Valdel who had fainted was sent to one of the private rooms in the castle, to recuperate. The king then sat on his throne, after which ten figures appeared before him. These were the people hiding behind the walls and on the roof. Out of the ten, there was one who had an injured arm.
This person wasn't able to dodge the final attack Valdel made and sustained an injury. Though he was hurt, he didn't get angry or resented the fact that he was hit by a teenager who was weaker and younger than him. This man didn't any reaction whatsoever as his right arm was slightly bleeding.
The ten people now kneeling before the king waited for him to speak.
"So what do you think of the boy?" Hearing the king asked them a question each one of them gave different answers, starting from the person to the left.
"He was impulsive."
"He has the potential to become one of the strongest humans to ever live."
"His swordsmanship was something I have never seen before. It was the very basic movements of swordsmanship but done in such a precise manner that it looked beautiful. The creator of this style must have gazed into the very depths of swordsmanship."
"Aside from the last strike he made to his majesty, he was at best mediocre. Just a better thrash in the pile of thrash the younger generation produced."
"He has the burning passion of a true warrior."
"He has such an immense amount of mana hidden within him, that it was a waste that he stuck to bodily enhancement spells. Though I guess what his majesty wanted to see was his swordsmanship, so I will assess him again once I get to see the other spells he knows."
"For his age overall, he is a good fighter. One that we could use in the war against those foolish invaders from the Serbek Kingdom."
"His face is pretty cute, his abilities are appropriate, and his potential unlimited. It would be a good idea to pair him up with one of the princesses."
"I don't like him. He's a powerful young warrior, who is easily convinced. It is possible that his allegiances would change if he was tricked. Better to kill him now than let loose a potential enemy."
"I believe that he could become the hero this kingdom needs."
Hearing the thoughts of the ten most powerful people in the kingdom, the king went into deep thought.
"We have heard the thoughts of you ten. Listening to your thoughts, We have decided to trust this young knight as the potential for the future. We will place someone to monitor him, and help him if he is about to stray from the right path. That is all, you are all dismissed."
Once he gave this order, the ten dispersed into the shadows. Now alone inside the throne room, the king thought of the name of the boy who taught Valdel how to fight.
'Ren is it... We guess we should meet him as well, but we need to meet him incognito. To see what he truly is.'
...
Valdel who was laying down on a very comfortable bed suddenly jolted awake. The first thing he did when he woke up was to start looking for Zwei and Nika. He saw the both were in their human forms embracing him as he slept.
When he saw this Valdel tried to remember what happened before he lost consciousness. He remembered that he attacked the king and missed, afterward he fainted due to mana exhaustion.
"Zwei, Nika, don't pretend to sleep. Tell me why are you guys hugging me?" Valdel knew that these contracted weapons of his don't sleep.
"Master we were trying to transfer a bit of our mana to you. Direct contact like this makes it easier." Zwei answered with a smile, while Nika nodded in agreement.
"Okay, so how long was I unconscious?"
"You were unconscious for two days."
"Two days!"
...
After Valdel finally calmed down and reassessed his situation, he went out of his room. The moment he stepped out there was Matthew standing at the side, waiting for him. After confirming that Valdel was finally awake, Matthew told Valdel if he wanted to rest some more. Of course, Valdel declined, since already spent too much time here than expected, and he now wanted to leave immediately.
When he told Matthew this, the knight told him to meet the king first before leaving.
...
Once again Valdel was face to face with the king. Now that he knew how powerful the king was, Valdel was extra respectful.
"Young knight we are pleased to see you awake. We have been informed of your wish to return to the academy immediately. But before you go this king has something to give you. As this king promised, I shall gift you something nice. Here receive it."
The king then tossed a ring at Valdel who caught it. Valdel inspected the ring and saw nothing special about it. It was a ring made of platinum and the insignia on the ring was the same as the one on the coat of arms behind the throne.
"This king has heard that you are having difficulty with some nobles in the academy. That ring is a symbol, that informs others that you are friends with royalty. Show those foolish nobles this ring and they would bother you no longer. Still, if they persist on bothering you just tell them, To him who mischief seeks, shall mischief fall. There comes an hour that recompenses all. The smart ones will understand, while the stupid ones, I will allow you to deal with them as you see fit."
"Thank you, for this wonderful gift your majesty." Valdel who thought he didn't really need such a present, simply accepted it because he felt like saying no to the king's gift would be very rude.
Once this exchange was done, Matthew and Valdel immediately left the palace, got on a carriage left the capital and started their journey back to Grenton.
The king who was looking at the balcony overseeing the capital saw the carriage Valdel was on slowly fade into the distance. He had a serious expression on his face, quite the change from the whimsical look he had before.
"I'm sorry young knight, but for now we need to use you. This king needs you to cut down those nobles that are leeching of the kingdom."