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
“Ryan, stop it!” Ben screamed, the group leader who quickly ran towards Ryan who had grabbed Riley by the neck.He did not want his friend to do unnecessary thing towards his junior. "Don't do that!"Actually, it wasn't that Riley couldn't fight the senior soldier, but he seemed to know that it would be better if he kept quiet. After all, he had indeed broken the rules and had certainly angered the senior soldiers.Ryan still wouldn't release his grip on Riley so Ben was forced to take action by pulling Ben away from Riley."You're defending him, Ben? Seriously. Because of him, Commander Sehel is angry with us,” Ryan shouted with an angry snarl.Ben also knew that but he tried to be more patient."That's enough, Ryan! Control yourself!” Ben said sharply.Riley was still silent, not daring to say anything. James, meanwhile, remained where he was. He heard the small commotion and chose not to take any action so that things wouldn't get worse.Ryan hissed, “What the hell are you doing? H
Riley could only smile in resignation. However, at least he was not punished alone. There was James who would accompany him through the punishment that he didn't know what form it would take.At the same time, more precisely in front of the main gate of Ans De Lou Kingdom, William Mackenzie had just arrived accompanied by Vincent Crack, one of his bodyguards who had also accompanied him to the palace when he wanted to meet the son.Unlike in the past when he entered unofficially and became a sneak. This time the most powerful war general used the official process, entering through the main gate. In accordance with royal regulations, William immediately walked to the staff section that would record who would enter the palace.On the side of the gate, there was a room where visitors or guests of the palace were required to report. “Good afternoon, I would like to see King Keannu,” William said as he searched something into his coat, intending to take something.The staff, who was a yo
The male staffer was silent for a moment, but then he snapped his fingers as if he'd just realized something.“His son is here,” the male staffer said.The female staff clucked her tongue, “Oh, my God. I can't believe it. That's just a rumor. Everyone knows that it's just a rumor that James Gardner started."The male staffer shook his head in disagreement, but his friend chimed in again, “If it were true, it would have been exposed already. There are only about 300 prospective soldiers right now, there's no way the palace can't find someone who is considered General Mackenzie's son, right?""Then, can you find a reasonable reason, Julia? Why would a war general who decided to retire and withdraw from the palace and then even disappeared from the palace or can be said to have hidden his life, now appear in the palace?” the male staff named Bernard asked. Julia, the female staff sighed in annoyance, “How would I know? Perhaps General Mackenzie has some important business at the palace.
William Mackenzie turned to the king and nodded, “Yes, Your Majesty. I see he has a strong friendship with James Gardner.""Oh, not even that. My son even shares a dormitory, a room with him,” William added.Keannu was pensive for a few seconds and then raised his head, looking back at the general, “Your son ... he's ....”Before Keannu could finish his sentence, he saw three of his family members enter his garden area unannounced.The man immediately said, “You three. What are you doing here?"Monica along with her son and daughter just tried to smile awkwardly. William Mackenzie immediately greeted the queen of the country, “Good evening, Your Majesty.”He also greeted the princess with a warm smile, “Princess Rowena, we finally meet again.”Rowena smiled back awkwardly, but she responded by saying, “Welcome to the palace again, General Mackenzie.”William turned to a teenage boy who still looked very young and said, “Good evening, Crown Prince.”Xylan stammered, “Welcome, General.
"That’s impossible," Ben said in a firm tone.Reiner also responded, "They couldn't have killed Riley."Ben added, "If they killed Riley, I'm sure they'd have announced it. Or ... at least they would have done something like confuse us with Riley's whereabouts."Seeing James looking frustrated, Reiner said again, "He must be alive. It's just that we haven't found him yet.""That’s right. He was probably transferred to their secret place," Ben said.James' face relaxed more than before when he heard the two friends' soothing words. He was a little more relieved.James then nodded his head, "Then we should find out more.""Yes, we will. Don't worry!" Reiner said.Ben said with a confident tone, "We will definitely find Riley, James."James chose to believe and returned to search more thoroughly. Unfortunately, although the soldiers of Ans De Lou Kingdom had interrogated the prisoners of Mecco Kingdom, they still could not find a single clue regarding Riley's whereabouts.In addition, K
Reiner frowned, "That's impossible. Is he lying?"James shook his head firmly, "No way.""How can you believe her so easily?" Reiner asked while still inspecting the area.James sighed softly, "I have never met an Ans De Lou soldier who dared to lie to me."Reiner instantly turned his head and looked at his friend without blinking.Two seconds later he nodded in agreement, "Oh, you're right. How could anyone dare to deal with you?"James waved his hand.He looked up and widened his eyes once he got something. He quickly asked Reiner to come closer to him."What's up there?" Reiner asked as James looked up.However, James did not answer Reiner's question and instead stood on tiptoe and picked up a small object attached to the wall."What is it?" Reiner asked with a curious expression.James examined the object and immediately cursed, "BASTARD!"Reiner was wide-eyed in shock. James' swearing really sounded full of emotion and his tone of voice was almost like someone who was shouting.
James sighed softly, it was clear that the soldier knew nothing about the latest situation outside."Yes, I'm back. I wasn't captured by them," James explained as he helped the soldier to lean against the wall.James glanced at his friend who looked very weak, but didn't dare to touch him as his wounds looked much worse.James examined the soldier's wound whose shirt had been torn off briefly and knew immediately that the soldier must have been severely tortured.He gritted his teeth, trying to contain his anger."Then ... did we win, Deputy War General?" the class two soldier asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.James nodded, "Yes, we won.""R-really, Vice General of War? We won? I'm not dreaming, am I?" the soldier asked with tears on the verge of falling.James looked at the soldier with a sad gaze.The torture he received must have frustrated the soldier for his emotions to become so unstable."You're
Xylan immediately realized that his father wouldn't just let him go.He knew that Keannu Wellington wasn't in the best of shape, but his father was still thinking things through carefully.Therefore, Xylan who had never lied and would never want to lie, especially to his father replied, "Yes, Father. He is not a palace staff who has been in the palace for a long time. In fact, he doesn't even have any relationships with other palace officials."Keannu instantly fell silent.Xylan quickly composed words and continued, "But ... I can guarantee that he will do his duty well. You will see that my choice will not be wrong."Keannu let out a long breath.Xylan was beginning to worry.And after a long silence, Keannu finally looked back at his son and said, "Alright."Keannu's one-word statement confused Xylan so he asked again, "Alroght? What do you mean, Father?"Keannu smiled gently, "You can choose him."
Xylan could only remain silent without being able to say a word.Keannu sighed softly. He looked at his son who was still so shocked.The old man said hoarsely, "I know you're not ready yet, but ... I believe you're capable of leading this country."Xylan lifted his head and looked at his father's pale face that looked so very weak.Xyan instantly wanted to curse himself. How could he think so weakly? He may be young, but he was not ignorant. Over the years he had learned various things, including about the government system. His father had also taught him about many things to prepare him as his successor.Then, after all that had happened, how could he be hesitant like that?Moreover, his father's condition no longer allowed him to rule the country. Keannu Wellington was no longer young. He had experienced a great deal of health problems.Keannu's time as a king was up. The old man should spend his old age living a much more relaxed life.So, as his son, he naturally had to suppor
James didn't have to wait long to connect with Josh Cleve.Once connected, before James could speak, he heard Josh say, "I've got it, General Gardner."James didn't have time to reply, but Josh was already speaking quickly, "Thank you, General Gardner. This is all because of you.""If it wasn't for your strategy, I wouldn't have been able to conquer the sea area," Josh continued, sounding like someone who was holding back tears.He didn't even dare to look directly through the screen at James.James smiled at Josh and chuckled, "Gosh, are you going to cry?"Josh snorted but everyone could see that Josh was really very moved. All the soldiers of Ans De Lou Kingdom had known all the efforts that Josh Cleve had made to improve his sea warrior skills. However, he had not been successful.However, after James Gardner became his leader, he was able to bring victory to the Ans De Lou Kingdom.With so much gratitude Josh said again, "It's all thanks to you, General."James instantly shook hi
A class two soldier of James' age replied, "Maybe he was practicing during his long break."Ben shook his head, "I'm not sure.""You mean, Senior Ben?" Jason Hoult asked with a facial expression full of confusion.Ben smiled faintly.Without turning his head towards Jason, the man who had long been a first-class soldier replied, "There's no time for that. He's very busy managing his business.""What business, Senior Ben?" Jason asked back, looking both surprised and curious. Ben almost tapped his forehead from talking too much."Uh, what are we doing? Isn't it time to help him? Come on, Jason. Get back to your position!" Ben ordered.Jason was forced to move away from the area in disappointment. Uh, he was really very curious about the story of James Gardner.He used to feud with the young man who always had a cold impression, but he could finally understand James' attitude.James always had an annoying expression on his face, but the young man wasn't actually an annoying man. In fac
Kurt Zys smiled mockingly, "Thank you?"He then spat to the side and said again, "Are you dreaming? Do you think that by capturing us, you think your army will win over our army?"Kurt laughed dismissively. "In case you forgot ... I'll remind you, we ... have an important person from your kingdom.""That's right, your war general is in our hands. What can you do with your new war general? What can he do?" a soldier sitting beside Kurt said in an annoying tone.Kurt flashed his mocking smile again to irritate Justin.Justin raised his right eyebrow and immediately realized that there was no way he could get what he wanted from the enemy soldiers. The young man sighed softly. He felt that talking to the enemy soldiers was pointless so he simply replied, "Well, since you can only belittle us, it would be much better if we didn't hear your voice."Kurt frowned, looking somewhat confused.However, it wasn't long before he heard Justin command, "Shut them all up! Don't let even one of them
Some people began to look worriedly at their war general who had not moved an inch."What the hell is going on?""Why is General Gardner just sitting there?" a class three soldier asked his fellow soldier.The soldier standing right next to him replied, "I don't know. It looks like General Gardner is confused.""What? Why is he confused? Does that mean he's going to ... retreat?"A class two soldier who heard those words instantly turned to the class three soldier as he raised his visor, "What did you just say, huh? You think General Gardner is a coward?""No-no ... so, Senior. But ... why didn't he act immediately? We're already in enemy territory," the soldier replied, who initially seemed to doubt his general stammeringly.The class two soldier who defended James replied, "Perhaps General Gardner is adjusting himself. He hasn't fought in a long time so he might need time to readjust."Another also nodded in agreement and quickly responded, "Right. He is ... one of those great warrio