Chapter 408

The discussion quickly expanded from just Ajax and Xavier to include the prince and through the communication device the king and the crown prince as well. 

“I want this to be my present.” Ajax stated. “It will only be shared with the boy, Arianwyn and their king.” 

Ajax wanted to make a good impression and while he had plenty of valuables he could use as a more than worthy gift from a somewhat newly titled Baron all of those items were also valuable to him, not to mention that the information he wanted to share would be infinitely more valuable to the boy. 

“Fine, but make sure they keep it to themselves.” King Gryndor said. “If they have any other very promising kids, have them do what we did where we only tell the child and swear them to secrecy, at such a young age even a weak contract would be fully binding.” 

The king wasn’t happy with the turn of events, in his initial plan the news would have become public before the boy’s tenth birthday, Ajax’s extended trip however messed up their schedule, sharing the trick early would undermine the royal family a little, but after discussing it with his son the crown prince he agreed that the loss would be balanced out by reinforcing their alliance with Sylvanthal. 

Unlike in Deepwood the group didn’t head straight for the dungeon as soon as they arrived, instead they all headed for the royal palace. They would be spending at least two weeks in the capital outside of their designated delves so they weren’t in a rush.

Only seeing it from the window of their carriage the capital city looked a lot like the one in Deepwood this time however Ajax was looking forward to exploring the city to get a feel for how the day to day life of the elves living here was.

As they arrived at the royal palace Ajax didn’t even feel it when his jaw dropped as he took in the majestic fortress tree. While the royal palace of Deepwood had been impressive in Ajax’s opinion Sylvanthal’s was superior. 

The most glaring difference was that where the trunk of the massive tree spread into large thick roots to enter the ground, Sylvanthal's palace towered over a crystal clear pond. Ajax could follow the multitude of roots as they twisted around each other deeper and deeper until they reached the bottom of the pond and entered the ground at the bottom.

“It’s…” Ajax was at a loss for words as he took in the gigantic tree. 

The awe he was feeling taking in the palace as well as the weeks of unwinding on the road had led to Ajax dropping his guard enough that he hadn’t even noticed someone was approaching him until he heard the steps no more than two feet away from him. 

As Ajax quickly turned it was only the lack of reaction from [Danger Sense] as well as his high Intelligence allowing him to quickly process the information that stopped him from striking his own mother as she hugged him. 

“I missed you so much.” she muttered as she buried her head into his chest. 

Silvia and Alana had arrived a few day before them and they had been fully informed of most of Ajax’s adventures in Deepwood, seeing her child again after that news made Silvia ignore the decorum of nobility she and the rest of the family had been trying to integrate over the past few years and rushed to hug Ajax. Alana was a few steps behind her doing her best to suppress her giggle. 

“Hi, mom,” Ajax said as he returned the hug. “I see you made it here before us, I hope they didn’t tell you anything that made you too worried.” 

Both of the guards that had been escorting Silvia and Alana developed a sudden interest in the boots as soon as they heard Ajax words.

“Maybe you should slow down and stop getting into trouble, that way when people tell us what you’ve been up to we don’t get all worried.” Alana chided him with a smile. 

In the past five years Alana had joined house Hearthbound as its top retainer, while her father and brother had returned to the village after the ground had been retaken. Every noble living in the capital knew that Alana had taken on the families last name and was treated as Judy’s sister. 

“I see you’ve been enjoying your time here.” Ajax said with a smile, ignoring her prodding. “You already received a tour of the palace?” 

“We did and it’s beautiful.” Alana nodded. “I’m sure they saved the really interesting part for when you came, however, they haven’t shown us the tunnels beneath the ground yet.” 

“What?” Arianwyn words startled Alana but it also froze the two guards who were closing in on her.

“How do you know about those?” Aranor asked, his usual stoic face sporting an eyebrow raised in intrigue.

“What do you mean?” Alana’s assured voice cracked with fear, she wasn’t used to this level of pressure.

“Who told you about those tunnels?” Aranor pressed.

“Is this really necessary?” Ajax asked. 

“It’s rather important, those tunnels should be secret.” Arianwyn said. “We’d rather their existence not leak, we know she isn’t a spy but we do want to know where she learnt of them.” 

“It was a fair guess.” Alana said fear leaving her voice now that she saw the elves weren’t angry at her so much as the fact they thought the information was out there.

“None of our spies show any of the other nations other than Deepwood even suspect their existence.” Elara joined in, more interested in her logic process than that she had the information. “How did you make that fair guess?”

“Well Ajax’s message told us how we messed up by not considering mana infused fertilizer for his own garden.” Alana explained. “Our farmers would also till the land and put fertilizer before that, the whole point was that it needed to reach the roots so the plant could feed on it. Since the pond is so clean it must mean that there are tunnels underneath to feed the tree.” 

“That’s…” Ajax had a hard time holding back his laughter as Alana left Aranor at a loss for words.

“I suggest you do a whole overhaul of your defenses.” Ajax suggested. “With the fortress tree Xavier won I’m sure there will be more than a few experiments done and since it will be something too big to keep hidden, spies will have access to it.”

“How about we give you that tour now?” Arianwyn changed the topic. “It will be the same one I’m sure Alana received but I still think you’ll enjoy it more than the one you got in Deepwood.” 

Ajax nodded, a little absentminded as his [Mana Sense] examined the small pond. The mana density of the water was something he had only felt in floors that had level seventies on them, he was very tempted to gather a few flasks for his [Alchemy] when another thought hit him.

“Xavier, is there a spot already planned for the fortress tree to be planted?” Ajax asked.

“Maybe?” Xavier answered unsure. “Father’s researchers might already be preparing a spot. Why?” 

“Because I just thought of a perfect little pond with a small patch of land in the center where it would really flourish.” 

Both Lexi and Anna were quick to catch on to what Ajax was suggesting as his discovery of the mana rich pond had caused waves with the nobles, both those directly involved with the skirmish as well as all of the gossip mongers in the capital upon their return.

“That might not work out as well as you’d like.” Anna said. “The noble that owns those lands leaks more than a sieve.” She knew this because with the amount of information her father’s spies gained he was able to perfectly predict all their moves on the market and profit.

“It’s worth considering.” the prince said with a smile as he knew what they were referring to and was also aware of the plan for Ajax’s future dukedom to include the land. 

With consideration for the recent defensive agreement their two nations had recently made, the elves of Sylvanthal were much more open to discussing the fortress tree’s defensive capabilities with Ajax. While none of the guards got very specific about what they could do individually they did answer general questions he had.

Much like in Deepwood Ajax and the rest of their group was received a small private throne room by the royal family as well as many of their high tiered retainers. Unlike the tense atmosphere in Deepwood upon their entrance in the room they were welcomed like guests instead of accused to be interrogated, with one exception.

From the moment he entered the room Ajax could feel the queen’s gaze flicker from him to Lexi and to Arianwyn. It didn’t take more than a moment for him to realize why that was as he remembered Arianwyn had had a crush on him when they had parted ways with the king, who doubtlessly shared the situation with his wife. His wife, who was now analyzing their every move.