James strode back to his place with pride. He also felt as if he had won a big prize game. His smile spread out so wide as he sat to the left of Riley who just shook his head realizing the satisfaction James was feeling over his friend.All the spectators seemed surprised by the shocking result. Many had predicted that Riley Wood would be able to compete with Josh Cleve, but they never expected that James Gardner would also be able to display his greatest abilities that were not inferior to Josh. Even though almost all the soldiers of Ans De Lou Kingdom supported Josh Cleve, the results of the first session were very unsatisfactory for them.However, it wouldn't be James if he didn't show off his abilities so he proudly called the person sitting to Riley's right, “Senior Cleve.”Josh Cleve looked too shocked, but still tried to smile slightly, “Yes?”“Aren't you going to congratulate me?” James asked in a casual tone.Riley exhaled harshly, starting to feel like his friend was goin
Riley was silent for an instant.He never thought James would ask for such a thing. To him, James was a soldier who would do anything the right way. But, what would make that young man think such a thing?Was it because he wanted to become a war general? Is it to shut people up and stop making fun of him for being born the son of Jody Gardner? Riley thought confusedly.However, if he did ask for that, Riley did not mind at all. He was even willing to step down on the spot to allow James to achieve his goal. Perhaps, by doing so, he could get rid of his guilt towards James.However, he suddenly heard James speak, “Oh my! Why did your face suddenly become like that, Riley?”Riley blinked her eyes, still looking somewhat confused.James observed the expression on Riley's face and instantly said, “Oh, Riley! Do you believe what I just told you?”James laughed crisply, “Don't tell me you actually thought about all those words!”The young man shook his head, looking very happy when he saw
As it turned out, contrary to what James expected, Josh casually replied, “What makes you think that I want to talk to you?”James shrugged, “I saw you looking at me constantly.”Diego snorted and gave James a look that said 'You're too confident'.James and Josh's conversation managed to get Riley's attention. He began to worry that something might go wrong there.However, just like James, Riley also apparently guessed wrong. Josh laughed so hard that many people looked shocked, including Ben and Shin who could only look at each other, without being able to express what they were thinking.Some of Josh's friends were also surprised by Josh's reaction, but the man who was over thirty years old said, “I'm just too amazed and very surprised by your ability. Oh, not only your skills, but Riley's as well.”James was stunned.Josh explained, “I think they … I mean my friends have been exaggerating about you and Riley.”He shrugged, “I thought, how could a newly inducted soldier have such
"There is no specific strategy. Me or James will just do what we've learned," Riley said.Ben frowned, looking somewhat confused.He knew Riley was very good at shooting. However, he still didn't know Riley's ability in archery. As for James, Ben had already seen James' action in archery when the young man was still a prospective soldier.Shin responded, "You better not underestimate him!"James shook his head firmly, "I never underestimated him at all, Senior Shin. In fact, he was the one who always underestimated us. And ... but those words spoken earlier surprised me."Alen nodded, "I still don't like him, I don't know why. It's just that I feel like he's a little weird."Ben sighed softly, "Well, there's no need to think about Josh's attitude. All you need to think about is giving your best in the next selection.""Of course, we'll do that," James said confidently as he embraced Riley who had gotten used to James' behavior.The next day, on the second day of the challenge, the th
Fred quickly replied, “Greg Sehel is a very famous land war commander. Everyone has known him as a brave, tough soldier since the days when General Mackenzie was the general of war in our kingdom.”As if he was still finishing his argument, Fred forced his friend to listen to him, “Having such a good reputation naturally makes Commander Sehel have to maintain his reputation. Of course he would help a future son-in-law.”“Even if he ends up dying?” Josh replied, sounding doubtful.Fred let out a long sigh, finding it difficult to get Josh's train of thought back on track again.However, he didn't want his friend to lose his cool so he replied, “He died a hero, Josh. He had nothing to lose.”“But ... he lost his life. What's the point of being a hero if-”“Damn you! We gave our life or death to this kingdom when we decided to become a soldier.” Fred looked so annoyed that he pushed Josh's body away from him.Still not cursing enough, he added, “You're not a teenage boy who just joined t
Unable to argue, Riley could only say, “You are very right, Senior Josh.”Josh was pensive, realizing that he had spoken too much so after that he chose to remain silent until his name was finally called.Meanwhile, Riley began to understand the anxiety of the man standing next to him and did not expect that Josh was also feeling depressed.He thought that with such overwhelming support, Josh Cleve would feel at ease as he went through the challenges, but it turned out that all that support was actually making him anxious about losing.However, unfortunately Riley couldn't do anything to help Josh overcome his anxiety.Before entering the challenge area, Riley had only nodded politely to Josh. Other than that, he didn't say anything.By the end of the sword challenge, Josh Cleve was falling further and further behind in terms of score. It was coincidentally discussed by several soldiers who were first-class soldiers.“I can't believe it, Josh is losing badly.”“I still can't even loo
James frowned at the overreaction shown by Riley so the young man said, “What's wrong with you, happy or something?”Riley suddenly hit James' arm and chuckled, “Of course I'm happy. But you're not lying are you?”James glared in annoyance, “My good friend, I wasn't the only one listening to the announcement. You can ask the rest of the kingdom if you have any doubts.”Hearing James' answer, Riley almost jumped with excitement. “What's wrong with you, you miss your parents?” Reiner asked with his forehead furrowed as well but held back a smile.Alen suddenly glanced at Riley because only that young man knew Riley's true identity so he was also curious about the answer Riley gave.“That's for sure, why ask again?” Riley replied.Ben chuckled softly, “Uh! I didn't expect one of the bravest junior soldiers to have such tender feelings.”Riley only smiled faintly.Meanwhile, James replied, “It's not just Riley who misses his family, I do too.”This time it was Diego who asked, “Are you g
Riley instantly gave his best friend a confused look, “What do you mean?”James raised his left eyebrow and explained, “It means that the two of us are destined to stay in the same sphere. You and I ... General of War and Deputy General of War.”“What do you think, isn't it pretty awesome?” James added with a stupid smile. Riley suddenly shook his head, “You're really overconfident. Don't you remember that Josh Cleve's abilities are starting to improve?”James clucked his tongue, “I know he's stronger than before, but ... he won't be able to catch up with us.”“Today's points are doubled. Did you forget?” Riley replied with a lopsided smile.James snorted in annoyance and immediately looked away in the other direction, “You're annoying! You're ... just annoying, Riley. I wonder why we're friends.”“Can't you see that your friend has a lot of trust?” James continued, still looking annoyed.Riley chuckled softly. “It's so you don't feel so superior that you lose focus. Can't you see my
James instantly stopped what he was doing but still didn't look at Diego.Diego, who saw James' sudden stop, slapped his own mouth as if realizing that he had misspoken.“Uh, what did I say? You ... of course still think of him as your best friend. Otherwise, how could you always make him special weapons?” Diego said guiltily.James sighed softly, “He would have gotten away without my interference.”“I'm not sure, James. If I was sure, I wouldn't have come here and asked you to come back. In fact, Princess Rowena and Prince Xylan ....”James frowned and finally turned to Diego, “What's wrong with them?”“Princess Rowena specifically came to me when I had just arrived at the palace. She asked me to find out where you were, James. Prince Xylan also came to me, like Princess Rowena,” Diego explained.James wondered even more, “Why would they ask you that?”Die
"General, we're surrounded."A soldier with a bullet wound in his leg dragged himself to walk towards the place where the war general of Ans De Lou Kingdom was preparing his weapons.The soldier who was staggering as he walked was no longer wearing his head armour or any other body armour. That made the war general glare angrily at him, "What have you done? Where is your armour?"The soldier of the first class could only grimace in pain and replied, "It's unusable, too many bullet wounds."Riley Mackenzie widened his eyes and instantly removed the goggles protecting his eyes.The young man crouched down and looked at Benedict Arkitson's injuries, which were extremely severe. Not only had his leg been shot, but his left abdomen was also severely injured. In addition, Riley saw countless other wounds. "Stay here! The medical staff will help you soon," Riley ordered firmly.Ben shook his head, "How can I leave you alone against the main army? There are too many of them.""Reiner will
Dear, Readers This is Zila Aicha who wants to thank all the loyal readers of this novel. I know, season 2 of this book may disappoint some fans of this book. However, believe me I have tried to make this book with all my heart.May I ask your opinion about this book? I will be happy to read your comments. Suggestions and criticisms will also be happily accepted.Next, I will make season 3 of this book, but season 3 will be a book with the main character “James Gardner”. Hope you all will like it.Best wishes, Zila Aicha
People were eager to approach Riley, to help him. However, when they saw James Gardner moving toward Riley, they stayed where they were.James quickly caught Riley's staggering body as if he couldn't bear the weight of his own body.James sighed softly, “What are you doing?”“Preventing you from leaving,” Riley replied weakly.James exhaled roughly and picked up Riley who was still so weak.“You don't have to waste your time and energy,” James said.“Why? You don't have to go, James. You-”“It's my decision,” James cut in quickly.Riley shook his head, staring at the young man who was only one year older than him. “You're not guilty. I'm an asshole for wanting to keep you as my best friend.”“It's nice of you to admit that,” James replied with a faint smile.“If anyone should leave here, it's me, not you,” Riley said.James frowned, “Don't be crazy! You're the general of war in this kingdom. You can't-”“I lied to everyone from the start, not just to you,” Riley cut James off.Riley's
Rowena nodded weakly, while the four soldiers who were also inside the infirmary immediately looked at each other. Riley himself took some time to process the information.However, Reiner immediately asked, "Your Highness, then ... where is the deputy general of war right now?"Rowena turned her head quickly, "I don't know. I ... only heard the news from the palace maid, just now. Perhaps ... he has already returned to the dormitory or-"Thank you, Your Royal Highness," Reiner cut off Rowena's speech quickly due to being too panicked.After that Reiner immediately paid his respects to the king's daughter and quickly left the area together with Diego.Ben also said, "Riley, I'll be there first. Later I ... will be here again."Alen nodded, "Don't worry! We'll let you know when we know what's going on."Riley could only stare at his friends' departure with a look full of confusion.Rowena was the only one left in the room and was accompanied by several staff, soldiers and servants.Row
At first Riley was eager to force James to answer him, but he stopped doing so when he finally understood that James might need some time alone.He sighed softly, “I'll talk to him later.”Meanwhile, outside Riley's room, all the people who were good friends of the two young people who were having complicated problems were staring at James with questioning eyes.While Alen and Ben were silent because they didn't dare to ask, Diego casually asked, “Did you ... talk to Riley?”James nodded.“Then ... how?” Reiner asked in an anxious tone.James did not answer Reiner's question and only said, “I'm going back to the dorm first.”Shin, who heard that, bit his lip and replied, “I'll accompany you.”James did not refuse and let Shin come with him, while Diego and Reiner remained there.After James and Shin were no longer there, Alen decided to go inside with Ben.Not long after, Diego and Reiner also entered Riley's hospital room area.“He already knew about it,” Ben said when he first looke
James laughed disappointedly when he saw Riley's silence.Riley suddenly stared at him wordlessly.“Why, did you ... did you never even have the intention of telling me about it?” James said in a sharp tone.Riley opened his mouth but not a single word came out of it.James was getting annoyed at him, “Uh, I see. I see now.”James nodded and stepped back, making Riley surprised.“James, it's not like what you're thinking,” Riley finally managed to reply to James.James shook his head.“Do you really know what I'm thinking, Riley?” James said in a sarcastic tone.The young man could no longer hide his immense disappointment, “You don't know, Riley. But ... I can tell what you're thinking.”“James, I ... know I've wronged you. But, please understand, my position is very difficult. I don't want you to ... hate me, James. I don't have-”“It must have been a lot of fun for you, huh?” James cut off Riley's words quickly.Riley who was originally leaning back immediately leaned her body, fac
Shin and Reiner glanced at each other, as if they were both confused about whether or not to leave the area as James had requested.However, the reason they hesitated was certainly not because they were both worried that James would hurt Riley. Instead, both of them were more worried about James.Unfortunately, James, who did not get an answer from his two friends, turned his head with a furrowed brow, “Why? Don't you two trust me?”“You guys ... think I would do anything ... to hurt Riley? Is it like that?” James added with a sad look on his face.Shin quickly turned to James, “Of course not. I am sure you wouldn't do anything that bad.”“Don't get me wrong, James! We're ... just very worried about you,” Reiner said quietly.James was startled and when he looked at his two friends in turn, he instantly knew that they were not lying at all.The young man closed his eyes and instantly realized his mistake, “I'm sorry, senior. I ... I ....”“No problem, we'll leave you so you can be alo
Ben suddenly bowed his head.James immediately closed his eyes, completely unable to believe the painful reality that had slapped him.Meanwhile, Shin looked at his friend with a look of disappointment.He touched Ben's shoulder and asked, “You knew about this big secret and you ... did nothing? What have you done?”Ben was silent.Shin took a deep breath and watched the expressions of all the soldiers who were his best friends. The man sighed softly, “Aren't we ... all friends? How could you ... and you hide this important thing?”Ben raised his head, “Then, what do you expect me to do?”“What did you say?” Shin retorted fiercely.“You think it's easy? Hiding a secret of this magnitude? You think ... what happens if I tell you and the others? Especially James. He ... would definitely fight with Riley. They'll-”“Damn it!” James cursed because he couldn't stand it anymore.The young man said, “Don't act like you know about me and can guess what I might do or happen. You think you can