191 Chapter 191: Earning Their Keep

The next morning, Caesar squinted his eyes and softly pushed Ahri's heavy body off of him. She growled whilst in her sleep, resulting in Caesar quietly removing the covers from his body and getting out of bed. His hair lazily rested on his shoulders as he entered his bathroom and infiltrated into the already prepared bath.

The warm water was routinely brought in by the servants and prepared quite thoroughly. They were trained as to not rudely wake up their lords, as such, Caesar could rest peacefully and bathe when he awoke.

He scrubbed his body, hair, and other places before using some form of shampoo and conditioner. Once he was done scrubbing, he brushed his hair and lazily stretched his limbs whilst gazing into the mirror.

Steam blinded most of his figure, however, he was still capable of seeing his well-groomed self. He nodded in content while taking out a set of clothes. He needed to look lavish for today's events, as they would be a huge turning point for Rahvin kingdom.

He adorned a form-fitted burgundy long-sleeved dress shirt with a raven black vest accented by silver buttons coupled with long black slacks and ankle-high black boots polished with a glaring shine. His white hair flowed behind his back like the most tranquil of rivers and his pale-white skin was as pure as snow.

Furthermore, his piercing red eyes and slender white hands completed his outfit quite splendidly. Caesar eased the tension of his collar whilst exiting the bathroom, his abdominal muscles vaguely visible through his suit.

As he opened the door, he was greeted by Ahri's loud snoring. Caesar hesitated for a moment, but he couldn't help but smile wryly as he made his way out of the room. Although he had planned on waking her up previously, he felt as though she deserved some more sleep.

Thus, whilst walking down the spacious halls, he ordered a few maids to deliver breakfast and some nutritious drinks to his room. He would normally do it himself, but he needed to quickly arrive at the western side of Rahvin kingdom and bring the fox-kin to the training grounds so that they could make it on time.

With this in mind, he quickened his pace and soon exited the palace, greeting the guards on his way out. His wild and fantastic appearance caught the eye of many, however, the citizens could only look from afar and not approach the crowned prince.

Like this, he soon made it to the western side relatively peacefully, without any mishaps occurring. As soon as he arrived where most of the fox-kin camped out, he was greeted by a few already armored up and stoked fox-kin men.

They carried wide smiles on their faces as they waved happily at Caesar, their anticipation was through the roof. Amongst them, the 13 clan-heads crossed their arms as they tapped their feet onto the ground angrily.

Caesar was curious as to what they were impatient about, but he didn't pay it much heed. Instead, he walked to the front of the camp and beckoned for the fox-kin to follow him. Although he pitied the other races, their looks were far too ridiculous for them to have a shot at becoming knights.

After exchanging a few greetings and pleasantries, a few hundred or so fox-kin followed behind Caesar. They were all tough-looking men and they hid their tails and ears quite expertly. The only woman that went with them was Akari, who possessed a spot on the council.

Their large group walking through the wide streets garnered the attention of many, like a parade or some sort of important occasion. The citizens were deathly curious and even a few rumors started up, such as the crowned prince recruiting mercenaries, or training the residents in the slums. Some were truer than others, but one fact remained, no one knew exactly who the strange visitors were.

The fox-kin were undeterred by the commotion and the humans' curiosity. The fox-kin have never hated humans in particular, instead, they disliked the trolls and the church. Thus, adapting to their new environment was a simple task for them, other than the fact that they had lost many of their loved ones in the war. Many of the fox-kin were still depressed or wallowing in their own sorrow, but this change of setting helped many of them move on.

Thinking to here, the fox-kin being led by Caesar soon arrived at the training grounds. Although the checkered stone floor was not nearly as thick, nor large as the one back in the fox-kin stronghold, it was much cleaner. The white grounds that were cleaned every day seemed to reflect the suns glare.

Many human knights were already busy waving their swords and completing their cardio training. After Caesar's wake-up call yesterday, they have once again fully committed to their training. Hell, some of the newer recruits didn't even dare to show their faces again, but the ones who did worked even harder.

The sons of barons were especially hard-working, as they wished to elevate their family status in the future. One particular figure who was clearly overweight could be running around the training grounds, sweating like a pig.

Caesar was surprised that he stayed after being ridiculed, in fact, the fat man carried an expression of determination as he ran to his limits. His eyes seemed to roll back as his speed decreased to a turtles pace, but never relented.

Caesar inspected the hardworking man and inwardly praised him before turning his head to the middle of the training grounds. There stood two people who were clearly in a league of their own amongst the knights.

One was Sylvian, while the other one was Tod. They were the respective leaders of the small factions, "night-rangers" and "blood knights". Tod was a burly and hot-headed man, while in contrast, Syvilan was the complete opposite.

As Caesar entered into their line of sight, they bowed deeply and greeted him, while the small forces behind them did the same. They were all armored up, fully prepared to accept any punishment and training that Caesar ordered.

All of them carried excited smiles, anticipating to show Caesar how much they had grown, especially the elves. They cuffed their hands and kneeled on the ground in unison, paying their respects to him.

With a wave of Caesar's hands, he let them ease up. He then proceeded to slowly walk toward the middle of the training grounds, a nostalgic smile plastered on his face. "We will now partake in my personal hell training," Caesar paused, "and the knight qualification test!"

His roar resounded throughout the training grounds and Caesar couldn't help but lick his lips in anticipation. He needed to wake his soldiers up once more if they wanted to retain their respectful position of "knight".