Chapter 386: A familiar request (1/2)

Seeing the boy's reluctance, in the end, Sir Arthur could only sigh and let the matter go, at least for the time being. After witnessing personally what Aiden is capable of, he wasn't just going to completely give up.

For the time being, he could only take a step back, and just agree that they would talk about this with his master.

As for Galina, he also couldn't progress as the shy girl was mostly silent, and just followed after the boy. If he were to want her to accept him as her master, he would first need to win over the youngster, this masked girl would follow after.

After a while, Sara returned to the room, dropping the hood back the moment she entered. Whilst she was adamant in keeping her identity a secret, for the most part, there was no point in hiding before her friends or from the legendary Roaring Lion.

”Sir Arthur, I have contacted my moth-, khm the Mistress, and she has agreed to meet with you. She said that Sir Arthur is kindly asked to visit the Slums district, an escort will be waiting for your arrival to guide you back.”

Sir Arthur nodded at her words with the increasingly familiar warm, kind smile of his. It was actually still quite weird to see the bright contrast between Michael and his grandfather, but truth be told, this was much better.

”Thank you, Lady Examiner.” He nodded at her, returning his attention to the map spread out on the table. ”Anyway, the reason I have told you all of this is that I know that you are all…” He glanced at the silver-haired prince and his fiery red-haired sister, with a flash of apologetic look on his face. ”Well, almost all of you, in any case… are expected to attend the event. On one hand, I wanted to warn you all, there are other… hidden cards at play from not just this hidden fourth side, but even from the others. There are… quite the colorful rumors, which I am sure, Lady Examiner here is aware of…”

Seeing the wry look on Sara, he merely smiled, flashing an understanding expression, before continuing.

”Anyway, the second, and more important reason was to ask you to keep your eyes peeled open. You guys can stay in the shadows, away from the prying eyes, while I will have to stay at the front, and avert everyone's attention.”

He heaved a heavy sigh, before turning his attention towards the ceiling.

”I just hope… we can still avert this… this disaster…”

”You know… there is just one thing I don't understand about all of this…” Suddenly, Aiden spoke up, grabbing the attention in the room. He looked at the old man with a quizzical look as he asked.

”Being as strong, as mighty, as powerful as these supposed stories go, you should be more than capable of handling some average soldiers. Not to mention, I doubt that Lord Sonovan is the only powerful warrior in the Kingdom's army. Why don't just go in when the enemy appears and just put an end to their plans? It seems kind of pointless if I'm being honest…”

At first, the others in the room, even Sir Arthur, looked at him with a mixture of shock, confusion, and bewilderment. After a few moments, however, Sir Arthur chuckled as he waved his hand dismissively.

”Ahahaha, I love this honesty and naiveté of yours, Aiden! Truly so!” He chuckled, taking a few breaths of time before going further. ”Although what you say is truly the easiest approach, and it is not that we generals didn't want to stand in the frontlines, unfortunately, the matter is not that simple.”

He smiled at him bitterly, not explaining further, causing only further confusion. What's so difficult about it? He couldn't understand it, though seeing the looks of the others, he decided to not push on with the matter for now, and just ask about it at later. From their expressions, this wasn't a simple topic at all.

Eventually, the meeting came to an end, Aiden, Lily, Galina, and the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet said their goodbyes and left the room, while Sara being the acting leader in Sir Michael's sudden absence, still had a lot of matters that needed her attention.

For Sir Arthur, he promptly left the room and the building. Riding a black horse, his figure quickly vanished amidst the crowded streets, going towards the direction of the famed Slums district…

Back in the front hall, the team was currently looking at the numerous requests posted by the citizens and officials alike. They were searching for something not too time-consuming for themselves. Even though they weren't in dire need of money, or even guild credits for that matter, Aiden still wanted to give Galina some opportunities to get to know her new body and abilities.

Her test turned out to be rather unique and didn't give much of a chance to shine.

As he was busy looking at the central section of the board, Scarlet's exclamation brought over the team's attention.

”Here! These two!” She tore down two notes and presented them to the team. The first was from the nearby apothecary, asking for some help in gathering several different types of herbs for the business. Although it could turn out to be interesting and gave them more freedom than usual, Aiden wanted to wait with requests related to any of the currently analyzed skills and professions until the system would be back up again.