Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

-

After Ryan and Cecily signed the document, they left with the items. Then Roy approached Martin.

"What mission are those little ones planning to do? It's not normal for you to let them go alone on a mission for which they need items," said Roy, finally without a bottle of alcohol nearby.

It wasn't because he didn't want to drink, it was because it was dangerous to do so inside this room with so many items.

"I won't leave them alone. It's just that this mission..." He looked at the signed document and frowned. "We don't have jurisdiction to go in there," he said and showed it to him.

"Wow." Roy was surprised. "Did that boy get the Vampire Duke's approval?"

"No." Martin shook his head. "It's probably little Alaric."

"I see, that makes sense." Roy nodded.

Martin frowned. He still felt that this ninth prince had changed too much.

But too much in every sense.

He patted Roy on the shoulder. "I'll be in the office for a while, call me if you need me. Don't bother me unless it's important," he said.

"All right, boss." Roy said goodbye and returned to his usual place.

Martin seemed to have a lot to think about and investigate, because when he got to his office, he tried to communicate with the Mirror...

--

The days passed quickly, and soon it was Saturday.

Alaric D'Arcy stood in front of the university, with a large carriage in front of him waiting for him to get in so it could leave.

This great young teacher rarely flaunted his wealth, but today, the famous Horses of the Apocalypse were in charge of pulling his carriage.

These horses are not common; they are known as the mounts of the Death Knights, legendary undead beings that have been capable of destroying entire cities throughout history. It is said that it is almost impossible to separate a Death Knight from his horse; only vampires have managed to tame them. Not even demigods have such abilities.

And today there were eight of them here, although no Death Knights.

This carriage pulled by Horses of the Apocalypse had only been seen once before, in the hands of Alaric, when he enrolled in college. It later disappeared without a trace; rumors say it was stored somewhere underground in the city.

But today seemed to be a special occasion for him to bring them back.

Many people were staring at him, and being as famous as he is, many people had already approached him to ask for his autograph or something similar. But as always, he remained silent.

He remained silent for over an hour, until two specially designed carriages bearing the royal crest and that of the Larsen family appeared from the other side of the road and stopped near Alaric's carriage.

The horses pulling these carriages were powerful, worthy of admiration, and looked imposing, but even they were afraid when they saw that herd of dangerous horses in front of them.

For that reason, they stopped before their masters told them to.

It was normal.

The Horses of the Apocalypse are pure bone, death emanates from them. There is no one alive who does not feel a certain fear of these creatures. Even if you do not fear them, you will still feel uncomfortable when the energy of death is breathed down your neck.

Ryan and Cecily stepped down from those two newly arrived carriages.

"The Ninth Prince and Miss Larsen are joining Young Master Alaric?"

"My goodness, are they traveling together?" The crowd gathered nearby frowned as they watched Ryan and Cecily bid farewell to the carriages that had brought them and climb into Alaric's carriage, which immediately drove off.

Cecily's butler went with them, as did Captain Garner, who had already been investigated by the King and found innocent.

All the other soldiers returned, which was even more shocking to those present.

"Where are they going? Could it be that those three promises are going on a mission together?" asked one of the spectators.

"Promises? Did you just lump the useless Ninth Prince in with Miss Larsen and Mr. Alaric? Are you out of your mind?" another questioned.

"Heh." The former sneered. "Looks like you haven't been listening to the recent news, huh?"

"What news?" the other one protested, trying to tell him he was being really stupid.

The other one simply hugged his chest smugly.

In fact, many people were looking at him in shock. They couldn't believe he had actually compared that useless prince to the two greatest geniuses in the kingdom.

But the one who had spoken was not just anyone either; he had status as the son of a marquis. Although he may not have been the best among the marquises, the title was there, and they were once a prosperous family, so he had more of a foundation than most of those present.

"The news will surely take longer to reach you, because it usually takes time to travel. But news recently came out of the castle that the Ninth Prince has surpassed the Third and Second Princes in one of the most important missions, managing to catch 10 traitors who had stolen treasure from the castle," he declared.

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about, bastard? Did you just say that the Ninth Prince is better than the Third Prince?!" shouted a low-ranking nobleman, famous for his talent.

"Tsk, you idiot. I didn't say that, I'm just saying that on this occasion, the Ninth Prince has proven that he is not an idiot," he sneered.

"Lies!" declared the other nobleman. "A mission involving the Second and Third Princes, and you're telling me the Ninth won? That's ridiculous to think, as expected of a noble family in decline! Hahaha, they don't even get their information right."

Despite the taunts, the man maintained his upright posture, though he was annoyed. "What did you just say, little viscount?" He gritted his teeth in anger.

"The same thing you just heard, marquis in decline."

"You..."

"What the little marquis says is true." Suddenly, one person in the crowd stepped forward to speak.

"Mr. Lawrence." Everyone looked at him in shock.

The son of one of the Royal Dukes, the Lawrence family. Although they were last among the Royal Dukes, they maintained an important status within the kingdom.

When the marquis's son saw him come forward, he smiled. "I heard it from a reliable source, so I'm sure it's true," he assured them.

"Indeed. Rumor has it that this boy was actually just pretending all along, but they say he's a great strategist. Besides..." Lawrence fell silent at that moment and then shook his head. "No, that's what I heard. So you'd do well to stop underestimating him. I'm not saying this to instill fear, but remember that this boy's parents are the same ones who conquered the world. Nothing bad can come from them." He assured them before turning around and leaving.

His words had a huge impact... it would surely cause a stir at the university when the real news broke.

--

Alaric spent 30 minutes staring at Ryan. He seemed to have a lot to say, but he didn't have many ideas on how to put it into words.

Although, to put it simply, he never imagined he would be participating in a mission with only Ryan and Cecily.

Originally...

"You thought I would bring all my troops, right?" Ryan asked, guessing his thoughts.

Alaric nodded. "I heard you had completed an important mission."

Ryan nodded. "Yes, the troops have nothing to do with it. In fact, they were only there so that I could deliver the mission correctly and have it counted towards my fight for the throne," he replied.

"Will you fight for the throne?" Alaric tilted his head.

"Don't you see me fighting for it?"

"Honestly, I thought you would die soon," Alaric said, almost biting his tongue to rectify: "At the hands of your brothers."

"Hahaha, you have a good knowledge of royalty. I was about to die at the hands of one of them, but fortunately, fortune tends to choose its favorites for some things, even if it puts them through hell in others."

"And you were chosen by her?"

"Otherwise, you wouldn't see me here."

Alaric finally nodded. It made sense.

Silence reigned again until, 10 minutes later, he spoke again.

"Do you think you can help us find him with your abilities?" he asked.

"I'm pretty sure that with Cecily and me here, we can find him," Ryan replied.

"I'll trust you," Alaric nodded.

All the words he had to say were discarded, because when he decided to trust someone, only betrayal could make him doubt. So he simply remained silent.

He expected a long journey... a very long one.

The capital city of Blue Eden was located almost at the western edge of the continent, more precisely in the northern region of the far west. There was a large mountain range on the other side of the lake that divided it from the northern continent, and this same mountain range extended to divide a large part of the rest of the far west, even reaching the Great Southern Mountains.

This mountain range was special. It began in the north, where the mountains are covered with snow all year round, and stretched down to the heat of the south, where it met some volcanoes.

The territories of several Royal Dukes and the Vampire Duke were just on the other side of this mountain range, at the westernmost end, bordering the Great Ocean.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.