The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: A Kingdom Full of Rumors

"Hey, Ares."

I glanced toward Rhal.

"I know you like hearing interesting rumors."

"Here you go again."

I sighed.

"What’s the rumor this time?"

Rhal’s smile widened.

"Come on. Let’s take this somewhere quieter."

"Why do I feel like I’m about to waste my time?"

"Because you know me too well."

A few minutes later, we were sitting in a quieter part of the academy grounds.

Rhal looked around before lowering his voice.

"Do you know any of the fourth-year students?"

"Not particularly. Why?"

"You see..."

He leaned closer with an unusually serious expression.

"Something happened recently."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Go on."

"Two fourth-year students were caught sneaking into a restricted area of the academy together."

"And?"

Rhal paused dramatically.

"They were discovered in a rather compromising situation."

I stared at him.

"How compromising?"

"Let’s just say they had a lot of explaining to do."

"Hmm."

I wasn’t particularly surprised.

"Who were they?"

"That’s where it gets interesting. Both of them come from noble families."

Rhal raised one finger.

"The man’s name is Anthony. If I remember correctly, he’s the eldest son of a baron."

He raised another.

"The woman’s name is Aria. She’s the daughter of a count from Valeris."

"Really?"

I leaned back slightly.

"What happened afterward?"

Rhal’s grin immediately returned.

"I knew you’d be interested."

"Don’t look so pleased with yourself."

"Then why are you asking so many questions?"

"Because you’ve already started the story. You might as well finish it."

"Fair enough."

Rhal lowered his voice again.

"Both of them were expelled."

"That seems reasonable."

I shrugged.

"Why would they cause trouble inside the academy in the first place? Do nobles not understand that there are rules?"

"Apparently, some people need to learn that lesson the difficult way."

Rhal laughed.

"Although that’s not even the most interesting part."

"There is more?"

"Of course."

His smile widened.

"But I have one condition."

I narrowed my eyes.

"What condition?"

"You buy me lunch tomorrow."

I stared at him.

"Is that really necessary?"

"Information isn’t free."

"You’re acting like an intelligence broker."

"An intelligence broker needs to eat too."

I sighed.

"Fine. I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow."

"Excellent choice."

Rhal immediately looked satisfied.

"Now, let’s move on to something much more interesting."

"You’re enjoying this far too much."

"Do you know the Second Prince, Graham?"

"Oh, him."

I nodded.

"What happened?"

Rhal glanced around once more.

"They say he was seen meeting with several unidentified people outside the palace."

"That alone isn’t particularly suspicious."

"True."

Rhal’s expression became more serious.

"But apparently, there was more to it than that."

"What did he do?"

"There are rumors that he was involved in an attempt to assassinate the Crown Prince."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"That’s what people are saying."

I couldn’t help smiling slightly.

"That’s certainly an interesting rumor."

"I told you."

Rhal leaned back with an expression of satisfaction.

"But there’s something else you might find interesting."

"Of course there is."

"You may not know this, but Princess Lyra and the Third Prince, Oscar, are apparently the only members of the royal family with relatively clean records."

"Relatively?"

"Even they aren’t completely free from rumors."

I sighed.

"What a family."

Rhal nodded.

"There have been rumors that assassins were sent after several members of the royal family, and some people believe the orders may have come from within the palace itself."

"That’s quite a mess."

"It gets worse."

Rhal looked almost proud of himself.

"Princess Lyra is expected to become the next Crown Princess."

I stared at him.

"So the future of the kingdom depends on a royal family currently fighting among themselves."

"More or less."

"Wonderful."

I rubbed my forehead.

"That’s exactly the kind of situation a kingdom needs."

Rhal laughed.

"The succession struggle has apparently been going on for quite some time. Every faction has its own interests, and some nobles are already choosing sides."

"So you really know a lot about this."

I looked at him suspiciously.

"At this point, I’m beginning to wonder whether you’re actually a professional spy."

Rhal blinked.

"A spy?"

"Yes."

"Why would you think that?"

"You somehow know rumors involving nobles, princes, princesses, assassinations, and academy students and more."

Rhal placed a hand against his chest.

"I prefer to call it having a wide range of interests."

"That’s what a spy would say."

"What would you know about spies anyway?"

"Nothing."

I took a sip of my drink.

"Which is why I didn’t say anything."

He suddenly smiled again.

"Anyway, if you want to hear the rest, I have plenty more."

I sighed.

"Alright, let’s hear it."

"Then shall we continue?"

I looked at him for a moment before shaking my head.

"Go ahead."

Rhal’s smile widened.

"Now that’s what I wanted to hear."

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

That evening, Ares, Draven, Cedric, and Astra were gathered inside one of the private dining rooms of the Starlight.

Ares had ordered enough food for everyone.

Apparently, Draven had taken that as a personal challenge.

"Mm!"

He immediately picked up another piece of meat and began eating without hesitation.

Then another.

And another.

Ares watched him for several seconds.

Draven was already chewing one piece while reaching for another, completely ignoring the fact that there was still food in his mouth.

"Hey."

Draven looked toward him.

Ares frowned.

"Can’t you at least eat properly? You’re going to choke."

Draven swallowed quickly before answering.

"I can’t help it."

He reached for another dish.

"The food here is simply too good. I’ve eaten plenty of food throughout my life, but the dishes served here are on another level."

He took another bite.

"It’s almost addictive."

Ares sighed.

"You’ve been eating since we sat down."

"I know."

"Then slow try to eat properly."

"I don’t want to."

Draven immediately picked up another piece of meat.

Ares stared at him.

"... Seriously."

Draven ignored him and continued eating.

Ares glanced toward the other two.

Cedric was eating quietly, maintaining perfect manners despite the amount of food in front of him.

Astra, meanwhile, was sitting comfortably beside them, occasionally making a small sound whenever another dish was placed within reach.

Ares smiled.

"Look at Astra and Cedric. At least those two know how to eat with manners."

Draven glanced at them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

His answer came while his mouth was still full.

Ares immediately frowned.

"Don’t speak while your mouth is full."

Draven swallowed.

"It’s your fault, Master. You were the one who asked me."

Then he immediately returned to eating.

Ares stared at him.

"Seriously, this guy..."

Cedric lowered his gaze slightly, seemingly trying to hide a smile.

Ares then turned toward Astra.

"Astra, do you like the food?"

Astra looked up.

"Kyuu."

Ares smiled.

"Good, good."

He pushed another plate slightly closer.

"Keep eating. There’s still plenty."

Astra immediately began eating again.

Cedric watched the creature for a moment before speaking.

"It’s rare for a creature like Astra to eat this much, Master."

"Hmm?"

Ares looked toward him.

"What do you mean?"

Cedric thought for a moment.

"During the time I served the royal family, there was a high-ranking spirit beast under their protection. It was called the Silver Fenrir."

"Silver Fenrir?"

"Yes."

Cedric nodded.

"It was an exceptionally powerful spirit beast, but unlike Astra, it rarely consumed ordinary food. Its primary source of nourishment was monster cores and concentrated mana crystals."

Ares looked at Astra.

"That’s interesting."

He glanced back at Cedric.

"But Astra isn’t a spirit beast, you know."

Cedric’s expression froze for a moment.

"Ah..."

He lowered his head slightly.

"Right. I almost forgot."

Ares leaned back in his chair and glanced around the dining room.

For once, there was nothing urgent demanding his attention.

The academy had resumed, the recent operations had been handled, and the Orders were now strong enough to deal with most situations without requiring his direct involvement.

"Well, I suppose we can finally relax for a while."

Draven looked toward him.

"Relax?"

"Yes."

Ares picked up his drink.

"Now that everyone has become stronger, I can leave some of the more difficult missions to the Orders. Classes have resumed, so I need to focus on the academy again."

Draven nodded thoughtfully.

"Is that the reason you gave them all that additional power?"

"No."

Ares smiled.

"Well... only half the reason."

"The other half is because they’re my people."

Ares glanced toward Draven.

"I can’t just stand by and watch one of them die because they’re not strong enough. What happened to Aoda made that pretty obvious."

Draven became quiet for a moment before sighing.

"That’s certainly true."

He then smiled faintly.

"It’s a good thing you’re on humanity’s side."

Ares raised an eyebrow.

"What does that mean?"

Draven leaned back slightly.

"I’m simply saying that I’m relieved you ended up caring about humans."

He looked at Ares with an oddly serious expression.

"Imagine if you had been born as some bastard noble child with your personality and your current abilities. I don’t even want to imagine what kind of disaster you’d become."

Ares’s expression immediately changed.

"Watch your mouth."

Draven froze for a moment.

Then he laughed.

"Right, right."

He raised his hands defensively.

"Hahaha. I suppose I went a little too far."

Cedric quietly continued eating while listening to them.

Astra, meanwhile, seemed completely uninterested in the conversation and remained focused on the food in front of her.

Ares looked at the two of them.

"Anyway, now that the Orders can handle more responsibilities, things should become considerably easier for me."

He leaned back comfortably.

Draven nodded.

"That sounds reasonable."

He reached for another piece of meat.

"And it means we’ll have more time to eat here."

Ares stared at him.

"That’s what you took from everything I just said, where did you even putting all of that foods?"

Draven smiled.

"Master, isn’t obvious? Of course to my stomach."

Ares sighed.

"Seriously, this guy..."

Cedric lowered his head again, quietly hiding another smile.

The peaceful evening continued, with the four of them enjoying the meal without realizing how quickly the quiet days were beginning to disappear.

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