đźź Chapter 61:
🟧 Takeru's POV:
A new morning arrived. I got up from bed and changed my clothes. I had heard that the prime minister had been interrogated by force until very late at night, and he had actually revealed the gang's locations. The royal army began to mobilize to wipe out the gang entirely under the command of the army general.
On the other side, Haizen and I were assigned to guard the prince. Speaking of Haizen, he had gotten up before me. I headed to the palace kitchen to find something to fill my stomach this morning. I found one of the cooks there and asked him for something to eat. At first he didn't recognize me, but then he realized I was the one assigned to guard the prince.
After finishing my breakfast, I left the kitchen. The palace had this atmosphere of preparation, as if today were some important event… well, it was. I found Haizen sitting on a chair in the inner courtyard. I thought he was training, but he just seemed to want some peace and quiet.
I went to sit next to him. When he saw me, he said mockingly:
"Oh, the lazybones is finally awake. Enjoy your sleep?"
"What laziness are you talking about? It's six in the morning."
"But you're the last person in the entire palace to wake up. Everyone's excited for today."
Well… I wasn't one of them to share that excitement. The Elite Exam would begin in two hours. We'd accompany Elithius to the academy, where his father would deliver a speech in front of the people for the occasion.
Speaking of Elithius, I wondered where he was, so I asked:
"By the way, where's Prince Elithius?"
Haizen answered with half-closed, uninterested eyes:
"In the bathroom. He's been in there for an hour."
"An hour? Did he eat something poisonous?"
"That's what he told the guards, but the truth is he's terrified of taking the exam."
"You heard that or saw it?"
"I heard it from the lizard-dragon."
So, from Ryo. Well… whatever. Not important.
We stayed on the bench for a while, but boredom started creeping in. Haizen broke the silence:
"Hey… do you think this gang will really be destroyed?"
He wasn't confident about the current situation — and neither was I. Capturing Orfin, or rather Number One, didn't seem enough. Number Two was also strong. Number Four had an annoying ability. Number Three… I wasn't sure about his skill, but physically he was strong. And Number Five… well, he was on our side now.
But whether the gang fell or not wasn't our concern. I told him:
"Not sure if they'll fall. But it's not our problem anymore… Elnar seems strong, and maybe the palace has other powerful people too."
A few minutes later, Ryo came toward us, telling us he had been looking for us:
"There you two are. Come on, Prince Elithius is heading to the academy. You need to accompany him."
"Did you drag him out of the bathroom?"
"Yes. I threatened to destroy the bathroom on his head, so he came out."
"Looks like he's getting over the whole prime minister shock."
"He is. I went to talk to him last night. He refused me several times, but eventually he showed his face. He told me he always had some doubts about Orfin, and if he didn't, he wouldn't have gotten over it this fast."
That was good for him. Maybe now he'd learn to distinguish trust from blind trust. Honestly, recovering this quickly in a single day was impressive.
While we were talking, the guards opened the palace gates. The king and Elithius appeared, heading toward the exit, accompanied by two important-looking men and a number of guards. Haizen and I stood up from the bench.
I muttered nervously:
"I can't believe I'll be sitting inside a carriage with the king. I haven't even spoken to him yet…"
Ryo hit me with reality:
"No, you're not sitting with the king and prince. Don't overestimate yourself."
"Then where am I sitting?"
"There's an external seat on the carriage. You and Haizen will sit outside."
Haizen didn't like that:
"Hold on — you're belittling us. That makes us look like mere bodyguards."
Ryo was confused:
"…You are bodyguards."
"Oh… right. I forgot."
I wondered if Elnar would be at the academy too.
"What about Elnar? Isn't he going?"
Ryo replied in a serious tone:
"Prince Elnar won't be there. He's dealing with the gang with the army general."
"Makes sense. He's more useful there anyway."
But what about Ryo? He told me previosly he had some special abilities. Curiosity pushed me to ask:
"Ryo, what are your special abilities you talked about before?"
He immediately froze, eyes darting left and right, then finally said:
"Look… I'm not a strong dragon. But I'm still a dragon, and even a weak one like me can be dangerous for normal humans. And if I'm not enough alone, the dragons of my original clan will support me."
"Your clan's dragons… will support you? How?"
Before he could answer, we were told to board the carriage.
Well, maybe I'll ask him about this later.
We headed toward the carriage — and yes, there really was an outside seat like Ryo said. But before we reached it, the king stopped us.
"Wait. You two — the ones assigned to guard Elithius."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
He smiled warmly:
"How about you sit inside? I'd like to get to know you better. You're the ones who saved my son, after all."
Everyone froze — Elithius, the two officials, even Ryo at the gate. They all tried to oppose the king, but no one could change his mind.
Ryo left to prepare for the gang assault, and we entered the carriage. Haizen and I sat on the sides, Elithius in the middle, and the two officials opposite us with the king between them.
The king extended his hand toward Haizen, smiling:
"I haven't met you since you arrived, but I've heard your names from my son Elnar. You're Haizen, and the other is Takeru, right?"
"Right, Your Majesty. And for your information, we were the real reason your son was saved — not that lizard who stole the credit."
Everyone in the carriage was stunned by Haizen's words. Even if he wasn't lying, the way he said it was outrageously rude. Elithius tried to shut him up:
"I'm sorry, Father. He's… never spoken to high-ranking people before."
Haizen looked confused at Elithius:
"What? Did I say something wrong?"
Elithius snapped:
"Idiot! How dare you call Ryo a lizard?"
"You called him that once too. Don't think I forgot."
The king laughed. Unexpectedly. I honestly thought he'd imprison us for offending Ryo.
"This is amusing. You two are entertaining. Good — better than having two rocks guarding him."
This king was totally different from what I imagined.
Time passed quickly inside the carriage, and we finally arrived at the academy.
It was an enormous, old-styled school, surrounded by a huge crowd of students. Some looked excited, others nervous… like Elithius.
We stepped down, and the king headed toward a stage in front of the academy to deliver his speech:
"Welcome, all students of our esteemed academy, whether from within the kingdom or from abroad. I hope you've enjoyed your years here. Now here you stand on your final day — the Elite Exam. I have only one thing to say: give it your best."
He continued for a while, then stepped down amid applause from the students and officials, and the Elite Exam finally began.