The air was almost bright. Fog rested over the palace courtyard, and the faint light of dawn slid across the cold stone floor.
Reinh stood at the center of the courtyard, sword in hand, breathing steady, movements precise.
Half of his face was still covered with a white cloth, and old blood stains could be seen beneath it. Above his head, a miniature dragon with dark scales floated calmly, its sharp eyes following every movement.
"You should have listened to that human. Your wounds are not fully healed yet. Rest would have been more logical," Arceus said in a deep, drawn-out voice.
"It's not a problem." Reinh did not pause. He rotated the blade and practiced another strike.
These wounds meant nothing to him. In his past life, he had experienced far worse. Besides, the injuries he had suffered would not heal anytime soon anyway; it might take weeks.
Also, this training was not only for the sword. It was a way to suppress bloodlust, to control the madness that constantly boiled deep inside his mind.
He had not felt it for a long time. Still, after last night's attack by those assassins, the madness returned.
When he crushed that assassin's neck with his own hands, he could feel his blood boiling in his veins. He wanted more. He wanted to kill more… Even so, he did everything he could to stop himself right there.
"You are a strange human," Arceus was silent for a moment, then said.
As a dragon, and the strongest dragon that had ever lived, he had seen many humans. But this boy was something else.
Reinh gave no answer. Only the sound of the blade cutting through the air echoed in the courtyard.
"The ones who came to kill you… where were they from? I saw you ask questions, but you killed them without getting answers," the dragon asked again after a few moments.
Reinh did not stop his strikes.
"There was no need for an answer. The moment that assassin called his partner by the letter X, I understood where they were from."
"And where is that?" Arceus rose a little higher.
"Across the whole continent, there are only two assassination organizations whose members call each other by alphabet letters. One of them is among the top three assassination organizations in the world. The other is a second-rate organization near the eastern borders of the Empire," Reinh said.
"But in truth… they are the same organization. Most people just don't know this secret," he continued without looking at the dragon.
He was not guessing. In his past life, he had discovered this truth himself. Also, he had lived in the Empire for a long time and knew many of its secrets.
"Interesting. Still, why would they send assassins to kill you? No matter what, you are just a weak human child right now. Is this the work of your siblings?" Arceus sneered.
During the past two years, he had learned a fair amount about the structure of the Vorhelm Clan. He knew how cruel their internal struggles were.
To be honest, it even felt laughable to him. Humans were always like this: obsessed with power, paranoid, and ready to sacrifice their closest ones for it.
That was one of the reasons he always looked down on them.
"No. My siblings don't have that kind of courage. Even if they did, the punishment is execution. They would never do this," Reinh said indifferently, still practicing.
"An attack on the Tyrant Palace is forbidden. The sentence is execution, no matter who the attacker is."
"Then who is behind it? Do you know?" Arceus paused slightly.
This time, real interest could be heard in his voice. From his point of view, sending assassins to kill a child made no sense, unless they knew this child was a monster.
"The assassination organization or rather The Last Whisper works under the direct control of the Empire. Most likely, the request to assassinate me came from the Empire itself," Reinh replied.
"And why would an Empire want to assassinate a child?" Arceus raised an eyebrow.
"The Empire's eldest princess is one of my father's wives. She probably sees me as a threat," Reinh said coldly.
But he did not tell the whole truth. He knew that beyond political threat, that woman's deep hatred toward his mother, a personal and long-standing hatred, was what gave her the courage to do this.
In his past life, he had been targeted many times by that woman. One of the main reasons for his exile from his family was also her. If it were not for the Church protecting him after his exile, she would have surely found a way to kill him.
"Humans are truly interesting creatures… and also stupid," Arceus laughed.
"What was your era like?" Reinh glanced at the dragon and asked coldly. There were very few records about the time when the five Divine Beasts lived, and he did not know much himself.
"Our era? The world was still in its early structure. Very different from now. Unlike this half-baked peace, back then all races fought each other to decide their territories."
Reinh nodded. He could imagine that time.
"Anyway, what are you going to do about that organization now? They will probably send assassins again," Arceus continued.
Reinh paused for a moment. He lowered the blade. When he raised his head, there was a coldness in his eyes that made even the dragon fall silent for a fraction of a second.
"They will be destroyed soon," he replied, mockery clear in his eyes.
Arceus was confused. Then, as if he understood something, his gaze deepened. He was about to speak when a voice suddenly came from the entrance of the courtyard.
"Young Master… Mr. August has arrived. He said I should tell you that his he did his punishment," Lia said, her voice formal but cautious.