Miracle, that was what the people in the kingdom felt on their winning against the specters. Including the knights, they felt the same about the fight.
While the victory brought joy to the people, it did not last long. Soon, the announcement of the King's death brought sorrow to the whole kingdom.
Apparently, the King was loved by its citizens and the Capital City fell into a mourning state. Heero and his family attended the King's funeral. It was not just the King, the knights, and the people who died under the attack of the specters buried together.
Heero attended the funeral with his family. They wore all blacks and watched the funeral from the sideline.
He could see the paled Gerard and Benjamin, together they carried the coffin of their father. The funeral lasted for three hours before everyone went back to the royal residence.
Benjamin however stayed behind. He knelt before his father's grave with his head hung low. He stayed alone there while everyone went back to the castle.
With the King's death under the specters' ambush, the Regal Kingdom had to choose the new King. The kingdom needed a new King to replace the dead King.
Certainly the Crown Prince, William Gerard Kingsman was the one who would inherit the throne.
The day of the old King was buried, Gerard also inherited the throne. Heero also attended the coronation as the representative of Star City.
The supposed glorious coronation became a plain coronation.
On the same day, Heero and his family also planned to travel back to Star City. They agreed to end their honeymoon trip and went back. There was no way they could continue the honeymoon in this situation.
Capital City suffered big destruction, but that was not the reason. They could go to other cities, but they could no longer enjoy the trips in such a depressing atmosphere.
The kids also no longer had a mood to stroll around. They were affected by the sorrowful atmosphere in the city. One of the many reasons Heero decided to go back.
Inside a private room, Heero was alone with Guardian Knight Adrian and the newly coronated King, Gerard.
Adrian and Gerard bowed toward Heero, "Thank you for your help! Without you, Capital City might fall, "
Facing such an attitude, Heero did not know what to do. In fact, he was feeling a bit guilty inside for not taking action as soon as possible. He felt he did not deserve the gratitude.
However, he did not regret his decision. He did that so he could catch the mastermind behind the attack though he failed to catch them he managed to get a clue about the mastermind.
Facing such a dilemma, in the end, Heero also bowed his head to the new King.
"I don't deserve the gratitude, only if I help the kingdom sooner, the kingdom would suffer less casualties. I am sorry…"
Heero shared the information about the culprit and the reason he did not immediately go all out.
Adrian and Gerard were surprised to find out that a human was behind all of this.
"Do you know about Dungeon? My guess is those people come from the dungeon, "
The King nodded his head and smiled at Heero, "Nevertheless, you deserve our gratitude for your help! Without you, the citizens would collapse. You gave them huge mental support!"
"Huh!?" Heero was confused.
Guardian Knight Adrian approached Heero and gave him a heartfelt hug, "Thank you, you are the kingdom's miracle!"
*** ***
Many churches in the Capital City were packed with people.
Right after the funeral, many people's destination was the church. They were going to pray right after the funeral.
The reason was the Phoenix. The citizens were thinking the flame bird was God-sent to save them from the specter. Hence, the people who believed in God went to church to pray.
They were expressing their gratitude, praying, and worshiping in the church. They believed the Phoenix was proof God never abandoned them.
They did not know that the Phoenix was a human's doing. If one did not see it with their eyes, no one was going to believe the Phoenix was a human's doing.
The Regal Kingdom's upper echelons knew about this fact, but they did not plan to announce it to their people. They wanted the Phoenix's incident to remain as people believed, God-sent miracle. It would be a huge mental support to the people who lost their loved ones in the battle.
The reason why King Gerard and his uncle, Guardian Knight Adrian, were truly grateful to Heero.
However, Heero himself did not know he caused such a big after-effect.
"But why did the specters choose the kingdom as their target?" Guardian Knight Adrian changed the topic.
He did not plan to explain the meaning behind his words. Moreover, he also wanted to know about this. Yes, why did the kingdom become the specter's target?
King Gerard also looked at Heero. He wanted to know as well.
"This is just my guess, their main target is not the kingdom, but the mutants! I heard the kingdom is a place where most mutants gathered?"
Guardian Knight Adrian and King Gerard were not expecting such an answer. Guardian Knight Adrian frowned.
"But why did they try to impersonate the Crown Prince and kill the King if their target was the mutants? The mutants establishment is in the north while Capital City is in the south?"
Guardian Knight Adrian showed his doubt.
"If they can get the whole kingdom, why not? I believe they not only try to impersonate the Crown Prince but the late King as well! However, my presence ruined their plan hence they killed the late king, " Heero pointed at his eyes, "I can detect the Morpher!"
Guardian Knight Adrian and King Gerard looked at each other. They clearly still doubted Heero's words.
"That's just my speculation. The specter needs the mutants to establish a strong army. When the mutants turned into the specters, they could become a stronger specter compared to us, humans! Moreover, have you checked the mutant establishment?"
Hearing Heero's words, Guardian Knight Adrian went with "Ah!?". He immediately called the person in charge of the mutant establishment to confirm Heero's speculation.
King Gerard looked at his uncle worriedly. He shared the same concern as his uncle. The concern turned reality the moment the call was not connected.
King Gerard and Guardian Knight Adrian exchanged a look.
"I am sorry, I can't accompany you longer! I have to go now!" Guardian Knight Adrian bowed toward Heero and left the room.
Heero nodded understandingly as he watched Guardian Knight Adrian left with a paled face.
Heero was left alone with King Gerard. He was quite awkward as the person in front of him was no longer a mere prince but a King of a nation.
King Gerard however shared a different concern. He faced Heero with a serious expression and expressed his thoughts.
"Sir Heero, I have a request for you! Are you willing to help the kingdom to establish the same squad as SES?"
This was Guardian Knight Adrian and King Gerard's purpose of meeting Heero privately. They wanted to establish a force with a purpose to fight the specters. They did not want the same tragedy repeated.
*** ***
The Hero League, Star City
As soon as the news the King's death spread to the world, the executive of the Hero League initiated the executive meeting. The meeting was initiated by the Moushe Eghian of Star Consortium.
Star Consortium was an organization formed by one of the top ten Martial Houses in Star City, Star Martial House. It was one of the oldest Martial Houses in Star City.
From Martial House to a huge organization that became one of twelve biggest forces in Star City, it was Star Consortium.
Not only Moushe Eghian but Krishna Davale of Orient Consortium also initiated the executive at the same time. Orient Consortium shared the same history as Star Consortium, but they were comparably new to Star Consortium.
Eleven Executives and six GrandMaster Hero Instructors attended the meeting with Heero as an exception.
Everyone had their attention at two people, Moushe Eghian and Krishna Davale as the two who initiated the meeting.
"I believe everyone here has seen the Regal Kingdom's footage and share the same concern as me!" Moushe Eghian was the first one to open his mouth.
Moushe Eghian was an old man in his early fifties. Having a thin frame, big eyes, and gray hair. He was a person appointed by Star Consortium to be their representative in the Hero League.
Regal Kingdom's footage was a video captured through the satellite, a battle between the kingdom and the specter. All executives received the same video through the Hero League's intelligence team.
"As we can see, the specters that attacked the kingdom are stronger than the specters that attacked us before…"
Before Moushe Eghian could finish his words, Bai Xian Ming cut his words, "Mister Moushe, can you get to the point? Just like you said, everyone here has watched the footage!"
"Alright!" Moushe Eghian nodded and voiced his purpose for initiating the executive meeting, "You have watched the video, and I believe you also have witnessed SES's excellent performance against the specter!"
"Here, I want to propose to expand SES and acquire SES to be under the Hero League's control directly, no longer an independent squad under the Chief Instructor!"
"We have to be prepared just in case the specters attack Star City again! And if possible, I want the Chief Instructor to share his technique which is essential in specter-hunting!"
"I seconded Mister Moushe's proposal!" Krishna Davale voiced his agreement immediately after that.
Bai Xian Ming squinted his eyes at the two executives.