Solitary Sword Sovereign Part 2

Senbonken's Journey

Alice, on the other hand, exuded warmth and optimism, her presence akin to a beacon of light. She wore simple leather armour and linen clothing, but it did little to hide her explosive figure.

Alice clasped her hands together, her eyes shining with unwavering belief. "Letty, I have complete faith in Duke. Despite his weird habits, there is a natural talent within him that can't be denied. His military strategies and leadership abilities have proven invaluable to us. I think we can trust the guy."

Letty, her gaze fixed on the distance, frowned slightly. "Alice, you possess a rare optimism that stems from your upbringing, a warmth that I admire. But let us not forget the weight of this battle. Duke may possess useful aptitudes, but can we truly rely on him to bring about our desired outcome? We must be cautious. Master has been gone for far too long, and we have no idea when he is coming back. Things are not looking good."

Regardless of how talented one was, many prodigies died on a daily basis. Will was still alive because he was still registered as her Lord. She was his Head Regent and thus as long as he was alive, that would not change. But he could have ended up in a worse scenario, after all, there were a few fates she knew that were worse than death.

Alice sighed, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Letty, I understand your reservations. You come from a lineage of royalty, raised with an unwavering dedication to logic and strategy. But sometimes, the unquantifiable factors, the unexpected twists of fate, can shape the outcome of a battle. Duke may not fit the conventional mould, but his instincts and intuition are the best among us. I think he can surprise us."

Alice did not mention Will's disappearance. For her that was a sore spot, and she tried to avoid the topic.

Some time ago, Alice was cursed by Hattori Hanzo. He had implanted a worm within her that caused her to have painful illusions. Will always appeared to rescue her after some time within each illusion, and she had gotten used to relying on him because of that. A mental dependence that Will himself had not noticed. These were not romantic feelings, but a deep-rooted respect for one's saviour. Thus his sudden disappearance impacted her greatly.

Alice had the class Qiankun Scholar. It was an information-based class and focused on making one smarter, a scholar was essentially a moving library. Scholar-type classes used mana and intelligence as their primary effectors. This was one of the most common types of classes and was often looked down on because few could utilize the battle capabilities of such a class. Its performance was also dependent on one's state of mind, thus her current condition which was akin to suffering from PTSD was not good for her output. Although her class was not an ordinary scholar type class, she was far from being able to utilize its true capabilities.

Out of everyone in the group, she was the only non-combatant and hadn't even spilt a drop of blood before joining Senbonken. Woodsy was giving her a unique treatment that greatly alleviated her suffering, but she was still in the process.

Letty's expression softened, her eyes meeting Alice's with a flicker of understanding. "You are right, Alice. We have witnessed Duke's ability to adapt, to think on his feet, even in the direst circumstances. Perhaps there is more to his seemingly goofy personality than meets the eye. I shall give him the benefit of the doubt."

During their last week without Will, the Senbonken Guild had spent the entirety of their first expedition hunting monsters and levelling up. In particular, they levelled up Letty, Alice and Duke. They took advantage of the party function that allowed for experience to be directed to specific individuals. Will had granted these three regencies to prevent them from meeting any unnecessary level caps. Due to Will being a State Lord, they could all reach level 99 smoothly and had taken full advantage of their skills to level up.