Entering Esovia

It appeared that their calculation of the island's location was accurate. On the fourth day of their travel, they finally spotted the island that matched the description in Lady Yunsoo's journal and that of Conrad's. Of course, it was expected that the brown-haired soldier would surely have mixed feelings about all these. But then all they could see was a nonchalant expression.

As Murata described, it was a perfect cover-up for all the emotions surely lurking in Conrad at the moment as soon as they saw the island. The island looked ordinary, but even Gwendal and Wolfram could tell that it was lurking with mysterious powers. Perhaps that mysterious power was what had kept the island moving for the past 4 millennia.

"It looked like a lot of people were visiting this place, judging from all the foreign ships by the harbor," Yuri commented as he continued to look at the island.

"They still have relations to other countries, it seems. But from what I can see, none of these visitors ever managed to step inside the capital," Murata said with a serious expression.

"So it's possible that these visitors don't know the existence of the Beast Knights or the fact that they're dealing with Mazoku," Gwendal speculated.

"You could say that."

"I wonder what Aristocratic Family was in charge of these ports," Yuri mumbled.

"The House of Vluerona governs this part of the island," Conrad stated, speaking for the first time. "They're the ones handling outside trades and anything related to the water resources of the island."

No one was able to say anything after that. When Yuri looked at Conrad, he just saw the soldier looking at the island. This time, with a melancholic expression that Conrad couldn't possibly hide anymore.

"Has anyone thought of a way for us to pass the guards by the sea borders?" Murata suddenly asked, pointing to the direction of the island where four military ships with blue swordfish and lance-designed flags waving with the wind were on standby.

Yuri couldn't help wincing at the sight. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought of that part. "Now what should we do?"

"I'll handle this, Your Majesty," Conrad said which surprised the rest of them.

When Yuri looked at Conrad, he couldn't see any emotion on the soldier's face once again. How would Conrad be able to handle passing by the military ships and the soldiers guarding the borders?

The answer soon revealed itself when Conrad took out something from his pocket. Only Murata let out a surprised sound when he finally saw the item that Conrad was keeping.

"Isn't that... the crest of the House of Amrein?"

Conrad nodded and faced the Daikenja who asked that question. "Klaus gave this to me as a parting gift the last time we talked. That was 3 years after Lyall died."

"I've been meaning to ask this to you, Lord Weller," Murata said soon after. "But what division do Lyall and Klaus belong to?"

"Division?"

Murata nodded. "Since the House of Amrein originated from two original Beast Knights marrying each other, it was divided into two divisions. The Sky Falcon and the Cosmic Stallion. Each of which referred to the characteristics of its founders. Or to be more specific, the minor Beast Spirits under the governance of their respective Beast Spirits among the well-known six."

"Are you saying that they had more than six Beast Spirits, Your Grace?"

"From the last time I checked, there's a total of 210 Beast Spirits recorded since the ancient times," Murata informed.

Without a doubt, his revelation surprised everyone. Who would've thought that such information existed? A total of 210? It was more than enough to send several rulers of other nations into a frenzy when they discover this. Could this be the reason why the Esovian Mazoku separated themselves even from their fellow Mazoku?

Murata faced Conrad once more with a look that demanded an answer to his earlier question.

"The Sky Falcon division, Your Grace," Conrad replied with a sigh before facing the Daikenja with a serious expression. "Lyall and Klaus' father belonged to that division, making those two the legitimate successors to the throne of Esovia had not the war occurred that time and Lyall died before that."

"We'll worry about that information later. Right now, let's deal with this problem before anything else," Gwendal reminded which immediately returned their focus to the current issue.

Soon after, their ship stopped near one of the military ships in charge of guarding the sea borders of that area. The others were not exactly sure how would Conrad be able to help them escape interrogation, or worse, capture. They could only put their trust in him for now.

Two of the guards on the other ship jumped forward and boarded Yuri's ship. Conrad approached them and gave his greetings.

"We need to see your entry permit," one of the guards stiffly said.

Conrad sighed before taking out the crest he possessed. "We don't have an entry permit, since our visit here is just sudden and we're here on an urgent business. I'm not sure if this would be enough as a pass." He showed the crest to the guards.

The others waited with bated breath as to how it would turn out. To their surprise, the guards gasped as soon as they saw the crest.

"That's the Sky Falcon Division's crest..." the second guard uttered in surprise before he regained his composure and faced Conrad. "May we know your name?"

"Conrad Weller."

The others were surprised yet again when the two guards bowed down as if to give their greetings. "Please forgive our rudeness. We didn't know it was you, Lord Weller."

"What do you mean?"

The first guard straightened himself. "Lord Klaus Elirch Amrein had always been expecting you to return to this island all this time. He told us that you would be using the crest of the Sky Falcon Division as an entry permit to this island should you decide to return here. It's been 25 years. I'm sure Lord Amrein would be happy to see you."

Conrad wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that statement. Klaus was expecting him to return to the island? Nevertheless, he was glad that Klaus hadn't forgotten him. In the same way that he had never forgotten anything related to Lyall and the Beast Knights.

"I'm honored to hear that. But as I told you a while back, we're here on an urgent matter."

The second guard nodded. "We understand. But before we let you pass, may we know who are your companions? We're tasked to report this to the leaders of the Five Aristocratic Families as to avoid suspicions."

Conrad immediately complied and introduced Yuri and the others to them.

"M-Maoh? His Majesty the Maoh?"

Yuri nodded skeptically, seeing the reactions of the guards.

"Even the Daikenja is here..."

It didn't take long for the guards to regain their composures once more. Finally, they allowed Yuri's ship to pass the sea borders. But not without leaving a warning with regards to the path they were about to take going to the capital itself.

Yuri was able to breathe out a sigh of relief after that. "Thank goodness. I thought it would take us longer to pass those guards."

"But to think that Klaus was expecting you to return to this island... Conrad, do you know this?" Shori ventured when he saw the said soldier eyeing the crest on his hand.

Conrad shook his head. "He never said anything like that, even during the last time we talked."

"He probably wants you to return here at your discretion," Murata said as soon as he approached Conrad. "Knowing your connection to the last Esovian princess, asking you to return here as a favor was like putting salt on a slowly healing wound."

"We've now passed the first obstacle," Gwendal said. "Our greatest concern next would be the Forest of Illusions that the guards were talking about."