Caesar finished his breakfast quickly, he lifted Elizabeth from his lap and placed her on the ground… "I have to go out for a bit today but I promise you can sleep with me tonight" Caesar kissed her on the forehead and smiled at her.
"Hehe, you better not break your promise or I"m going to…."
She paused for a second with a pondering look.
"I"ll Shake uncle Joe"s hands without a glove on haha" Elizabeth"s laugh echoed throughout the palace halls as Caesar"s expression became darker.
Caesar pat her on the head and smiled rea.s.suringly "trust me, I don"t break my promises" Caesar said as he started walking away… he glanced at Ahri that was sitting on the opposite end of the table for a second before smirking and turning away.
*creak*
Caesar exited the dining room and entered into the main palace halls… along the way he spotted Sebastian busily ordering around some maids, Caesar walked towards him "Sebastian, where are those three subordinates of mine?"
Sebastian turned around surprised after he heard Caesar"s voice and replied respectively "They have been overseeing the construction of your weapons young master"
Caesar nodded his head in comprehension "has anyone offered to buy the weapons, in particular, other countries or kingdoms?" Caesar asked curiously
Sebastian"s lips curled upward… "no kingdoms have asked to buy your weapons yet, however, the merchants guild inside Rahvin kingdom had wanted to arrange a meeting with you. I, of course, had declined at the time because you were busy"
Caesar nodded and asked: "can you arrange a meeting with them this afternoon?"
Sebastian nodded his head and bowed "as you command young master"
Sebastian immediately started walking out of the palace presumably to arrange the meeting… Seeing this Caesar smiled and also headed out of the palace.
Right as Caesar walked out of the palace gates the suns glare immediately illuminated Caesar"s face, Caesar shaded his face with his hand and continued walking
The guards defending the gates saluted when they caught sight of Caesar, "greetings to the marshall"
Caesar nodded in acknowledgment and continued walking down the long steps. Caesar soon arrived at the training grounds… the sight of the sweaty knights training under Edward was reflected in his eyes.
"HUA"
The knights continuously swung down their swords perfecting their form… Caesar stroked his chin in contemplation "it seems as though the sword style that Edward uses is similar to the j.a.panese styles on earth?" he thought to himself silently.
Caesar"s presence was soon noticed and all of the knights stopped practicing and saluted.
"We greet the Marshall!" They roared out
Edward stopped training the knights and walked towards Caesar… "long time no see Edward" Caesar opened up first and said towards Edward.
Edward smiled "indeed, I didn"t know the joy of pa.s.sing on my techniques before but I have become quite addicted haha" Edward scratched his head and laughed.
"You"re going to need to part ways with them sooner or later," Caesar said with a teasing tone
Edward"s face turned serious and asked: "when are we leaving?"
Caesar looked up "we should leave soon, my father should solidify his position as king and my weapons should start selling soon…" Caesar replied
Edward nodded his head slowly "I will prepare, does the empress know we are leaving soon?"
Caesar shook his head slowly "no, I didn"t tell her… I will probably let her know tonight"
Edwards face soon turned sad "I was hoping that she could stay here for longer, she never once smiled at our home…"
Caesar looked at Edward curiously "although I agreed to become her strategist I was never briefed on the details… is your clan in dire circ.u.mstances?"
Edward hesitated for a minute before letting out a long sigh "Ahri"s grandfather, the current head of the kitsune clan is severely ill… He is long past the expected lifespan of a kitsune, his last order was to crown Ahri as empress, unfortunately, Ahri"s backing is little to none because of her grandfather"s illness and many of our clan elders don"t want to be ruled over by a woman." Edward said with a dark expression
Caesar looked at Edward with surprise "is it just an inner struggle?" he asked with curiosity
Edward looked down "If that was the case the empress would not have had to leave home to find a strategist… the nearby trolls are looking at our lands hungrily, the troll prince had asked the empresses grandfather for Ahri"s hand in marriage. Many of our clan elders support it, however, her grandfather is against it"
Caesar suddenly laughed loudly and squinted his eyes dangerously "how strong are these trolls compared to your clan?" he asked quietly not masking his killing intent in the slightest.
"The trolls and kitsune are generally equal in power, they are both mid-low clans, however, the troll king is still in his prime and no one in our clan can defeat him after the clan head got ill"
Caesar nodded his head in understanding "how strong was your clan head in his prime?" Caesar asked
"Our clan has rank 1-5 warriors, with 1 being the strongest and 5 the weakest. The clan head is a rank 1 warrior in our clan, the troll king was roughly on par with the clan head before he got ill" Edward replied
Caesar stroked his chin "how strong am I compared to your clan head?" Caesar asked curiously
Edward thought for a moment and replied: "I am a rank 3 warrior and I pose no chance against you, the empress is considered a rank 2 warrior…"
Caesar nodded in understanding "how many are stronger than a rank 1 warrior in the dark continent?" Caesar changed the subject and asked curiously.
"The dark continent is where the strong thrive, b.l.o.o.d.y battles happen on a daily basis there… there are many that are stronger than a rank 1 warrior" Edward replied seriously.
Caesar could feel his blood boil in excitement, it took a few seconds for Caesar to get a hold of himself. Caesar calmed down his raising emotions and asked Edward one last question "how do the trolls act as a race?"
Suddenly Edwards expression darkened "the trolls are similar to goblins, there are no female trolls… They capture women from other races to breed more trolls"
Edward paused for a second and continued
"The trolls believe that the stronger and more beautiful the woman the stronger the man, that is why the troll prince wants the empresses hand in marriage. The problem is that the trolls don"t treat their women as equals but as just breeding partners, there are many cases in the past of the trolls kidnapping our clan"s women for their large mana supply"
Caesar looked at Edward that was currently shaking in rage… "how was the race created if there are no females?"
Edward shook his head "no one knows, they are a race that relies on others to survive… they are vile and evil"
*thud*
Caesar patted Edward on the shoulder and smiled, "come, lets spar Edward" he said as he walked over to a rack full of wooden swords.
Edward nodded absentmindedly and also picked out a wooden sword.
Caesar found two wooden sabers and walked to the middle of the training grounds, the rest of the knights circled around to watch this duel.
"Hey, who do you think is going to win? The Marshall or the sword master?" one of the knights asked the person next to him.
"Is that even a question?" the knight replied back
"Clearly the marshall, remember when he brought all of those flame bears?"
A few knights shuttered at the reminder and focused back towards the middle of the training grounds.
Caesar stood with both swords in hand, "I had read a bit of that book but It"s useless without actual practice" Caesar thought to himself as Edward walked towards him.
Edward raised his sword and got in battle stance, Caesar did the same and roared out
"BEGIN"
Caesar immediately kicked off the ground and rushed at Edward, he controlled his speed slightly and slashed down according to the ill.u.s.trations depicted in the books.
Caesar"s movements were still rough but he easily made up for it with his speed, Edward furrowed his brows and brought his sword him.
*shing*
Edward tilted his sword to the left parrying Caesar"s blade and swung downwards, Caesar blocked Edwards strike with his left sword and struck down once again with his right sword.
*clash*
Caesar toned down his speed to match Edward, they exchanged multiple strikes with Caesar slightly losing ground each strike... Caesar closed his eyes and imagined the ill.u.s.trations in the book.
Slowly Caesar"s skill improved and his slashed contained more fluidity, Edward looked at this scene with shock "is he weakening himself to train with me?" Edward thought inwardly.
*cling*
*cling*
Caesar"s speed slowly increased and increased… sweat flowed down Edwards" face and his arms went numb, he was no longer capable of keeping up.
Caesar"s right eye glowed red as he tilted to the right and dodged Edwards slashed, he moved one step closer and closed the distance.
*plop*
Edward dropped his sword and put his hands up in the air signaling the end of the fight, Caesar retracted his sword from Edwards" neck.
"Whew, that was a close one Edward… I gained a lot of experience" Caesar puffed and placed his two wooden sabers on a nearby racket.
He didn"t" wait for Edwards reaction and walked out of the training grounds, "Sebastian should have arranged a meeting with the merchants guild in the afternoon" Caesar thought to himself as he walked away.
*gulp*
Edward still standing in the same position gulped audibly and muttered under his breath "m-monster"
Once Caesar made it out of the training grounds he headed back for the palace "before I was going to wait a week or so before leaving but hearing Edward had to say has changed things…" Caesar"s eyes turned cold as he walked rhythmically towards the palace.
About 10 minutes later Caesar reached the palace gates to see Sebastian waiting for him at the top "young master, the carriage is already prepared"
Caesar nodded and let Sebastian lead the way, they soon made it to a parked carriage... Caesar stepped in first followed by Sebastian.
*clak*
The carriage driver immediately commanded the horses to move. Inside the Carriage, Caesar and Sebastian were sitting in silence until Sebastian opened his mouth first to break the silence.
"Young master, although you are a genius at making weapons or leading an army, running a business is vastly different… I hope that you follow my lead" Sebastian hesitated for a moment and said to Caesar with a serious expression.
Caesar smirked and folded his legs inside the carriage "don"t need to worry about that Sebastian… these merchants will fall for my trap within a few simple words" Caesar said with a condescending tone