Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 87

87.

Ram and Thompson entered Thompson’s barracks as if they had made a pact.

Thompson filled the glasses with wine, and Ram drank deeply, accepting the offer without hesitation.

Ram spoke first.

“Were you intimidated by the Crown Prince? You’re more obedient to him than I thought.”

Considering Ram’s usual personality, it was a sharp taunt.

Thompson’s reaction was surprising.

Thompson, usually hot-tempered, quick to anger, and impulsive, answered calmly. “A high-level spirit mage is not someone to underestimate.”

Ram exclaimed, “Hoo,” at Thompson’s honest confession, especially coming from a circle mage aiming for the next head of the Riverhill family.

“Master level?”

“I don’t know exactly, but you saw with your own eyes that he summoned two high-level spirits, so you should assume so.”

Ram swirled the wine glass lightly and muttered. “If the Crown Prince becomes a supreme spirit mage, he will be the first in the empire since the Emperor.”

“It’s not a welcome thing for a supreme spirit mage to appear after the Emperor. Especially if it’s the Crown Prince.”

Even in the vast empire spanning the continent, the only supreme spirit mage was the Emperor, Ron Carl Leord.

Even expanding the scope to the remaining kingdoms, there were no other confirmed supreme spirit mages.

There were rumors that one of the wandering spirit mages was a supreme spirit mage, but that was just a rumor and had not been confirmed.

Spirit mages were rare, and naturally, spirit mages who reached the pinnacle were almost impossible to find.

“He said he would send the item list tonight, so I need time to prepare. If you don’t have anything else to say, why don’t you go back and rest?”

Thompson remained consistently calm.

Ram finished the remaining wine and said, “I don’t expect you to annihilate the magic corps. But the heads of the Crown Prince and Thompson would hurt Duke Austin quite a bit.”

Thompson’s body stiffened.

“That’s what the head of the family said when he sent me here.”

Ram added, “The eldest son has traditionally become the head of Aetran, but there’s no rule that only the eldest son can become the head. It’s just that the eldest son’s abilities were superior to others, so he became the head.”

Thompson did not answer.

Ram now revealed the current head’s secret orders.

“I think you received similar orders. I would be quite disappointed in you if you said you had no desire for the position of head of the family.”

Thompson chuckled.

“I inherited the blood of Riverhill and reached the 6th circle at this age, and you’re saying I have no desire for the head of the family? Riverhill is the most ambitious family. I inherited that ambition too.”

“I imagine Duke Austin said something similar to our head of the family?”

Thompson did not deny Ram’s words.

He gulped down the strong wine and laughed loudly. “That’s right. There is a genius in Aetran who can keep the eldest son in check. Considering his personality, he is unlikely to covet the position of head of the family and is more likely to become the eldest son’s right-hand man. This means that the power of the Aetran family will become even stronger. It wouldn’t be bad to eliminate one of the futures of the Aetran family through this opportunity. And…”

Thompson also revealed the words he had heard from Duke Austin.

“Riverhill is a thorough eldest son succession family, but it’s different in my generation. I want to make Riverhill the best family. Passing on the position of head of the family to the best talent is one of my duties. My son has not reached the 6th circle at your age.”

Ram got up and refilled the wine glass. “So, is there an agreement?”

“Yes. We have to kill a high-level spirit mage, and there’s even a Sword Master attached to him. To be honest, it’s too much to think about what happens after that.”

As Gale returned as a Sword Master, the two reached a tense compromise.

“But is it possible? Honestly, I’ve never fought a Sword Master before, so I don’t have a good sense of it.”

Ram said in a meaningful voice, “I think you’ve thought about fighting me quite a bit? What do you think your chances of winning are?”

“That’s a secret.”

Ram spoke without hesitation, as if he had decided to be completely honest today. “A one-on-one battle between a knight and a mage is advantageous for the knight, but that common knowledge doesn’t apply to mages above the 5th circle. I thought my chances of winning a one-on-one battle with you were about fifty-fifty.”

Thompson drank the wine without answering.

“Even if there were ten of me, I couldn’t beat one Sword Master. No, could I even swing a sword properly once?”

Thompson’s eyebrows twitched at Ram’s words.

“Is it that much of a difference?”

“How much of a difference is there between the 6th and 7th circles?”

Thompson immediately understood Ram’s words.

“I’m not a mage, so I don’t know exactly, but I think the difference between a supreme Sword Expert and a Sword Master is about the same as the difference between a 6th circle mage and a 7th circle mage.”

“There was a reason why you became honest. I have to tell the Crown Prince to bring more mages.”

Ram nodded.

The current expeditionary force consisted of half knights from the Crown Prince’s side and half knights and mages from Ram’s side.

But the opponent had a Sword Master.

Since there was an existence whose power could not be measured, Ram had no choice but to be cautious, and Thompson also recognized Gale’s existence more than before.

“First of all, eliminating the Crown Prince during the expedition is essential.”

Ram nodded.

“Marquis Mike seems to have been on the Crown Prince’s side for a long time, and the western lords have also begun to feel favorable towards him since they learned that the Crown Prince is a high-level spirit mage.”

* * *

“They must be busy racking their brains right now.”

I shrugged at Ken’s words.

“Well, that’s their problem, not mine.”

Riorden and David quietly glanced at each other to gauge the atmosphere, and Gale said in a heavy voice, “Your Highness, Aetran and Riverhill are not existences to be taken lightly.”

I agreed with Gale’s words.

“Of course. Thompson and Ram are those who are aiming to be the next heads of their families, and their talents are well known. A 6th circle mage and a supreme Sword Expert.”

I turned my gaze to Riorden and David.

“But they don’t know about these two people [Riorden and David]. Nor do they know how much the knights who were with me have grown. It was a short time for them, but we came back through a place that was like hell. The problem is that we have to go back there again.”

Suddenly, I thought about the fairies, but I shook it off.

It wasn’t time for the fairies to appear on the continent yet.

Of course, I would have to think about the fairies someday, but there were more important issues at hand right now.

“Okay, now that we’ve formed the expeditionary force, let’s discuss what to do after that.”

Riorden slipped in, “Your Highness, perhaps those people…”

I realized and explained to Riorden and David, “The purpose of this expedition is not only to eliminate the seeds of evil, but also to prevent Ram and Thompson from trying to assassinate me, and to weaken their power.”

Riorden and David tried to hide their surprise.

They knew that I, Ram, and Thompson were enemies, but they must have found it hard to imagine that they would try to kill me, the Crown Prince.

Ken explained, “Why would the Aetran and Riverhill families send elites? There was His Majesty’s order, but they could have disobeyed the order and pretended to follow it. But when they saw Your Highness’s growth in the Imperial Palace, they had no choice but to judge that it would be best to cut off the bud now.”

Riorden and David immediately agreed.

Even in their eyes, my growth seemed unbelievable.

“Indeed, Your Highness has grown incredibly fast.”

David agreed with Riorden’s words. “You have already become more than twice as strong as when we first met.”

I showed a moderately humble attitude. “Thank you for seeing me in a good light. Anyway, let’s check the expedition list first.”

Ken first examined the knights under my command. “First of all, I included all the participants from the evaluation competition. I believe that you gave them a deep impression when you went to rescue Gale.”

Riorden interjected, “Most of them swore allegiance to Your Highness. The knights under Boopen cannot serve Your Highness as their direct vassals, but they pledged allegiance to the Imperial Family as knights under Count Boopen.”

Count Boopen was a very famous pro-Emperor aristocrat, so his knights were all pro-Emperor as well.

But through the experience of rescuing Gale with me, they came to value me, the Crown Prince, rather than their own lord.

Not as an incompetent Crown Prince, but as a Crown Prince worthy of inheriting the empire.

Ken smiled deeply. “As expected of Your Highness. Then let’s pick out the elites first. You two, Gale, and Your Highness are the core of our group.”

Ken was still at the intermediate Sword Expert level, so he was slightly lower than the knights of the Aetran family.

“Their elites can be said to be everyone, including Thompson and Ram. It seems like we are greatly behind in terms of power, but with Your Highness, who is a spirit mage, and Gale, who is a Sword Master, our power is rather overwhelming.”

Gale nodded slightly.

When I recalled the divine power that Gale had shown, I couldn’t help but feel confident.

It was only a one-step difference, but the difference between a supreme Sword Expert and a Sword Master was no exaggeration to say that it was like heaven and earth.

Even if Gale had just become a Sword Master, the difference remained the same.

“The variable is the Dark Forest itself. Gale must not be injured in any way until the seeds of evil are removed. Especially from magic.”

Gale asked briefly, “Their magic doesn’t work on me.”

“Magic doesn’t work, but black magic might. Or some special items can neutralize a Sword Master.”

David said, “The Riverhill family…….”

Ken quickly opened his mouth as if he had immediately noticed what David wanted to say. “It is no exaggeration to say that the Riverhill family possesses all the magic of the continent. Magic, as well as black magic.”

David didn’t seem to believe it easily.

Ken spoke again. “A prestigious family is not built for nothing. The Riverhill family has been collecting all the magic of the continent for a long time. Aetran is no different. Not only orthodox swordsmanship, but also practical swordsmanship.”

Ken explained so that Riorden and David could understand more easily. “The two families grew explosively after the founding of the empire. They were prestigious families before that, but not to this extent. Why did the two families grow after the founding of the empire? Because His Majesty took care of them?”

The answer came from Gale. “Because they fought many wars.”

Exclamations burst from Riorden and David’s mouths.

“The empire has always been victorious. War is a winner-takes-all game. How many kingdoms and families do you think the two families have destroyed at the forefront? You could build a mountain with the magic books and swordsmanship manuals that were in the kingdom’s treasury.”

I added an explanation. “Father had little interest in spoils other than territory. Of course, the two families provided a lot of supplies and wealth for the war, but the value of the spoils alone was enough to cover that.”

“So, aren’t those two families the richest among the empire’s families?”

Ken finished the explanation to that extent and got to the point. “Anyway, Gale, you should always keep that in mind. It’s better to be careful of items rather than magic. They wouldn’t have expected a Sword Master to suddenly appear.”

Ken’s eyes narrowed.

“Now for the detailed goal. In this expedition, I intend to bury only those two, Thompson and Ram, in the ground.”