When the two came out of the Bosphorus, they encountered the setting sun. It had taken them an afternoon to get out of the strait, as they had waited until noon for their prince. Moreover, fast horse riding was not an option here, as the roads were curved. Sometimes the road was so narrow that it was necessary to proceed in a single line.

William still thought riding a horse in a world like this was torture. Seeing that the academy principal could fly, the desire for empowerment grew even more in his eyes. He knew he could learn flying faster and faster, but he could only learn it as a mage. For now, it was a very difficult task for him because he was always busy with something.

He realized that even in the techniques he had developed by combining, he was not that adept yet. He realized that at his current power level, he should have beaten the prince named Jay more easily. Because right now, he felt that he had broken that power barrier and could fight the bronze levels.

After nightfall and the moon peaked, the two reached the inn where William had stopped earlier. He had stayed in this inn before entering the academy. Not much time had passed yet, but since then, William had almost more than doubled in strength. When the two came to the inn, they left the six horses in the inn's barn and went inside.

The inn was almost empty. Only a few townspeople were chatting about everyday matters while sipping their beer. Sora quickly rented two rooms and ordered some meals. They sat at a table by the window and waited. Meanwhile, William overheard what was being said at the table two distances away.

An old man poured half the beer on his white beard and finished off one large glass in one go. "Did you hear? The king has issued a proclamation. Whoever helps suppress the rebelling former Baron Thedo has promised twice as much land and a place in the palace.”

One of the men sitting across from him was missing two front teeth. Although his hair and beard were not as white as his counterpart, dirt could be seen from place to place. It was more messy. “Oh yes, I heard. He said this to support the princes returning from the academy.” Said. Then he popped a few of the peanut-like nuts in front of him in his mouth and began to speak while chewing.

“ Heh! Nobody trusts the king anymore. I don't think anyone will support a king who can't protect his own capital." Said.

“You're right, most nobles have already joined Baron Thedo. More precisely, to King Thedo .” It was a young-looking man next to the white-bearded old man who spoke.

"Shut up!" the old man shouted. "What the hell are you doing. Don't show which side you're on until things are over. Otherwise, a sword will take your head by accident.” Said. The young boy next to him was either his son or something like that. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so protective, but he was right in what he said. Hearing the conversation, William agreed with the old man. You didn't know what was going to happen until things ended.

Then the man eating nuts, spoke again. “Your uncle is right.” He said taking a sip of his beer. “In a few days the princes leave the academy, from here to the capital there are at least five castles and three cities. Maybe they can gather enough men.” Said.

Sora couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He let out a slight chuckle. Seeing Sora laughing, William joined in.

"Ah! Young man, are you listening to us? Judging by your armor, you're either an adventurer or a mercenary. Do you think the Princes can't recruit enough?" It was the man who ate the nuts who spoke. He smiled after he spoke, but his smile might have been one of the ugliest things in the world. He spoke these words, looking at Sora.

Sora felt compelled to answer the old man, thinking that he should no longer worry about the princes or even the king. He looked at William and saw that he agreed.

“ Heheh, old man, you don't have to worry about princes anymore and you can easily address King Thedo as 'King'.” Said.

"Why is that? Has Baron Thedo taken over the palace?” he asked. This time it was the young one who asked.

Sora thought for a moment. "Oh I don't know about him, but the princes are dead." He said smiling.

All three people at the table were very surprised as he calmly said that the princes in the academy were dead. "How?" ' they asked, all three puzzled.

Sora pointed his finger at William across from him. “Young Master killed them.” Said.

Sora and William for a few seconds, still bewildered.

Then, “ Ahahahahaha .” All three of them started laughing like crazy at the same time. They laughed as if they had just heard the biggest joke of their lives. After a while, the trio stopped laughing and the old one spoke.

“You really do know how to joke, guys.” Said. “But don't worry, we believe you. What's a prince's head? One sword stroke is enough. Hmmm. Hmm. You are strong.” Said. Towards the end, he nodded to them in approval. It was as if a master was truly acknowledging the strength of the youth and their strength.

Sora frowned, reaching into his dimensional bag and looking at William. William shook his head in disapproval. Then “No need.” He said quietly.

That's when the food arrived. The innkeeper brought it himself as he did not have an extra employee at the inn.

Sora had asked the innkeeper for two servings of his best meals. He had to say he was disappointed when he saw the best dish that came out. It was venison steak with ginseng sauce. He knew that his young master had eaten better than these at the academy. Even they were eating the worst iron rank creature meat in their barony. Perhaps most baronies could not afford that, but they were different. It was a barony capable of revolting.

William, on the other hand, had no problems with food. His dimensional bag even contained a small bag of cured meats. He was almost never worried about food, as he was out hunting all the time. As long as it was hot, it was enough for him to be delicious. Of course, giving extra soul stones at the academy wouldn't replace the food he ate, but it still didn't matter. The two of them ate neither quickly nor slowly.

Then they got up from the table to go to their room to sleep, as they had to leave early in the morning.

Just as they were going upstairs to their room, the man who was still drinking and eating nuts shouted. "Youth! Sleep well, there are lots of Prince's heads to be picked up tomorrow! Hahahaha !” The old man laughed at his own joke. Then he was joined by the uncle-nephew duo opposite him. The innkeeper was also smiling slightly.

William did not change his style. But he still thought he should answer. With one foot on the ladder, he turned his head and spoke. "No need, old man, because they're all dead." He said smiling.

Then he went up the stairs and went to his room. The two of them separate up. When William entered his room, he found a small bed, a table, and a small rug on the floor. There was also a candle on the table. William had no intention of meditating because he would have to meditate longer now. He knew that the cultivation of technique would be extremely slow unless he found a spring. He chose to sleep instead.

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He lay down on the little bed and within minutes fell asleep with no worries in his mind.

…

Since the two went to bed early in the evening, he awoke with the sunrise in the morning. They both left their room at the same time. Since it would take a long time to take a bath in the inn, they gave up even though they were in a dirty state.

They sat at the inn at the same table where they had dinner yesterday and asked for a few boiled potatoes and eggs. It was one of William's most hated breakfasts, completely dry and tasteless. Until now, he had eaten the eggs of some rare animals. He had to admit, they were delicious. Moreover, most of them contained excellent nutrients.

But such eggs were difficult to find. Even most nobles had to ask their groups of adventurers or their own private soldiers to eat them. That's how William was able to eat, too. His father once sent five of his men into the woods to eat three-colored chicken eggs when he was four years old. After seven days of exhausting searching, they had only found three. Moreover, they were lucky to be in the breeding season, otherwise, they would have to wait for the next year.

Even the chickens of this world were a scourge. Normal chickens were still the same, not much difference except they were slightly larger. Moreover, they were stronger. Chickens capable of producing tricolor eggs were extremely rare. If a regular chicken was the size of a basketball, this tricolor chicken was at least a dog's size. Moreover, their beaks were extremely sharp and often had either fire or metal characteristics. For someone who did not open the seventh meridian, it could be a very tough opponent.

After the duo had their breakfast, they took the six horses and mounted the two of them, and set off. The next journey was quick and easy for them. Normally these roads would have to be full of bandits because of the war, but even the bandits weren't stupid. Everyone had heard the news of the princes leaving the academy.

Everyone would be more daring if they knew that the princes were already sleeping peacefully. But that was something only William and Sora knew.

Sora told how they had taken every castle or city they saw on the way. Almost all of it was an absolute victory. Some of these castles also had princes, and Sora was talking about how Theo crushed them all. William could also see his own family flags atop castles and cities. The rebel tiger was waving proudly in the sky.

They had to set up small-scale camps three times along the way. William knew that if he had left the horses and ran, he would have arrived faster, but there was no need to rush. The city was under siege and could wait a few more days. The journey from the town to the capital, which would normally take six days, had been reduced to three days as they were already fast.

When they finally climbed a hill, he was able to see the magnificent capital again. Protected by a gigantic shield of luminous magic, it offered a magnificent view in the middle of the vast plain. When William looked at the entrance to the capital's gates, he saw, even more magnificent, the encampment of his family's army. They were located one kilometer from the capital.

He could see several other flags in addition to his own men. The people under these flags had a different style of armor than those in their family. He understood that these were nobles who had sworn allegiance to his grandfather. For he had also seen flags with the coat of arms of Merlon's family among them. It was a crowd not to be underestimated. Power worthy of a duke. There was some difference in quality though. Looking at the soldiers of his own family, he knew that the worst was at the ninth level of meridian opening. In other families, the situation was worse. There were even troops of completely normal people among them. Maybe these people had never even heard of opening a meridian before in their life.

The two of them approached the campsite at dusk. They were stopped when they came near a few hastily-built wooden spikes. The lighting of the camp was very good. Gigantic torches were placed up to five hundred meters away before they came close. But still, William felt incomplete. Few people who could be quick at the moment felt they could easily get into the campsite.

"Stop! Who are you! If you take one more step, we will attack!” a man shouted. He could tell from his armor and the coat of arms in front of him that he was from his own family. But not only the light of the torch makes it easier to recognize faces. These two guards who stopped them were at the top of the iron level. They were both bald and their eyebrows were always furrowed.

Sora hastily pulled a metal seal from his waist and threw it at the guard. The guard did not take it aggressively as this was something similar to a seal. He just held it and looked at the seal. “Oh, master Sora! Sorry, formalities, please come.” Said. He then bent slightly.

The duo started to ride into the campsite with their horses. Meanwhile, William was deep in thought.

“ Even Sora has a family seal. Why don't I have it?" He frowned, questioning why his father had not given him such a seal. Had it not been for Sora, he would not have been able to convince himself that he was his son until his father arrived. It would not be possible to enter the camp because of this. He wrote in the back of his mind that when he saw his father, he would ask him about it.

When they entered through the newly built wooden gates of the camp, they came across rows of tents. William had already seen it from above. He admired the way his grandfather lined up people in the army. He had stationed his men on the edge of the gates, in the center and close to the capital. The army was organized in such a way that they would not be shot in the back against any betrayal and would respond quickly. His family's tent was in the center.

William stood upright on his horse like a stout young man. Perhaps none of these people knew him, but he tried to portray someone young, strong, and confident. His nose was not up, but his head was still high. He certainly didn't want to look like other princes.

Everyone knew Sora and greeted him, but no one knew William. Only a few of the soldiers he had trained with were slyly smiling under his mustache. Even if they knew William, no one showed it.

William had seen them too, but when he saw they were silent and smiling slightly, he responded in the same way. Obviously, he wasn't supposed to be recognized yet.

Finally, they arrived at the central tents. Everyone here was familiar. Especially true loyal soldiers who trained with him were placed around the central tent. At the entrance of the largest tent, there were two familiar soldiers. They were protecting the leader of the rebellion.

'It couldn't have been any other than these two.' thought William and smiled.

The two of them dismounted, and Sora summoned a soldier to give them the horses. Together they headed towards the entrance of the tent.

At the entrance to the tent, six-foot-tall George stood with a solemn face, shield on the ground, sword at his waist, both hands holding the top of his shield. Despite seeing William, he never changed the expression on his face.

Next to him was another friend, the bald donkey Godo. One hand was free and staring at the ground, the other hand holding the taller spear upright. His face was softer. He even smiled at William.

Godo was the first to speak. “Welcome, young Master.” said.

William hadn't spoken to them in a long time, but he already felt like he had distanced himself. Maybe it was because of the rebellion issue, they were paying too much attention to the hierarchy now.

“Welcome, Godo, how are you?” Said William, despite the hierarchy between them, these were his friends with whom he had trained for many years.

“I am fine, the Master is inside. They are in a meeting now. Master Sora, you may enter.” He said looking at Sora.

Sora smiled and went inside.

William felt left out again. He was supposed to be able to enter normally without the need for any permission. After all, everyone in the family was friendly with each other. He didn't understand why he had to be excluded. 'Maybe it's about the people inside.' he thought.

He then turned to George and asked, "How are you, George, you've gotten pretty strong since we've seen each other." He said smiling.

He could see that George was at the pinnacle of iron. But this was a normal three-drop iron level. He was not like himself.

George said, “Good sir. I'm sure I can get to the bronze level in a few years." Said. He never changed his stance. In fact, he wasn't even looking at William.

“ Tch. You are no fun.” Said William, remembering that George was more fun than before. He used to be quiet too, but at least he would smile now and then.

“Forget it, he's a little stressed right now. Master Theo said he was going to marry him off." Said. He was grinning like a fox.

"To marry?" William looked from Godo to George in surprise. "With whom? How?" he asked.

“ Heh, Duke Esse 's knight captain.” Said. It was obvious he was having fun.

Esse, father of Merlon Esse? With the knight captain?” William asked.

"Yup. How do you know Merlon? Ah! He was at the academy too, wasn't he?" Godo brought his free hand to his chin.

“Really? Merlon is a good friend of mine. All right, I'm happy for you, George." He said and patted him on the shoulder softly a couple of times.

“ Hahaha! Tell me that after you see her." Said Godo, starting to laugh, but even his laughter was so low that he didn't want those inside to hear.

'Too ugly?' thought William. Meanwhile, Sora appeared again at the door of the tent. He gave Godo an angry look and motioned for him to be quiet. Godo immediately straightened his face and stared straight ahead.

Sora invited William inside. He whispered in his ear as he entered. “Make no mistake with respect.” Said.

Although William was surprised, he didn't say anything. He accepted this as normal knowing that there would be people with influence and power inside.

…