That night inside the reading room of a private manor, the sound breaking vase and smashed furniture were heard. Albert Grey was furious after reading the letter sent by Leon and seeing the state of his servant.
"Golden Lion gang? Know your place and behave properly? What a joke! How dare these dogs dare bite the hand that fed them? Did they think they are on top of the world after growing a little stronger!? Gael!"
"You called, my Lord?" Steward Gael entered the reading room and answered his lord's call.
"I want you to lead a group of servants to the Deadly Nightclub and raze it to the ground. Kill all who survives!" Albert Grey commanded furiously. Although he was burning with rage, it was beneath his status as a 7th step awakener to personally act. It was enough to delegate the job to his men.
"I beg the Lord to reconsider." Steward Gael dropped to his knees and beseeched his lord to not act rashly.
"Elaborate." Albert was displeased that his steward went against his orders but knowing that his steward has always been intelligent and loyal, he did not explode and told him to explain himself.
"Although the Queen had secluded herself in the royal palace for many years, such a high-profile action may draw her majesty out of her palace to investigate. If her majesty learns of what the nobles have been doing, I fear the Capital would be washed in blood again, my Lord." Steward Gael said, evidently very afraid of the Queen.
"You're right. I was too rash." Albert Grey sobered up, when the Queen was mentioned. Knowing the Queen's temper, she would definitely do just that when she learns what had become of her Capital. Nobles have become corrupted, placing their own family and personal interest above the overall citizen's.
They were greedy and have been abusing the commoners both in the open and in the dark to fatten up their own coffers. Albert Grey was fully aware that the commoners had a lot of grievances bottled up inside them over the years. If they complain to the Queen, then they would definitely suffer a family extermination. He was that certain of the outcome because the Queen wields great power and they couldn't possibly silence all the commoners. They could only choose to flee to the other kingdoms if the Queen exit her seclusion. They weren't aware that the Queen was already informed of what they had been doing and their doom was impending.
The Queen was a 9th step awakener but what was to be feared was not her cultivation but her bloodline ability. Her majesty was the only person to awaken with the metal attribute outside the royal family since the founding of the kingdom.
Anyone with a guilty conscience would not dare to step half a foot into the royal palace. The once beautiful white palace has been replaced by a black metallic one after it was destroyed in the rebellion. One could say that the black palace was the Queen's absolute domain. One would have a feeling of powerlessness when they are inside, and their life would no longer be in their own control.
In recent years, restriction on metal had lowered and it was slowly being circulated within the Upper District. It had too many uses for both commercial and development purposes to be solely wasted on fortifying the wall. But having metal circulated in the Upper District means that the Queen's domain has slowly expanded into the Upper District. A 9th step awakener could control the element within a range of 100-meter radius, but the public did not know this because they have never witnessed a 9th step awakener going all out.
"How should we deal with the gang?" Albert Grey asked.
"I believe we should investigate them first, my Lord. The gang doesn't seem to be run by Snake. Snake was a loyal dog and a coward. Even if he had ten times the guts, he still wouldn't dare to rebel. Furthermore, the servant who was sent back was behaving very strangely ever since he had regained consciousness."
"How strangely?" Albert wasn't present at the time and didn't know how the servant had behaved.
"The servant was talking gibberish and acting crazy like he was trying to use his ability. I'm not sure what vicious method was employed but I believe the servant had turned into an idiot and his ability was crippled." Steward Gael voiced his conjecture.
Albert Grey's gaze turned serious when he heard what the Steward said. Someone who could do that was not simple and very ruthless. Power was tantamount to status. To cripple someone's ability was like stripping their status.
"Have people investigate into who is behind the gang but do not antagonize them and have a doctor check if the servant can recover. You know what to do if he can't." Albert Grey said coldly. He would not feed useless people.
"As you wish, my Lord." The Steward shivered and answered.
After Albert Grey calmed down, he was able to think clearer and did not want to make an enemy out of someone he wasn't confident in dealing with. He very much would like to know what method the opponent had used on his servant. What he didn't know was that he had already made Leon his enemy when their revealed their ill intentions on the Cromwell family.
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Early morning, as mentioned beforehand by the training instructor, no one dared to be late on the first day of military training. Everyone was gathered onto the field used for sport activities, as they waited for the arrival of commander Eugene. Some came as early as half an hour prior, while the latest was 10 minutes prior.
Seeing there was still some time before the instructor arrives, Leon found a spot on the field to wait along with the rest of the students.
"Over here, Leon~." Rachel spotted him and waved. Leon smiled wryly, while making his way over under the envious gazes of the crowd.
"Didn't expect you to also be taking part in the military service. With your status, you could be exempted from it."
"I didn't want to be treated differently just because of my status." Rachel said unhappily. Seeing that she wasn't fond of the topic, Leon decided to switch topic.
"Will our princess be able to manage under the pressure of the training?" He said jokingly.
"Haaa? Are you looking me? Despite my frail appearance, I am still a 3rd step awakener." Rachel pouted. Her competitive spirit was riled. Those who judges her strength by her appearance would be in for a rude awakening.
"Hahaha, who dares to look down on our princess? I'll be the first to teach that person a lesson." Leon laughed and flexed his arm's muscle. Leon had only been training for a few days, so his body was still thin and slender. His muscles didn't stand out much even though he possess 500-jin worth of raw physical strength. His cultivation improves his body on a qualitative level rather than a quantitative one. The progression in cultivation would also continuously improve his skin and facial qualities and eventually turn him into a pretty boy, if it was high enough. He doesn't know whether to be happy or not when that happens, but the scene of him flexing was almost comical.
"Pftt~ hahaha, you? I can teach that person a lesson myself." Rachel showed her clenched fist, trying to look very menacing. She wasn't trying to look down Leon, but she was aware of his situation. What she wasn't aware of was that the present Leon was no longer the same as his past self. Leon just smiled at her posturing.
"Ah Leon, how about introducing your friend to me?" Lynne joined them an asked. She had noticed Leon earlier, but Rachel had beaten her to it. She was just watching them interact from the distance and felt very uncomfortable inside from their intimacy. Who knew where she found courage from to intrude on them?
"What? Uh… This Rachel… Rachel, this is Lynne." Leon introduced them awkwardly. The two girls were left speechless at Leon's introduction, but their eyes did not leave one another. Who didn't know who Rachel was?
Of course, Lynne knew who she was. She was just using a randomly excuse to butt into their conversation. The two stared at each other as if they were staring at their greatest enemy.
"T-this... girls, be nice."
Leon wasn't sure why the two can't get along well after just meeting but he tried to mediate between the two. Unfortunately, he was ignored and was push to the sidelines. He felt an incoming headache.
"Yoh~ bro you're back. I haven't seen you for a few days. How are you?" Another person joined them.
Rachel and Lynne seemed to come to a mutual understanding and put their differences aside as their focus their attention on the newcomer. Leon felt like his lifesaver had come but he felt awkward when he couldn't remember who the person was.
"You are…?"
"It's me, Fatty Ben! I helped sent you to the infirmary when you suddenly passed out." Benjamin Farley said.
"Ah… I remember now. I owe you one." Leon remembered after Fatty Ben reminded him.
"That's right you owe me one. Look at my body. You know how strenuous it was for me to drag you to the infirmary?" Fatty Ben had yet to awaken. His father was just a baron, but their business was really good. Even so, the number of pills their could receive was limited and was focused on the upper echelons of the family.
"You should consider eating less and exercise more." Leon smiled.. Fatty Ben was embarrassed at Leon being blunt.