"He's the one who saved my life," Eva began as she recalled the events, "He was very strong for his age and was able to save Kailey as well. He even got revenge on our attackers by killing the entire gang of bandits.
"There were two 2nd Rings and several dozen 1st Rings, however, one of the 2nd Rings had a powerful skill that allowed her to sneak attack all of our 2nd Ring guards all at once! The fight was over before it even began.
"The young man also gave me first aid. He pulled out a giant piece of the carriage that had stabbed me in the stomach and gave me enough medicine for me to survive until I got back to town.
"He was so young yet so strong. I saw him use no skills yet he easily wiped out our enemies. On top of that, I didn't feel any essence in him! It was all very strange."
Eva went through a lot of emotions after sitting down by her father's side. Winslow stroked his white beard with a "hmm." Now there were more questions than answers but it seemed like this talented young man was at least on their side in this matter.
"Did he say what he was doing in the Ether forest alone? He would have at least had to be a 2nd Ring to fight on the same level as those bandits but to survive by himself in there is suicide."
Eva had mentioned that she thought he came from a direction deeper in the forest. How deep, she couldn't know, but for him to show up by himself and eliminate so many enemies without essence and skills, was a huge feat.
"No father, he wasn't a 2nd Ring." Eva smirked knowingly and teased her father.
Winslow chuckled and narrowed his eyes at his little girl.
"Don't get cheeky with me brat! He wasn't a 3rd Ring was he? Why would a 3rd Ring be hanging out on the outskirts of the kingdom? There's nothing out there unless they went to retire but even then, there are much nicer places."
He kept thinking but his daughter's words shook his core.
"No father, the other way. He was a 1st Ring."
"Daughter this isn't the time for jokes." Winslow got a bit frustrated by her attitude.
Eva sighed and shook her head.
"I swear on my love for Henry, that I'm not lying." Eva looked at her father seriously and he widened his eyes.
Henry was the love of his daughter's life and even though they had no children, they were the happiest out of all his children. Henry was a good man and quite talented as well. He even considered giving him his Mantrigeld family but knew it would break up his family so he could only forget about it.
He did however give him an important position in finances to have the young man help raise their businesses to new heights.
For his daughter to swear like that, he could only sigh and nod his head. His daughter never swore on anything before, especially someone so important to her. If she had said anything else he still wouldn't have believed her but she played another big card and caught him off guard.
"Then explain to me how a 1st Ring could fight and kill so many enemies without sustaining major injuries like you described?" Winslow felt something was off but he wasn't sure what it was.
"I don't know. I wasn't there to witness the fight but I did feel his aura and it is incredibly pure, even more so than the crown prince!"
Winslow widened his eyes. Was that even possible? Ashton Sorketh was the crown prince of the kingdom and was a genius from birth. His aura was incredibly pure as well and he was immediately labeled the crown prince, becoming enemies with his two older brothers before he could see.
He was projected to be the next 8th Ring this kingdom gave birth to in several millennia and would lead them to greatness. All the noble houses sucked up to him and he was the definition of a haughty young master.
He was spoiled and got whatever he wanted but his talent was truly impeccable since he managed to reach the 3rd Ring by adulthood! He was then able to hit the 4th Ring at 18 and was currently 22, getting closer every day to the 5th Ring.
Even he could fight against enemies above his current stats, but for him to fight against a higher ring and not only kill them but come out unscathed? Even the genius crown prince couldn't claim he could do that.
On top of that, this young man seemed to be the same age as the crown prince, yet his daughter was comparing the two? Blasphemy! In Winslow's mind, the young man wasn't talented at all to only be a 1st Ring at that age, but what was the explanation for him killing the bandits who were a Ring higher?
Winslow thought that the young man was in cahoots with the bandits, acting like the hero for the survivors so they wouldn't get investigated. It seemed way more plausible than him fighting above his Ring so maybe he got a hold of some treasure to change how his aura looked.
"Honey, I think you might have been tricked, It's impossible to fight above Rings and it seems too coincidental for him to save you guys and then kill your enemies out of the goodness of his heart."
"No father, He wasn't. And I know that as a fact because of who his mentor is."
Winslow raised an eyebrow, this kid had someone teaching him? Before he could ask any more questions, his little girl got a bit bashful and turned away from him.
"Father, do you remember how I always talked to you about Captain Setter?"
Winslow paused for a moment to register her words before he burst out laughing.
"Of course I do honey! You had the biggest crush on him growing up! I even caught you in your room mast-" "DAD!!" Eva cut him off and hit him with a bright red face.
That was the most embarrassing moment of her childhood and she never forgave her father for barging in during her "personal" time as she whispered "Mr. Setter~." Winslow continued laughing and tried to apologize. It wasn't a very good apology but it helped to relieve all the tension he had over the last several months.
He hadn't laughed so well in a long time so he smiled brightly at his blushing daughter. Even as a mature woman who was already married, she still felt embarrassed about her childhood crush.
"A-Anyways, Captain Setter is the young man's, Alex's, mentor. However, he was very cold to me. I have a feeling something happened to him regarding nobles when he retired 20 years ago."
Eva looked to her father hoping for answers. Winslow thought a bit before sighing. He knew of the events that actually happened but didn't talk about them since he knew his little girl would be furious. Also, what could they do? He "offended" a noble house and as a commoner, that was a serious crime.
He was lucky to still leave alive but the treatment of commoners in the army got worse after Alan left. Winslow explained to his daughter what actually happened and her face was livid.
"What?! Those fucking Carters are courting death! Did they really think they could get away with something like that?! To assault a high-rank officer and not expect consequences?" Eva tried to stand up but after remembering she couldn't, she took a pillow and started hitting the couch with it.
Winslow tried to calm his daughter down and explain more.
"The Carters did in fact get away with it. They bribed everyone in the area who saw to keep their mouths shut and called in a favor with the king to pardon the young Gregory at the time. It is unfortunate but there was nothing we could do. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."
Eva was heartbroken at the news that her hero was harmed by the country he served and forced to live in shame with meager compensation. No wonder he was so far on the edge of the kingdom, nobody would bother going all the way to a dangerous city like Floren.
There wasn't anything there worthy of their time even though there were gold mines and lumber. They had plenty of those things already and it was just more work for them and not enough money in their pockets.
Plus the bad management of the town kept them off the map, making it easier for Alan to disappear.
"Thank you father for telling me that, if I ever get the chance, I will make sure to wring that fucking brat's neck!" Eva said making a choking gesture with her hands and an angry face.
Winslow chuckled a bit before asking more questions.
"I can understand why he went there now to be alone, but why suddenly take on an apprentice?"
Eva then went on to explain how Alex showed up out of nowhere and became a debt slave. She learned this from Sharla mostly since the lovely wife would come and talk to her so she wasn't lonely.
Winslow sighed again at how bad this kingdom was. They were killing their own loyal men and letting traitorous flies linger in their shit-covered kingdom. He hated where this kingdom was going and it would probably only get worse if the crown prince took the throne.
The current king and the prince's father was just as bad but at least he was wise enough thanks to his age to make some good decisions and not let the terrible noble faction get whatever they wanted.
The Mantrigelds were currently neutral but would probably join the 2nd prince's faction, should a war of sorts happen between the brothers.
"I want you to promise me father, that you will not bother Captain Setter and his family. If you are already investigating the Ether forest, please confine it to that area since the people of that town really weren't involved."
Winslow smiled, "Alright, I won't. As much as I would like to see him again, I will refrain."
Winslow could consider Alan a friend, but it might not be the same way around. He would listen to his daughter this time since he knew Alan would not like to see him, however, his apprentice was another story.
His daughter didn't ask him to not interrogate the young man and he wouldn't have listened to her plea even if she did. Although she had cleared the young man Alex of suspicions, he still wanted to find out from the kid himself.
He was directly involved in the death of his family after all and was the only person he could "blame" for their deaths. He felt bad for the kid, but it was his job as the head of the household, not only to interrogate all parties involved...
...but to tie up loose ends to protect himself from the other nobles.
It wasn't anything personal, just business but he planned to start with having the young man come to meet him first before deciding what to do after. If Alex was suspicious in any way or a clear threat to him and his household, he wouldn't hesitate to make his head fly.
*Creak!*
The two adults heard the door open and a little head with brown hair poke through. Both of their gazes softened and they smiled as the young girl entered the room.
"Kailey, how many times have I told you sweetie to knock before entering? What if I was having an important discussion with a guest?" Her grandpa scolded her half-heartedly.
Kailey pursed her lips and avoided his eyes.
"I'm sorry Grandpa but you're just talking to Auntie Eva so it's okay."
"Little brat, I'm important too. Don't brush me off like that." Eva scolded the teasing Kailey.
Kailey giggled and ran over to her Aunt and hugged her. Grandpa Winslow also opened his arms but Kailey just sat down by her aunt and ignored him.
"Kailey what about Grandpa?" He hung his head low and pouted.
Kailey giggled, "You don't get any Grandpa! You have to catch me first!"
Kailey then got down and ran to hide behind his desk. Her Grandpa became a big scary monster for a few minutes as he chased her around. He was very happy that she was all smiles despite how quiet their estate was now, and was very proud of her for reaching the 2nd Ring already!
As a noble house, they had many methods and good foods to help increase stats in a short time. It wasn't the best method to use treasures, but she used smaller ones that wouldn't leave noticeable effects and made sure to keep training her growing body so she could handle the stats.
While she was still in the early stages of the 2nd Ring, she also had quite a talent for the Rings. Being a 2nd Ring at the age of 10 was very good, especially since she never actually trained seriously in her life before.
After he caught her and she squealed and laughed as he swung her around, he brought her back over to the couch and heard her side of the story. Sitting on her grandpa's lap for a while before jumping around the couch, she depicted her very colorful side of the story, where Alex was a prince and gallantly saved her and Aunt Eva.
She also mentioned how "her prince" kept flirting with Auntie Eva and even kissed her. Winslow widened his eyes at his daughter and she had to quickly explain that Alex was saving her life. She cursed the little brat who made her look like a fool and had to correct several instances that were very exaggerated.
Winslow was slightly interested that there were other survivors and made a note to also check into their whereabouts as well. Even if they were slaves, he took no chances in getting to the truth. It was better to be safe than sorry in the end after all.
After that, he stood up and had Kailey stand in front of his desk. His voice was serious so the little girl stopped playing around again and used her bit of etiquette training to stand tall in front of her grandpa. When he deepened his voice, Grandpa turned into the Master of the house, and she had to learn to not let their relationship get in the way of that.
It was a bit difficult for her as a young girl, but she had matured greatly so she knew when to behave.
"I, Winslow Gaston Mantrigeld, hereby make you, Kailleria Starna Devula Mantrigeld heir to the Mantrigeld Household."