Looking Forward to Another World

Because Yuri didn't know how to explain it to others, she decided to keep Riezel's unexpected return a secret for now, so his return remained unknown to anyone except her and Marilyn.

If word got out that Riezel could use magic to travel long distances instantly, the nobles in the royal capital would swarm like sharks scenting blood, and the royal family might even develop thoughts they shouldn't have.

Worried about this outcome, Yuri decided to conceal Riezel's return—so thoroughly that even Mediste, Isaac, Ain, and Ian remained unaware.

Riezel, on the other hand, found her efforts unnecessary.

It was only natural.

Since Raven had already submitted a full report to the royal family detailing his situation, and the king himself had even sent a reply instructing Raven to keep Riezel there as long as possible, the news of Riezel's ability to use teleportation was already circulating among the nobles—it was only a matter of time before it became common knowledge.

Yuri, having no faction of her own and belonging neither to the Royal Faction nor the Duke Faction, typically received information later than the nobles who actively exchanged intelligence.

Nevertheless, she would eventually learn about Riezel's actions in Mavros Territory.

By then, keeping it hidden would be meaningless, since those who wanted to get involved would still get involved—nothing would change.

Riezel understood all too well how invaluable 'Gate' was in this world.

Not only could it be a game changer in warfare, but it could also generate unimaginable profits if applied to commerce and trade.

With Gate in his possession, Riezel was now far more desirable than ever—he wasn't just a powerhouse in combat but also carried massive economic and strategic value, so it was only natural that people would be drawn to him.

Naturally, it was expected that they wouldn't just extend polite invitations this time, but would be far more aggressive, even shameless, in their attempts to recruit Riezel.

Especially the royal family—they would undoubtedly want to know if Gate was difficult to learn, if others could master it, or if, failing that, they could replicate its ability by developing a magic item based on it.

If such magic could be mass-produced, what would Jinas become?

Needless to say, the mere thought of that possibility would have been enough to set the king himself in motion, no doubt about it.

Even though Riezel wasn't afraid, he also saw no reason to invite trouble, so he didn't oppose Yuri's plan and chose to go along with it, keeping his presence hidden.

As for why Lizbeth later appeared in the royal capital and met with the king, Yuri had already prepared an explanation that ensured no one would suspect Riezel had returned.

And so, Riezel quietly settled back into his room at the Frenzel secondary residence, his presence completely unknown.

===

The next day, Yuri took Lizbeth with her to the royal palace while Riezel stayed behind, waiting for news.

Lizbeth, however, didn't return that day.

She was gone for the entire day and didn't come back until the early hours of the next morning—that was when she finally arrived at the Frenzel residence alone and knocked on Riezel's door.

"...Can I come in, Master?"

Lizbeth's soft, familiar voice drifted into Riezel's ears.

"Come in."

Riezel let her into his room without hesitation.

Compared to when she had left the day before, the little princess looked almost the same, except for the faint traces of exhaustion in her eyes—likely because she hadn't slept at all.

Riezel observed her closely, seeing that the uncertainty she had been carrying on her face for a while now not only hadn't faded but had grown stronger instead.

Realizing this, Riezel immediately understood one thing.

"What's wrong?" Riezel asked, helping Lizbeth take a seat while looking straight at her. "Didn't get the answer you wanted from your father?"

"...Um." Lizbeth stayed silent for a long time before nodding slightly and whispering, "I asked him, but he said he barely remembers anything about my mother."

Needless to say, that was a cruel answer for Lizbeth, but it also somewhat made sense.

One should remember that Lizbeth was just Hendrick's illegitimate daughter, the result of a fleeting affair the King of Jinas had during a trip. If he had truly loved her mother or cared about the woman he met outside, he would've sent someone to bring her into the royal palace long ago, and there was no way he would've left her alone to give birth outside, only for her to pass away right after having their child.

In the end, Lizbeth was raised by the woman she called Grandma Mia, whose origins were unknown. It wasn't until she turned seven that Grandma Mia contacted Hendrick and had him bring Lizbeth into the royal palace.

It went without saying that alone showed how little Hendrick thought of his past mistake, so it was only natural that he had long forgotten about the woman he met outside.

However, that wasn't even the worst part.

In truth, Lizbeth hadn't told Riezel that Hendrick didn't even remember what her mother looked like. It was almost certain that if she had, Riezel's opinion of Hendrick would've hit rock bottom.

Besides, while Hendrick did meet with her, Lizbeth could tell he only did so because of Riezel's status. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept prying for information about Riezel, subtly trying to convince her to persuade Riezel to side with Jinas throughout the whole conversation.

Honestly, the only reason Lizbeth spent an entire day in the royal palace was that Yuri had been too busy to send her out right away, and the other half of the reason was that Hendrick kept talking to her about Riezel.

As for Lizbeth's mother, Hendrick barely mentioned her, brushing the topic off with just two or three sentences before moving on.

Such a situation left Lizbeth feeling down.

"Master..."

Lizbeth looked at Riezel blankly.

"Who am I... really?"

She had finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind these past few days.

Seeing this, Riezel knew he couldn't just stand by and watch anymore.

"Based on the information we have, your origins are clearly tied to the ancient magic civilization."

Riezel spoke thoughtfully, his expression serious.

"According to Maya, Moslow is a weapon that only a specific group of people can wield, and that weapon was originally obtained by one of your ancestors from the Dimensional Magic Cube—what they referred to as 'God'."

"Maya called it the Holy Sword Moslow and said only 'that clan' could use it."

"If that's the case, then the answer is obvious."

Riezel looked at Lizbeth's face and voiced his thoughts.

"If Maya's words were completely true, without a single lie, then you were undoubtedly a descendant of 'that clan', or else Moslow wouldn't have acknowledged you, and you wouldn't have been able to wield it."

"I don't know exactly what happened to the ancient magic civilization that led to its downfall 11,000 years ago, but if you really were a descendant of 'that clan', then some of your ancestors must have survived that catastrophe and continued their lineage on the Akasha Continent, passing it down through generations."

"You might be one of those descendants—or rather, your mother might have been one of them."

Otherwise, Moslow wouldn't have been with Lizbeth from birth, and Hendrick wouldn't have been completely powerless against it, unable to study it no matter how much he tried—in fact, his attempts only led to unknown incidents.

Needless to say, that was enough proof that Lizbeth inherited that clan's bloodline from her mother, not her father. Everything so far pointed to her mother being someone with mysterious origins, while Hendrick was simply the King of Jinas.

In other words, Hendrick might have seemed like the one with the nobler status, but in reality, his lineage might not even have compared to Lizbeth's mother's.

Riezel shared a portion of the information he had gathered with Lizbeth.

"In a distant, distant past, ancient humans encountered a god who descended from the sky, and one of them was guided by it and gained power."

"You can tell from the murals in the temple guarded by Maya that the person guided by that god not only obtained power but also brought Moslow into this world."

"That person was the first hero—the very first leader of humanity, the one who led powerless humans in their fight against monsters—their first king."

Riezel began his explanation.

"After that, it seems that every so often, someone wielding Moslow would step onto the stairway of light under the god's guidance, traveling to another world to obtain power."

"Since all of those people could use Moslow, according to Maya's words, that means they were all part of that clan called the 'Hero Clan'—the descendants of the very first hero, the first king, the one recognized by the god and granted power from another world."

"And you... just like them, are a descendant of that first hero, the first king—the very first extraordinary human."

All of this was the conclusion Riezel had reached after piecing together the information from the murals and what Maya had revealed.

First, the so-called clan Maya mentioned referred to as the Hero Clan, and second, the Hero Clan was none other than the descendants of that ancient human who, guided by the Dimensional Magic Cube, traveled between worlds, gained power, and brought Moslow back from another world.

Because the first hero, the first king of humanity, had passed down his lineage, all his descendants were able to wield Moslow, the weapon he had brought back from another world. Some of them, like him, had even undergone dimensional travels under the guidance of the Dimensional Magic Cube.

After the fall of the ancient magic civilization, some members of this clan survived and carried on their lineage, lasting all the way to the present day.

"So, the fact that your mother's origins are so mysterious indirectly proves that she's not ordinary. Not to mention, she left you Moslow and that animal skin."

Riezel looked at Lizbeth's confused expression and let out a faint smile.

"In conclusion, unless the information we've gathered is completely wrong, then you being a descendant of the Hero Clan from the ancient magic civilization is pretty much a sure thing."

Hearing Riezel's explanation, Lizbeth opened her mouth but couldn't say a single word, so she stayed silent for a long, long time.

Unconsciously, Lizbeth shifted her gaze to Moslow in her arms, remembering the murals of people wielding a golden sword, which made her unable to snap out of it for a while.

In the next moment, Riezel voiced another theory.

"I've been wondering this whole time—what exactly is that Hidden Land you mentioned?" Riezel said while gazing out the window. "Now, I'm starting to suspect that the so-called Hidden Land is actually where your clan has been in seclusion—the place where those once-called heroes of the ancient magic civilization have been hiding."

Clearly, the name of the place itself seemed to hint at it, even if just a little.

At the very least, Riezel believed that if members of the Hero Clan had truly survived and continued their lineage for 11,000 years, there was no way they would have remained so obscure.

After all, they were the heroes who once led humanity in its fight against terrifying monsters—they were akin to the royal family of ancient humans, a lineage recognized by the god that the people of that era had revered.

Given that only those of this clan could undergo dimensional travel under the guidance of the Dimensional Magic Cube, gaining power from other worlds, that alone would have placed them at an exalted status in ancient times—one that could only be described as extraordinary.

Maya's exceptional treatment of Lizbeth, her friendliness, and even her open statement that she couldn't casually discuss that clan—all of it proved just how highly regarded the Hero Clan was in their time.

A clan like that, if they had truly continued to exist for 11,000 years, then with their abilities and influence, Riezel had every reason to believe they would have long since taken control of the entire Akasha Continent, and the continent wouldn't be filled with countless nations and endless wars like it was now.

Apparently, the members of this clan had chosen to remain hidden, no longer interfering with worldly affairs.

"Your grandma also said that one day, you could take that animal skin and head to the Hidden Land, right?"

"Maybe that is guiding you home, back to your clan."

"But you also said she didn't really seem to approve of you going back. If that's the case, could it be that your mother did something wrong before? Or maybe something happened to your clan?"

"If that's true, then what exactly happened that made your mother leave her clan, leave the Hidden Land, meet your father out here, and then give birth to you?"

At this point, Riezel shrugged.

"Well, there are still a lot of mysteries. From what I see, if you really wanna uncover the truth about your origins and learn about your mother, you probably have no choice but to find the Hidden Land."

With that, Riezel said no more, since this was as much as he could piece together.

"Find the Hidden Land..."

As Lizbeth took in Riezel's words, the confusion on her face slowly faded.

Not long after, Lizbeth stood up and bowed deeply to Riezel.

"Thank you for telling me so much, Master!"

Lizbeth's voice finally regained its usual energy, and there was even a hint of determination in it.

It was clear that the little princess had made up her mind to go find the Hidden Land and uncover the truth about her past.

"Really, really, really, thank you so much, Master!"

Saying this emotionally, Lizbeth's eyes quietly welled up with tears, and before she realized it, she had thrown herself into Riezel's arms.

"Good thing you're here, Master... If not, I... I really wouldn't know what to do..."

All the deep gratitude in Lizbeth's heart was poured into a warm embrace.

Riezel could only suppress the stirrings in his heart and gently pat the little princess's head.

"Master..."

As soon as Lizbeth got up, she suddenly handed Riezel a ring, which caused him to freeze on the spot.

It couldn't be helped.

He recognized the ring.

"Isn't this the thing Maya told you to take?" Riezel looked at Lizbeth in surprise. "You're giving it to me? Why?"

"Um..." Lizbeth nodded seriously. "I feel like this ring doesn't really suit me. Maybe only Master can bring out its true power."

Hearing this, Riezel took the ring with some doubt and examined it closely.

Honestly, rather than calling it a ring, it was more like a band.

It had no expensive jewels embedded in it, nor was it decorated with gold or silver. It only had a simple, somewhat mysterious look.

If there was anything special about it, it was probably its unique material, which seemed to be made of extremely rare and unusual metal, pure white like jade with a faint translucence, almost resembling crystal at first glance.

On the surface of this crystal ring, both the outer and inner sides were engraved with intricate runes.

Looking closely, Riezel was surprised to find that these runes were actually glowing with a flowing light.

'Seems like this really is a precious treasure...'

After pondering for a moment, Riezel decided to use an appraisal magic on the crystal ring.

However, since the appraisal magic had failed back in the temple, he decided to strengthen its power this time.

"Over Magic - All Appraisal Magic Item."

Over Magic, as the name suggested, was a Metamagic Enhancement that could elevate the tier of a magic spell when cast.

With this Metamagic Enhancement, lower-tier magic could be temporarily raised to high-tier magic. As long as one's ability was sufficient and magical energy was abundant, even 1st-Tier Magic could be boosted all the way up to 10th-Tier Magic.

At this moment, Riezel used this enhancement to temporarily raise 'All Appraisal Magic Item' to the highest 10th-Tier Magic.

Thanks to this, the true nature of the ring was finally revealed before Riezel's eyes.