Isaac went to Duke Wright’s funeral.
The estate of the Ducal Wright Family was completely destroyed.
Hundreds of servants, soldiers, knights, mages, and Duke Wright himself had died. No one survived.
The mansions had collapsed, and the roads had broken apart.
A massive battle had taken place here.
But no one found enemy corpses.
Only the bodies of those who had lived in the estate lay scattered.
Not a single attacker had died.
The funeral was large.
Amanda Wright, Isaac’s sister, was the last Wright left.
Her house had lost majority of its combat power, and supporters.
She was a piece of pie that the other houses were now eyeing to devour.
But Amanda didn’t care about those things.
She was a broken mess, crying endlessly while standing next to her father’s grave.
Amanda had survived because she was outside of the mansion when the attack took place.
However, others were not so lucky.
Whispers spread among the nobles during the burial.
"How can the strongest of the Ten Stars die so easily?"
"Do we know who did this?"
"It must be someone who had a grudge against them."
"Amanda, don’t cry, child. We will support...."
The people surrounded Amanda like snakes, giving her comfort while sharping their fangs silently.
Isaac who was watching silently from the far end of the burial ground spoke, "Give them 10,000 Gold Coins, and a few guards."
Merlin nodded.
Isaac’s gaze remained on the burial. Occasionally, he looked at Amanda.
He had recovered the memories of original Isaac while he lived for decades in his last life.
To him, these people were his family.
His father had been killed in cold blood, and his sister was mentally broken.
But....
’It doesn’t matter.’
’When I die and time turns back, and everyone will be alive once again.’
Isaac didn’t know if he was disgusted by his own thoughts, or if he just didn’t care about Wright family after he had been exiled.
Whatever the case, he did not want to stay in the burial ground anymore.
He left and went to one of the few buildings that still stood.
Merlin came after a few hours.
"...I found some clues."
"..."
"It’s... someone with Death Element. The Death Elements covering the estate are so strong that they were easily detectable even though it has been weeks since the attack."
Isaac knew who used Death Element, and was strong enough to kill Duke Wright, the strongest of the Ten Stars.
The Knight of Death.
He was one of the four knights who served the new Human King, the man who would soon start a war, and drench the kingdom in rivers of blood.
At this point, no one knew the existence of the Knight of Death, or the person who would become the Human King.
It was if they didn’t exist yet.
Knight of Death would only be known after he gained infamy the war.
The new Human King would only make an appearance after he overtook the kingdom, then he would never show himself again.
’I thought Duke Wright would die in the war.’
’But it seems he was always killed before the war even began.’
Isaac stared outside the window with an empty gaze.
In his past life, the war had already ended before he learned about it. Even as the ruler of the Storm Elves, he had struggled to gather information.
The Human King and his Four Knights had slaughtered countless people.
Few survived, and those who did refused to speak, not wanting to recall the horrors of the war.
Isaac knew only fragments.
Duke Falcon and Zara would survive. But Duke Falcon would live as a prisoner in his own mansion.
The other two Dukes would die. Many nobles would fall.
Merlin would become the beacon of hope for the kingdom’s forces, but he would disappear half-way through the war, and never re-appear again.
More than ninety percent of the population would die.
No one knew why the knew Human King was doing so, but he made sure almost all innocent citizens were killed.
The current king and his forces would have a crushing defeat.
"Isaac...." Merlin placed his hand on Isaac’s shoulder. "I know it must be hard for you. But... can you...."
The protagonist bit his lips.
"Can you return to the Wright Family? Amanda needs your help. You are her only family—"
Merlin’s mouth was clamped shut when he heard a sigh from Isaac’s mouth.
Isaac stood up and dusted off his clothes, turning to leave.
"Isaac—"
"I came to the funeral because you insisted. I gave them money and bodyguards because they spent that much when I was a child. Don’t expect me to do anything else. I don’t know these people."
Merlin’s eyes widened.
He could not believe what he heard.
As Isaac began to leave, Merlin’s hand shot out and grabbed Isaac’s wrist.
Isaac looked at him with a cold gaze.
It was the same look he had given years ago, when Merlin tried to stop him from leaving Amanda’s room.
Back then, Merlin had let go of Isaac, and allowed him to drift away.
But not this time.
If Isaac continued down this path, then even if he became strong, he would regret it.
He would regret losing all bonds he had, and would go mad.
That’s why...
No matter what, Merlin couldn’t allow Isaac to leave.
"Let go of my hand."
"No."
Isaac’s gaze grew colder.
"I am not letting you go until you talk to Amanda. She needs you right now! I know you are angry, but—"
A sudden force struck Merlin.
It felt like a battering ram had hit him.
His body flew back and slammed into the wall, cracking it. A deep slash cut across his body from shoulder to waist.
Blood poured out.
His vision blurred. His ears rang.
He slid down and collapsed, coughing blood.
Isaac walked towards him.
"She needs me? What about me? What did she do when I needed her and this family? When you came to kill me in front of entire academy, where were they? When I proved my innocence and needed someone to support me, where were they? When I was exiled and attacked by knights and mages, where were they?"
"I— I know they left you. But please, Isaac. I beg you... don’t do this. Don’t throw away your bonds."
Merlin tried to stand.
His hands trembled as he pushed himself up.
Blood kept pouring from his wound.
Instead of healing himself, his entire attention was on trying to change Isaac’s mind.
"I un-understand you now, Isaac. You are training so much because you don’t want to look at others. You are angry. You have every reason to be. But if you don’t try to talk to others, that anger will never disappear. Only when everyone will be gone will you realize what your anger had cost you."
Isaac said nothing. He just looked at Merlin.
The protagonist was strong enough to block the attack earlier, or counter attack.
But he took Isaac’s attack. He was trying to let Isaac vent his anger, even if it meant being injured for it.