"Take the corpse to the garden. Keep it well dressed. Then open the gates and lead them to it." Armad was speaking and also staring at the distant crowd with hatred.
The guard nodded and left. He knew which corpse Armad was talking about. Soon everything was set and the gates were opened for Commander Suleini and Kisa. Commander Kisa frowned as he stood over the corpse of his subordinate. He turned around furiously but before he could speak, the window facing the garden creaked open. The young prince was standing right in front of the window and looking at him from the distance.
"Prince... My king..." Commander Kisa stuttered but he soon recovered and decided on his next course of action. Since the prince wasn't dead then he had to pick a side. Prince Ikenga or Armad. He would choose Prince Ikenga ten thousand times over. Ikenga was already the crown prince, he would inherit everything including the King's Legion. Armad was just a local king that was currently temporary. Even the High Council had secretly chosen Ikenga. There was no competition. All of Ikenga's younger siblings had rallied behind him. The queen had too much power. Who would dare stand against them?
"How did he die?" Commander Kisa asked loudly.
"I executed him. He was found guilty of an assassination attempt against me." Armad used Pol to enhance his voice from the distance. He wasn't stupid enough to come close to the King's Legion commander. The prince had already made that mistake and paid with his life. He didn't expect a captain of the King's Legion assigned to protect him would ever shoot an arrow at his chest.
"I don't believe it. No member of the Legion would ever do that. You are blood of High King Airion. So, please, my king, tell me the reason for shooting an arrow through the heart of my subordinate." The commander was already putting a hand on his sword. His subordinates did the same. Armad frowned. If possible, he didn't want to fight them right now. With the System, he could easily speed his development multiple times and then take revenge.
"What are you doing? Are you perhaps about to also attack the king?" Suleini was already drawing his sword and walking toward him as he spoke. The surrounding personal guards of the prince also followed behind. A battle seemed inevitable.
"I need an explanation. Right now," Commander Kisa roared.
The two sides were about to clash in the garden when Armad cleared his throat. "I forgot to tell you that everything is being recorded in high level Ayrids hidden around you. So when the High Council asks for a response, I can give them one. At least no one would then use this as an excuse to stop me from ruling this place."
Commander Kisa halted. High level Ayrids, even one such Ayrid, could record everything here and send it to the High Council but he didn't believe it. Most of these Ayrids released a unique Pol that he could detect easily. Only the most expensive ones could evade him.
He looked at the prince with a searching gaze. The young prince's mother had died and left behind enormous wealth for him. Even though the High King didn't favor him, he could afford such Ayrids. "I don't believe you, my king. Although I'm sent here to protect you, I still have the right to resign. Not even you can force a Legion Commander to serve you. And if I resign, I'm sure you know what will happen to this place. So tell me, what happened to my subordinate? This is the last time I'll ask you."
Armad gritted his teeth. The Commander was cautious. Although he must have suspected that he was lying about the Ayrid recording, he wasn't sure so he was still testing the waters. If Armad capitulated and started explaining or pleading then he would likely just attack. But if Armad didn't explain then he had the right to resign and could defend himself in the High Council. The problem with the King's Legion's resignation was the surrounding jungle dwellers in the nearby forest. Once the Legion left, they would attack the town. At most they would only wait for about eight days to gather their men and then two days to travel and attack. Could he and his personal guards defend the town without the King's Legion?
Armad wouldn't have dared to say yes an hour ago, but now with the system, he was confident. "Are you perhaps looking down at the blood of High King Airion and the second prince of the Wilberforce empire? As a Commander assigned to protect me, you are shamelessly looking for reasons to resign. Why don't you go ahead and bury your head in shame? I don't want to see your face here again. Take away your filthy subordinate and leave."
"Who are you calling filthy?" One captain who was close friends with the deceased captain ran in the direction of the window. He had a bow and an arrow nocked. Armad's anger surged and his arm started itching. This was the same arrow that had grazed the young prince and killed him. It seemed the Legion weren't even hiding it anymore.
At that moment, Commander Kisa roared in anger, "What are you doing? Are you defying my order and attacking the royal blood of Wilberforce?"
The captain quickly stopped, bowed, and apologized. Armad realized that his threat of the recording had worked much more than he had expected. Perhaps he could use it more often.
"I have resigned from my service, my king. I can't in good faith serve you after you have murdered my subordinate. This resignation only concerns me. The remaining Legion can decide on their own." He shot Armad another glance and left with the remaining army.
It wasn't even an hour before all the remaining Legion members sent their resignation letters and even announced it to the whole town and the neighboring towns. Armad had expected it but it still hurt to be betrayed and then blamed for everything. Although Commander Kisa was just doing the bidding of the crown prince, Armad had already decided to execute him as soon as he got the chance.
Still, Armad didn't want to rush it if possible. Even though the crown prince was the biggest threat he currently faced, there was an even bigger threat: the Ururu race. Armad had transmigrated from the future of this world to this timeline. In that future, there were seven worlds and he was from the Third World. In ten years, the Ururu race would descend upon the world and a ninety-year war would ensue between the forces leading the world now and the Ururu. The Ururu would win and then discover the lower six worlds. That was when they would name this world the First World and the remaining six worlds would be named the lower worlds.
So even as he battled his brother and the King's Legion supporting him, he would have to watch out for the Ururu. They might come earlier or maybe they were there already since the history he remembered might have been altered several times over the centuries.
Armad decided on his next course of action, opened the door, and left the room. He was on his way to the kitchen, having decided to go and see the extent of the System for himself since it all had to do with food. The door to the kitchen was opened, and on seeing him, all the kitchen staff curtsied to him in greeting.
"Whose turn is it to cook today?" he asked. The kitchen became quieter as they all cowered before him, thinking that something had gone wrong with the food they made.
But then, could anything possibly go wrong with it since it was the type of food they usually cooked?
After some time, a man raised his hand. "It is me, your Highness," he confessed. Armad looked at him appraisingly for a while. He couldn't be more than forty, but he looked calm and composed enough to confess while everyone else was cowering.
Thereafter, Armad excused the others and detained the man. He ordered him to lock the door when they were all gone.
Only the two of them now remained in the kitchen. The sunlight streamed through the open window and lit up the room. Everything was quiet before Armad spoke again.
"Show me the food," he said. The man hesitated. Had someone said something against the food they cooked? The news about the prince being shot was known by all, and he feared that someone had secretly poisoned the food, which could implicate him. If it was so, then there was nothing he said or did that would exonerate him.
Unable to speak, he pointed rather weakly at the pot.
Without much delay, Armad walked towards the pot and opened the lid. He picked it up and tilted his head backward, tipping the contents of the pot towards his mouth.
The cook looked on with his mouth hanging open, and he almost lost his balance and fell from surprise. By custom, lowly servants weren't allowed to behold how the nobles ate.
As for the King and prince, the servants were required to turn their backs to avoid seeing how they ate. Anyone who witnessed the King eating had certainly called for trouble.
Was this a dream? The cook wondered if he would soon wake up from seeing the son of Airion lifting a pot by his royal self. A pot with soot all over it, for that matter. And to think that he poured all the contents of it inside his mouth without waiting for a plate. Barbaric!
But Armad was oblivious to his musings as the soup kept dwindling until there was nothing left in it. It was a large pot that could at least feed forty people.
Now, the cook's thoughts switched from wondering about how the prince lifted the pot to the amazement of where the soup could have gone.
A single person couldn't possibly have eaten all that soup, however hungry he might be. But he reined in his surprise since he figured that it had something to do with cultivation.
His fear overruled his surprise as he began to wonder if the prince had any intention of ever letting him go alive.
Most of those who witnessed such things were never spared. They normally didn't see the light of day for fear that they might soil the name of a noble by revealing what they saw.
When Armad finished eating, he glanced down at his stomach and wondered where all the food had gone.
However, at that moment, he received an alert from the System. A glowing box appeared with the message:
[The System has received new substances from the food you ate just now. You have also formed more than ten substances from it. Based on your Pol sense and current cultivation, you can make use of five substances. Do you want to use them and create pills?]
Armad answered affirmatively. The System immediately went to work, and shortly afterward, the pills were ready.
Armad knew it wouldn't be wise to reveal his secret. In an attempt to divert attention, he pivoted towards the cook and asked, "What is your name?"
The cook stammered, "Mu-Musa."
Armad studied him; he had never seen him before, even though he and his colleagues were his servants. It was the first time he had set foot in the kitchen. What could bring a king to the kitchen?
"Musa," he said eventually. "I want you to make sure not to reveal anything you saw here just now. Let it be a secret that you will take to the grave. Doing that would be your ticket to staying safe."
He paused. "You can go on safely with your life, perhaps even earning a promotion. But you will have only yourself to blame if you divulge this to anyone."
On hearing that his life would be spared, the cook fell to his knees, overwhelmed with gratitude and shedding some tears.
Without another word, Armad left the kitchen. He had no intention of harming the man, but a warning was necessary in such crucial cases. It was a measure to prevent suspicion. If news of this were to leak out, Armad was sure that people would ask questions when they saw his cultivation increasing at an unusual rate. If that happened, someone might connect the dots.
Armad wasn't about to let that occur, as a cultivator's secret was always the most valuable thing that ought to be protected. Making a slip of such secrets would deprive him of the advantage of surprise against his enemies.
He returned to his chambers and sat down on the bed. After placing the cultivation booster pills before him, he picked them up again and swallowed them.
His cultivation rose again.
[You have gained an additional ten Pol years of cultivation.]
The System informed him.
Armad felt his body heating up as he sensed immensely greater power running through his body.
When Armad left his own body, he had accumulated fifty-five pol years. But now, he had traveled back in time and reincarnated in the body of Prince Armad, a son of High King Airion.
The prince was already in the core formation stage. He was in the middle stage when Armad arrived, but now he had advanced further after taking the pills for a day. His cultivation had increased within a very short period.
He searched and found the rejuvenation pills in his storage bag. Swallowing one, the strength he felt surged again. All his fatigue was gone. He felt capable of facing stronger opponents than before.
When he felt the urge to go somewhere, he left the room. He was undecided at first but eventually resolved to return to the kitchen, thinking there must be something to munch on over there.