He knew that they were observing him but didn't know their purpose. He was afraid that they might try to capture him. Anyway, he always kept himself within the eyes of patrolling soldiers. He spent some time observing the market and then started to converse with several stall owners though he didn't buy any due to lack of money. He talked with them over various things which he heard from others, haggled a bit acting like he was just another kid trying to buy something with little money in the market.
After some time, he could still observe some cloaked figures following him. Even though he was continually in the range of the patrolling soldiers of the border guard, these people still had been following him at a distance. The patrols could keep him safe in the temporary market place, but he couldn't count on them once he left towards his motel. So, he decided to act.
He observed the patrol movements and placed himself such that when he turned back so that the figures following him would be close to him and they both would be near a patrol. When time came, he suddenly turned back and moved towards the one who was following him and nearing him he immediately shouted.
"Help! Help! Those are kidnappers who tried to abduct me," he yelled pointing at a cloaked figure. Before, the patrol could even respond and look, the person jumped over him and began to escape. Ajax quickly turned towards the positions of the others which had observed and noticing him look at them, the others also immediately run away.
It was pandemonium for a few moments. Hearing him many others immediately reacted. Rumours of kidnaps had already reached many ears and had them concerned. Swords were drawn. Some tried to stop the escapees while others began to guard their wards and cover them. Few of the patrolling soldiers immediately went after them while a few more tried to maintain order. Everyone was frightened and a few moments later, more troops arrived providing confidence in the security arrangements and calming down the populace.
As the one who instigated the commotion, Ajax was held in place by a couple of soldiers and was taken away for questioning. Such a commotion in a busy place could easily lead to robberies, poisoning and other illegal activities in those few moments. As the person who incited it, he was immediately taken into custody. Though, it was a small problem, Ajax didn't care as he was at the very least given security by the border guard as long as they held him and he felt that the general would release him. So, he calmly went with them. In about half hour he was explaining himself to a inspector.
"I have seen them following and marking boys my age for more than an hour," Ajax explained to the inspector. "Wherever I went one of them kept following me. My father thought me to check for such people as they usually tend to steal from merchants like us."
"Okay! fine. I get it," said the inspector holding his head. He had already been informed about Ajax after checking his id and he had no intention to hold or punish him for inciting the commotion at the market. He only wished that his men were competent. None of the ones who were pointed to by the boy were captured. They had all escaped. The recent string of kidnaps irritated him a lot as many were raising complains about the same. He only wished that this didn't happen in the market or at least the youth had common sense to not wander alone.
"Just escort the kid back to his motel," said the inspector waving his hand indicating them to take him back. He had more things to be concerned about than punishing an overactive kid.
"You stay at your place till the training starts. Don't leave without any elder supervision," he told Ajax before continuing to look over some documents about the ones who escaped. Most of the people currently used the excuse of the bounty and were kidnapping kids to sell them. It was a dirty business but one which he couldn't stop. All the six members that the boy pointed to were very fast. Fast enough that anyone with that strength wouldn't care to grab a weak kid who didn't even match the description properly, especially when they are a group.
Such a strong group wouldn't care about trafficking such young kids. So, he was more concerned about their presence in the city. An inspector like him mostly dealt with criminal, smugglers and even traitors who worked for the sentient beasts of the ancient forest. They always tried to get more humans to their side and he felt that it was such a case and was more concerned about it. He didn't really care about Ajax or the bounty on the ex-prince.
Luckily, for Ajax, they already knew about his affiliation with the general and he was escorted back to his motel. Ajax was also happy that he didn't have to explain anything to the general and that enough people had already learned that he was related to the general, which reinforced his cover.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
At the same, the six cloaked men being shouted upon with their head hung low. They were following Ajax as were being reprimanded by allowing themselves to be discovered by a young kid.
"Waste! Complete wastes all of you! Trained for months and couldn't even keep yourselves hidden from a kid," yelled Krev sitting on a chair as he looked over the document submitted by the six of them. "Not even one managed to keep yourselves hidden. Is the training you had that useless or are you!"
Krev was practically fuming with anger (This is actually physically possible in this world due to mana. Emotions like anger could actually generate heat causing a person to release fumes. It is so well known that some of the techniques involve usage of emotions to direct force and power enabling one to get a sudden boost of strength). The six were personnel which had requested to follow Ajax to protect him in secret, but it didn't go as he expected.
The border guard always trained talented rangers to track and follow various suspects and acquire information about them. These agents were adept on various techniques to keep them hidden from other's prying and monitoring techniques and mechanisms, but failed to escape notice of Ajax. Though the six were comparatively new to the outfit with only few months of training in these methods, he expected them to be able to easily follow and protect Ajax. Sadly, they had badly underestimated Ajax's observation skills and didn't know of his years of experience as an agent in his past life. So, they failed miserably.
"Get out. Consider this mission scrapped. I will inform your superiors. I will decide on the penalty for your failure later. You are not to inform anyone about this. No leaks will be tolerated," said Krev dismissing them. As they left, the apparition of the emperor appearing behind Krev from the shadows. He put a hand on Krev's shoulder.
"Don't discipline them for this. They are hardly trained for a few months. They weren't bad, but it was the kid that quite vigilant. I was observing the whole thing from the top of the buildings. They did their part perfectly as expected of them," said the apparition.
"How did the boy find them, then?" asked Krev confused.
"Isn't that the interesting part. I don't know if he is a prodigy of unexpected proportions or my son and daughter in law taught him well. Even then, the kid would need to be a genius to be able to notice and thrackyour men at his age."
"Yes, makes one think," said Krev.
"Think what?"
"Well, the disappearance of him and the strength shown by his wife and their uncle raised some doubts among your kings and other nobility. There are rumors that Varas had been turned traitor in his youth and the family had been hiding their strengths. Some are saying that if Vikram hadn't attempted a coup, all of the empire would be blindsided when he took your place," suggested Krev.
"Bunch of nonsense," said the emperor calmly. "I would rather suspect Vikram to be capable of such blatant treachery, not Varas. Moreover, the royals are under oath to prevent one to be a supporter of the beasts. I know the sources of all that crap. It is Vikram."
"So, how do you suggest, the character and talent of the boy," said Krev.
"Did you forget whose grandchild he is?" asked the emperor. "Did you forget who trained you? Did you forget about my records when I served here?"
"No master, I was just,"
"Don't bother. It has been too long and it is easy to forget, especially when you only heard or read of achievements and haven't seen or experienced them. The boy is a talent. These talents have always existed in the Darkhan family line, even before we formed the empire. I think it was just me who had never pushed by sons far enough. I expected Varas to take my place, but he never cared for political poser. The others are just too weak. I tried for a peaceful succession of the empire and now find myself holding to the seat of the emperor way past my time," lamented the emperor
"Master you surely don't mean that. You can easily be an extremely strong and valid emperor for another century with your strength and lifespan and would still be one of the younger emperors of this world," Krev tried to comfort.
"I can. But do I shouldn't. I plan to rise above this world, become more than a saint. Once, a saint I have to leave the seat of the empire and join the council. Forcing myself to stay in this position is just wasting my talent," replied the emperor.
"Let it be. My avatar shall keep an eye on the boy for now. Later, when he joins the training, you keep an eye on him," continued the emperor.
"Yes, master."
"I also heard that the boy wanted to be a cook or a position in the kitchen?" asked the emperor.
"For his cover, it is not a bad suggestion," said Krev.
"It is a good place to start. Lacking pills and medicines, food is a good resource to speed up cultivation. Though most look down upon low level cooks due to their best products having same effects as inferior medicine, culinary specialists are no less respected than the pill makers at higher levels of cultivation. The fact that he chose that means that he can put aside his pride and work from bottom, especially since he asked for any position in the kitchen. For now, give him a job involving assisting the cooks, cleaning, deboning, chopping, etc. If he wants to learn the field let him work from bottom."
"As you say master, any other,"
"Don't provide any other help. Let him make himself better and strong. Also, here is the medicine that your father needs," said the emperor putting a small vial on the table.
"Once, he consumes it, he is expected to break past the king level in his cultivation within a day. Tell him that as a special marquess appointed at the border by me, he doesn't need to listen to any Vikram's requests. Assure him that I would rather adopt and have you to succeed the empire, rather the Vikram if Varas or the boy don't suffice."
"Master, please don't decide the succession of an empire in haste. The ancestor saints in the council might not be willing to accept a successor of a different family," said Krev.
"My father is handling that. You don't need to worry. He wants me to become a saint as soon as possible. Else, my younger son Vikram's antics would have led to his imprisonment. Varas is missing due to a mission in the ancient forest. Attacking his family at this time is considered treachery even by the council. Due to this, Vikram, his sister and his family and most who supported him would never be allowed to become emperor. The only reason he isn't imprisoned is due to my assurance that it wouldn't affect the situation on the border," explained the emperor.
"It is that serious?" asked Krev surprised. He had thought that the council didn't care at all about the missing son of the emperor.
"Varas is one of a kind," sighed the emperor as he thought about his eldest. "He might not be that interested in the succession, but he is considered quite valuable to the saints and his work was important. If they didn't take any action or at least have clearly condemn when such a person's family was attacked in his absence, it would hard for them to find others willing to go on similar missions. If not for me suppressing the spread of the news, Vikram would have also been aware of it."
"I still don't understand how you could be willing to let all this happen," said Krev. He could at least understand the actions of Vikram which were spurned by greed, but the emperor was an enigma.
"If you did, I would have already declared you the emperor and dusted my hands off this tiresome charade. You are a good commander and general of your forces, but an empire isn't an army. Army is trained to listen and obey commands, subjects don't. They exercise a lot of free will and have little restraint and honor as they don't have easier access to resources as the border guard. So, you need to handle them differently. They tend to choose the easiest paths and are greedy without much thought about the consequences. You need to make them understand what is the best option for them and the kingdom. I hope you also learn from this," explained the emperor.
"I am trying to push myself to the peak of the emperor realm," the emperor continued. "You can kill Vikram to protect my grandchild or yourself and family and I wouldn't say a word. Now you know why I explained the whole situation to you. After your father reaches the emperor realm, I also expect you to do the same. That is why I am letting you handle the kid. I am not to be involved in this anymore," explained the emperor before he disappeared into the shadows again.
"Oh damn," said Krev palming his head. "It seems I have involved myself more than what I expected in this whole debacle," he thought to himself. Rather than being the emperor, he preferred continue to be a protector general for humans as his ancestors did.