Chapter 399: A gift from your big brother

After waiting for a couple of minutes, Silika and the others arrived outside the walls of New Grenton, where Lara was waiting for them. Hilda approached Lara and grabbed her shoulders.

"Lara is it true? Did you really meet Ren?"

"Yes," Lara answered. When Milly heard Lara's answer she almost cried. She always believed that her robust son would never fall, but hearing that someone had actually seen him made her feel extremely relieved.

"So where is he, is he here with you now?"

"No, he's currently back in the Serbek Kingdom?" When the others heard Lara's reply they each had different reactions.

"Was he captured?" Even though the statement was an unbelievable one, it was the only thing they could think of at the moment. Lara was shocked by the statement, even though it wasn't shown on her face, she was experiencing inner turmoil.

'What the f*ck is this b*tch talking about?! How could they even begin to think that Ren could be captured?!' As that thought quickly floated by Lara's mind she simply shook her head in response.

"No, he hasn't been captured. In fact, he has captured the Serbek Kingdom, it is now effectively his."

"Huh?!" Most of those present were dumbfounded by the news.

"So he just went out and captured a whole kingdom by himself?" Ashley shook her head still trying to comprehend what she just heard. It was truly unbelievable for her, the Reschbeauch Kingdom had fought the Serbek Kingdom for centuries and no one was able to emerge the victor. Ren had been missing for a few months and now he's the new ruler of the enemy Kingdom.

...

While everyone was still trying to grasp the new info they heard, Lara approached Silika.

"Ren had given me a task of delivering this letter to you Silika." Lara handed the letter to Silika, who quickly opened it and started reading. After reading the letter Silika couldn't help but giggle at it.

"What did Ren write?" Hilda and Ashley couldn't help but ask at the same time. Lara also wanted to know what the contents of the letter were.

"It's nothing much, it would seem that Ren is going to use the crisis that the Primordial Demons are going to do, and turn it into training so that he can create strong warriors. He basically said that we should bring him the best knights of the kingdom so that he could train them. He also wants Hilda, Milly, and Kurt to head to his place. As for Ashley, Lara, and I, we need to stay here to protect the Reschbeauch Kingdom."

"What?!" Ashley shouted, even Lara was wide-eyed when she heard what Silika said. Ren didn't want her to go back? That must be a mistake, Lara then took the letter from Silika. She skimmed through the letter.

"So is it true, did Ren ask us to stay here?" Ashley couldn't help but ask, even though she knew that Silika wouldn't lie nor make a mistake, she still wanted to believe that Silika didn't read it properly. Lara looked at Ashley and answered.

"It is true." Lara gave back the letter to Silika.

"Don't take it too personally, Ren simply made this decision since we can't all be at the Serbek Kingdom. Based on the distribution of power I guess these groups are about right. This only means that Ren trusts the two of you to hold the fort before he returns." Silika smiled gently at the two.

When Ashley and Lara heard Silika's explanation, it did make sense. Knowing that Ren trusts them that much made them feel better. Once she was able to calm down, Lara handed the other letter she had to Milly.

"Aunty Milly, this is for you."

"Thank you, Lara." Milly took the letter opened it and started reading.

...

"Hey Mom, it's been a while. I know that you must be very worried about me, but I'm sure you also know that there's no need for that. Well, that aside, I wanted to apologize to you, for leaving without a word. I guess hearing of dad's death had affected me more than I thought... I couldn't control my rage, and I wanted to tear apart whoever did that to dad. I forgot that you were hurting as well, I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most. My emotions just took over me, and I couldn't stop myself. I hope that by the time you are reading this letter, you're feeling much better. Don't worry mom, Hilda will escort you here so that we can meet again. Oh, I hope that Kurt liked the present I gave him. See you, mom."

When Milly got to the end of the later she was confused. "Lara, it says here that Ren gave Kurt a present?"

"Oh, I almost forgot there was a package that Ren wanted me to give Kurt." Lara took out the small package and handed it to the now three-year-old Kurt.

"Mommy, what's this?" Seeing the bewildered Kurt made Milly smile.

"That's a gift from your big brother. Let's open it up and see what he gave you."

"Let's open it!" Kurt happily ripped apart the package. Inside there was a letter and a book. Milly took the letter from Kurt and read it out loud.

"To my little brother Kurt. If I remember correctly your birthday should've already passed. I was unable to be there for all of your birthdays, so to try and make up for that your big brother will hand you the best gift I can give. This book is a book that will teach you how to channel mana and use spells. This book essentially contains all the basic knowledge I have about mana and spells. Once you're able to master this, I will hand you the next volume. For now, I hope that you can grow up to become strong, so much stronger than even your big brother."

When the others heard the contents of the letter, it made their mouths open wide in shock. They all stared at the book Ren had gifted his younger brother Kurt. Seeing the hungry stares of the others made Kurt wary as he hugged his book confused. Seeing Kurt's cute reaction the girls couldn't help but giggle.

"Don't worry little one, we won't take that from you." Silika patted Kurt's head.

"That's a very valuable thing you hold. That could be considered a national treasure." Ashley couldn't help but sigh as she stared at the book longingly. Unlike the others in Ren's group, she was the one who has the least knowledge in regards to spellcraft. Though that couldn't be helped as she devoted her entire time to the way of the sword.

"You girls must be exaggerating. I know that my son is powerful, but this is just a book he wrote for his little brother." Milly spoke as she looked at the girls.

"You underestimate your son greatly. In this world in the field of mana and spell research, if Ren claims he's number two, no one can claim that they are number one. Ren's knowledge in regards to mana control is the best of all. No matter the era you look at, aside from the creator himself there's no one who could surpass Ren in mana control." Silika answered with a serious expression.

Knowing the truth about Ren, she knew that within him there was the incarnation that practically created the book regarding spellcraft.

"Yeah, if possible I would also want to share that book with my little sisters."

"Big sis Karla, and Big sis Nina, want to read as well? Let's all read together." Kurt happily smiled as he wanted to hand over the book to Hilda. Hearing what Kurt said, Hilda patted the little boy's head and smiled.

"No, it's alright Kurt, my little sisters won't need to read that book... This book is a gift from your big brother, you should cherish it and become strong." Kurt then tilted his head, even though he couldn't understand much of what Hilda said he still nodded his little head happily. Kurt then ran over to Milly and gave her the book.

"Mommy, can you read this for me?"

"Of course, I can read it for you."

"If I and mommy become strong, will mommy stop crying then?" Even though Kurt didn't fully understand what it meant to be strong, he knew that at night his mother wept. She kept on mumbling to herself. "If only I was stronger." So knowing that his book could make a person stronger, Kurt asked that question to his mother. When the others heard what Kurt innocently said, they couldn't help themselves as tears started to fill up their eyes.

Milly hugged her three-year-old son and tried her hardest to not cry. "Yes, will both become strong, and mommy will stop crying from now on." She truly was a wretched mother, making her young son worry about her.

'I need to be strong not only for myself but for Kurt and even Ren. That boy might act like nothing gets to him, but I know deep inside he's the one who always gets hurt the most. Always hiding his insecurities in that smile of his.'