William sat in his cell, though it wasn’t what he would call secure by any means. He did however believe the line about skilled guards. There was also some small hope that things would go his way, since he hadn’t heard anything about an execution, nor had he been mistreated in any way. Though, he supposed that the trial still hadn’t happened. He couldn’t do much about that, so he continued to train his ki in between meals and sleeping. Like this, several days passed.

Then, William was taken to a private room, where Knight Commander Tyler Dragonfoe was waiting. Before the door was even fully shut behind him, she spoke a demand, “Give us a good reason not to have you executed.”

William wasn’t really prepared. “Besides having killed a traitorous scumbag and being innocent of any real crimes?”

“Yes, besides that.” William’s face fell. “Frankly, it would be more convenient for us to just execute you now. There’s a lot of political pressure.”

“Well, the Lockridge family is still corrupt. I could help you deal with them.”

“Can you, though? You might be able to kill a few of them, but if killing them was the optimal solution, we could do that. As it is now, if we let you go and you cause more trouble, it will be even worse for us.”

“I can…” William stopped. He closed his eyes to think.

“Out of ideas?” She leaned back in her chair, seemingly relaxed. “Look, we really do appreciate what you did, even if that can never leave this room. However, for the greater good, it’s looking like you’ll have to die.”

“That’s fine.” William said. “If it’s actually for the greater good.” He folded his hands in front of his face and took on a serious tone. He leaned closer. “Is it for the greater good, or to cover knightly behinds?”

“The greater good. Normally, we’d have let you go already. However… the times don’t permit that. The country needs to stay as stable as possible. Right now, after the death of the Archmage, that would be best achieved with your death.”

“Why does it need to be stable?” William half glared. “There’s only one acceptable answer by the way.”

She laughed, a single, emotionless sound. “Not that you’re in any position to demand answers, but I’ll answer anyway. A war is coming.”

William considered. “How soon?”

“A couple dozen years. That might not sound soon but…”

William wondered if it was a coincidence. He waved his hand. “I know how politics works.” He looked down at himself. “Not that I look like it. I’m going to take a chance here, because you look like someone who was my friend.”

“Oh, what friend of yours am I like?”

William shook his head. “You aren’t that much like her. You just look like her. I need you to be as honest as possible, if you actually want a reason to not execute me. I’m going to say the upcoming war is… the Demon King returning.”

Tyler lost her neutral expression at that. “That… is correct. So?”

“Telling you how I can help might actually lose me my leverage, so before I do I want you to swear that you and the knights you command will destroy the Demon King no matter what.”

She smiled slightly, but without any real happiness. “Of course. We have to fight him in defense of our country, and all humans.”

William shook his head. “Not fight him, or kill him. Destroy him. Preferably by shattering his soul into tiny little pieces. Otherwise, he’ll just come back stronger, and we’ll be weaker.”

“You know a lot for a kid. I swear, we will do our utmost to destroy the Demon King permanently. We already had plans for that.”

“You have plans? Good. But do you have a method? I happen to know of a technique. A ki technique. It’s somewhere in this country, but I don’t know where.”

“Ah, that’s how you’ll provide value? I can see how that might compromise your position. Now, I know about it. What’s to stop me from finding it and using it? I even have more resources to search for it myself.”

William shrugged. “That’s the point. If you find it and use it, I can accept dying.” He paused for a moment. “However, you can’t use it.”

She shrugged. “And why is that? We have knights and wizards here.”

“Simple. It’s a ki technique. You can’t use ki. I mean, not really.”

“Oh, how do you know I can’t?”

“Because if you could, I could tell. Well, you’ve subconsciously used it just a bit. You ever get that feeling of a strange burst of energy?”

She nodded. “First you say I can’t use it, then you say I can. If I can just learn to use this ability, I don’t need you.”

“That’s simple. I already know I can use it, and I can teach you. At the very least, you would need me for a time.” William shifted on his feet, wishing he had somewhere to sit, but realizing he was probably left without on purpose.

“Let’s say this technique exists. What is it called, and how do we recognize it?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” William wasn’t sure if he was heading closer to his death, but he did believe that he was also heading closer to the possible destruction of the Demon King. “It’s on a scroll. It’s about, oh… this big.” William held up his arms. “All it says is…” he paused for a moment to remember the exact wording. “Convert the soul to power. Destroy the cycle of reincarnation. Shattering of the soul.” His voice echoed throughout the small chamber. “If you look at it, the letters might seem to come off the page. If they completely separate from it and flow around into your eyes, you actually have a pretty good chance of being able to use it, if you learn how to cultivate ki.” William watched the Knight Commander during this time. He thought she slightly shivered… but it was rather chilly down here, so that didn’t necessarily mean anything. “So, I’d like to go find that and learn it. I can teach you to cultivate ki so that you can use it too.”

She leaned back forward in her chair, and walked to the door of the room. “Well…” she said with her back to him. “I’ll think about it.”

Then, he was taken back to his cell… to wait. More days passed.