Illyan opened his eyes incredulously as Alfred shook his head and jumped back onto his mount.

  The mount was over three meters tall, so his jump showed how strong the power of his legs was.

  He strapped back his halberd, showing he didn’t intend to fight anymore, but he still left a message that made the prince’s expression ice cold.

  “If you believe I will stay silent and obedient after this, then you are nothing more than a fool, Chymias.”

  As he said this, he patted the enormous mouflon as it pushed its head into his palm and bleated in relish. It sensed its owner’s turbulent emotions and tried to comfort him.

  He smiled as he guided it in the direction that Illyan knew very well: the Academic Institute.

  “Should I take this as a treason?” the prince asked with a calm expression.

  People who heard this voice felt a soothing sensation, as his charming visage made them think he was the one who was being the most reasonable here.

  But Alfred didn’t care. He just turned around with chilling words.

  “Treason? No, there is no such thing as treason. For that, this place would need to have a resemblance of a proper kingdom that nurtures its people. But this? It is nothing more than a livestock slaughterhouse.”

  Alfred’s voice was so cold that even the jubilant Varel and Brynjar turned completely silent as they took a few steps back.

  Meanwhile, the four guards surrounded the prince in a close-knit formation, prepared for the worst.

  The prince could only frown at this blatant disrespect directed at him. He could not understand what Alfred meant by it, which made him even more confused.

  But Alfred didn’t stop as he shot more jabs at him.

  “Your family is just Arkravav’s dogs that cage these poor people. You do not take care of anything and just let everyone suffer. I, myself, was one of such people who had to come from the bottom of this filth only to be met with even worse filth at the top.

  For every good deed I did for this place, you twisted it and turned it into something grotesque. I was too naive back then, but now I know. The road I built that was meant for trade and new opportunities back in my younger days turned into a new human trafficking road that made the kingdom’s situation worse.

  That was when I truly felt that I betrayed the hope of the Vanaras people. This time, however, I feel nothing but contempt for you and your damned family. Traitor or not, I will not stand idly.”

  Once he finished, he didn’t wait for the prince as he sped away.

  The silent murmurs filled the plaza as doubt arose in the hearts of not a few people.

  However, Illyan didn’t hear these people as he had already sped back to his manor. The rest of this was not important to him.

  He already knew what was there to know.

  After a while, he returned and entered with an unreadable expression.

  ‘Shit.’ He almost spoke aloud the curse that was rolling on his tongue as he held himself back.

  This time, he finally could see a tip of his enemies’ schemes.

  Not only did they force the mayor to abdicate, as he was the weakest link in their alliance since he was just a normal person and had been an ally of their enemy until just recently. Momentarily, he was just a reluctant helper.

  But now, this was just the past, as he was finally free.

  In fact, there was no resistance in giving his reins to the prince, as his expression showed his obvious joy.

  However, to Illyan, the prince's arrival was not that great.

  ‘He seems to be not so ordinary.’

  While Illyan didn’t feel the awe for royalty like people in his home village, he still felt that he was somewhat special.

  The behavior, the confidence.

  It felt as if he had the right to the best.

  Four guards that seemed to not fear even Alfred were acting on his command, and the armor he wore could probably buy the entire town.

  Illyan smiled scornfully while he started to brew tea and prepare two cups on the table where he sat once he finished up.

  While he didn’t know that much about the man to fully judge him, he still felt that the man got everything on a silver platter.

  For someone like Illyan, who had to fight for every little thing, this was almost laughable.

  Of course, while the prince was born with a great background, Illyan was born with his ability. Without it, he would already be part of the fertilizer that nurtured the Blood Crow Forest’s flora.

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  In the end, it is mostly the inborn qualities that would allow one to shine.

  Illyan would not deny it.

  But he still believed that he fought for what he got now. He prided himself in it.

  The man, albeit with the charisma of a leader, didn’t feel the cruelty of life yet, the indifference hiding his arrogance was palpitating.

  ‘He probably has some dealings with Brynjar and others while being kept in the dark on the most important things. There is a chance he is being manipulated by them. Just maybe, he won’t be such a problem. On the other hand…’

  Headmaster Alfred.

  A man whom he didn’t even know about before they talked about his arrival.

  But just his presence made regular people feel overwhelmed.

  Even those in power were cautious around him and had various schemes up their sleeves to take care of him.

  ‘He seemed to be too straightforward.’ Instead of the sly and cunning old man he expected, the man looked to be more warrior-like.

  Was it confidence? Or ignorance?

  Illyan didn’t know, but he was sure that the man would not be so easy to take care of even if his reputation was smeared.

  ‘It seems that his influence is quite far-reaching. Considering that he was the one leading the war veterans back to their home… If even half of them decided to side with him, then he would probably be one of the biggest forces in the Vanaras. But his personality makes him look like he doesn’t seek such power. But the question is whether it truly is like that or he is just hiding his real self.’

  That was what gnawed at Illyan’s mind the most.

  Human menace was nothing new to him. He knew how selfish people were. Of course, he would not forget the kindness that he received during his life either.

  But that was the biggest problem of humans.

  People knew that demonic creatures were evil. That the goblins were disgusting creatures that kidnapped mates from other species.

  However, humans were diverse. From extreme to extreme.

  Talent, power, intelligence, morals.

  The possibilities were endless.

  And that made it so difficult to understand Alfred’s thought process.

  Was he a man of integrity he seemed to show outwardly, or is he a cunning bastard that also viewed the alchemy inheritance and would do anything to get it?

  Illyan didn’t know. He needed more time to observe.

  ‘But Aurelia seemed to know him.’

  Illyan narrowed his eyes as he decided to ask her about him once they met again.

  There were many things he wanted to know.

  For example, how dangerous was that mouflon?

  He saw mouflons a few times in the north.

  But this one was majestic. Big and dangerous.

  He didn’t know if he would win in a head-on situation even with his blood energy.

  It also seemed to be highly intelligent.

  He was really curious about it.

  But of course, the most important thing he was interested in was Alfred himself.

  His aura of killing intent! His weapon mastery!

  And especially his rune-covered arm.

  These three things immediately captivated Illyan when Alfred stood in front of his enemies.

  The feeling that washed over Illyan was indescribable.

  The greed that he was trying to quell in his heart was stirred once again as his eyes burned with passion when he watched Alfred dominate these two bastards.

  It was to the point where he had to manifest the mind-strengthening runes in his head to distract himself.

  He was already far behind in his training after the expedition took the entire year. Of course, he was training whenever possible, but it was much less intense than before the expedition.

  There were not many opportunities to use his regeneration advantage without revealing it to the others.

  He also suffered a lot of losses there.

  His Mind Power was dried up and had to be recovered from scratch while his flow was in an unknown state, basically crippled.

  Fortunately, his gains were massive and outweighed anything that happened over there. The risk was totally worth it, and Illyan didn’t regret a thing.

  Now that he also almost finished up with the second layer of [Thirteen Layers of Blood Energy], he felt that he could make some big progress in his training as he could focus on other things.

  Especially [The Way of the Body]. He felt that there was still hidden potential in that technique.

  And Illyan was sure that Aurelia had a way to unravel that hidden potential.

  Originally, he would not disclose it to anyone. After all, he promised that to Kaoran. Even if he didn’t really care, Illyan felt it would be too shameless.

  However, the technique itself was much different from the likes of [Nature Breath Method]. It basically just showed how to move the body properly and how to train it. There was no extraordinary thing going on. At least, Illyan was not aware of it.

  Thus, just by watching him moving or training, Aurelia already realized the crux of the technique and told him there were some parts to develop.

  Since it was already like this, Illyan would be a fool to not use it.

  He planned to use Aurelia’s power to its fullest potential.

  He didn’t have the talent, but at least he would have the right techniques to train with!

  There was no way for him to know how much these techniques would be modified by her, but he was sure that she would not lie to him about such things.

  And that alone made him excited.

  Alfred's show of strength still tempted him, of course, but except for the magic tattoos he had, everything else could be learned on his own with enough time.

  From his analysis, Alfred’s weapon and aura mastery was on a different level compared to his.

  It wasn’t that he was lacking in battle experience or combat awareness. He nurtured these during the years of blood in the north.

  In fact, he was quite good at fighting from the beginning. It could be said to be one of his talents.

  But Alfred was obviously older with much more experience. At the same time, Illyan could see that he was taught methodically with the weapon, which he was not.

  In the north, he was taught how to move properly and how to use his body to its maximum potential.

  He managed to do that. His strikes are simple but effective with proper use of his entire body structure.

  That, however, didn’t help him to master the weapon techniques that were more complex.

  He lacked the core knowledge to fully integrate it.

  But he didn’t mind it that much. He knew that if he really wanted to, there would be a chance to learn in the future.

  Weapon mastery was very time-consuming. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to invest the time at this moment.

  Half-assing it would be just a waste of time.

  ‘When I find someone to mentor me.’ Illyan decided in his mind.

  Without someone guiding him, it would be too difficult and lengthy for him.

  He wanted to focus on the magic finally and couldn’t afford to focus on anything else.

  So obviously, the magic tattoos were also interesting to him, but he gave up on them since he didn’t understand anything about them.

  The magic was too complicated for him to just learn anything on the side of the road.

  He would need to consult a proper magician first.

  On the other hand, the killing intent that Alfred showed definitely intrigued him.

  From what Brynjar said during the fight, it was an enlightenment of knighthood.

  That meant that as long as he continued on the path of knight, he should be able to obtain it.

  Unfortunately, he was not confident since he gained the aura in a strange way.

  But before that, there was another thing he wanted to finish before finally taking a proper step in the magic world.

  “I need to consult something with you,” Illyan said softly.

  “What is it?” Suddenly, Aurelia appeared next to him, sitting in the chair as if she was there the entire time…