Chapter 2: Journey to the capital
The next morning, Winston and Roger were taking care of the remaining tasks related to the village. Winston brought some people who could be trusted to replace Roger's duties, and the security of the village would now be handled by these new individuals. Jake and Luke were saying their goodbyes to the villagers and their friends. The villagers didn't know that the Griffin family was the royal family, and the Griffins chose not to reveal this information as it was not yet official. Nobody in the kingdom knew about their arrival, and Winston wanted to keep it a secret.
Everyone said their goodbyes and got into the horse carriage. Winston took the reins, whipped the horses, and the carriage started to move. The Griffin family waved their hands until the villagers became a blur and were no longer visible from the long distance. They sat in the carriage, feeling a bit sad about their departure, but this was not their life; they were the royal family of the Griffin Kingdom, and they had duties to fulfill. Everyone settled in the carriage.
"Dad, how long will it take us to reach the capital?" Jake asked his father.
"We could reach the capital much faster using teleportation, but various nobles have their eyes on the capital, and they will know about our arrival. Your grandfather does not want them to know of our arrival yet, so we are taking the horse carriage. By the horse carriage, it will take us five days to reach the capital at full speed, traveling day and night. However, we are traveling undercover, so it will take us at least 10 days to reach the capital," Roger replied to Jake.
Jake and Luke were still children, although they seemed mature for their age. They were excited and asked about everything they saw along the way, wanting to learn more about the kingdom, their grandfather, and various other topics. The journey seemed smooth, and the Griffin family enjoyed their travels. Everyone in the carriage was speaking and laughing, and Winston also seemed to be getting close with the children, chatting with them whenever they settled to camp for the night during their journey. Along the way, they encountered some wild beasts, but they were no match for Winston, who had been a king's guard for a long time.
In this manner, five days passed, with the family enjoying their journey. The carriage was moving as usual when, at a certain point, it suddenly halted. Everyone in the carriage knew why it had stopped, as this had happened several times over the past five days. At first, Jake and Luke were panicked, but Winston, who was riding the carriage, quickly dealt with the beast. They had gotten used to these encounters. Initially, Jake and Luke thought they would have to fight the beast, but as Winston took care of the beasts with ease, they relaxed. However, this time it was different; their father stopped Winston from killing the beast and signaled for his children to finish it.
Seeing this, Winston was shocked that Prince Roger was sending the young princes to fight a high-level beast for their age. He wanted to stop them, but before he could, Roger stopped him and told him to watch. Jake and Luke had already retrieved their weapons from their space pouches and started running towards the beast. Luke had a sword, and Jake carried a spear. They were well-prepared because their father had trained them from the age of five. They had been trained to fight in the forest, and their bodies were toughened to withstand physical strain. Jake and Luke didn't understand why their father made them work so hard compared to other children in the village, but they learned about their family's history and the reason behind their rigorous training.
While thinking about all these things, Jake and Luke dodged the wolf beast's attempts to bite them with its teeth. Jake took an offensive stance, and Luke adopted a defensive one. They maintained eye contact with the beast as it approached them. Jake swung his sword, trying to strike the beast, but it deflected the attack with its fangs and turned toward Luke, who was closing in on it.
At that moment, Jake seized the opportunity to counterattack. He wielded his sword and thrust it into the wolf's back before it could retaliate, ending the fight. Luke used his spear to pin the beast to the ground to ensure it was dead. Watching all of this, Winston was astonished that such young children had defeated the beast. Normally, it could easily kill a regular human, but it had succumbed to the blades of children not yet 15 years old. As Winston observed the children's eyes, he noticed no panic, disgust, or repulsion toward the beast. This lack of emotion in their eyes was unsettling for Winston, and his heart started racing. He was excited to learn more about these children, as he would be serving them in the future.
Not only did they defeat the beast, but they also quickly butchered and cleaned it, storing the useful items in their space pouches. After completing everything, the party resumed their journey to the capital.
They encountered a few more challenges along the way, but Winston skillfully resolved them.
As they neared the capital, the family's emotions were mixed. Roger felt a hint of nostalgia as he was about to see his father again after a long absence. His decision to marry a commoner had brought hardships, but he believed his father had banished them from the kingdom to protect them from harm. Linda, too, recalled their life in the kingdom, and the emotional memories resurfaced.
Meanwhile, Jake and Luke, caught up in their excitement about the new place, were oblivious to their parents' feelings. Despite the changes in their parents' demeanor, Roger and Linda concealed their emotions well.
The carriage finally reached the entrance gate of the capital and came to a stop. Winston disembarked to handle the entry process with the guards, while the family remained in the carriage. With winston's familiarity of the entry process. The family entered the kingdom's with a smooth entry.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone