Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 889: Plans of the Independent Son

CH889 Plans of the Independent Son

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Back at the Ashen Castle, Alex regained consciousness about half an hour after being knocked out by Jared.

Before he could even get his wits about him, he heard Jared’s condescending(?) voice—or at least, it sounded that way to his ears.

“You are only awake now? You need to work on how quickly you regain consciousness,” Jared said.

Alex looked at the man speechlessly.

‘How does one work on regaining consciousness quickly?’ he wondered speechlessly.

However, Jared seemed to tell what he was thinking. The man answered with a smile that sent shivers down Alex’s spine.

“Of course, it is by practising. Once your body gets used to being knocked out, you will slowly regain consciousness faster,” Jared said.

“I will have brain damage before that!” Alex retorted.

“Don’t worry, I will be gentle,” the Dark Knight replied.

“Get away from me!” Alex quickly opened the distance between them.

There was no way he would subscribe to such a barbaric training, no matter the benefit. His brain was his strongest asset; he wasn’t going to put it at risk for no reason.

Drake merely watched the scene with amusement.

“What do you plan to do now?” he asked.

Both Alex and Jared immediately stopped their cat-and-mouse banter and turned to the man.

“I plan on meeting up with friends to let them know I have returned—”

“You have friends?” Jared cut in and asked with a straight face, genuinely surprised.

Alex glared at the man but couldn’t be bothered to respond to him.

“I will also drop by in Konradi to see how Sofi and Sera are doing, check their progress on the domain development plan and make changes to it if needed, then I will show my face to the domain citizens—can’t have them forgetting who their true domain lord is.”

Drake nodded. This particular agenda received his full support.

“They won’t, as long as you don’t forget first that you are their domain lord,” he commented.

Alex nodded seriously.

“While I settle things over here, I also intend to have someone help sell off resources I brought back from my domain in Verdantis while acquiring resources needed back there,” he added.

He paused to think about something.

“Spit it out. What is it?” Drake asked.

“The soldiers who accompanied me. They’ve sworn fealty to me, so I want to complete the procedure to transfer them over,” Alex said, looking at his father.

“That’s all? Just inform the Army that you are forfeiting your rebate, and that’s the end of it,” Drake replied nonchalantly.

In truth, Drake had planned for Alex to keep the soldiers in the first place. That’s why he had Alex pay a sky-high price of 50,000 gold coins as a rental deposit before the interplanar travel.

With the youth having paid that much per soldier, no one would bat an eyelid if he kept them.

For the Army, this was a profitable exchange.

Much less complain about an abuse of power from Drake or Alex, it could even be seen as the Army ripping Alex off.

“I also want to meet the families of the soldiers who died under my service and hold a commemoration for them,” Alex added.

Drake frowned immediately.

“I thought your expedition would have hardened you sufficiently, but it seems you are still as naïve as ever,” Drake said disapprovingly. “You are going to visit their families and commemorate with them? Don’t you realise you will be setting a precedent for their expectations? You can visit the families now; you only have a handful of soldiers. What about when you have and lose thousands, tens of thousands… are you going to visit and commemorate with them all?”

“I understand what you mean, Father. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do it. I am sure people will understand if I do it this way when the numbers are small and come up with another way when the numbers grow.

“And even if there are criticisms then, it won’t matter because there will always be criticism. Even if I do things your way, there will be criticisms somewhere about not doing it.

“Since that is the case, I might as well do things my way—naïve or not,” Alex expressed.

Drake didn’t support the idea, but Alex had expressed his thoughts to him, and he couldn’t deny them. After all, beyond everything else, what he wanted in his child was someone who could think for themselves, be independent—and accept all the consequences that came with every choice they made.

Alex showed he was prepared for the consequences of his actions, so though Drake didn’t agree with them, he didn’t condemn them further.

“That’s basically the plan for this return,” Alex said.

“That’s all?” Drake frowned.

“That’s all that’s certain. Things may change as opportunities arise,” Alex replied.

Alex looked between Drake and Jared, seeing their frowns. He realised there was something they expected him to plan to do, something he didn’t seem intent on doing.

It didn’t take much for him to figure out what that was.

He smiled faintly and asked, “Father, if you hadn’t received a message from me, informing you of a series of contingency plans I had in place, what would you have done by now after the expedition event?”

“I would have attacked those responsible, edict or not,” Drake replied, his eyes flashing a deeper bloody crimson.

“Exactly,” Alex nodded. “The same is bound to happen if I kill Erman Machholt, Otto Reichert and Alric Wastelander right now. And once that happens, the Fury Clan would be dragged into a war with three Duchy-level and above Houses.”

“They don’t dare flout the rules of the Empire. They will face backlash from every noble house in the Empire. Plus, the Fury Clan isn’t afraid of the challenge,” Drake said.

“Now, you are the one being naïve, Father,” Alex said. “You’ve said it yourself multiple times. Power is paramount. With enough power, you can get away with anything.

“These three Houses have enough combined power that the other aristocratic families will think twice about attacking them—even if they do, it won’t be for our Fury Clan. The Clan isn’t worth that much, yet.

“As for the will of the Clan, I have no doubt our clansmen would be ready to fight for the Clan. But, in my eyes, never mind the eyes of many others, it is not a necessary fight.”

“So, you intend to take the attack like a coward?” Drake pressed.

“No,” Alex shook his head.

His own eyes also glowed a deep bloody crimson.

He said with an eerie smile, “Erman Machholt, Otto Reichert and… Alric Wastelander, each of them will receive my… gratitude for their actions, but in due time.”

***