"I think that's enough, and this is also not the place to be doing such things." The man who leads the inquisitors over said lightly, "He is still the son of a duke, and regardless of his actions you cannot kill him when you're completely uninjured."
"You also killed his retainers, most of them are from high ranking families, second and third sons of counts families as well as the first sons of many baron houses, if you kill him too it will be the final nail in the coffin and you will have turned a large portion of the Carrien elite against you." Lord Otol continued with a heavy sigh pinching the bridge of his nose.
"So?" I replied coldly, "His men attempted to kill me on his orders, I am a direct servant of the fifteenth prince of the Carrien Empire, a royal acknowledged by the court of carrien and Earl of the empire, I am below only he and the emperor, I have no need to listen to any others orders nor pleas."
"Y-you, do you see yourself as some sort of god!? To think of yourself as below two and above millions." Lionel Sercan shouted immediately getting an ear cut off causing him to scream once more.
"Seramia, help to heal him, Marcus spread the men out and clear out this area, Netman, Huantu take the northwest and southeast respectively, set defenses and put the men in order." I said as I crouched down to Lionel's eye level, "So? What do you have to say?"
"Stop." Suddenly a frigid voice broke the atmosphere causing everyone to freeze.
From the woods, an old man walked out clad fully I'm black he unsheathed his sword, his killing intent thick enough to challenge even Sir Cleganes.
"Oh? An older generation wants to get involved with the matters of the young folk?" Sir Clegane smirked heavily, "Loid, you noble suckle I see you are doing well after betraying the order to the nobles."
"Clegane, you are still as childish as that day in Melcurt square, believing in those old customs like they will protect you or mean anything in the face of those true powers in Carrien." Loid replied in an airy voice as though he had never spoken at all.
"I said I wouldn't get involved in his matters, but you are a different matter altogether." Sir Celgane jumped off his horse exuding terrible waves of his qi.
"Last time we fought you took my eye, I am no match for you now but do not believe that I will simply allow harm to come to the second young master of the Sercan house," Loid said coldly drawing nearer.
"Attacking a noble sponsored by royalty with the intent to kill in front of many people, threatening others of noble rank bestowed by a royalty, attempting to coerce those directly under the royal house and now this Loid a person of the older generation has come with the intent to kill if they do not get their way? I say, Lionel Sercan do you believe that the royalty are nothing but pebbles at your feet?" Keneth suddenly walked forward with a vicious countenance.
He had been bottling up his emotions since he saw me getting attacked, his countenance slowly deteriorating.
"What? Of course not! He is the one who spoke first being rude to Lord Otol, I was simply defending him, isin't that right?" Lionel Sercan yelled in response looking to Lord Otol.
"I at no point felt threatened, you acted out of line." Lord Otol responded evenly looking at me with a strange look in his eye.
"Y-you!" Lionel Sercan stood slowly backing away towards Loid who had not stopped walking this whole time.
"So, it is true then? You the son of Duke Sercan see the royalty as nothing but dirt at your feet? Not only is the person you were trying to attack innocent, but you have overstepped your bounds horribly looking down on royalty." A new voice interjected as a young man approached with a large force of five hundred men.
"You... Sitrick Pasiam, how dare you come here to Otol, what are you trying to do entering the fifth prince's territory?" Loid said angrily flaring his qi only to have it suppressed by Sir Cleganes.
"So this is the fifth prince's territory? Do you all not even put the fourth prince in your eyes? The lords of Otol have been helped by the fourth prince for many years, and now we have come to speak with the current lord offering our support only to find that you have come here and are speaking down about the royal house, do you know what the consequences of such a thing are?" Sitrick Pasiam said raising his hand.
His men had been stopped by my own and not allowed to proceed forward, but the moment Sitrick Pasiam raised his hand a fiercesome qi storm shot from the large force projecting the aura of a tiger prepared to attack at the slightest sign of movement.
"Hmph." Releasing my own qi in response I walked towards Sitrick Pasiam.
Every step was harder than the last like a trial of bravery, it's good that I am used to braving hails of blades.
Once I arrived in front of Sitrick Pasiam my qi had peaked the Soul Heart of Dratan resonating with my own causing the projection of a scarlet wolf to shoot up behind me covering my men in it's aura allowing them to regain their footing.
"So there are people like you here in this backwater territory?" Sitrick Paisam said curiously, "Who did you study under to be able to project such a strong qi reflection at such a young age?"
"The battlefield has taught me all I need to know," I replied lightly standing not an inch away from Sitrick Paisam causing the knights around him to flare up drawing their swords and releasing their Neophyte auras.
Many of them are high-level Neophytes but they are the same as the others not knowing how to properly use their qi taking it as some sort of energy they can just mold and force any way they want causing its actual useability to drop significantly from what it could be.
"I see." Sitrick Paisam said lightly, "Join the fourth prince's faction and I promise you will not be treated badly."
Shock ran through the area as even Sir Clegane raised an eyebrow switching focus away for an instant.
"I, along with my lord, Prince of carrien and Earl of Dra, Surnova Carrien do not wish to take sides in this conflict and will follow whoever it is that is found fit to inherit the throne." I politely rejected his offer, "Now then, what business do you have here?"
Sitrick Paisam glanced over at Lionel whose treatment was almost over, "I came here to speak with Lionel Sercan but it would appear he is otherwise engaged at the moment."
"Yes he is." I replied a thought passing through my mind as I lowered my voice, "Do you happen to want to get rid of his influence here in Otol?"
Sitrick Paisam looked at me silently for a few moments, "What if I do?"
"Then watch closely and come tonight." I replied turning around, "Lionel Sercan, I believe you owe me some information in exchange for your life."
Hearing this the freshly treated Lionel Sercan began to sweat slightly, "Loid quickly!"
Loid, the hooded man charged forward but was stopped by Sir Clegane who had already trapped him inside of that damnable bubble of his.
"Trying to break our deal? Do you want me to cripple you further?" I coldly approached lining up my saber with his eye only a half-inch away from taking his sight, "Don't you owe me some information?"
Lionel Sercan ground his teeth as he spoke, "What do you want to know?"
I smirked, "Lord Otol, for what did this boy come to talk to you about?"
Lord Otol looked slightly shocked being called out to so suddenly but began smiling after a few seconds, "He came to me speaking about wanting my support and in exchange, he would make sure that if something happened to Dra I would be left alone."
"Tell me, Lord Otol, what kind of something is it? Could it have something to do with the increase in soldiers at the border of the Sercan Dukedom?" I asked maliciously staring directly at the shivering Lionel Sercan his eyes betraying his silence.
"He said that in the near future when the emperor died, there would be a great bloodbath and that I should be smart enough to know who will win in the end telling me to join him or suffer, threatening war with Dra and speaking ill of the emperor." Lord Otol said with a wide grin, "That is not all, he also said that he already had everything prepared in the capital of Dra, that after he spoke with his contact it would only be a matter of giving the word."
"I see, and did he say who this contact was?" I replied curiously a vicious grin slowly forming on my face.
"He did not." Lord Otol sighed looking at Lionel Sercan with pity.
"I see, well, recently a certain syndicate was slaughtered by my hand in the capital, every single one of them was either purified or killed, they were followers of Laminas, if that name rings a bell, it couldn't be that you were conspiring with a syndicate run by followers of an evil deity like that which attacked the emperor a hundred years ago right?" I looked at Lionel Sercan who now looked so pale he could blend in with the clouds.
"No! We would never deal with such people!" Lionel Sercan shouted defiantly.
"'We?'" I said evenly, "Could it be that this is not simply your plan, but planned with the Duke Sercan as well?"
"We- I- I have done nothing wrong!" Lionel Sercan cracked shouting as he tried to wrap his head with his arms.
It seems the anxiety and stress has crushed him.
"The crowns Inquisitors already have Lerrial Loijon dead after he spilled everything including his business with the Duke Sercan, now you say you were here waiting for a contact from the capital of Dra that has enough power to topple it?" I said slowly, "But you say it wasn't him? If not him then who?"
"We have apprehended several of the young blessed of Laminas holding them in our custody and awaiting extract to Fenadir for processing, many of them have been crying out your name you know?" Keneth said lightly like a snake in his ear.
Of course, that's not true yet.
The crown's inquisitors should have been approaching those locations soon enough.
"It- it wasn't me! I am innocent! I've done nothing wrong!" Lionel Sercan shouted desperately basically admitting his guilt.
At this point I stood up with a grand smile, "Thank you for being so cooperative, you have earned your life so you may now leave."
"T-this is not the end!" Lionel Sercan shouted as he wobbly ran for the woods.
Sir Clegane let Loid out of his web who said nothing running after Lionel and disappearing into the woodwork.
Glancing at Sitrick Paisam I smiled and nodded, "We set camp here for tonight! In the morning we go to the first location! Prepare your armors and clean your weapons!"
"Yes, sir!" Keneth and the others replied barking orders to their men as they truly began setting down a camp instead of just taking up defensive positions.
"Why don't you come and rest inside Otol?" Lord Otol said nicely.
"I'm afraid I don't wish to get too comfortable as we will only be here for a day maybe two." I replied seriously then whispering, "Are the preparations done?"
Lord Otol nodded his eyes swiveling to the side of his head where Sitrick Paisam still stood as though he were trying to warn me about him.
"The firstborn son of Duke Paisam with lands on the other side of the Luminos Lake, Sitrick Paisam is said to be a very talented Battle Master being at the high Neophyte realm and earning his scars in many battles with pirates and rebels." Keneth whispered in my ear, "I met him a long time ago when we were children but he really hasn't changed so I recognized him immediately."
I see, well.
Now is no longer the time to be speaking of politics or plots.
Sitrick Paisam is clearly of a separate faction from Lionel Sercan, both of these dukes houses support the fifth and fourth princes respectively and as such, I will have no place past here since Sitrick will likely take what he saw and heard here and wipe out all influence of the Duke Sercan's house within Otol then try and instate his own.
His house has supported Otol for many decades so it should be fine, his house is likely already heavily invested so it would be impossible to toss his family's influence out with the time I have anyway.
I'll settle for just one as a form of payback at Duke Sercan for trying to plot the destruction of Dra and as gratitude towards Lord Otol for not turning on me and trying to get benefits from Lionel by staying neutral.
He is a good man.
Once we set up camp Alias arrived having lagged behind previously due to some orders I gave him prior to arriving.
Playing around with the qi in my body I could feel how much closer we have become as now I just need to think about what I wish and it will move with precision executing the task without requiring effort on my part besides a thought.
At times I do not even need to tell it what to do as it has learned from the various battles I have fought already knowing what I will do and becoming more and more in sync with my every move.
Once I have mastered the harmony between soul and self I will receive a massive combat boost since I will no longer need to consciously guide the qi or prompt it, instead, it will simply know what to do allowing me to focus fully on the battle.
I cannot communicate with the scarlet qi as it does not speak, nor does it think, it is like a ball of pure instincts, one that many try and reign in and control but one can never fully control their instincts thus many people find difficulty into their path as Battle Masters causing them to have severe backlash when they overuse their qi or mishandle it, it is not that the qi is exploding about due to your mishandling, it is angry at you for harming it and in its instinct ridden mind, trying to kill it.
I've also found that all the qi in my body is one, meaning that when I use qi it is not like it is being expended but rotated in and out of use, so when one section is used up a new section will rotate in naturally causing the recovery rate of my qi to be leagues above others, once I tried to forcefully keep the used up section in place only for my qi to react like a person whose arm was about to cut off.
Qi is both one and separate, it is a living thing that learns and grows along with the self, in my case it is like a blank sheet of paper slowly being filled and finding itself as well as it's strengths.
Harmony of self and soul, the qi matures with battle and experiences just as people do, that is what I have come to truly understand.
Hum.... that Lionel and Sitrick both had a core of Battle Masters with them at the mid to high Neophyte level, each of them with a higher quantity of qi than me but not higher quality.
I should get myself a core of Battle Masters who train in Scarlet qi besides Shion.
I'll ask Dratan about it when we next see each other since he is technically the oldest user of this qi.
"Agashi, Sitrick Paisam is here to see you." Alias appeared from the darkness of the tent in his butler uniform bowing slightly his demeanor that of a high class butler.
He must be feeling really excited right now I can see the smile trying not to form on his face.
"Send Sitrick Paisam in, ah and I thought you should know that you are doing a great job as a butler," I said evenly sitting down.
I guess I should praise him a bit.