The Snow Leopard Baby of the Black Leopard Family - Chapter 156

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 156
“What are you talking about?”
Ludian snatched one of the cookies that lay before Tiel, shoved it into his mouth, and asked through a half-chewed bite.
Ludian was a young master who had been raised receiving noble education at the great house of Asterian, but thanks to Asterian’s philosophy of cultivating freedom and childlike wonder, he often behaved no differently from common folk.
Of course, Ferdi found such behavior distasteful every time, but Ludian paid it no mind even now, well into his mid-twenties.
When Ludian, forgetting that Tiel had grown up, habitually picked up another cookie and held it out to her, Tiel accepted the one he offered despite already holding a cookie in her own hand.
“We’ve found what we believe to be Je’s headquarters.”
Ferdi unfolded a piece of parchment across the table as he spoke.
At his words, everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment.
They had found Je’s headquarters?
Wasn’t this something Cassius and Alpheus had searched for in every possible way for ten years without success?
Olivier tossed his fan onto the table with a bang and turned to look at Ferdi. “You’re serious? How did you find it? Have you told Uncle?”
“Of course I did, and I told Grandfather as well. The place I found is a mansion on Snowy Mountain within Nestian.”
Ferdi tapped a circled location with his index finger. Everyone looked at the spot he was indicating as if bound by a silent pact.
It was strictly forbidden for anyone without permission to enter and leave Nestian.
But the location Ferdi was pointing to was a snow-covered mountain within Nestian’s territory. At the same moment, the same question arose in everyone’s mind.
‘How did Ferdi even investigate this?’
There was no way Thender of Nestian would have allowed Ferdi of Asterian into Nestian. Not unless the Nestian lord had somehow forgotten his own grandson!
Ferdi, reading the question that had appeared in everyone’s eyes, tilted his head lightly and blinked.
“I didn’t use anything strange. I sent in a Salamander.”
“You sent a Salamander into Snowy Mountain?”
“Nestian’s ice can’t overcome my Flame.”
“That’s not the point! How vast is Nestian anyway? Are you telling me you combed through all of Nestian with just one small Salamander?”
Ferdi nodded.
Ferdi’s Ability had grown different in texture from that of other members of Asterian as he matured.
Cassius, Alpheus, and Ludian operated their Abilities by unleashing bursts of Flame, whereas Ferdi preferred methods of using his Ability more efficiently.
For instance, the approach of condensing as much Ability as possible into a small flame and then unleashing it.
Therefore, the Salamander that Ferdi created had no choice but to carry stronger Flame than those created by others.
His Salamander burned longer, burned hotter, and could leave his hand to roam far longer than those of his peers. Ferdi’s Salamander was indeed suited for reconnaissance.
But that was only in theory. To send a single small Salamander into Nestian’s territory, surrounded on all sides by ice, and comb through the entire realm?
It was something most Beastkin could not even imagine. Yet Ferdi had done it.
“When exactly did you start searching through Nestian?”
“Since they cut off all contact.”
“That’s at least ten years!”
“It did take a long time, but I found it in the end, didn’t I?”
Ferdi spoke in a casual tone.
Everyone except Ferdi stared at him with their mouths hanging open.
Ferdi was speaking of this matter as if it were trivial, but it was anything but trivial!
Ferdi of Asterian had exhausted a tremendous amount of his Ability, searched through Nestian for a full ten years, and found what was believed to be Je’s headquarters.
“Did you do this alone? Without letting Grandfather and Father know?”
“No, the two of them worked on it with me. It would have been too much for me alone, after all.”
“But how could you not tell us! If we’re combing through all of Nestian to find something, my Sylph would be better at it than your Salamander!”
Olivier struck the table with a bang, his voice tinged with grievance. The cookie basket on the table trembled.
Ferdi narrowed his brows as he spoke.
“Why would I tell you? Are you of Asterian? You’re an outsider with no involvement in this matter from the start. What if Nestian found out?”
“The risk of being discovered is the same for Asterian too, isn’t it?”
“We’re the parties directly involved in this affair. We have justification, but you don’t. Do you think I didn’t ask for your help because I don’t know your Sylph is fast?” At Ferdi’s words, Olivier retreated and said nothing more.
“Anyway, that’s not what matters right now. We’ve identified the suspected headquarters, but we can’t approach it with the Salamander.”
Ferdi had attempted to use the Salamander to enter that mansion countless times. But every time the Salamander drew near the mansion, it lost its way without fail.
Hearing Ferdi’s account, Cassius recalled how the mansion where he had apprehended Osian had been covered in a strange Magical Fog, and he told Ferdi about it.
‘It seems as though some special Ability or a Curse has been placed on it. Should one enter, they will surely lose their way and wander unable to find the exit. Your Salamander’s Flame must have been extinguished as well.’
Ferdi asked.
‘Then how did you manage to enter, Father? You entered that place and apprehended Osian.’
Cassius replied.
‘Tiel said it might help and gave me a Power Orb. That orb absorbed the Magical Fog. I believe it’s the same fog as before. And this time too, Tiel’s Ability will likely be necessary……. It would be better to speak with Tiel and ask for her help.’
Recalling his conversation with Cassius, Ferdi turned his head toward Tiel.
“I hear you once gave Father a Power Orb when he apprehended Osian. Could you make one for me as well?”
At Ferdi’s question, Tiel nodded hurriedly.
“……Of course! I can make one for you. But it will take some time.”
Tiel’s Ability had certainly grown stronger than it had been at age seven.
Yet lately, she had found using her Ability difficult. It was not merely a matter of insufficient power.
It was a more fundamental problem. The Day-Night Balance had become disrupted, the days had grown shorter, and her own Ability was weakening bit by bit.
Moreover, infusing her Ability into a Power Orb was something that consumed a considerable amount of her Ability and stamina, so even if she had possessed strength like before, she would not have been able to do it in a short span of time.
No—truthfully, she lacked confidence that she could pour in as much Ability as Ferdi would need.
The Power Orb she had once given to Cassius had been crafted by gathering the cleanest and strongest power she possessed.
Thus, dispelling darkness or any comparable Ability would have been child’s play for that orb.
But……
‘What if it doesn’t work this time?’
If she labored to shape the Power Orb with her Ability, only to have the orb shatter into countless fragments in the darkness, unable to absorb it?
Tiel felt as though dark, roiling clouds of anxiety were spreading through her mind.
Tiel quickly shook her head lightly, brushing away the anxiety that had settled over her thoughts like thunderclouds.
‘No, I shouldn’t think like that.’
I can do this! There is no one else who can accomplish what Tiel cannot. Tiel was a Sentient Being who knew this fact better than anyone, having learned it in Crasion.
Ferdi smiled gently, as if understanding the burden Tiel carried.
“Take your time. I’m not in a rush. Go slowly, Tiel. Once you’re ready, we’ll prepare ourselves as well.”
“Did you just say ‘we’ll’?”
Ludian tilted his head and asked.
Ferdi, his legs crossed and one hand resting lightly on his knee, looked at his twin brother and nodded gently.
“That’s right—’we’ll.’ You and I will go to Nestian directly.”
At Ferdi’s thunderbolt of an announcement, everyone in the room’s eyes widened.
While all around him were in shock, Ferdi alone remained calm and composed, taking a leisurely sip of his tea.

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