Gael riding a horse with Fortis arrived at the side entrance of the palace wearing a black cloak and a hood hiding their appearance. Gael looked up to see the whole palace as he slowly enters the gates, the guards are already aware that he and the others are coming back because the prince already informed them that is why the guards didn't even ask them who they were and just let them enter.
He arrived at one of the stables, he got off his horse and he was guided by one of the maids, they passed a long hall with countless rooms on their way, after a few minutes of walking they arrived at the same garden where he met Fortis.
" you're here," Marcus said as he saw Gael walking towards them.
Gael is the last to arrive, the others have already arrived one day earlier, when he got closer to Marcus the Crown Prince and three people caught his attention, it was Vice General Balmor whose wearing a full body of silver-coloured armor and a muscular green colored monster behind him, the next is Lily wearing a simple Green colored dress with a little light flying around her, it was her familiar the Wind Sprite, and the last one is Amon and his Hellhound, the reason these three caught his attention is because they have already become an Adept Tamers meaning their monster have undergone their first evolution.
Vice General Balmor's Orc has become an Orc Warrior, it grew taller and more muscular, its lower fangs have grown longer and blood colored tattoos can now be seen on its chest. Lily's Wind Sprite has become brighter and faster it is now releasing pressure as if it can turn into a storm at any moment there's little change in the Wind Sprites' figure but it sure became stronger. Amon's Hellhound has now become a full-fledged hound it is not a puppy anymore, its paws are burning as well as its tail and fangs. But it is clear that the person who became the strongest in their group is without a doubt Amon, the air surrounding him has a certain feel to it that may burn you.
Gael was not envious of their progress but it is a shame that Fortis didn't evolve, he was looking forward to fighting the Old Cyclops to push Fortis and trigger evolution but a lot of things happened and they didn't get the chance to fight with their full power but there are still more chances on the future, plus he and Fortis made great progress.
" Okay now that everyone is here let's eat, we will talk about your mission while eating, " Marcus said after Gael and the others took a seat, there is a table in front of them filled with delicious food, and Fortis who is standing behind Gael smelled roasted meat.
The Crown Prince is seating at the end of the table where everyone can see him, while Marcus is seating on his right while Old Butler Nicholas is behind him standing.
" eat a lot I ordered my chefs to cook this delicious feast, " Crown Prince said with a smile on his face as he picked up a knife and a fork and started eating, when they saw the Crown Prince eat they started eating as well.
Fortis and the monsters are given food as well mostly monster meat except for Lily's Wind Sprite since they do not eat instead they absorb the energy of nature, that is why the Wind Sprite is given a green colored stone which contains a pure wind element which is beneficial to the Sprite, these stones are called elemental stones and they provide the same benefits towards sprites and other elemental type monsters the same benefit that monster meat provide to monsters like Fortis who eats monster meats.
They are peacefully eating but Fortis is bothering Gael nonstop, he is pulling Gael's shirt and pointing toward the roasted meat.
" you have your food, eat it" Gael whispered, but Fortis is not backing down.
" give him a piece of roasted meat, " the Crown Prince said with a smile on his face, he found Gael and Fortis funny.
" ah! Thank you your highness " Gael quickly thanked the Crown Prince and he took a piece of roasted meat and handed it over to Fortis, Fortis received it with a smile on his face.
" okay let's talk while we eat, shall we?" Crown Prince said.
Everyone looked in the Crown Prince's direction, ready to hear his instructions.
" the missions that will be given to you will mostly be located near your territory, to avoid suspicion about your actions, except for Gael, who will be given a mission from different places all over the kingdom, and you will not just do missions individually, there will be missions that require more than one person, but knowing that you all came from the army, I am sure that you all know how to work with a team " The Crown Prince, explained.
" What kind of missions are we going to do, your highness? " Wency Walker asked.
" well most of it will be an investigation, you will collect information and pieces of evidence that I can use against my enemies, but there will be some assassination missions where you have to eliminate someone, they can be a commoner a merchant or even a noble, so are you guys up for it can you do it? " The Crown Prince asked with a grin on his face then he took a sip of Red wine.
Wency, Melchor, and Lily's expressions changed when they heard the word assassination from the Crown Prince, though they have already guessed that some of their missions will include killing someone, hearing it directly from the Crown Prince made them start to think twice, although they have been on the battlefield and killed someone before they are still hesitating since they have an excuse to kill their enemies, if they did not kill them they will be killed but assassinating someone that has no ill feelings towards them it will leave a sour taste on their tongue.
Gael, Vice General Balmor, the Oswald twins, and Amon are showing no emotion as if they do not care, they have killed countless that their conscience has steeled, plus since they have already killed someone before so it does not matter to kill some more, it is a wicked thought but it is the truth, they are not different from the murderer in fact they are worse than most murderer.
" don't worry we will assign you missions that fit your skill set and personality " Marcus added when he saw the expression of the others.
'it seems like I will be assigned to assassination missions' Gael thought to himself.
They discussed a few more things as they eat when they finished eating the maids clean up the table and Old Butler Nicholas left and came back holding eight scrolls in his hand, he then hands them over to Marcus.
" this here contains your first mission " he handed the scrolls to Gael and the others one by one.
" Open it," Marcus said.
Gael and the others opened the Scrolls in their hands and started reading the contents of their mission, while the Crown Prince and Marcus observed them while drinking tea.
A few minutes later they all finished reading and rolled the scrolls in their hands, then they looked towards the Crown Prince waiting for further instructions.
" you can start your mission immediately if you have no other matters to deal with, but before you leave the palace go to Nicholas as he will explain more details regarding how we will operate secretly " Crown Prince said.
All eight of them are about to stand up when the Crown Prince stopped them.
" wait! I remembered that your little group still doesn't have its name… how about Royal Shadow!?, no too tacky, hmmm " the Crown Prince is talking to himself at this point as he thinks of a name for Gael and the other's group.
" how about, Golden Dagger your highness, Golden represent the Royals while Dagger represents a weapon that will strike your enemies without them knowing, " Marcus said when he saw the Crown Prince thinking hard about a suitable name for Gael and the others.
" Golden Dagger that's perfect, it suits this Crown Prince's taste, you did good Marcus " the Crown Prince exclaimed.
" from now on you, eight will be the Golder Dagger, you will be the hidden weapon that will strike my enemies from the dark " the Crown Prince said.
" but do not worry though it sounds like you are working for me, I still haven't forgotten about our earlier agreement, I will still compensate you and provide you with something you want or need in exchange for your service, and that you can choose to leave once you get what you want," the Crown Prince said.
They all nodded and then bowed as they left the Garden one by one.
Gael decided to go start his mission immediately, so he went to Nicholas after he left the Garden while the others head towards the room provided by the Crown Prince.
" you have become stronger kid, " Nicholas said when he saw Gael and Fortis closer.
" well I trained hard these past few months, I would kill myself if I didn't get stronger, " Gael said jokingly.
" hahaha, come here follow me " laughed as he lead the way towards one of the towers of the Royal Palace.
After a few minutes of walking up the stairs and they arrived in front of a wooden door.
Inside the room of the tower, you can see a big glass window the moment you open the door, there are tables with stacks of paper and cabinets filled with scrolls, but what caught Gael's attention are the bird cages on the left side of the room some of the cages has a bird in it while the others are empty.
" This place will be the intelligence office, this is where the information and pieces of evidence that you eight gather goes as well as your reports and details of your mission if it went well or not, we need to know those things so we can formulate a plan, " Nicholas said, his voice took Gael's attention towards him from the bird cages, while Fortis is playing with some of the birds inside the cage, Gael and Nicholas continued their discussion.
" here take this " Nicholas handed, Gael, a wooden whistle.
" what's this?" Gael asked confusedly.
" That whistle is used to call the messenger pigeons, you are to use them to send your report, if you use the whistle the messenger pigeons will come to you, we trained a lot of these messenger pigeons and have them spread throughout the Kingdom that is why no matter where you are as long as you are still inside the borders of the kingdom there will be a messenger pigeon that will answer to your call " Nicholas explained the use of the whistle.
" I see, I see " Gael nodded as he put the whistle in one of his pockets.
" Oh, I almost forgot, the tokens that the Crown Prince gave you before when he offered you to work with him, can be used to withdraw gold coins in the banks throughout the Kingdom if you need money for your mission, but you must send us a notice through the messenger pigeons before you go to the bank since it is the personal money of the Crown Prince we need his approval before withdrawing money " Nicholas added.
" is that it? Can I go now? " Gael asked Nicholas.
" that is everything, good luck out there kid, " Nicholas said as he look at Gael.
" hehehehe I don't need luck, " Gael said.
" this arrogant punk" Nicholas's face turned sour when he heard Gael's words.
Gael then left the room along with Fortis still wearing their cloak and hood, they went straight to the stables, and rode his horse, he left the Palace immediately, he is itching to start his mission since the location is near the place where he ate on his way to his home village where he met the cute little girl named Mary.