Unexpectedly, Riley casually replied, “James is brave, Alen. You also know how he faced the enemy troops.”Alen frowned, “I know. But ... I mean if James is in the class two place, shouldn't you also be in the same class as him, Riley?”Riley shook his head firmly, “I made some mistakes.”“Which mistakes? You ....”“I caused the death of one of this kingdom's best commanders, Alen.”“No, you didn't. It wasn't your fault, you just-”“It was one of my carelessness in being so slow to understand the possible actions of War General Fermoza. And ... as a result of my carelessness Commander Sehel had to help me and eventually as you know ... he was killed protecting me,” Riley explained, laden with guilt that never left his head.Alen could not reply anymore.After all, everything Riley said was a fact and there was no way he could argue with that.Meanwhile, the dazed James Gardner began to walk towards the waiting king of Ans De Lou Kingdom, Keannu Wellington.The young man who then stood
Xylan instead immediately gave his sister a strange look.Rowena who instead of getting no answer but that annoying look suddenly snorted, “Well, you're the crown prince. Father must have talked to you about it, right?”Xylan let out a long breath, feeling rather annoyed with his older sister's attitude. “Why do you think father would discuss this matter with me, sister?” Rowena held back her impatience and replied, “Oh my goodness. You are the future king of this country, replacing father in the future. The matter of appointing a new war general should also pertain to you.”Xylan shook his head, “Not so. You really don't remember how old I am right now, Sis?”Rowena did not answer.“I'm still fifteen, only turning sixteen in three months. How can I be involved in such an important matter?”Rowena was still reluctant to reply. The princess, who was wearing an ankle-length, long-sleeved violet dress, rolled her eyes lazily. She seemed to feel no need to listen to the explanation of
Alen patiently explained, “Josh Cleve was seriously injured during the war a few months ago.”“He suffered severe brain damage so he had to undergo several surgeries until he finally recovered,” Alen continued.James was dumbfounded. “Severe brain damage? And he's ... now back to being a soldier, is that it?”Alen nodded, “Unfortunately, when the war with the Fermoza Kingdom happened he still had to undergo intensive examinations until he was fully recovered.”Alen glanced at Josh Cleve for a few seconds, and then he continued, “Therefore, he cannot join us against the Fermoza Kingdom.”James still looked curious and couldn't stop asking so he asked again, “Then, what exactly makes him so special that he was chosen as a candidate?”Riley who was also interested turned to Alen, “His age seems to be much older than Reiner Anderson, surely he has given so much service to this kingdom. Right?”Alen smiled at Riley, “Right. Senior Shin told me that Josh Cleve made decisions favorable to th
“This is exciting!” Xylan said, commenting on the announcement with a happy smile.“This is so exciting!” Xylan repeated as he turned to his older sister who was glaring at him. Xylan's smile disappeared instantly.“Why are you looking at me like that?” Xyan asked, somewhat confused.Rowena gritted her teeth and held her younger brother's arm, asking Xylan to come closer to her with her fingers.Xylan questioningly obeyed his sister by slightly lowering his head and then putting his right ear to hear Rowena speak.“Are you crazy?” Rowena said in such a loud tone that Xylan had to move his ear away from Rowena.Xylan suddenly covered his ears and looked at his older sister, “Why did you do that?”“Because you seem to have gone crazy like General Reece who chose Riley to compete with James Gardner. Oh, my gosh! Seriously!”The young girl bit her teeth in annoyance, “What were they thinking exactly? Why can't just one of them be the candidate? Why does it have to be both of them?”The i
Riley gritted his teeth, “You want to throw away a great opportunity like this? You've lost your mind, huh?”James shrugged, “It won't be fun if there's no opponent equal to me.”“You're ....”“We don't have much time, decide quickly!” James urged. Riley exhaled harshly, looking so very annoyed at his friend's obvious stubbornness. Riley understood James' character very well. The young man was not one to lick his own wounds. He was sure James would actually do what he said.Alen himself was not worried about the matter because he was very sure that James would definitely get what he wanted and it was clear that James' wishes were the same as his. So, he just had to wait without interfering.He saw Riley's gaze start to give up. The next few seconds he moved to move forward to James' side, then whispered in annoyance, “I swear I'll kick your leg until it breaks later.”James just smiled happily, “That's if you can do it.”Riley rolled his eyes lazily, annoyed to death at his friend.
Instead of answering Shin's question, Riley suddenly threw an annoyed look at James who pretended not to look at her.Instead, Alen Smith took his friend's place and said, “There's something he's been thinking about but ... it's no big deal. Now he's officially a candidate for war general.”Ben nodded in agreement, “Wow! I still can't believe it. You two will compete to be my leader.”“Your leader, senior?” James said with a frown on his forehead.“General War is the supreme leader of all troops, he can only be commanded by the king. Of course he's my leader,” Ben explained.The explanation made James' ears turn red. This was seen by Alen who quickly commented, “Don't be too sure that you are the chosen one. Remember! Your opponent is tough. Riley and ... Josh Cleve.”James snorted in exasperation, looking offended, “No need to remind me. My memory is still very good.”Shin laughed crisply and when he saw that there were not too many people still in the area, he immediately said, “He
Diego let out a long breath, looking as depressed as his friends who were facing the same situation as him.However, the young man replied by trying to remain calm, “The problem of difficult tests will not be an obstacle for us, Riley. It's our second chance so no matter how difficult the test is it won't make us lose our spirits.”James, who had been listening carefully and observing Diego's changing expression, soon realized that there was something far worse than just a difficult selection.“So what's the problem?” James finally asked.Diego again let out a long sigh that made his three friends even more curious. “The main problem is that if we fail, we won't be able to take part in the recruitment next year,” Diego explained with a suddenly grim look on his face.“What?” James glared in shock.“Who made such a rule?” Alen asked with widened eyes as well.While Shin said, “That's impossible. Any prospective soldier who fails will still get a chance to apply with the usual requirem
Reiner gave a salute to Andrew, which Andrew returned with a nod.“Speak up, Reiner!” Andrew ordered.Reiner said, “This actually has nothing to do with the re-selection process, General.”“Then, what is it about?”Reiner raised his head slowly, “What about your health, General?”Andrew looked surprised at the question, but the man then smiled faintly.“I'm fine.”Reiner shook his head, “You don't look well, General Reece.”He looked at Andrew Reece who actually did look rather pale. In fact, even the look in his eyes was rather dull, unlike usual.Reiner was of the opinion that the war general's injuries were indeed quite serious. Otherwise, it was highly unlikely that Andrew would rush to resign from his position.Andrew suddenly chuckled softly and spoke, “You are very observant.”Reiner bit his lip, but he was at a loss as to how to respond to Andrew's words.Andrew immediately continued, “I am indeed in bad shape and this afternoon I will undergo surgery as scheduled by the palac
"What's going on exactly?" Reiner looked even more confused.Normally, if they won a battle, they would be greeted with great fanfare.Not only a number of palace soldiers would welcome them, but also palace officials and members of the royal family would welcome them.However, at that time there were only a few soldiers and soldiers escorting the prince in the field where their plane was about to land.That naturally led to various questions that finally popped into the heads of the soldiers who had just returned from a life-and-death battle."Didn't they hear the news of our victory?" one of the class one soldiers said in a disappointed tone.A class two soldier responded, "No way. They must have heard. This is the big victory they've been waiting for. They can't possibly not know.""That's right. The palace must have announced this happiest of news," another class one soldier chimed in.Meanwhile, Ben who was still nea
"Oh my, Xylan! Why do you doubt him?" Rowena replied in a low tone, as if afraid of waking up her little son who was asleep in her arms from her perhaps too loud voice.Xylan shook his head, "I didn't mean to doubt him at all. It's just that I know his main purpose for returning to this palace, Rowena. He's ....""Stop thinking like that! He will be very disappointed if he finds out that you doubt his loyalty," Rowena said sharply.Apparently the tone of her voice was a bit louder this time so the son, Kharel Mackenzie was disturbed from his sleep until the little boy stirred his body.Rowena again tried to make the little prince fall asleep again by holding him lovingly and tenderly.Xylan was silent, as if he knew his sister still hadn't finished talking.It turned out that Xylan was right. After his favorite nephew fell asleep quietly again, Rowena said again, "Xylan, why do you think Riley is so close to James Gardner? And why has he felt so guilty over the years?"Xylan looked at
In all the time Ben had known James, it was the first time he had seen James look so frustrated.Usually James always seemed flat, cold and often even emotionless. However, the very stiff James had changed.The anxiety and restlessness were clearly displayed. It certainly made Ben quite confused in response.But, he then heard Reiner say, "Calm down, James! It's not that you can't bring Riley home forever. However, you just can't bring her home right now."Reiner patted the slightly trembling James' back. Oh, Reiner was so surprised. Apparently James really thought deeply about the feelings of their best friend's son. "Remember, James. We'll go back there to look for her again, so you don't have to feel guilty," Reiner added.Instead of calming down, James became even more agitated. The young man turned to Reiner and replied, "How can I not feel guilty, Rei? I ... promised him I would bring his father home. But ... I failed to keep my promise." Ben swallowed, looking so sad to see
As if coming to his senses, James nodded slowly, "You're right, Rei. We ... should go back to the palace and strategize again to find Riley."Reiner could finally breathe with relief."Come on, we should leave this place first," Reiner said.James looked around the area one last time. After he felt that all his efforts were enough for the time being, he quickly boarded the airship that would take him back to the Ans De Lou Kingdom.During the trip, James was mostly silent.While Reiner and Ben who were also on the same plane with James repeatedly still invited James to talk. However, the young man still chose to be silent.In fact, Reiner wanted to entertain him by distracting James from the problem of Riley who had not yet been found. Unfortunately, he still failed to do so. James still didn't seem to want to join the conversation between the two.Some more James also heard the chatter of the soldiers, but sometimes he fe
The soldier was suddenly afraid. Moreover, the look in James Gardner's eyes suddenly turned sharp as if he was stabbing him. Oh, he really only meant to express what he was thinking. He didn't mean to offend the war general. He certainly didn't dare go against James Gardner. His nerves dropped even further when he heard James speak again, "Come on, tell me, do you mean to tell me that Riley doesn't want to see me?" The soldier named Joseph Zow immediately shook his head vigorously. "No, General Gardner. That's not what I meant. I just-" "Then, what, how can you think Riley doesn't want to come out of his hiding place?" James' tone now sounded more frustrated. Not wanting the situation to get out of hand, Reiner immediately approached his best friend and said, "James, stop it!" James still did not move and stared at the soldier as if waiting for an answer. However, Joseph did not open his mouth. The young man glanced at the Ground War Commander as if asking for help. Luckily
Reiner winked at his friend's words. The man shook his head firmly, "Military matters in the palace? Are you crazy? What kind of trouble?""There is no power struggle in the palace, James. Prince Xylan and Princess Rowena have a very good relationship," Reiner explained with his eyebrows raised in astonishment.Before James could answer Reiner's explanation, Ben had already hurriedly joined in, "Reiner is right. The two of them have never had any problems. It's impossible for them to fight.""Of course. In fact, Princess Rowena has always supported Prince Xylan. It's impossible to fight over a throne. Besides, Princess Rowena must still be very sad that Riley hasn't been found yet. How could she possibly think of-""ENOUGH!" James suddenly cut off Reiner's lengthy speech.Reiner was about to continue, but apparently James was a bit annoyed so he ignored Reiner's intention and continued to say, "Oh my! Come on, was I talking about a possible war between Prince Xylan and Princess Rowena
"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