Ben went into Mythia's bedroom as the sun was rising. She was still sleeping so he stroked her hair a few times until she slowly woke up.
"I am heading off to Goldcrest city now so you will be on your own for today. You have plenty to do though so you shouldn't be lonely or bored. I am not sure when I will return, so work hard while I am gone and if you get bored at the end of the day you can go to the Movie Theater, Recreation Center, or the Public Bathhouse. Make sure you eat properly and stay out of that tavern!" Ben explained sounding like a worried older brother who was leaving his little sister alone for the first time.
"I will follow the schedule you gave me and work hard to make you proud master. I will be fine don't worry about me. Everyone is nice here and there are a lot of fun things to do."
Ben shook his head with a wry smile as he listened to her.
"I am already proud of you so just do your best and don't overwork yourself, okay?"
Mythia happily smiled and nodded at what Ben had said.
"Okay, you can go back to sleep I just wanted to say goodbye before I took off."
Ben turned and left Mythia's bedroom and cast his Zoom spell in the hallway. It took one minute for the spell to activate and teleport him to his store basement in Goldcrest.
He went down to the third floor where the holding cells were and made a small concrete room next to the large sectioned off holding room. Ben installed a large ceiling light and light switch on the wall. He also installed a water faucet to the wall with a small hose and attached a hand held shower spray nozzle to the hose.
In the center of the small room's floor, he placed a large grated drain which was connected to the Waste Treatment structure upstairs. Ben then went back into the System Store and purchased a seven-foot-long stainless steel table and a stainless steel storage rack.
He placed the table in the center of the room over the grated drain and the storage rack along the wall. The storage rack was soon neatly arranged with soaps, powders, shampoos, cloth rags, towels, brushes, combs, and cleaning scrub brushes.
Now that Ben had the small room set up he was ready. He opened his inventory and brought out Mythia's deceased mother onto the stainless steel table in the center of the room. Ben had seen plenty of death since he had arrived in this unforgiving world but for some reason, it was hard seeing the lifeless body of this innocent woman on the table.
Her clothes had been torn and shredded away leaving her naked body exposed and he could make out a faint smell from the body which had begun to decompose. Ben shook his head with a sigh as he began to think how precious and fragile a human life is.
He had killed hundreds of people since being sent to this world and each of those lives had a mother and father or possibly a family who worried for their return. Just because they were bad men didn't mean they did not have a mother or family who mourned their death.
Ben shook his head and focused on what he wanted to do before he began to depress himself with his unpleasant thoughts.
He carefully started to cut away and remove the torn clothing from the body on the table. He sprayed it down with warm water and used a bottle of soap and a soft scrub brush to gently clean away the blood and dirt.
After he had sprinkled some scented body powder on her he brought out one of the beautiful renaissance dresses he sold at his store and dressed her in it. Ben then took the time to brush her hair as best he could and purchased a casket that he placed her inside.
He repeated this process for Mythia's deceased father and her older sister who were both dressed elegantly in their caskets. Ben thoroughly scrubbed and disinfected his hands and arms and left the small room with the three caskets in his inventory.
What he had just done wasn't a pleasant experience but he wanted to do this for Mythia. He wanted her to have the closure of seeing her family clean and formally dressed when they were entombed and not to remember them lying on the bloody floor of that house in such a miserable state.
Ben went upstairs and waited for his employees to come into the store. He asked Baynard and Cordelia to follow him into his office and had them sit in the leather cushioned seats in front of his desk.
Ben sat down at his desk and began to relay what had transpired on the Aregard border. He told them about the invasion and the battle along with the town being wiped out and him taking care of Mythia.
He was sure that he would bring Mythia to his store at some point in the future and he wanted to let them all know where the little girl had come from and to avoid having them ask her questions about her family or where she used to live which would only bring back painful memories for her.
As Ben told his story he was expecting to see shock and surprise from his two senior employees but they remained unmoved until the end.
When Ben told them that they would need to keep this a secret they both looked at one another and began laughing.
Ben was confused as he looked between them and wondered what they would find funny about all this.
The two saw the confusion Ben was showing and spoke up.
"I take it you haven't been in the city for a few days, because if you had been you would know it might be a little difficult keeping this a secret my lord." Baynard responded.
"Yes, it will be quite difficult since the entire city knows about how you led your troops who were at the housewarming party south to block the Trareniel army." Cordelia explained with a smile.
"The king has hired the Messenger Union to station criers around the city who have been announcing some details about the battle for the past couple of days. Once again your popularity has soared amongst the subjects of the kingdom my lord." Baynard said with a smirk.
Ben slouched back into his chair with a shocked look on his face.
"What the hell is the king thinking about? Why would he tell the people about the invasion and cause them to worry?" Ben shook his head while trying to determine the king's thoughts."
"They must feel indebted to you my lord and find it hard to reward such a courageous act. This must be one of the ways they sought to repay you for your efforts, by making you a hero of the kingdom." Baynard interpreted with a guess of at the king's decision."
As Ben sat in his chair stunned Baynard spoke once again.
"One thing you should be happy about is the store's sales have vastly increased. Everyone wishes to make purchases from the city's savior."
"The city's savior?" Ben questioned.
"It is how the city criers have described you and the people have taken to the title already. Many of the visiting customers to the store have been asking when the city's savior would return from the battlefield."
*Sighs*
Ben let out another long sigh and wondered if this would be a good thing or would it only make it difficult for him to move around the city now unhindered.
His two employees couldn't help but laugh once again after hearing his long sigh and seeing the dread on his face.
"We better go flip the open sign and unlock the store I am sure it will be another busy day at the city's savior's store." Cordelia said as she stood up and left the room laughing along with Baynard.
While Ben remained in his chair thinking over everything he had just heard Baynard popped his head back through the open door and told Ben they had a few cart sales which needed to be delivered when there was time.
Ben stood up and asked Baynard to retrieve the customer receipts with their addresses for him. With the proper amount of ordered cart models and the delivery addresses, Ben walked toward the front door to see a line of hundreds of people waiting for the store to open.
'I have a feeling if I step outside of this store It will take me a couple hours to greet all of these customers. I guess I need to leave the store without them noticing me.'
Ben came up with a quick plan before Baynard unlocked the front doors and headed to the third floor and went out the locked steel hatch in the roof. He walked to the edge of his store roof and jumped twenty feet to the neighboring roof and continued to jump from roof to roof until he reached the end of the street.
He stopped on the last roof to equip his old commoner outfit and jumped down into an alley. A few people on the streets still recognized and greeted him and quite a few of them did a double take as he walked past but they assumed it wasn't him by the way he was dressed.
His commoner outfit allowed him to deliver the seven new carts without too many delays. Now he was free so Ben began to walk toward the Royal Palace. Before he reached the gates he stepped off the road and stood behind a fence to equip his noble outfit.
With quick long strides, he reached the palace gates and entered the main doors of the Royal Palace. When he was inside he felt relieved to finally be off the city streets. Ben had no problem conversing with his customers but people who acted like fans was something he was not used to and still uncomfortable with.
Well since I am here I should check in with the king and have Duven test me again for the Archduke title.
Ben continued through the palace corridors and entered the throne room. He was surprised to see a large group of nobles was once again assembled in the seating section below the throne.
He could only assume the king must have gathered the nobles to discuss the invasion and talk about damage control for Mythia's hometown.
When Ben entered it wasn't long before a low murmuring spread across the assembled nobles. A few stood to bow toward him and Ben could only assume this had to do with the whole "city's savior" thing. Ben remained courteous and returned their salutes and bows until one of the king's attendants walked over to him.
The king had seen Ben enter and had sent his attendant to bring him up to the throne. Ben walked over to stop and bow toward the king.
"I have just returned to Goldcrest your majesty and came to check in on the Trareniel...situation and to have my cultivation tested for the Archduke title."
"There is no longer a 'Trareniel situation' all thanks to your efforts Duke King. If it wasn't for your swift actions the enemy invaders would have been scaling our walls before our army was assembled. T agree, since we have such a large gathering we should do it now. There hasn't been an Archduke in the kingdom for over a century so we should approach this formally"
Ben briefly wondered why the royal cultivator had not been awarded the Archduke title already. After Ben had given him the pill to advance his cultivation they were both eligible for the Archduke title.
'Could it be the royal cultivator waited for me to claim the Archduke title first?'
The king waved over his attendant and sent him all off with a whisper. Ben lost in thought was not quick enough to activate his Enhanced Hearing so he missed what the king had whispered.
The king began to explain how he had assembled an army a couple days after the battle at the Sandy River bridge.
King Tobias Sletten had sent his forces to the Mythia's town to establish a defensive location. If the Trareniel king sent another wave of troops across the border they would be prepared for them.
Ben kept it to himself that he had traveled back to the small ruined town to recover Mythia's deceased family. Ben enjoyed his talk but it soon became obvious the king was expecting someone by the way he kept looking off to where his other attendants sat off to the side of the throne room.
Ben figured they were waiting on the royal cultivator to arrive and retest him for his noble rank promotion.
Groups of people began to arrive one after another while the King and Ben discussed the battle. The royal cultivator had arrived in the throne room along with Princess Alessandra who was in the company of another young woman who could pass as her sister.
There was the arrival of men who appeared to be military officers and important kingdom officials. Lost in this crowd of important arrivals was Scarlett who was also known as Scarlett the Shadow.
Princess Alessandra walked over to Ben with her companion and introduced her to him.
"Duke King I would like to introduce you to my mother Queen Chantrea Sletten of the Aregard kingdom."
Ben bowed and saluted the queen.
"I do not normally come to court but I wanted to personally thank you for those wonderful pills you gave to my family. My husband and I both look like we did just after we were married. I not only look twenty years younger but I feel twenty years younger."
The princess smiled and said, "They look and act like newlyweds and they can't keep their hands off one another. Every time I walk into a room I swear I catch them hugging or kissing one another."
Ben had to cover his mouth with his hand to stifle his laughter when heard the way princesses commented.
The king abruptly began to speak to the people who had all assembled around the throne and had them stand in different locations near him. The queen and princess sat on smaller thrones arranged just off to the right and slightly behind the king's throne. The military looking men stood off to the far right of the throne and the officials stood off to the far left while the royal cultivator stood beside Ben.
When everyone was in their places the king spoke loud enough for everyone in the throne room to hear.
"Though it wasn't planned we have a few important events which we will attend to now. Our discussions will be set aside for a later date. It has been many years since a subject of Aregard has reached the peak of nobility. Duke King has come to have his cultivation tested to see if he is eligible for the title of Archduke."
Apparently, the nobles had not heard he had advanced again because there was an excited murmur which spread across the audience. Ben thought about how many jealous simple minded nobles were silently grinding their teeth at hearing he was once again being promoted in rank.
King Sletten looked to Brom and asked him to proceed with the cultivation test after the room had quieted down.
Ben projected his aura onto the royal cultivator while Brom stood unbending with his eyes closed using his technique to once again read Ben's exact cultivation stage. A minute later the royal cultivator opened his eyes and nodded to Ben letting him know he could discontinue projecting his aura.
Brom spoke out loud enough for the audience to hear his results, "Duke King is currently at Stage Six Level Two and is on the brink of breaking through to Level Three!"
The king nodded and spoke up, "The requirements for a cultivator to become an Archduke are to reach Stage Six in their cultivation. Duke King has surpassed the requirements by almost three levels and is now eligible to be awarded the noble title Archduke!"
The king waved over an attendant holding a beautifully carved white wooden box as he stood up from his throne. When the king stood the entire room stood as well.
The king took the wooden box from his attendant who went back to stand next to his chair. The king stepped down from the dais his throne sat on and stood before Ben.
"I Tobias Sletten the twenty-second king of the kingdom of Aregard bestow the noble title of Archduke unto Duke Ben King! Archduke King will also be awarded an estate in the capital worthy of the Archduke title. Let it be known from this day forth that Archduke King has advanced his noble title and is granted all the privileges of his new rank!"
Ben bowed deeply to the king as he opened the wooden box in his hands. Inside the box was a solid platinum badge and matching platinum ring which both had the title Archduke engraved in it along with the king's crest below it.
It seemed every ring and badge awarded to nobles below the rank of Archduke were gold but since Archduke was the pinnacle of nobility they used the most precious currency metal on them. The amount of platinum it took to make the badge and ring would be worth a couple of hundred gold coins alone but since there hasn't been an Archduke for so many years it wasn't a great loss for the kingdom to only keep two of these platinum sets on hand.
The King removed Ben's gold Duke badge and ring and stored them in the box and he pinned the platinum badge to Ben's tunic and placed the platinum ring on his right index finger. With a nod, the king passed him the wooden box and returned to his throne.
As the King sat down on his throne those who had a seat also sat down. Ben remained standing along with the officials and military officers. A few feet behind Ben Scarlett also remained standing.
The king allowed everyone to sit down before he began to address all those gathered in the throne room.
"Just over a month ago we had all attended a meeting here on how we would handle the strange actions of the Trareniel Kingdom. Not long after that meeting Archduke Ben King had warned me he suspected the Trareniel kingdom were planning to invade our Aregard Kingdom. At the time it would have been too costly to gather an army without proof that Trareniel would invade. Thus I decided to send Scarlett Caldwell to try and discover why the Trareniel military was patrolling and building military outposts along our two borders. Scarlett Caldwell had infiltrated the Trareniel military camp and found that only the Trareniel upper military officers knew why they were sending so many troops to the border. Through her skills and dedication, she risked her life to secretly listened in on a meeting between the Trareniel king and his military officers. Through listening to the meeting she learned the Trareniel Kingdom had planned to secretly invade Aregard, while also planning to sack each town along the way. They were confident that their tightly guarded secret invasion would catch us by surprise and they would arrive at the gates of Goldcrest before we even discovered their plans."
"Not only did Scarlett Caldwell listen in on their invasion plans she snuck into an empty tent of one of the enemy upper military officers who had attended the king's meeting. Inside this tent, she found a map which marked out the invasion route along the Aregard east coast. They planned to sack the three eastern towns for food and supplies as they marched toward Goldcrest. Also unbeknownst to us at the time they planned to eliminate the populace of each sacked town. By killing the town's people they would destroy any chance for us to raise a large enough army to stop them. Once the invasion had succeeded the Trareniel Kingdom would simply repopulate the towns with their own loyal subjects. This crucial information provided by Scarlett Caldwell allowed Archduke King to choose a defensive location and wait for the approaching invaders to attack him."
"So for her solo intrepid operation, Scarlett Caldwell will be awarded the noble title of Baronetess. Without her efforts, the kingdom would have lost more than the southern town of Brandis to the invasion."
Once again the king stood up and waved another attendant over holding a small wooden box. Everyone stood up and watched as the king waved the wide-eyed Scarlett forward to stand next to Ben.
"I Tobias Sletten the twenty-second king of the kingdom of Aregard bestow the noble title of Baronetess unto commoner Scarlett Caldwell! Baronetess Caldwell will also be awarded an estate in the capital worthy of the Baronetess title along with 500 gold coins! Let it be known from this day forth that Baronetess Caldwell is granted all the privileges of her new rank!"
The King pinned the gold noble badge to Scarlett's plain dress and placed the gold noble ring on her right index finger. The king passed the box to the shaking hands of Scarlett who tightly gripped it so she wouldn't drop it.
This was all beyond her expectations Scarlett only thought she would receive a few gold coins for her role but now she was suddenly given a noble title, an estate, and 500g! This was a life changing event for her who was once an assassin on the run from the western kingdoms who still wanted to put her to death.
She was an orphan from the slums who grew up on the streets earning a coin anyway she could. While she was still young Scarlett fell in with a group of experienced thieves who taught her how to move around unseen and unheard. Later she adapted these skills to assassinations and began to make more money than a thief could but her reputation soon caught up to her and she became a wanted woman.
Now here she was a few years later a noble of the Aregard Kingdom and now untouchable! Even if the western kingdoms found her location they couldn't do anything to extradite her with a noble title!
As her head swirled around with this crazy turn of events the King returned to his throne and spoke out once again.
"Archduke King with the information provided by Baronetess Caldwell led his private forces of approximately three hundred and ninety combined troops against a force of three thousand combined troops who made up the entirety of the Trareniel invading army. The Archduke and his men created a fortified defensive location at the foot of the southeastern Sand River bridge and defeated the invading army."
"Princess Alessandra Sletten along with Royal Cultivator Brom Duven both stood witness to the battle and played their own roles in the defense. The Trareniel and Brandomma kingdoms for reasons unbeknownst to us have signed an alliance in secret and the Brandomma Kingdom had loaned their royal cultivator to the Trareniels to aid in their invasion of Aregard."
"During the battle, Archduke King and Royal Cultivator Duven both fought and eliminated the two enemy royal cultivators as Archduke King's troops held back the surging tide of enemy troops who continued press forward under the leadership of a fire elemental mage."
"When the enemy cultivators were eliminated Archduke King joined up with Princess Alessandra to charge into the enemy ranks and fight the enemy while being surrounded on all sides. With the pressure of Archduke's troops assaulting from the northern end of the bridge and the Aregard Royal Cultivator Brom Duven holding the southern end of the bridge the invading army became trapped and was eliminated."
The following morning before sunrise after the Sandy River battle the Archduke once again led his troops to attack the most southern Aregard town of Brandas. Brandas had been sacked by the invading army and 98% of its population were mercilessly slaughtered. The Archduke along with his troops eliminated the remaining enemy troops who were left behind to secure the town and they rescued and returned all the Brandas survivors to Goldcrest."
"For his courageous actions, Archduke Ben King will receive the kingdoms highest award, the "Defender of Aregard" title. Many here may be unfamiliar with this title because it is it nigh impossible to receive. A subject of the Aregard Kingdom must prevent the capture, destruction, or financial ruin of the Aregard Kingdom to become eligible to be considered for this award."
[Auto_Notice!] [You have received a title! You have received the title Defender of Aregard!]
[Defender of Aregard]: The highest award for heroism in the defense of the Aregard Kingdom. This title can only be presented by the current king of the Aregard Kingdom. A person who holds this award can be officially given or they can rightfully take full command of the Aregard Kingdom's armies during times of war. This title is nigh impossible to obtain and is to only be awarded to those who have somehow defended the kingdom from destruction with their actions.
As the auto notice and title description popped up for Ben to review the king looked to the line of military officers and officials who had been standing off to the sides.
The two groups highest ranked men walked toward the throne and bowed before they opened a wooden box in each of their hands.
Inside of the official's wooden box was what looked to be a red and white ribbon about three inches long and one inch wide with a gold pin and latch. Inside of the military officer's wooden box was a circular gold medallion.
The king collected the ribbon and the medal and snapped them together with a locking clasp to join the two pieces as one.
When the two parts were joined he stood up and pinned the ribbon with the medal dangling from it next to Ben's platinum noble badge. When Ben looked down at the medal he saw an engraving of a feather quill crossed with a sword in front of a shield. Under the quill, sword, and shield read Defender of Aregard.
When the king had pinned the medal onto Ben's tunic he gave an explanation to everyone looking on.
"This awarded medal has been engraved with a sword, quill, and shield on it. These three symbols represent the three ways this title is earned. One must save the Aregard Kingdom through a defense, offense, or economic counterinsurgency. Archduke King defeated the invading army with his defense and counter-attack at the Sandy River bridge. If it were not for his actions thousands of innocent Aregard subjects would have been killed and the kingdom would have fallen into the Trareniel king's hands to become an extension of the Trareniel Kingdom."
King Sletten returned to his throne and everyone sat back down. It seemed that the makeshift ceremony was at an end so Ben stepped forward and asked for permission to address the king.
"Please feel free to speak Archduke King."
""As I have always done I would like to make a request for a section of land in the city instead of receiving an estate. I have already begun to settle into the noble district and I believe my current estate is grand enough to represent my title as an Archduke." Ben asked with a smile.
The king laughed and said, "From what I have heard you current estate supposedly trumps my Royal Palace! I will have to stop by a pay a visit one of these days and have you show me around your new place! I have no problem with you selecting a section of land in the city of equal value and will inform the Land Development Office of my decision."
"Thank you and It would be my honor to entertain you, your majesty! You and your family are always welcome at my home or businesses. I actually have plans to make a new business that I think you will enjoy so I will be sure to leave a special section for you and your family if you chose to visit."
"Excellent I look forward to seeing what you come up with next!" The king replied.
Ben then turned to the audience and raised his voice loud enough for everyone present to hear.
"I may have stopped the Trareniel invasion but I do not consider this to be over and done with! I lost twelve brave men in that battle and have taken in a young girl who lost her family to the villainous Trareniel soldiers! In the near future I will recruit and train more men and I plan to travel down to the Trareniel Kingdom and pay them back for their trespasses into the Aregard Kingdom. Even though I was not born in the Aregard Kingdom I consider it to be my second home now and will always defend it to the best of my abilities and if anyone damages this kingdom or harms its subjects I will always retaliate!"
The king watched on with an excited look as Ben addressed the assembled crowd of people who were gathered in the throne room. The gathered nobles applauded his declaration to attack the Trareniel Kingdom.
When Ben finished speaking the king spoke again. "There is one last thing that I have not explained about the Defender of Aregard title. The person who is awarded this title obviously has the kingdom's best interest at heart so they are allowed to take control of the kingdom's army and guards during times of war. Since Archduke King is so adamant on defending our kingdom then we will all have to rely on Archduke King to lead us to victory if any other kingdoms chose to invade our lands!"
Not only was Ben blown away by this information but a good portion of the nobles looked on in horror. Anyone who had ever held ill-intentions for Ben was scared to death now. If he could control the guards and armies during wartime then why couldn't he use them to "accidentally" wipe out their households or businesses while the city was in chaos?
Who would question an Archduke who held the Defender of Aregard title? He could simply say they were traitors working with the enemy or that the enemy had troops had exterminated their household before he could send anyone to help.
Even a fool would realize that Archduke King was now the third most powerful man in the kingdom next to the royal cultivator and his highness the king! If you held the power of the kingdom's guards and armies you could dictate who lived and who died during a siege. Normally this wouldn't worry them because wars were not a common thing but the Trareniel kingdom had formed an alliance with the southern kingdom of Brandomma who had lost their cultivator in that battle.
What if the Brandomma Kingdom decided to send an army across Trareniel lands to seek revenge for the loss of that royal cultivator? Archduke King could allow those invaders free rein in the kingdom and use the chaos of war to eliminate any one of them that offend him.
Most of these nobles were not actors and they were not used to hiding their emotions Ben could glance over the crowd and tell who had been against him or favored him by the way they responded to the king's words.
Athena had provided him with the information on the kingdom's nobles so as he scanned the crowd he knew who each of these people were and made sure to remember how they just reacted. He did not plan to make any moves against them and was sure they were not dumb enough to try anything against him but if they ever came looking for a favor or needing help he would simply turn his back on them.
After Ben had explained his future plans and the ceremony was finished the high ranking officials and military men came over to congratulate him on receiving the Defender of Aregard title.
Ben was curious and asked why the two groups each held a separate piece of the medal before it was presented to the King.
The kingdom's offices division and the military officer division both held a section of the award to symbolize the title Defender of Aregard could be awarded by saving the kingdom through either economic or military accomplishments. Ben understood why they both held a section of the medal once it as explained. This way both divisions of the kingdom could be represented during the awarding of this title no matter how the title had been acquired.
Before Ben left he made sure to congratulate Baronetess Caldwell on her promotion to nobility and to thank her for her outstanding work in securing the invasion route. If it wasn't for her infiltration of the enemy camp he would not have been able to stop the invaders with so few men. If Ben had to match his men on a wide-open battlefield against three thousand enemy troops or defend the Goldcrest walls with them he would have lost a lot of soldiers.
Everyone continued to mingle around and discuss everything that had just happened. Ben said farewell to the king and his family and left the throne room with an attendant following him.
The two of them went directly to the nobility records office to change his title and from there they went over to the Land Development Office. The attendant with Ben informed them about the king's decision to allow Ben to pick a section of available land.
It was finally time for been to begin working on his next business project he had planned to open in Goldcrest!