Timothy severely overestimated how much of a splash he made winning the tournament and it was obvious because as he arrived back to the Grey Imperial Academy, only three letters that were made that day were delivered for him. Unless a guest was related to who they were visiting, the Grey Imperial Academy usually requested that said guest left a message or letter for an individual that they wished to meet. This was also why not long ago, Nora was able to make two higher ups from two organizations pay her a lump sum for the opportunity to meet Timothy directly while on campus.
Reading the letters, they were only generalized letting him know that all three organizations wanted him to visit them when he had time to check out their headquarters and to have some tea. Timothy took a deep breath because he was thankful that none of the three letters seemed pressing for him to do right away. However, thanks to Nora, he had obligations to visit the other two forces he met that night directly before heading over to anywhere else. Of course this would be overlooked if someone in an unmatched position similar to the Imperial Family itself were to invite him over, at what point he would have to act immediately even if he did not necessarily want to.
Still, he was only a rank two dual expert and such cultivators were easily found throughout the empire and so even if he showed to be in the top percentile of his combat rank, there were hundreds of thousands of cultivators at the very least rank three and above who were considered to be more valuable than he was by far. Upon entering into his room, Andrew and Ian were chatting together with big smiles on their faces because it was clear that they had heard the good news about what occurred with their third brother.
At first they hounded him asking for all of the details before handing Timothy two more letters from other forces who were able to task a member of their own or pay another student in Grey Imperial Academy to personally deliver them to his room. After allowing Andrew and Ian the opportunity to touch and investigate the sword that Timothy had won, Andrew quickly declared that he would be treating him to dinner at the same restaurant his first public match had been won in since one of the executives of the Flying Sword Clan asked Andrew directly to head over soon to make an appearance.
Another part of this celebration, was because one of Ian's uncles was finally able to advance as a rank six warrior which cemented him into a promotion in the military. Ian was unable to head home to celebrate with everyone similar to other members of his family who were still scattered around the empire in different areas and some already in the middle of some dangerous missions. So in this way, they merged celebrations and chose to have a single big one on behalf of both Timothy and Ian's uncle. Andrew did not have any massive updates to share with his two brothers, but several days ago he was given an update from his father that things were still progressing forward concerning the merchant group.
Before arriving to the restaurant, Andrew brought his two brothers to the branch of his merchant group who had finally purchased a building within Willow City. This was a big deal because the Rising Tides Merchant Group did not have a branch located in any city across the empire or the other two empires that they had done frequent business in. They owned and operated out of what was referred to as a Castle which is what was considered to be three times bigger than a village but still much smaller than a city as per their headquarters though.
Since Andrew was the young master who would one day be the leader of the Rising Tides Merchant Group, the branch manager quickly made arrangements for two rank three cultivators to tag along with the trio as a form of extra protection. Having three rank two cultivators as bodyguards would not necessarily make a big difference, but it was a way for the branch manager to showcase how much he cared about the young master's safety and used this as an opportunity to make sure that Andrew knew his sincerity.
Arriving to the Flying Sword Clan's owned restaurant, the trio sat down in a much more private area compared to the rest of the building and all three bodyguards spread themselves out to showcase that if anyone besides employees of the restaurant wanted to speak to the crew, that they would need permission first after making their intentions known. There were not many people present who recognized those in Timothy's crew, but there were several fellow students of Grey Imperial Academy who were in the fourth year's class who decided to make their way over.
"Good job today Timothy, you may not know this, but our Grey Imperial Academy is not very known to win tournaments or rank very high in general compared to other forces in Willow City when it comes to the top ten forces who live within. But the way that you handled defeating not just a young cultivator from an ancient clan who was just so happened to be in the area and entered last minute but the young princess of Red Raven is something to absolutely be proud of!" one of the upperclassmen in the group told Timothy once Andrew told the guards to let their fellow classmates through.
"You do not have to worry, Red Raven may be ranked the sixth strongest force in Willow City, but the loss of their princess is not something that they would be upset about since you defeated someone from a much stronger background first. It was speculated that they wanted her to enter in order to show her off to the public eye concerning Willow City citizens and some of those who were passing by and in the area since the princess title meant that she would one day be considered a pillar for their force."
As their seniors were interacting with the trio, a familiar face shoved them out of her way as she approached the table. It was rather a spectacle because alongside her were two rank five bodyguards who were able to also shove the two rank three cultivators out of their young mistress's way. Seeing the scene caused Andrew to feel awkward as Ian's mouth was wide open and Timothy just sat there remaining speechless.
