothing, merely standing there in silence.
"This is quite a coincidence. Master Wilhelm here by my side is precisely the father of the man you wish to learn about."
Caelus turned his gaze toward the old man standing nearby. He was also a master of the sword.
"It's all old news, nothing worth mentioning."
Clearly, Wilhelm was also unwilling to say much about the past. Crusch could only shake her head. After all, since the person involved was right beside her and unwilling to speak, she could not possibly reveal anything.
"In that case, would it be convenient for me to conduct an interview with you? I would like to ask, if you become the King of this country, what kind of future do you want to lead this nation toward?"
Hearing this question, Crusch suddenly became energized.
She immediately began to recount, with a calm and confident smile, how this country was founded and how it had developed to this day. She stated that the Dragon's blessing was a thing of the past, and that the era of humans was next. One could not blindly have faith in the Dragon, nor believe that an existence bordering on myth would provide salvation and protection. Instead, one had to vigorously develop their own military power and technology to make Lugnica great once more.
Caelus nodded in understanding. Was this not the same situation as Liyue wanting to transition from a theocratic system to an era of human rule? However, this line of reasoning was quite logical. After all, the Dragon had not protected the royal family from annihilation over a decade ago, so naturally, people would question whether the Dragon's protection still truly existed. This led to the conclusion that rather than believing in the power of a Dragon that might no longer offer protection, it was better to develop one's own strength.
Moreover, with a powerful Sword Saint like Reinhard in this kingdom, it could be considered reasonable.
After chatting with Crusch for a while and understanding her line of thought, Caelus nodded and took his leave.
As they were leaving, Wilhelm walked beside Caelus. When they reached the door and were about to part ways, Wilhelm suddenly spoke up. "If my son has been offensive in any way, please forgive him. He has truly suffered too much pain in the past."
Caelus did not speak, simply standing there and waiting for Wilhelm to continue.
"He originally had a happy family and life, but following Reinhard's birth, after only a few years, his wife fell into a deep sleep that continues to this day. Since then, his spirit has been depressed, and after a certain accident occurred, he completely transformed into what he is now."
After finishing, Wilhelm said no more and turned to leave.
Caelus thought for a moment. Through the memories of Elsa the Bowel Hunter, he knew the general identities of the other royal candidates, one of whom was a merchant.
Anastasia Hoshin, a merchant who started from nothing and had now established a massive trading company. She appeared to be a beautiful young girl, but in reality, she was calculating, extremely sensitive to numbers, filled with greed in her heart, desperate to obtain everything, control everything, and particularly hated loss. At the same time, another existence resided within her.
Caelus looked at the young girl sitting before him, who was smiling. She said, "Would you be willing to work for me? I think highly of you."
"Not interested."
Caelus had already collected enough greed, so he had no interest in staying to obtain any more.
"I want to know about the past of the Sword Saint Reinhard's father, as well as the past of the swordsman named Wilhelm. How much money would that cost?"
"What a pity. I have a feeling you are a very interesting person. Won't you listen to my quote? It will definitely satisfy you."
Caelus did not speak.
"Fine. Regarding that past, quite a few elders in the kingdom actually know some information, but because the information is fragmented and quite a bit of time has passed, we spent some effort collecting it, so it will not be cheap."
"Just send the bill to the Astrea family."
"Using their own money to investigate them? You really are interesting!"
"After all, they are unwilling to disclose it themselves but have tacitly allowed me to investigate. Reinhard even promised to cover my expenses in the Royal Capital during this time."
"That really is quite awkward."
Anastasia chuckled, then had someone bring the information over.
Caelus read it on the spot and learned of that past.
Reinhard's father, Heinkel Astrea, had parents who were both exceptionally brilliant swordsmen. His mother was the Sword Saint of that time, and his father was an even more powerful swordsman who had defeated a Sword Saint and was known as the Sword Devil.
The son born to them was naturally expected to achieve great things, and the vast majority believed he would possess even greater talent for swordsmanship. Regrettably, while his swordsmanship talent was indeed good, compared to his parents, Heinkel was ultimately lacking.
Even though he became the Captain of the Royal Guard and was praised for his noble character and hailed as a perfect knight, he was ultimately unable to become the Sword Saint.
Even though his parents never pressured him about this and were even understanding and loved him as always, this only made him believe that his parents had never held any expectations for him to become the Sword Saint.
Bearing this pressure, Heinkel did indeed lead a very difficult life, but after marrying his wife, he was very happy and thought that this ordinary life was not bad.
But good times did not last long. Two years after Reinhard was born, Heinkel's wife contracted the legendary "Sleeping Beauty" illness and collapsed onto the bed, never to wake up.
Even though he invited all sorts of doctors and spent countless amounts of energy, his wife was never able to wake up.
Under those circumstances, Heinkel became increasingly depressed, and he lived his life in growing despair.
But even so, he maintained his role as a father and the image expected of a knight, and had not yet fallen to his current state.
It was not until Reinhard was five years old that the Sword Saint's blessing transferred to Reinhard. However, at that time, Heinkel's mother, Theresia Astrea, who was the Sword Saint, participated in the battle to subjugate the White Whale.
The Sword Saint's Divine Protection is unique. Therefore, during that battle, Heinkel's mother, Theresia, lost her life.
There is a theory that Theresia had participated in that battle in Heinkel's place.
Because of that incident, the originally happy family completely fell apart.
Wilhelm left home, determined to investigate the truth of Theresia's death himself.
Heinkel believed that all the fault lay with Reinhard. His wife was asleep because of Reinhard, his mother died because of Reinhard, and the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint that he had once dreamed of obtaining was also obtained by Reinhard.
This once-perfect knight completely became an alcoholic drunkard.
And what was surprising was that even now, this terrible drunkard was still respectfully addressed as "father" by Reinhard, even to the point of being completely obeyed.
No one knew whether this was Reinhard's own atonement, or whether he believed as a knight that this was what he should do.
Caelus put down the documents in his hand.
Truly a tragic fate.
(To be continued.)