Everyone stared at Kage in silence, pondering why this individual had sworn his allegiance to his Highness out of the blue.
It was quite a contradiction of their own actions taken as of late, but their thoughts were interrupted by the incoherent mumbling coming from the Young Prince as he looked towards Kage, breaking them all out of their stupor.
It seemed present to everyone that the Prince was taking to Kage, at first what appeared to be seem like a young child discovering someone new to play with.
Immediately, Alfred frowned at that possibility though, having thought to himself 'Another tries to steal my precious time with his Highness!!
I must deal with you as soon as possible!
Before you take away any little time, I have remaining with his Highness...'
Alfred prepared himself to fight for the injustice he was experiencing concerning the little time he got to spend with Ben, but Kages response threw those thoughts straight out the window.
.
"Yes, Your Highness, I arrived since yesterday… when you made you choice to summon me to your aid…
Since then, I've wandered around the area to get a sense of the beautiful land around here, Your Highness…"
"*Baby mumbling* Why did you not come to visit yesterday!
It would have been easier than the current situation we are in."
"My apologises, your Highness.
I thought it would be best to observe and investigate the surrounding landscape for a better idea of the environment before making my arrival, for your health and safety of course…
To my surprise I found several groups of bandits gathering not too far from here…
It seems they were preparing several traps and had also gathered in large numbers in several locations…
From what I have gathered so far, they planned to assassinate you, your Highness.
They were hoping to strike before you arrived at a city called Alynthn.
Therefore, I made sure no one would remain an obstacle for the remainder of your Highness' journey…
Ensuring the safest of travels for you, Your Highness…"
There was a sly grin across Kages face as he reminisced how he had sliced apart each person's throat with his blades formed from his abilities as a Master of the Shadows.
.
"*Baby mumbling* I see… Were you able to find out who sent them?"
"No, Your Highness, I was hoping you would be present when I interrogated them though." Kage graciously replied, wanting to show his devotion to the Master.
"*Baby Mumbling* …But your just one person and alone, how would you be able to find out about the culprit from the bandits after you've killed them…
Do we even have the time to try and find a way to get these answers?"
"Let me show you the powers and capabilities of the shadows, Your Highness."
.
While everyone continued to watch and observe Kage have a normal conversation with the young Prince, they continued to hope and pray in their minds it was just some weird joke or the mysterious guy was the eccentric type of fella.
Drav struggled to speak up first off than the rest of the group.
He knew someone had to say something to question the scene before them all.
He tried mustering all the courage he had to say a few words, even if he felt it was out of his authority or station to do such a thing.
Unafraid right now of Alfreds wrath, Drav gave it his all and spoke up to address Kage.
.
"H-hey there buddy…umm just wanted to ask, right…. umm… were you talking to the baby just then bro?"
"How dare you address him in such a tone!!
He should be addressed per the –"
*Baby mumbling*
"Yes of course, Your Highness. My apologises to everyone…"
.
They all watched quietly as the Prince went on a babbling tirade at Kage, while he could only reply by gently nodding his head every so often as acknowledgement of the Prince's words.
At times, Kage would say the odd, 'sorry' while nodding elegantly at his Master.
What made Drav and Zio speechless was the way Kage conducted his body language.
Every moment was graceful and elegant, as smooth, and gentle as a flowing river.
Even Alfred was puzzled by it.
His first thought about Kage was he might be an adventurer, but now he was questioning whether he was from a noble family of the Empire and why was he here?
His mannerisms could even be considered someone of royalty.
He immediately retracked everything he assumed since several dozen lifeless bodies appeared out of nowhere in their eyes.
In fact, the mangled bodies appeared from the made from the tents and persons surrounding Ben, but moved immediately before Kage with a swift move of his hands.
The bodies all had clear signs of damage from an intense battle, some were even sliced cleanly in half.
A feat even Alfred would struggle to accomplish much less the members of Withering Rose.
Infront of everyone the bodies were covered by shadows that moved about, surrounding the bodies, repairing all the damage and scars within mere seconds.
The mangled bones were snapped into place, with the bones being cracked into place cleanly.
A great deal of the bones, muscle fibres and textures of the body were repaired to be stronger than ever before.
However, the most shocking thing was the dead bodies began to move around and stand in tight formation behind Kage.
Those bodies, which were once covered in shadows with enough damage to make them unrecognisable, slowly began to resemble how there were before the battle with Kage.
Even the shadows slowly morphed into black uniforms, consisting of a long robe and hood, closely matching the one Kage was wearing, however Kages seemed more of a cloak than a full body suit.
Part of the armour that remained on the bodies were also repaired by the Shadows controlled by Kage, enhancing their durability, strength and even slightly altering it to match with the uniform of the squadron.
.
'Yep… he's a demon' was the thought going through everyone's mind.
At first, they were all confused by the darkness that appeared out of nowhere during the broad daylight, but the aura that surrounded the currently living dead before their very eyes was giving them all the cold sweats and chills, holding them strongly in place, unable to move freely.
The aura of fear, dread, suffering, cruelty and much worse flowed from the auras of each being standing alive with the powers of the Shadow Energy in Kages control.
Agatha, who was by Lues side taking care of him after he lost consciousness, was pinching, and punching him with all her might to wake him up so he could protect her.
She wanted to sprint to her big sister Liz side but in between her and Liz, were the motionless dead.
Just as she was about to scream to the heavens for somebody to save them, the one person capable of breaking the tension thankfully spoke.
.
"*Baby mumbling* shadow force… hehe…"
😐
.
They watched them kneel in unison without uttering a word.
Complete silence.
Even their actions didn't rustle an inch of the ground or cause any sounds to travel in the air.
"Your highness, I have checked their memories after bounding them to my servitude through manipulating my Shadow Energy.
What I've been able to piece together so is that they are all subordinates of the 5 Bandit Kings of the Merahs continent.
From what I can understand they are scattered throughout the Kingdoms and Empires of the Merahs continent, some disguising themselves as adventurers as well."
.
His words echoed deep into everyone's hearts that were present.
Especially in Alfreds, confirming the words of the bandit he'd interrogated a little while back.
Those men called 'Kings' were not run of the mill mercenaries one would employee for their services.
They had hundreds of bandits under their direct control, who in turn-controlled thousands upon thousands of elite bandit warriors.
Their strength was comparable to the Empires and Kingdoms of Merahs, therefore most of the Empires and Kingdoms have refused to take action against them.
They all are scared of causing any dispute that could lead to a war that could be out of their current strengths to handle and come out of without being attacked by neighbouring forces.
To stop any possible aggression between each other they have remained neutral towards the actions they would undertake throughout the continent.
Alfred didn't think his letter would help him receive any support from his own family or the Imperial Royals to deal with the bandits, but he didn't give up hope.
.
Zio looked glanced at everyone's face, as all he could see was fear and desperation across the eyes that caught his sight.
Some were shaking, while others were mumbling silently, praying for the gods and goddesses to save them.
Their eyes were hollow and void of any emotion.
Zio had long ago heard of the Bandit Kings infamy, especially the stories of all those who had ever gone against them.
Their families, loved ones and friends would all be capture, tortured, and sold off after they had their fun.
Even tales of them being skinned alive and crafted into blankets or carpets to be placed around their palaces to show their dominance and power to their enemies and subordinates as well.
.
"Your Highness, I do have a way of dealing with them, but it's not something we can deal with now or achieve..." Kage suddenly said, nearly giving Zio and the other Withering Rose members a series of heart attacks.
However, in their hearts they were glad he could understand and acknowledge their current capabilities since everyone was no match against them.
They were all relieved as there most likely will not be a day where they could compete against the Bandit Kings.
Therefore, they never thought of getting revenge against them for their actions.
But this guy who just randomly appeared and seemed to enjoy chatting with the baby Prince was planning ways to get back at the Bandit Kings.
What a joke.
.
While the discussion between Ben and Kage came to an end, Liz interfered with the tense atmosphere between the group and Kage.
She helped him get along with everyone, though curious herself about her sons' high awareness and intelligence enough to hold a complex discussion with Kage through his mumbling.
All Liz could do was be overjoyed at Bens ability and skills.
In her mind, Liz was delighted that Ben would be far above the other children his age group and many above.
Her fears of any complications from Ben being in a comatose state for a long time were mostly gone, having been deeply worried about his future development if there were issues.
Not after long, Kage seamlessly became a part of the group, while Alfred still remained heavily vigilant of the man.
Kages small group of walking shadows were tasked with ensuring the security of the campsite for the time being, along with Lue, who was sent out as punishment by the group for failing to notice Kage.
The Master of Shadows actions were mostly considered graciously by the group, with a partial number of people like Allat, Alfred, Zio keeping a close eye on their new companion.
After some time, they continued the path towards Alynthn, arriving shortly before sunset.
They made their way to the manor of the City Lord to inform the Lord of their arrival as well as finding out what type of person the Lord was.
The thought of the Bandit Kings was still on everyones mind, but they just could not do anything with their current capacity of strength, so they planned to wait and see what Kages possibly had in store.
Everyone hounded Kage endlessly for information about his discussion with the young Prince, but he assured them they would be inform in due time, so they weren't left with much of an option other than to wait patiently.
Some people weren't too happy about this, but nobody was willing to voice their opinion on the matter since none of them were capable of speaking with Ben to hear his thoughts.
.
As they went to meet the City Lord on arrival at Alynthn, they found the guards were quite polite to the Withering Roses.
In fact, most people they had passed along the way had waved or greeted the group, showing a great level of respect and admiration for the Adventurer party.
Kage and Alfred both took note of everyone's reaction to the group's interaction with the people.
Even though they had travelled for weeks together, Alfred was still cautious around them as he still did not believe them when they said they were coincidentally passing by the scene of the battle with the bandits.
Just their immediate action to swear allegiance to Ben was quite the startling and unbelievable response in their part, but the behaviour of the group so far, helped ease some of the suspicion he felt towards the group.
The response of the people helped Alfred understand they were reputable people, which meant trustworthy people, but that was yet to come over time.
.
They were all led towards the meeting room, the informal behaviour of some of the Withering Rose group was boiling Alfreds blood.
After arriving in the City Lords offices, they were acting as if it were their own residence, making Alfred and Kage wonder if they were planning to cause more harm to His Highness instead of guard his interests.
Alfred really had hoped they would behave appropriately for His Highness but he wrong to trust misfits.
"Oh, it seems like you may blow steam out your ears any minute hahaha, you are bloody glowing red boy.
You don't have worry about those fellas, I am already aware of their antics." Spoke a broad-shouldered knightly warrior that'd been domesticated behind a desk.
"What do you mean antics pipsqueak, I still remember you hammering down an entire bottle of rum before meeting your father-in-law.
Ohh I forgot, what did you do smartass?
You decided to vomit all over him and mistook the butler as him." Roth muttered while sitting in the City Lords personal chair behind his desk.
"Haha even better was him losing his –." Before Lue could finish his words, Kage interrupted the nonsense dragging on in Ben company.
"That's enough…!
I hope you would show some etiquette before His Highness presence."
.
While the Withering Rose group decided it would be best if most of them patiently waited outside.
The remaining party introduced themselves, as well as their connection to His Highness.
Agatha and Alfreds introductions were as the City Lord suspected, but what caught his attention was Liz and Kage.
The first presented herself as the adoptive mother of His Highness and the other just said 'I am His Highness's Shadow…'.
He was curious how His Highness, the so-called Forgotten Prince, had such a unique individual by his side, but he knew better than to ask a child.
Just as the City Lord turned towards Alfred to introduce himself, Kage spoke up in an irritated voice.
.
"His Highness may be a young baby currently, but he is completely aware of what is occurring around him.
I suggest you greet His Highness and not the butler or the help around him first off…"
While unpleased with the tone, the City Lord was shocked to find the cold eyes of the Prince, gazing at him as if unpleased with his conduct.
He had only felt this type of coldness a couple times before, memories of a time long passed but still ever present.
"Forgive this impudent one Your Highness, my name is Kaz Byazan.
I am the elder brother of Roth and a former member of the Withering Roses.
I am the current City Lord of Alynthn, however as you have been awarded the territory of Plano Ranges, this is the only city that falls within the area.
Therefore, you should take your rightf-."
*Baby mumbling*
"His Highness would like you to remain as the City Lord.
He understands he is lacking as a leader and especially being an infant child, he would not be able to accomplish anything.
However, he hopes you can continue to manage the city with integrity until His Highness is qualified enough to take over and control his fief."
.
Silently shocked by the actions of the Prince cutting him off and saying something which his servant could only interpret and get across to him was amazing.
Kaz was also puzzled greatly by it but looking around at the others expression it seemed like it was somewhat normal, so he didn't want to question it.
Though Kaz had underestimated His Highness, he had high hopes after meeting him for the short time he was in his presence.
After finishing up the meeting and organising the accommodation for His Highness, they parted ways leaving Kaz alone in his office wondering about the Prince and the man in black.
The one that called himself the Highness's 'Shadow'.
…
..
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