Lord of the Truth

Chapter 68

Three weeks after the meeting of Sage Lewis and the Saints...  inside the Bradley Military Institution, House 208.

After Robinʼs little talk with Zara, his life returned to normal somehow, he decided to help her research a good law for her,  he stopped his cultivation and went back to the awesome world of researching, and soon got himself busy entering retreats in his room,  the only difference this time was that he did not need to isolate himself for months.

He used to go out every few days to breathe fresh air and look around at the trees and all sorts of living creatures... 

Making a cultivation technique was never easy and it is not easy now, especially that at the same time he tries to find ways to strengthen his and Zaraʼs soul power even more in order to increase their production of talismans.

As every day, he gets nearer to the truth that the talismans are mostly based on the soul power alone, and that there is must be a way to strengthen it without needing to breakthrough in the cultivation system

And today is as good as always... where Robin was in the living room watching Zara drawing a fire talisman, trying to get ideas about the soul powers   but today their daily routine got interrupted by a shout from the outside ”Robin, may I come in?”

Robin took a second to reorganize his thoughts, and answered after acknowledging the voice, ”Billy? haha Come on in, what are you doing here, brother? I thought you were going to be gone for a bit longer.”

Robin rose from his place and moved to greet his old friend with a big smile, but Billy did not return the smile,  his features seemed very heavy and filled with sadness, then he fell to his knees

As soon as this happened, Robin knew something was wrong and stopped midway. 

He didnʼt even try to lift Billy to his feet, he then asked with a heavy voice ”What happened? Whereʼs Caesar?” ”...I ... Iʼm sorry. I failed your trust and could not fulfill my promise.” A rare tear fell from Billy to the ground..

Robin quickly took a few steps and grabbed Billyʼs collar. ”What did you do, Billy? where is Caesar? WHERE IS MY BOY?!” ”I donʼt know...” Billy closed his eyes, unable to look into Robinʼs face ”What do you mean, I donʼt know?! Is he alive or not?!” ”I donʼt know! There was an attack and a huge battle between 8 Saints when it ended Caesar, Peon, and Theo had all gone missing, and they had totally disappeared since then!” ”What do you mean by disappear? Why would a battle of this size happen in a damned juniorsʼ tournament? And what did Caesar have to do with it?!” Robinʼs fist got tighter ”Allow me to explain to you from the beginning, it all began when Caesar and your blood brother John went to a restaurant, then...”

Billy recalled everything that happened at the hunting event according to Caesarʼs story, and then recited the rest according to the Bradley Saintsʼ narration:  ”...that is it, that all that we know after the two Bradleys left with uncle Morphy copse we have no idea what happened to the three kids, they have just vanished! we fear that.. that the Dolivarian saints have captured them afterward.”

Robin was silent until Billy finished saying everything, he then let Billyʼs collar and went to sit on the couch beside Zara who was still crying over her brother,  leaving Billy still kneeling. ”Uncle Murphy was a good man, he was one of the few who treated me purely in the family, he just loved the fact that I bare the Burtons name and didnʼt want anything else... I didnʼt even know he was a saint! you must take good care of those close to him.

And I must also thank that girl Mila, I requested her to send a saint to protect Caesar, and she actually sent two! if not for her decision, the three boys would have been killed.”

Billy was expected every single reaction before he came here... screaming, threatening, and even swearing to cut ties with the Burton family,  but Robinʼs calm words and logical analysis... made Billy even more afraid, ”Robin, itʼs normal to be shocked, if you want to cry then cry, and if youʼre angry then scream...If ... if you want to hit someone come hit me I will bear everything, just .. 

Please do not bear the family the responsibility for what happened, it was my responsibility alone.”

Robin raised his eyebrows, ”I hold you responsible for what? As long as the three are alive, then everything is fine.” ”A-..alive? But they did not return to us.. We sent many people to search in the woods, but we didnʼt find a trace, Iʼm afraid they...” ”Theyʼre alive. those four explosions are talismans I gave them, and didnʼt the Bradleys say they managed to hold the saints for more than a minute after the last explosion? thatʼs more than enough for them to leave.    I know Caesar very well, he probably thought that if he came back, you wouldnʼt be able to protect him, so he decided to go straight back to the Kingdom of the Black Sun, heʼs on his way here while we talk.”

Billy quickly stood up, ”But thatʼs a problem too! on our way back we saw the border guards scattered on the side of the kingdom of Dolivar, does that mean that they know that the three boys will try to cross the border on their own? I have to go back now to look for them and help them cross!” ”No need.. I know their capabilities very well, even without any talismans they will be able to find a loophole and come back.. but they will be a few weeks late.” ”This...” Robinʼs absolute confidence in Caesar and the two slaves is very strange... 

Even if they were geniuses, they would still be three children against the Border Patrol Army, right? ”Let go of this now and focus with me.. what happened after Uncle Murphyʼs body was brought back to you?”

Billy was stunned for a second before replying quickly, ”Prince William rose in anger and urged every single one of our kingdom to gather and march towards the Dolivarian royal palace to demand an explanation. 

Then senior officials from Dolivar came out and announced that Duke Tinley was the only one behind the accident and that it is a personal grudge between the Duke and the Burton family, and no one should interfere between them.

But His Highness the Prince was not convinced by their words and issued orders to withdraw all our expeditions and return immediately in protest of what happened, and everyone obeyed him... none of the Black Sun Kingdom participated in the last event of the tournament and atop of that, before we go he ordered us to spread unofficial rumors to the expeditions of the rest of the kingdoms and to the Dolivarian Capital as a whole that the Kingdom of Dolivar wanted to kill Caesar inside the hunting event and they failed, so he responded By killing 5 entire squads of them,  and they are now trying to make up for their mistake by assassinating him by a team of saints before individual confrontations, in which they also failed and killed an old saint instead. the story took the entire capital by a storm, no one even bothered with the tournament anymore, to everyone.. the mysteries Caesar was already the winner”

Robin raised his eyebrows and talked in a low voice, ”He put the kingdom of Dolivar in an awkward position by mass withdrawal, and then put them in a weak position by having failed to assassinate Caesar twice? What a character this prince William is... Iʼd love to meet him one day.”

Billy nodded, ”Heʼs really a genius. We should expect that from someone vying for the kingʼs throne.. Brother, what do we do now?”

A cruel smile appeared on Robinʼs face, ”They wanted to kill my son twice, they even hit my Peon and humiliated him in front of hundreds of people.. What do you think Iʼll do?” ”...Robin, I donʼt like what youʼre saying... the one who took responsibility for the attack is a duke from another kingdom... a duke!!” ”And what if itʼs a Duke? These talismans have to be tested on someone eventually, or else why did I make them in the first place? to decorate your room? if not used now, then what am I tiring myself for?

My kid is wrestling dangers right now to preserve his life, if it was a fair fight he lost I wouldnʼt have interfered, but a KINGDOM bullying him?! they need my permission first! they want it to be a personal feud between the Duchy of Tinley and the Burton family with no one intervening? letʼs see if they can bear the consequences of their choice!!”