Although Hidek and Lanar had their doubts, they did not voice them. Why did everything sound so absurd? Only Elizabeth nodded and replied, "Yes, we believe they're from the wilderness too."
"But there's one thing I don't understand," the Sword King gave her a piercing gaze. "Why tell me all this now? Why the change in attitude?" In his mind, she was a young schemer in the making, so this sudden honesty confounded him. He felt suspicious.
"Everyone keeps asking me that, but I'm not sure what to say," she replied wryly. "But I'm tired of tricking and scheming. I'm tired of fooling everyone. That's why I'm telling you everything honestly. I want a genuinely good working relationship between us."
Through his senses, the Sword King could sense her honesty, which made him even more confused. To be frank, he wondered if she hit her head waking up this morning. Or she had a split-personality no one knew about? If not, it was abnormal for someone to change this much overnight! But he had to admit that his impression of her improved. At the beginning, he looked down on her due to her unsightly motives, trying to transform him into a pawn in this grand game of war. He played along because he felt his good fortune from the Featherwind Sect, and he would leave once he was done. It was this shallow and insincere deal where they used each other. Nothing more, and nothing less. However, Elizabeth abandoned that unsightly scheming and opted for an honest approach instead. The Sword King was pleasantly surprised. Elizabeth became more interesting by the second.
"What does Your Highness want me to do exactly?" the Sword King wondered.
"It's like this. Our supplies are being blockaded by the empire's forces, which will starve our soldiers here. To prevent our army from collapsing, we need to secure the Maelstrom Gulf. Thus…"
"You want us to guard your fleets."
"…You could say that, yes."
"What makes you think that we could guard an entire fleet of hundreds of ships by ourselves?" he humored. "Don't you think you're overestimating us?"
"The kingdom can guard against conventional threats, but the problem lies with unconventional threats, such as the Featherwind Sect. From what I can tell, they're particularly wary of a Rank 3 King. Your presence would be a strong deterrent against them."
"Yet, we haven't seen them since the Battle of Liguang… Hidek and Lanar, I'll leave this to you. Any problems?"
"Master, you must be joking," Hidek immediately protested. How could he not? His master was the one who reaped all the benefits, while they, the disciples, got nothing in return. Now they had to do the grunt work too? They might be disciples, but they had their own pride! There were lines that should not be crossed.
"He's right. We came to learn swordsmanship, not babysit the kingdom," Lanar snorted. Just like the deal between the Sword King and Elizabeth, their discipleship was also a kind of transaction. If he had nothing to gain from it, then he would quit without a second thought. That was the type of man he was.
Sword King Sin nodded and felt it made sense. Still, he was not exactly thrilled to babysit the kingdom either. That was why he threw the task onto his disciples in the first place. He glanced at Elizabeth and had an idea. He said, "How about this then? Give them access to the kingdom's treasury and intelligence network, and you'll have their help."
Elizabeth was confused. "Why would you need the treasury and our intelligence network?"
Chuckling, he replied, "Lanar has been looking for a certain sword that the kingdom has in their treasury. It's called the Jade Grasscutter's Light. If you can give it to him, he might be willing to lend you a hand."
"Jade Grasscutter's Light?" Elizabeth asked.
"That sword is my family's heirloom that we lost five generations ago. I won't go into detail about it, but if you want to investigate my background, my full name is Lanar Shadon. Give me that sword in perfect condition without strings attached, and I'll promise to guard your fleets," he said solemnly.
Looking at his renewed interest, Elizabeth nodded. "Jade Grasscutter's Light, right? I should be able to request it from the treasury. What about the other request then?"
"That would be mine, Your Highness," Hidek spoke up. "I want the original swordsmanship manuals of the empire's legendary hero, Lord Yue Shu. Transcripts are also acceptable should the original copies be destroyed."
"Lord Yue Shu… I remember that this person died over two hundred years ago. It will be difficult to recover any information about him, much less his swordsmanship manuals. I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything at this time." At the same time, she was slightly amused that Hidek wanted swordsmanship manuals from someone who died over two hundred years ago, when he was under the tutelage of the current Sword King Sin Quelldown.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"Good. That settles it then," the Sword King said.
"Actually, I have another request for you," Elizabeth mentioned awkwardly. She braced herself for whatever might happen before saying, "As you might know, the Imperial Council has begun nurturing Perception Realms wielding Martial Energy on a large-scale. In the Battle of Liguang alone, they could field more than five hundred Perception Realms and eight thousand Half-Perception Realms. Everyone could use Martial Energy to some degree to perform flying strikes for example. Although we fielded our Steel Eagle Brigade and the Li Family's Lotus Division, it was still a one-sided fight. We couldn't do anything against them. We believe that once the Imperial Council perfects their training regime, they would-"
"When did the Featherwind Sect appear again?" he interrupted.
"Their first reported appearance was at the Xi Wall almost one year ago."
"That's impossible."
"Why would you say that?" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
"It's too fast. You're telling me that the Imperial Council trained almost nine thousand people into using Martial Energy in less than a year? Something doesn't add up."
"…Didn't Benedict learn Martial Energy in the same time?"
"That kid had a special aptitude for it. Not everyone can accomplish the same thing," the Sword King replied bluntly. "It's like teaching someone how to swim. Some might learn it in a flash, while others might struggle for years. Some might even sink and drown instead. It's the same principle. To train nine thousand people… It isn't something that could be done in a year."
"They might have a more efficient and refined method to nurture Perception Realms that we don't know about. They are from the wilderness after all."
He fell into thought. For some reason, he felt that things were not as they seemed, but that was the troubling thing. Although his senses improved by leaps and bounds, thanks to his Instinct Realm advancement, it often left things up to interpretation. He hated this ambiguity. How was it any different from blindly guessing?
Returning to the topic at hand, he said, "Simply put, you want me to teach the kingdom how to reach Perception Realm and how to use Martial Energy, right? I'm not sure how the Featherwind Sect managed it, but it's not something I can do nor want to do. Nothing you say will change that, so save your breath."
Speechless, she could only think it was not easy to persuade this man. In other words, he was a pain in the butt! She sighed, "Very well. We can put that aside for now. All that I ask you is that when the Featherwind Sect finally makes a move, you'll respond in kind."
"Of course. That was our original agreement," he smirked.
"Once again, on behalf of the Alzar Kingdom, thank you for assistance. We won't forget this debt."
The girl proceeded to bow to the three men solemnly. They were truly the kingdom's saviors in this time of need! Their appearance would play a pivotal role in this war's outcome! It was natural for her to express her gratitude. This also played into why she decided to tell them everything because any schemes or trickery would be a disservice to them. Perhaps, her grandmother would disagree, alongside the entire Royal Family and the Royal Assembly… Perhaps, even herself from yesterday would disagree too. However, she did not want to treat people like weapons or tools for her to use. She was sick of that twisted mentality. Otherwise, what would be the difference between her and another tool? Rather than doing this for the Sword King and his disciples, it was more accurate to say she was doing it for herself. She wanted to validate her own feelings and confirm her own resolve!
"To a long-lasting healthy working relationship." She smiled as she extended her hand forward.
The Sword King grinned and shook her hand, his interest only growing. "I'm looking forward to it."