34 Chapter 34: Is it War? (IV) New Beginning

A lot of things happened over the next couple of days.

Kilian had been assigned a whole building at the estate as his own, and with it, Stella had become Kilian's personal maid and was treated as a senior by other maids at the estate.

She had taken on the role well and was already bossing 2 new hires around to help her with the many tasks she said there were to do.

She seemed to be enjoying it, and she was not afraid of bossing Kilian around either if she thought it was in his best interest.

Kilian felt he had not only gotten a grandfather but a nagging sister as well, as she was getting him out of bed early in the mornings, making him continue with his morning workouts.

Kilian was stretching on the floor, he had been doing his daily exercises and was looking forward to the breakfast that sat ready for him at his desk.

He grabbed his cane next to him and got to his feet while staggering.

"Careful Young Master".

Stella was on point and she appeared next to him from across the room in an instant.

Her nagging was not unwelcome, and it made Kilian smile.

It sure was a warm feeling.

He wondered if he would ever get tired of it.

Both Stella and Dante were admired by the personnel and knights everywhere they went, and Dante had been assigned as Kilian's personal knight.

Kilian was inhaling the soft warm bread Stella had brought him. It had a light green jam on it that was a good mix of tart and sweet.

"This is good, what is it?"

"It is some kind of berry that only grows here in the North." That was all Stella knew.

Kilian thought it reminded him of gooseberry, but did not question it more.

After all, this was a different world to the one he knew, so even flora would not necessarily be the same completely.

There was a knock on the door, and after Kilian's approval, a young knight in fine red and tan clothes stepped in.

The man's usual messy red hair had grown on their trip and was now pushed backward, giving him a more clean look.

"What is it, Dante?"

The man got down on one knee and bowed his head to show respect to Kilian.

"Stop with the theatricals, Knight Dante".

Kilian rolled his eyes and saw the grinning smile on Dante's face. The young man was happy being addressed as Knight.

"Yes Sir".

Kilian sighed out loudly, making him receive another big dumb looking grin from the man who stood up.

'He seems taller', Kilian thought, looking at Dante, who fussed over his outfit, and was constantly smoothing out any small creases that may or may not even be there.

Dante cleared his throat and finally continued with the reason he was there.

"The knights of Valen went to the cave location, they did not see the creatures you spoke off, but found traces of red dust in the tunnels that do seem to have been used recently."

Kilian took another bite of his bread, savoring the jam. The meal may have been simple, but he had refused all their lavish attempts of breakfast over the last couple of days.

His stomach simply was not used to rich flavorful food yet, and he enjoyed the simple but fluffy bread that tasted better than any meal he had had since arriving in this world.

"Wonder if they still believe me".

Cratos had mentioned the creatures were Harpies, and he had a vague memory of something similar from stories on Earth. The creatures had had a bird and human-like body, but not with metal feathers.

"Of course, they believe the Young Lord". Stella burst out.

She was slightly annoyed and would not have Kilian second guess himself, pushing a cup of tea closer to Kilian, urging him to drink something.

Kilian smiled some and sipped from the warm milk tea.

Either way, he was safe here, and wherever those creatures were, they were not there anymore.

There had also been no other sighting or mention of any creatures with those features from the townspeople.

He eyed Dante one more time.

'He has become more handsome', he thought, thinking the red and tan clothes worked well with the red hair.

Kilian sighed and quickly looked away.

At that moment a small golden bird appeared next to Kilian, bringing with it a message from Rayden.

Kilian's smile instantly returned, and instead, Dante was the one who looked away with a sigh, which Kilian was to busy to notice.

For the past couple of days, Kilian and Rayden had been corresponding through the magic bird.

Rayden had not provided any insight to Kilian's questions about the golden Rayden from the cave and had been ignoring the questions.

Instead, they had started conversing about any regular things going on.

Rayden was currently at the war council in the capital and was to head out with his knights to determine the scope of the sudden invasion.

There had been sightings of strange creatures in tales from the few survivors that had made it to a safe place.

So far none of them had been the same as Kilian's encounter with the Harpies.

The new letter contained just a small question.

'Are you still only eating that bread', Kilian read.

"Tsk" Kilian frowned, but not in anger, and quickly scribbled down a reply.

'Obviously, it is the best bread in this Kingdom.

Are you still walking around with that long hair, get a haircut'.

Kilian wrote it trying to retort back to Rayden who had dared to belittle his choice of food.

He handed it to the bird with a smile, seeing it burn up the paper, or more like dematerializing it, and flew off.

Kilian looked down at his plate, he had been engrossed in the short letter, and now noticed his last piece of bread was gone.

"Whaa?"

Kilian looked up and saw Dante who stood next to him, chewing with a smirk.

"It sure is delicious".

Kilian stood up and grabbed his cane.

"I am going with you to the training area today".

Dante gulped down the piece of bread in his mouth and stared at his young master.

"Why?".

The words were rude even for him, he had simply been surprised, but with that one word, he had indicated how he did not expect Kilian to be able to train with the knights.

Kilian eyed him without a word.

Dante quickly pulled himself together and continued.

"What will you be doing at the training area?".

Dante thought maybe it was to observe the knights and the area.

"Train", was all Kilian replied with a tone that indicated that was the end of the discussion, as he walked out of the room with a confused Dante in tow.

The estate kept surprising him, it did not matter where he went, there was always another big building or garden.

However they all seemed to be neglected and overgrown, but the old-style details and craftsmanship of the stone looked like hidden gems ready to shine again.

They came to a big open area in what seemed to be an old neglected garden, where the grass had been replaced by sand and dirt.

At least 20 big men almost the size of the Duke were currently exercising, training, and sparring in the area. They were not wearing their usual armor, but light clothes that were easy to move in.

It seemed as if the giant bodies were immune to the cold around them, that was already shaking Kilian.

They were engrossed in their training when they suddenly noticed the young man walk in among them.

Kilian looked around, noticing the peeks and gazes coming his way, and he tried to reply with a smile.

'Clank!'.

The many sounds of metal increased like a volume had been turned up and Kilian noticed men who started fighting with their sparring partner as if their life depended on it.

If he passed someone they would stop instantly with what they were doing and bow with courtesy.

It got to the point, Kilian thought he was just hindering their training and headed for a corner of the area to be by himself.

"They got so motivated when the young Duke showed up".

Kilian looked up at Dante with a curious look.

"Young Duke?"

Dante looked away with a grin.

"That is what I hear them call you around this place".

Kilian peeked past Dante who had brought his sword and was starting his training on his own.

Many eyes followed Kilian, and he was unable to hold back his blushing cheeks.

"What is this…" He mumbled, not expecting an answer.

"They are too sincere".

His gut felt warm, and the wind did not seem as cold anymore.

He turned his head in embarrassment and focused on a big piece of rock several feet in front of him.

Kilian pushed all the unnecessary thoughts away from his mind and focused on the big slab of stone, that looked like an old stone pillar that had broken, if he looked closely the fallen top part was already covered in moss further away.

He focused on the strange feeling that surrounded him, but it was a welcomed feeling to him now.

It absorbed into his body like it was filling every inch of his body, and it seemed he could manipulate the density in his limbs.

It was a warm pulsating feeling, calming and he could already feel the few pains in his legs he had gotten just from walking there were getting duller.

Without any word, he stared at the pillar in front of him.

Dante had been swinging his sword after his warmup, and snuck peeks at the figure who had been standing still in the cold for several minutes.

'What is he doing?'

He stared at the slender frame that stood steady in the wind but noticed Kilian's skin was covered in sweat.

'He will get sick!' He realized and stopped his training to take off his coat, while walking toward the Young man with the golden hair.

At that moment a large piece of rock flew his way, and he instinctively reflected it with his forearm to protect his face.

When he put his arm down, he saw the stone pillar in front of Kilian had a huge crack in it to the point several pieces had broken off.

There had been no incantation, no feeling of magic, and there were no traces of fire or anything at all.

He stared at Kilian, who had a smirk on his face, and the expression on the Young Man seemed almost evil.