“That's much better, the commanders could wipe us out if they find out we've lost a candidate,” another said.“Hey, we didn't lose him, Ben. We just haven't found him yet,” a senior soldier named Ryan said.Ben sighed lazily, “It's the same thing. Never mind, let's get back to it.”Having agreed, the soldiers who were looking for James returned to the place where they had asked the prospective soldiers and the other fellow soldiers were still waiting.The most conspicuous young man, Riley Wood, who was known to be in a relationship with the king's daughter walked over, “Excuse me, doesn't James want to go back?”Ben shook his head, “It's not that he doesn't want to come back, it's that we haven't found him yet.”Riley gasped, “You mean you can't find him?”“Yes. This is a wild forest, we don't control this area.” Ben explained.Colin, who had reconciled with Riley, immediately squeezed his hand, really getting scared.“Then, are you guys just going to leave it alone?” Riley asked fran
“Ryan, where is he?” Ben asked, starting to get a little anxious.Ryan, who had been one of the senior bodyguards on duty at the back, immediately looked around for Riley.His face immediately paled when he did not find the young man's whereabouts, “Damn. He's not there, Ben.”“What's he doing?”“Why can't any of these new recruits be right? One disappears before our eyes and the other leaves quietly!”“They like to get us in trouble, don't they?” another senior soldier muttered as well. Their faces were flushed with anger.Ben couldn't let his emotions out at the moment. He realized that there was no point in venting his frustration. He could even get into more trouble if he did that.The furious Ben finally said, “Come on, let's go find them!”Ryan and some of the senior guards complained. However, there was no way they could refuse. Ben, who knew his friends looked burdened, said, “We need to find the boy and ... the traitor's ason. If we don't, we'll be in trouble. Guys, you know
Alen immediately ran towards the line where the medical staff soldiers were. He joined the line along with his other friends.In addition, all the soldiers there, both senior soldiers and prospective soldiers were seen lining up in different places.This was to make it easier for soldiers with high positions such as commanders to check on their soldiers.Greg Sehel turned around and swept his gaze towards the candidates lined up on the right. He frowned, “Why don't I see the two recruits from this group?”One of the senior soldiers assigned to the task swallowed before replying, “Commander, two of the recruits from this group are missing.”Greg Sehel's eyes bulged as if they were about to jump out of place, “What? Disappeared? How did that happen?”The commander's breathing began to quicken as if he was holding back anger, “Tell me! How did you lose those two?”“Riley Wood and James Gardner. They're missing, aren't they?” Greg said, looking at the senior soldier impatiently.The sold
One friend replied with a whimper of pain, “He didn't kill us, but he ... paralyzed us.”“Did he intend for us to be tortured and die slowly?” another friend continued.The group leader limped to his feet despite the pain in his legs. He replied, “If he was torturing us, he would have at least shot where it hurts. Look at all of your wounds!”“He's ... just trying to make us unable to hold weapons or ... walk. That means he really doesn't want to kill us,” the leader continued.Someone cursed, “Damn it! Why would he do that? Does he think we're not his opponents?”The leader shook his head with difficulty, his strength drained from the pain, “I don't know what his intentions were. But ... he certainly didn't kill us. What his motives were, I don't care.”“It's better to find a way to contact the commander! Hurry! We're still alive, but ... if we keep losing too much blood, we'll die,” the chairman continued.In another area, about a few miles away, James Gardner had just received a ki
The Kingdom Fermoza soldier held a hot iron right in front of James Gardner's eyes in the hope that the young man, who he estimated to be in his early twenties, would give up out of fear.Unfortunately, what he wanted did not happen. He saw the young warrior from the Ans De Lou Kingdom staring at him without a trace of fear and instead said, “You go ahead and do that. I'll keep my mouth shut tight.”The soldier widened his eyes in surprise at the young man's boldness. He replied, “Oh, so you don't mind if I put a hole in your heart? No problem if you die slowly?”Still not looking afraid, James replied, “There is no one I fear in this world, except ... my mother.”The enemy soldier laughed mockingly, “Uh, I see. Then, what if your mother sees your horribly dead corpse?”He looked at James with a lopsided smile, but James stood his ground and said casually, “She will be proud of me because I died as a true soldier, not as a traitor.”Instantly the soldier lost his fun. “You young fool,
James Gardner laughed crisply, pleased to see the panic among the now defenseless enemy troops.The remaining soldier immediately took offense, “Are you laughing at us?”James in between laughs replied, “Of course I am. Who else can make me laugh?”James glanced at the name on the right side of the man's combat uniform. Edwin Grace. “Damn you. You're laughing when your life is in my hands, do you think he's going to save you? Don't ever dream it!” Edwin said.James grinned, “You idiot, do you realize that or not? That guy already managed to get your friends down. If I were you, I would have saved myself.”“I'm not a coward,” Edwin retorted as he wandered around, scanning every corner of the forest. He didn't want his attacker to catch him off guard and end up attacking him too.James wanted to open his mouth again to reply, but Edwin shouted again, “If you don't come out, your friend will die.”James bit his teeth and snapped, “Just kill me! Hurry up! You say you're not a coward, bu
James took no offense and instead chuckled, “I'm just tired.”"Tired? Are you stupid or something?” Riley retorted, getting annoyed.“I'm tired of the insults,” James said in a soft tone.Riley did not reply it.James winced as his broken leg hit a rock as they walked over the rocks.Riley suddenly turned his head and glanced at James' leg which was not bleeding but seemed to be dangling. Without even examining the leg, Riley had already guessed that James' right leg was broken.James was not a weak person who would complain if he was sick. The man would act strong and not suffer anything. However, seeing James not hiding his pain from himself, Riley quickly assumed that the injury was indeed severe.“How bad is it?” Riley asked in the end.James grinned, “No need to worry about that. I can still walk although not normally."Riley sighed in exasperation, she shouldn't have
"Hey, don't be quiet! You made me bored,” James said with an annoyed snort.Riley kept his eyes locked with James who was still raising his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.Was it because of guilt? But, why?Riley didn't know how to answer that either. He himself could not understand his actions. The young man with the injured leg had indeed grown up from a baby without his father present. Even though it was all related to his father, it was still not his father's fault.If that was the case, shouldn't he not have any guilt towards the young man?Then, why was he doing this? Come to think of it, this was the first time he had done something so dangerous in his life. The thing he did this time was not like breaking the palace rules that would only end in a punishment, but certainly not to the point of sacrificing his life.But, this time he was actually risking his life in the enemy kingdom's territory in order to save the young man who annoyed him so much.However, when he lo
Gary Davis replied with a serious expression, "Your Honor, I apologize if you find my words presumptuous, but ....""Just say it! Say everything you want to say!" Xylan commanded.From the tone of his voice, Xylan clearly sounded impatient. "I'm ready to listen! And ... I won't get mad at you, don't worry!" Xylan added after he saw the hesitant look on Gary's face.Xylan thought maybe Gary was afraid that he would be punished if he said what was in his head so the future king's salon had to reassure Gary for the young man to be braver.Gary nodded, looking relieved. At least he had an assurance that he would not be punished. "Your Highness, you ... will be made the new king of Ans De Lou Kingdom. You are still very young and you yourself must have guessed that ... that ... I am ...."Xylan clucked his tongue impatiently, "Just say it! I have no problem. Just take it easy!"Gary nodded again and continued, "There are some who don't like you. Although ... for now things aren't looking
Hearing Gary Davis' answer, Xylan Wellington frowned.Is this really the same young man who always gives me good solutions? Xylan wondered.The future king looked deeper and deeper at Gary and finally raised his right eyebrow when he realized he had thought something stupid.More and more Xylan realized that Gary Davis might indeed be smart and dexterous and quite knowledgeable. But, such an intelligent person could also have an innocent nature like the young man had just shown himself."Your Highness, why don't you answer my question? Am I-""Forget it!" Xylan cut in quickly.Gary scratched behind his ear in confusion.Xylan sighed and said, "Gary, are you anxiously awaiting the announcement of the changes in staff and palace officials later?"Gary frowned, quite surprised by Xylan's question.The young man opened his mouth and stammered, "Your Royal Highness, I ... I'm just ...."Just by looking at Gary's expression, Xylan instantly knew that his guess was correct. The young man di
"Of course it is. Otherwise, how could his café business be successful?" Diego said, who seemed to be satisfied with the results achieved by James, his best friend.Reiner became more interested, "How? I mean ... you know he's ... well, he can't be polite and he tends to annoy people. So, what did he change?"Diego looked like he was about to answer, but Shin suddenly said in an incredulous tone, "Oh, wait a minute. He manages the cafe business together with his mother, right? Uh, I'm sure the customers come to his place because of his nice mom."Ben nodded in agreement, "I've never met James' mother, but ... considering James is like that, I'll take Shin's word for it."Diego immediately put on a sour expression, looking rather annoyed. This was because his own friends apparently didn't know James very well.However, he was the one who was witness to how James had changed so much that he felt the need to set the record straight."Hey, I'm telling you seriously. James, who is the owne
Alen did not immediately answer the question of his senior and good friend. He seemed to think for a moment before finally giving an answer, "It's like you don't know James.""What do you mean?" Shin replied while blinking.Alen snorted impatiently, "Shin, James is unpredictable. You must also know that sometimes he can do things that no one would ever think of. So, how can I guess what he might do?"Shin was stunned. The young man smiled wryly, "Damn, you're right about that. He is indeed unpredictable."In the end, the two people did not ask James any questions about what they discussed. When the funeral was over, they all returned to their respective places. However, not James Gardner. The young man who was the war general of Ans De Lou Kingdom at that time was seen walking towards Xylan Wellington's residence.Of course, this led to various speculations among most of the palace residents. It was not only the officials and staff of the palace who began to notice the irregularitie
"It will, Diego," James replied."He can wait," James repeated with emphasis.Diego didn't seem convinced by James' answer.James was usually reluctant to go into too much detail about what he was thinking. However, Diego was one of his best friends so he didn't want to confuse his best friend.So, James said, "He's not an easy guy to beat, Diego. And ... there's one thing you need to know.""What's that?" Diego asked with one eyebrow raised."His own father, I mean General Mackenzie told me that his son ... will not die easily," James explained.Diego was so dumbfounded that he didn't dare reply.James was sure his job of explaining was done, but he still added, "If the greatest and most powerful general the Ans De Lou Kingdom has ever seen said that, then there's a very good chance that Riley is still alive out there."Diego was silent for a few moments.But then he said, "If General Mackenzie believes that, we have no right to doubt him.""You're right, Diego. Therefore, we just ha
William's lips lifted upwards once again, forming a warm smile."James, without me explaining it, you ... must know it yourself, right?" William said softly.After that, the old man who was once the strongest soldier in the kingdom patted James on the back and then left James pensive.The young man swallowed hard. Suddenly he remembered all the things about Riley, more precisely their friendship that they had established since the beginning.All those memories came back. One of the memories that bothered him was when they were still not officially inducted into the army. At that time he was upset and made the stupid and desperate decision to attack the enemy as proof that he was different from his father. Then, the only person who really cared about him was Riley. He was the one who sacrificed himself to save him. At that time, he and Riley were both aspiring soldiers. Neither of them had the slightest experience on the battlefield. But, Riley was still looking for him.Uh, when he
James Gardner nodded, "Yes, Your Royal Highness. May I do so?"Xylan Wellington quickly nodded, "Go, General Gardner. You can talk to him."James was grateful that Xylan did not hold him back."Thank you, Your Highness," James said as he quickly left the crown prince along with three first-class soldiers to guard him.Indeed, the three soldiers were certainly no match for him. However, he chose to trust the three of them.Luckily, it turned out that William Mackenzie who looked much older by a few years was also looking for him so their meeting did not encounter any obstacles."General Mackenzie," James greeted the father of his best friend respectfully.William Mackenzie smiled faintly and replied, "General Gardner."James nodded, "You … are you alright, General?"William returned a smile and said in a low tone, "How can I be fine when I have some problems, General Gardner?"James frowned, looking rather confused.Not wanting to riddle and confuse James, William quickly explained wit
James suddenly gave Gardner a lopsided smile. He knew it was not easy being Xylan Wellington's shield. But, he really did not expect that the crown prince who he thought was so smart was also so innocent.His intelligence seemed to be inversely proportional to his knowledge in terms of understanding the world around him.However, he had already decided to replace Riley in order to make up for the few years of time he had wasted so he should try to be patient.Thus, he calmly replied, "You should start thinking about the matter of all of their opinions, Your Highness.""Why should I?" Xylan retorted, who did not seem to accept James' words.James bit his lower lip, feeling the need to suppress his irritation even more. Come on, James. Don't give up so easily! James thought to himself."Because you are the future king and will soon inherit the throne of this country. So, you should start thinking about what they think of you," James replied.Xylan was about to reply, but James was fas
The indecision on Xylan Wellington's face was evident. James Gardner, who felt that he had succeeded in making the crown prince realize the big mistake Xylan was about to make, called out, "Your Highness."Xylan flinched slightly when he heard his name being called by James.The young man turned to James, but still did not open his mouth.At that moment, James Gardner was certain that Xylan would change the decision they had just discussed.However, he suddenly saw Xylan smiling at him. That of course made James blink his eyes in confusion.But, within seconds, his confusion was answered. He heard Xylan say, "General Gardner, what you said is true. Everything is right. I ... might get some opposition for choosing Gary Davis as the king's advisor."He nodded. James immediately got a bad feeling that he didn't want to imagine."But, General Gardner. I have found no other good candidate than Gary Davis for that position. And ...."He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about somethi