The Runic Alchemist
Chapter 54: Infiltration 7

Alex looked at the people around the table having their breakfast, looking all prim and proper. In Alex's opinion there were too many damned rules in just a single process of eating food. Why they had to make everything so complicated..?

Alex also stabbed at his food and took a mouthful, chewing happily.

"Alexander, sit straight and chew slowly without making a sound."

Alex looked at his mother and did as told. One does not mess with people in the morning, Alex had learned that the hard way.

"Did you finish the task that your uncle gave you..?"

"Yes.."

"You did..?"

"No."

"He must have sneaked off again, I tell you mother his bottom needs to be slapped till it's red. That's the only way kids nowadays learn... They have no respect for the elders..."

Alex almost chocked on his food. His beautiful sister making his bottom red was a scene too much to handle for his small brain. Alex could only pray for that day to come faster.

"What's with you..? Aren't you usually in your hiding hole by now..?" Asked the Queen of Faerunia.

Alex also wanted the answer to that, so he also perked up his ears and stared at his beautiful sister to force her into talking. Her beautiful face immediately lost all joy and took on a sad expression. Alex knew something had happened but he didn't know what exactly. Making his sister this sad.. whoever was behind this Alex was going to cut him into pieces.

He already had a suspicion though who it was about.

"Library is a stupid place to hang out..." Said the girl who was going to library every single day for a year now.

Alex frowned at that but his mother just raised her brows to reveal her surprise, nothing else besides that.

"What the hel.."

The incoming footsteps made Alex stop midway in his sentence. Both siblings sat straight and made their expressions neutral. The crude emotions were only reserved for the family and close friends, for everyone else they were the proud royalty of Faerunia. A knight was besides the dining table in a few seconds after the footsteps.

"Your highness has requested princess's presence in the meeting hall."

Alex and his sister just nodded as the hard faced knight bowed and traced back his steps to wherever he had come from. Alex was already instructed to be in the meeting hall by his uncle as his squire. Something big sure was happening today.

Finishing their breakfast fast, Alex with his older sister headed towards the meeting room inside the west wing of the palace. Alex tried twice to hold his sister's hand and got wrecked on the forehead twice. Alex had serious doubts that his sister had some really violent tendencies, but family was family right? He had to love his sister no matter what she was like. Alex was great like that.

He was really proud of himself.

"Stop day dreaming Alex! And hurry it up.."

Alex stopped the third attempt to slip his hands into his sister's midway, and straightened up. Sighing he dawdled behind her in his bulky armor, he was already sweating.

The meeting room was full of all the important people dressed in armors and uniforms, Alex looked around the room catching familiar faces of knight commanders, prominent members of their family and the branch family heads even some of those old geezers who spent all day writing documents and calculating stuff, Alex knew they were important but not having any strength at all and be present in this room irked him the wrong way.

Alex found his uncle – The captain of the king's guard talking to one of the commanders who managed the monster control unit outside their walls. Now that was a cool job a man can get behind. Alex walked towards his uncle and silently stood with his hand on the sword handle behind his seat, all straight backed and knight like. His uncle only looked at him once and return to his chat.

Alex had fought tooth and nail to get permission for attending meetings in this room before, but he was rejected every single time by his father. He even tried going on hunger strike for it once, but he had to bail on that plan once lunch time came. Man got to eat if he wanted to do any protest right..? That was a dumb idea anyway.

But now that he had attended dozens of these as a squire, he just wanted to get out of here or doze off. They just talked and talked and used so many heavy words Alex had serious suspicion that some of those words were definitely from old runic language or beastman tongue.

Finally the room got quiet and his father's footsteps were heard clearly behind the door that led to the inner palace. Everyone present in the room stood up straight waiting for their king.

When he entered chatting with his court officials and king's guard following behind, wearing crown made of ancient legendary leviathan bones, the room suddenly felt heavy and a feeling that Alex would be crushed beneath a mountain anytime seeped deep in his skin and bones. This was another reason he hated these meetings.

Or more like he avoided the presence of his father Thaddeus Seablaze – The Sea serpent.

The king of Faerunia looked around the room once and then sat at the head position. His two king's guard standing behind his seat, there was one more seat besides him which was empty. However when his stone cold face looked towards his daughter, The princess bowed once and walked beside him seating on the empty chair besides him.

Whenever Alex saw this scene he felt a weird feeling as if his chest was getting tighter and tighter, it must be because of his father's overwhelming presence. Not that his sister ever attended the meetings regularly, just sometimes when she was caught sneaking off the palace.

"Where is he..?" The gruff voice of the king echoed in the room.

"Outside. Should I call him in..?" His uncle asked.

The sea serpent nodded lightly as one knight who was standing at the very back of the room left the room and returned with another knight in armor who had a piece of navy blue cloth wrapped around his chestplate and left shoulder. Some of his neck area looked recently burned.

Alex knew the man. Everyone said that he was the second most powerful person in Faerunia after his uncle, he had doubts though. Not like any of them ever fought. What was the point of having so much strength when people didn't even spar once in a while.. Alex just could not understand these grown up people.

Alex remembered that Sir Galen Thorneborn was tasked to bring a new prime Esper that was sighted near the border of Dawnstar. Alex mostly yawned in the meeting feeling sleepy but he did pay attention once in a while, and this he remembered clearly.

"Your highness..." Sir Galen bowed deeply.

"Report." Said an old looking unit commander that Alex didn't know.

"I succeeded. My lord, in bringing the target, but his ability was not what the reports described. He released a wave of pure energy so massive that blew up the whole tavern we were in. The boy killed my whole squad Your highness..." Sir Galen's voice had a bit of heaviness in that last sentence.

"May the Tidebringer accept his soul and welcome him in his watery halls of deep..." One old knight said and everyone else repeated after him.

Alex had never seen anyone die, but loosing people that he knew since forever... never to be seen again felt too painful to even think about.

"You couldn't stop him..?" The captain of the knight's guard asked.

"I tried captain, the boy did it subconsciously without any warnings. Even after dampening third of his energy the explosion still happened. I myself got injured in the process..."

"That much energy in just a first ranker..? That breaks all the mana limits..." Said one of the old court official.

"Indeed it does..." Repeated another man among the crowd.

"I have him in the cells of knight's headquarters.." Continued Sir Galen.

"So he is still a prime Esper, just not a healer..?" Inquired his uncle.

"Whatever he is.. it matters no more at this point.. The whole city saw sir Galen walking in with the boy, the story is spread too far.." Said one old knight.

"A rare talent is hard to come by... he could be an asset to th.."

"Captain..?" Sir Galen cut off his uncle in mid sentence.

The injured knight managed to control his facial expressions but his emotions were out of control.. For a second the knight's aura made the room hard to breath in but in just another second the pressure was gone as if disappeared in thin air.

Alex catching his breath looked around to see what was going on and saw his father raising one finger from his right hand, the whole room's eyes were focused on there.

"Calm down Galen..." The captain of the knight's guard said walking beside the injured knight.

Sir Galen finally realizing what he had done dropped down on the floor, his head smashing into the hard stone leaving faint spiderwebs behind.

"I apologize your highness.. I lost control of my emotions... Please punish me as you will.."

Alex could not process fast enough what was going on. Things were moving too fast for his young brain.

"You have suffered enough, young knight.."

Only his father had a right to call a 40 year old man young. When one was alive for a century Alex guessed nothing in his life could surprise that man.

"Finish your report and wait in the headquarters for further orders.." his uncle ordered in his most knightly voice.

Alex knew things were real serious when he talked like that. The injured knight finally got back up and stood straight with his head down.

"There were some Dawnstar knights after the prime Esper but I handled them, only four had left. They most likely retreated if not I doubt they can do much any longer. And there was another youth in the tavern even younger than the prime Esper, he already had a job. The mana amount I felt in him was just a quarter short of what most basic second rankers have.

I didn't see it but the village folk said that he saved four people alongside him from the explosion without even a single injury even though he was right next to us when it happened."

"Another prime Esper? A defense type..?" One old man chimed surprised by the revelation.

"Did he have dark hair and blue eyes..? Looking like the cutest thing in the world..?"

The princess spoke for the first time, and respectfully so everyone was surprised even Alex, because he knew which bastard she was talking about.

"Yes, he was rather comely looking.. Black hair, blue eyes.." The injured knight confessed.

Everyone slowly looked at the princess who had distant eyes as if calculating something in her mind. So instead his uncle answered the unspoken question.

"The boy is in the city, we have met him. He indeed had large mana pool and impressive sword skills..."

"Sword skills..?"

"From a commoner boy..?"

"He was using Dawnstar basics..." His uncle replied.

'Dawnstar basics..? He is from Dawnstar then..? Why was he after my sister..?'

"Find the boy.. Make him your squire.." The king declared looking at his uncle.

"Wait a second father.. He was my student first and he is a mage to begin with.. I am much better suited to teach him.." The princess came back to the reality from her thoughts.

However the king just ignored her antics and moved the meeting forward. The injured knight left and another knight commander came forward to report.

"We have heard reports of someone asking around with the information brokers and underground for the boy Sir Galen has captured."

"Most likely the Dawnstar knights.. Are they planning to rescue him..?" A young unit commander asked.

"We will handle them if they try to do any foolish thing behind the boy.." A commander charged with knight headquarter's security answered.

"Bring the boy, double the headquater's security. And assign another guard for my daughter who is especially skilled in tracking. Dismissed."

The king stood up and with him did the whole room and then left the way he had come with his entourage. Alex finally breathed in relief. This was too much for his young heart but it seems like no one cares about him any longer. Alex was feeling homesick in his own home.

*****

Present day...

Damian looked all around him, various knights of different ranks all gathered, encircling him. The prince of Faerunia had come down on the solid land, having the cyan haired Esper beside him.

"So.. Pervert.. tell me... Why are you stealing our prisoner...?"

Damian slumped down his shoulders looking down at his feet, even after surrounded by hundreds of knights he still had hopes for escaping just a second ago, but now.. after sensing the familiar monstrous mana signature, he had truly lost it all.

The captain of the knight's guards was walking slowly towards the crowd from the direction in which Damian was trying to reach for half a night now.