William felt something wet licking the side of his cheek.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Ragnar slathering his cheeks with his slobber. The little puppy was so focused on his action, that he didn't notice that William had finally woken up.
The red-headed boy didn't move right away. Instead, he checked his current condition. His left arm had been stabbed by a sword during the battle, but he could tell that it was now properly healed.
The same could be said of his broken hand, which he used to send Cid flying. Due to the unknown armor the boy was wearing, William's fist, which was already as hard as diamonds due to his Monk Skill, still received damage from the blow.
Fortunately, he had covered it with his aura. If he didn't then the damage would have been more severe. Seeing that both of his injuries were healed, the red-headed boy finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He then noticed a blinking light on his status page that meant that some notifications had appeared during his sleep. Out of curiosity, William opened it to see what it was.
-----
< Ding! >
< Hidden Quest has been cleared! >
< Defeat the Disciple of the Sword Saint >
< Reward: 1000 God Points >
-----
'Nice,' William thought as he read the unexpected reward he received from the system. 'Having more God Points is always a good thing.'
William then grabbed the cute puppy with both hands and raised him up in the air.
"You naughty boy, how dare you cover your Papa with saliva?" William asked as he playfully tickled the puppy's chest. He had already noticed that he was in an unfamiliar room the moment he woke up, but since he wasn't chained or anything, it meant that he and his subordinates were safe for the time being.
Ragnar whined and howled pitifully as he wiggled his legs to escape from William's hold. While the two were having their family bonding time, the door opened. Kenneth, along with Priscilla, entered the room.
"Sir, it's good to see that you are awake," Priscilla said as she walked towards William's bed.
"Where are we?" William inquired while still playing with Ragnar.
"We are currently inside the residence of the Duke of Caliburn," Kenneth replied. "Everyone is, also, here. You don't need to worry because we are being treated as guests."
"Mmm." William hummed as he placed Ragnar on his stomach. He then patted the puppy's head to make it behave while he summoned a handkerchief to wipe his cheek free from puppy slobber.
"How long was I unconscious?" William asked.
"It is currently eight in the morning," Priscilla answered. "You fought off the Saint's Disciple yesterday."
"I see." William continued to lie on the bed because it was very soft and comfortable. They had been camping outside for the past few days, and he had briefly forgotten what it was like to sleep on a luxurious bed.
"You said I fought off the Sword Saint's Disciple, so the man standing back then was the Sword Saint?" William inquired.
"Yes," Priscilla answered.
A short period of silence permeated the room before William looked at Kenneth and Priscilla with a serious expression.
"... Are we in trouble? I mean, I did beat the crap out of his disciple yesterday."
"Don't worry. Like I said, we are being treated as guests. We are not confined or anything and were given freedom to wander around his estate."
Kenneth sat beside the bed and stared at William with his clear blue eyes, "Will, you are stronger than I thought."
William grinned. "Right? Are you now happy that you followed the right person?"
Kenneth smirked, but didn't answer William's question. He was quite satisfied that the Sword Saint had ordered his best Clerics to heal William's injuries. The silver-gray-haired boy had heard rumors that Aramis was a cold and vicious killer. However, so far, he didn't see any evidence that their current host was the same person he'd heard about in the rumors.
William was about to ask another question when a knock was heard on the door.
The three people inside the room exchanged a glance before Priscilla volunteered to open the door to see who it was.
A young lady with platinum blonde hair entered the room while glaring at William.
"The Master is calling for you," the blonde girl said. "Come with me."
From her tone, one could tell that it wasn't a request, but an order. William lifted Ragnar off his chest as he propped himself up off the bed. He then gently placed the puppy on the floor before facing the girl that was looking at him with restrained anger.
"Please give me a minute, I'll just change my clothes to make myself look more presentable," William replied.
He didn't wait for the girl's reply and started to strip his upper clothes. The girl snorted and left the room, along with Kenneth and Priscilla.
William picked a set of noble clothes that his Aunt Helen had prepared for him before he left Lont. Since his family was a noble household, he must act like one in order to not give people a bad impression.
Exactly a minute later, William left the room and was escorted alone by the girl who seemed keen on taking a bite of his body.
After a series of twists and turns, the two arrived in front of an ornate golden door. With a glance, William could tell that this was an important room within the Duke's household.
"Master, we have arrived," The girl announced in a respectful tone.
"Enter," a cold and firm voice answered from within the room.
The door swung open, allowing the two children to enter unimpeded.
----
"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said while sitting on a red throne carved with runic symbols. "I am Aramis Bran Caliburn, and the person I hate the most in this world is your grandfather, James Von Ainsworth."
William was prepared to introduce himself but stopped short after hearing Aramis' introduction. Seeing his awkward expression, Aramis merely gestured for him to take a seat.
The red-headed boy nodded his head and sat down while staring at the person who had a grudge on his Grandpa, James.
"Tell me, what are you doing in my domain?" Aramis questioned. "If you tell me that you only came here to subjugate bandits, I will not believe it."
"We didn't just come here to subjugate bandits, we also came here to take their treasures," William answered. He deemed that, since the other party already had a grudge on his grandpa, whatever he said, or did, wouldn't change his situation.
So, instead of cowering in fear or acting servile, he decided to just face the Sword Saint fearlessly and pray that his Grandpa would come to save him if he ever got bullied.
"Is that all?" Aramis inquired. "You just came here to subjugate bandits, take their treasures, and leave? Is that it?"
"Actually, we also came here because, within the Hellan Kingdom, the Southern Regions are the home of Hippogriffs," William replied. "Me and my subordinates are planning to take a few before going back to the Hellan Royal Academy."
"Hippogriffs? You came all this way to tame hippogriffs?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Aramis frowned. "I didn't receive any notice from the academy that their students would be entering my domain to tame Hipogriffs."
William decided to come clean and tell the Sword Saint the truth. As a master of his rank, Aramis could easily tell the truth from lies. "That's because I didn't notify the academy of our actions," William replied. "The excuse I gave the Dean was that we would only do survival training for a month until the classes resumed."
Aramis pondered for a while as he digested William's words. As one of the top officials of the Kingdom, he had already been informed that the boy in front of him was the current captain of the new Knight Order called the "Angorian War Sovereign".
Just as the name suggested, it was an order that was being formed in preparation for the possible war between the four powers of the Southern Continent.
The Hellan Kingdom in the West, the Anaesha Dynasty in the North, Zelan Dynasty in the South, and the Kingdom of Freesia in the Far East.
These were the four powers that made up the entirety of the Southern Continent.
Unfortunately, two of those major powers, the Anaesha and Zelan dynasties were planning to invade them. Aramis had already contacted his spies within the two dynasties to investigate their movements and possible routes for their invasion.
As the Sword Saint of the Hellan Kingdom, he was the strongest deterrent against such an invasion. For the two rulers to initiate this move only meant one thing.
They found strong backing. The Sword Saint had a few hypotheses and one of them was the interference of the Elven Council of the Silvermoon Continent.
Aramis was very suspicious of the elves because they had tried to subtly expand their influence on the human territories on both the Central and the Southern Continent. This movement started after they regained the blessings of their World Tree.
Aside from that first theory, there was another theory and this one held more credibility than the first.
An unknown organization was trying to throw the Southern Continent into chaos while waiting to reap the benefits. Thanks to James' letter, the King had been informed of an organization that was linked to the Dungeon Outbreaks that had recently happened within the Hellan Kingdom.
Although they had no evidence that the same group was behind the Beast Tide, they had a nagging feeling that they were connected. Also, the timing of the "possible" invasion after the military might of the Hellan Kingdom was exhausted, was too good to be true.
It was as if they were mere puppets that were being controlled to perform a play for entertainment. Although Aramis hated James, he could still set aside their differences when facing a threat from outside their borders.
"Fine, I permit you to tame Hipogriffs in my domain. But, there is a condition," Aramis said in an aloof manner.
"What is your condition, Your Excellency?" William asked.
"You are going to take my disciples Cid, and his sister, Aerith, with you," Aramis replied. "This is non-negotiable. Either you take them with you or you can scram from my domain."
Aramis had a feeling that his two disciples could learn a thing or two if they stayed by William's side for a short period of time.
He had raised them as warriors in a greenhouse and they lacked real battle experience. Seeing how William faced his disciple who was stronger than him, Aramis remembered his first love, Erza, as she fearlessly charged into the battlefield, despite the fact that she was up against foes who were stronger than her.
Aramis hoped that some of that bravery would rub off onto his disciples as they journeyed with the red-headed boy, who reminded him strongly of the woman whom he had wished to become his bride many years ago.