Chapter 8 - Chapter 8- Meeting the Duke(3)

At the end of the rows of bookshelves, moving stairs and magically hovering books, was a wide table lavishly decorated with all sorts of items and documents. There seated in the middle of it all was a man with a head full of steel grey hair. He had piercing deep blue eyes, sharp, angular features that was chiselled by long years of discipline and battles. He was tall and bore some of the handsome features that Reinhardt possessed.The man in front was none other than Raymond Arcknight his father. As the Duke of the prestigious Arcknight family, he radiated power and authority with his every action."Father" Reinhardt called out and bowed respectfully.At his voice, Raymon was who busy sifting through the documents, raised his head. His tired eyes fell on Reinhardt his son who had fallen in a comatose state under a curse all these years. Immediately, some of the tiredness in his eyes disappeared and he regained some strength."When the servants said that you woke up from your bed, I couldn't believe it. It seemed that the news was indeed true. I am very glad, the Arcknight family has regained its worthy successor and this kingdom its finest warrior once again!!"Raymond walked over from his table and heartily patted the shoulder of his son who was even taller now.Reinhardt nodded, from his memories he knew that Raymond was a man of few words who showed his love not just by words but from his actions. All those years ago, when the curse was first discovered, his father stopped at nothing to try to break his curse. He used all of the resources of the Duke family to leave no stone unturned, just to cure his son.Reinhardt looked at his father who had withered so much in just three years. As one of the handful few level 9s in the kingdom, he should possess a body that was brimming with vitality and strength yet in these few years he had shrivelled a lot. He could only imagine how tough it was for his father to hold everything together all on his own.Fortunately, now that he was here, he would shoulder all of those burdens."Father, working is good but you should also take care of your body".."Haha, you sound just like your mother. I am all good now that you are cured" Raymond gave a hearty laughter. How long has it been since he laughed or even smiled?"Oh! Have you met your mother? She came to visit me just a moment ago".When the conversation came to the topic of his stepmother, Reinhardt gave a strange laugh."Y-Yeah, I did bump into her when I was on my way here"."Your relationship with your stepmother is still as rigid as ever I see. It's time you two bonded together. By the way, your little brother is six years old now and idolises your achievements. His goal is to become a pillar of this kingdom just like you".Raymond's words reminded Reinhardt that he also had a brother. Given that he was born three year ago before he was afflicted with the curse, it made sense that his little brother was six years old."I'll meet Arthur later, I have more important matters to discuss with father".Sensing the change in his tone, Raymond's expression also became serious."What is it?"…"Demons"…..On the training grounds of the Arcknight family, all of the knights and paladins of the order of the Temple of Light present in the territory, gathered. They were all decked out in sharp, exceptional armor and weapons that radiated with holy light. Each of their gear was of top quality and hand crafted by a grandmaster level blacksmith.If one had to put a price, each of the armors and weapons would cost a small fortune. From this, one could tell how high level the knights and paladins of the Temple of Knight order were.However, their level and the grade of their amror, did not reflect the prosperity of the Duke family but instead Reinhardt's hard work and dedication. During Raymond's time, the Temple of the Light's order wasn't as powerful as it was today. It only got to the level it was aside from the paladin's own hard work was due to Reinhardt's dedication.He rebuilt the entire order from scratch, trained them himself through numerous trials and invested all the resources he acquired from his many conquests into the paladin. Thanks to all of that, each member of the order was filled with endless gratitude and respect for Reinhardt.And so, when they heard that he had woken up, all of them gathered on the training ground to meet him without anyone being absent.The place was filled with excited murmurs from the paladins, all of them discussing when they will get to see their commander. The place was getting nosier by the moment when one of the paladins standing at the forefront of the company, shouted at them to keep quiet.The order of the Temple of Light had 5 ranks with the Commander and Holy Knights at the top. The one who shouted was one of the holy knights, someone who was many ranks higher than them. Naturally, all the noisy ones shut up, showing the strict discipline that was ingrained into these knights.Not long afterwards, numerous figures appeared from the mansion. They were servants and vessels of the Arcknight family.Leading them was a tall man with blonde hair, heterochromatic eyes and a muscular build. He had unparalleled charms and a dominating presence that made him stand out everywhere he went. Who else could the man be other than Reinhardt? Beside him was Raymond, Karina the assassin, Sebastian, Anastasia and all the servants and vessels of the duke family.On the training grounds, Reinhardt stood before everyone and addressed the crowd."Everyone, it has been a long time since we last met. Seeing you all do well, makes me feel relieved".Thanks to the [Voice of Providence] his voice rang with divine might erupting fervent cheers from everyone. Just seeing him walk here had raised their moral to new heights."Today I called you all here for a very important reason. I…"