Chapter 9: (6/9)

The next day, they headed for Ganarion city early in the morning. Arthur and Kain rode their horses next to Admon’s horse and they continued talking with each other.

“It’s rare to see Master-tier magic casters respect a lowly warrior.” A warrior whispered into another warrior’s ear.

“Lieutenant Colonel Pashar is not a lowly warrior. He killed a Blood Mage two years ago, don’t forget that.”

Two warriors were just talking to each other but Kain’s ears heard it all. Kain kept his mouth shut tight to prevent him from screaming out loud but in his heart, he just wanted to kill them all.

“Honor magic casters, if I may ask you a question.” Admon said.

“Of course, you can ask us anything.” Arthur smiled as he answered Admon.

“I know it’s none of my business, but I wonder why are you here? I mean, two Student Mages from the Commonwealth of Krorg traveled all the way to a small country such as the Nalas Kingdom.”

“The Mages Council wanted us to have friendly duels with the Student Master Mages in Mages’ Academy of Ganarion for some political reasons. More importantly, we are here to recruit potential Conjurer Mages to the Gray. Any Conjurer Mages recruited will immediately receive their Mage’s License without waiting for graduation from the Mages’ Academy.”

“From what I know, there are members of the Gray present in the Nalas Kingdom. Why wouldn’t the Mages Council use them?”

“The Gray is under the commands of Lord Clerico. The Mages Council can’t have a say in the recruitment of Gray. Lord Clerico wanted us to come to do the recruitment because he knows we will be fair. Some members of the Gray stationed in the Nalas Kingdom have been there for too long and they could be influenced by some connections which resulted in them making mistakes. You do know what I mean, right?”

“I see. The members of the Gray at the Nalas Kingdom could be playing favorite if that is what you mean.”

“There you go.”

Three days later, they arrived safely at Ganarion city. The first thing Kain and Arthur did was go visit the King of Nalas Kingdom in his palace. At the palace gate, Arthur and Kain were stopped by some imperial guards.

“Halt! Peasants may not-” A guard was about to say something stupid but he carefully observed Kain and Arthur then changed his tone and said, “Honorable magic casters, how may I be of your service?”

“My name is Arthur Castillon and this is Kain Almos. We are members of the Gray. Please let your King know that we are here to pay him our respect.”

“Right away, sirs. Please give me several minutes.”

After informing the King, the guard came back to the gate and said, “Sirs, please follow me.”

Arthur and Kain followed the guard to the throne room where they met King Zander Stodge and Queen Mirabelle Grantham. As the members of the Gray, Kain and Arthur don't need to kneel in front of anyone except for their Lord Clerico. Arthur and Kain quickly lowered their heads to show some respect toward the leaders of Nalas Kingdom.

Arthur said, “Your Royal Majesties. My name is Arthur Castillon and this is Kain Almos. We are Student Master Mages from Mages’ Academy of Nosh. We also are members of the Gray under the commands of Lord Noe Clerico from the Mages Council. It is our greatest honor to meet King Stodge and Queen Grantham in person.”

King Stodge said, “Guards, grant Sir Arthur a chair.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

A guard quickly brought out a chair for Arthur to sit. Kain remained standing while Arthur sat down on the chair. They carefully observed King Stodge and Queen Grantham. The King was kinda old, maybe in his seventy while the Queen was still young, probably in her thirty.

Queen Grantham smiled at Arthur and said, “Sir Arthur Castillon, son of High Priest Zora Faringray, we have expected your visit today and prepared a small feast to welcome you to our nation. We hope you will enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

The King and Queen have no idea who Kain Almos is. Kain didn’t make it into the final battle while Arthur won the battle tournament of Student Intermediate Mages. Arthur was an Intermediate-tier magic caster but he advanced into Master-tier now. Not just that, Arthur’s mother is a High Priest in the Bifjorkian Theocracy, the strongest country in the history of Toria Continents.

An hour later, Arthur and Kain joined the King and Queen of Nalas Kingdom to the feast where they met the seven years old Prince Taran Stodge and nineteen years old Princess Sarra Stodge. Arthur was asked about the reason why the Mages Council sent him to the Nalas Kingdom while Kain was being ignored. Arthur told them the reasons just like he had told Admon. They will be having friendly duels with Student Master Mages in Mages’ Academy of Ganarion and recruit new potential members to the Gray.

The Queen asked Arthur to stay in the palace at night and he accepted. Kain of course was allowed to stay with Arthur in the palace as well. Kain and Arthur were just talking shit inside the room they were assigned to stay for the night about how lucky the King is because he married a wife who is much younger than him. For tenth-tier warriors and Legend-tier magic casters who can live up to two thousand years, married to someone much older or much younger won’t be an issue. But it doesn’t look good for the King to marry a young Queen since they are just ordinary people and can’t live up to even a hundred years old.

“Knock. Knock. Knock.”

Kain asked, “Who?”

“I am Princess Sarra Stodge, is Arthur Castillon in there?”

Arthur answered, “Yes, dear Princess Sarra. I’m in here.”

“May I come in?”

“Of course.”

Princess Sarra walked into the room. She looked at Kain and asked, “Can you leave? I needed to speak with Sir Arthur alone.”

“Not a problem.” Kain quickly left the room while Arthur was about to say something.

After Kain left, Arthur asked, “Princess Sarra, is everything alright? If there is nothing wrong, then you don’t have to ask Kain to leave.”

“I wanted to talk to you alone about an important matter and don’t need someone like him to be present.”

Arthur was confused about why the Princess wanted to speak with him alone. He asked, “Princess Sarra, what do you want to talk to me about?”