The journey to the meeting place took only half a day.
The location chosen by the organization was far from the main settlements, in a valley surrounded by enormous cliffs.
There was no city.
No visible fortress.
No army waiting outside.
That alone made William more cautious.
A place this important should have been protected by something.
As they approached the center of the valley, William finally noticed it.
A formation.
It was buried beneath the ground and almost impossible to detect unless someone was specifically looking for it.
William stopped.
Adrian looked at him.
"What is it?"
"A defensive formation."
"Can you break it?"
"Yes."
Adrian smiled.
"That sounds reassuring."
William looked at him.
"It doesn't mean I should."
They continued.
A few minutes later, several people appeared ahead of them.
The woman who had brought them here stepped forward.
"We're expected."
One of the guards looked at William.
"We know."
His gaze then moved to Adrian.
"And him?"
"He comes with me."
The guard hesitated.
Then stepped aside.
William noticed that.
They had clearly expected Adrian.
That meant their information about him was more complete than he had thought.
He did not mention it.
The three entered the valley.
The building at the center of the formation was surprisingly ordinary.
It looked more like a large residence than the headquarters of a powerful organization.
Inside, several people were waiting.
William recognized some of them.
They were among the powers that had previously investigated him.
None looked surprised to see him.
One of the men stood.
"Lord William."
William stopped.
He had not expected to be addressed by his real name.
The man smiled.
"You can stop pretending to be Roman. We knew who you were."
Adrian looked toward William.
William remained calm.
"I assumed as much."
The man laughed.
"Then why did you continue using the name?"
"Because knowing my identity and proving it are two different things."
The man's smile widened.
"You've become more cautious."
"I had good reasons."
William sat.
Adrian remained beside him.
The woman who had brought them sat farther away.
The man took the seat opposite William.
"My name is Darius."
William nodded.
"You wanted to meet me."
"Yes."
"Then speak."
Darius looked at him for several seconds.
"You really aren't interested in wasting time."
"No."
"Very well."
Darius placed a document on the table.
"We want you to join the Northern Alliance."
William did not touch it.
"What does joining mean?"
"Your force would operate under our protection."
"That wasn't my question."
Darius smiled.
"I know."
He leaned back.
"You would retain control over your people. You would not be required to obey our internal rules, and you would have access to our training grounds, information network, transportation routes, and resources."
Adrian frowned.
"That sounds too generous."
Darius looked at him.
"You aren't wrong."
William finally picked up the document.
"What's the price?"
Darius answered immediately.
"Political cooperation."
William looked up.
"Explain."
"You will not attack our affiliated powers without reason. You will not interfere in their internal affairs. If one of our members is threatened by an outside force, you will consider assisting them."
William placed the document down.
"So you want a military alliance."
"Partly."
"And what else?"
Darius smiled.
"We want you to stop searching for certain individuals."
William's eyes narrowed.
"Which individuals?"
"Several cultivators currently being monitored by us."
"Why?"
"Because they are dangerous."
"To whom?"
Darius paused.
"To everyone."
William leaned back.
"That's not specific enough."
Darius sighed.
"I expected you to ask that."
He waved his hand.
A projection appeared above the table.
Several faces appeared.
William recognized two of them.
One was a cultivator he had seen in the Free Territories.
The other was someone whose name had been mentioned by the information organization.
William studied the images.
"What have they done?"
"Nothing."
William's eyes narrowed.
"Then why are you monitoring them?"
Darius looked at him.
"Because we believe they will eventually become a problem."
Adrian laughed quietly.
"So you're asking William to imprison people because of what they might do?"
Darius's expression hardened.
"You misunderstand."
"No," Adrian replied. "I think I understand perfectly."
William raised his hand.
Adrian stopped.
William looked at Darius.
"If I accept your offer, you want me to avoid interfering with your organization while also accepting your judgment regarding people who haven't committed crimes."
"That's one way to phrase it."
"It's the accurate way."
Silence filled the room.
Darius finally smiled.
"That's why we wanted to meet you."
William folded his arms.
"You knew I would refuse."
"We expected resistance."
"Then why make the offer?"
"Because we wanted to see whether you would ask questions before refusing."
William looked at him.
"And what did you learn?"
"That you're exactly as difficult as the reports described."
The conversation continued for nearly an hour.
Darius explained the structure of the Northern Alliance.
It wasn't a single organization in the traditional sense.
Several powerful families, independent cultivators, merchant groups, and smaller sects had joined it.
Its purpose was to maintain balance between the major forces of the region.
At least, that was the official explanation.
William noticed several contradictions.
Some of the affiliated families had old rivalries.
Some members clearly disliked each other.
And yet they cooperated.
That meant the alliance wasn't held together by friendship.
It was held together by necessity.
William asked about their enemies.
Darius answered honestly.
"There are several."
"Which is the strongest?"
"That depends on what you mean by strongest."
"Who could destroy the alliance if they wanted to?"
Darius became quiet.
"There are three powers capable of doing serious damage."
William waited.
Darius named them.
William memorized every name.
Then he asked:
"And the organization that sent people after me?"
Darius's expression changed.
"We are that organization."
"I know."
William looked at him.
"But I don't believe everyone in this room agrees with everything you've done."
Several people became uncomfortable.
Darius didn't answer immediately.
That silence was enough.
William continued.
"Some of you wanted to investigate me. Others wanted to recruit me. Some probably wanted to eliminate me before I became stronger."
A few people looked away.
"You don't have a united opinion about me."
Darius smiled.
"Perhaps."
William stood.
"Then this meeting has already been useful."
Darius raised an eyebrow.
"You're leaving?"
"For now."
"You haven't answered our offer."
"I don't need to."
Darius looked surprised.
William continued.
"I said I would listen. I did."
He looked toward the projection still floating above the table.
"I won't allow another organization to decide who my people are allowed to become."
Darius remained silent.
William turned toward the door.
Then Darius spoke.
"William."
He stopped.
"If you reject us, we won't attack you."
William looked back.
"Why?"
"Because that isn't what we want."
Darius's expression became serious.
"But we also won't stop watching you."
William nodded.
"I expected that."
He began walking again.
Darius added one final sentence.
"One day, you may realize that building something alone is more difficult than you think."
William stopped for a moment.
Then answered without turning around.
"I know."
The doors closed behind him.
Outside, Adrian released a long breath.
"That went better than I expected."
William looked at him.
"You expected a fight?"
"Honestly? Yes."
William smiled.
"So did I."
They walked down the stone path.
The woman followed them.
After several minutes, she finally spoke.
"You rejected a very valuable offer."
"I know."
"Do you realize how much they could have given you?"
"Yes."
"Then why?"
William stopped.
He looked at the valley.
"I've spent enough time watching powerful people make decisions for others."
He turned toward her.
"I don't want the people who join me to discover one day that they exchanged one master for another."
The woman remained silent.
William continued.
"If I accept their resources now, I will eventually owe them something. And when that happens, my decisions won't belong entirely to me anymore."
Adrian nodded.
"That's what you were worried about."
"Yes."
The woman looked down.
"Then you should know something."
William waited.
"Darius didn't expect you to accept."
William frowned.
"What?"
"He expected you to refuse."
"Then why invite me?"
She hesitated.
"Because the offer wasn't the real purpose."
William's expression changed.
"What was?"
She looked at him.
"They wanted to know what you would refuse."
Adrian's smile disappeared.
William remained silent.
The woman continued.
"They already know what you want. They know you want independence. They know you want people who can make their own choices."
She took a breath.
"But they didn't know where you would draw the line."
William finally understood.
The offer had been a test.
Not of his strength.
Of his principles.
And he had given them an answer.
That evening, William and Adrian returned to the Free Territories.
William did not speak much.
He went directly to the old woman's house.
She was sitting outside as usual.
She looked at him.
"You met them."
"Yes."
"And?"
"I refused."
The old woman smiled.
"I expected that."
William sat opposite her.
"They knew I would refuse."
"Probably."
"They were testing me."
"Of course."
William frowned.
"You aren't surprised by anything."
The old woman laughed.
"Age has one advantage."
"What?"
"You become less impressed by people's tricks."
William smiled slightly.
Then his expression became serious.
"They asked me to stop investigating several people."
The woman looked at him.
"Did you?"
"No."
"Good."
"Why?"
"Because if someone wants you to stop asking questions, you should ask more."
William laughed quietly.
"I thought you were going to give me a philosophical answer."
"I can, if you want."
"No."
"Good."
They both laughed.
For a brief moment, the tension disappeared.
Then the old woman's expression changed.
"There is something else."
"What?"
"You came here looking for people."
"Yes."
"Perhaps you should stop looking."
William frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She pointed toward the settlement.
"Let them find you."
William looked outside.
"You think they'll come?"
"I know they will."
"Why?"
"Because the people who live here have spent their entire lives refusing to belong to someone else."
She smiled.
"If they hear that someone is trying to build a force based on choice rather than control, some of them will become curious."
William thought about it.
"That could attract the wrong people."
"Of course."
"And people who want to use me."
"Definitely."
William nodded.
"Then I'll have to learn how to tell the difference."
The old woman smiled.
"Now you're finally thinking like someone who wants to lead."
That night, William returned to the inn.
Adrian was already asleep.
William sat beside the window.
He looked at the token he had received from the Northern Alliance.
Then at the map of the Free Territories.
He had entered this region expecting to find people.
Instead, he had found something more important.
A question.
What kind of force did he actually want to create?
He knew what he hated.
He knew what he wanted to avoid.
But that wasn't enough.
A leader couldn't build something simply by opposing everything that came before him.
He needed a foundation.
A principle.
Something that could survive even when he wasn't there.
William closed his eyes.
For the first time since deciding to build his own force, he began designing its structure.
Not its name.
Not its hierarchy.
Not its territory.
Its rules.
And he started with one sentence.
No one would belong to him.
They would belong only to the path they had chosen.
But William knew that freedom alone wasn't enough.
Because the moment people chose to walk together...
Their choices would begin affecting one another.
That was the problem he had not yet solved.
And somewhere beyond the borders of the Free Territories...
Someone was already preparing to force him to solve it.