John knew nothing of Ostan Duke's strange behavior after he left.
By the time the convoy arrived at the Imperial Grand Hotel, it was already three in the afternoon.
Having rushed to the Imperial Capital and gone straight through the awards court session, John had not had a chance to eat until now. Ravenous, he headed to the hotel restaurant with the excited group under the Royal Guard captain's arrangements.
What surprised John, however, was that he encountered two familiar figures upon arriving at the restaurant.
"Honorable Sir John, it has been a long time!"
The one greeting John was a burly, bearded man. He was Bruno Goliath, the Inspection Forces member who had awarded John his major's uniform and First-Class Iron Cross Medal of Honor back in Bahamut Town.
The man standing beside him was Bruno's old partner, Zelofa Gilgista.
Compared to their former rank of captain, the two had apparently been promoted for some unknown service over the past three months. They were now both majors, middle-level managers within the Inspection Forces.
Yet compared to the rise in their own ranks, Bruno felt infinitely more emotional as he looked at John, whom he had not seen for only three months, but who had achieved an unprecedented victory on the Faoken Battlefield and soared from major to lieutenant general in one leap.
Bruno had long known, after consulting classified files, that John had been raised by the eldest princess, whom countless people called the "Empire's Merciful Radiance."
Moreover, the Demon Lord himself had personally ordered the Eye of Truth Forces to seal John's detailed records at the Imperial First Military Academy. Aside from confirming that he had graduated as the top student of the 59th class, the Inspection Forces could uncover no further details.
Bruno had known then that