King Tobias Sletten of the Aregard Kingdom and his Royal Cultivator Brom Duven were now the only two people in the throne room once Ben had left to sign off on his noble documents.
The two of them seemed lost in thought quietly recalling everything that had just happened.
"Sire there are so many unanswered mysteries surrounding this young man. How is it possible that he can reach the cultivation stage he is now and use high-tier healing magic? Even if he began cultivating in his mother's womb it should be impossible to reach his current stage at nineteen years old. He was even able to jump from the Marquess title to a Duke in a couple of months! Forget about easily jumping up a few levels in that time a normal cultivator would take that long just to solidify a single level foundation."
The king let out a long sigh and said. "We should be glad that he is on our side and not with another kingdom. Could you imagine having him in the ranks of an enemy kingdom? If he can use an impressive healing spell, I am sure he can also use a few powerful attacking and defending spells."
Brom nodded his head in agreement even though he did not want to believe it. It was a hard pill to swallow for him. He had cultivated for over a hundred years to reach his cultivation stage and here was Ben King a nineteen year old who almost matched him in cultivation and could also use a high ranking magic spell!
The King then spoke up disturbing Brom's thoughts. "Do you want to hear something else that I found hard to believe at first concerning Duke King? Before I entered the throne room earlier with Duke King he warned me to prepare for an invasion from the Trareniel Kingdom."
"What?!" The Royal Cultivator Brom Duven couldn't believe it either. They had always had a good relationship with their neighbor kingdom even if they were a little cold of late there was no reason that they would invade their Aregard Kingdom.
"Duke King only said, where he came from he had seen the actions being used by the Trareniel Kingdom as a prelude to war many times. His lands have suffered from many wars and it seems the kingdoms where he came from are not as peaceful as ours."
"This may be true but it doesn't prove the Trareniel Kingdom will invade." The royal cultivator replied.
"No, No it doesn't, but can we take that chance and just dismiss it? What if we ignore this warning from this mysterious young man and are invaded unprepared. The Trareniel Kingdom would be at our capital gates before we could even assemble our armies."
Brom shook his head at a loss and asked. "What should we do then sire? It would eat away at our treasury if we were to field a large army and have them sitting around waiting on an invasion that may never come?"
"I think it is time to give Scarlett a mission. She has the perfect set of skills for this type of work." The king said, his brows slightly creased.
"Sire you don't mean Scarlett as in The Scarlett Shadow? That woman is one of the most feared assassins on the continent. If you had never hidden and protected her within our borders she would have lost her head long ago to the western kingdoms who are still hunting her." The Royal Cultivator responded, his face showing shock and concern.
"I hired and have hidden her because she had never used her skills inside of our kingdoms borders and word is Scarlett had completed every mission she had ever accepted without once being spotted during it. I will have her infiltrate the Trareniel Kingdom and find out what their plans are for those troops that are patrolling along our borders."
The King picked up a bell on a small table beside the throne and rang it a moment later one of his assistants came in. He had his assistant go to Scarlett's home in the city and ask her to report to the throne room for a crucial mission regarding the Kingdoms security.
While waiting on Scarlett the king had the people outside the throne room who were waiting to see him enter so he could get them out of the way before Scarlett arrived.
An hour later Scarlett arrived at the palace and was given a private audience with the king and Duven. He asked her to use her skills to find out what the Trareniel Kingdom were planning. The king told her about the invasion warning and needed to know if it were true.
Scarlett accepted the mission claiming it would take some time to travel and investigate everything she may be gone for a month or two.
The king agreed it would take some time. If there was an invasion being plotted they could only pray Scarlett would warn them with enough time to prepare for it.
When Scarlett had left to get started the king sat on his throne wondering what would make the Trareniel Kingdom so bold? They were evenly matched in troops and cultivators so why would they try and invade? It would only lead to a loss of troops and nothing gained. It didn't make sense were they all worrying over nothing?
"It may be more than likely this warning is a false alarm. If not there must be a major hidden secret too why the Trareniels think they can conquer us. I also hope Duke King is as formidable as we think. I doubt the Trareniel Kingdom is aware that we recently brought on another powerful cultivator. If they knew that are power level with him on our side had risen then they wouldn't have their troops patrolling so close to our borders for fear of angering us!" The King said more to himself than to Duven.
"Wait! Could that be the reason that they have lost their fear of us? Has the Trareniel Kingdom also brought on another cultivator or mage that they think can help tip the scales of power in their favor?"
The king sat on his throne thinking through the many "what if" scenarios with an ugly expression. He did not get much time to remain lost in his thoughts before the next wave of assistant came through scattering the questions from his mind with documents and reports concerning the kingdom.