Chapter 189: That Is to Offer You, My Loyalty
Inside the small room, a long silence fell.
After a while, Ingrid stepped out from within the dark shadow.
In those beautiful eyes of hers, a light surged, reflecting the turbulent emotions stirring within her.
But eventually, the fluctuations in her eyes faded, subsiding into pure emptiness.
Beneath the soft glow of the night lamp, at the junction of light and shadow in the room, came a faint sound—the sound of Ingrid kneeling on one knee.
Her right knee touched the floor, while her left leg remained upright. She slightly lowered her head, her pitch-black hair cascading down with her movement.
This was the ancient knightly rite of the Granwell Kingdom—a ceremonial gesture where a knight pledged allegiance to their sovereign. And now, Ingrid performed this gesture toward Rast—
It signified that Ingrid had already regarded herself as Rast’s knight.
“This is my choice, Rast.”
She knelt on one knee and slightly raised her head.
Gazing up at the young man standing at the boundary between darkness and light, with black hair and black eyes.
“The former Chief of the Surveillance Bureau, who fell into the abyss of evil for her mother’s revenge and whose hands were stained with blood—that Ingrid is already dead.”
“She died that day at the Gustav Nuclear Power Plant, died in that never-ending deep-sea iron coffin.”
“From now on, I shall live for you alone.”
Ingrid looked up at the boy in the lamplight. The dim candlelight reflected in her eyes like a misty starry sea.
“I shall become the sharpest sword in your hand, cutting down all enemies for you; I shall also become the sturdiest shield before you, using my own body to block all calamities for you.”
“Your mission shall be my mission. Your will shall be my will.”
“In the name of loyalty and justice, I shall use my life to carry out your will—”
“Until the moment my limbs decay, my flesh withers, and life ends—the very moment death separates you and me.”
In the silent night, Ingrid knelt on one knee, reciting the ancient oath.
The Granwell Kingdom was also known as the “Land of Summer Blossoms” and the “Nation of Knights.”
Such oaths of loyalty by knights to their sovereigns had echoed thousands of times across the lands of this kingdom, sung in the verses of countless bards and passed down in the knightly fairy tales preserved in the Great Library.
And now, this ancient knight’s oath once again resounded under the same starlit sky.
“So please allow me to offer you… my loyalty, Rast.”
Amid the clinking sound of metal hitting the ground, Ingrid gently raised her right arm.
With extreme care and reverence, she used that silver-crafted metal prosthetic to hold Rast’s hand.
Next, Ingrid lowered her head and kissed the back of the boy’s hand.
“May I ask something, my liege?”
Maintaining her kneeling posture, she looked up at the young man before her and softly spoke in a respectful voice.
“The organization you’re going to establish…”
“The place I too must join, and for which I shall strive for the rest of my life, dedicating my remaining years to fulfilling your will—what is its name?”
Listening to Ingrid’s respectful words, Rast smiled faintly.
“Since you’ve already seen the Memory-Crystal I left behind…”
“Then I suppose you’ve already heard the true name of this organization.”
He paused for a moment.
“Its name is—”
“Shoreguards.”
…
“Understood. I know you’ll continue focusing on the Nightworld’s conquest for a while.”
“So during this time, I’ll secretly monitor the movements of Bronze Rose and the Gravekeepers in the Western Continent.”
“Additionally, I’ll keep gathering clues and intelligence related to the ‘Fall of Canaan’ two hundred years ago, and to the Nightworld of the Sixth Era.”
The flame lit during the deep night flickered in Ingrid’s eyes as she once again spoke with devout reverence.
“I am quite familiar with Bronze Rose, the remnants of the noble houses that fled beyond the borders, and the hidden Gravekeepers lurking in the shadows.”
“If it’s only about gathering intelligence and not actually engaging in battle, I’m fully confident I won’t be noticed by them.”
“Then, please allow me to take my leave, my liege.”
Ingrid once again performed a formal knightly salute to Rast.
Her gaze paused briefly on the empty bay window within Rast’s room, but in the end, she said nothing.
Ingrid silently withdrew, returning into the depths of the night within the house, into the darkness untouched by candlelight.
A few breaths later, the presence that belonged to Ingrid vanished without a trace, hidden away in the seemingly endless black night.
Just as she had arrived—treading upon shadows, departing the same way, melting into the dark.
Apart from Rast, no one had discovered her presence.
“Should I say, as expected of the former Chief of the Surveillance Bureau of the military? Her style of doing things really is that crisp and decisive.”
A flash of silvery-white light flickered briefly—then, a furry little snow ferret appeared atop the previously empty bay window.
Immediately after, it leapt gracefully from the window ledge and landed lightly upon Rast’s shoulder.
“Also, Little Lide’s strength has grown again. She might’ve already found her path to the Legendary Realm… That look just now, could it be she already sensed my presence in the Sub-Dimension?”
“You know, considering your modus operandi in the Nightworld, if you’re looking for an executor of your will, a subordinate in the Shoreguards, then Little Lide is definitely the most suitable—”
“She’s remarkably similar to you in the way she acts—doing whatever it takes to achieve her goals, even to the point of risking her life… When carrying out missions, she’s never bound by worldly morals or laws. Ruthless and decisive would be the perfect way to describe her.”
“You two really are a perfect match.”
Dean Silver swished her large, furry tail and stood on Rast’s shoulder, voicing her heartfelt sentiment.
“Of course.”
“If not, how could I possibly have invested so much effort into your senior?”
Rast couldn’t help but smile.
Counting the time spent beneath the deep-sea iron coffin, he had poured nearly four full months into this. In those four months, he hadn’t returned to Starfall University even once.
But without a doubt, it was all worth it. His investment had paid off.
As a subordinate, as the executor of his will, Ingrid’s strength as an Extraordinary being and her background could only be described as impeccable.
And her past as the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau—skills such as infiltration, reconnaissance, counterintelligence, tracking, assassination—these were all Ingrid’s areas of greatest expertise, honed to perfection.
That was exactly why Rast had gone to such great lengths to bring Ingrid to his side—
His own power, after all, had its limits. But if he could gain a loyal subordinate like Ingrid, then Rast could participate in the carefully orchestrated game on the Western Continent from the shadows, quietly exerting his influence.
Although he was the inheritor of The Fool’s Library, Rast had a clear understanding of himself.
The three hundred years of surviving like a Lone Wolf in Deep Blue Port meant he was never destined to be a banner like Sisel—someone with immense charisma and natural affinity, one who could gather countless followers, nor a true leader of a grand organization.
But that was nothing to lament.
The lion king, adored by thousands and ruling over the vast grasslands, had a way of living unique to lions.
While the Lone Wolf, estranged and solitary, wandering the wilderness, followed the rules of survival unique to its kind.
In the Present World, on the Western Continent known as the Seventh Era, civilization still flourished and developed. Though undercurrents stirred beneath, on the surface, peace was still maintained—completely different from the chaotic and calamitous scene of the Sixth Era.
Thus, the Shoreguards no longer needed to form a vast, tightly tiered organization like they did in the Sixth Era for the sake of maintaining civilization’s order.
It only required the selection of a very few elite, hidden in the darkness, guarding the light of civilization.
But regardless of the organization’s size, whether many or few—
As long as they truly inherited the will of the Shoreguards—
They would be worthy of bearing this ancient title, passed down through generations of fire and ash, to this very day.
“Also, Dean Silver.”
Rast casually stroked the furry little snow ferret on his shoulder.
“When will you finally stop your habit of chopping off the ends of people’s names and tacking a ‘Little’ in front?”
“Little Tina, Little Shiya, and now there’s a ‘Little Lide’ too…”
He had a feeling that if this continued, he’d end up as “Little Rast” someday.
Of course, maybe he already was in Dean Silver’s mind.
“But, speaking of which—”
Rast slightly restrained his urge to complain, and his tone turned slightly more serious.
“If I remember correctly, Dean Silver, you used to call Senior by her full name, never using that kind of affectionate nickname like ‘Little Lide.’”
Having spent quite some time with this unreliable ferret dean, Rast had more or less figured out Dean Silver’s personality and many of her little daily habits.
Nicknames like “Little Tina” and “Little Shiya,” which sounded quite affectionate, were only used for people like Shiltina and Akxia—those with whom Dean Silver had extremely close relationships.
As a miraculous creature in the form of a ferret yet capable of speech, Dean Silver’s path to advancement differed greatly from that of typical human Extraordinary beings—
It did not rely on cultivation or accumulation, but rather on contact with humans possessing pure souls, using insights gained from understanding human souls to stimulate its tier growth.
Just like Dean Silver’s Unique Sequence of the Higher Sequence Tiers, “Moon”—the moon itself emits no light. What makes the moon so bright in the night sky is its reflection of the sunlight.
And if the sun did not exist, then the moon would no longer be the moon, but merely a nondescript, dim, ordinary piece of rock floating in the deep cosmos.
Dean Silver’s cultivation was exactly the same. Those radiant, glowing souls were like the Brilliance of the sun… only by sensing the light from the souls of others could the moon it symbolized also shine brilliantly.
To use Dean Silver’s own words—
Akxia, Shiltina… they’re my meal tickets.
And Rast himself was the highest-quality, most exceptional golden meal ticket among the ones Dean Silver had collected… just staying near Rast for a single day was equivalent to ten days or even a month of hard cultivation under normal circumstances.
That was why it shamelessly clung to Rast day and night, as if it really had become a pet ferret… this prismatic meal ticket was simply too tempting, making Dean Silver abandon all the dignity it once held as the head of an entire division.
Precisely because of that, Rast remembered very clearly—Senior Ingrid was actually the type Dean Silver deeply disliked, even more than it feared Ophelia.
Back when Rast first encountered Ingrid, Dean Silver had even actively hidden itself, unwilling to meet her.
But who would have thought that a year later, Ingrid would become “Little Lide” in Dean Silver’s mouth.
“In the past, I did feel reluctant to associate with her… after all, at the time, her mind was too calculating, too shrewd—her very bones seemed to drip with scheming.”
Dean Silver blinked its ruby-like beast eyes. “And the last time we visited the Arcane Tower, my instinctive dislike for her peaked.”
“Thinking back now, it must have been because, back then, Little Lide had already resorted to any means necessary for her revenge. Her sins were numerous, her hands drenched in blood, and her soul had fallen into the pitch-black abyss.”
“Only—”
Dean Silver’s voice paused for a moment. “When everything came to light, and Little Lide chose to return alone to the Gustav Nuclear Power Plant to end her remaining days, her soul changed.”
“The Ingrid whose hands were stained with endless sin and blood has already died.”
“But the Ingrid who once lost her way has now returned. She reclaimed the honor and glory she had once abandoned, and was reborn.”
“That’s why I was sure from the very beginning—Little Lide would definitely choose to swear loyalty to you, to become your knight and executor.”
Dean Silver’s words dissolved into the night wind of Starfall University.
“A pair of eyes that have once seen the light can no longer bear the darkness.”
“And the Brilliance that belongs to you, Rast, is just that dazzling—”
“To someone like her, who was already in the endless darkness, how could she not be drawn to the flame like a moth?”