"The Prince is asking for a meeting, My Lord. He said that he wanted to ask you something very important," the black robed man reported to his lord. "He insisted that his cooperation will depend on whether or not you can answer his questions and agree to his one request."

The man seated on the black throne raised an eyebrow. "The Crown Prince wants to meet me personally?"

​​

"Yes. This is part of his conditions for cooperating with us."

"Well, I guess it will not take too much time to answer his questions. I'm just curious about what kind of request he would make."

The man leaned back on his throne and smiled.

"When and where is this meeting taking place?" the Lord inquired.

"Three days from now at two in the afternoon," the black-robed man answered. "The meeting place is the Sky Pavilion located on the East side of the capital."

"Very well." The Lord nodded. "Make sure to alert the Grim Guards as well. If the Crown Prince does anything funny let's just dispose of him."

"By your will," the black-robed man pressed his fist over his chest and bowed respectfully.

-----

"Inter-Division Battle," William muttered as he read the document in his hands. "I thought that the academy was going to cancel this event, but it seems like they are trying to distract the students due to the recent events that have happened."

Est, who was seated across from him, nodded in agreement. "The Academy is trying to motivate the students and let them recover from their current mindset. As you may have already seen, the rewards are quite generous."

"Indeed. It seems that the academy gained a lot of resources after the Dungeon Outbreak."

"Those resources were gained from the sacrifices of the students in the academy. It is right for them to share it with the survivors."

William placed the document down and gave Est a smile. "Just so you know, we will not be taking it easy on any of you."

"That goes without saying," Est replied. "To be honest, I also want to have a serious fight with you. A battle to the death."

"Oh? You're that confident in beating me?"

"I'm 30% confident in beating you."

Est looked at William with a serious expression. He still couldn't fathom how strong William was. The fight against Kingsley ended in an instant and he couldn't tell if William was strong, or if Kingsley was really weak.

Of course, he had seen their first duel in Lont a few years ago, but back then, William's power was sealed. Even now, William didn't have his powers, but he felt more dangerous compared to when he was facing off against the Cyclops in the Trial of Courage.

Seeing Est's intense stare, William felt like teasing him, so decided to crack a joke.

"Why are you looking at me like you want to kiss me?" William asked. He then picked up the cup of tea in front of him and took a sip.

"If you were a girl, I would definitely kiss you," Est replied. "Hey, why don't you find an artifact that will turn you into a girl? Don't worry, I'll take responsibility and marry you if you don't turn back into a man."

William placed the teacup on the table and smirked. He was impressed with how Est managed to turn his teasing around and decided to not continue with the topic. The Half-Elf had no intention of turning into a girl. He wanted to be the one on the top!

(Editor's Notes: Sad that he doesn't know that girls can be on top just as much as the men can be. xD )

"How about we make the Inter-Division Battle more interesting?" William proposed. "I'm sure that if the stakes are high enough, both of us will not hold back and fight each other seriously. What do you think?"

Est pondered and thought that William's proposal sounds good. For him, as long as there was something at stake, he would definitely give his best to win against William.

"What do you have in mind?" Est crossed his arms over his chest. "As long as it doesn't go below my bottom line, I can agree to it."

William pressed his hands together and gave Est a smile that would put all "con men" to shame.

"Simple, if you win I'll...." William said with a smile. "But, if you lose, you will…"

Est was very tempted by William's offer. If he won then he would be extremely happy. However, if he lost then he would definitely lose a layer of skin. William's asking price was quite high, and Est didn't know if he should agree to it or not.

"Can you give me two days to think about it?" Est replied.

"Of course." William leaned back on his chair as if this 'business deal' between him and Est was not a big deal. "The Inter-Division Battles will take place a month from now. You still have plenty of time to think about it. Just make sure that you give me an answer a week before the event."

"Okay."

"Great. I'm looking forward to hearing your answer."

------

When Est returned to his room, he immediately asked for Ian's and Isaac's opinion about William's proposal.

"Young Master, if I am going to be frank, the one that has a disadvantage in this bet is William," Isaac said with a serious expression. "Having put himself at a disadvantage, he then gave you a counter bet that was very hard to resist. However, within that offer is a trap."

Isaac looked straight into Est's eyes as he continued his explanation. "Knowing William, he wouldn't make a bet like this if he wasn't assured of his victory. This means that he is very confident in his ability to beat the Young Master."

"I agree," Ian nodded his head. "Although William may act like a fool from time to time, his strength is the real deal. Also, I've been having this feeling that he is far stronger than what we see on the surface. This bet is too dangerous, Young Master."

Est sighed because he had the same feeling as well. However, William's offer was simply too hard to resist. Even if his logical mind rejected it, his heart wanted it so badly.

"He gave me until a week before the Inter-Division Battle starts, so I'll think this through before then," Est commented.

"Still he is very sly." Ian shook his head. "Such an offer is simply too hard to resist."

"Which makes it equally dangerous." Isaac sighed. "Frankly, I'd rather fight a Terrorhand again than fight William in a one-on -one battle. I don't have the confidence to beat him."

The three boys all nodded their heads simultaneously. When they first met William he was just a simple shepherd in their eyes. They had no idea that a simple shepherd like him, would be able to become a Knight Commander a few months after they were reunited.