In the audience chambers of Verdanthall Castle, a man with a brown ponytail and golden eyes bowed before a monarch with flowing gold and red robes. Nobles of varying ranks and nationalities stood at his flanks, whispering.

“Margrave Everwood of the Everwood Empire, you stand before representatives of world leaders to give your account of King Everwood, your son, and testify to his claim that he’s a reincarnation from another world and also of his intentions,” King Redfield announced.

There was confusion between King Everwood’s claim he was from the future and Alphonse Gurrings’—Edikus’—claim that he was from another world. However, between seeing Aphrodite, King Elio’s interference, and King Everwood’s later testimony, everyone agreed that he was from another world and his mission was legitimate.

Now, they held a hearing to ascertain more facts about the case.

“Yes, King Redfield,” Leon replied. “That’s what I will do.”

“Let’s start at the beginning,” King Redfield instructed. “When did you know that King Everwood was a reincarnation?”

Leon smiled thinly. “I’m not sure how to answer that. My son never cried, but we thought it might’ve been due to a mental handicap.”

A ripple of snorts and chuckles spread through the audience. However, half of the attendees remained completely humorless.

“That alone suggested that something might be off about him,” Leon added.

“Did you seek counsel and guidance for this?” King Redfield asked.

Leon’s eyes sharpened, thinking back to the event.

***

18 Years Ago | Esmond | Everwood Territory

Firelight radiated from the window of a modest cottage on the outskirts of the Everwood Estate. The town’s name was Esmond, and it was a two-hour ride in the direction of Silverbrook.

Leon dismounted his horse, cloaked in a black hood, and walked to the door.

Once he got there, he tapped the door three times.

Inside, a grumbling man stopped lecturing his wife and fell silent, leaving only the sound of a crackling fire. A moment later, a sharp ting sounded as the man slid a sword off the rack and called out gruffly.

“Who is it?!”

“It’s Margrave Everwood, Priest Cabba,” Leon replied, his voice calm.

“Nonsense!” Priest Cabba scoffed. “There’s no way Margrave would visit me at this time of the night.”

“I order you to open the door,” Leon demanded, raising his voice.

The priest stopped talking with a sharp breath and apprehensively opened the door. He had red hair and a hook nose, wearing simple red robes.

“Margrave Everwood…. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“There isn’t time, Priest Cabba,” Leon replied. “My son is in danger. You must come at once.”

Priest Cabba took a sharp breath. “I’ll get ready. Please allow me to send a pigeon to the Holy Church, letting them know of my absen—”

“There isn’t time,” Leon reiterated, pulling out a large sack of gold. The moment the priest saw it, he swallowed, his eyes fixated. “Now come with me,” Leon ordered.

The priest readily complied and took to horseback, navigating through the darkness until they reached the manor.

“It’s eerily silent here,” Priest Cabba remarked, his shoulders tense as he entered the estate. There would usually be guards on duty and at least a few servant cottages lit with fires, but no one was around.

“I asked everyone to sleep early tonight,” Leon replied, ignoring his glance.

Upon dismounting, the two walked into the manor, moving up the large staircase to the second floor and down the hall to a large room. Inside, Priest Cabba and Leon walked into Ryker Everwood’s room, which was empty, save for a bookshelf.

The room stood out as strange in a lavish mansion, especially when it belonged to a noble’s son.

Upon approaching the crib, the baby looked at both of them with a confused look.

“What’s the problem with your child?” Priest Cabba asked. “I sense no curse.”

“My son doesn’t cry,” Leon said. “He only yells.”

Priest Cabba’s eyes narrowed on Ryker. “And he’s not cooing either.”

The baby swallowed nervously, coughing.

“Did he just understand what we said?” Priest Cabba asked, sharply turning to Leon.

“My baby is emotionally sensitive and can determine whether someone’s mood shifts from favorable to negative,” Leon replied. “Your tone is the problem.”

“What do you mean, my tone?” Priest Cabba snapped. “Babies with mental deficiencies neither stay silent nor exhibit intelligence. You called me here because you suspect this baby is a reincarnation, did you not?”

Leon narrowed his eyes. “I did not. What demon lord would spend time in bed?”

“What demon lord?” the priest scoffed, pointing at Ryker. “Babies don’t have the muscles to walk, let alone fight, and they don’t have the vocal cords to speak, let alone chant. Reincarnations start the same way—as real babies!”

“Watch your tongue,” Leon demanded chillingly. “If you accuse my son of being a reincarnation, I will take it as a threat and exercise my authority as your margrave to punish you accordingly.”

“You don’t control me,” Priest Cabba sneered. “I’m from the Holy Church; if you touch me, you can expect a major upheaval and political trial.”

“So you will not rescind your accusations based upon two observations?” Leon narrowed his eyes.

“I will not,” Priest Cabba confirmed. “You called me here because you know he’s a reincarnation, and one look proves that—”

Before he finished his statement, a crimson arc flew across the room, splattering on a wall. The next moment, there were two thuds as the priest’s head rolled off his neck, and his body hit the floor.

Leon looked at the sword, which he had unsheathed at lightning speed. It dripped with crimson blood. After wiping it with a cloth and sheathing it, he left Ryker and the corpse in the room.

Ten minutes later, Scarlet, two guards, and a maid entered the room.

“Take the corpse to a nearby farming field and bury him,” Leon commanded. “Speak of this to no one, lest you wish to die by my hands or the Holy Church’s. Do you understand?”

The men gulped and nodded.

Leon looked at the maid. “Wash this room thoroughly until there’s not a hint of blood. There’s nothing in this room, so I expect it to be spotless. Do you understand?”

She gulped and bowed. “Of course, Margrave Everwood.”

“Alright, off you go,” he ordered, turning to Scarlet. “Please clean Ryker.”

Scarlet’s eyes welled with tears, and she began sobbing, wrapping her arms around Leon.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Leon whispered, hugging her tight. “Whether Ryker’s a demon lord, reincarnation, or a simple child, I’ll protect him until the end.”

***

“Did you seek counsel and guidance for this?” King Redfield asked.

Leon’s eyes sharpened. “No.”

“Why not?” King Redfield narrowed his eyes.

“Because no one can ascertain whether someone is a reincarnation until they can speak, and by the time he could, we knew he wasn’t a demon lord.”

The excitement in the room turned to silence.

“That’s a bold statement,” King Redfield said. “Why do you know that?”

“Well, for starters, he was terrible at physical exercise,” Leon said. “I doubt that a demon lord who swings a sword like a wood-cutting axe then stumbles after is worth reincarnating.”

A flurry of awkward laughter and coughing followed.

“Is that all?” King Redfield asked. “King Everwood managed to undergo seven years of brutal training without disclosing that he was from another world or that his magic directly relates to it.”

Leon shook his head. “My son is a master at staying silent, cocktailing out of conversations, and preemptively switching subjects, but he’s not good at lying,” he asserted. “He was always looking for things that didn’t exist, and he couldn’t hide his disdain when they didn’t.”

“For example?” King Redfield asked.

“The first day he went to the bathroom and saw a water rag for wiping, his face turned pale as a sheet,” Leon replied, triggering snorts of laughter. “Then he asked for a ‘tissue.’”

The room fell silent.

“Wait, you mean the toilet paper Everwood Company has been exporting recently?” King Redfield asked with wide eyes.

Everwood Company was now producing disposable paper meant for wiping without a rag. It was revolutionary and represented a significant advancement in paper technology. After all, it had only been six years since paper was too expensive to be used for non-official matters.

“That’s right,” Leon replied. “It wasn’t just that. My son was frustrated with just about everything for his first four years. He’s well-loved for his fairness, thoughtfulness, and respect toward everyone. However, his inner superiority complex is so extreme that he makes the average noble seem humble.”

“I think we can all agree to that,” King Redfield smirked, eliciting snickers. “So you were certain because he looked for things that didn’t exist and abided by strange customs and ideals?”

“Correct,” Leon confirmed. “That’s why you suspected he was a reincarnation, was it not?”

“That was the primary reason, yes,” King Redfield replied. “Tell us of Ryker’s inventions. When did he start inventing?”

“Almost immediately,” Leon frowned. “He hated chamberpots more than anything in this world. When he was two, his maid informed me she found strange dirt in his pot. However, it didn’t smell and was remarkably easy to clean.”

“Are you talking about ‘Litter’?” King Redfield asked, wide-eyed. The nobles spread whispers of confusion through the room. That product came out just this year!

“That’s the one,” Leon chuckled. “It was a disaster. The maids tried to fill the other chamberpots with dirt and had the worst day of their lives.”

“What did he say when you questioned him?” the king asked, amused.

“He said, ‘Dirt is smelly, but sand and clay aren’t,’” Leon smirked.

“Reasonable explanation,” King Redfield mused. ”Did you try it?”

“We did,” Leon frowned. “The maids swore it was a revolution. However, the original maid complained that it wasn’t the same for years, and everyone treated her like she was crazy.”

“Until last year?” King Redfield grinned.

“Yes. Once Litter came out, she lauded it over everyone,” Leon sighed, “especially me.”

The nobles burst into laughter.

“Let’s move on,” King Redfield requested. “Why is it that you readily agreed to follow him when tensions between us reared their ugly heads?”

The amused atmosphere died down instantly, and the pressure in the atmosphere felt suffocating.

“Love, mostly,” Leon replied. “My son is my family, and I seek to protect him.”

“Then why didn’t you convince him to remain calm?” King Redfield probed. “Did you think that Valeria was so weak it couldn’t crush him?”

Nobles held their breath. After a few seconds of silence, Leon sighed and looked King Redfield in the eye.

“With all due respect, King Redfield, you didn’t stand a chance at fighting my son in Elderthorn,” Leon declared. “I knew that from the moment I arrived there.”

—

Five Years Ago | Nightshade Forest | En Route to Elderthorn

Scarlet trembled as she stared out the window of the skywhale carriage overlooking Nightshade Forest. “How is our Ryker supposed to live here?!” she cried. “How is this fair?!”

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Leon swallowed, gripping her hand. “You know how volatile the situation is. King Redfield sent him there for his own good.”

“For his own good?! For his own good?!” she snapped.

“Yes. Ryker’s attempts to force King Redfield’s hand was begging for swift, decisive action,” Leon frowned. “So King Redfield is saving him from himself.”

Ryker Everwood saved people from the plague, instituted economic reforms, and built power. However, he knowingly used his reforms to force King Redfield to allow him to build economic might instead of preparing to compete for Princess Redfield’s hand in marriage, as agreed.

Not only that, Ryker’s economic reforms were putting nobles and guilds out of business, creating tension and animosity that his enemies sought to exploit. He was far from innocent.

“That’s no excuse for sending my son into this hellscape!” Scarlet snapped.

“It’s not an excuse, Scarlet—it’s reality,” he replied, his eyes resolved. “It’s unjust, backward, and unfair, but that’s just how it is. We must accept this world for the way it is, not the way we think it should be. If we do that, we’d be in the same situation as Ryker.”

Scarlet’s body trembled, tears streaming down her cheeks. Leon hugged her, holding her tight until she calmed down.

Their anxiety and tension welled up as they got close. However, as they arrived and came down, their fear turned to perplexion.

“What is this?” Scarlet muttered. “I thought this place was supposed to be barren.”

“It was….” Leon said, his mouth agape.

Far from the clay pot it started as, the ground was vibrant, filled with lush green and golden shades from various crops, from lettuce and soy to wheat.

Not only was it orderly and alive, farmers were tending to the field, and others were building homes and buildings. It looked like a normal city.

If it weren’t for the massive clay walls separating the settlement from the forest teeming with deadly beasts and poisonous plants, it would seem like a normal barony.

As they passed overhead, there were large ballistas pointed at the skywhale, a large group of soldiers, and an azure wyvern awaiting them at the new docking port.

Leon gulped and held Scarlet’s hand as he undocked, but his nervous frown turned to a wry smile when he saw his son. “How do you do this, Ryker?”

Ryker Everwood stood with military stature as he awaited his father. Somehow, at thirteen, he had built a barony and was now surrounded by a dozen loyal guards.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“I’m unsure what you’re talking about,” Ryker deadpanned.

Leon scanned the area with a mocking smile, looking at his son's citizens, the numerous buildings, the wall, weapons, and acres. “Do you think accomplishing this is normal for teenagers?”

“Absolutely not,” Ryker replied.

“Then why didn’t you acknowledge what I said?” Leon frowned.

“Because you should’ve expected this from me,” Ryker replied with a monotone voice.

“I did!” Scarlet screamed, sobbing as she ran into her son’s arms. “I’d expect nothing less from you.”

Ryker frowned and took a deep breath as his mother hugged him, thrusting his head into her bosom as she cried. If there was one thing he didn’t know how to deal with, it was crying.

“Thanks, Mom,” he said, patting her on the back. “Now let’s eat some food.”

They nodded and followed their son to the public food court, where all citizens ate together. It wasn’t anything spectacular, just a large hanger-style building filled with massive tables that could fit fifty people apiece. However, it was shocking, considering it was built in six months.

Inside, a hundred people were waiting with large mugs, cheering as Ryker entered the room.

“They love you so much!” Scarlet exclaimed.

“Isn’t it wonderful?!” Thea clapped, skipping beside her.

“How have you been, Thea?” Scarlet asked. “It’s been a while.”

“I’ve been wonderful,” Thea replied. “Everyone listens to Ryker’s every word here, and now we’re strong. Isn’t it great to see how Ryker’s enemies will be screwed next year?”

Leon and Scarlet turned to the teenage maid, her smile cheery but her eyes lethal.

“Ahem. Please enjoy this feast tonight,” Ryker interrupted, seating them at the seats of honor.

Thirty minutes later, servants arrived with massive beast thighs on spits and gigantic birds stuffed with various vegetables.

“What are we eating?” Leon asked in shock.

“Ignore all of those,” Ryker said. “Those are B-class beasts. They’re for the commoners.”

Leon’s jaw dropped, and he looked at the roasted meat again as if he had seen it for the first time. “B-class beast meat? Ryker, one helping of that could go for a thousand gold, and you’re giving it to the commoners?”

“Don’t misunderstand, Father,” Ryker smirked. “They’re eating B-class meat because it’s the weakest beast in this area, and importing food is expensive. So it’s genuinely commoner food.”

“T-Then, what are we going to be eating?” Scarlet asked.

Ryker grinned and clapped twice for dramatic effect. Two chefs came out with a cart, bringing food to the table. Before his parents even saw it, they were salivating from the smell.

However, when plates of grilled steak and mashed potatoes arrived, Leon’s heart began racing, and he looked at his son. “What class of meat is this?”

Ryker put his elbows on the table with a proud smirk. “Guardian-class. Obsidian Basilisk.”

Leon swallowed hard. “Do you understand how much this meal is worth?”

“It’s free,” Ryker replied. “That’s because I killed this Obsidian Basilisk, and I wouldn’t sell it if my life depended on it. Therefore, the only way you can get it is if you know me, and it’s free.”

Scarlet and Thea giggled while Leon’s face contorted into a twisted expression.

“There must be a considerable amount of this steak,” Leon frowned. “Don’t you think that it’d be prudent to sell one? Nobles would spend millions.”

“Absolutely not,” Ryker scoffed. “This steak contains immortality and guardian-class murder potential. In this world, murder potential is worth more than gold, and immortality gives you an infinite amount of time to collect.”

“Rational as always, honey,” Scarlet beamed, casually taking a bite of steak. Her eyes immediately lit up, and her cheeks turned rosy. “It’s delicious!”

“It is,” Ryker chuckled. “Now, eat up, you two. There are A-class beast dishes and plenty of vegetables. So enjoy yourselves. I’ll show you around here tomorrow.”

***

The next day, Ryker took Leon and Scarlet around the town with Thea, showcasing their budding shops. There was every major type of guild, food courts, barracks for the workers, and plenty of farms and stables for livestock.

“How do you even convince people to come here?” Leon asked. “No one discloses that.”

“That’s because it’s invite-only,” Ryker grinned. “We offer one gold coin, lodging, soul mana meat, and magic training to travel here.”

Leon and Scarlet froze.

“Naturally, no one has turned it down,” Ryker smirked. “That’s why you’ve never heard about it. Let’s continue.”

They continued their tour, learning about the “free market” economy and the agricultural setup using advanced irrigation and drainage systems.

Ryker explained how they had dug up the clay, replaced it with dirt, and used decomposed beasts to fertilize it.

“It was unexpected, but soul mana helps plants grow faster and provides edible soul mana as well,” Ryker noted. “It makes sense, but no one has ever wasted soul mana meat before.”

“Y-You wasted it?” Scarlet stuttered.

“I should clarify. Since the ground had no nutrients other than nitrogen, we ground the meat up to fertilize the soil,” he explained. “These were just the only beasts available.”

“You know, sometimes you make a lot of sense, and other times you don’t,” Leon remarked, running his fingers through his hair.

“How so?” Ryker asked, curious.

“Well, it’s just that the meal the commoners were eating last night would amount to 50,000 gold at least, yet you used it to fertilize the ground and complain about imported food costs,” Leon reasoned. “You could buy as much food as you wanted for just one beast.”

“You can always make more money, but you cannot buy freedom,” Ryker countered. “If we want to be free from tyrannical rule and attacks, we must become self-sufficient and fortify ourselves.”

The table fell silent as his parents gazed at him, concern reflecting in their eyes.

“Ryker, you couldn’t possibly be thinking of going to war with Valeria, are you?” Scarlet whispered.

Ryker took a bite of steak. “I’m just a baron. I’ll pay taxes and provide troops during wartime. If King Redfield or anyone else seeks to oppress or go to war with us, we’ll meet them head-on.”

Leon’s eyes sharpened. “Son. You’re playing with fire. There’s a vast difference between Valeria and a small town.”

“A small town surrounded by forests lethal enough to kill mages just by walking through them,” Ryker corrected. “We also control the skies here.”

Neither was convinced. However, before they could speak, an alarm sounded along with war drums.

“A wave of Skaras!” A soldier yelled. “Coming from the west!”

Scarlet turned to me. “What’s a Skara?”

“It’s a B-class beast,” Ryker answered. “They’re weak, but they roam in packs of thirty or so.”

“W-Why are you so calm about it then?!” she screeched.

“Calm down, Mother. This type of thing happens often,” he sighed. “Would you two like to see?”

Before either knew what was happening, they were climbing up a staircase to the west side wall. When they got up to the top, they gazed at hundreds of cannons in bewilderment.

“What are these things?” Leon asked.

Ryker made a motion for them to cover their ears. They quickly complied, just in time to avoid a chain reaction of loud booms that would’ve pierced their ears.

With each boom, trees cracked and fell.

Leon looked into the forest and saw massive brown creatures emerging from the dust. They looked like spiders, with bodies low to the ground, scurrying on their extended arms as they weaved through trees.

“Second volley!”

A soldier yelled. Those who weren’t packing cannons aimed.

“FIRE!”

Cannonballs shot through the forest, kicking up dust storms as they shot a hundred meters away. Every time one of the balls hit the beast, they lost limbs or died upon impact.

“T-These are B-class beasts,” Leon muttered. “B-class….”

There were thirty B-class beasts, each a challenger requiring a party with a sage to defeat, and regular humans were tearing through them, leaving their corpses splattered on the ground. It was a nightmare scene.

“Ballistae, hit the stragglers!”

Leon and Scarlet watched in a haze as people operating massive bows in towers shot spears from the sky, piercing the beasts as they approached.

“Che. These weapons are so rudimentary,” Ryker scoffed, displeased with the already-surreal level of murderous might. “They’ve left a few. I’ll be right back.”

With only a second’s warning, he grabbed a random sword on the wall and jumped into the forest.

Leon watched in a haze as his son met one of the Skara head-on. He feared the blade would break when it collided, but it sliced through the arm like butter. Ryker then punched its human-like head, sending it flying.

Thea summoned crowls, a massive crow-like bird the size of a pterodactyl, from inside the city. They immediately swooped down into the forest.

One of the A-class beasts latched onto a Skara and lifted it high before snapping its beak on the creature and sending its lifeless body crashing to the earth.

It was an absolute massacre that didn’t seem worthy of mention to the soldiers.

“Watch out!” Scarlet screamed as a crowl swooped down and picked up her son in its talons. However, it flew toward them with Ryker wearing an exasperated expression.

“Please don’t make Thea feel bad, Mother,” he sighed, looking at Thea. The cat teen’s shoulders drooped, and her tail tucked between her legs.

“I’d never hurt Ryker….” Thea murmured.

“Oh, honey!” Scarlet exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the cat maid.

As for Leon, he was distracted, staring at the battlefield in disbelief. If it were anyone else but his son, they’d be dead right now.

“Hmmm?” Ryker hummed, dropping down on the wall. “You look like you’ve just figured out how dangerous this place is. It’s so misguided that it’s justifiably an assassination attempt.”

“Do you think it is an assassination attempt, and that’s why you’re preparing for it?” Leon asked.

Ryker looked him in the eye. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence," he replied with a tone that suggested a quote. “Unless, of course, it’s convenient to.”

With those words, he turned to his shaking mother. “It’s alright, Mother. It’s just—”

The redhead pounced on him, holding him tight. “I can’t believe King Redfield sent you to this place!” she screamed, primal fury in her voice. “This is unjust, and I won’t stand for it!”

Leon bit his lip at her angered words. She was right; anyone but their son would’ve died immediately. “What was King Redfield thinking…?”

***

Present Date | Audience Chambers | Verdanthall

King Redfield studied Leon’s face with a deep frown. “You knew of cannons, the same that decimated Goldenspire’s army, and you didn’t report it?”

The atmosphere turned grave, but Leon stood firm. “Doing that would have immediately caused panic and suggested that he was preparing for war.”

“Is that not what he was doing, Margrave Everwood?” King Redfield narrowed his eyes.

“With all due respect, my son required such weapons to survive waves of B-to-Guardian-class beasts,” Leon said, his eyes narrowing as well. “Or have you forgotten?”

King Redfield looked away, backing off. It was clear that Ryker was preparing for war. However, it was equally true that he sent Ryker to the forest to keep him confined or die, both equally advantageous.

“Let’s speak of the decision to follow your son after tensions arose,” King Redfield said. “What was Ryker like during that period? His mindset.”

“Ryker only planned to protect Elderthorn, Silverbrook, and the Everwood Company, the three things he spent most of his time on,” Leon claimed. “However, if you were to attack, he would seek to annex the entire territory in retaliation if you didn’t cede it to him.”

Hushed whispers spread through the crowd. Due to the alliance with the Everwood Empire, Ryker’s battle with King Redfield over the Everwood Territory was legitimized.

The official story was that King Redfield gifted the land. However, he agreed that he was partially responsible for the tensions between the two countries.

“You aim to tell me that he would’ve been satisfied with the addition of Silverbrook alone, so long as I didn’t attack?” King Redfield pressed.

“That’s correct,” Leon replied, unwavering. “He was overwhelmed, spending most of his time learning about leadership. He constantly complained.”

“I see….” King Redfield said, unwilling to delve deeper into the subject around foreign representatives. “Is there anything else you’d like to say on record?”

Leon looked King Redfield in the eye. “Yes, there is. I believe in my son, the integrity of his statements, the validity of his identity, and the genuineness of his intentions.”

King Redfield fell silent, his eyes gliding to the left in contemplation. A full minute of silence passed, with the audience holding their breath and awaiting the man’s judgment.

“With the power invested in me as King of Valeria, I hereby declare that Ryker Alexander Everwood is absolved of suspicion of being a demon lord, an enemy of Valeria, or a threat to Novena and its countries,” King Redfield proclaimed. “Henceforth, he’s an official ally of the Kingdom of Valeria!”

Leon’s eyes widened in amazement as half of the crowd, all his son’s allies, burst into thunderous applause, their faces elated. It made him feel a deep sense of relief.

After eighteen years of worrying about his son’s persecution, surviving his unofficial exile, turbulent return, rise to power, and a war, Leon finally got peace.