396 The Witch.
As Ozul and his friends were escorted to the quarters made for soldiers, the Imperial Prince and the beloved Princess made their way to the throne room.
It was yet another giant room with long rows of decorated seats, all leading to the one big throne reserved for the ruler of this kingdom.
With no one else in the room, the Imperial Prince walked straight toward his brother while the princess hopped behind him.
On the throne sat a man with a stern expression. He wore a royal robe and a gold-made crown with rare jewels embedded into it. No one could doubt he was the king of the Blue Lion Kingdom.
“Brother!” greeted the Imperial Prince with a smile.
The king nodded before smiling at the princess.
“Good morning, father!”
“Hua’er,” the King muttered with a warm, unusually kind smile. Only someone like Ozul who could feel emotions would have been able to tell exactly what kind of thoughts were in his mind.
Before long, he turned toward the Imperial Prince again and spoke in a grave voice, “What happened on the borders? You said it would only be a recruitment expedition for new soldiers.”
.....
Princess Hua blinked innocently at her uncle. She didn’t know what they were talking about.
“It was the Witch of the Steel Mountain Kingdom,” replied the Prince, watching his brother furrow his eyebrow. “She was on our land, brother. I already showed mercy by stopping myself from killing her.”
Hearing him say that, the king sighed in worry before leaning back on his throne.
“Something is brewing in the shadows of my kingdom. I don’t like it one bit,” he muttered for his younger brother to hear.
With a thoughtful face, the Prince asked, “Do you think the Steel Mountain Kingdom is behind it all?”
“There is a possibility. They have always been provoking us, and the presence of that ‘witch’ on our land is also suspicious.” The king then looked worriedly at his daughter before sighing once again, “Alas, the war would not be an appropriate answer to their provocation.”
Seeing the icy glare of his younger brother, the king then nodded in understanding, “Indeed. We don’t want war, but if they continue doing this, then war is what they will get.” He matched the glare of his brother.
“Are we going to war??” the princess intervened, tilting her head as she asked her father.
“Haha, no we are not, Hua’er.”
The king then changed the topic, “I remember you had something interesting to tell me?” He said, focusing on his younger brother.
Just then, the Prince’s face lit up in a victorious smile. “You remember the Dragon Hatchlings? A total of 6 hadn’t agreed to go with ‘them’, right? Well, guess what?” A smirk also appeared on the king’s face as he understood the implications behind his words.
“Don’t keep me waiting,” the king spoke impatiently.
“Brother... four of them are under our banner starting today.”
“HAHA!” bellowed the king in his empty hall. His council would have questioned if he had gone insane if they were present. “Alas, they wouldn’t be here for long. You know we cannot keep them forever.” There were too many things to consider when dealing with the Dragon Hatchlings.
The Prince nodded in understanding. He knew his brother’s concerns. Although ‘they’ had let the Dragon Hatchlings wander on their own, ‘they’ wouldn’t stand still if someone intentionally targeted them. But he didn’t feel the need to worry since he wasn’t going to harm them. He just had some fruitful plans for them. “Brother... if a war breaks out, we wouldn’t be at a disadvantage if we just use the Hatchlings. They just need some grooming, that’s it.”
The king made a thoughtful face. How could he not know of his younger brother’s thoughts? Such decisions needed careful consideration, but the reputation of Dragon Hatchlings in the past far exceeded the possible repercussions.
With sparkles in her eyes, the princess moved her expectant gaze toward her uncle, “What are Dragon Hatchlings? Are there dragons in our kingdom now?”
Both the King and the Imperial Prince smiled a wry smile as they shook their head at the princess. She was their most beloved, but they had to admit that she was a little too innocent.
. . .
Ozul and his group along with the rest of the recruits were shifted to their rooms.
These quarters were specially made for the soldiers and were well-maintained. The newly recruited men were given the choice to live there or go back to their homes and come back to report to their duties on time.
This was perfect for Ozul and his group. Living inside the palace estate would limit their actions, but they would also have a reason to stay near the palace. This had been their second time inside and they had already encountered the princess once. There would be many ample opportunities in the future.
Each room given to the recruits had about 5 beds and they could choose whichever room they wanted. There weren’t any restrictions except for no infighting and woman had separate rooms. They weren’t allowed to share rooms with the opposite gender.
It was to be expected. It wasn’t an inn or a mercenary camp, but the quarters for soldiers.
As Ozul picked the room in the quietest corner of the quarters, Blaze and Zier trotted behind him as well. What annoyed him, however, was the fact that even Kumaou followed them inside.
Raven was sad that she couldn’t share a room with Ozul, but there wasn’t much to fret about as their rooms were only separated by two more rooms.
Having realized that the Imperial Prince probably knew about their origin, Ozul told his group to go all out in cultivation. They weren’t going to hide anything. If anything, being Dragon Hatchlings would probably make them less suspicious of their motives.
They had taken many resources from Ember. Since their cultivation had slowed down a little, the lot of them decided to hone their Spiritual Arts. It was mostly true for Raven who hadn’t yet learned an offensive technique. The Scarlet Eyes were the only Spiritual Arts in her arsenal as of yet.
Thinking that she would reap the most benefits if she hung out with Kumaou and Ozul, Rose chose the same room as Raven’s. A few less than half of the recruits were either from the capital or towns close to it, so some of them chose to take the rooms while others preferred their own homes. This made it so the quarters weren’t overcrowded.
Everyone they saw was clad in royal uniform, so the new recruits easily stood out among the crowd.
What didn’t come as a surprise to Ozul was that they weren’t given the usual uniform of the royal guards or soldiers. Neither were they given any attire that could identify them as either soldiers or guards.
‘Me and my group aside...’ he thought before eying Kumaou who slept soundly, ‘maybe excluding him too, the rest are most likely just a disposable unit of soldiers.’ That was the conclusion he came to.
Otherwise, it made no sense that the Imperial Prince would put forth such a crude entry test. To him, most of them were just some workers he had hired for manual labor.
But Ozul wasn’t concerned with those things. The Prince must have a different plan for the Dragon Hatchlings. And because even the woman who was on par with the Prince didn’t dare kill them, it gave him a glimpse into the true worth of that title.
‘Considering the potential of the Dragon Hatchlings, the true overlords of this Realm must have prohibited harming them,’ unknown to him, his thoughts were exactly on point.
Having given enough thought to the matter, he decided to also take a nap. He was given time, and he was going to make ample use of it.
Meanwhile, Blaze and Zier trained in their combat skills.
Behind the quarters allotted to them, there was also a ground for the soldiers to train. Many soldiers and guards were seen sparring with an instructor keeping a close watch over them.
With Blaze’s superior battle instincts, he always had an edge over Zier. No matter how hard the latter tried, he didn’t come close to bridging that gap. And so he had finally decided to focus on learning a Spiritual Art.
Raven was also studying some Spiritual Arts while Blaze chose to spar with an instructor, the only mid-ranked Nascent Soul cultivator in the training grounds.
What surprised the soldiers and the guards and even the instructors was the fact that Blaze easily overwhelmed that senior instructor!
They weren’t using Spiritual Arts or anything related to the Spiritual Essence, but using pure martial arts, so it was to be expected of Blaze who had decades of experience in battles. The only thing he lacked right now was a superior cultivation base.
Leaving everyone awestruck at his performance, Blaze decided to focus on his cultivation.
He didn’t notice one of the spectators taking note of their every action. It wouldn’t be long before the Prince was notified that it wasn’t just one of the Dragon Hatchlings who was outstanding. The others also lived up to their title.
For the entire day that they trained, Rose was nowhere to be seen.
Away from the soldier quarters, that seductive lady was strolling towards the palace building when her path was blocked by two long spears crossing each other.
“You are not allowed to be near the palace,” one of the guards shouted with a commanding tone, though his cultivation base was lower than Rose’s.
