Rebirth: Childhood friend of the heroine

Edric was stationed near the rear end of the palace as a guarding soldier. Naturally, someone of his caliber cannot be allowed to wander around when so many important entities are around.

Initially, Edric wanted to be a knight and to serve the kingdom, so this was a nice experience for him. His ambition shifted not because he looked down on the job, no, he still respected soldiers and militants from the core of his heart. However, he realized something after spending time with the battalion under Aborne's command and Eric.

If he wanted to grow continuously to serve his nation and humanity as a whole, then he couldn't let himself get restricted. And as a soldier, his movements would be limited.

He had a long conversation with Eric about it—the man being quite easy to converse with when it came to topics like these.

Eric's family has always remained in the mercenary business. However, the family allowed the youngest one—Ark Steelhound, to enroll in the academy and realize his goal.

Which explains why Eric never imposed his opinion on Edric. He suggested the possible jobs that Edric could pursue if he wanted to dwell deeper in his origin and didn't want to have his growth stagnant.

'At the end of the day, being a hunter seems the right job for me...' Eric gave him various ideas, however, none of them suited his taste. Being a mercenary was also not something he could prefer, even though a mercenary's job provided much more monetary gains and the growth of individuals continued to progress.

However, as a mercenary, Edric knew he could never kill people. He was only good at hunting monsters. (People start to emotionally blackmail at the time of death in the name of their family, and Edric can't handle that).

"Woah!" Amanda exclaimed as she raised her hand in alert.

Edric heaved a sigh before muttering, "Don't approach me so silently."

Amanda apologized as Edric sheathed his sword.

"I just wanted to give you this," She forwarded a small lunch box in his direction, "They are taking a break, and Sir Aborne said that it's okay to take a quick break for soldiers as well."

Edric smiled at his girlfriend, "I feel you are making it up..." Knowing how strict Aborne was, it was highly unlikely he would have allowed a break.

However, considering Edric was not a regular soldier and definitely didn't want to make his girlfriend sad, he took the lunch box.

"Thank you." Edric looked at his hands and realized that he was still wearing the gauntlet. Taking them off would have taken time so Amanda stepped forward and tore the bread.

Bringing it near his lips she said, "Here, let the wife feed her dutiful husband."

" ⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠-⁠⁄⁠•⁠⁄⁠ " Edric was shy.

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After an hour, the meeting resumed.

The atmosphere around the table was quite grim. Thanks to the fact that the other two rulers always brought their chief advisor along to the summits, they were able to discuss things with someone rather than forming judgments on their own.

Adolf began, "As the matter discussed previously, we would be facing something unexpected and grave in the future. So I would like to first extend my proposal of how we should prepare."

No one spoke in between and allowed the blond one to continue, "It is stated that we would be attacked by individual beings so it's important to prioritize quality over quantity."

Zymeria gave a short nod and considering the lack of any reaction from Eryndor, it seemed he agreed as well.

Adolf glanced at Devon before the man got up and began unfolding the plan they had prepared,

"To choose the best from the human race, we should first need to select those few soldiers from each kingdom who can face off against the other kingdom's best ones. Since we are choosing quality over quantity we should pick a number of how many soldiers we should gather."

"Ten." Eryndor voiced, "Ten pillars of defense would be an appropriate number. And from what you are suggesting, a contest of warriors to choose the best of the best?" Discover more content at empire

Devon nodded, "That would be the most efficient way of knowing who can stand against unexpected danger."

Amara turned her attention towards Adolf before asking, "Don't we already know? I mean, Aborne and Devon, two of your best warriors, are already present here."

Adolf smiled, "No longer, Lady Amara. The new generation has greatly impressed me, proving that records cannot define the current strongest. Although Devon and Aborne are still some of my finest warriors, there are some new faces that you will see. For example, Alex here..."

As he gestured, every eye turned towards the soldier standing behind the Saintess.

Eryndor frowned his brows upon hearing that name and seeing those eyes. A flicker of recognition appeared in his eyes but then, he was only looking at Alex like he was witnessing a stranger.

"He has the strength to fight an adult wolf-kin even though he is just an academy student."

Amara looked surprised, "A wolf at this age? That's quite some feat boy."

Sarah narrowed her eyes as she looked at that expression on the queen's face. She was very well aware of Amara's taste in men, urging the Saintess to tilt to her left and hide Alex behind her.

"Amanda is also quite a brilliant mage," Sarah added, trying to remove the attention from Alex. However, the way Amara narrowed her eyes and her lips thinned in a smile, made the silver head gulp.

Dangerous woman.

"Ah, yes. Who can forget about Amanda, the prodigy of the Soulforge Academy? Being taught under Devon she has developed her skills quite brilliantly." Adolf complimented.

Eryndor was still slightly unclear on the matter, however, he stated his opinion about the preparation, "In two weeks, our clan would arrange a contest of the bravest. It won't be much trouble for me to pluck the top warriors from the contest."

Although the face of the danger was uncertain, it was certain that something grave was about to happen. So Eryndor would surely put more focus on the upcoming contest to get a few names.

Amara also nodded, "By the end of the next month, I think I can provide ten warriors from my nation-"

*CLANG*

Amara was startled, and everyone turned their heads toward the source of the noise.

"Your Holiness?" Christopher asked in apprehension seeing the glass dropping from the Saintess' hand and shattering into fragments.

Alex had a frown on his face as he heard nothing from Sarah and the whole person seemed frozen at her spot.

"Supreme Grace?" Devon voiced but even his call was ignored as Sarah remained completely unmoving from her spot, like she was bound by someone's spell.

Alex leaned forward and whispered, "Sarah...what happened?"

She jolted out of her reverie before stuttering, "S-Someone is coming....someone dangerous."

"...!!" Adolf's eyes widened as he glanced at Aborne, and instantly, the redhead bolted out of the room.

"...m-massive bloodlust...h-he is coming for ca-carnage..." Her voice was shaky, the whole person seemed to be trembling at what was coming.

Alex felt his heart elevating seeing the lady like this as he held her shoulder and her hand before asking, "Who is this person?"

"Ah~she is talking about me."

A chill ran down everyone's spine as they heard a foreign voice arriving from the entrance of the conference hall.

The presence of the being weighed heavily in the room, as if the air itself had turned to lead. The sheer dread it exuded was so tangible, so suffocating, that even the slightest reckless movement felt like it could seal their fate.

Victor was the one who stood on his feet and glanced at the man, "Allen...." A name seeped through his lips as he recognized the man who once was his comrade.

"Hey, Victor. Long time, mate."

Alex slowly recovered from his shock and turned his eyes to face the man.

Long flowing white hair, a lean body, a pair of red eyes, and a complexion paler than a sheet.

'A vampire....'

Eryndor bit his lips before turning towards the intruder, "How dare you show your face here!"

"Calm down, human, I am not here for you." The Vampire voiced, his tone sounding a little too calm for someone who had entered a human's territory and was standing before the three leaders of human factions.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Walking with casual strides he approached the conference table, only to halt when suddenly Devon summoned four Magic Circles and was prepared to vaporize the being, "For breaking the law and intruding into the palace, you have already committed a grave crime, Duke Allen Velmont."

The man grinned, his hands held behind his back as he asked, "That so? Then why don't you call your soldiers and ask them to arrest me?"

Devon's eyes widened in realization. Feeling the presence of an unwanted being the soldiers should have entered the hall already.

The Vampire's lips were extended in a nasty grin as he muttered, "Your palace is under my control now, Adolf. To save yourself and your soldiers' lives, you just need to fulfill my one demand."

Turning his eyes toward the Saintess, he added, "Give me what I desire and I will leave."

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.