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
Without turning to his best friend, Riley replied with a shocked look in his eyes, “Who else? The one whose name is Benedict Arkitson is the Senior Ben we know.”James immediately smacked his lips, still looking surprised.However, it was only for a few seconds, as he was able to control himself well, “Calm down, it's just a challenge, nothing real.”Riley closed his eyes, looking stressed and depressed.“We're not really fighting, James. But ... this is also about Senior Ben's reputation too. Do you understand what I mean?” Riley said who suddenly had a bad mood.James was not ignorant, of course he knew and understood what Riley was saying. It was just that he tried not to make Riley more depressed.“Look, I'm sure Senior Ben won't blame you if you beat him. He also knows your position, so he'll understand,” James said.Riley opened his eyes and turned to James, “Why me? Why can't he just be Senior Josh's opponent?”“I ... don't want to be the one who will embarrass him,” Riley cont
Riley did not answer Ben's words and instead looked at the senior who was also his friend through the glass of the protective helmet he was wearing.Ben sighed softly, “Riley, did you hear me or not?” Riley replied stammeringly, “Yes, Senior Ben. But-”“There is no but. Just focus on your victory and I ... will also focus on defeating you,” Ben cut in quickly.Riley was dumbfounded but when he saw Ben nodding steadily towards him he finally calmed down.He was sure Ben would fight just like him. And when he saw the way Ben looked at him, he knew that Ben would not give up easily.In fact, he was very relieved by Ben's attitude and immediately got ready according to Mary Kesley's instructions.On the other hand, apparently it was not only them who had prepared themselves, but also the other two selected soldiers had also prepared like them along with James and Josh.Meanwhile, Diego and Alen, who were sitting together with Shin, were very tense.“What do you guys think of the results?
Of all the people who wanted a rematch, there was suddenly someone who did not share the same opinion. That person was also a first-class soldier who immediately said, “Don't be stupid! Ben has tried hard. You didn't see how he fought, did you?”When someone wanted to argue, the soldier said again, “Just admit that the kid is tough. Besides, remember, General Reece chose him, there's no way a war general like him would choose a stupid soldier who only relies on his status.”The soldier's words apparently succeeded in making them come to their senses and they were inevitably forced to accept defeat.“I can't believe this. Those two youngsters beat us. What's wrong with us exactly?” a class one soldier muttered who had been a soldier in that class for four years.He shook his head, “This is so embarrassing! New soldiers are beating us experienced ones.”A friend of his responded, “What should I do if I meet my cousin who is still a class one soldier? Oh! I wouldn't dare look at his fac
Riley was instantly petrified where he stood, while Alen stared with a worried expression at Riley.“That's fun. I want to go to James' house after going to Riley's,” Diego said.Shin nodded his head, “Good idea. Let's take a short vacation after the long war.”James smiled happily, “It would be nice to go somewhere refreshing.”“Uh, we won't be able to do that. We only have three days, it won't be enough,” Ben said.James sighed softly, “Yeah but at least we can see Riley's house. How about it, Riley? You ... don't mind right?”Riley couldn't just stay silent and it was impossible for him to refuse because he didn't want to make James uncomfortable. So, the young man replied, “Of course. You can all go to my house after James' house.”Alen widened his eyes, but did not dare to make any comment. While James exclaimed happily, “Great! Alright, we'd better get dinner and ... prepare all our things for tomorrow.”Ben suddenly said, “You guys have dinner first, Shin and I have to take ca
“Yes, we're going straight home,” Riley replied.The man in the neat black suit immediately nodded in understanding, “Yes, Young Master.”After saying that, the man spoke to someone using a device and in just a few seconds, five people suddenly approached. Ben glared in surprise, but didn't have time to say anything because the people who had just arrived had already taken over the task of carrying his backpack. “Come on, let's go to the car!” Riley said with a bright smile.Ben could only stare and follow Riley and Alen who were strangely not surprised at all by the whole thing.In fact, it could be said that Alen was so calm that Ben thought maybe Alen already knew that Riley was the son of a rich businessman.Not stopping there, Ben was even more shocked when he saw a luxury car that turned out to be Riley's family car.The young man forgot to close his mouth when he was in the car so Alen had to whisper, “Senior, you ... seem to have forgotten to close your mouth.”Ben quickly c
At the same time, William turned to the two people who were still standing not far from the door. The man, who was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, suddenly said, “Vincent said you brought two of your friends. Why don't you introduce us, son?”“Right, I'd like to meet your friends too, dear,” Cassandra said.Riley nodded in understanding and immediately walked over to his two friends with his parents following behind him.Ben was able to close his mouth but was still unable to blink because he was still too surprised.“Mom, Dad, this is Alen, my dorm mate. We're in the same class. And ....”Riley held Ben's arm with a bright expression, “This is Ben, one of the seniors from class one who helped me a lot.”The young man smiled at his parents as if he was really happy to bring his two friends back to their home.Alen immediately put on his brightest smile and greeted, “Good evening, General Mackenzie and ... Mrs. Mackenzie. I'm Alen Smith, Riley's dorm mate.”William smiled back, “G
“I don't know, Senior Ben. But I always hoped that he would never find out,” Alen replied as he then let out a long sigh.Ben massaged his temples due to a sudden dizziness. After he learned Riley's secret, he felt a bit burdened. It was because he also had to hide all of that from James and he thought it was very unfair to James.However, he also understood the situation and his condition so he was even more confused. He didn't want to side with anyone. Both Riley and James were close friends. How could he help one of them?Seeing Ben's silence, Alen immediately believed that the senior was depressed. He said, “We don't know what might happen in the future, Senior. But what we do know is that we're all friends now. You wouldn't want our friendship to fall apart, would you?”Ben nodded and sighed heavily before responding, “You're right, Alen. I guess I'll have to join you in keeping this a secret.”Alen smiled wryly. He did not want to put James in an unfair position, but he could
Before James could respond to the words of Xylan Wellington, the young crown prince, Xylan had spoken again, "General Gardner, I know my request is excessive.""And I know ... the reason you are willing to return to this palace is for the sake of my brother-in-law, but ... I really need your help, General Gardner," Xylan added with a pleading look on his face.James let out a long sigh and then shook his head.That made Xylan weak and also disappointed. However, it was only temporary because it wasn't long before Xylan heard James say, "You don't have to ask me to this extent, Your Royal Highness."Xylan was stunned. Moreover, James went on to say, "As a War General of Ans De Lou Kingdom, my duty is not only to protect this country. But also to protect the chief leader of this kingdom."Xylan's mouth opened slightly in surprise at James' answer that was without a trace of hesitation."Since you are the new leader after King Keannu passed away, then ... the duty of protecting you is a
"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.