The hall that had fallen into utter silence was revived by the voice of the king. After all the people gathered in the hall came back to their senses, all looked forward to the man that the king called.

“Yes, my king.”

From beside where the king’s throne is, a man in white robes walked forward, turned towards his king, and bowed to him.

“Tsk!”

As all those who saw the man in white, among the side of the nobles, some clicked their tongues and frowned by seeing the man in white robes.

Despite their efforts to keep their behavior secret, the king clearly heard them clicking their tongues. But surprisingly, he didn’t do anything.

“Head Scholar.”

In the middle of the hall, Gan and the older brother felt reassured to see the head scholar, especially Gan which inwardly surprised him.

‘Why do I feel so relieved seeing the head scholar? This has never happened before.’

Though he wanted to find out why he was feeling this way, he couldn’t help but sideline his thoughts as he had to look forward to the trial that would ensue here.

“My king. Pardon my rudeness to use my authority bestowed by you to disturb you when you were busy. But it is a matter that requires your utter presence.”

The head scholar, still bowing, spoke to the king. But his words didn’t match his expression at all. His face, devoid of any expression, could make anyone feel like he was rather insulting and demeaning the king of his.

Seeing this, the nobles do felt a sense of humour in their hearts, but they didn’t know that what they were seeing was all part of the king sitting on the throne.

"Let's get the meeting started, head scholar. We have no time for these talks.”

In response to the king's reaction, the nobles felt even more relieved and excited as they expected further tension between the king and the head scholar.

‘The rift between these two is obviously the work of the goddess. And seeing the king’s reaction, it is obvious that the downfall of the last of the warriors is near.’

All the nobles there thought the same as they silently thought of the king’s and his family’s downfall. In spite of the obvious nobles present, the head scholar raised his head and started the meeting.

“My king, as you can see. Both princes, who had departed to complete the mission you gave them have abruptly returned today morning.”

After hearing his words, the king then looked at both of his sons and Gan. There was not a speck of emotion on his face as he saw his younger child bloodied and covered in severe wounds. Returning his gaze to the head scholar, the king spoke again.

“So? What does that have to do with this urgent meeting?”

Despite being anxious on the inside, the king had an annoyed expression on his face as he spoke to the scholar.

The head scholar, whose face was hidden from everyone, signaled to his king, telling him it was time to remove the act because of the severity of the situation.

‘What really happened that made even the head scholar this serious?’

“My King! Pardon me, but the eldest young master hasn’t told me anything as he has requested me to present the problem to you yourself.”

Saying that, the head scholar turned around as everyone in the room shifted their gaze toward where he was looking, at the center of the hall where Gan, the older brother, and Ashv were.

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Seeing everyone looking at him, the older brother stepped forward and kneeled on one knee.

“All hail the King of the great land of Ajay!”

“First prince, answer me. What are you, who were supposed to be out in the world, establishing your guild doing here, in this hall with Gan and ...your brother, in that condition?”

The king looked back towards Gan and his younger child on his knees, with his head down. Even the king was quite shocked when he first saw Ashv when he entered the hall as he saw his son all bloodied and wounded.

“Forgive me, my king. For I, the eldest son of yours and the crown prince of the mighty land of Ajay has failed to complete the mission you bestowed upon us.”

The pride in his voice became a thorn for all the nobles assembled there. However, there was not a speck of hesitation in his voice as he continued to address his father.

“While we were on our journey to find a suitable land to establish our guild, we...”

“We what?”

The older brother hesitated a lot. Again, fear spread through his body as he remembered the crimes Ashv committed. He realized that if he is feeling this much pain and anger because of Ashv’s actions, then what his father, who taught them their moral code and the true meaning of being a warrior would feel when he would hear the atrocities that Ashv had committed.

“Young Master.”

From behind, Gan came and placed his hand on his shoulder which helped the older brother to calm down.

“...Thank You, Gan.”

Now a bit relaxed, the older brother took another deep breath and turned towards the king.

“My King, what happened is...”

Thus, the older brother began to talk about all the things that happened during their journey to their father.

***

SLAM!

“ASHV!!”

Hearing about Ashv from his eldest son, the king jumped up from his throne furiously. His red and furious face resembled that of a demon.

“HOW DARE YOU!!”

Grab!

As if time had stopped, the king suddenly appeared in front of the kneeling Ashv and grabbed him by his neck, and slammed him on the ground.

“Get up, you filthy low life!!”

The king, forgetting his role as a king, grabbed Ashv by his throat and lifted him in the air. The rage of the king was also manifested around him as a dark red aura filled with bloodlust.

The aura automatically turned into a blade and cut the ropes and the blindfold on Ashv.

“Why don’t you speak now, huh? TEL ME!!”

“F-Father!!”

The first thing he saw after being blindfolded for so long was the horrifying face of his father, veiled in rage.

“Did these so-called nobles teach you that? To behave like those mindless, fake warriors?”

Saying that, the king turned towards the nobles, who, because of his terrifying face and aura froze in an instant. Nobody among them tried to refute the king at all.

“We are warriors! We are responsible for the governance and protection of every being on this planet.”

Seeing the useless nobles not even trying to refute him, he turned his gaze again toward Ashv.

“We are not savages like these lowly people or those knights. We have our pride and honor as the descendent of the mighty warrior clan. But you!!”

The king tightened his grip around Ashv’s neck which made the colors on Ashv’s face fade faster.

“*Cough* F-F-Fathe-”

“Do not call me your father!! You have lost the right to be my son the moment you shared their ideology. And now-” Shockingly, the King let go of Ashv and turned around, which shocked everyone, even the head scholar.

“You are banished from my family. You are no warrior anymore. And-”

“?”

Slash!

The aura around the king now turned into two swords as they suddenly chopped off both the hands and nose of Ashv.

“AGHHHH!!!!”

Ashv whimpered and shouted in pain as he crawled aimlessly on the ground, grasping tightly at his teeth as he carried the pain of losing both his hands and nose.

“Heal!”

The king used a healing spell on him, which quickly healed the open cut, stopping the bleeding.

“This is the least form of mercy I can show for someone like you. GUARDS!! Cover his face with soot and tell everyone in town about what he did. Then, drag him like a prisoner and kick him out of this land.”

The guards, who were also out of their senses suddenly, came to their senses as they hurriedly picked up Ashv while he was writhing and took him away to complete their king’s orders.

“AND YOU ALL!!”

He again directed his gaze towards the one’s responsible for all these, the nobles which made the nobles shiver even more. His dark red aura slowly crept toward them and surrounded them.

“Though I knew that you would pull something behind my back to make me weak, I never thought that you would go after the dignity of the warrior itself.”

Every step he took, the hearts of the dignified nobles beat faster, and some of them fainted in the process.

“Go after my family, I accept. Go after my land, I accept. Go after me, I ACCEPT!! But-”

Putting breaks on his steps, he looked at the nobles who were all curling backward.

“Do not ever go after the dignity of us warriors, who always protected you before the goddess even appeared.”

Seeing the sorry state of the supposed nobles, the king took back his aura, turned around, and exited the hall, without saying a single word.

***