An Unexpected Visit.

"People think that just because I went along with the extermination of House Aurellion, I was okay with it."

"That could not be further from the truth."

"I killed every single person that was involved in it.

"Every single person."

"I didn't even take action against their young lord when I found out where he was."

"Not that it stays fixed these days anyway."

"Tell me, would someone who does all this not be affected in the slightest by the ordered extermination of his friend and student family."

"Even a madman would not agree with that statement."

Amulius Lunaris, Grand Duke of Veritas and Minister of War for Chavaria.

….

"What?!"

Leon exclaimed, surprised, before calming down.

"What makes you think that?"

Leon asked.

"You have noticed how he seems to be an almost perfect replica of Lucius, haven't you?"

"From the way he treats people to his talent at military strategy and politics, everything is almost the same as his father."

"Tell me, have you ever heard of a son replicating their father to such an extent and emulating every aspect of themselves?"

Amulius said seriously it seemed that the Chavarian Minister of War had done a lot of research into the subject over his investigation into House Aurellion and their recent activities, though he still did not have a perfect picture of all the power at House Aurellions disposal.

Hearing the genius minister of war's explanation, Leon stood stunned and rooted in place. He reflected on the many miracles that Railius achieved even at a young age and saw that he seemed so much like his father in almost all aspects.

Also, in history, almost no one has been able to emulate someone so accurately. Even when two wise kings take the throne consecutively, you will find that they will deal with things differently and have different personalities, not ones that seem to be the same.

'He even inherited his father's slightly problematic personality.'

Leon sighed. No matter how he felt about his friend, the one thing that always annoyed him was how relaxed and lazy his lord was despite the talent he showed while escaping Chavaria, but as soon as House Aurellion was no longer in a crisis, he suddenly turned lazy and mediocre. 

"I admit that Railius is extremely similar to his father and that at times I have problems separating the two, but this cannot be used as evidence unless…."

"You've found something out, haven't you?"

"What is it?"

Leon said, shock written all over his face, as he seemed to come to a conclusion suddenly. He looked at Amulius, who sighed and nodded.

"You were never as intelligent as Lucius, but it's nice to know that my favourite disciple did not hand over the protection of his family to a fool."

"It is just as you have assumed."

"The Gods Favoured are not just existences that seem to come from another place, maybe even a world, but have the ability to have the souls or memories of dynasty members of the past transferred to their rightful heir."

Amulius said seriously.

"Have you confirmed it?"

Leon asked, doubting Amulius' seemingly absurd proposal, which appeared only to be to question his loyalty to his lord.

It's not that Leon cared that much for the God's Favoured in the first place or that he served one, as Railius had already proven himself to be a wise lord, so if anything, this information will only serve to increase the man's already fanatical loyalty to House Aurellion.

"Yes, I have confirmed it, well, at least as much as is possible. There is a chance I am wrong, but as you know…."

"I am rarely wrong."

Amulius said not a trace of a lie in his voice while the old man had been at the top of the Chavarian imperial court for years and was able to lie at a moment's notice. For some reason, Leon thought that the Chavarian Minister of War was being honest. 

"How?"

Leon asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You know House Martinez, don't you?"

Amulius replied as Leon raised his spear to the man's neck, who did not flinch in the slightest, having trudged through the muddy battlefields when he was younger.

He was also the best fighter in Chavaria

"You think I would forget?"

Leon said, shaking as he tried to control his emotions, which had burst out for the second time within one hour. As this was the noble house that gave the now Crown Prince Flavius Crestier of Chavaria the idea to kill Victarion and blame it on House Aurellion.

Simply put, he is the main reason and mastermind of House Aurellion's downfall in the Chavarian Empire and the man behind Lucius Aurellions murder and framing. If it weren't for his need to protect and serve Railius, Leon would long have gone to slit his throat, but it takes at least a month or two to get from Detarnor to the centre of Chavaria, and that is with a fast horse to help you. 

While Railius was younger, Leon had no choice but to stay nearby to ensure nothing happened, as who knew when Chavaria would pick up their traces and send men to kill them? After all, Amulius had already said that the empire, or at least he knew where they had been for two years now. This just led to one question, though.

'Why?'

'Why did the empire not try to kill Railius over the last few years?'

'This is not a distraction, is it?'

Leon wondered, feeling an ominous sensation as if he had been tricked here while they had sent assassins after Railius, not that the grandmaster could do anything about it being a few weeks away from his lord who was trading and travelling through the southern part of the kingdom. If anything, it would be better if Railius does go travelling for a bit. At least it would be harder for them to track his position. All he would need to do is send a few more men to guard Railius because as long as he could get 500 veterans to protect him, even a grandmaster would struggle to get through Aldorus and the grandmaster-level tactics he had inherited from Lucius after nearly a decade of hard work.

"Tell me what you have done!"

"Who have you sent to kill the young lord!"

"If you don't tell me what you have planned now, I swear to god I'll kill you and then rampage through Chavaria!"

Leon shouted, his icy voice usually at least leading to someone stepping back when feeling his chilling killing intent, but the minister of war just stood there, sighing while shaking his head.

"I honestly and truly don't plan to kill him."

"Would I come alone if I planned to kill him and meet you even though he is no longer here?

"Do you really think that would kill the son of my favourite disciple?"

"Did you not think I also felt a dagger in my heart when I heard what crown prince Flavius did?"

The old minister shouted, getting angry himself for Lucius' false treason charge affected him far more than people realise.

How could he not feel something?

Actually, apart from House Martinez, who had the backing of the Crown Prince and was loyal to him, not making any mistakes, everyone else who helped Flavius kill Victarion and Lucius was dead or exiled alongside their families.

Lucius was by far the best of all his disciples, able to keep a low profile while having a deep understanding of both military and political affairs, knowing when to step in and when to back down.

After some of the remaining nobles in the kingdom of Plurus worked with some disgruntled Chavarian nobles to kill Drusus Dardanius, the great general of Chavaria, in an attempt to destabilise and weaken the Chavarian Imperial Army, it was Lucius who filled the void, leading to the construction of one of the most powerful military forces in the continent being born over the years, in fact, if many of his soldiers and skilled subordinates had not left the army due to disappointment then few would be able to compete with the elite army he created.

He even managed to avoid and turn the tables on some of the most cunning foxes in the imperial court, something that Drusus had problems with as the minister of war had to spend god knows how much time and effort watching the great generals back. While he was a genius in military affairs, his skill at politics and avoiding the many pitfalls set up by his opponents could be said to be the worst in Chavaria.

Many times, the great general and conqueror of two kingdoms had almost been falsely accused of something, and if it were not for the emperor's trust in him and the efforts of Lucius and Amulius to look after him, he would have long succumbed to these schemes and lost his life in one way or another.

Lucius was different. His instincts for politics were excellent, and if it were not for Flavius forcing him to his death after killing his brother Victarion, House Aurellion would have remained one of the most powerful noble houses in the empire because he stayed neutral and loyal to the emperor. So as long as you become the crown prince and legitimate successor to Chavaria, then you would have his loyalty, not needing to join one faction or another in an attempt to gain power, and no one would target him who had an army of over 100,000 elite soldiers under his command and was the best general in the empire even having the ear of the emperor.

Because of this, Amulius Lunaris was very fond of him actually drawing a sword and threatening the emperor of Chavaria because of what happened to him. If it were not because Flavius was really the only remaining candidate for the throne who would not cause a civil war, he would have pushed for the truth to be revealed instead of a decree calling for the extermination of his favourite student's family.

"Yes Leon, House Martinez, you think I would let them go and not try to investigate and take down everyone involved in Lucius' death."

"Anyway, while investigating them, their old lord died, and his son took over, but he seemed to be exactly the same as his father, even knowing things that only his father knew. I asked about something only House Matinez's old lord would know, and the son's eyes went wide, showing he knew something about it when he shouldn't."

"There were also a few others like this, so I have come to the conclusion that if someone seems to be a carbon copy of their father, then it is likely that they are a Gods Favoured who has managed to inhabit the body of their descendent."

Amulius said as calmly as before, with Leon's steel spear tip still threatening his pulsing throat, but the moment that he tried to kill him, Amulius would still have time to react and defend himself.

"But they have been like that since they were children. How can we be sure that this is linked to their dynasty having one or two Gods Favoured in it?"

"Surely Lucius' soul taking over that of his sons is impossible."

Leon asked, still not totally convinced despite the Chavarian Minister of War being able to conclude the truth of the matter.

"Why should such a thing be impossible?"

"The gods and Gods Favoured work in mysterious ways. After all, have you not heard of that unique way of communicating they have?"

Amulius said as, by now, the information that the Kingdom of Oovere had gathered from the Gods Favoured rebellion had been disseminated around the word, so the NPCs now had a lot more information on the Gods Favoured and their potential ambitions than before, allowing all the countries to put up their guard.

"I have heard about the Gods Favoured Rebellion, but what does it matter if Railius is a Gods Favoured whose successor can inherit his memories?"

"Not every God's favoured is the same."

"He may be a bit eccentric, but he is a talented benevolent lord, and if that benevolence can be passed down from father to son, then I only see more reasons to stay loyal."

Leon said as he did not see why the Minister of War came all this way despite knowing the grandmaster's unshakable heart.

"I didn't come here to try to recruit you back to Chavaria. The emperor would not allow it anyway. I came to tell you this and request something."

Amulius said as he was one of a small handful who had gleaned some hidden truths about the world.

"Please support Railius to the end."

"I will keep House Aurellion's location secret. This is the last thing I can do for my old student and friend, who I failed to protect."

Amulius began guilty before looking Leon straight in the eyes.

"Because if Railius really did inherit much of Lucius' personality and temperament."

"Then he will become an ideal lord or king and help make people's lives under his wise rule easier."

Amulius sincerely pleaded it was obvious that his relationship with Lucius was deep for him to go to such lengths to keep his last surviving son and descendant alive son."

"But let me leave you with some advice."

"If Railius were ever publicly to take up arms against Chavaria while I am alive, then know that I will destroy him without hesitation, as I am a subject of Chavaria at the end of the day. While I can let my friend's son go so he can live a peaceful life if he becomes a threat…."

"I will not hesitate to end his life."

"Also, don't choose to join the Kingdom of Nathia."

I suspect that the kingdom will fall within 50 years or so unless they have a good successor to their crown prince and talented grandmaster-level generals to hold the northern border."

Amulius said coldly, emphasising that while he considered his past affection for House Aurellion, if they became a public enemy of the empire, he would not hold back just because his old friend and the student were Railius' father.

"Who else knows of our location?"

Leon asked, making a note to himself to send more men to secretly look after and protect Railius with Aldorus, no matter how Amulius responded. Right now, Aldorus was working with around 200 men but would need 500 to use Grandmaster Suppression, the grandmaster-level tactics he learnt from Lucius to help suppress and deal with grandmasters that took Aldorus nearly ten years to perfect and memorise being able to do it without needing a grandmaster strategists to be present.

While the Chavarian Minister of War may not be lying, Leon always worked on the assumption of the worst possibility and to be prepared for every occasion. 

"No one that would make a move against you, you can be rest assured. I didn't even tell the emperor your location."

Amulius replied honestly, as he was not stupid enough to tell anyone else about this, or it would get to the emperor and Prince Flavius, who, while may not send any of their own experts to kill him, will have no problem hiring the best assassins to get the job done.

"Why will Nathia fall in 50 years? They have a strong army, do they not? They are a prosperous nation, and I don't see how they could fall so soon."

Leon asked curiously. While he hated Amulius because of his connection to Chavaria, he was well aware that the old minister was one of the most talented geniuses' on the continent and respected the insight of his perceived enemy.

"While Nathia may look strong on the surface, it has many underlying problems that are very hard to deal with."

"First off, they are not on the best terms with the nations around them, and only the Iravien Confederacy and the Republic of Adreau are not openly hostile to them."

"The Kingdom of Rinada is their ancient enemy, and so will not help them; instead, they will look for any crisis or opportunity to invade the kingdom's south to take back land they lost in the past. Luckily, the Grand Duke of Grucia is a skilled war leader and can hold them well as long as the rest of the southern nobles work as one.

"The Krithan Dynasties still want the land Nathia took from them in the wars fought by King Ruthren II 150 years ago. This already forces the kingdom to face enemies on two sides.

"The final enemy is us, the great Empire of Chavaria. We have hundreds of thousands of troops, even without the help of the nobles, Archtorius, and myself as grandmaster strategists for the little raven has matured into an excellent military leader, and we are looking to break through the mountains, protecting the south to further our conquest and get access to the sea. As long as Ranier Lantier is there, we are unlikely to make a breakthrough, but no other great talent has appeared in Nathia, and like myself, he is ageing, being only slightly younger than us, and so is only likely to be active for another 10 years or so."

"But as soon as he dies, the northern borders will be without a guardian, and if these three countries ever attack together without there being a talented military general that Nathia can call upon to hold Nartook Fortress…."

"Then Nathia is doomed to fall."

"This is in addition to their internal issues are not simple either. At least half of the Nathian nobility was no better than ours eight years ago, but the emperor had already purged most of the corrupt Chavarian nobles for one reason or another, increasing our country's power and tax revenue. Actually, within a few years, the number of troops in the imperial army alone is likely to reach 400,000."

"With their elite troops protecting the borders and few to spare, I suspect that the only other remaining Grand Duke whose domain borders the Iravien Confederacy will be able to spare a large force to suppress any internal rebellion and if half the nobility rebels, then even if the royalists win, there won't be enough men left to defend from foreign attacks as all the border troops will need to be used, and many will die."

"So I recommend you join almost any kingdom that is not Nathia, even if the Crown Prince can become a wise ruler in the future there are far too many problems for him to be able to turn the tide now that we are on his doorstep.

Amulius said that, as always, his analysis of the situation was on point when it came to politics.

"There is one thing I don't understand, though?"

"Why was Lucius your favourite disciple? Was that not Drusus."