Bab 107: Book 4: Chapter 19 – I’m Trusting You
The following day Amira hurriedly made her way to the accommodation of Ace and the others to tell them that her father had summoned them.
She could barely get any sleep last night thinking about what her parent's answer would be. And now that their whole group had been summoned together, she couldn't help but feel a glimmer of anticipation and excitement as she hoped that she would be allowed to enter the battlefield with Ace.
When they finally arrived back at the throne room, Ace and his group found an almost identical set-up to the day before, with Duke Kaymin and his son, Ebeze, standing respectfully before Emperor Jordon. The only difference was that alongside the father-son duo was Chukaya, the older teen who appeared to have a thing for Amira, and standing respectfully beside the emperor was a 7-foot middle-aged dark-skinned man with long curly black hair tied in a ponytail and a long sword similar to Chukaya's sheathed on his back.
With a quick scan of his [Observation], Ace could sense that the man was a warrior at the peak of the saint rank.
"Good, you're all here," Jordon nodded as his 'daughter' and her friends entered, focusing his attention primarily on Amira. "You all should know Ebeze, Chukaya, and Duke Kaymin, but this here is a member of my Empire's council and Chukaya's master – Saint Ejiro."
Most youths would be in awe in the face of an 'all-powerful' saint, but after the number of saints both Ace and Killian had met since joining the Pavilion, neither of the duo was particularly phased by the man's presence. Still, they remained respectful as they nodded.
"Nice to meet you," Ace and Killian greeted in unison.
Ejiro nodded indifferently at the youths before turning back to Jordon. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave.
Chukaya, don't let me down."
"Yes, master," Chukaya bowed respectfully to the middle-aged man.
"Mmh," The saint-level warrior grunted before indifferently making his way to the exit of the throne room.
"On to the next thing," Emperor stated after Ejiro exited. "I have good news. Your mother agreed to allow you to enter the battlefield on the condition that you and your friends wear these."
As he said that, he withdrew a jet-black full-body robe.
Ace looked curiously at the robe as he found that when his spirit passed over it, it appeared to be a void spot in his perception.
"They're called shadow robes," Jordon explained when he saw Ace's expression. "It allows the wearer to hide their identity from the spiritual perception of all those beneath the deity realm.
As the princess of our empire, if word gets out that you're on the battlefield, you'll definitely be the target of ambushes and assassination attempts."
"As for the two of you," Jordon said, turning his attention to Ace and Killian. "Even though the Pavilion is still relatively unknown, with the O'Brien Empire's intelligence-gathering capabilities, there's a chance that they know who you both are and may be able to figure out Amira's identity from your presence."
Hearing that put things into perspective for him, and he couldn't help but feel like an idiot for not thinking about it sooner.
Amira's the exceedingly talented princess of one of their rival nations. Wukong all but humiliated them by defeating all of their most talented and powerful students at the time of his challenge. And although the incident at his selection wasn't too big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, considering the level of talent he, Killian, and Alissa showed back then, they would've definitely spent time gathering as much intelligence on the pavilion as possible.
Still, as long as they didn't know the truth about his identity, and more specifically, his mother's, then as far as he was concerned, it didn't really matter what they knew, but there was one more thing that came to mind as he looked at the robes in Jordon's hand.
"Won't wearing those only bring us more attention?" Ace asked.
"Maybe a bit, but not as much as if they knew my daughter was on the frontlines," Jordon replied. "Anyway, your whole reason for wanting to enter the war was to hone yourselves; just think of it as a way to improve the quality of your training. Plus, this will be a good chance to vent."
Amira looked at Ace in confusion, not understanding why Ace would need to vent, but Ace knew that the emperor was referring to the news of the assassination attempt on his master that essentially ruined his master's chances of becoming a deity in the future.
'You have no idea how right you are.' Ace thought to himself.
What they did to his master in the past was only one part of the reason for his anger, and whilst substantial, it still paled in comparison to the anger he felt for their empire because of what their spiritual leader had done to his mother.
"I understand," Ace said as he stepped forward to grab their robes and passing one to Killian and Amira.
"You two will also need a shadow robe if you truly intend on following Amira and her friends onto the battlefield," Jordon said as he looked at Chukaya and Ebeze, respectively.
"Yes, your majesty," both boys answered as they too, stepped forward to collect their robes.
"And you don't need to worry, your majesty," Chukaya added. "With me there, I assure you, no harm will come to princess Amira."
Even though he had no intentions of getting involved, Jordon knew how Chukaya and many of the young boys of his Empire felt about his daughter, but he also knew how Ace and Amira felt about each other.
He couldn't help but glance at Ace in amusement when he heard Chukaya's words; that amusement only seemed to grow when he saw Ace roll his eyes at Chukaya's antics. Still, he kept his amusement to himself as he replied. "I thank you in advance."
Hearing that, Chukaya couldn't help but feel proud of himself for taking that opportunity to put himself in a better standing. He knew that with Amira and Ace having gone to school together for the last five years, Ace would've had a lot longer to build his relationship with the princess. Still, in his mind, if he could win over her father and display his worth, then he could potentially get Emperor Jordon to agree to marry his daughter to him.
Unfortunately, he couldn't help but feel his mood sour as he turned his head and saw that Amira was more focused on laughing and joking with Ace as she collected her robe.
Still, as frustrated as he was, he knew this battle was his opportunity to show off to Amira and prove that he was better than his apparent love rival – Ace. He had to admit that Ace was more talented than him as a warrior. After all, not only was he younger than him, he was already at the fifth rank, and most incredibly, he had already comprehended 'Impose', but he refused to believe that as he was a warrior of the seventh rank and a mage of the fifth rank that Ace was as strong as he was.
Ace had no idea what Chukaya was thinking, not that he'd care even if he did. Chukaya was just an irrelevant teen to him. His most pressing thoughts at the moment were all focused on the battlefield. Quite frankly, he couldn't wait to get going.
"When do you all want to leave for the battlefield?" Jordon asked as though he could feel Ace's growing anticipation.
"As soon as possible," Ace and Amira voiced at the same time before turning to each other and giving the other a telling smile.
Jordon glanced at the two battle-hungry youths before shaking his head helplessly. Still, he knew better than anyone the harsh realities of war, so as he scanned the group of youngsters about to set off, his expression became especially sombre.
"I need all of you to remember that the battlefield isn't a playground. Many brave men and women give their lives on a daily basis to protect our homeland, and I hope all of you uphold those same high standards." Jordon stated. "And most importantly, each and every one of you has an extremely bright future ahead of you, so remember to take care of each other."
"We understand," All the youths stated simultaneously.
"Good," Jordon nodded upon making sure that each of them had taken his words seriously. "There's a carriage out front that will take you to the battlefield.
Ace, stay behind for a moment. The rest of you may go now."
Although curious about what the Emperor wanted to say, they all did as they were told, including Duke Kaymin.
"I have already informed my commanders on the O'Brien battlefield of your upcoming arrival," Jordon explained. "Normally, it's customary for all youths to join one of the regiments and follow the commands of the higher-ranking soldiers, but you kids are a bit of a special case. As such, I've decided to give you all a free role where you can almost act as you like, provided you don't get in the way of the rest of the army. And I'm putting you in charge of the team.
Any questions?"
"None," Ace shook his head calmly.
"I know after what I told you yesterday that you'll likely want to slaughter every one of their soldiers, but as a leader, you need to remember that the safety of your subordinates is your responsibility. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Jordon asked.
"I understand," Ace replied. "Don't worry; I won't do anything to endanger their lives."
"Good," Jordon nodded. "Now get going."
Ace nodded respectfully before taking his leave when he heard Jordon's voice.
"Ooh and Ace," Amira's father called out as Ace reached the door. "Take care of my daughter; I'm trusting you!"
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Book 5: Chapter 48 – Captured
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