Chapter 30: 30. Herriete Arslan
As Keith mentioned before, all the diamond-horned wolves suddenly vanished about fifty years ago. It turns out there was a figure behind it all: Heriette Arslan, who is Kaileon’s grandmother. Or, more precisely, she is the mother of Duke Hendry, better known by her nickname, Duchess Erie.
Herriete was actually the daughter of one of the nobles in Eleflare, the elven kingdom. However, Hendry’s parents’ marriage was based on love—it had nothing to do with politics. Still, the marriage was welcomed by both royal courts, especially since Heriette still had human blood—she wasn’t entirely an elf.
Back then, half-humans or half-elves were looked down upon.
Herriete was also still seen as strange in the Arslan region at that time, but she possessed a very rare ability:
the ability to control animals or monsters.
Thanks to Herriete, research on monsters made significant progress. But there was something weighing on Herriete’s mind at the time: the diamond-horned wolf tribe.
Heriette went to meet them in person, and they were terrified when they saw her. At that time, the diamond-horned wolf tribe was being hunted en masse by humans and other tribes for their meat and their beautiful horns.
It turned out there was a false rumor circulating that the meat of a diamond-horned wolf would grant great strength to anyone who ate it. That was what sparked the hunt against them.
Herriete and her husband eventually agreed to hide the diamond-horned wolf tribe deep within the forest.
However, only Herriete knew the exact location of the small village they had established for the diamond-horned wolf tribe.
After ensuring that the diamond-horned wolf tribe could live decently and safely, Heriette left them because she was about to give birth to her first son.
But that was the last time Heriette came to visit them. She passed away about two years after giving birth to Hendry. Duke Arslan, Hendry’s father, was devastated by the death of his beloved wife.
Although he continued to care for his son well—and even adopted another child—he ultimately passed away when Hendry was ten years old.
Meanwhile, the Diamond-Horned Wolf tribe lived peacefully in the forest for many years, until suddenly the monsters within the forest began acting strangely.
All of this was due to the demonic necklace possessed by Rendy. When the necklace was activated, monsters that lacked consciousness—unlike the diamond-horned wolves—would suddenly go on a rampage. This was because the demonic necklace caused high-level monsters, like the stone birds, to lose control.
Yesterday, when Rendy activated the demonic necklace to make the stone birds attack Kaileon deep within the forest, other monsters were also affected. Raging out of control, they attacked the diamond-horned wolf village, causing severe injuries.
Coincidentally, Jean’s house—which wasn’t too far into the forest—was attacked by a white sword-fanged tiger. They managed to defeat the white sword-fanged tiger, though they were severely injured.
Since Jean’s daughter, named Woni, could sense other creatures, she was also able to detect Kaileon and Keith’s presence.
They could have gone to another diamond-horned wolf’s home, but along the way, there would be other monsters still rampaging. Meanwhile, going to the edge of the forest where Kaileon was would be safer because the monsters on that side were weaker.
Jean herself not only took care of her daughter, Woni, but also her niece and other children whose parents had passed away. It was like an orphanage, since Jean was quite strong, smart, and skilled with a sword. Sometimes, other diamond-horned wolves would entrust their children to Jean so they could learn.
As it happens, the children Jean is currently caring for are all orphans.
There’s Jo, who turns out to be the oldest, at thirteen years old. The other two are ten and nine years old. All of them age at the same rate as humans.
This particular monster is indeed very unique. But, according to Jean, it’s not just the diamond-horned wolves—there are other monsters just like them.
Monsters that can take human form, speak, control themselves, and think clearly.
After chatting over breakfast together, Jean said he had decided to serve Kaileon at the pavilion. Jean noticed the pavilion had very few servants, and besides, the diamond-horned wolf clan had long wanted to express their gratitude to Arslan.
Keith had explained most of the situation at Arslan Castle so that Jean could understand the true state of affairs. Jean then decided to devote himself solely to Duke Arslan and his kind son, Kaileon.
At thirty years old, Jean was still very strong in battle. He also possessed extensive knowledge, especially when it came to monsters or plants.
Therefore, Kaileon was very pleased to hear this. Kai also agreed to make Jean a servant in the pavilion.
Jean said that the diamond-horned wolf tribe could disguise themselves as humans completely, without wolf ears or tails.
"I still don’t understand why people can eat diamond-horned wolves," Keith muttered, and Jean laughed upon hearing this. Jean wasn’t offended at all; he answered honestly.
"No, even now, we can still be eaten, Keith... if we’re in our monster form. That’s just the way of nature, Keith. Eating and being eaten—it’s natural. In fact, there are monsters that eat humans too, Keith... they live deep in the forest and are very dangerous. I hope those monsters don’t attack our village, because the demon necklace must be influencing them."
Kai shuddered in horror; fortunately, his desire to eat the diamond-horned wolf had completely vanished, replaced by a sense of dread. Kai was sure Keith felt the same way.
"In that case, we have to hide our identities from everyone here, right, Dad? I’m afraid someone might get curious and want to eat us," replied Woni, Jean’s only daughter, who was still twelve years old.
"We’ll do our best to protect you all, because now you’re my servants, so don’t worry," said Kaileon.
"I like it here because the food is delicious!" replied Rua, a ten-year-old boy. Another child, Yuya, was nine years old. At first, Kai thought Rua and Yuya were girls because they were both small and cute. But it turned out they were all boys.
Woni was the only girl in the group.
After the conversation ended, Keith left to secretly report on the presence of the diamond-horned wolf. Keith went with Jean.
Meanwhile, Kai began teaching Lily and the children how to plant ginger, lemongrass, turmeric, carrots, potatoes, radishes, taro, and sweet potatoes in the yard next to the house.
Various raised beds had been set up there, already filled with fertile potting soil.
Only Lily, Woni, and Rua easily grasped how to plant. Yuya and Jo, on the other hand, quickly gave up on it. Jo preferred to help Peoni in the kitchen, baking sponge cakes and donuts. Yuya also helped them, though he still made plenty of mistakes.
Since Kai was left alone while the others were busy, he kept himself occupied with books about Ardhez.
After nearly two hours of serious reading, Kai was able to draw some conclusions, especially after looking at the map of the world of Ardhez that he’d bought from the system store. For the map, Kai didn’t have to pay by completing missions; he simply had to buy it for one small bronze coin for the paper version. As for more complex maps—like Google Maps on Earth, that is, digital ones—Kai had to pay about three small bronze coins to download them.
Once downloaded, Kai could easily bring up the Ardhez maps as a holographic display. Everything on them could be seen in detail.
So, just like Earth, Ardhez is divided into several large continents.
These large continents are divided into several regions that are also quite large.
There is the Black Continent, inhabited mostly by the Demon race, which is divided into only three parts: the Kingdom of Blackblood, the Kingdom of Satern, and the Devirtia Empire.
The Devirtia Empire is the leader of the Black Continent. They were the ones previously at war with the Kingdom of Nagreize.
After the Black Continent, there is also the Green Continent, which is divided into several parts. There is the Kingdom of Nagreize, the Kingdom of Hydraqua, the Kingdom of Narandal, Eleflare, and the Whiteblood Empire. Naturally, the leader of this continent is Whiteblood.
There are also the White Continent, the Red Continent, and the Yellow Continent. However, all three are very far from the Green Continent. The closest to the Green Continent is the Black Continent.
Adhez is indeed vast.
If Kai were to make an educated guess based on its location, the Green Continent resembles the continent of Asia. It is the largest, home to the most diverse array of peoples, and also the most fertile. This is especially true of Nagreize, as it is a tropical country where there are only two seasons: summer (or the dry season) and the rainy season.
Even during summer (or the dry season), it still rains in Nagreize, and fortunately, there are no droughts whatsoever.
Kai himself lived in a tropical country on Earth. So he was able to adjust easily, even though the atmosphere in Ardhez was still very different.
Moreover, Arslan’s great potential had yet to be fully harnessed.
"Young master, you must get ready now, because the Duchess and your future fiancée are on their way," said Keith, who hurriedly entered Kaileon’s study.
Kai just remembered that he was going to have a fiancée. But how could that girl just go along with this engagement like that?
"I’ll get ready, Keith."
