Before long, we arrived at Mazino's front gates, and the guards quickly let us in after seeing the fancy carriage.
Right after we entered, my heart throbbed.
Everyone, the civilians of the kingdom, is waiting by the gate on the main road. They all stood at the sides of the road, so that the carriage could still move.
They all cheered and supported us as the carriage slowly moved past them. Fran, being the natural star she is, waves her hand from the window towards the people on the side of the road. She grinned happily as the carriage moved past them.
The dwarf is also doing the same thing on my left. He peeked outside and waved his hands towards the people.
Only the two old wizards next to Fran aren't doing it, and me.
"You seemed to love the people, Fran?"
I said to her after we moved past the sea of people into the bridge owned by the middle castle. Fran turned to me and nodded.
"It's one of the things that heroes do. If they are happy, then so am I."
"Damn… let me borrow those words sometimes."
"No chance."
She chuckled as the carriage entered the gate. The carriage stopped on the ground in front of the middle castle. We stepped out from the carriage, only to see that there are two other carriages here that have arrived before us.
"Greetings, Mister and Madam Axelons. Everyone has been waiting."
Standing by the door waiting for us is Princess Lescia. The pretty princess bowed while lifting her skirt slightly, like a real lady. She is wearing a really nice attire befitting a princess of Mazino, and everyone liked seeing her welcoming them.
The other Axelons walked in, while me and Fran entered last. As I walked past her, I leaned in to Lescia and whispered.
"You look great!"
"Thanks!"
PLAK!
The two of us whispered at each other, but Fran suddenly smacked me on the back of my head. Fran and I then began quarreling, and Lescia let out a sigh as she followed behind us.
The butlers then led us to a large room with two large pairs of metal doors, and I can immediately tell what room this is.
The throne room of the king.
The most important place in the kingdom, where the king sat down on his throne and held meetings with his people. He alone determines the fate of his kingdom, and this is the place where he does it.
The room is extravagant, as I expected. The pillars on the walls are decorated with golden ornaments. The carpet right after the large door is long red, and it went all the way towards the stairs that are below the king's throne. There are glasses on the left and right wall, while the ceiling is filled with bright and large golden chandeliers.
Those chandeliers are definitely ten times more expensive than the one I bought for my living room…
I can already tell why some people agree that neither Veldonia nor Xyphon is richer than Mazino. I have been to both throne rooms, and neither are as extravagant as this.
The king isn't here yet, and so is the queen. Lescia was still behind us, so her seat was also empty.
The King of Mazino… Lescia's father.
I have met both the Kings of Veldonia and Xyphon, and yet I haven't seen the King of Mazino even once. Still wondering how that is possible, even though I originated from this kingdom.
What kind of person is he, I wonder?
In the middle of the room, there are groups of people talking with each other while holding a glass of drinks they grabbed from the tables on the side. They immediately turned when our group entered.
"The Swordsaint, the Grand Wizards of Xyphon, the Half-Dwarf King, and the Saint Healer have arrived."
The butler at the door announced, and everyone quickly turned to us and applauded.
I noticed that a lot of them were people I recognized, especially on the younger side. Everyone's eyes turned exactly to one position, where the person they are most happy about is appearing…
Me.
Every single person here is special. They are the strongest out of the strongest in their own kingdoms, and now everyone has combined their strengths to pursue the same singular goal, to win the war and to kill the demon king.
They are… Axelons.
To reply to their applause towards me, I lifted my right hand facing forward, and I kept on walking forward calmly. Seeing this, a lot of them chuckled.
Everyone knows me as arrogant, so might as well be one.
Yeah, yeah… I know, I'm great.
In the middle of the room, all the Axelons are standing and talking with each other. They made groups as they converse, to keep themselves from getting bored.
I can see the boys, Arfius, Cane, and Jonus grouping with one another. They are the only younger ones here, so it makes sense if they are together.
There's also the Xyphon group, consisting of the arch-mage, the other grand-wizard who didn't come with us, and the headmaster who is also grouping on a different spot. From their age, everyone can tell they are the oldies.
There's only one person that doesn't fit with the others, and he looked like a high ranking knight from Mazino. A middle-aged man who just stood by the pillar, with a drink in his hand and a cold glare that stopped anyone from approaching him.
He had glasses on, which made me assume that he is more of a strategist type. But since he is an Axelon member, there's no way his combat capabilities are weak. His hair is well combed, which adds extra points to his already handsome face.
I quickly got reminded of what Lescia said to me last night, about the Axelons who came from Mazino.
The Vice General Knight of Mazino. The man who has been the sword of Mazino for a long time before I arrived.
How… strong is he? I am very curious.
But from how he is included to be part of the Axelons, it's clear that he must be very strong.
Also… something tells me he has a cold personality.
Me and Fran then headed to the teen boys, while the grand wizards were going to the Xyphon oldies group. Malecous the dwarf had no idea where to go, so he just followed and stood near us.
"Captain!! You are here~!!"
PLAK!!!
Cane went in for a hug, I immediately smacked his face down. His face slammed to the ground and kissed the floor.
"I am glad you are happy to see me."
I turned towards the other boys. I nodded at Jonus who was waving his hand at me from a distance, then I turned to Arfius.
"So? How is the academy?"
Arfius lifted his shoulders as he answered.
"Going great. All of us are in our third year now."
"Hmm… How is Jericho?"
Immediately, he panicked.
"W-What? Why are you suddenly asking that?!"
His face turned red immediately. Haha, I knew it. They are so easy and so similar.
"You two are dating now, right?"
"N-No?! What makes you think that??"
"Then why are you so red, all of the sudden?"
Arfius quickly shuts up in shame.
I can tell from how the two acted back then. I think it all began in the second semester, when the two actually started talking with each other after they were in the same class.
Arfius began to see Jericho as a rival, now that Jericho is getting much-much stronger. Jericho too, also started to look Arfius closer after noticing that he is changing.
The second semester of the academy is the beginning of it all. The two have been getting closer and closer ever since.
Seeing him this flustered now must mean that something must've happened very recently.
"And you two are still not together? How disappointing."
Arfius can only clench his fist while holding back his anger due to shame. The two liked each other, but neither of them are going for it.
Fran and Cane behind me are talking with Jonus. The two shared their experience about what happened a few days ago at the southern base. Hearing that I took care of nearly all the demons that were there, Fran looked quite shocked.
"By the way, how is your magic going?"
Arfius asked me, trying to find an interesting topic.
"Well, I got the Emperor tier healing magic. Now I have two Emperor tiers. And then there's my Knight tier shadow magic."
"… I am really falling behind…"
I patted his shoulder in pity as he looked down.
"Don't worry. Everyone else is."
I turned my face away leaving him and headed towards the oldies from Xyphon. They quickly noticed my approach, and turned their attention towards me.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. Can I borrow the arch-mage and the headmaster?"
The arch-mage and the headmaster glared at each other, and then they followed me outside the room.
We went to a nearby bathroom, specifically towards the sink.
And what do you know, the bathroom is rather extravagant as well.
Too bad it's going to get bloody here.
"Okay, this will hurt."
"Ouch!"
I sliced Veneo's wound open and began regenerating his lost arm. It didn't take long, and I can tell that my healing magic seems to be evolving in terms of speed.
Seeing that his arm grew so easily like that made him laugh from how funny it felt.
"You should have done this a long time ago!"
"Hey, I have the brain of a frog. I forget sometimes."
"Damn… Can't argue with that."
"Why are you agreeing…?"
I turned to the archmage, who is no longer wearing his eye patch. He let me place my hand on his eye and then casted my healing magic. His eye got regenerated… but it's…
"Why is it still dark?"
He said while closing his other eye to test his new eye.
"Eh… Haha! Hold on…"
I chuckled while continued healing. I realized that I also need to connect the nerve system behind the eye, instead of just regenerating the eye.
The eye is so complicated, that it could have taken me hours to make if only I didn't study it previously. Thanks to my preparation, it only took me ten seconds to make his eye.
"There. Can you see now?"
The arch-mage tried moving his eyes, and now he can finally see.
"I… can. This is amazing… Thank you."
While Julius is being amazed at how beautiful the world is with both eyes, I studied his new appearance without the eye patch.
Hmm… it feels weird seeing him without an eye patch, since it was so iconic for him. Then again, this is how he should have looked in the first place. I just never met him without the eye patch before.
"No problem. Let's head back inside."
The three of us went back inside the large room, only to find that it's silent now. Looks like the king and his family have arrived.