The room was empty, just like he expected it to be. He put on some clothes, walked out into the hallway and headed straight for the guest room right next to his.
Aria, Serena, and Claire were all sitting on the large bed. They were in the middle of a conversation, laughing about something Adrian didn’t catch yet.
The exact moment the door creaked, all three of them stopped laughing and turned to look at him.
Aria basically jumped in her spot. She smiled wide and looked like she was about to yell something.
But Adrian grinned first.
"I am perfectly healed now." Adrian announced softly.
He raised his hand and triggered Gust.
He didn’t bother with any crazy compression tricks. He just cast the most basic version of the spell, doing it exactly the way a normal mage would.
A normal breeze washed through the bedroom. It messed with the girls’ hair a bit and pushed the stuffy heat out of the room.
Aria instantly started giggling. Serena and Claire just smiled in relief.
"Does that mean we can finally resume our training together?" Serena asked eagerly.
Adrian nodded.
"You can’t just focus on your magic." Claire interrupted from the bed. "You are officially a Knight too. So you are going to have to train your body with me as well."
Adrian looked at Claire and blinked twice.
’Train my body with you... Is she too innocent or is she giving me signals...’ he thought, and then decided that she didn’t mean anything extra.
He knew she was right. Especially after getting his ass handed to him in the forest. He knew he could not slack off on his physical stats anymore. He got way too lucky out there in the woods. After all, if one of those high elves had actually managed to land a solid kick or a punch to his head, he would have died on the spot. The only reason he survived that mess was because the high elves were arrogant and just wanted to play with their food before killing him.
He was never going to take a reckless risk like that ever again. Being weak only led to regrets when someone stronger actually showed up.
"Yeah." Adrian agreed. "I will train on everything."
Aria suddenly scrambled to the edge of the mattress and hopped down onto the floorboards, looking up at Adrian as she grabbed his hand.
"Let’s go eat something outside!"
Adrian chuckled. "Okay."
But before they could even step out into the hallway, Marquis Draven walked right up to the open bedroom door. He saw Adrian standing there fully dressed, and stopped.
"I heard you were trying to completely heal your mana veins." Draven said, looking Adrian up and down. "Did it work?"
Adrian nodded.
"I am back to normal." Adrian confirmed. "Actually, let’s just say I am slightly stronger now."
Draven grinned from ear to ear. He stepped into the room and patted Adrian’s shoulder.
"I knew you would be fine." Draven laughed.
But the smile didn’t last. Draven’s expression suddenly dropped, and his face turned dead serious.
"I received an official letter from the Emperor." Draven said, lowering his voice. "Based on what the royal seal demands... we need to mobilize. We have to go and participate in a war."
Adrian frowned. "Against who?"
"The Avarice Kingdom." Draven replied grimly.
Adrian crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"
"Those bastards successfully took over Marchioness Vaneira’s territory on the border." Draven explained. "And apparently, the Emperor had secretly discovered a massive, hidden mana crystal mine sitting right under her land. He had a few projects lined up to start secretly mining it. But now the territory isn’t in his hands anymore."
Draven crossed his thick arms.
"So no matter the cost," Draven continued, "the Emperor wants to fight back and reclaim that specific territory. He has actually been trying to fight for it for the past month. It has been completely unsuccessful."
Adrian stared at the Marquis and thought about the logistics for a few seconds.
"There is no way the Avarice Kingdom could hold off a full Imperial assault." Adrian reasoned. "Did the Emperor actually march out there himself with the Royal Army? Or did he just send a few local nobles to try and reclaim the territory for him?"
Draven let out a dry, humorless chuckle.
"Well, you know him too well." Draven muttered. "He just sent a few border nobles out there to do his dirty work. And every single one of them failed miserably. The Avarice forces slaughtered them."
Draven stepped closer.
"And that is exactly why he is officially calling upon me and you." Draven said and sighed. "This time, he is legally organizing a full-scale war. He won’t be participating himself, of course. But there will be several high-ranking nobles banding their private armies together for this push. And we will have to officially select a Supreme Commander to lead the entire coalition into battle."
Draven looked Adrian dead in the eyes.
"If you are interested in the position," Draven offered. "Just tell me. At the moment, the one who has the highest chance of leading the whole army is me. But I can always overrule the other nobles’ votes because I hold the most military power here."
Adrian didn’t even have to think about it. He just shook his head.
"You can keep the leadership role." Adrian replied flatly. "I am not really interested in dealing with noble politics. Or wars..."
Adrian paused. He frowned and looked at Draven closely.
"Do I really have to participate in this?" Adrian asked. "Did the Emperor actually mention my name in the official summons? Because as far as I can see, none of this is my business. I see no reason to deal with someone else’s problems when that person seems to have a thing against me."
Draven gave him a wry, apologetic smile.
"Well." Draven sighed. "I wouldn’t have come here for this if the Emperor didn’t specifically name you. I already feel guilty enough about what happened to you here."
Adrian’s frown deepened. "Wait. Did the Emperor actually use my name on the royal decree?"
"Yes, he did." Draven confirmed. "He specifically demanded that I bring certain people into this war. He gave me a detailed list. Your name was right at the top of it."