NOVPUB"But five thousand is a bit too much… we are extremely lacking compared to out competition and you want to take away five thousand?" Mathew asked with a frown on his face.
Keith looked up at him and pointed a finger at his face, "Look at those dark circles, jeez. Get some sleep."
"Also, I never said that I'm taking your soldiers away and giving them to others you know?" Keith continued before he turned to look at Leora, "It's an investment. I'm going to make them extremely strong, but I don't want my efforts to go to waste, so I want them with me even after the war."
He then grabbed a small cookie from a plate in front of him and popped it into his mouth, "Once the war starts, I'll have five thousand men who are almost ten times as strong as a royal knight. Don't you guys want that?"
Before Leora could say a thing, Mathew banged the table excitedly, "Deal! In fact, if this helps us win the succession, I'll directly make you a grand duke. There won't be any need for merging lands with your wives and colleages."
"That's great. I'll take my leave now but… you should know about the new change that has happened recently right?" Keith asked as he grabbed a few more cookies and stood up from his chair.
The brother and sister duo looked at each other and then focused their attention on Keith.
Mathew frowned slightly before asking, "You mean… that screen thing?"
"Yeah and it's not exclusive to just you. In fact, it's going to spread really fast in the next few weeks so I suggest that you set up a guild chain. Basically an alliance between a lot of guilds and you don't really have to pay much for it either." Keith said as he walked towards the door.
He pushed the door open and added, "Think about it. The ease of communications…"
The siblings silently watched as the door closed behind Keith and once he was out, Leora finally let out a soft sigh.
"He's way too… mysterious."
Mathew nodded, "Yeah, and I'm glad that he's on our side… or maybe he's acting. What do you think?"
"We can trust him. I can tell when someone is trying to scam me and you know that I can. Even if you find it hard to trust him, it should be easy for you to trust my words right?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Yeah whatever… also about the system thing. Do you think it's worth it? We have almost forty thousand people under us and to make a guild chain with everyone included… it's going to cost us a lot, isn't it?"
Leora nodded, "Forty thousand people… that's like two hundred guilds and each guild will need a monthly payment of 8 Zen. Hmm, let's see…" she muttered and did the calculations in her head.
"1600 Zen per month in total. That's basically thirty two Chrons so I think that'll be fine. We'll keep the guilds active only until the war ends since that's the time period when we'll need the ability to communicate quickly."
Mathew sighed and sat down in front of her, "Well, I'll leave the finances to you, sis. Just… why is our path filled with thorns when Zander and Barou are so…"
"Lucky and gifted?" Leora ended the sentence for him before even she let out a soft sigh, "Well, nothing we can do about really. Zander was born with the ability to see through the ambition and greed of other people. And since we share the same mother, I was born with a similar ability."
"Yours is completely internal while he can influence people's emotions too, right?" Mathew asked and Leora nodded.
"Right." she said and then added, "I'd say that it's more of an influence of the subconscious instead of emotions. His power over this is not as great as my mother, so certain people can actually defend themselves. Unfortunately, I don't really know about the specific requirements."
Mathew nodded, "Yeah, you two never got along so I'm not surprised that he hasn't told you anything. Actually, I'll be surprised if he actually told any of us…"
"Says the guy who never talks about his own powers just like Zander." Leora jabbed him, but Mathew simply chuckled.
"And it's helped me out until now. Anyways, since were both on the same side…." he said and went silent for a bit.
He then looked up at Leora and grabbed a bottle of wine before chugging down almost half of it's contents.
"Don't mind me, this is the first time I've decided to talk about my powers…"
"It's fine, take your time." Leora said and pushed a plate of spicy jerky towards him.
Mathew shook his head, "I don't like jerky with wine… you're a weirdo." he said and then took a deep breath, "Basically just healing. I can heal people but there's a limit to it… so yeah, nothing special."
"Similar to Silvia. I mean, that's what you said during your coming of age ceremony… I expected something extra." she said, her disappointment pretty apparent in her tone but Mathew chuckled.
"That's exactly what everyone else thinks. That I hold something really strong… but honestly, I'm nothing compared to the rest of our siblings. The ones who have awakened abilities I mean."
He then grabbed a handful of roasted nuts and stuffed his mouth.
Leora watched this and let out a soft sigh, "If only our father had stronger blood. Barou is the only one among us who has father's side passed on to him. Infact, he's the only one who got both father's and his mother's."
"He's…." Mathew said and gave Leora a complicated look as he struggled to form words, "He's not really my true brother."
"What? He was literally born inside the palace and everyone here witnessed this." Leora said, feeling slightly confused as to why Mathew would say something like that.
Mathew shook his head, "He was indeed born to my mother, but we don't really share the same father. You don't really know what happened during the last succession war did you? Wait, do you even know the real reason why our father acts like a pushover in front of the nobles?"
"Just tell me instead of speaking in riddles, you ass!" she scowled as she felt frustrated. This was the first time she had heard something that hinted at taboo topics especially within the royal family.
Mathew said nothing for ten whole seconds and just when he felt like Leora was about to throw the cup of tea on his face, he spoke.
"Our eldest uncle, the one who got executed…" Mathew said and then gulped down the rest of the wine before putting the bottle back on the table.
"Mother was in love with him and you know right? That she's the prettiest among the three queens?" he asked but when he saw Leora glare at him, he switched his way of speaking.
"Okay, don't curse me in your head." he said and continued, "Well, basically… Barou is a product of our eldest Uncle and my mother. As for why none of us was born with the blood of our father's side, it's because he was poisoned. I suspect that it was mother who did it… but I have no proof."
All of a sudden, he began to sob. Leora sat silently as she tried to digest the new information that she had been given.
"I mean, you still got father's healing ability right? It's been recorded that the royal family has always had the ability to heal. So both you and Silvia could be said to have the strongest concentration of father's bloodline apart from Barou."
Mathew shook his head, "Our abilities give us the capability to heal others. While this also includes healing ourselves, the records have shown that the royal family has always had the ability to heal themselves. Never others. This is from mother's side and not father's." he said.
He then took a deep breath as he wiped his tears, "Barou has never hidden any information on his awakened ability and you know too right? That he can heal himself extremely fast as long as he's in a battlefield."
Leora nodded but all of a sudden, she saw Mathew get up from his chair and walk towards the door.
"I don't feel great, so I'm going to take a walk in the garden. I need some time alone… to think and stabilise my emotions."
"Okay." Leora said and nodded, "I'll see you later."
"Sure."
A few hundred meters away from Mathew's room, Keith stopped walking as he saw a familiar face.
'Barou…' he thought as he turned to look at him.
Barou spotted Keith too and walked towards him.
Keith couldn't help but compared himself with the first prince as the guy was just extremely tall.
'System, show Barou's status screen.'
[Affirmative]
Name: Barou Kazak
Physique: Grade SSS
Genetic Physique Type: Strongman
Awakening Status: Awakened
Awakened Ability:
Berserk Warrior: The longer you fight, the stronger, faster and sturdier you get. Stamina and body regeneration rate increases at a similar ratio.
'Not this… his physical stats.' Keith said mentally as he too began to walk towards Barou.
[Affirmative.]
Name: Barou Kazak
Height: 214 cm/ 7 feet
Weight: 130 kg/ 186.7 lbs
Physique: Grade SSS
Genetic Physique Type: Strongman
Genetic Physique Details:
Burst Genes: Grade A
Endurance Genes: Grade S
Strongman Genes: Grade SSS
'He's extremely close to achieving an Apex physique type, damn.'
