"Then, I do look forward to the day you will become the Demon Lord, Elder brother. After your coronation, I would be happy if you would visit me from time to time."
Athena spoke with her usual smile on her face, her eyes seemingly sparkling with glee.
"Of course I shall, you'll still be my little sister after all. I would also appreciate it if I could seek your counsel from time to time as well."
Reynald's chuckle came to an abrupt halt as he turned his gaze to the entrance of the large balcony as one of his knights suddenly barged in before his retinues or Bam could stop her.
The knight was part of the scouting unit and was originally part of his older brother's personal legions but now reported directly to him.
The knight soon arrived before them and genuflected in a fluster before hurriedly speaking, her tone slightly panicked.
"Lord Reynald, Her Grace desires your presence."
The instant she finished that, she turned to look at Athena.
"She also requests your presence as well, my Lady."
Hearing the last sentence, Reynald frowned, he knew his mother had returned for a while now and would soon be sending for him but to request Athena's presence as well meant something else was at play here.
"What happened?"
Hearing his question, the knight thought for a brief moment before responding.
"We have just received a report that the Darknar family will be sending a diplomatic party to negotiate with us soon."
Reynald expression change but it wasn't that of a surprise as he already expected as many thanks to Athena. Although there was a sign of relief in his eyes after receiving confirmation that the Darknar family had not chosen to ignore them even in such a fragile state as they were still surprised on all fronts by their enemies.
After all, the Jaxith family was still considered a powerhouse in the Darknar continent with territorial advantages and ancient secrets that even the Great Five coveted.
The only reason why he had been so worried was simply because of how little information he had on the Darknar family. There was simply no guarantee that they cared about what they have to offer be it as a trade partner, an ally, or a vassal family. Meaning, Reynald had to approach this situation with the utmost care as the Jaxith family desperately needs the help of the Darknar family.
"I understand. Notify mother that we will be arriving shortly. Athena, I will be proceeding first. Please proceed with all haste once you are ready."
"I understand."
Having been on an outing trip, Athena's garb wasn't suitable for a Noble atmosphere as she would need to return to her chambers to change into something more appropriate before going with Reynald to see their mother.
With that, Reynald stood up and took off with a stern expression on his face. Leaving behind a rather pleased Athena with a blank expression on her face as she silently whispered to herself.
"How boring... I'd hope you wouldn't be as much of a disappointment as he was but I guess not. Oh well..."
➖➖➖♦️➖➖➖
After the brief meeting with his mother, it was estimated that the envoys of the Darknar Family would take about two weeks to travel from Paragon city to Radiance City.
Today was already the fourteenth day. If all went according to plan, the envoys would reach the Capital city today.
Although there had been a question about how they would cross the border given that their region was currently still at war with the other neighboring regions.
However, that didn't seem to be a problem for the Darknar family's unit as there wasn't any noble family that would be foolish enough to attack any carriages flying their flags.
With that, the only things they had to worry about were the monsters and bandits along the way. However, that also didn't seem to pose a problem for them.
Reynald, clad in his ceremonial heavyweight armor that did not feel comfortable as he was more of a rogue or swordsman than a warrior and preferred lightweight armor or even leather gear.
However, the ceremonial armor he was wearing was designed with aesthetics in mind and was embedded with various heavy gemstones that weighed it down. Its design was a slick white with colorful gems creating a stylish design on its chest plate.
Normally, Reynald would be using a pair of short swords as his preferred weapons. Yet, an heavily decorated long sword was strapped to his waist as a Verdant-colored cape was draped over his shoulders.
He stood in line at the gate that faced the direction of the Darknar region. It was currently still the middle of winter and normally, the skies would be dyed grey in a thick layer of clouds.
However, the family had gone through the trouble of expending an incredibly valuable 6th Tier magic scroll to create a clear weather that was the perfect picture of spring.
Naturally, one could still see heavy cloud cover in the distance as the power of the scroll only created the azure sky in the air directly above the city. Giving as Radiance city existed atop a mountain, the thick layers of clouds in the distance seemed as though it surrounded the city like a ring, making it quite the sight to behold.
Reynald sighed deeply under his breath.
For any normal envoy, his family would not have gone to such lengths to impress them. Yet, none of the nobles he was worried about had even challenged him when he suggested the use of this precious scroll from the Treasury.
He wasn't a mage himself but even though he knew that a 6th Tier scroll was not something that should be used so casually, he had already weighed the value of the scroll in comparison with the value of the Darknar family's envoy's favorable opinion of them.
Hopefully, the envoy was not as useless as the representative his family had sent to Paragon city in the first place. As long as the envoy was someone that could be reasoned with, then the use of a 6th Tier scroll would've been worth it.
Reynald remembered that there was a mage amongst his sister's Quantium ranked Hunter party that was capable of casting 6th Tier magic with ease.
Even his brother who had been a Basic Ranked 6th Tier mage before he went missing had only been able to learn two 6th-tier spells at the time.
For normal people that were unable to read magic runes, learning spells wasn't as easy as just memorizing the runes. One needed a level of understanding of the concept the runes were describing based on the name of the spell alone before the spell would take effect.
As such, the normal mage would only truly master a spell after months, if not years of slowly gaining an understanding of the spell by constantly using it in its incomplete form.
Plus, the higher tiered a spell was, the more difficult it was to learn as the more advanced the magic runes that construct it were and the more complicated it's effects, making it harder to comprehend.
This was why a mage that could so freely use high leveled spells was insanely rare and impressive as even geniuses would find it easier to learn skills than spells.
As such, the fact that his sister had connections with so many powerful individuals made his skin crawl even now.
If possible, he would like to hire Hunters to work for him but that was seeming against the rules of the Hunter Association. Even retired Hunters might not want to work under him due to the treatment they had faced from nobles but Reynald didn't plan on giving up.
"―My lord!"
The shout of the knight next to him brought Reynald back to his senses. He looked to the end of the street ― and saw it. The silhouette of the Darknar family's diplomatic party.
Naturally, they had shut down the street beforehand and announced this to the citizens of the city. As such, the streets were completely devoid of traffic and were currently sparkling clean.
"All right, listen up. You are to treat the envoys from the Darknar region with the utmost respect. Any forms of disrespect will not be tolerated, understand?"
"Understood!"
The reply of the royal knights was quite forceful, and the swords at their waists made a clear, crisp, and unified sound.
"All right! Prepare to welcome them with the dignity that displays the glory of the ancient Jaxith family."
"Sir!"
The group remained still until the envoys arrived. Reynald glanced at his side and saw the captain of the guard beside him. He felt a little lonely as he would normally have the Duke beside him during such situations.
However, he had no choice but to carry the burden of the Jaxith family alone if he planned to become the next Demon lord. And keeping the Jaxith family from disappearing was one of his duties.
After all, one couldn't rule a kingdom that did not exist.
Before long, the envoys' vanguard reached them.
It was a black-armored knight. It rode a single-horned dire wolf that exudes the aura of a magic beast.
Safe to say, the rider of such a majestic beast wasn't ordinary. They weren't even sure if it was alive. It emanated an aura of death that turned into a thick fog surrounding it. Its blood-red full plate armor pulsed as though it was alive and every single one of his men could feel the grip of death.
"A-a a Doom Knight?"
Reynald could feel his demonic warhorse trembling in fear beneath him.
Doom Knights were one of the most powerful undead monsters he has ever seen in his life. Their existence was second only to Eldar Liches and was on par with Liches who had the power to flatten a small city.
Yet, such a creature that would be a devastating force on the battlefield was being used as a vanguard cavalier for mere envoys.
'Just how formidable is this new Demon Lord.'
As Reynald tried his best to calm his horse, the Doom Knight clenched its clawed gauntlet and thumped its chest.
"Apologies! We are the envoys of the Darknar region under the command of the Great Demon Lord, Ty Falls Darknar!"
'It spoke! Huh? It can speak!?'
Reynald's mind went blank for a moment. Of course, the monster spoke, it was being used as a vanguard that lead the cavalier unit. Why wouldn't it be able to speak?
However, this had completely taken him by surprise, to say the least. The only undead he had ever heard that could speak were Lichs and Doom Lords.
'Does that mean...? Just how powerful is this family.'
The voice that came from behind the Doom Lord's helmet made its listeners' hair stand on end just by hearing it which caused their horse to almost go out of control for a moment.
He was just taken by surprise as well, after all, the monster was weaker than him so why would he be afraid? The aura of death around the creature had only surprised him a bit, that was all. Indeed, he was simply just surprised by something he hadn't expected.
After a moment of sorting his men out, Reynald gathered up his courage to banish his fear— no, to regain his composure, that was it, taking a breath, he spoke.
"I am the Second son of the Jaxith family that Lords over the Floato region, Reynald Ley Jaxith! In place of my the Demon lord of the Jaxith family, please allow me to guide you back to the castle!"
"Acknowledged. Then, we shall avail ourselves of your guidance. I am the captain of the Doom Cavaliers, designated by my lady as, Savago."
'It has a name!'
Stunned, Reynald quickly recollected himself so as not to seem rude and quickly replied.
"Then please, allow me to call you by that one as well."
" I see no issues with your proposal."
"I see. Then let us move on to other matters. May I be privileged to speak with your leader? It is my responsibility to take care of your group so I would like to be acquainted with them."
"Acknowledged. I shall convey your message to my lady."
"You have my deepest thanks."
With that, the outrider retreated to deliver his report.
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