Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

After the war's end, Branden and Esmeralda started a significant change in the leadership of their country. They opted to replace all individuals who had held any level of authority and had been involved in the war, regardless of their previous positions. It was a natural change aimed at bringing fresh faces and a new sense of responsibility to the leadership roles.

The decision to make these changes was primarily motivated by a desire to prevent further bloodshed and internal strife. Executing those who held authority during the war was deemed a troublesome outcome, as it could potentially trigger more conflict and revenge, continuing the cycle of violence.

However, it was also understood that the individuals who were replaced might have had some involvement in the unexplained disappearances of former soldiers after the war…

"We kept those areas in check during the whole time, this time, I am sure that the people watching those guys are one hundred percent on our side," Branden said. "Besides, we cleaned all the places and the things that Joanis had and used for the war, they shouldn't have the resources or the money to do anything, and we one hundred percent sure that they didn't contact those soldiers directly."

"They still could have done it indirectly," Rain said. "Like leaving messages in some hidden places or making others deliver those for them. Well, those are all just hypotheses. There are people disappearing in the cities and towns that Joanis had no business and allies too. Either way, this incident should be connected to the war."

"... Do you think that perhaps they are being controlled by my father?" Esmeralda asked.

Everyone looked a bit confused after hearing that… the control that the king had over his soldiers wasn't that high. If that were true, he wouldn't have ended his life so easily. Everyone assumed that he ended his life after some argument with Joanis, after all. There are many mysteries about that situation… Perhaps even the king didn't know about the whole situation.

"Do you think that perhaps the king was able to give everyone an order before dying?" Branden asked. "One that they are only following now?"

"I think so… the first disappearances started two years ago and they slowly increased in number," Esmeralda explained. "They didn't steal anything or do anything aside from disappearing. That is too calculative… all in order to erase their traces."

"What do you think your father told them to do?" Rain asked.

"I am not sure… father was one hundred percent certain of their Victory in the war, until he saw you fighting," Esmeralda said. "Still, seeing you fight Seadrei could have changed his mind, but not so fast… I believe that Joanis was the one who made him do that and realize the true limits of his power."

That makes sense… Joanis was smart enough to cut the losses as soon as possible to come up with the next plan, but even at the cost of his own life? At the same time, that didn't make much sense since there were signs that the king and Joanis fought, so that didn't add up.

"Well, this doesn't reveal anything yet, but it confirms the link between this and the war… Joanis died, but his legacy lingers on," Seara said while studying the map. "Considering that we have hundreds of people guarding the coast, I can only imagine that those people disappeared through the air."

"... That would make sense, people that still want to continue Joanis work and pretty much everyone else knows that the sea folk are our allies, using the ocean to escape would be impossible," Branden rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Do we have a map of the world here? The enemies definitely didn't escape to that island where I freed you," Rain said. "We need to analyze the possible hideouts."

"We don't have such a thing… humans only ventured so far in the last ten thousand years into the magic people territory and the beast people," Esmeralda explained.

"What about gramps, Seara?" Rain asked.

"Don't call him gramps… he is your father now too, even though both of you feel your back itchy when you refer to each other as father and son," Seara frowned. "We have a large map of the ocean, but not even we have the whole map of the ocean… there are sea dragons, too, you know, and while they don't attack us, they don't like it when we get closer to their territory."

As expected, the dragons were getting in the way again… it seemed that Rain would have to do some exploration eventually to make a decent world map. He had enough mana and speed to cross countries within days, crossing the world in a week or two shouldn't be impossible.

"We don't have to consider that for now," Branden said once he realized what Rain was thinking. "We don't have enough reason to lock down all of the soldiers of that war, we don't even have enough jails for all of them as well, but we can increase our surveillance on them. Thank you for your insight, Rain. We can take it from here. You should also take your kids before they pull out all of my hair."

Rain nodded and took his kids back… he wanted some action in his life again, but he also wanted to enjoy that period of his life. His kids won't be toddlers forever, and he wanted to see them grow and make them understand that he wasn't going to be their father, but their friend as well.

If the enemies are plotting something again, Rain will kill those guys without hesitation… they had their second chances, they won't have their third chances.

When Rain returned home, he decided to train a bit more while letting his kids chase some water bubbles in the air. But soon, he heard another this… this time, thanks to his stance, he was able to see why Danny had fallen again… he was trying to copy Rain with his handstands.