The Dreamer's Fall

Chapter 31 - Loyalty

Arthur sat behind his desk in the tent's drawing room, looking over the eleven men and women before him. Their eyes had a touch of fear as they subconsciously avoided his gaze.

He had already prepared some words earlier, but looking at their expressions made him hesitate. Arthur doubted that they feared him as an individual but feared his authority to end their lives if he pleased.

To them, he probably seemed like a sadistic child born with a platinum spoon who killed one of their comrades and desecrated his corpse for the sake of his own amusement.

Arthur had no intention of explaining why he ordered Foster to obliterate Bryan's head, and Foster knew better than to speak on such matters. So, without the pertinent information, they were left to draw their own conclusions.

The drawing room was silent as Arthur folded his hand on the desk and debated what face he should show them. Given the circumstances, pretending to be childish would create a rather eerie persona of him as some sadistic demonic child who slays men with a smile.

However, if he wore the face he did when speaking to Foster, he risked breaking his innocent facade, which was one of the invaluable tools keeping him alive.

"Ahem." Foster cleared his throat and broke Arthur from his thoughts.

Only then did Arthur realize that a few minutes had passed while he was busy thinking to himself. The image of Edward Revan flashed in his mind as his actions reminded him of his father, and an aggrieved expression flashed across his face.

Arthur then smiled, embracing his innocent persona. "I'm sure you're all wondering why your comrade's corpse was inside my bedroom, and the answer is simple. I killed him after he snuck into my tent in the middle of the night with his sword drawn.

"Had I not been awake at the time, it would've been my body you dragged out this morning, and once it came to light that you failed to protect me, you all would've been forced to join me on my journey to Aenyr's pit."

Aenyr took up the role of Hades in the Elrinth pantheon that the people of Ollerin worshipped. However, she wasn't seen in the same negative light that modern people view Hades.

Instead, she was seen as a necessary part of life, giving eternal rest to souls that didn't achieve enough merits to join the gods in Elrinth Forest. The people worshiped her as a goddess of mercy and guidance and revered her for her work.

A tall, somewhat aloof-looking man who appeared to be in his early twenties took a step forward and bowed lightly. "Lord, my name is Jeren, and while I only served the Revan family for a year, I think I speak for everyone when I say that no one doubts your virtue."

"Great, another pretty boy." Kyren grumbled from Arthur's side.

Arthur recognized the name as the only fifth circle mage amongst his guards. He seemed far more refined than the average guard, which gave Arthur doubts about his upbringing.

The timeline also didn't line up. Breaking through the fourth and fifth circles within a year was impossible. Even if a mage sat upon a mountain of aether crystals, they could only draw in so much at a given time.

It would be similar to drinking a lake through a straw. Of course, some mages had larger straws thanks to talent, but in the end, there was an inherent limit on the amount they could drink at a time.

To achieve such a feat, Jeren would have to be a one-in-a-billion world-class talent. However, Arthur surmised that he was likely noble-born due to his mannerisms and cultivation level.

He wasn't sure why a noble was slumming it as a guard, but it wasn't too far-fetched. Plenty of noble families rose and fell within the empire, and plenty of nobles had more children than they knew what to do with. So, it was probable that Jeren fell into one of those two categories.