Warren prepared to attack James. But contrary to their predictions, James raised both hands.Riley sighed, while Dean exchanged glances with Warren, who also seemed confused about the meaning of the gesture.Meanwhile, Riley asked in a surprised tone, "Are you alone?""Hm," James replied briefly, still with his hands raised."Then where are your group members?" Alen asked, who looked around for his group mates. But he did not find anyone behind James. The young man was all alone.James even asked back, "By the way, how long do I have to raise my hands?"Riley snorted, "And who told you to raise your hands?""Oh, damn it!" James cursed.He lowered his hands in desperation.The man walked towards them so casually.That made Warren stare in surprise, "What are you trying to do?""Riley, why are you so quiet?" Dean asked confused.James wiggled his eyebrows as he looked at Riley. Riley immediately rolled his eyeballs lazily and explained, "He's not going to attack our group."Warren was
Greg shrugged, "He looks too much like Jody Gardner's son. Didn't you see for yourself, General? He didn't even attack James Gardner, instead he avoided him."Andrew shook his head and exhaled heavily. While Keannu said without looking at the estimate, which he also considered a silly guess, "If he really was the son of one of Jody Gardner's men back then, he would have openly revealed his loyalty immediately.""Your Honor, in that case, he could have been warned by his father not to be too overtly on James Gardner's side," Greg argued, still confident in his guess.Andrew couldn't stand it anymore, "Damn it! Are you stupid or what?""Oh, come on. You're a war general, but ....""Actually you are stupid, Greg." Andrew said in a lazy tone.Greg gritted his teeth, "If he's not the son of one of the royal traitor's followers, then whose son is he?"Andrew was silent for a long time, Keannu also seemed to have no idea of the answer.Seeing that the two were silent, Greg said impatiently,
William immediately turned to his wife and held her shoulders, trying to calm her down, even though he himself was growing restless.Then he turned his eyes back to the young girl who was the daughter of his best friend. "Mary, you're not wrong about this, are you? Jody Gardner ... has a son? Why didn't I hear about this before?" William still sounded like he couldn't believe it. Mary explained, "We don't know exactly how, General Mackenzie. But judging by James Gardner's birth record, it is most likely that his mother, Dorothy Winks, left the palace while she was pregnant. And ... it is possible that Jody Gardner himself did not know that his lover was pregnant."William frowned, as if trying to jog his memory. The incident had happened more than 20 years ago, but he was sure he could remember what had happened. He vaguely remembered that Dorothy Winks had left the palace long before the incident in which he killed Jody Gardner. "Well, actually, his birth certificate has the name
"Yes," William replied again, simply.Before Mary could ask any questions of the war general who had once earned the nickname "God of Death," Cassandra, who had lived with her husband for nearly twenty-five years, asked with widen eyes in disbelief, "You're going to keep your visit to the palace a secret, Bill?"William gave his wife a faint smile, "You know me very well, Cassie."Cassandra snorted, "The two of us have lived together for almost half my life, of course I can guess your train of thought.""But ... why do you want to keep it a secret?" Cassandra asked now with her thick eyebrows raised."Because I only want to talk to Riley, not the people in the palace," William explained firmly.He remained true to his principles, unwilling to dwell too much on the palace life he had left behind long ago. All he cared about was his son.Cassandra still showed a confused expression, so William slowly and patiently explained, "I need to talk to Riley so that he knows what he is doing now
"The most important thing for us right now is to get the two remaining pins. Losing the current two pins won't have a bad effect," Riley explained reasonably.Alen winked, "Oh yeah. That's right. The number of pins taken from us is unknown, but ... I still think the number we will get is much higher.""Hmm, the issue of the number of pins taken by the enemy only affects our final ranking, right? It has nothing to do with whether or not we can escape," Dean said.Warren, who was able to think clearly, finally said, "Then go. Get the remaining pins! We'll try to keep the pins we still have, but if we can't ....""It won't be a problem," Riley continued, trying to reassure Warren.Warren also nodded with a slightly embarrassed expression. And with that agreement, Riley left his three friends in the area near the food warehouse.Riley moved quickly with sharp eyes always watching his surroundings. He didn't have any pins to protect, so he was now completely an attacker.As soon as his brig
"Riley Wood?" one of the group said, laughing."Why should we run? He's alone," the second pin owner said."That's right. We can definitely catch him," the first pin owner continued, looking confident that he could defeat Riley."You idiots, this is Riley Wood. Did you forget what the ... group said?"The warner did not continue, but instead snorted in annoyance. In an exasperated tone, he said, "Screw you!"After swearing like that, he was the first to run away. Meanwhile, the two pin owners and the other two people were still standing there as if they wanted to prepare for fighting Riley."He's such a coward!" the second pin owner said sarcastically when he saw his friend actually running to save himself.Riley let out a harsh breath and charged at them without a word. As usual, the young man did not actually hurt his opponent. He always tried to render his opponents helpless by attacking some of their weak points.In fact, as far as attacking his opponents was concerned, Riley had
Justin didn't take offense and said, "Hm, you're right. I'll see you at the palace."After saying that, Justin and the rest of his group left the area. Riley walked at a light pace towards the main post where his airship was waiting for all his group members to be brought back to the palace. He could see a lot of confused would-be soldiers looking for pins to make their group escape. When they saw Riley, they could only hold their breath in disappointment for not getting anything. One of the rules of the third mission was that the group that passed should not be disturbed and the pins could no longer be taken. However, even so, Riley was quite curious about the final result regarding their missing pins.So, when he reached the boundary line, after the staff had logged him out of the forest area with the automated machine, he immediately looked for the special monitor where there were details about the pins gained and lost of all the groups.And he breathed a sigh of relief, pleased
"Oh, he's really got me worried, Riley," Alen said anxiously.He was wringing his hands to overcome his anxiety. Riley himself was also starting to worry but he was still trying to remain calm, unlike Alen who was becoming increasingly agitated to the point of repeatedly standing on tiptoe to look towards the forest border area.With only three minutes left, Alen exclaimed, "There he is! Damn it!"Riley caught sight of a young man with a sweaty face who ran over in a hurry at the same time that Diego Greco's group had also completed the third mission."I'm going to give him a beating first for giving me a near-heart attack," Alen said who then ran straight towards Diego who was also running.However, apparently Riley didn't see the scene where Alen hit his room-mate, the young man hugged Diego as if he hadn't seen him for a long time. Riley smiled and shook his head at the encounter between the two friends.As he waited for the next announcement, someone cleared their throat behind hi
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