Toziro walked towards the separate rooms holding Braum's squadmates and told his own squad to gather them all in one room. Now, Kelvin, Urada, and Niko were all located in the same room—still tied up. Toziro entered the room with Troy, Moka, Putra, and Qey. Sumi was now treating Bima's paralyzed right arm in another room. Kelvin, Urada, and Niko had woke up earlier and were staring daggers at The Bodyguards.

"Relax...I know who you people are. I have met your last member and figured out his identity." Toziro said.

"Where is he? We're not going to talk" Kelvin replied.

"Has it been three hours yet?" Toziro checked his watch. "Okay, Qey, pick him up and bring him here" Qey left the room and after a while, carried Braum in her shoulder to the new room. Braum was looking very sick and looked as if he could throw up any second.

"Boss...did you let him went on the carnival ride?" Moka, also known as The Wall, a tall muscular woman, said with a frown.

"I remembered that punishment back in the training days..." Troy, the one-eyed, one-handed man also echoed Moka's fright.

"Hahaha. I'll temporarily remove the effects so we can speak. But he's going to experience the full force after this" Tozio touched Braum's shoulder and the latter's face started to clear up.

"YOU!" Braum stood up and released his golden battle force.

"Stop. We want to talk. SIT down." Toziro pointed at a chair. Braum hesitated but he realized he was not a match for any of these people for now so he complied and sat down.

"Golden..." Qey muttered.

"That's right. This here is the ninth prince of Yakana" Toziro said to the surprise of everyone in the room.

"What!?" Troy said in surprise.

"But there were only eight? If a new prince were to be born after we left he would still only be a kid" Moka muttered.

"Your Majesty, are you okay?" Kelvin said while still tied up.

"I'm fine. Release my friends as well then I will talk" Braum demanded.

"Fine. Release their restrictions but keep an eye out for them." Toziro ordered and the ropes were undone.

Suddenly, Kelvin went to his pockets and raised a remote.

"Nobody move! Or I'll detonate the chips in your brains! Your Majesty!" Kelvin screamed a threat to everyone. 

"W-what!?" Qey muttered in surprise.

"Filthy Yakanan dogs..." Moka also said.

"Lieutenant! Stand down! We're here to bring them back! You are embarrassing me as a king! and why do you have that device!?" Braum ordered with an angry face. There were a lot of things pissing him off today.

'King?' Toziro caught a word that interested him.

"B-but Prince..." Kelvin's fingers were still on the button.

"Give it here. Throw it!" Braum barked. Kelvin finally complied and threw it at Braum's direction. Braum caught it and what he did was shocking to everyone in the room; he destroyed the remote.

"There. It's destroyed. I hope you can listen to us now. I apologize on behalf of myself and my subordinate's behavior" Braum bowed.

"Hooo...interesting. You seem to have grown. I saw you as a baby before they brought you into the forest you know" Toziro said.

"What? You know who I am?" Braum asked.

"He's the real ninth prince?" Qey muttered.

"That he is. It's a highly classified contingency plan to have the last child exiled to ensure the survival of Yakanan royalty in the event of a total disaster. The number of people who knew this back then can be counted by my hands. Frankly, I was disgusted at the prospect of exiling a kid to the middle of nowhere like that just so that they can use the kid as a pawn later. So I'm asking you...What was your name?" Toziro asked.

"Braum"

"Braum. Why are you here? Why did you accept their request? Did they brainwash you? Did they show you things so that you were led to believe Yakana is a peaceful utopia with citizens you want to protect? Do you know how corrupt it is?" Toziro said.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I-I...." Braum didn't know how to answer. Toziro was right. Yakana essentially used him as an asset. A plan. A pawn to be used only in this situation.

"You agree right? If the royal family were still alive, did you think they would treat you this way? No. They would let you age and die alone in the middle of nowhere." Toziro said with a frown.

Braum stayed silent while looking at the floor.

"Prince! Don't listen to him! He's speaking nonsense! I don't know what the rest of my stupid superiors did. But we do care about you! After we went on this journey...we all care about you!" Niko said a shocking statement for Braum.

But Toziro continued.

"Of course, the little guys like your squadmates wouldn't understand. I'm talking specifically about the people in charge. They don't care about you, Braum. It's not too late. We'll take you in. We have a big house here and we can support the citizens here as well. After all, we're called The Bodyguards—protector of the peasants. Together, we will make the lives of everyone better" Toziro said with conviction.

Braum was thinking at a rapid pace in his head. He agreed with Toziro. In the end, he was currently being used as a pawn. Maybe he should just leave it behind for an adventurous life here in the continent. He was too naive. He accepted the offer to be the new king without thinking about it thoroughly. He just wanted something new—an exciting new prospects in his life. But was it worth it in the end if he were just a puppet king?

Suddenly, the gentle voice of a woman was heard inside Braum's head.

"Remember...." 

'Elmyra?' He recognized that voice to be the elf he met in his dreams. Elmyra. He started to remember the visions and prophecy he saw. The looming danger that would destroy everything that he had ever known. His mind started to become resolved. 

"I-I can't" Braum muttered. 

"What?" Toziro said in surprise. 

"I can't! This isn't about me! This is greater than me! There's a looming danger ahead that would threaten not only Yakana, but the entire continent as well. Your lives here would be destroyed as well in the process! I must be a King! I must bring us to victory! Any obstacle in my way I'll crush" Braum said with resolve. 

"A...threat? What is it, boy?" Toziro asked. The rest of The Bodyguards were also listening in looking intrigued. 

"There's an evil entity....no, it's not evil....there's an all-powerful entity set to destroy our lands. I believe that the numerous Kaiju that have arrived in our history were part of its army. T-there's a group of human worshippers of that entity here in the continent that is set to help bring the entity into our world...they're called The Order of Apocalypse" Braum explained. 

"The order? We know about them!" Putra, for the first time spoke. 

"You know about them?" Kelvin asked. 

"Yes...we stayed here for 10 years so we have discovered a lot of secrets. I know that they are a cult that usually kidnaps people for...something. We don't know what they worship. We have had multiple run-ins with them over the course of these 10 years. But every time we almost caught them...they just disappeared without a trace" Putra explained. 

"You said they worship an evil entity, what is it?" Toziro asked looking at Braum. 

"I don't know...I have seen it myself in my vision. It's huge. It's terrifying. I can't really describe it. But I know it will destroy us if it comes. That's why I need to be the King...I'm different from the old royal family. I agree with you people that we should not discriminate against our citizen and let them train to be mech pilots as well. And I disagree with the current regime that closes off our country out of contact with the outside world. I think we should share our knowledge and help people on the continent so they will also be able to fight together with us when doomsday arrives." Braum then went to one knee and bowed. 

"I, King Braum Gundala of Yakana is formally inviting The Bodyguards to Yakana again to fight with us, train with us, and stand with us once more." 

The Bodyguards stayed in silence. They were deeply thinking about it but there were a lot of doubts in their mind. 

"Boss...they still put these chips on our heads and exiled us for ten years," Moka said.

The rest of the members were expressing distrust as well. Torizo stroke his beard to think. 

"Hmm...Alright" Toziro muttered. 

"Really!?" Braum perked up. 

"But I have a test for you. To see that if you are truly different than the old royal family." Toziro said. 

"What is it!?" Braum approached Toziro, as if to hear his request better. 

"Have you seen the city? Noticed anything?" Toziro asked. 

"I have...it's beautiful. I didn't notice anything" Braum answered. Toziro continued. 

"Then you must not have been in the city for long. Well, we did kidnap you guys hahaha...The city is celebrating the National Celebration Days of Estalia—the founding of the nation. Many nobles from other regions and also foreign nobles and royalties are all coming to this city to celebrate in the name of friendship. I want YOU...to reveal yourself as the King of Yakana and establish a friendship with Estalia" 

Toziro's test shocked everyone. 

"Your Majesty! That is not a good idea" Kelvin said with a ghastly face.

"I don't like this..." Niko muttered. 

"Me too..." Urada echoed. 

Braum started to think for a while before coming up with another question.

"I will also reveal ourselves later but we have to deal with the upcoming civil war with the Militarist faction. If they win, they'll invade the continent. Why do you want me to do it now?" 

"Heh. Of course, we know about the civil war. I heard about it from Bima. There's another reason...there's a plot to kill the current crown princess and King Leo. We are currently investigating it but it's practically impossible to disguise ourselves as a high noble that can closely monitor the royalties. We don't know the methods or when will they do it. What we know is the first son and the younger brother to the crown princess, Prince Vanir, we are suspecting him to be the one who is planning the assassination. 

I want you to investigate closely as a Yakanan royalty so we can put a stop to the assassination. You see, we are quite fond of the current regime and we don't want the idiotic Prince Vanir to be the new king. Of course, this also implies that you would also have to call more backups and more resources from Yakana so that they will believe that you are a king. And oh, of course I want these chips in our heads removed as well. What do you say? If you proof that you can do this then we can believe that you are a worthy leader we can follow" Toziro smiled. 

Braum didn't think for long. If there were no previous restrictions and he had known about the plot to assassinate the Estalian royalty, he would have planned something similar. 

"I accept," Braum said with conviction.