The crowd went wild when they heard the voice of the old baron. How many years had passed since the Baron had spent time with them? The last time they had been together was when they hunted bandits and visited Sunset City, but for a long time now, the Baron had delegated all tasks and often paid more attention to the affairs of the city.
William and Matz both looked at Albert's imposing figure on the balcony. At that moment, Matz noticed a movement of Albert's fingers.
"He's summoning you," Matz whispered in William's ear.
William nodded and, after removing his training armor, handed his swords to one of the servants. Then he followed Matz into the hall of the castle.
Albert was sitting alone at a large table. The chair was made of fine leather, and Albert seemed lost in thought. Stacks of parchment lay before him, and every time he looked at them, he wished he were on the battlefield instead.
He lifted his head and saw William. William had been the motivation behind his hard work all along.
After arriving next to Albert, William didn't sit down. Instead, he began to look out the window. He had kept his distance from Albert for a long time. The reason was his growing awareness of his own position. He hadn't called him "Grandpa" for almost two years. He simply called him "Albert.
"Why did you call me, Albert?" William was still aware that Albert was his grandfather, so he didn't care about the status of being summoned by him. Albert had never abused that aspect of their relationship, and he hadn't even considered doing so.
"Congratulations, William. Happy twelfth birthday," Albert said without smiling. The twelfth birthday was an important day for the royal family. By now, carriages full of gifts should have entered the city gates, but not even a messenger or a eunuch had arrived. Nor was there any word from the scouts Albert had placed along the road to the capital.
That was what bothered Albert the most. Of course, William was aware of such a tradition, but he no longer cared. He buried the fact that he was ignored by his imperial father deep in his mind and said, "Whatever comes from the capital, let it come from the devil."
Albert smiled at William's thoughtful expression. This had been Albert's intention all along. To cultivate a selfish yet strong personality to make it easier for William to survive. He had also brought a gift, of course.
Then he walked over to William and put his hand on his shoulder. From the height of the shoulder, it was clear that it wouldn't be many years before William would surpass him in stature. After that, he hugged William by both shoulders and said, "Come, I've brought you a gift.
'Did he go to Sunset City yesterday?' William thought. After all, he was still considered a child, so thoughts like 'I wonder what he brought me' constantly crossed his mind. Lately, the amount of venison on their tables had increased, and the reason was Albert's effective leadership of the city.
Albert took him to the stable next to the castle's entrance gate. When William saw the creature standing in front of the stable, he couldn't believe his eyes. "A Windchaser!" He immediately ran up to it and tried to hug it, but he had never ridden a horse before, so the horse stamped its hoof nervously and turned its head.
"Wait!" Albert quickly followed, pulling William back. At the same time, the old stableman stood in front of the horse.
William, calmed by his grandfather's reassurances, looked at the horse with sparkling eyes. He should have said that it was more beautiful than any horse he had ever seen in his life. Even his grandfather's Night, the jet-black stallion, would pale in comparison. It had a sleek body with long, muscular legs. Its mane was whiter than William's hair, and its tail shimmered like pearls. Its skin seemed to be covered in milk. The horse's hooves were immaculate as well, and it exuded a soft and gentle scent. The pure white horse in front of him felt like his first friend in this world.
Albert, William's happiness pleased him, but he couldn't help but frown as he looked at the capital. He wanted to demand answers, but there was nothing he could do.
He turned his head and was met with a sight that would sour his mood. His beloved daughter was flirting with the imperial guards on the top of the castle walls. Over the years, he had grown to despise his own daughter, and his anger toward her had continued to escalate. However, when he turned his head and saw William's excited face, all the anger and frustration he had felt just moments before vanished.
***
William had finally reached the age of sixteen. Two years ago, he had escaped from the castle and mingled with the common folk, making friends with almost everyone in the city. Of course, the most helpful thing in his socialization had been the windchaser horse he had named "Dawn".
For the past few months, he had been riding into the mountains every day with a few young hunters from the city. He personally cooked the venison they caught and served it to the people of the castle. Life was good for him, but the constant arguments with his mother had become unbearable for everyone.
At one point, Albert even feared that William would kill his mother. While his mother was flirting with one of the guards, he saw William grab a dagger and run toward the guard and his mother. Fortunately, Albert stopped William at the last moment.
He became more and more restless, like a barrel of oil with a lit fuse, ready to explode at any moment. The impending explosion of the oil-filled barrel was only a matter of time, and Albert had no solution for it. Later, when he saw that William had befriended the young hunters and joined hunting parties, he felt relieved. Later he supported him and even bought him a very good bow from a well-known merchant.
William had improved a lot during this time, but he still couldn't defeat Albert in a one-on-one duel. He managed to defeat Matz three months after defeating Goar. Now William was training to fight five opponents at once, including Matz and Goar, and his determination was once again fueled by his grandfather.
Albert had given him an ultimatum: if he couldn't defeat ten opponents at once, he would never be able to defeat him. Although this training was exhausting for William, he found satisfaction in it and pushed himself harder with each session.
Albert had grown very old. He had become too tired to run the city of Highrock alone. Fortunately, he had found a very capable apprentice and trained him to take over the city's management for the last two years. This apprentice was the son of the man currently running Albert's region. His name was Matt, and he had become Albert's right-hand man. He was young, energetic, and quick to learn, always eager to learn even when he didn't know something.
Under the leadership of Matt and Albert, the city of Highrock had prospered even more in the past two years. The population had nearly doubled and work opportunities were plentiful. They now had not one, but two iron mines, as well as a precious gem mine. While the gem mine didn't bring in as much as the iron mines, it helped keep more people out of work and made Highrock City an even better place to live.
Today was a special day for Albert and William. As grandfather and grandson, they had been hunting together for a long time, sometimes even hunting bandits. William had been very successful in this regard, rarely missing a shot when targeting the unarmored bandits. So far, he had killed more than twenty of them. At first, this feeling might have seemed strange to him, but a conversation with Albert about how innocent people in the city were suffering, being robbed, raped, and killed by these bandits, convinced him that what they were doing was a form of justice. These adventures helped William develop his courage and hunting skills, and taught him how to deal with real dangers. Such experiences contributed to his maturation.
The castle gate was flanked by eight riders dressed in hunting clothes. William led the way, with Albert right behind him, and Matz and the others following closely behind Albert.
William seemed very excited about this hunting trip, and although Albert didn't want to dampen his spirits, he wanted to manage his expectations by mentioning certain things in advance to minimize his potential disappointment.
"William, the rumors may not be true. We may come back empty-handed," Albert spoke with his usual thoughtful demeanor. His only fear was that he would fall out of favor or be disregarded by his grandson. Now he didn't want to seem like he was trying to deceive William with the rumors.
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I understand what you mean. I don't really care either way. It's just that the possibility that the legends from the stories you read to me as a child are real is intriguing. Besides, I can witness for myself whether these rumors are true or not," William spoke without looking back. He rode the Dawn carefully, making sure its hooves stayed clean.
After almost half a day of travel, they arrived at a small oasis-like place. Goar went ahead to inspect the area around the small pond and confirmed that it was safe. The others then joined him. They took a one-hour meal break here before continuing on their way.
They rode for another full day. Of course, William and Albert's horses could endure longer journeys, and they could shorten the travel time by going faster but being alone on this journey was dangerous.
They had already entered the territory of another noble. In this area, there might be a band of bandits from an unknown noble. They were traveling with a small group to be faster, and the last thing they wanted was to encounter a large bandit group.