"You imbecile!"
*SLAP*
Alaric's head turned abruptly after receiving such a powerful slap, yet he remained quiet with a lowered head.
"Why couldn't you just keep it in your pants?! You had nothing to prove, boy. You just had one joy, Alaric, one fucking job and you blew it!"
Alaric was back home after the blow he received from the king and now, he was taking the second round of beatings for his failure to kill James when he had the chance.
"Calm down, Allister. You don't have to strike your son that way!"
"Shut up, woman! No one asked for your opinion. Your failure of a son couldn't even finish a simple job!
"How am I supposed to face His Majesty now?! Years of planning now on the rocks due to his carelessness!"
Count Allister Brightwind fumed in rage as he paced back and forth in his office. Alaric stood in front of the desk while his mother, Aelar Brightwind, sat on one of the sofas.
Her expression was marred with concern as she felt the pain her son must be feeling. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be here as these kinds of things were the men's jurisdiction.
However, after hearing what transpired, she knew her son might be in trouble with his father. It was the reason she was here.
Fortunately, Allister's anger didn't push him to do something more serious.
'At the very least, he hasn't kicked him out.'
She could only shake her head at the turn of events.
'I do pity that young man though. He had such a kind heart, truly a pity. I wish there were something I could do for him. Alas…'
Aelar placed both hands on her generous chest as she sighed to herself. As a woman in her thirties with dark flowing hair, Aelar still retained much of the beauty of her youth. Childbirth and maturity had given her a mature allure that could sway the hearts of any man.
"Haa… What did the king say?"
Having calmed down a bit, the count returned to his seat with a hand on his brows. Count Allister was a man of great ambition, and having stayed as a count for many years, he desired to rise to a higher level.
To do that, he allied himself with the king behind the duke's back even though he reported directly to the duke. With the king's plan to consolidate power into the hands of the royal family, the only way to get a piece of the pie was to ally with them.
After many months of playing and scheming, they had managed to eliminate the duke under unclear conditions to the public. His heir was the only hindrance left and with the boy's nature, it was an easy thing to do.
Yet, here he was robbing his hand over his brows in frustration.
"I asked you a question, boy."
The heavy tone in his voice left no room for defiance.
"We're to be on standby and prepare to leave when we receive word."
Allister narrowed his brows for a few seconds before giving a curt nod.
"Word of what?"
However, not everyone was clear as to what Alaric and the others were to wait for.
With another exhausted sigh, Allister went ahead to tell the blockhead what Alaric meant.
"The king has given them a chance to redeem themselves by finding James and finishing what they started."
Aelar swallowed a bit at the implications of his words. If it was up to her, she would prefer the leave the boy alone, at the very least. But she was also smart enough to understand what could go wrong if the boy remained at large.
"I see… and there is no room for talking?"
She knew she was grasping at straws, but she couldn't help it. She had known that boy for some time now, and because he was raised without the presence of a mother's love, she felt drawn to the child.
Honestly, it was a miracle the boy turned out to be what he was today with a father like Thaddeus.
"Enough already! Get out!"
Allister was no longer in the mood to entertain nonsense. If the blockhead refused to use her brain, then there was no point in being here.
"You don't have to be so rude, you know? Hmph!"
She stood up abruptly and made her way out as the sway of her hips revealed her stunning figure; something the Count appreciated very much, unfortunately...
'At the very least, Alaric was not treated too harshly.
'And you wonder why our relationship isn't as great as it was before.'
"Haa… Where did I go wrong?"
Alaric dared not look at his father's face or even attempt to speak without being spoken to. He knew how temperamental his father could get. And honestly, he was having an easier time.
Any other time, he would have been beaten into a pulp. As he stood there waiting for his father's orders, he imagined his friends might also be having a wonderful time with their parents as well.
'It's only fair, after all.'
Suddenly, the Count was interrupted out of his thoughts when his right-hand man as well as the captain of his knights rushed into his office.
Both Alaric and Allister looked over at him, waiting for whatever message he carried that prompted such disrespectful action.
"My lord, word has spread about the emergence of an inheritance ground in the Starforged Peaks discovered by the Order of the Sunbound."
"What? Are you sure of what you're saying?"
The bit of excitement in the Count's voice couldn't be hidden as his face lit up. While inheritance grounds were common in the world of Veloria, they appeared only at certain times and mostly in a separate dimension called veiled spaces and eventually disappeared after some time.
Even in such veiled spaces, they appeared clearly to all.
What's more, when they appeared new like this, the chances of acquiring untold treasures were very high. However, they also came with untold dangers.
And because they were discovered in uninhabited regions or No-man's land, they were opened to the public, regardless of who discovered them first; they couldn't be hidden after all.
"Absolutely, my lord."
The captain of the knights had a bright smile on his face that mirrored the Count's. He was just as excited to do some exploration and discover new magic spells, weapons and the like.
And the ultimate thing one could obtain on those grounds was the actual inheritances. Unfortunately, very rarely do people succeed in acquiring them, but that didn't stop them from trying their luck.
Alaric also had a similar expression, but he kept it on the low and tried as much as possible not to grin.
"Hahaha…! This is marvellous!"
"When is the exploration beginning?"
"Two days from now, my lord."
"Good!"
"I'll leave preparations to you,"
The Count quickly added more instructions before sending the captain his way. He then turned to Alaric, who quickly lowered his head.
"You're in luck, boy. You might not have to wait too long for a chance at redemption."
...…
It's been a few days since James woke up from his slumber and after a few questions, he was able to tell where he was and how long had passed since his unfortunate incident.
His location was on the outskirts of the Solene Kingdom, within a small village under a barony.
Right now, he was standing at the riverbank near the sanctuary of the Sunbound, thinking of his next course of action.
'Word of House Allan falling should have spread by now.'
Luckily, his face should be relatively strange to most people as he was only recognized widely in his duchy.
His expression was dark as he stared at the flowing river, and the more he thought about the betrayal, the more intense the burn he felt was.
He wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but he didn't care. So long as he gets his revenge, he was good.
'What I need right now is strength. Yet, all the resources I had have been taken away.' The thought alone made him grit his teeth in rage.
He lifted his left hand and channelled a bit of mana into the nearly imperceptible circular rune on the back of his hand.
It was a rune that acted as a storage space. Other storage artefacts existed as well, but none offered the kind of security a hand rune had to offer. It was a marvel of magic from The Magic Conclave.
Yet, it had one glaring weakness. The space it had was very limited, and couldn't store too many things. Also, it was very expensive. Only nobles, lords and rich merchants could afford them.
James looked into the rune and counted a few thousand gold coins, hundreds of thousands of silver coins, a few weapons, a cloak and some clothes.
'At least, I can move around a bit.'
James turned his head around when he heard footsteps approach from his back, noticing the woman known as Thalia.
He furrowed his brows slightly as he stared at her approaching figure.
'What's she here for?'