After Alaric’s daily mission, a servant came to the training ground and informed him as well as the Knights about when the meeting will be held.
“A meeting, huh? Is this about your recent visit to Ryvaad, my lord?” Henry curiously stared at Alaric. The latter still hadn’t told him how he got his wounds.
“Yes, pretty much.” Alaric nodded with a serious look.
“Then, I should take my leave first. I can’t go to the meeting hall covered in sweat.” Henry chuckled while shaking his head.
“Alright. We’ll see you later, Sir Henry.”
“See you later, my lord.” The old man bowed to him and left.
…
An hour later, Alaric headed to the meeting hall. He told Elena to get some rest so the girl wasn’t with him this time.
When he entered the spacious hall, he saw the Knights and the Elite Knights of the household seated before a long table. Among them was his uncle, Charles Silversword who was leisurely chatting with a young warrior sitting on the chair to his left.
As if sensing his arrival, Charles turned his head and waved at him enthusiastically. “Alaric! Come here and sit beside your uncle! I’d like to introduce you to someone.”
Alaric was disgusted upon seeing him, but he maintained a cool appearance.
He decided to play along with his uncle. “Yes, my lord.”
Alaric took a seat on the empty chair beside Charles.
“Alaric, do you still remember him?” Charles pointed at the young warrior beside him.
Alaric stared at the young warrior with a calm expression.
How could I forget the face of my cousin?
“Of course! We met a few times when we were young.” Alaric responded to his uncle while nodding at the young warrior.
This man was Charles’s bastard son, Josephus Silversword.
He looked like he was in his late teens, but he was actually over twenty years old. He had a slender physique much like his father. However, unlike the men of House Silversword who had striking gray hair, Josephus had blonde hair which he inherited from his mother.
Charles grinned and whispered to his ears.
“Thanks to the herbs I got from you, Josephus became a Knight.”
Alaric was taken aback.
“Congratulations, Josephus.” Alaric had mixed feelings about this cousin of his.
In his past life, Josephus had never become a Knight.
He had always been stuck as a Knight Apprentice which made Charles very disappointed in him.
Josephus worked even harder to meet his father’s expectations, but his efforts weren’t rewarded. He was still unable to advance which left him depressed.
When Charles took over the baron’s position after Lucas’s death, Josephus committed suicide, but the reason for his suicide was kept a secret.
Josephus scratched his head in embarrassment. “Thank you, my lord. If it weren’t for the Dragon Tail Fern, I wouldn’t have enough mana to advance.”
Looking at his honest and shy face, Alaric was baffled.
Just why did you hang yourself, Josephus? Just what pushed you to end your own life?
This matter was one of the few things that remained unanswered even after Alaric’s death.
I hope you’re not like your father, my dear cousin.
While he was deep in his thoughts, the door sprung open as Maria and Lucas stepped in.
Everyone immediately stood up from their seats the moment they arrived.
“Greetings, my lord!”
“Greetings, my lady!”
Lucas scanned everyone’s faces and saw Alaric sitting beside his uncle. He found it unusual since he felt that Alaric didn’t like Charles. However, he didn’t say anything and just calmly took his seat.
Lucas cleared his throat and spoke.
“Everyone, I gathered you all here to inform you about what happened to the people we sent to Ryvaad. I guess some of you are already aware of what happened, but for the sake of those who don’t know anything, I will say it once again.”
Everyone adjusted their posture as they listened closely.
Lucas recounted what he had heard from Alaric and the rest of the warriors who were sent to Ryvaad.
When the Knights heard this, they were furious.
“How dare they attack the heir of House Silversword! They must be tired of living!” Charles slapped his hand on the table.
Seeing this, Alaric sneered inwardly.
Pretentious bastard…
Meanwhile, the other Knights also expressed their anger.
“I can’t believe that the second son of House Paxley would do something like this!”
“We must make that bastard pay!”
The hall became noisy as everyone expressed their rage.
“Silence!” Lucas’s indifferent voice resonated in their ears, making everyone shut their mouths.
“I understand your anger and frustration. That’s why we came up with a plan to make that bastard pay for what he did.” After saying this, Lucas gave his wife a look.
Maria knew that it was her turn to speak.
“This is what we have decided to do…”
Maria told them about her plan. It was more detailed than what they had discussed earlier.
“We need a show of force to pressure House Paxley so we need to send some of our Elite Knights to Ryvaad. Are there any volunteers?” Maria swept her gaze at the people inside the hall.
“I will go!” The newly advanced Elite Knight, Henry, was the first to volunteer. He looked incredibly furious by the look on his face.
Maria nodded at the old man to show her appreciation.
“I will go too.” Charles smiled as he raised his arm.
Alaric narrowed his eyes, wondering what his uncle was up to this time.
“Please sign me up, my lady. I was with Lord Alaric when the attack happened. I must see this to the end!” Warrick raised his hand with a cold look.
“Thank you.” Maria nodded to Warrick.
“Now, I will announce who among the Knights will join in the trip to Ryvaad…”
“Alaric…”
“Aldrin…”
“Bernard…”
“Chulmo…”
“Rigor…”
“Arthur…”
“…and Josephus.”
“Including the three Elite Knights, the seven of you will lead thirty of our warriors to Ryvaad. Do you have any questions?”