Ethan just stood there glancing at the beast's lifeless body...it's been brought down without any of them getting hurt or killed.

..Would they come across another magical beast when they resume the journey? This no one knows.

Well, they all came together once again, the knights and warriors protecting the horses and carriages weren't protecting them anymore.

They wouldn't do anything to the body just as they did for the first rank-1 beast they killed. They'd leave it there, and the creatures of the sky and land would come feast on it.

They all mounted their different horses as they continued embarking on the journey. Mid-afternoon turned to complete evening, evening turned to nighttime, and so it kept on going.

******

They had arrived at the Chuvulan Kingdom by now, finally. And you know what? They didn't come across another danger on the way. No wild dogs, no magical beasts, nothing.

After battling the rank-2 beast and bringing it down, their journey to the Chuvulan Kingdom was smooth. And as said, they had arrived at the kingdom by now.

It was noon currently, and their horses were walking on the road of the Chuvulan Kingdom. And you know what? The same thing was repeating itself...people were glancing at them.

Must this always happen? It happened when they were riding their horses out of the Tuvalon Kingdom, their own kingdom. Their people were glancing at them like they haven't seen them before.

When they were riding their horses on the road of the Mepaidian Kingdom, people were glancing at them as well. Now, arriving at the Chuvulan Kingdom, the same thing was repeating itself.

People were glancing at them as their horses were walking on the road. And to make matters worse, it was daylight, it hadn't been long since it got to noon.

So there were a lot of people walking on the road. And what does this mean? Many eyes were on them, lots of people were glancing at them as their horses were walking on the road.

..But they didn't care about that, this wasn't the first time something like this was happening.

Their own was to go pay tributes to the king and leave this kingdom. But things were a little different this time, some people were waving at them, they noticed it.

They were waving at them with little smiles on their faces...these were people that discerned they were knights and warriors from the Tuvalon Kingdom, and they'd come to pay tributes to their kingdom as usual.

This didn't happen when they were at the Mepaidian Kingdom, no one waved at them, they were just riding their horses on the road heading toward the king's palace.

..But they didn't care about it though, it didn't bother them.

They didn't even wave back at the people waving at them currently...they were just riding their horses heading toward the king's palace.

They had arrived at the king's palace by now, and just as the king of the Mepaidian Kingdom was happy to see them, so was the king of the Chuvulan Kingdom.

They've come to pay tributes as usual, he was glad...

But you know what? Something was gonna happen, things wouldn't go that smoothly.

As usual, they'd pass on the golds, silvers, coins, and so on they brought along. According to the agreement, there was a certain amount they were supposed to be delivering whenever they come to pay tributes.

There was a certain amount of goods they'd give to the Mepaidian Kingdom when paying tributes, and there was a certain amount of goods they'd give to the Chuvulan Kingdom when paying tributes as well.

..That's how it's always been done.

So they brought the exact amount of goods they'd give to the Chuvulan Kingdom, they'd given the Mepaidian Kingdom theirs.

They had delivered the goods to them, and the king of the Chuvulan Kingdom had checked them all. He didn't do it alone, the knights around assisted him. Everything was complete.

This was the utterance that flowed out of the king's mouth, "The next time you guys would be coming to pay tributes, we need more of these goods. The golds would be doubled, the silvers would be doubled, and so on,

The amount you guys would be bringing has changed, tell this to your king".

..What kind of situation is this? He didn't even thank them for the ones they brought, instead, he was asking them to deliver more when next they come to pay tributes?

Ethan and the rest were glancing at him with a kind of perplexed facial expressions, like, what the heck is wrong with him? Why this sudden attitude?

Is he looking for trouble or what? 'Cause they've been delivering this amount of goods to them for years now, and everything had been going smoothly.

So why the heck was he requesting more now? Doesn't he want peace to reign? The worst part was that he didn't even thank them for the ones they brought, instead, he was requesting for more.

Even knights of the Chuvulan Kingdom around were surprised, they weren't expecting the statement that flowed out of his mouth now...why this sudden attitude?

One of the head warriors of the Tuvalon Kingdom voiced out, "What is wrong with the current amount we've been delivering to your kingdom for years now? Why are you suddenly deciding to double them?".

"That's 'cause they aren't enough anymore, I want times two of them now". The king responded.

..Times two? Was this king crazy?

After all the dangers they had to pass through to get to this kingdom, this is what they were getting? The f**king king wants times two of the tributes now.

He didn't even appreciate, he was only ordering for more when next they'd come to pay tributes. What the king was saying seems to be annoying Ethan now.

As one of the head warriors of this journey, he voiced out,

"Do you want to disrupt the peace that has been taking place between our kingdom and yours for years? Why would you be requesting times two of the tributes now?".

"Exactly, if you want the peace between our kingdoms to keep going, you have to do as I'm saying, I want times two of the tributes now. You know that once it comes to war, my kingdom would definitely be victorious over yours".

They weren't liking the king's attitude at all, he was annoying them. Ethan voiced out once again,

"Well, we aren't delivering any message to our king, and we aren't increasing the tributes at all. We'd keep delivering the amount of tributes we've been delivering to your kingdom for years now, nothing would change".

..There was a bit of stern look on Ethan's face while making that utterance, he was already angry.

"Then that's like asking for war, do you want war to ensue? Do you want to disrupt the peace taking place between our kingdoms?". The king voiced out once again.

"You're the one trying to disrupt the peace between our kingdoms". Ethan stated.

..And that was the absolute truth.

"Well, you just have to do as I'm saying, I want times two of the tributes from now on, deliver it to your king". Uttered the king.

"And I said we aren't gonna do that". Ethan's voice resounded again.

"Then you're asking for war then".

"What came over you king of the Chuvulan Kingdom!!". Another head warrior voiced out with an audible tone of voice, he was already angry as it is.

"Are you shouting at me? You dare raise your voice at a king? Well, that has been done. My statement still stands, I want times two of the tributes from now on". The king stated.

Sound of sword being drawn out of a scabbard resounded at that moment. A certain knight was pulling out his sword from his scabbard due to anger.

The king's words were raising his anger, he just wanted to draw out his sword from his scabbard and cause some little bloodbath.

But as he was drawing out his sword from his scabbard, another knight held his hand and gave him the look of, 'Drop the sword back in'.

But he didn't, he didn't draw out the sword though, but he didn't put it back in fully. The king heard the sound of the sword, he knew someone among the knights and warriors of the Tuvalon Kingdom tried drawing out his sword from his scabbard.

..But the thing was, he didn't know the exact person.

And his voice resounded at that moment, "Or do you guys want to fight here?".

"If we do, do you think you'd survive it? Your life would be cut short here". A certain knight uttered.

"How dare you say that". One of the knights of the Chuvulan Kingdom voiced out as he drew out his sword from his scabbard.

The moment he did that, some knights and warriors of the Tuvalon Kingdom drew out their swords from their scabbards as well. And that prompted more knights of the Chuvulan Kingdom to draw out their swords...

..Would a little war take place here?