"Why are you so worried about me? There's nothing bad that could have happened." Rocky just shrugged and smiled.
"I heard from Princess Layla that the king asked you to enter the Heavenly Demon Tower. Is that true?" Gilbert asked with furrowed brows. Of course, he knew how dangerous it was for someone to enter the tower, and Rocky even did it without preparations.
"Yes, that is true. He wanted me to enter the Heavenly Demon Tower so that I can prove my qualifications to guard the Purgatorial Tripod," Rocky briefly explained.
"So, what happened? Were you able to complete the test?" Gilbert inquired.
"Yes, I did. It was no big deal," Rocky replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
Hearing this response from Rocky, Gilbert and the others were utterly surprised. After all, they knew the degree of difficulty of taking on the Heavenly Demon Tower, especially Gilbert. He had once entered the tower before, but he was only able to reach the fourth floor. Hence, he did not expect Rocky to come out of the tower so soon and even uninjured.
Of course, no one really knew that Rocky's strength was already close to the God Realm. Therefore, it would not be surprising for him to overcome the Heavenly Demon Tower.
"So, I take it that the king finally allowed you to guard the Purgatorial Tripod," Gilbert surmised.
"Well, only for the time being. It seemed that the king is very anxious right now due to Prince Enoch's rebellion. He should have thought that if he insisted on taking the Purgatorial Tripod by force, it will just irritate Princess Layla. If even the princess turned her back on the royal family, they would be in great trouble," Rocky analyzed. However, at this point, the Purgatorial Tripod did not bear much significance since he already knew that Phillip's soul was actually sealed in the Heavenly Demon Tower. Therefore, if the king still insisted on taking the tripod back, it would not be a problem for Rocky.
"That should be the case. Then, at least, we can consider this matter regarding the Purgatorial Tripod over for now. In the meantime, we can just wait for the conflict between Prince Enoch and the royal family to subside. Then, eventually, we shall take action and benefit from the aftermath," Gilbert remarked.
"At this moment, I don't think Prince Enoch will try to have a direct confrontation with the army of the royal family. Based on his cunning nature, I can see that he will take action against the fiefs first. So, even though we are waiting for what will happen next, we should still be on guard," Rocky seriously warned.
"I also thought about that, so I went and made some necessary arrangements. In fact, Valeria has already talked with Flora, and she agreed to give her full support to Princess Layla," Gilbert informed.
Rocky then turned to Valeria and was glad that things went well with the Flower Fief. Even after he had confessed his identity to her, she had been supporting him unconditionally, which was the exact opposite of what he expected. Initially, Rocky only wanted to make a deal with her, but it seemed that it didn't need to come down to that. Valeria had been by his side throughout the way, and he was relieved by that.
As she looked at Rocky's eyes, she blushed a little and said, "It has been easy convincing my adoptive mother. After all, the Flower Fief and the Ghost Fief have formally formed an alliance. It is just natural that we stick together at all times. I just did what will benefit the interest of the two fiefs."
"For now, we must take advantage of the opportunity to recuperate. When the time is right, we will need our forces in full strength," Rocky uttered.
After their conversation, Rocky, Valeria, and Vivian left the meeting hall.
Then, Rocky turned to Valeria and said, "Can you go back first? I just have something to discuss with Miss Vivian."
"Oh, okay." Valeria could just cast a glance at the two before she left.
"It seems that she was a bit disappointed that she had to go first. That girl really has a crush on you, huh?" Vivian slightly shook her head as she looked at Valeria's back.
"Are you kidding? We are just pretending to be a loving couple." Rocky immediately got defensive and explained that Vivian was mistaken.
"That is not what I see. Maybe for you, that's how it appears. But I am also a woman, and I see things from different perspectives. Besides, I will understand Valeria if she falls in love with an excellent man like you," Vivian said intuitively.
"Really? So, do you think that you'll like me, too?" Rocky asked and took the chance to tease Vivian.
Vivian could just roll her eyes at Rocky, thinking that this man really had this bad side at times. Then, she went straight to the point and asked, "So, why do you want to talk with me?"
"Actually, I want you to do something for me. However, you can't let anyone know of this, not even Leader Gilbert or Princess Layla." The smile on Rocky's face subsided and a serious expression replaced it.
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