Kire watched him as he, no doubt, contemplated on whether or not to say anything. When he spoke, his answer wasn’t what she had expected, but it confirmed what could be pieced together from the little she had been told. Bastards, foreigners, half-breeds. The heavy weight that the word brought upon Rulitus was clear. She may not know the details, but the way his body sunk at the utterance wasn’t unfamiliar. “Understood.” 

When he changed the subject, though, Kire snapped back to look at him. “Ha! Well, now. I suppose it was only a matter of time before somebody figured it out.” She smirked at him, then held out her right hand in front of her. “Yes. The power it has, though, is to open portals and act as a conduit to whatever magical energy lies dormant in my blood. The Ring was bequeathed to me. Ikegai’s been lusting after this, though it wouldn’t answer to anybody but me.” She held it up to the light, where the sapphire stone caught the sun and glinted. “There are—beings—we call them Seers. And they would give this power to someone they would call the Paladin. Someone to watch over the land, use the power wisely, be a protector. With this, I can summon the portals without needing an elaborate ritual, or a cataclysm that would rip the veil between worlds. As you’ve already seen, it takes a lot of energy to open the portals regardless. Without the Ring, you would need a lot of energy, and a lot of blood.”

Kire frowned, fuming at the thought. “Somehow, Ikegai managed to open one, undoubtedly with my enemies’ help, but it would be a hard feat to replicate by himself, without any other blood mages to help. It’s possible he still has his eyes set on opening a world-gate. What he plans to do with it, I can only guess.”