Chương 57: Stormveil and Statue

Kyle's eyes moved down the list before settling on the two elven bloodlines. Mirevale was quite close to Silverbark, and it was said that elves resided in the depths of Silverbark Forest.

'So my mother might have been an elf?' Kyle chewed on this possibility before shaking his head.

'No, I don't have any elven characteristics. If my mother were an elf, I should have been a half-elf. So that means either she had a minuscule trace of elven bloodline, or that she wasn't an elf at all.' Kyle contemplated for a moment before dismissing the idea that a trace concentration could account for the irregularity. According to Luke, only a bloodline strong enough to enhance combat ability would register on the datasheet.

'My father and Marielle wouldn't have been so unwilling to talk about her if she were an elf.' Kyle recalled the lonely and remorseful expression his father had whenever he asked about his mother and further denied the possibility. According to his estimation, his mother should have had a great background.

'A noble miss and an aspiring farm boy, a tale as old as time.' Kyle could already imagine the drama that ensued. Unfortunately, being a central part of such drama wasn't pleasant.

'That should be why neither my father nor Marielle was willing to tell me about her,' Kyle guessed. They didn't even tell him whether she was alive or dead, whether she was forcibly taken away or left on her own accord. Kyle felt stifled whenever he thought of that. Although he didn't remember her, she was his mother after all. The fact that they hid everything about her still occasionally made him angry.

"Hoo." Kyle took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, continuing his train of thought.

'Still, there's no way she's an elf. Unless she were a member of elven royalty, no one would separate her and my father. Elves are very receptive to pure love, according to what I heard.'

"That leaves the last two bloodlines," Kyle murmured. Having excluded the two elven bloodlines, Kyle's gaze shifted to the remaining two. Unfortunately, he had no clue. He didn't know anything about these two bloodlines. Kyle pondered for a moment before writing a new question on the paper. [Are there any notable families with the Sea Spirit Bloodline and Storm Giant Bloodline within the Eldrathia Kingdom?] He hesitated for a while before deciding to risk it a bit.

[Did a woman named Veyra, possessing one of these two bloodlines, appear within the Tarnfell-Velkaris area within the past 20 years?] Kyle added before pushing the piece of paper into the opening. Silence fell as the sound of a pen scratching on paper echoed through the room. A few seconds later, a new piece of paper was pushed out. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. [Class D] [30 silver] [Class C] [2 gold] Kyle's face stiffened.

He didn't have the money. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and looked at the price with a contemplative expression. In a way, the price itself indicated that his mother's background wasn't simple.

"Hey, K. Do you need me to lend you some money?" Luke looked at the silent Kyle and said.

"No, it's fine." Kyle shook his head and placed 30 silver coins on the counter, then pushed it into the opening. A few seconds later, a new piece of paper was pushed out. [House Seravyn under Count Seravyn of Silvermere in the southwest possesses Sea Spirit Bloodline.] [House Stormveil under Marquis Stormveil of Tarnfell possesses the Storm Giant Bloodline.] Kyle carefully read through these two pieces of information.

Silvermere is located on the other side of the kingdom, thousands of kilometers away, so the possibility that his mother came from there was quite low. Shifting his gaze to the other piece of information, Kyle narrowed his eyes. He doubted that he had the storm giant bloodline at the beginning since he was just over 175 centimeters tall and wasn't burly, but after combing through all the information, this became the most likely possibility.

Mirevale was technically under Tarnfell's jurisdiction, and according to his father's stories, he had been adventuring in Tarnfell for years, so the location matched. Looking at his last question, Kyle shook his head and stood up.

"Let's go." Kyle folded the paper and placed it in his inner pocket next to the datasheet before taking the lead to walk away. Luke shrugged and followed.

'Tarnfell.' Kyle thought of this magnificent city.

'I'll have to go there in the future.' If his mother were truly a member of the House Stormveil, then his father's silence and Marielle's unwillingness to tell him anything about her would make sense. In front of one of the largest noble houses in the kingdom, he was indeed insignificant. However, Kyle wasn't afraid, nor did he intend to give up. He was certainly very weak compared to them now, but that would not be the case in the future.

Once he became strong enough, he would ask some questions, and some people would have to answer them, whether they wanted to or not. Kyle and Luke walked out of Night Eye and headed towards the exit of the black market.

"You sure you don't need anything else?" Luke glanced at Kyle on the side and asked.

"Yeah, it's too late, and I'm sure you're tired too. I just want to go to sleep now," Kyle yawned and said. Since coming to Velkaris, they hadn't rested at all. Not to mention that they had woken up at dawn and trekked dozens of kilometers, escorting the caravan to the city just today.

'Today was too hectic,' Kyle thought, rubbing his eyes under the mask.

"Hmm?" A commotion ahead caught their attention. It was the slave area they passed by not long ago.

"What are they looking at?" Kyle muttered, looking at the crowd gathering around the slave carts with confusion and distaste. Luke approached a bit and eavesdropped.

"It seems they've caught a mermaid?" Luke said with a look of uncertainty. Mermaids were rare throughout the Eldrathia Kingdom. Their main habitat was several nations away, near the Basmear Archipelago.

"A mermaid?" Kyle asked curiously. He approached the crowd and stuck his head to the side. A huge glass tank came into his sight, over 2 meters tall and wide; lying within was a beautiful sky-blue-haired mermaid. She was hugging her tail, curling up at the edge of the tank, looking at the humans surrounding her with terrified eyes. Kyle's expression tightened; pity welled up in his heart, but upon looking at the 5000 gold price point hanging on the tank, he silently backed off.

He couldn't do anything to help, unfortunately. As they walked away from the crowd, Kyle bumped into a cloaked figure, causing it to drop the object it was holding.

"Sorry about that." Kyle apologized and tried to help, but the cloaked figure shot him a look of venom before picking up the object and walking away; another cloaked figure followed closely behind.

'That looked like a statue.' Luke's brows furrowed as he took a glance at the dropped object. He felt that he had seen it somewhere before, but he couldn't recall.

"What's wrong with these people?" Kyle mumbled, glancing at the duo that soon disappeared among the crowd before walking away.

"K, don't apologize if you bump into someone else here again. Don't talk to them either, just walk away. This is the black market." Luke warned, his brows still furrowed.

"That was a subconscious action. I won't do it again, L." Kyle nodded. ….. On the other side, the cloaked figure holding the object paused for a second before hurrying away.

"What's wrong?" the second cloaked figure asked hoarsely.

"Follow me." The first cloaked figure didn't answer; it just said before diving into a narrow alley. After passing through several intersections and crossing multiple alleys, they soon stopped in front of a small wooden house. The first cloaked figure placed its palm over the door and chanted. A few moments later, the door opened on its own, and they entered, closing the door behind them.