William swaggered in front of the Alpha of the Herd and gave it a smile that would put all the debt collectors to shame.
"I need twelve more members of your herd," William said while keeping a business-like smile on his face. "You have two choices. Let me choose twelve Hippogriffs and we can all go back to our camps and rest, or you will give me twelve members of your herd and we can all go back to our camps and rest. What would you like to choose?"
Before the Alpha could even answer, all the Wyverns screeched in unison. The Blood Wyvern's piercing gaze locked on the Alpha of the Herd, and made the latter take a step back unconsciously.
It then looked back at the smiling Half-Elf in front of it and lowered its head in submission.
-----
The students that were currently scheduled for night duty immediately sounded the alarm.
"Wake up! Wyverns are approaching us!" one of the students shouted in horror. "Prepare to defend yourselves!"
After hearing the alarm all the members of the Angorian War Sovereign, as well as Cid and Aerith, immediately left their tents with their weapons in their hands.
All of them had grim expressions on their faces when they saw more than a dozen Wyverns headed towards their location. It was led by a Wyvern that was slightly bigger than the rest. Although it was dark, the presence it radiated made the bodies of the children unconsciously shudder.
'We're done for.'
This was the collective thought of everyone in the camp. Even Dave, who was seated on the back of the Gryphon, couldn't help but feel that their current situation was very dire. The Gryphon's body was very tense with its wings spread wide. Its plan was to escape with Dave the moment the Wyverns initiated an attack on the camp.
There was no way it could fight against that many Wyverns alone, especially when the enemies were a level above its rank.
Just when everyone thought that they were about to go to the afterlife, the Blood Wyvern landed at least two hundred meters away from their location. The other Wyverns also landed a few meters away from the camp, which surprised the teenagers who had resolved themselves to fight to the death.
"Calm down, everyone," a familiar voice shouted in the distance. "These Wyverns are on our side."
William, Ella, Kenneth, along with Damian and Gideon walked towards the encampment with calm expressions.
"Sorry if we scared you," William said after he had entered the camp and removed the hood from his head. "Those on guard duty, return to your posts. Those who need to rest, go back to rest."
Contrary to Wiliam's orders, no one in the encampment moved and only stared back at him with serious expressions.
"Commander, what is going on?" Priscilla asked.
Since she was the highest ranking officer next to William, she thought that it would be best to ask what was going on.
"We took a stroll in the forest and met these friendly Wyverns," William replied. "After seeing how handsome and awesome I was, they decided to accompany me back to my hometown."
Everyone in the encampment, including the Wyverns, looked at William in contempt. All of them were thinking of the same thing.
'Who will believe your b*llsh*t story?!'
William casually flipped his hair as he stared at the moons in the distance. "I'm so handsome that even Wyverns want to become my friends."
The members of the Angorian War Sovereign were already used to William's narcissism, so they were able to ignore his words. Cid and Aerith, on the other hand, wanted to ask more questions, but William used his authority to force everyone to go back to their tents to rest.
He had no intention of answering anyone's questions and had already decided to head for Lont as soon as the sun rose in the East. What Cid and Aerith didn't know was that William didn't have any intentions of returning to the residence of the Sword Saint with the Wyverns.
Although the Sword Saint didn't do anything to him, Aramis might change his mind after seeing the Wyverns that had submitted to him. In order to prevent any conflicts from arising, the Half-Elf decided to just leave the Southern Regions without seeing the Sword Saint for the third time.
----
"Is this really okay?" Aerith asked as she watched the Wyverns fly towards the West. In her hand was a handwritten letter that William wanted to be sent back to her teacher.
The red-headed boy even insisted that she shouldn't take a peek at it out of curiosity.
"Whether it is okay or not, what can we do about it?" Cid answered with his arms crossed over his chest. "That boy sure knows how to Eat and Run."
Henry chuckled when he heard Cid's apt description of William. Indeed. The boy was like a bandit who ate in a restaurant and ran away without paying.
'My Liege, your nemesis' grandson didn't fall far from the tree,' Henry thought as the Wyverns disappeared from sight.
----
"Amazing!" one of the students exclaimed. "So, this is what it feels like to ride a Wyvern!"
"Don't get too excited or you might fall off!" one of his friends nagged at him for acting like a country bumpkin. However, everyone could tell that he, too, was feeling just as excited as his friend.
Fourteen Wyverns, including the Blood Wyvern, flew towards the West in a "V Formation". The Blood Wyvern was in the lead of the formation and kept everyone in line. On its back, there was a lone figure, wearing a hooded robe, who stood straight like a sword.
William told everyone that the man riding the Blood Wyvern was a hermit that lived inside the Whimsical Forest, and the Master of the Weyr of Wyverns.
Dave, who was riding the Gryphon, was accompanied by William, Ella, Dia, and Ragnar.
All the Hipogriffs that William had tamed and had "volunteered" to come with him were currently inside the Goblin Crypt. Since the majority of them were injured, they were not fit for travel. The shepherd decided to return to Lont as fast as possible because they were on a tight schedule.
Simon, the Dean of the Academy, had explicitly told William to return on the 18th of the Month of the Chariot.
This was when the Knighting Ceremony would take place within the academy. The king would personally be there to award and officially recognize William's Knight Order in front of all the nobility of the Hellan Kingdom.
Naturally, all the staff and the students of the academy would be there to witness as well. It was a very important event and William had to hurry if he wanted to meet the deadline given to him.
Currently, he still had twenty-one days before the date of the Knighting Ceremony. William wanted to have all the Hipogriffs' injuries healed before then. For that to happen, he would have to ask the Life Magus of Lont, Owen, to tend to the new members of his herd.
-----
On the second day of their journey after leaving the Whimsical Forest...
"Commander, what is your hometown like?" Dave asked. His partner, Lionheart, was currently flying in the middle of the formation and was being treated as the VIP of the group.
"Very crude, but full of life," William answered. "If we maintain this speed, we will arrive at my hometown in an hour."
Deep down, William was feeling excited. He was wondering how his Grandpa would react when he saw the Aerial Fleet that he had nabbed from the Southern Regions and brought back to Lont.
Of course, Ezio was the one who made this possible, but since he was William's Fourth Master, The Half-Elf decided to shamelessly take all the credit!
Suddenly, a loud primal roar reverberated across the land.
Lufie, the Golden Ape that protected Lont, stood tall and roared at the approaching threat in its domain.
The eyes of the members of William's Knight Order widened in surprise when they saw the Golden Giant Ape who was less than eight-hundred meters away from them.
The Blood Wyvern advanced ahead in order to greet the Golden Ape who was very close to hurtling the massive boulder in its hands.
"It's me, Lufie," Ezio said as the Blood Wyvern approached.
The Ourobro recognized Ezio and lowered the boulder in its hand. However, it still didn't lower its guard and stared at the Blood Wyvern in front of it.
The townspeople of Lont had been alerted and had hidden themselves inside their houses. Only the experts stood on top of the town's wall and observed the Wyverns from a distance.
A sharp cry resounded in the sky as Blitz, along with his partner, John, circled around the Blood Wyvern.
"This is not your style, Ezio," John said with a smile. "You don't like to stand out, so why do it this way?"
"The Young Master wanted to bring the Wyverns back to Lont," Ezio replied. "He insisted that the Commander might need them for the upcoming war."
John's eyes landed on the Gryphon that was slowly approaching them. William, who was seated on its back, waved at John with a smug expression on his face.
"Indeed. William is being flashy, as usual," John shook his head with a smile as he and Blitz returned to the town of Lont.
After relaying to the townspeople that they were friendly forces, everyone came out of their houses to admire the Wyverns, which the majority of them hadn't ever seen in their lifetime.
James, along with Mordred, also appeared with big grins on their faces after hearing John's report. The Father and Son pair felt that William had one-upped Ezio into agreeing to his request.
Even so, they still gave William two thumbs up in their hearts for bolstering Lont's armed forces.
James was even chuckling internally. He was wondering how his nemesis, Aramis, would react after finding about the bold move that his grandson had made while within his domain.
'Erza, I wish you could have met William,' James thought with regret. 'I'm sure that you would have approved of this grandson of ours. He is just like you when you were younger. Bold, resourceful, and very opportunistic.'
James sighed as the Wyverns landed near the entrance of Lont. William had returned un-announced and brought with him the members of his new Knight Order.
"Son, make sure to give William's friends the best accommodation," James ordered.
"Yes, Father," Mordred replied. "I will make sure that William will not be embarrassed because of our hospitality."
The two once again eyed the Wyverns in the distance and the red-headed boy that was waving in their direction. Both of them knew that although William was very mischievous, he had the safety and prosperity of Lont in his heart.