The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

"It's a pity I didn't get to fight you."

Perhaps Sigurd was just being polite, but Felix genuinely felt it was a pity.

Because of Wiener's demands, he eliminated Rivers before he could even begin to enjoy the game.

If the opponent were Sigurd instead, they could probably fight for several more rounds.

"I should have admitted long ago that I am no match for you."

Having experienced the ups and downs of life, Sigurd has come to terms with many things, including petty squabbles.

"But it's fine, whoever can beat me should be the champion of the Griffin Race."

"But Viña also won... mmm—"

Wiener quickly covered Felix's mouth and apologized to Sigurd, "He's just a kid, he was just saying things without thinking, don't take it to heart."

Sigurd: "..."

He knew that Felix didn't mean any harm in saying those words, but he understood even more clearly that every word Wiener uttered contained deep malice.

"I really didn't expect you to come."

Sigurd didn't really want to talk to Viner; if Viner hadn't said anything, he probably would have just ignored her.

"Don't even mention you, I never expected to come here. But I had no choice, this kind of thing happened here, forcing me to come."

Wiener was deliberately testing the waters.

"Do you have a way to find the lurking demons?"

Sigurd's words were tantamount to admitting that he knew about the matter.

"I know a little, I know a little," Wiener said modestly.

"...I thought it was just Princess Edel who favored you, and I was very resentful."

In fact, it is not difficult to understand.

As the representative of the Laughna family, Sigurd should become Edel's right-hand man.

Suddenly, someone appeared who received even more attention from Adele than herself.

Sigurd was even specifically instructed not to cause trouble for Wiener.

How could he not be jealous?

"I only found out later that you had joined the Silver Wolf Class... Our goals were probably different from the start, weren't they?" Sigurd remarked.

"If you had been able to get 5,000 credits earlier, you probably wouldn't have had so many problems."

Sigurd: "..."

He still really disliked this guy.

“There’s no going back,” Sigurd said, closing his eyes, perhaps regretting his decision. “I just want to know something else.”

"Was that booklet you left behind, the one that was with Admira?"

Chapter 406 Ancestors Manifest?

"What booklet?"

Wiener pretended to be stupid.

“It’s that little booklet that records unofficial history,” Sigurd replied.

"Since it's unofficial history, why bother getting hung up on it?"

Wiener took a small music box from the ring and put it into Sigurd's hand.

"I left in a hurry and didn't bring any decent gift, but I hope you will accept it, Sigurd."

The music box is a bit heavy.

Sigurd hesitated for only a moment before opening the music box.

He wanted to see what Viner was really up to.

A crisp, melodious sound rang out, but what truly caught Sigurd's eye was the little cloth-clad figure standing on the disc, slowly rotating after the lid was flipped open.

In stark contrast to his simple attire was the sword held aloft in the little man's hand.

Even shrunk to nearly a hundred times its original size, Sigurd could still recognize the sword's name—Ademura.

Looking back at the face of the little figure, it is also carved so lifelike that it shows the craftsman's dedication.

Before Sigurd could think it through, Wiener had already turned Sigurd's wheelchair around.

"Alright, alright, let's hurry up and go, don't keep the Earl waiting."

Wiener pushed the wheelchair and walked quickly ahead.

“Let me do it myself!” Sigurd shouted hastily.

"Oh, we're all classmates, no need to be so polite."

"Who's being polite to you? There are traps here!"

As if to verify Sigurd's claim, the wheelchair suddenly experienced a slight bump during its rapid gliding.

Immediately afterwards, a series of triggers sounded, followed by a whistling arrow that flew straight toward the two of them.

Almost the instant Sigurd reminded him, Viner was already prepared and without hesitation crouched down, using his wheelchair as cover.

But Sigurd, who had lost feeling in both legs, had no way to avoid it and could only watch helplessly as the signal arrow drew closer and closer to him.

"Snapped."

Jessica suddenly appeared in front of the two, snapping the arrow in two with just two fingers. Then, she stared at Vina expressionlessly: "Have you had enough fun?"

This level of security is only enough to keep out ordinary thieves. If Vena wanted to hide, it wouldn't be difficult for her to escape with Sigurd.

"Isn't this just a conditioned reflex?"

Wiener dusted off his clothes, stood up from behind the wheelchair, and didn't mention pushing the wheelchair again.

However, a series of hurried footsteps soon surrounded the group.

The whistling arrow was not intended to subdue the enemy, but it was sufficient to serve as a warning.

Within half a minute of the mechanism being triggered, a squad of armored soldiers arrived at the scene.

"Disperse, it was just a guest who accidentally triggered the mechanism."

Sigurd ordered the Iron Guards to clear the way again.

After the guards dispersed, Sigurd continued, "As you can see, the mansion is full of traps and mechanisms, so please do not touch or disturb them carelessly."

Their attention was particularly focused on Wiener.

"Did you hear me? Don't touch anything you shouldn't touch later."

Wiener then gave Felix some instructions.

......

Having learned from their previous experience, the two usually restless individuals became much more well-behaved.

While leading the group, Sigurd also took the initiative to provide some introductions.

After the group passed through the corridors filled with mechanisms, they arrived at a spacious courtyard, where a majestic human-shaped statue came into view.

The statue resembled a dashing young swordsman, its face bearing a resemblance to the little figure in plain clothes in the music box.

He holds a longsword that is completely disproportionate to his size, pointing one hand diagonally towards the sky. It looks as awkward as an adult holding a toothpick, but it does not diminish the majestic aura emanating from the statue itself.

However, judging from the layout of the entire courtyard, the statue is positioned too far to the right, while the left side is completely empty, as if something is missing.

Seeing that everyone's attention was drawn to the statue, Sigurd stopped his wheelchair and explained softly:

"This statue is of our family's ancestor—"

"Rufredo Laffner".

Wiener, on the contrary, gave his name first.

“...That’s right. It can be said that without him, there would be no Rafner family as we know it today,” Sigurd continued.

"That's not right, is it? I remember that the current Laffner family was founded by Koman Laffner, so why is there no statue of him? Also, something seems to be missing to the left of this statue."

Wiener then posed a series of questions.

“Since you know so much about this, why don’t you give the talk?” Sigurd glanced at Viner.

"No, I'm only slightly interested in the experiences of Sword Saint Rufry, and I know nothing about what happened after that. You family members will have to answer my questions."

The others, whose attention was originally focused on the statue, couldn't help but become curious after Vena's mention of it.

Sigurd could be unfriendly to Wiener, but he also had to consider the experience of the other guests, so he had no choice but to continue explaining:

"As Wiener just said, this should have been the statue of Corman Laffner, the first head of the Laffner family."

"But Ancestor Coman was a famously filial son. In order to fulfill the wishes of his mother who had raised him, and not wanting to forget her husband's wishes, he erected a statue of Ancestor Rufry instead."

"A teacher for a day is a father for life. Since it was decided to erect a statue of the ancestor Rufrey, the ancestor Coman requested that a statue of Lord Kelda, his father's close friend and also his teacher, be erected here for future generations to admire."

“I’ve heard a little about this,” Anna nodded.

In business, it's all about catering to the other party's preferences. Since we've decided to cooperate with the Lafner family, we naturally need to have a thorough understanding of them.

Anna crammed on information about the Lafner family from recent years on the way.

Therefore, she knew that the seemingly inconspicuous butler, Jegan, was actually a veteran who had served in the Icewind Cavalry for over twenty years. It was only because Earl Feld was concerned about his advanced age that he forced him to retire, which is why he became a butler in the mansion.

Anna was naturally familiar with the "Two Heroes" statue, the most iconic building of the Laffner family.

"But why is there no statue of Lady Kelda?"

"..."

Sigurd did not answer immediately, but instead turned his gaze to the longsword in the giant statue's hand, momentarily lost in thought.

How should he explain this?

A month ago, the Lafner family welcomed back Adramura, preparing to unseal the sacred artifacts in the presence of their ancestors.

Unexpectedly, Ademura seemed to have been provoked, and with a single sword strike, she shattered Kelda's statue into pieces.

How could I possibly tell outsiders about something like this?

In just one month, the Lafner family was not able to re-erect Kelda's statue, so they had to leave it as it was for the time being.

It is said that divine artifacts possess spirits, and the Laffner family has truly seen the light this time.

This sacred object, belonging to a generation above the first head of the Lafner family, suddenly manifested its power, causing none of the people below to dare to step forward and stop it.

This wasn't even their most tense moment.

Until it turned its blade on another statue, a sight that sent chills down one's spine even in the dead of winter.

Fortunately, Adramlah did not cause further destruction this time; he merely cut the stone sword from Rufry's statue and plunged himself into the statue's hand.

It seems he was simply unhappy that Rufry was using his counterfeit goods.

Before the artifact was brought back, the entire Laughna family considered it their life's mission to bring it back.

Only after completing the mission did they realize that they had found an untouchable ancestor.

The Lafner family searched high and low but couldn't find a sword sheath that could match their ancestor's, so they could only let it be.

Sigurd snapped out of his reverie and noticed a wriggling figure on the statue of Rufrey's ancestor.

It turned out that Felix was crawling up the statue toward Ademra.

Sigurd's vision went black.

Chapter 407 The Demon-Seeking Compass

"Sorry, I'll keep a close eye on these two from now on."