William knew he had to stay here for a slightly longer time and wait for the return of the patriarch. He could smell the scent of gunpowder in the air just by imagining the future negotiations he would have with the clan about such spoils of war.
'I can still use her,' William stole a gaze at the back of Berry and couldn't help but inwardly sigh. 'Don't take it against me, I need to grow stronger fast, help you and others to become stronger as well. It's for your own good too, got me, right?'
He was a little manipulative here, but that didn't mean he was evil. Even if he found such a good excuse to justify his actions, he knew it wasn't that great to use a girl to get what he wanted.
'Anything to get what I wanted,' he ended this little debate in his mind before finally stopping with everyone else.
They finally arrived back to where this all started, to the old patriarch's mansion.
The place was empty and silent, lacking any sign of life at the moment. All the residents in the entire clan were either moved to the frontline or moved to the safe places to avoid any unneeded losses.
William looked at the residence up front and suddenly felt the urge to rest. He wasn't the only one who felt this way in front of the mansion. This fight didn't last for long, but it was all stressful over him and others.
"Let's get some rest," William was the first to speak and his words moved everyone after him inside the residence.
"Can we sleep here?" Kong and others were familiar with this building, even more than any other building in the clan and the academy.
Yet When Claine spoke up, he asked William and not Berry. Weirdly enough, everyone here looked up at William, waiting for his answer.
In their eyes, he was their leader. Even if they didn't run any elections for that, they all acknowledged him for such a thing.
"Sure, why not? I'm sure the old man won't object on such a thing, right Berry?" William took this matter quite lightly, much more than it should be.
After all, this wasn't his place to rule over and issue such statement. And he even called the old patriarch the nickname he decided to call him from the moment he met him before.
"S… Sure," Berry was surprised by this, and snapped out of the amazing and intoxicating feeling she and everyone felt from the clansmen reception and salute from before.
Just when everyone followed him inside, even if they all felt heroic and invincible, being in the main residence of the patriarch helped them snap out of such an amazing feeling.
"This…"
"Is it ok for us to be here?"
"Is it really... Ok?"
Despite Claine already asked before about this, and even if they heard the short words between William and Berry, they still couldn't handle being inside the mansion of their scary and respected patriarch.
Just as they hesitated, William found a large couch in the main and spacious hall they entered. Without even waiting for them, he threw his body over and closed his eyes.
"Just enjoy your moment, it isn't easy to be the hero of your clan every day."
As he said these words, everyone moved their eyes around before Berry coughed.
"It's better to wait into the guest room before…"
Just when she was in the middle of her words, the snoring sound came from William and interrupted her.
"Don't tell me… Is he already asleep?!!" Lang couldn't help but come closer. Before he'd check over him, William snorted again while turning his body around, showing such an angelic face.
Seeing him in deep sleep left everyone baffled with his actions.
"He… Must be tired…" Berry coughed again, "let's leave him here. There are prepared guest rooms at the back. Come, we'll wait and rest there…"
As she said it, and as she was the only one in the group that knew the residence like the back of her hands, she started to lead them around.
Yet before she'd take a single step away, she took a last glance at William. For a moment there, she wanted to lead everyone to the guest rooms before coming here and staying by his side.
For a reason, she didn't want to leave him.
Ary also had the same thought before the two decided to follow others to the guest rooms and have some rest.
As for Lina, she didn't stand idle the moment they arrived at the mansion. She went around and searched for Tina, before finally finding her at the garden at the back of this mansion.
When she brought her sister back, William was already snorting and everyone was moving their legs, following Berry.
She noticed how everyone was moving like they were holding mountains in their legs or dragging rocks or something.
And when she saw how William fell in such deep sleep, and how everyone else was showing signs of fatigue, she also felt sleepy and wanted to get some rest.
So, she followed others and forgot everything about hearing what happened with her little sister when she was away.
This battle wasn't that stressful only on William, but on everyone else.
William didn't feel himself except twelve hours later. The stress his body took from thinking over and over about this battle and the plans about it left a heavy toll over his fragile body.
Even if he returned back in time, and kept all of his memories and experiences intact, he still had a very weak body, one that crumbled under such intense stress.
So, the moment his body touched that soft sofa, and even before he could hear the words Berry spoke up with, his mind seeped deeply into the mysterious world of dreams.
The moment he opened his eyes, he noticed pairs of eyes looking back at him, giving him an instant scare.
*Thud!*