"I…" Vicky's eyes trembled, "I think…
…I can."
"But can you, really?"
Rhys and Vicky were not really given ti to think. The two were just at the corner of the mall, almost in their own world — but they were quickly brought back by Lina, who just suddenly descended from the 2nd floor of the mall and sat beside Vicky on the bench.
"Where… did you even pop out from!?" Vicky almost jumped from the bench as she looked at Lina.
"Can you?" Lina completely ignored Vicky's shock as she returned her gaze and looked her in the eyes, "Can you compete against all of us?"
"You… heard our conversation?" Vicky took in a small gulp as her words started to stutter, "Linette… I can explain, we—"
"L…Linette, this… I can…"
"No need to explain anything," Lina let out a sigh as she stood up from the bench and stood beside Rhys, resting her head on his arm, "It's just weird because you and I are literally cousins. I never really imagined I'd have a literal relative in the fucking harem… that's awkward as fuck."
"Harem…?" Vicky squinted her eyes in confusion, "You're… not mad at all? Are you… ntal?"
"I am," Lina said without any hesitation, "The question is…
…can you be?"
***
"Master Rhys, you're back! Just in ti for us to show you where you will be training my children and the others."
A few hours later, Rhys, Lina, and Vicky returned to the King's palace via a helicopter. And Rhys wasn't even able to land both his feet on the ground before Prince Lance approached him and pulled him away.
"Leave the two ladies for now," Prince Lance said as they left Vicky and Lina. There was a certain quiet awkwardness obviously lingering between the two, and Lance did not want anything to do with whatever caused it. And so, he just quickly continued dragging Rhys deeper into the castle until they reached a colossal door; with more than several guards seemingly protecting the periter.
"We're going to train inside the castle?" Rhys blinked a couple of tis as he rembered Agatha and how destructive Nobles could be if they tried, "I think it is more advisable to train outside in the field, Sir."
Rhys was actually starting to think that the Royal Family actually had a more sensible side, but that was once again slowly going down the drain.
"What? No, no…" Lance let out a small chuckle as he raised his hand, ordering the guards to open the gigantic door… which created an almost wailing hymn as they slid open. The outside of the door looked like wood, but it wasn't at all — it was tal, a very thick slab of tal,
"...I know why you would be surprised, so countries treat the Holes as a business, after all — especially Arka. But for Enkland, we treat the Holes as a plague. And I am aware that they don't teach you this in your textbooks or tattle them on the news…
…but the current Enkland has already covered 99% of all the Holes that appeared in the past thousand years."
"...What?" Rhys blinked a couple of tis as he looked at Lance; his eyes filled with utter disbelief at what he just heard. The only thing he could do was follow Lance as he stepped into the large and vast hall — and there, inside, were several groups of people.
So were running around, while so were just sitting in front of their screens; the cups of coffee they had already drank, reflecting on their exhausted faces.
There were a lot of machinery and gadgets everywhere, and right at the very center of this; covered in what Rhys could only assu to be a thick layer of cylindrical glass, was a Hole.
"The remaining 1% includes this Hole, Master Rhys," Lance gestured to Rhys to have a look around the place, "The others are newly ford ones, and dedicated entry points for Explorers.
We put all of our budget into sealing all of the Holes — perhaps soone like you who ca from Arka sees this as a foolish endeavor, as it is true that there are a lot of riches to be had in the Underworld… In fact, most people disagree with how we run things."
"Hence all the people aiming for your family," Rhys let out a breath as he looked at all the screens, and from what he was seeing, they contained data about the Underworld and even live footage of it.
"Yes," Lance nodded as he walked toward the deck; his face slightly being reflected by the glass as he looked down at the deep abyss of the Hole, "I know you have reservations against us too, Master Rhys."
"You did drug and Lina, set up a trap to test , and then your children blatantly want Lina's head," Rhys breathed out as he took a step back, avoiding one of the n who were busy running around to the point that none of them even greeted their prince.
"Well… yes," Lance cleared his throat, "And I apologize for that. But I know you see us as weak, lax, cowards… complacent. But Master Rhys…
…we are also safe."
"Hm…"
"How many die in Arka due to Hole-related issues? Due to monster storms?" Lance turned his back from the Hole to look at Rhys, "Even you suffered from your country's greed and negligence. Monsters, appearing right at the center of your campus…
…none of your suffering would have happened here, Master Rhys."
"I'm not going to migrate to this country, Sir."
"Well…" Lance let out a small chuckle as he heard Rhys's words, "...It was worth a try. My wife made the speech for . Did it work even a little bit?"
"It did," Rhys approached the viewing deck and stood beside Lance, "But as I have told His Majesty…
…I have other plans that can only be done in Arka."
"A pity, then…" Lance then turned to look at one of his people, "...I'll have them open the gate so you could scout the Hole, I assu you would want that?"
"Trust , Your Highness…" Rhys stared down at the Hole; his silver eyes, reflecting it entirely,
"...You do not want anywhere near here. I have the tendency to… attract monsters. It is best if we just train out in the open field."
"But… how are they going to learn?" Lance's eyebrows started to lower as his voice changed, "Master Rhys, I have already sent you the paynt for this straight to your bank — and forgive for being blunt, but I expect the best from you since I have literally paid you a quarter of a billion pounds for your services."
"You do not have to worry, Sir…" A small smile crawled on Rhys's face as he glanced at Lance,
"...I will make sure you will get your money's worth."
***
"Let's do this!"
"Watch , Margie — I'm not going to lose to you again."
"Say that to when you've actually won against even once."
A day after, all of the grandchildren of the King were dressed in completely different sets of training clothes; with one of them even wearing a full plate of armor. All of them prepared for this day since their grandfather himself would be watching them — they were also excited to dive down into the Underworld…
"Master Rhys, are we… really going to do this here?"
…only for Rhys to place their training right dead at the center of the nearest city from the royal palace.
Suffice it to say, Lance's wife, Annabeth, was furious as to why Lance even approved of this. But the only thing she could really do was keep quiet and bow her head as the King also gave his permission.
Of course, the streets and surrounding area were cleared of civilians, but they couldn't actually control all the population, and most returned to watch.
"You… like the attention, don't you?" Vicky asked as she looked at the crowd of people who were trying their best to sneak a peek, "Why… here? We're vulnerable here, what if one of those rebel groups tries to attack us?"
"You're Nobles," Rhys placed his hand on his back as he started walking and looking at Vicky and the others from head to toe, "You already have an insane amount of power."
"...But we're not trained," Vicky turned to look at her siblings and cousins, who were just goofing around; seemingly oblivious of the danger, "...That's exactly why father hired you. It's… dangerous here, people could get hurt."
"Exactly," a small smile crawled on Rhys's face, "Lose control like your aunt did…
…and all these people are going to die."
"W—"
"None of that is going to happen."
And before Vicky could actually gather Rhys's thoughts, the knights and guards who were preventing the crowd from going near them all stood to the side and made way — not for the crowd, but for a group of people in black suits; all of them, wearing sunglasses even though the sky in Enkland was forever dim.
"Mr. Rhys Wilder," the one leading them showed his ID to Rhys, "We're from the International Intelligence Agency…
…we need you to co with us right now."
"The IAA?" Lance, who was watching all of this unfold from the side, could not help but rush toward Rhys and the others… only to be stopped by the IAA and his own knights, "You have no—"
"Stand back and stay away from Rhys Wilder, Your Highness…
…He is now under investigation and is suspected to be the head of a terrorist organization that bombed an Arkan federal agency. Whatever immunity he has or has been granted has been temporarily revoked as a suspected terrorist — He is to be sent back to Arka to be held and interrogated imdiately…
…I hope you do not resist, Mr. Rhys Wilder."
"...Right," Rhys just let out a short but very deep breath, shaking his head before just very slowly placing his hand at the back of his head.
"What…? Victoria, call your grandfather!"
Prince Lance and the others could really only watch as the IAA unceremoniously dragged Rhys away before he could even teach Vicky and the others anything. Very soon, however, as Rhys disappeared into the crowd, Lance realized sothing, "Wait…
…what about my half a billion pounds?"
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