Spirit Soul

Because the Blazing Legion was in Briskandt, Kyle was hoping to encounter Sven Larn.

He was the Captain from one of the Blazing Legion's units, and someone Kyle was already familiar with.

In fact, it was Sven, who had given him and Selene the advice to enter the Lahin kingdom and get enrolled in the Glory Knight academy to be precise.

As such, if Kyle were to encounter him, it would be just too advantageous.

It would be just one time that his luck would favor him, and he could only hope that Sven was there.

Thus, Kyle looked at the Blazing Legion for a few moments, not sure what exactly he was supposed to do.

However, he swallowed his nervousness and approached the group of Lohar Soldiers.

With confident steps, he neared them.

This was quickly noticed, and when he turned towards Kyle, their first reaction was to show hostile gazes.

Yet, it was only a moment later that they saw the bloodline medallion that was attached to his clothes, clearly identifying him as a being of a different race than the Aldra.

Through this, they calmed quickly, even if their gazes didn't change much.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but may I ask if Captain Sven Larn is stationed in Briskandt?"

There was no need for Kyle to beat around the bush, so he got straight to the point.

With that in mind, he had formulated the question that was formal, brief and succinct.

It was more than enough to not aggravate the Soldiers of the Blazing Legion that looked at him with a slight trace of interest.

"How do you know Captain Sven?" One of the younger-looking soldiers asked almost immediately, with a doubtful face.

By asking this question, the soldier had revealed that he knew Sven Larn, which was also something that Kyle had wanted to figure out.

At least, he could still hope to find Sven here.

Additionally, it allowed him to sense a few things because the other soldiers were also looking at him while awaiting his answer.

There was a trace of reverence in the young soldier's name when he mentioned Sven which made Kyle feel that knowing the Captain of a Blazing Legion's unit would bring some additional perks.

Just as he opened his mouth to answer the question he had been asked, Kyle figured out an answer to another doubt that had been on his mind for some time now.

Thus, he decided to alter his answer slightly.

"I encountered Captain Sven more than a year ago when he had rescued numerous Lohars from the inside of the Sadorla Forest, including a black-eared Lohar who had awoken both of his cultivation veins.

If I'm not wrong, she is now a baroness!"

Kyle knew that he could have come up with a better answer but somehow he fumbled in the middle of answering the question.

Fortunately, nobody seemed to have noticed this, and it were only Yasmine and Beatrice, who noticed the slight difference in his behavior.

They had followed Kyle when he approached the Soldiers of the Lahin kingdom, realizing that he had figured out something.

Yet, seeing his current demeanor, they couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable.

'Is the baroness he is talking about…the same Lohar he is searching for…Selene?'

Their thoughts were obvious, but both didn't dare utter a word, even more so because the Soldiers of the Lahin kingdom exchanged odd glances with each other.

It took them some time but one of the Soldiers suddenly exclaimed.

"Ahh, I remember. If I'm not wrong, Dave was there too. He told us a lot about the commoner who had turned into a baroness, and leave the group of immigrating Lohars in order to spend more time with the Aldra who had rescued her.

All of this was before this mess of war over the Licara flower began…what a nuisance!"

Kyle realized that the Licara flower was the flower that had mutated, and the way the two soldiers began discussing the topic in hushed whispers, he could also tell that the flower was still a secret.

But he was more interested in finding the whereabouts of Selene than some flower.

Based on their discussion, it was evident that they were referring to him as the Aldra but they had no way of knowing that.

After all, he was not an Aldra, to begin with.

As such, it was much better to listen to the talks of the soldiers that had a few individuals who seemed to like gossiping.

"Wait, wasn't it Baroness Selene, who had been traveling with Captain Sven at that time? I heard she arrived in the Glory Knight academy only a few months after the successful rescue of the Lohars within the Sadorla forest.

I think, it must have been a few days before the start of the Glory Knight academy's new terms, several months after the Tenux storm wreaked havoc in the center of the forest!"

Hearing about Selene made a slow smile appear on his lips. It was great to get to know that she was still alive and that she had safely reached the Glory Knight academy.

This meant that Kyle had a destination, and his search for her could be said to have partially ended.

Now, the only task at hand was to pave his way towards her.

With that in mind, he became more eager to find out if Captain Sven was in Briskandt, or if he would be stationed to the garrison soon.

"I heard it must be hard for the nobility that ascended later and were and not born as nobles.

Not only are their resources much less than that of the descendants of the old nobility, but even some instructors are said to side with the old nobility!"

When Kyle heard this, he frowned, but the comment of one soldier was just the tip of the iceberg as another one added.

"I heard Selene is beautiful too, to the extent that she attracted the attention of a duke's descendant. She really is unlucky, because the duke's son's fiancée obviously disliked this.

Its only a rumor, but what can I say…I truly pity her! All alone, no backer, and nothing but trouble!"

It was really difficult for Kyle to listen to everything, and keep a poker face.

Revealing his identity in front of the Lohar Soldiers would be useless because nobody would care if he was the presumed Aldra, Selene spent her time with.

In the end, the Blazing Legion's soldiers had only heard rumors that were most likely exaggerated, and that was it.

However, the issue was that no rumor was an absolute lie and had truth intermixed with lies to some extent.

Thus, Kyle began to feel uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the calm Lohar, who seemed to be the leader of their small patrol unit, prevented them from gossiping further and reminded them to pay attention to their work instead.

Afterward, he turned towards Kyle, whose question they had not yet answered.

"I'm sorry to say this but Captain Sven is not here yet! If I'm not wrong, he will arrive in Briskandt in around two months, but it could also be more or less.

If you have business with him, you'll have to wait, and if its something else, please speak to the embassy of the Lahin kingdom.

We will be punished if something happens during our patrol, and you are distracting us from doing our work!"

The Lohar's words were harsh but certainly true, and he didn't hide anything.

Kyle liked this because he figured out that the Soldiers of the Blazing Legion didn't discriminate against him for being a near replica of the Aldra race.

After digesting the information he had received, it was possible for him to figure out quite a few things.

First, the Lohar race might not be as discriminating as he had first imagined, even less in times of war, which was certainly uncommon.

Meanwhile, the second point that was extremely important for them to walk out of the tricky situation was what he had been hoping for.

'Sven will arrive in Briskandt in around two months!!'

This was great news, but even if Kyle was glad to find a way of entering the Lahin kingdom owing to his connection with Sven, there were more than enough things that bothered him.

According to the comments of the soldiers that were now leaving, Selene's situation might not be as great as he had expected.

Commoners might not be prone to discriminate against their own kind, however, even they had abandoned Selene beforehand.

But now rumors stated that she was once again alone, and in a place where nobody seemed to like her.

If even one of the rumors the Soldiers of the Blazing Legion had shared with him were to be true it would be devastating for her.

Being bullied, and completely alone in an unknown place would affect her a lot and Kyle knew this more than anyone else.

After all, he had rescued from slavery and seen her experience the resultant trauma.

His face scrunched, and when Kyle turned towards Yasmine and Beatrice, he saw their expressions.

Having heard Selene's story from Kyle, they knew that he felt responsible for everything that happened to her.

However, this was not the reason why sadness had replaced their entire good mood.

Rather, it was because they could partially understand how Selene was feeling.

Not only as women but also because their situation had sometimes been similar in the past.

While Yasmine had always been approached by others who wanted something from her, there were also those that were envious of her talent, and the fact that she was born with so much luck.

As such, she could vividly imagine how it would be for Selene, who had turned a baroness owing to her fortune of encountering Kyle.

He was the one to tend to her issue, and thereby lead to the awakening of her Maest cultivation vein.

The circumstances were different, but the crux of the situation was that Yasmine could clearly understand how it would be to be an outcast.

Meanwhile, Beatrice had always been alone, if one were to exclude the fact that Undeads took care of her.

Imprisoned in a place, Beatrice's situation in the past had been like Selene's because she was at a place she didn't want to be, around people she didn't like, likely to be bullied, and desperately waiting for that one person who had promised to return to her.

Because of that, it was only obvious for the two women to feel sad for Selene, and that was including the fact that she was waiting for Kyle.

It bothered them, but considering that the young Lohar put up with bullying and all kinds of trouble just for him clearly showed how much she adored him.

There were also other things her behavior showed, including  her dependence on Kyle, and that she was not sure what to do without him, but that was something neither Yasmine nor Beatrice could currently think of.

Rather, it was one particular fact that made them feel both surprised and a little jealous.

'Is she the first?'