Read Novel Full Chapter 524- Shocking News!
Chapter 524: Chapter 524- Shocking News!
"I don’t want to buy anything. I simply have some questions I hope you will answer."
"Please ask away, great customer. Anything you want to know." Reinhardt began by asking about the state of the capital and how everything was.
"Depends who you ask." The stall owner scratched his chin. "People are living. That’s about the nicest thing you can say. Business is slow; people buy what they need and nothing more, especially after the events of that day."
Reinhardt nodded his head. He didn’t need to ask what the shopkeeper meant by ’that day’. His next question was about the royal palace and the royal family.
"The palace is tighter than ever; guards are stationed everywhere. Not much information leaks out, so I don’t think I can provide you with any answer."
Well, that was obvious. After the incident where half of the royal palace was turned into ruins, the first prince betraying humanity, the Supreme Divine Treasure almost getting stolen, and the princess escaping on her wedding day, it would be weird if there were no actions from the royal family.
Reinhardt let that settle before asking the next question. "Any news making its way around the town?"
At those words, the stall owner squinted at him. "You aren’t from these parts, are you, great customer?"
The next second, though, he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it ain’t my concern where you came from. Anyways, it’s been a while since we’ve seen fresh faces here. Roads aren’t what they used to be. If you want news, real news, there’s only one thing people talk about these days."
"Oh! And what’s that?" Reinhardt’s eyes sharpened.
The stall owner leaned closer; there was grief and pity in his expression. "One of the Five Heroes is dead."
!!!
Behind Reinhardt, Diana shuddered. The moment those words fell, her entire body stiffened, her breath hitched, and her fingers clenched tightly into fists, whitened with tension. This cannot be! Fear took hold of her body and she couldn’t help but part her lips to speak.
"Which..."
"Which one?" But before a sound could escape her, Reinhardt spoke first.
The stall owner sighed, shaking his head. "A shame, really. A damn shame." Then he looked up and spoke the name aloud, clearly, as if etching it into the air.
"The one who died was Hero Caelum Argentis. The Skybearer."
The world that had stilled for a second started moving once again. Diana, who had been holding her breath this whole time, finally exhaled. At the same time, relief washed over her, causing her knees to weaken for a fraction of a second, leading to her almost falling down. However, before she could, a sturdy arm caught her and pressed her towards his chest.
"Are you alright?"
Being in such proximity to a man, Diana’s face blushed like a tomato, and she could only nod her head. After seeing strength return to her body so she could stand again, only then did he release her.
The loss of one of the heroes of humanity would cause great turbulence in anyone’s heart. Reinhardt was no exception. Had it been any other situation, that is. Right now, hearing that the hero who died was not Vaerion, both Diana and Reinhardt felt a sense of relief.
For the latter, he felt somewhat responsible for disrupting the other party’s wedding. Had the Dark Knight died, it would have left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. Be that as it may, the loss of one hero for the kingdom of Aetherionn; no, was a great loss for all of humanity.
What’s more, Caelum... One of the Five Heroes and pillars that held Aetherion upright. He was someone he knew. From his memories, there were a few times during some expeditions into the tainted lands that he had bumped into the other party.
They had shared quite a good time as rivals. The other party had stood smiling beside him in the past, promising that as long as he lived, humanity would never fall.
"How did he die?"
The stall owner narrowed his eyes, unease creeping into his earlier enthusiasm. "That’s the strange part. We didn’t hear about any grand battle or demon horde. The royal family is trying to suppress all information. However, from what we know, they say that he fell during a labyrinth expedition. There was another hero with him who managed to recover his body before beating a hasty retreat... but something about it doesn’t seem right."
Even the shopkeeper didn’t know the full detail of what went down. Well, he was an ordinary citizen, so getting this much information from him was already enough. If Reinhardt wanted to know more about it, he would have to go to an establishment that specialises in such information exchange.
Having gotten all the information he could from the shopkeeper, Reinhardt and Diana left. They walked through a narrow alleyway, avoiding eyes before coming to a stop.
"Are you alright?"
Behind him, Diana had her head lowered. Despite all her efforts to appear calm, it was plainly obvious from her trembling shoulders that she was not. Reinhardt didn’t press her for an answer and calmly gave her time and distance to settle down.
Even though they knew it was not Vaerion, the death of a hero was an extremely huge issue. What’s more, Diana was the princess of Aetherion; the shock and loss she suffered were many times greater than his own.
"...He’s dead?!" After a while, she opened her mouth and whispered, her voice barely audible. "How can he die? The Skybearer is one of the strongest knights of Aetherion. Caelum Argentis... he is one of the Five Heroes. Aren’t they supposed to be the most powerful beings?!"
Memories surged; she remembered when she was young, Hero Caelum, who was an Extreme knight at that time, served as the captain of the royal guards. He would guard her, laugh with her, and rebuke her when she made mistakes.
In a way, it could be said that the Skybearer was her imperial teacher. To hear about his death would naturally devastate her.
Reinhardt sighed and looked up. In terms of age, the other party was more than ten years older than him and had gone through more experiences than him. While their meeting might have been short, he recognised the other party as one of the finest knights in the world.
"Indeed, heroes are among the strongest beings in the world. However, they are not infallible."
In fact, there are countless ways to kill them; his own example being one. That said, to kill a knight who had stepped into the realm of heroes was not easy. There had to be more to this story than what was known to the public.
.
.
"Three months... three months and still no clue."
Inside a tavern, a group of men could be seen discussing around a table, their voices loud.
"The princess, the national treasure of our kingdom, has disappeared, and what does the crown do? They seal off all information. Dammit, as if that’ll do." A man spoke, slamming his mug onto the table.
"I know that you get quite agitated when it comes to the princess. However, you shouldn’t slander the royal family like this." Another one added, hushing his friend.
That said, the man was much too drunk and agitated and couldn’t calm down easily.
"Man, you can all stay calm because you don’t know how benevolent and nice the princess was. I once had the good fortune of meeting her. Even though I was just a commoner and made a grave mistake at that time, she showed mercy and compassion to me. From that time, I decided in my heart that I would only accept her as the ruler of this kingdom."
Hearing his words, his friends sighed. The man was just drunk on his emotions. That said, it was indeed quite suspicious that the royal family was unable to find the missing princess.
"There is no way the princess would just leave. Some say that she ran away on the wedding day because she didn’t want to marry Sir Vaerion."
"Heh, I heard she was killed by the first prince when he turned to the dark side."
Listening in to their conversation not far away were Reinhardt and Diana. To find out more information on what was going around the capital, he led her here. Here, where information is exchanged freely after a few drinks, was the perfect place to fill the gap in their knowledge.
"Is this your first time coming into such an establishment?"
Reinhardt glanced at the woman seated next to him. Since right now was the peak business time, the place was flooded with customers; every table was filled. Because of this, she had to sit quite close to him.
To sit so close to a man, Diana’s face flushed red without her control.
Misunderstanding her hesitation for being new to an establishment like a tavern, Reinhardt insisted that she eat something so that they blended in.