Reincarnated as a Genius Prodigy of a Prestigious Family - Chapter 184

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Reincarnated as a Legendary Talent Genius of a Noble Family Episode 184

 

122. Why Is the Situation Like This?

 

We prepared even more thoroughly than when we went to the Northern Region.

 

We meticulously packed camping supplies and exploration equipment as backups, and gathered a considerable amount of food—perhaps even more than necessary.

 

“Should we pack this too?”

 

“Pack as much dried food as we can fit. It’ll be difficult to make fires in the mountain range.”

 

In the Northern Region, we fought against the bitter cold.

 

But there were no people there, so we could freely make fires.

 

However, the mountain range will be different.

 

Since we have to move while avoiding the Rangers, we can’t leave any traces of our presence.

 

We can’t even leave scents if possible, so we carefully selected even the food preserved with magic.

 

“Stew would smell too much. We should just go with jerky.”

 

“What about salted meat? This looks pretty good too.”

 

And regarding this matter, Delward provided considerable help.

 

“This equipment would be better than that one. The terrain is rough but the ground is soft, so anchors will come loose immediately if you drive them in.”

 

“Focus on packing dried food that’s filling. You’ll probably have to eat like that inside the mountain range. You can’t move when you’re hungry, right?”

 

Thanks to wandering outside for several years, Delward’s knowledge was quite extensive. As a result, he seemed to get along quite well with Ernest.

 

“You said you’re from the Exploration Department, so you really do know your stuff? You said Baron Dylan’s family, right?”

 

“Yes, Elder Brother!”

 

“Leila has made many good friends. A child from a renowned exploration family. Is the Baron doing well? I think I met him once when I was young.”

 

And also, he was a kind person.

 

Enough to understand why Leila missed him so much.

 

In the midst of this, communication came from Edward.

 

-Dane, I looked into it and there really is something like ‘ruins’ in the mountain range as you said. I couldn’t obtain a detailed report, but I was able to find out the location and entrance.

 

This is quite surprising.

 

This alone is a great harvest.

 

We might have wasted quite a bit of time gathering information before entering the mountain range, or if even that failed, we would have had to search the mountain range directly.

 

“That alone is sufficient.”

 

I should have asked earlier.

 

I had been wondering whether I should search through books, find someone with experience, or even hire a guide.

 

“I’m grate… no, thank you, Your Highness.”

 

-No need for thanks. Considering the help I’ve received from you, this is easier than cutting meat. Well, after my hand heals, of course.

 

I burst into laughter at Edward’s joke.

 

He seems genuinely pleased that he was able to help me.

 

-Oh, and recently I’ve started practicing with the wooden sword you gave me as a gift. Sir Onet said so. The center of gravity is very well balanced and it’s well-made, so it can be used very well until I can properly wield a real sword.

 

“You could use it as a club substitute too. In an emergency, I mean.”

 

-Haha, I was already thinking of sparring freely with this since you said it would never break.

 

After exchanging pleasantries, we returned to the main topic.

 

-Good. Oh, and according to a knight who used to be a Ranger, they couldn’t proceed any further from the ruins entrance.

 

“Is there another reason?”

 

-Hmm… they entered the entrance but it was a dead end.

 

A dead end.

 

Either it’s really a dead end, or it looks like a dead end but there might be something hidden.

 

-And also, be careful of the monsters in the mountain range. Particularly, the ‘Dranius’ that inhabits around the ruins is threatening. Even Rangers are reluctant to face them alone.

 

Dranius.

 

I’ve seen them before.

 

They’re giant lizard-type monsters that boast tremendous strength due to their large size, while also being hunters capable of ‘camouflage’ to match their surroundings.

 

They can’t survive on open plains, so after flowing in from the Demon Realm, they’ve only lived in the mountain range areas.

 

After that, Edward told me several more substantial facts he had discovered.

 

And finally…

 

-You know well, but… you’re not going to the mountain range. You’re just asking out of curiosity.

 

“Of course.”

 

He made a request of me.

 

It contained various meanings, but there are probably two main ones.

 

One is concern about the possibility of it developing into a political problem.

 

And the other is…

 

-I know I don’t need to worry about you, but this time is a little different. Please return safely.

 

“Don’t worry, Your Highness.”

 

-Right. And if any problems arise… I promise you one thing. I will protect you even if I have to stake my position on it.

 

This is reassuring.

 

His Highness the Prince will protect me.

 

“I am deeply honored.”

 

So this time I had no choice but to answer like this.

 

Edward must know this too, as he didn’t particularly scold me even after hearing the word “honored.”

 

-I hope you explore the ruins and get what you want. Then Leila’s expression will brighten even more.

 

By the way, Edward also knows well what we’re risking danger for.

 

So he probably wants to help even more.

 

He probably wants to go with us if he could…

 

But this help alone is more than enough and sufficient.

 

It wouldn’t be easy to provide this kind of help from his position as a prince.

 

Also… as a friend too.

 

“I’ll see you when I return. Or maybe we’ll meet in the Eastern Territory.”

 

-Let’s do that.

 

After finishing the communication like that, while I was organizing my thoughts, Leila quietly approached me.

 

“Did you finish the communication with His Highness the Prince well?”

 

“Yeah. I learned quite a lot. I found out the ruins location and the entrance too. I’ll have to go see it directly, but probably…”

 

When my explanation was about to continue, Leila suddenly said.

 

“Thank you, Dane. For working so hard like this.”

 

I chuckled at those words.

 

“Isn’t that natural?”

 

“You might think so… but I don’t.”

 

Leila smiled brightly.

 

“Now I can finally imagine it. Mother waking up, Little Brother returning, and all of us eating together like before.”

 

She really is a strong fellow.

 

It’s amazing that she’s endured this long without showing it much at such a young age.

 

So…

 

“I’ll make that imagination into reality.”

 

Now it’s really time to do it.

 

“Thank you, really.”

 

I nodded while looking at Leila’s face with tears slightly welling up.

 

* * *

 

We finally departed.

 

We decided to use the teleport platform to get to the city near the capital.

 

But from then on, we had to follow the path to the mountain range.

 

The closer to the mountain range, the lower the development level of cities, and therefore many places don’t have platforms installed.

 

This time, Big Sister couldn’t help either.

 

Places like Demaras were lucky enough to utilize existing facilities, but many cities and territories near the mountain range are too underdeveloped for that.

 

Above all, teleport platforms have great potential for military use, so while existing installations might be fine, newly installing them is said to be quite a difficult matter.

 

Anyway, for these various reasons, we used the last platform and are now traveling by horse.

 

“Neighhhhh.”

 

And Chiron looked very pleased.

 

Come to think of it, is this the first time this fellow has come outside and run freely like this?

 

“Dane, that horse is incredible. I’d only heard rumors, but seeing it in person, most other horses wouldn’t even compare.”

 

Delward was quite impressed.

 

Indeed, Chiron is so large that it makes the horses the other friends are riding look like ponies.

 

With such a fellow going wild, how difficult must it have been for the Imperial Palace’s stable keeper all this time.

 

Ah, and forest keeper Cassare too.

 

No wonder he looked like a weight had been lifted when I went to fetch Chiron earlier.

 

“His stamina must be incredible too.”

 

“Neighing.”

 

Chiron responds to my words as if it’s obvious.

 

“Haha. It’s almost like he understands human speech.”

 

Anyway, Chiron’s stamina like this will be a great help for the journey ahead.

 

Of course, since we’re not moving alone, we’ll have to match pace, but it’s still much better than having poor stamina.

 

“Five days to the mountain range… If we alternate between galloping and resting to control our pace, it’ll be six days at most.”

 

Five to six days to get there.

 

And we’ll camp along the way and stop at cities and territories to let the horses eat and rest while we also take brief breaks together.

 

No matter how much subspace we have, there’s a limit to the total amount that can go in, and the amount of feed the horses eat is no joke either.

 

While we’re at it, it would be nice for us to rest lying on beds too.

 

So there are no rough or difficult paths during the journey.

 

However…

 

“I’ve been hearing stories lately about poor security. The war’s aftermath has already left things desolate, and since that hasn’t been restored, they say bandits have increased too.”

 

As Delward says, with security being poor, we need to be careful.

 

We can handle bandit groups easily enough, but avoiding unnecessary fights is also important.

 

Since we have a different goal.

 

“We need to watch out for monsters too. Especially in open plains or forests where people are hard to find.”

 

Delward picked up on Leila’s words.

 

“After the war ended, the capital and major granary regions might be one thing, but there are actually quite a few places still not under control. There are places where strange religious groups hold sway, and cities controlled by mercenaries too.”

 

It seems Delward has seen and heard a lot while traveling around various places.

 

“Anyway, there are countless things to be careful of. Still, it should be quite fun. During the journey, I mean. Since there are so many people like this?”

 

Leila tilted her head.

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, traveling alone isn’t fun at all. You can’t take turns standing guard, so the tension is incredible. Setting up alarm devices every day and sleeping with barely any embers left… how exhausting that… Sorry.”

 

Delward, who had been thoughtlessly talking about his hardships, quickly shut his mouth.

 

He had forgotten that he was talking to Leila.

 

“I really hope… this will be the end of that suffering.”

 

“R-right. Hahaha.”

 

Delward laughed awkwardly, and Leila sighed.

 

Well, it’ll work out fine.

 

It has so far, and we’ve made plenty of preparations this time too.

 

More than anything, I’m curious.

 

About the identity of the ruins where Roxinna’s Tear is located.

 

I’m not expecting there to be an ancient magic power concentrate, just the anticipation that I might encounter something new.

 

Who knows?

 

Maybe those ruins, like what we encountered in the Northern Region recently, are related to the Ancient Magic Kingdom Arcana.

 

Anyway, we camped like that on the first day.

 

“Stick the support pin there, good. Let’s check the retaining wall.”

 

“It’s perfect. At this rate, it wouldn’t collapse even if a storm hit.”

 

“Ernest, you’re pretty good at this?”

 

“Hehe, you’re much better at it, Elder Brother.”

 

Thanks to Delward and Ernest stepping up without anyone asking, we were able to rest quite comfortably.

 

The fact that the two seem to work well together is a bonus.

 

Anyway, thanks to them we could sleep peacefully without any particular problems, and we moved as scheduled the next day.

 

“Just a little more and we’ll reach the Eliba Marquessate.”

 

“If it’s a marquessate, won’t that be troublesome?”

 

Delward responded to Ernest’s words as if it were obvious.

 

“That’s why we should slip through as quietly as possible. Pretending to be travelers. If our identities are revealed, there’ll probably be chaos.”

 

Just me, Delward, and Leila alone would put any territory on high alert.

 

We’re already the children of two powerful nobles in the Empire, so what noble in the world would just let us be?

 

They’d probably try to entertain us by scraping together whatever they have or don’t have, which doesn’t suit our current situation at all.

 

“We just need to pass through naturally. People who would recognize us will all recognize us anyway, but it’s not like anyone will bother asking.”

 

We only need to be there for the time it takes the horses to eat hay and rest briefly.

 

We can’t help drawing attention during that time, but it won’t be for long.

 

But as we approached the Eliba Marquessate, we sensed something

 

“Why is the territory’s condition like this?”

 

The first person to react was Priscilla.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“The atmosphere inside is unusual. Something feels very foreign.”

 

Foreign.

 

I don’t really understand that, but I can tell the atmosphere glimpsed inside looks strangely ominous.

 

“Why are people moving around in groups like that?”

 

Those who could handle mana roughly grasped the scene visible from afar and turned pale.

 

The atmosphere is strange somehow.

 

“We need hay to feed the horses anyway, so it would be good for at least one person to go.”

 

I dismounted from my horse for now.

 

“If several people go, we’ll draw attention, so it would be better for everyone to wait.”

 

“That’s right. Delward and I will go…”

 

That’s when Delward was saying that.

 

“I’ll go. Something’s strange. I think I need to go see for myself to be sure. This sensation is definitely odd.”

 

Priscilla stepped forward and said she’d go with me.

 

A sensation.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I can’t explain it exactly. But it’s strange. Can’t you all feel it?”

 

I can tell the atmosphere is ominous.

 

But I don’t really understand what it means for the ‘feeling’ to be strange.

 

Wait.

 

Priscilla is from the Theology Department…

 

Maybe she’s the only one feeling something we can’t feel.

 

“Then shouldn’t we not go even more, Professors?”

 

“Dane is here.”

 

Priscilla showed strong faith.

 

“Right. We need to go get hay anyway. We need to pack it tightly into the subspace.”

 

It takes at least three days to the next city.

 

But retracing our steps would end up being the same anyway.

 

After going there and feeding the horses hay, by the time we get this far, the hay will run out again.

 

And the path is too long to abandon the horses and walk—

 

“Well, if there’s a problem, we’ll just solve it. Right?”

 

In the end, without needing to think long, we just need to go in and come out.

 

“That’s so like you, Dane.”

 

Priscilla grinned as if she knew that’s what I’d say.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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